Chapter 77: A Huge Wave of Demon Bandits!

The moon was bright and the stars sparse, with the clear, faint chirping of insects echoing in the courtyard.

Chirp chirp chirp~~

Linghu Qingmo sat cross-legged on the bed with her eyes closed, her aura visibly circulating around her body as she diligently practiced her cultivation technique, her mind having entered a state of self-forgetfulness.

But just as she was lost in her practice, unable to extricate herself, she heard a sound from outside:

Click~

A faint sound of a door closing.

?

Linghu Qingmo furrowed her willow brows slightly, gathered her energy and calmed her spirit to look toward the door, only to see a familiar profile drift past the window, sneaking toward the entrance...

!

Xie Jinhuan?

He... what is he doing here in the middle of the night?

Panic surged in Linghu Qingmo's eyes; she wanted to run and bolt the door, but clearly it was too late, so she could only move her sword in front of her, nervously watching the shadow approaching from afar, hoping Xie Jinhuan had just brought Meiqiu out for a walk...

But unfortunately, this peerlessly righteous true knight still stopped outside the young lady's room, first tilting his ear to listen, then raising his hand to knock lightly:

Knock knock~

Two light knocks on the door, as if they were striking the door of her heart!

Linghu Qingmo's face flushed red; she wanted to pretend to be asleep and ignore this lecher who had entered a woman's private quarters at night, but Xie Jinhuan insisted on knocking, and Meiqiu had started acting like a woodpecker kicking the door, so she could only grit her teeth and say:

"I... I'm asleep, what do you want?"

A clear voice followed from outside the door:

"The long night drags on, and I have no desire to sleep, Miss Mo Mo..."

Linghu Qingmo's eyes turned slightly fierce: "If you can't sleep, then practice your technique; why run into my room? I won't coax you to sleep!"

"Hmm? Miss Mo Mo's thoughts are not very pure; I just feel that at our age, with major cases unsolved, how can one sleep? I just thought of another clue and am preparing to investigate the demon bandits; are you coming?"

"?"

Linghu Qingmo took a deep breath, causing her chest to rise high, her eyes filled with disbelief!

You must be crazy!

In the dead of night, a lone man and a lone woman, sneaking up to a young lady's room, inviting the young lady to slay demons and eliminate evil...

This is simply... to my liking~!

Linghu Qingmo was a workaholic by nature; her inner embarrassment vanished completely, and she grabbed her sword, ran quickly to the door, opened it, and poked her head out:

"What clues do you have~?"

Her voice sounded even more cute.

Xie Jinhuan, with two weapons hanging at his waist and Meiqiu, who had been woken up in the middle of the night to work, perched on his shoulder, walked out:

"Demon Path cultivators all need Blood Essence; I'm preparing to go to the Black Market to trace the source."

"Blood Essence?"

Linghu Qingmo asked in confusion:

"Demon Path cultivators do indeed need Blood Essence, but the goods from the Black Market would at most make someone look like Li Shizhong. The murderer has reached Demon Path Rank 4 and dares to commit crimes in Jingcheng without being detected; they must have a background, so how could they possibly buy Blood Essence at the Black Market?"

"Let's try our luck; what if we find something?"

Linghu Qingmo knew Xie Jinhuan was "divine in pursuing criminals," but since they had never investigated a case together before, she was very eager to learn.

At this moment, having been woken up in the middle of the night to work, she naturally had no objection; they leaped onto the roof together and headed toward the Wang Fu.

The Pill King was the younger brother of the Qian Emperor; the Wang Fu in Jingcheng was quite large. Zhao De resided in the East Mansion, the West Mansion was the territory of Princess Changning, and the Main Mansion was where the Pill King lived, but it had been vacant for a long time.

Princess Changning had not yet arrived in Jingcheng, so the entire Wang Fu looked dimly lit, with only a small area of the East Mansion still illuminated.

Xie Jinhuan passed quietly by the East Mansion and even glanced into the courtyard.

He discovered that Zhao De was indeed not asleep, pacing back and forth in the room, discussing with his sycophant Laifu:

"Now that this 'Tiger Vanguard' Linghu Qingmo has arrived, that 'Mountain King' will arrive in an instant; how much silver remains in the mansion?"

