Chapter 145: Constant Vigilance, as if Facing Peril

Night.

A gale swept through Qinghe City; the crescent moon was obscured by dark clouds, plunging the entire city into darkness.

"A moonless, wind-swept night—the perfect time to kill!"

Qi Cheng gazed out the window at the weather and let out a shrill, cackling laugh.

"Finally."

He trembled with excitement, eyes bloodshot, as he flung open the door.

Yesterday, Cao Wei received orders from Annan Town to report for duty.

The order was real.

Qi Cheng didn't have the power to command the Regional Commander of Annan Town.

Today, the ghostly cult's elite, Chi Guizi, was spotted thirty li east of Qinghe City; Jiang Lin personally led troops to pursue and kill him.

This was naturally his doing.

Zhuang Ren had told him about Cao Wei's departure, so he used a bit of his connections to make Chi Guizi show himself and lure Jiang Lin out of Anning Wei, creating an opportunity for him to strike.

Qi Cheng pushed open the door.

The gale whipped his black robe as he vanished into the night.

Anning Wei, the military camp.

A squad of soldiers patrolled the guard post with torches; the flames struggled desperately against the wind, reduced to mere sparks, making it hard to see anything.

In an unremarkable corner.

A shadow darted between courtyard walls; the patrolling soldiers noticed nothing.

"Heaven aids me!"

Qi Cheng's eyes gleamed with excitement and cruelty.

He was a sixth-rank cultivator; evading these patrolling soldiers was effortless. Without Jiang Lin or Cao Wei, the camp was his to enter and leave at will.

Even if there were experts like Ning Zhongtian, both were sixth-rank.

To stop him?

That was a dream.

Thinking of this, Qi Cheng grew even angrier.

"I'll tear that brat into a thousand pieces—no, turn him into a ghost demon!"

Ghost demon Zhang Hao had immense potential; if he were constantly refined, he'd likely become a sixth-rank ghost demon within a few years, becoming Qi Cheng's right hand.

But he hadn't even finished refining him when he was slain.

All the hard work he'd invested was reduced to ashes.

"Almost there, almost there."

Qi Cheng's killing intent intensified.

He hadn't wasted a single moment during this time.

Nearly every night, he'd come near Anning Wei to observe; he dared not enter, but he could climb high enough to survey the camp's layout.

Thus, he knew the camp's terrain inside and out.

Soon.

He arrived before a large residential district.

"Right here."

The last time he came to Anning Wei, Jiang Lin spotted him, forcing him to leave prematurely.

So his search was limited to this residential area.

As for the exact location, he'd have to check each house one by one.

Qi Cheng leapt.

He landed inside the courtyard and darted beneath the eaves.

His eyes narrowed slightly; his ears twitched faintly—through a wall, he heard the steady rhythm of breathing inside.

Ghost cultivators naturally had senses far beyond ordinary humans.

"Kill!"

A flash of cold light passed through Qi Cheng's eyes.

Since Jiang Lin was gone, there was a more direct method: kill them one household at a time. He could easily sniff out the aura of the divine treasure from their corpses.

Just as Qi Cheng was about to act—

A clamor of footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door.

The next instant.

Flames erupted into the sky!

Qi Cheng whirled around, eyes locked on the courtyard gate.

"Damn it! I've been tricked!"

Unaware, he'd already been surrounded!

Outside the courtyard, Ning Zhongtian's voice roared: "Who the hell has the balls to break into Anning Wei? I'll tear you apart tonight!"

Qi Cheng's heart sank; his face twitched uncontrollably.

"Ning Zhongtian!"

And he sensed, besides Ning Zhongtian, several other powerful auras.

"Shit!"

Qi Cheng cursed lowly, his eyes blazing with murderous intent.

He abandoned his target inside the house and leapt toward the wall with the fewest guards.

"Without Jiang Lin or Cao Wei, what makes you think you can stop me?"

Though surrounded, Qi Cheng showed no sign of panic.

But the moment he leapt into the air, his right foot touching the wall's crest—

A tiny sword, no thicker than a thumb, shot forward like a silver dragon.

Pfft!

The small blade pierced Qi Cheng's right shoulder with near-zero resistance.

"Ugh!"

Qi Cheng groaned in agony; the pain made him lose his footing and fall back into the courtyard.

He struggled to his feet.

Fear filled his eyes.

He stared in disbelief at the tiny sword, now tracing an arc in midair: "Jiang Lin? How is this possible?!"

He'd prepared thoroughly before acting.

He'd personally watched Jiang Lin leave the city, then trailed him for over ten li.

He was certain Ning Zhongtian couldn't possibly be in Anning Wei—only then did he strike.

But what was this?!

With a crash.

Ning Zhongtian kicked open the courtyard gate.

He stared at Qi Cheng, whose right shoulder exposed gleaming white bone, blood gushing freely, and laughed loudly: "Jiang's methods are beyond the comprehension of a mere mortal like you."

Qi Cheng's face twitched; he gritted his teeth:

"You clever bastard, Jiang Lin—you actually mastered the Sword Control Beyond a Hundred Li technique."

Yes.

Though Jiang Lin had left, he'd left behind a sword.

That single sword was enough to kill him.

