Chen Yi’s words were not without basis.

It was because, even now that the dust had settled, the reward that should have appeared had not, which put him on guard.

He waited for another moment.

Seeing that no one had yet appeared, Chen Yi spoke again, his voice hoarse.

"I just helped you take care of that man in black. You should be grateful. Why not come out for a chat?"

"I’d think the Xiao family wouldn’t repay kindness with enmity, would they?"

As he spoke, he glanced back and forth.

The narrow alley remained empty and deathly silent.

He could only hear the sound of his own breathing.

’Not the Xiao family?’

Chen Yi thought, his heart sinking slightly.

’The Liu family?’

He continued to probe, "It seems we have a guest from the Shu State’s Liu Family."

"What?"

"You don’t really think the one who killed Liu Jing was from the Xiao Family, do you?"

"Don’t fall for someone’s plot to sow discord."

After a long moment, when there was still no sound from his surroundings, Chen Yi couldn’t help but grimace.

This was the outcome he had wanted to see the least.

The person behind the scenes!

"Not the Liu Family, not the Xiao Family, yet you’re paying so much attention to me. You’re really putting me in a difficult spot."

"Aren’t you?"

"Hidden Guard!"

The moment the words left his mouth, the True Essence in Chen Yi’s body erupted. He fully unleashed the Meteor Butterfly Step, leaping onto a nearby wall in a single bound and disappearing as a black shadow in the direction of the Prefectural Magistrate’s Office.

Almost a split second after he moved, a cold, clear voice sounded by his ear:

"Who are you? How did you know it was my Hidden Guard acting tonight?"

A woman.

Chen Yi located the source of the voice and turned his head to see two women on a three-story wooden building not far away. They were clad in black cloaks with veiled faces, their figures and appearances obscured.

"Heh, you’ve finally shown yourselves."

But this was even worse than them not appearing.

Under his Qi Observation Skill, the aura of one of the two women far surpassed his own. She was clearly a Martial Artist of the Middle Three Grades Realm.

To be precise, she should be Sixth Grade.

The other’s Cultivation wasn’t weak either; she was likely not far from the Middle Three Grades.

Seeing this, and after pinpointing their location, Chen Yi instantly changed direction and ran down the alley toward the main road.

As he ran, he shouted, "Don’t bother chasing me! If I yell a few times here, your identities and your target will all be exposed!"

Who would have thought that the Sixth Grade Realm Martial Artist, upon hearing this, would come straight after him?

"You’re courting death!"

Hearing the voice from behind, Chen Yi glanced over his shoulder.

"You’re really not afraid?"

"If you have the guts, then say it!"

"The Xiao Family—"

Upon hearing just those two words, the woman’s expression immediately changed, and she flung out three darts.

SWISH, SWISH, SWISH!

The faint whooshing sounds made Chen Yi quickly turn to evade, only to see three darts embedded in the wall beside him.

With a single glance, he recognized them as the same type of darts that had killed Sun Erhu.

"So it was you who killed him before!"

The woman didn’t respond at all, simply flinging out several more darts.

Three of them flew in a triangular formation straight for Chen Yi, while two others were aimed in front of him.

Seeing this, Chen Yi stopped short, ducked to avoid them, and was about to continue his escape.

But at that moment, the woman used some unknown Cultivation Technique, and her Body Technique speed suddenly tripled.

In the time it took Chen Yi to dodge the darts, the woman had closed the distance, drawn the Soft Sword from her waist, and thrust it straight at him.

The blade’s edge pulsed with a faint, dazzling light.

Chen Yi’s eyes scanned it from the corner, and he switched his footwork, using the Wandering Dragon and Phoenix Body Technique to evade the strike like a phantom.

Who could have known that the blade would suddenly bend? The edge of the sword, like a snake’s tongue, slashed across his waist in a bizarre arc.

In a flash of pain, Chen Yi’s eyes turned cold as he met her gaze directly.

