Chapter 86 : Chapter 86

Chapter 86: The Saber Thief’s Curious Adventure

Mei Feng did not shrink back in the slightest and stepped forward on his own.

He would be the first to scout out the Thousand-Household Office!

The other martial artists immediately cupped their fists in salute, their eyes filled with admiration.

“As expected of Fort Master Mei. Such righteousness—we thank you!”

“It is nothing, nothing at all.”

On the surface, Mei Feng merely waved it off as though he did not care, but inwardly he was immensely pleased with himself.

Cheng Yu had humiliated him in that invitation letter.

He had called him a brainless brute and an ungrateful cur.

Mei Feng had long since taken it to heart and was already impatient to get his revenge in person.

Liu Erniang smiled.

“When Fort Master Mei returns in triumph, I will personally pour the celebratory wine for you.”

She had never risen to prominence through killing and fighting or by relying on brute force.

The moment she thought of how Cheng Yu had slaughtered the jianghu forces of an entire prefecture, she could not stop herself from feeling afraid.

Fortunately, Mei Feng was such a hotheaded fool.

Otherwise, the one placed in danger this time might well have been her.

“Good, good, good!”

Mei Feng had long coveted Liu Erniang’s beauty, yet all he had ever gotten from her before was indifference. He had never expected her attitude to change so drastically now that she was offering to pour him wine herself.

Going to the Thousand-Household Office had already been enough to vent the hatred in his heart, but now he had gained even more—praise from others and a beauty’s promise.

Truly, one good thing after another!

He rose boldly to his feet.

“Once I return with that brat Cheng Yu’s Xiuchun Saber, we’ll all go drink at Boss Liu’s place until dawn!”

Liu Erniang laughed.

“That is only natural!”

Mei Feng slung the broad saber on his back, as wide as a door panel, and turned to leave.

“Wait!”

Seeing the way Mei Feng looked, the scholar knew full well that the man had already begun treating this matter as something effortlessly within his grasp.

He hurriedly warned him, “Brother Mei, do not grow careless! Remember this above all—do not kill anyone. I will send a signal in one hour. When that happens, you must come out no matter what.”

“Yes, yes, I know.”

Mei Feng answered impatiently and left without even turning his head.

Inwardly, he was full of disdain.

He had long been annoyed by the scholar’s constant gesturing and instructions. The man was clearly weaker than he, Mei Feng, was.

He had come up with a few decent tricks, that was all. Why should everyone have to listen to that sour cur?

Once Mei Feng returned with Cheng Yu’s Xiuchun Saber, he would be the hero of the Jiannan Circuit jianghu.

After that, it would no longer be the turn of some scholar to point fingers at him.

On top of the walls of the Jinyiwei Thousand-Household Office.

Wearing a mask, Mei Feng used his powerful Internal Energy to conceal his aura and silently leaped into a dark corner of the compound.

First, he hid his broad saber, whose appearance was far too distinctive, in case he needed it later.

Then, evading the Jinyiwei patrols moving to and fro, he slipped deeper into the Thousand-Household Office.

Along the way, aside from the patrolling men, he scarcely encountered anyone at all.

He could not help sneering inwardly.

So the Jinyiwei were nothing but paper tigers. All that concern from the scholar and the others was simply laughable.

“I thought the Jinyiwei would be heavily manned, but in reality there are only a few stragglers here and there. No matter how arrogant and impressive they look, it is all just that brat Cheng Yu being full of himself.”

Mei Feng continued forward in silence. Beyond the training yard was the main hall of the Thousand-Household Office, and beyond that lay the personal residence of the Thousand-Household Commander.

Just then, he suddenly heard a burst of commotion from the training yard ahead.

It was unmistakably the sound of martial artists sparring!

His entire body stiffened, and he immediately slowed his pace, creeping into the darkness near the training yard.

“Why are there so many people?!”

He saw over a hundred Jinyiwei in flying fish uniforms, each fully focused on training and sparring, drenched in sweat and cultivating with utmost diligence.

“Who practices martial arts in the middle of the night? Have they all gone mad...?”

Mei Feng found it strange. For some reason, the Thousand-Household Office felt oddly unsettling.

He comforted himself with a thought.

“They are only imperial hounds. I am a dignified Sixth-Rank martial artist—what is there for me to fear!”

After another careful look, he saw that Cheng Yu was nowhere in the training yard.

So he circled around it and continued onward over the rooftops.

There were too many eyes in the training yard. Gathering Internal Energy under his feet, he dispersed the force of each step upon the tiles and passed over them without a sound.