Qi Cheng let out a deafening roar, spun his body, and charged straight into the house.

"I'll kill a few men from Anning Wei—I won't go down empty-handed!"

Qi Cheng realized he wouldn't escape tonight.

But the one who'd taken the divine treasure and killed Zhang Hao remained undiscovered; his rage burned unquenched.

He'd die, but he'd take someone with him.

He might as well kill the people inside. If it was the right one, he'd profit; if not, he'd lose nothing.

Ning Zhongtian saw this and exploded in fury: "Old bastard!"

He moved to act—but the hovering tiny sword moved faster.

Whoosh!

In an instant, it appeared behind Qi Cheng.

Qi Cheng felt a numb tingle at the back of his skull; his consciousness vanished instantly, his body collapsing lifelessly against the wall.

A splash of red and white spattered the wall.

Elsewhere.

Li residence.

Li Rui's room was empty; the other two rooms in the residence were also vacant.

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He had slipped into the secret passage long ago.

Yang Yong and Wang Zhao were sent off to the old branch house in Qinghe under some pretext.

"Hmm."

"He's probably dead."

Li Rui gazed into the mist within his consciousness.

It had returned from its earlier blood-red hue to white—almost pure white.

Good.

Today's entire affair was a scheme he had meticulously planned.

Ever since his Insight Eye awakened and detected danger.

He had already been plotting.

Since he couldn't kill him, he'd find someone who could.

The imperial court had one advantage: plenty of experts.

If he didn't make good use of this advantage, his official post was meaningless.

Did he really think all those outings with Jiang Yan were for some nonsense training or mission fulfillment?

No.

He was using his Insight Eye to narrow down the range of danger.

When escorting Qin Hua and the others, he chose familiar routes; but when with Jiang Yan, he deliberately wandered through seldom-visited parts of the city.

Then he gradually narrowed the range by observing the mist's changes.

Eventually, he pinpointed the source of danger: an empty house in Xincheng.

He had long secretly investigated that house.

Only then did he discover it had been purchased long ago by a merchant from afar and left vacant ever since.

But the Insight Eye never lied.

Li Rui quickly formed a hypothesis.

In his view, using another's name to acquire a house as a temporary base was nothing unusual.

He had confirmed the location.

Only then did he "accidentally" reveal the man's identity by hinting to Jiang Yan.

The scheme unfolded on its own, without his direct involvement.

Aside from Ning Zhongtian and a handful of others, no one knew of this plan.

Thus, the residents of this neighborhood were utterly unprepared—except Li Rui.

Even Jiang Lin wouldn't bother; how could a lowly Patrol Guard go door-to-door warning them?

Though Jiang Lin was confident, Li Rui had no intention of betting his life on it.

That's why he slipped into the secret passage early.

Let others bear the risk.

Let the monk die, not the beggar.

The next morning.

Li Rui acted as if nothing had happened, as usual.

First, he practiced his blade in the courtyard.

With Yang Yong and Wang Zhao gone, he made himself a bowl of scallion noodles with two poached eggs.

After eating, he stepped out as usual.

As soon as he stepped outside.

He heard soldiers passing by discussing last night's events.

"Did you hear? Last night someone broke into our guard battalion, intending to kill—luckily, Guard Commander Ning spotted him and cut him down on the spot."

"Bold to the point of madness—who was it? Didn't he fear extermination of his nine clans?"

"They say it was a demon from the Ghost Ming Sect."

Every word of their conversation reached Li Rui's ears.

"Ghost Ming Sect."

Li Rui frowned slightly.

At first, he'd thought someone was seeking revenge against Anning Battalion—after all, they had too many enemies, and someone might have been pushed too far—but he hadn't expected it to be the Ghost Ming Sect.

"Good riddance."

From these soldiers' words, Li Rui had reconstructed most of the story.

Jiang Lin wasn't mentioned at all—likely because Jiang Lin and Ning Zhongtian had already agreed on this arrangement.

As for why they did it.

Probably to lure the snake out of its hole.

Moments later.

Li Rui arrived at the training ground, where Tan Hu and Liang He were drilling the troops.

Han Qin and the others were gathered, talking—Jiang Yan was nowhere to be seen.

Li Rui faintly caught words like "last night" and "Ghost Ming Sect."

No need to guess—they were discussing last night's incident.

He approached.

"They say the man had infiltrated the battalion before; back then, Elder Jiang scared him off—but now he's bold enough to return, and Guard Commander Ning saw through it, set up a perfect trap, and killed him."

"Guard Commander Ning is truly skilled!"

"To repel the enemy before he strikes—remarkable."

All of them offered their praise.

To outsiders, all the credit went to Ning Zhongtian alone.

What they didn't know.

That this past month, following Li Rui around, was actually the key to the ambush.

But Li Rui had hidden his role well.

Even these participants themselves were unaware, thinking they had nothing to do with it.

Li Rui cleared his throat: "Last night, intruders broke into the battalion during a time of unrest. I'm granting you ten days' leave—return home and cultivate on your own."

"Great."

Their hearts warmed.

This Senior Li really is kind.

But the truth was.

The hidden threat was dead, the training was done—Li Rui had no time to waste on these rich kids anymore.

He was genuinely busy.

(End of Chapter)