His body tensed, and with a powerful stomp that shattered the bluestone slab beneath his feet, he advanced instead of retreating.

Then, he threw a punch.

As the True Essence in his body circulated and erupted, it also stirred the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

In an instant, the wild and domineering Mountain Shattering Fist Intent enveloped an area of ten feet.

—Mountain Shattering·Earth Split!

The woman was initially dismissive, but just as she raised her sword to thrust forward, she felt as if an immense weight was pressing down on her, causing her to stagger.

"Great Success Fist Intent, like a mountain?!"

The woman’s eyes filled with astonishment, but she quickly erupted with True Essence and raised her arm to block.

BOOM!

A mountain-like force slammed into her True Essence-protected arm, not only sending the woman flying backward but also causing Chen Yi’s own True Essence to be jolted, instantly damaging one of his meridians.

Chen Yi didn’t try to forcibly suppress the backlash. Instead, he took two steps back to dissipate the force, preventing himself from suffering a secondary injury.

"Ugh."

Chen Yi looked at the woman who had steadied herself against a wall not far away. A trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, staining his black mask.

The woman watched him with suspicion and doubt. When the corner of her eye caught her left hand, which was swelling and turning red at a visible rate, a flash of anger appeared.

"To have a mere Lower Three Grades Cultivation yet possess Great Success Fist Intent... your status in the Xiao Family must be quite high, right?"

Chen Yi calmed the chaotic True Essence in his body slightly and said in a hoarse voice:

"If I were one of the Xiao family, you and your colleagues hiding within the Xiao Family would have been dead long ago."

"I’ll ask you one last time. Are you willing to let me leave?"

"Hmph!"

"Impossible!"

The woman snorted coldly and leaped toward him, executing several sword flourishes that sent slashes of light at him.

Clearly, having learned her lesson from before, she no longer dared to fight Chen Yi in close combat.

Chen Yi was also aware of this. He dodged while using his True Essence to repair his damaged meridians.

At the same time, he didn’t forget to mock her, "A grand Martial Arts Powerhouse of the Middle Three Grades, yet you haven’t even developed Sword Intent. You’re utterly useless."

"If I were you, I wouldn’t have the face to live in this world."

"You might as well go find a block of tofu to smash your head against."

The woman’s tone was icy. "Once I’ve exhausted your True Essence, we’ll see if you can still be so sharp-tongued!"

"I can. Why couldn’t I?"

"If a grand Hidden Guard Silver Banner Officer like you has the nerve to live like this, why can’t I live on in dishonor?"

Hearing what Chen Yi said, the woman’s eyes grew even colder. She thrust out dozens of streams of Sword Qi as she asked:

"How exactly did you find out our identities?"

Chen Yi dodged each one. "Not only do I know your identity, I also know that you were discussing important matters with someone at the Fengchun Building yesterday."

"Xiao Dongchen, am I right?"

"As for you... your voice sounds a bit familiar. Let me guess..."

However, before he could finish, the woman, clearly infuriated by his words, charged at him again.

Not only that, but she also called for the other woman in black to join her.

"Attack together!"

"He knows too much! We absolutely cannot let him escape!"

Instead of being angry, Chen Yi was pleased by this. His eyes ignored the Soft Sword right in front of him and focused intently on her shoulder and wrist.

When he saw the woman flick her wrist to create several sword flourishes,

Chen Yi’s footwork changed, and using the Meteor Butterfly Step, he charged straight toward her.

SHINK—

Risking having his left hand pierced by a ray of sword light, he threw a porcelain vial from his right hand, hitting the Soft Sword.

Without waiting to see the result, Chen Yi shifted his feet, using the Wandering Dragon and Phoenix to dodge the other sword lights, and abruptly retreated into the distance.

"You..."

The woman was about to give chase when her vision was suddenly filled with a pink, fluorescent light. She immediately knew something was wrong.