"Silver? The mansion has never seen such a thing; currently, we actually owe more than eight thousand taels..."

"Ah?! Last time we sold two vases from Father King's room; we must replenish it immediately, otherwise that Mountain King will beat me to death when he comes. Hmm... you go borrow some silver first to handle the emergency."

"Your Highness, we really can't borrow any more; everyone who knows you would rather wear patched clothes when going out... How about I ask Young Master Xie? Young Master Xie has thick eyebrows and big eyes, and looks like a generous and righteous person..."

Ah?

Xie Jinhuan's expression suddenly changed; he grabbed Mo Mo and ran at full speed.

Linghu Qingmo also could not avoid it; only after leaving the Wang Fu at high speed did she remind him:

"You absolutely must not lend silver; the Heir even dares to borrow the few coins from Yang Dabiao, and never repays..."

Borrowing and not repaying is called robbery!

Xie Jinhuan always robbed others; he had never seen anyone daring to rob him, so he pondered and nodded:

"I have seen it now; I will stay far away in the future."

The two flew at such speed, scanning the vast, brightly lit city along the way.

The permanent population of Luoyang exceeded two million, a scale quite astonishing.

The Black Market was located in the Xiaoyao Cave area of the Outer City, a relatively chaotic district of Jingcheng; brothels and gambling dens were everywhere inside, with people from all walks of life and foreign Hu merchants gathering there; it was a general market during the day and became a Ghost Market at night.

Because the personnel composition was too complex, Northern Zhou spies, evil path informants, and others were hidden inside; it was said there were even prostitutes!

It was simply impossible to root them out by normal means.

Xie Jinhuan's Meiqiu and the Tian Gang Mace were both bought from the Flower and Bird Street within it.

Linghu Qingmo rarely came to Jingcheng and was not very familiar with the roads; following Xie Jinhuan as he turned left and right, they ran for quite a while before arriving near a cluster of low-rise buildings in the Outer City, where the noisy, foul-smelling clamor successively entered their ears:

"Come, come, drink!"

"Uncle Xu has a great tolerance for wine~"

"Ah~ Ah~ It's reached the very bottom..."

Linghu Qingmo landed on a dirt wall, hearing the rising and falling cries of climax from the dark alley below. Her cheeks flushed slightly; she pretended to hear nothing and scanned the chaotic street market beneath.

Most of the buildings in Xiaoyao Cave were old and stacked layer upon layer, with broken vendors and cloth strips hanging everywhere, so the view was not very open.

Because the Ghost Market opens after the Hour of the Rat, there were many street stalls on both sides of the street with all sorts of items, but a single glance revealed no major forbidden objects.

Linghu Qingmo searched the street and quickly found an alley entrance where a middle-aged man stood, jingling a small bottle in his hand, shaking it twice at anyone who passed with an expectant look in his eyes.

"This man is selling Deng Xian San; he should know the way. Should you go ask, or should I?"

"How could a Miss handle such a matter?"

Xie Jinhuan said no more and simply leaped across the rooftops.

Linghu Qingmo was stunned, thinking to herself—Why go over the rooftops just to ask?

But soon she realized that in Xie Jinhuan's dictionary, 'ask' meant 'strike first, then listen'!

She saw Xie Jinhuan move with agile steps through the houses, landing silently in the dark alley, rushing forward to cover the middle-aged man's mouth and dragging him into the alley.

"Mmph—?!"

The middle-aged man was still soliciting customers when he suddenly encountered a standard assassination procedure. Terrified, half his three souls and seven spirits fled; he fumbled for a dagger at his waist, but before he could draw it, he took a kidney strike.

Boom—

After the dull thud, the dark alley fell silent.

The middle-aged man nearly collapsed in his arms, his whole body convulsing as his breath stalled.

"Where can Blood Essence be bought?"

The middle-aged man's eyes filled with fear; he raised a hand pointing northwest. Only after the hand covering his mouth loosened did he respond with a trembling voice, gasping for air:

"San Liu Alley. Lord Li Si might have a lead. Hero, spare me..."