As the noisy voices of the Jinyiwei grew fainter and fainter behind him, standing atop the roof, Mei Feng relaxed considerably.

“Just wait, brat Cheng Yu. I’ll be there in a moment...”

Once he jumped down from the rooftop, he could already see the main hall of the Thousand-Household Office. His destination was right before him!

As long as he crossed the empty main hall, he would arrive at the courtyard where the Thousand-Household Commander lived.

Joy appeared in Mei Feng’s eyes.

He had arrived!

Standing atop the courtyard wall, he looked toward the room and heard a long, soft rhythm of breathing coming from within.

The timing could not have been better—Cheng Yu was asleep!

What he did not know was that cultivating the Demon-Slaying Dao Canon required only that one sit still and circulate the qi throughout the body.

Unlike ordinary martial artists, it did not require stirring the blood and Internal Energy, nor did cultivation necessarily create a great disturbance.

Filled with excitement, he leaped down from the courtyard wall and silently approached the room.

But all of a sudden, Mei Feng felt his steps falter, as though he had been locked onto by something.

An extremely terrifying aura suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

“Is there someone here?”

He immediately swept his gaze through the courtyard, yet he saw no one at all, nor did he sense any trace of Internal Energy.

“Hmph. I frightened myself, that is all.”

Mei Feng steadied himself and continued forward in silence.

In a place he had not noticed, a slender little figure was staring at him in puzzlement.

Susu swayed its head and flicked out its tiny tongue.

What exactly was this rat sneaking in here trying to do?

Susu had just decided to give Mei Feng a scare when it suddenly remembered its master’s instructions. It immediately sent the message over through the bond between master and beast.

Inside the room.

Cheng Yu was seated cross-legged on the bed, circulating the Demon-Slaying Dao Canon, when a soft, childish voice suddenly sounded in his mind.

Susu said a bad person had sneaked in!

“A Sixth-Rank martial artist infiltrated the Thousand-Household Office?”

Cheng Yu immediately stopped cultivating. After a moment’s thought, he lay down, deliberately keeping his breathing steady and even.

He wanted to see exactly who dared come looking for trouble of their own accord.

Outside the door.

Mei Feng finally made his way to Cheng Yu’s room. Through the window, he saw that Cheng Yu was already asleep, and he was overjoyed.

Relying on his powerful control over Internal Energy, he concealed both his aura and footsteps, then silently pushed the door open and entered.

At a single glance, he saw the Thousand-Forged Ice-Thunder Xiuchun Saber lying on the table.

“What a fine weapon!”

Mei Feng praised it inwardly at once. With a single look, he could tell that it was no ordinary blade. He reached out toward it, his heart pounding wildly.

“If I return with this saber today, that brat Cheng Yu will be frightened out of his wits. As for me, I will surely be celebrated and praised throughout the jianghu!”

If he could take the saber and leave, then that meant he could threaten Cheng Yu’s life whenever he wished.

That would be enough to cow the arrogance of this imperial hound and vent a grievance on behalf of the jianghu!

Then, when the saber was returned later, Cheng Yu would surely be terrified inside, furious yet unable to say a word.

There was no way Great Qian would dispatch experts over something so humiliating.

And without anyone helping him, what could a mere Fifth-Rank martial artist possibly do?

The more he thought about it, the more excited Mei Feng became, as though he could already see a bright future awaiting him.

He looked at Cheng Yu, who was still asleep.

“Let’s see whether you can still act arrogant after this!”

With that, he reached out and grabbed the Thousand-Forged Ice-Thunder Xiuchun Saber.

He had it!

Mei Feng was overjoyed.

But in the very next moment, something utterly beyond his expectations happened.

The Xiuchun Saber in his hand suddenly began trembling wildly.

The weapon had a spirit of its own—and it was rejecting him!

Mei Feng was startled. Afraid of making too much noise, he hurriedly mobilized his Internal Energy to suppress the Xiuchun Saber.

“A mere saber dares resist me? Let me suppress you!”

What he had not expected was that the moment his Internal Energy surged forth, the Xiuchun Saber resisted him even more fiercely.

The blade turned ice-cold, and an intent of lightning began to gather around it.

“What is going on?!”

Mei Feng’s face changed drastically. For a moment, he did not know what to do, and by instinct, he poured even more Internal Energy into suppressing it.

That only drove the Thousand-Forged Ice-Thunder Xiuchun Saber’s resistance to its absolute peak.

Boom!

A thunderous crack exploded. Mei Feng’s whole body shuddered, one sleeve burst apart at once, and his hand turned black as charcoal.