Chapter 8

There, a bloody gash cut open by a blade stood out starkly.

Without Jiang Sishui's pressure on it, fresh blood spurted out as if its life depended on fleeing.

Shopkeeper Tie's eyes bulged wide as he stared fixedly at Jiang Sishui, unable to utter a single word, only flailing both hands with the last of his strength.

A cold glint flashed through Jiang Sishui's eyes as he smiled and said, "Shopkeeper, a safe journey."

Shopkeeper Tie struggled for a while, his consciousness gradually fading, until finally his head lolled to one side and he breathed his last.

Jiang Sishui dragged the corpse into the inner courtyard, dug a pit, and hastily buried it beneath a tree in the yard.

Afterward, he drew well water and cleaned the bloodstains from the scene, so the smell of blood wouldn't spread.

"By the time your corpse is discovered, I probably won't have to fear the Liushan Sect anymore."

Jiang Sishui stepped over Shopkeeper Tie's burial spot, feeling not the slightest burden in his heart.

This Shopkeeper Tie was a renowned physician in the Chengnan area, his Medical Arts superb, yet as a man he was sinister and cunning, sharp-tongued and mean.

He was both a physician and the owner of a pharmacy, so when treating patients he would often add large quantities of herbs unrelated to the illness into the prescriptions, swindling patients out of their money.

Ordinary people didn't know these things, but Jiang Sishui, who worked odd jobs at the pharmacy to make a living, knew them all too well.

The main reason Shopkeeper Tie had Jiang Sishui work odd jobs for him was that Jiang Sishui was cheap.

Even so, Shopkeeper Tie often withheld the already meager wages on various pretexts, and frequently delayed payment altogether.

Before Jiang Sishui awakened his past-life memories, his personality was timid and he didn't dare resist, so he suffered quite a few losses at the man's hands.

Shopkeeper Tie would mock Jiang Sishui even more, giving him the insulting nickname "Jiang the Top Scholar."

The other day, Jiang Sishui accidentally knocked a medicinal ingredient onto the ground—normally he could have just picked it up—but Shopkeeper Tie insisted he had ruined the herb and demanded compensation.

Sishui cannot, so he went up the mountain to gather that herb, then accidentally took a fall and nearly lost his life there.

Now that his past-life memories had awakened, his entire person had undergone earth-shattering changes, and naturally he came for revenge.

Both to vent his spite and for the sake of Qian Cai.

In this world, what makes money the fastest?

Killing and plundering must be one of them!

Shopkeeper Tie was nicknamed "Iron Rooster" by others, a notorious "Pixiu" of the area—greedy beyond measure when amassing wealth, yet stingy as could be when spending it.

In his house, no lamp was lit at night, no meat was served with his vegetables, and he hadn't even taken a wife.

The reason was simple: he feared a wife would spend his money—one more mouth to feed.

Thus, the entire pharmacy was inhabited by him alone.

This was also one of the reasons Jiang Sishui had chosen him as a target.

"Having money, yet too stingy to even hire a single guard for the house—and now his life is gone too. What's the use of all that money? Did he really think that just because this place is close to a Liushan Sect branch, no one would dare commit murder?"

Jiang Sishui shook his head, indicating he couldn't understand.

One could only say that the gap between some people is sometimes greater than that between humans and dogs.

It was only natural that he couldn't understand the "Iron Rooster's" way of thinking.

Afterward, Jiang Sishui went to Shopkeeper Tie's bedroom and turned the place upside down, finally finding five hundred-tael silver notes and several dozen taels in loose silver.

"Over five hundred taels—that should be enough."

Shopkeeper Tie had been hoarding wealth for years; his savings surely weren't limited to this, and there might well be a small hidden stash somewhere.

But Sishui already content, and too lazy to search everywhere—money enough to use was fine.

If he really needed more, he could always pull off another job!

The pressing matter was to leave this place.

He climbed a tree by the wall in the inner courtyard, looked down from a height, and carefully observed the street.

After confirming no one was around, he leaped onto the wall, then dropped down, moving through the shadows and swiftly departing.