"Huan’er—"

She only had time to get out one word before her eyes rolled back and she collapsed to the ground.

With a CLANG, the Soft Sword flew several feet away.

"Miss!"

Hearing the shout, Chen Yi stopped a short distance away. A flicker of realization crossed his eyes. ’So it was them!’

Miss Cui, Cui Qingwu, and her Maid!

No wonder.

No wonder Xiao Dongchen was able to secretly exchange information with someone.

He and the Cui Family were in the same private room yesterday.

But how could Cui Qingwu, the young lady of the Qinghe Cui Family with its long-standing heritage, be a Hidden Guard Silver Banner Officer?

Before he could think further, the other woman was already standing in front of Cui Qingwu, glaring at Chen Yi and berating him:

"How dare you!"

"If anything happens to her, you and whoever is behind you will surely face retaliation!"

Those words...

Chen Yi believed them.

Setting aside the power of the Hidden Guard, the Qinghe Cui Family alone was enough to turn Shu State upside down.

After a moment of thought, Chen Yi clutched his injured left hand, trying to calm the True Essence that was surging again from the fight, and nodded with a smile.

"Of course, of course. I wouldn’t dare provoke retaliation from a certain family of Qinghe."

"You..."

Before the Maid named Huan’er could say more, Chen Yi had already turned and dashed away.

"When she wakes up, remember to tell her she owes me her life."

A flash of anger crossed the Maid’s eyes, but she didn’t dare give chase.

Only after Chen Yi had unhurriedly walked into the distance did she realize, stomping her foot fiercely.

’He’s seriously injured, yet he...’

’How dare he trick me like that? The audacity!’

But by now, the person was long gone, and no amount of anger from Huan’er would help.

Worried about Cui Qingwu’s safety, she had no choice but to carry Cui Qingwu on her back and run off in another direction.

「Not long after.」

Chen Yi, clutching his bleeding left hand, slipped silently into the Hundred Herbs Hall.

’That was truly dangerous.’

’If Cui Qingwu’s Sword Dao had been just a little stronger, I would have died back there.’

As he thought, he fumbled in the dark, searching the cabinets for Silver Needles and various herbs.

After lighting an oil lamp and sterilizing a Silver Needle in the flame, Chen Yi pierced his left arm and his waist with it.

At the same time, he ground the herbs he found into a powder, mixed them, and applied the paste to his wounds.

The bleeding from the wound that pierced his arm coagulated. The gash on his waist was just a scratch, a superficial injury.

Seeing this, Chen Yi breathed a small sigh of relief.

Without pausing, he took out three more Silver Needles and inserted them one by one around the damaged meridians.

Then, he used a minuscule amount of True Essence to control the Silver Needles.

He turned them left and right, using them to clear and unclog the damaged meridians.

Just as Chen Yi was concentrating on healing himself, a voice came from nearby:

"You’re not shy, are you? Barging in to take medicine and using needles to treat yourself. You think you own the place?"

Chen Yi looked up to see Liu Lang leaning against the entryway outside the accountant’s office, watching him with a half-smile.

"Just borrowing them. I’ll pay."

"I’d think the great ’Sword Madman’ wouldn’t be so stingy, would he?"

"Er..."

Liu Lang, who had been about to speak, was stunned by his words.

After it registered, the smile on his face slowly faded. Combined with the aged face from his disguise, his expression couldn’t help but turn serious.

"Who are you?"

"I am hiding here. No one should know."

Chen Yi’s hands didn’t stop. He continued treating his wounds as he said casually, his voice still hoarse:

"Brother Liu, don’t even think about making a move. Your injuries are even more severe than mine."

"It’s not worth making your own situation worse over a nobody like me."

Liu Lang was stunned again. He looked Chen Yi up and down, his serious expression turning to one of inquiry.

"Controlling Needle with Qi?"

"Forgive me for failing to recognize a great master. May I ask... Senior, which Medical Saint Hand of the Jianghu might you be?"