Boom—

Xie Jinhuan delivered a knife-hand chop to the neck; the man immediately fell into a pile of thatch, clean and efficient.

Linghu Qingmo leaped down in front of him, her eyes wide as Meiqiu:

"You... you ask for information like this?"

Meiqiu narrowed her eyes slightly, calm as Seeing Mo Mo, her meaning roughly:

You even placed him in the thatch pile so he wouldn't get hurt. You aren't even that gentle with birds...

Xie Jinhuan was already being relatively kind in front of a Miss; he replied:

"These medicine peddlers never speak a word of truth. If you meet them in the future, do not be soft-hearted."

Linghu Qingmo was, after all, a righteous female knight; she felt that the style of striking without even asking was a bit too underworld-like.

However, Xie Jinhuan was better than her at slaying demons and monsters. Thinking it over, she took out a small notebook and a hard pen from her sleeve, seriously recording Xie Jinhuan's method of handling affairs—when meeting a medicine peddler, beat him half to death before asking questions...

Xie Jinhuan wasted no time and brought Seeing Mo Mo to San Liu Alley.

Inside the alley were several dark dens. Although it was past the Hour of the Rat, Xiaoyao Cave was livelier at night than during the day; one could still see some prostitutes inside, and guards stood at the entrance keeping watch.

Xie Jinhuan intended to repeat his previous tactic, grabbing a tongue to strike first and then listen, but halfway there he paused his steps, looking toward a fur shop not far away.

The fur shop had long closed for business. Outside were several street stalls; one person among them clearly possessed some skill, sitting in a position that allowed him to see both the front of the shop and the side alley.

If nothing unexpected happened, there was another hidden sentry in the blind spot behind the shop...

Even without relying on the Ghost Wife, Xie Jinhuan's experience in the Jianghu was not poor, but having the Ghost Wife was always safer. He held Zheng Lun Sword upright and asked:

"Is there something wrong with this shop?"

Linghu Qingmo followed at his side and, seeing this, looked around in confusion:

"Is there?"

Fortunately, this question was not directed at Seeing Mo Mo.

Ye Hongshang stepped out from behind, inspecting slightly:

"There seem to be people inside the shop, but the distance is too great to discern their true strength."

Ye Hongshang's insight was very strong, but her range was not boundless; the farther away, the less clear it became.

Xie Jinhuan quietly slipped into the shadows, moving to within ten-plus zhang of the shop.

The Ghost Wife's response then sounded in his ear:

"No wonder there is Blood Essence here. A large group of Witches is hidden inside the shop, all gathered in one room. Their strength ranges from Fourth to Sixth Grade; we can wipe them out in one go."

A large group of Witches?!

Isn't this Wan Yi...

Xie Jinhuan examined the storefront carefully, feeling quite surprised in his heart.

The Wu Sect operates in the shadows. Scattered Witches within Great Qian can only mingle in places like the Ghost Market. Most of the various strange poisons sold in Xiaoyao Cave are mixed by these people.

Xie Jinhuan knew Xiaoyao Cave had Wu Sect personnel, but seven mid-level Witches gathering together could form a small sect even in the wastelands of Southern Jiangnan!

In Jingcheng, this would absolutely constitute a major criminal gang!

Witches, like Alchemists, burn through money. Those who reach mid-level are almost all wealthy men...

Thinking of this, Xie Jinhuan perked up, even feeling a bit regretful for bringing Seeing Mo Mo out.

After all, with Seeing Mo Mo right there, killing and robbing would affect his image...

Linghu Qingmo noticed Xie Jinhuan leaning against the wall, his brows cold and furrowed in thought, and looked at him with full confusion:

"What is the problem here?"

Xie Jinhuan raised a hand pointing to the street stall:

"That person is a lookout. There is definitely something wrong inside. I will slip over to check. You and Meiqiu keep watch here; do not alert the snake."

Linghu Qingmo suspected nothing else and drew his sword, beginning to stay alert around the perimeter:

"Good. Sound the alarm immediately if there's danger!"

"Don't get too close, and if something happens, don't rush over in a panic!"

"Understood..."

(End of this chapter)