The journey was uneventful, with only minor scares.

After returning home, Jiang Sishui hid the silver, took a bath, and buried the bloodstained clothes in the ground.

Once he had tidied up, he went back to his room and fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

After a busy day, he was exhausted.

The next day.

The sun had climbed to the treetops when Jiang Sishui slowly awoke. After washing up, he summoned the diary and began recording a new day.

008 Huang Rong or Yan Yan Lingji—pick one?

The moment Jiang Sishui put pen to paper, the women all sensed it and summoned their diary copies to check.

【Mm, yesterday I got to the last peerless beauty no Wu Xia story can avoid】

Seeing this line, the women's eyes all lit up, and at the same time their hearts leapt into their throats.

Yesterday Jiang Sishui had reached the crucial point, then suddenly stopped—God knew how many people had been so frustrated their gums itched, wishing they could bite him hard.

They were dying to know who this last person was!

Although the selection criterion was merely fame, not necessarily the most outstanding, it was still a contest among the women.

Apart from someone like Xiao Longnu, who was nearly devoid of desire, there was hardly anyone who didn't care, hardly anyone who didn't want to win.

After reading the first diary entry yesterday, God knew how many people had lain awake all night, guessing whose name this last slot would fall on—would it be themselves?

And now, the answer was finally about to be revealed!

The women all set aside what they were doing, widened their eyes, and stared fixedly at the page.

At last, the writing appeared above…

【This last one, and the most important one—in my heart, she is the "Number One Extraordinary Woman of Wu Xia"】

【Moreover, the reason she earned this honor is not quite the same as the previous two】

【The reason Wang Yuyan and Xiao Longnu are so beloved is that they maxed out their looks, and also possess an ethereal, otherworldly air, as if celestial maidens descended to earth, making mortal men feel ashamed of themselves】

【In my opinion, they are basically the pinnacle of beauty. Looking across the world, I doubt one could find a single person whose bearing surpasses these two.】

【At most, at very most, they'd be evenly matched.】

"Celestial maiden descended to the mortal world? At most evenly matched?"

Seeing this, some of the women were filled with curiosity, unable to help but imagine in their minds what a celestial maiden who had descended to the mortal world should look like, that she could actually earn such a high evaluation from Jiang Sishui.

And those women whose bearing had been rated full marks by the diary copies were utterly unconvinced, convinced they were certainly no worse than the two!

Still... what would an ethereal, immortal aura look like?

Quite a few fell into deep thought.

At the same time, they grew increasingly curious about who this last person was.

Wang Yuyan and Xiao Longnu's evaluations were already this high — who could possibly outshine the two of them?

At this moment, Wang Yuyan of the Shanzhuang and Xiao Longnu of the ancient tomb on Mount Zhongnan were both staring fixedly at the diary.

This question — they too wanted to know the answer.

【And the one woman who could surpass the two celestial maidens is, naturally, the lovely Huang Rong of Taohuadao.】

"It's really me?!"

The surface of the East Sea.

Huang Rong sat on an ornate pleasure boat, watching her own name appear on the diary, and could not help feeling a wave of astonishment.

Who exactly was this last person? Could it possibly be herself?

This question, every single owner of a diary copy had considered.

Huang Rong was no exception.

She even had considerable confidence.

For no other reason than the fact that the title page plainly read――

【Character: Huang Rong】

【Bearing: 10】

【Favorability: 10】

A full-mark bearing was a given; the key was that full-mark favorability.

Corresponding to the rating scale, the diary's owner had already reached the stage of "obsession" with her!

One had to ask — if she, Huang Rong, were not extraordinarily outstanding, would the diary's owner hold such high favorability toward her?

Huang Rong was as clever as ice and snow; in an instant she connected many dots. This was also the greatest basis for her judgment that she might claim the last spot.

But until the answer was revealed, everything was still mere speculation.

After all, who knew whether she was the only one with double full marks?

Now that her guess had come true, even though Huang Rong had long been mentally prepared, she still felt an unreal, dazed sensation.