"Cough cough... what do you know..." Yue Tingyun gasped, his voice like a broken bellows, "That old bastard... his hand is colder than ice! I just gathered all my power and slapped it over... good gracious! His Ghost Palm Power... swoosh! Not only did it pierce through, but also, dammit... it hooked onto my own Inner Strength! Then he turned around and struck me hard in the chest! Is this what you call martial arts?" 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Liu Hanyan kept walking, her brows furrowed tightly: "...This style... sounds terrifying."

"More than terrifying!" Yue Tingyun rolled his eyes, though now he looked more like he was about to die, "The Demon Sect’s most despicable secret, non-elders... cough... the old bastard... can’t learn it."

Liu Hanyan’s heart tightened.

This time, they had accepted a bounty from the Zige Bureau. As a heroic couple roaming the Jianghu, they could have no connections, could have no friends, but they couldn’t have no money.

However, the Southern Border was not like the Central Plains. The Martial Arts world had been in decline for years, and experts either served the Tusi or were controlled by the Prince Mansion, absorbed into the military and other services. Besides taking on bounties from the Zige Bureau, they had no other way to live.

Yue Tingyun sucked in air from the pain, "That old geezer... named Wu Meng, ten years ago... heh... was also a tough character! He mixed in with the Demon Sect up to the elder level... But then... got caught with sticky fingers. Stole a piece of ’Holy Fire Order’ junk... and was chased like a homeless dog by the even tougher guys in the sect, nobody could find him. We just wanted to visit Gaoliang Mountain, didn’t expect he’d hide right under the Demon Sect’s nose... heh... and transformed into a watchdog for a Tusi! Pah! Shameful!"

Liu Hanyan felt her heart thumping; it was she who took the bounty, but like most women who don’t like reading lengthy texts, she hadn’t read it either.

"Tingyun? Yue Tingyun!" In silence, Liu Hanyan felt her arm sink, Yue Tingyun’s face turned ashen again, his breath faint.

"You bastard, try dying on me and see what happens!" Liu Hanyan was both anxious and angry, kicking the nearby tree trunk, shaking down a few leaves. She knew if they couldn’t find a solution, Yue Tingyun would end up burying himself in this damned forest.

At that moment, she had no choice but to call for help.

Even if it meant being spotted by the old man.

She deftly pulled out an object from her bosom, not rouge or a handkerchief, but a black, heavy iron cylinder, engraved with a strange crossed blade pattern.

"The old guy gave it... said the Prince Mansion’s Zige Bureau... recognizes this..." Liu Hanyan muttered to herself, those accepting bounties often gambled with their lives, "A dead horse as a living horse doctor."

She pulled out the pin from the bottom of the cylinder, lifted it high, aiming at the sky fragmented by branches and leaves overhead.

Whoosh.

A scarlet flare, like a heated iron, tore through the forest’s stillness, screaming as it dragged a long, dazzling trail, forcefully smashing through the layers of branches, shooting straight up to the sky.

Bang.

The sky exploded into a massive, blinding pattern, clearly branding the Zige Bureau’s emblem, burning fiercely.

Liu Hanyan plopped down onto the ground; she looked at the bright red flower in the sky, then glanced at the laboriously breathing Yue Tingyun beside her.

"Hey! Yue! See it? Fireworks! I lit them just for you, more festive than New Year!" She wiped her face, not knowing if it was sweat or tears, "If the Prince Mansion people are blind... the two of us really will be wild mandarin ducks in this forest!"

Yue Tingyun didn’t respond, just focused his breath.

Only that scarlet firework continued to burn in the dusky sky.

......

The flames scorched half the sky.

A signal flare?

Chen Yi tapped lightly on the branches and leaves.

Typically, for "outsourced" individuals like this, the Zige Bureau of the Prince Mansion usually wouldn’t interfere, often letting them fend for themselves, considering it an act of grace to collect their bodies later.

But they happened upon Chen Yi, who had just arrived and wanted to make a bit of an impression.

Upon arrival, there was a task to complete.

He quickened his pace.