From the moment he entered Yuzhou City to now — half a day and a full night — he had still been coughing blood. That alone told you how serious the injury was.

Jieyi stood at the window, looking out at the flowers and plants in the courtyard below. His face was pale, and there were still traces of blood at the corner of his mouth.

The Sage Blade of the Master rested within easy reach at his side, already unsheathed — its presence filling the room with a palpable chill.

As one of the most outstanding disciples of the Sacred Blade Sect, Jieyi had never imagined he would be defeated by a farmer.

Though it was now entirely clear that the man had been no farmer whatsoever, that fact did nothing to lessen the devastation to his pride.

Within the Sacred Blade Sect, the Sect Master had said his strength could be counted, at a stretch, among the top five. Jieyi himself disagreed — he had always considered himself solidly top three.

The Sect Master, his junior martial uncle, and himself.

He had never seen the Sect Master in action, so he had no way to gauge the gap between them. He had seen his junior martial uncle fight, and knew exactly how wide that gap was. But by his estimation, the Sect Master was unlikely to surpass his junior martial uncle by all that much — after all, the heights that could be reached through martial cultivation in this world were not without limit.

He had been sent to Jizhou to gather intelligence and look for an opening to assassinate the Ning King.

But he had barely arrived in Jizhou before he had managed to form any plan at all, and already the Ning King had departed for Yuzhou. He had no choice but to follow with his people, trailing him all the way there.

On the road, he had thought to himself: this Ning King’s luck was truly something extraordinary.

The Sacred Blade Sect had come to kill him, and he had simply moved house.

And then, when they were nearly at Yuzhou — less than twenty li from the city — Jieyi had run headlong into that lunatic of unknown origin.

So it appeared the Ning King’s luck could always get better still.

This time he hadn’t needed to move house at all. Someone entirely inexplicable had taken a blow on his behalf, in an entirely inexplicable manner.

The place where Jieyi was currently recuperating was a trading house within Yuzhou City. He had not gone to an inn, nor had he done as Fourth Under Heaven had done and forced himself into some commoner’s home.

Unlike Fourth Under Heaven, the Sacred Blade Sect had existed for long enough that, to sustain itself and preserve its lineage, it had naturally built up substantial business interests.

In fact, the Sacred Blade Sect operated enterprises in every major city in the north — though none of them dared to operate under the banner of the Master’s heirs.

Because they felt that if people were to learn the Master’s descendants had gone into trade, it would be a desecration — both to the Master’s memory and to themselves.

Like a thief covering his ears while stealing a bell, or a western Chan monk covering his eyes while eating meat — as long as they pretended it wasn’t happening, they could tell themselves it was no desecration of the Master’s legacy.

During the Great Zhou dynasty, the stratification of society had been extraordinarily rigid. Scholars were forbidden from engaging in commerce, and any who were driven by circumstances to become merchants would be looked down upon by all.

Scholar, farmer, artisan, merchant — the merchant occupied the lowest rung, so low it was difficult for people today to imagine.

A simple illustration: during the Great Zhou, if two people arrived at a single-plank bridge at the same time — a farmer on one side and a wealthy merchant on the other — and the merchant failed to yield the way to the farmer, the laws of the Great Zhou would sanction him for it, and sanction him severely.

The Sacred Blade Sect’s heirs had preserved many rules from the Zhou era, and so its members remained deeply sensitive about the matter of trade.

But the practical outcome of that sensitivity was… as long as we don’t tell anyone we are the Master’s heirs, there is no issue whatsoever.

This particular trading house dealt in silk and satin. In Yuzhou, the silk and satin trade was exceptionally well developed, its textile industry far surpassing that of Jizhou. The trading house went by the name Zhou Establishment.

Jieyi was recuperating in the rear courtyard of this trading house. Though he had also wounded that lunatic in their exchange, his own injuries were clearly the more severe.

He had no idea that the lunatic and he had thought exactly alike — both of them reasoning that the most dangerous place was the safest place, both of them having entered Yuzhou City.

Nor did either of them know that within this city of Yuzhou, there was a demon king of the mortal world.

But without question, they would both find out very soon.

From the moment Cao Lie called together Yuzhou City’s martial world factions, ten full two-hour periods had now elapsed.

At the Pine Crane Tower.

Cao Lie sat in a private room drinking tea. At regular intervals, someone would come in to report, a steady stream of information flowing back to him.

After those ten periods, Cen Xiaoxiao, standing at Cao Lie’s side, bowed and said, “Young Lord, every inn and lodging house in Yuzhou City has been checked — verified one by one. None of the people we are looking for are among the guests.”

Ten periods — half of them in the dead of night — and over two hundred inns had been cleared, along with several thousand guests.

Li Chi, seated beside Cao Lie, gave a quiet laugh. “Do the math on the time. That’s actually faster than the Yuzhou prefectural office gets things done.”

Cao Lie smiled as well, his tone easy. “If I open my mouth in Yuzhou City and the efficiency still can’t match your Yuzhou prefectural office, I would find that very embarrassing.”

Li Chi said, “But all this exposure — aren’t you worried I’ll take the opportunity to do a sweep of all your people?”

Cao Lie narrowed his eyes at Li Chi. “I already waived your rent.”

Li Chi said, “Fair point.”

Cao Lie turned to Cen Xiaoxiao. “Clearing the inns through the night has probably already stirred up plenty of people. Next, two tracks running at once — one group visits the major families in the city. Tell them exactly what I, Cao Lie, said: if any household knows and doesn’t report it, they can forget about their business, and they can forget about themselves. The other group goes to every major trading house — relay my exact words there as well.”

Cen Xiaoxiao bowed. “I’ll arrange it immediately.”

After Cen Xiaoxiao stepped out, Li Chi asked with a smile, “And you? What are you going to do — just sit here and wait?”

Cao Lie sighed. “Did I not just project a certain measure of composure a moment ago?”

Li Chi asked, “Which part?”

Cao Lie said, “The part where I said — if I open my mouth in Yuzhou City and the efficiency still can’t match your prefectural office, I would find that very embarrassing.”

Li Chi said, “There was indeed just the faintest hint of composure in that.”

Cao Lie said, “Then let me answer your question just now. If in Yuzhou City I have already spoken — and yet still need to go walking around personally — then the one who would be embarrassed is not me, but every person of standing in this entire city. If my face suffers, no one else’s face gets to stay intact either.”

Li Chi asked, “May I applaud?”

Cao Lie said, “If you applaud, I can waive next year’s rent as well — but you are the Ning King, and a Ning King of your stature should carry himself with dignity…”

He hadn’t finished speaking before Li Chi was already applauding.

And already asking: “Can I clap out the rent for the year after next, the year after that, and all the many years to follow, all at once?”

Cao Lie: “…”

He sighed and said, “You are the only person I have ever encountered who… earns without limit but cannot spend freely.”

Li Chi said, “That line truly struck a tender spot… so should I consider, in the interest of spending freely, simply requisitioning the Plum Garden as public property outright?”

Cao Lie: “Before I knew you, I used to think that even three hundred generations of my descendants couldn’t exhaust my family’s wealth. After knowing you, I finally understand… there is no such thing as money that can’t be spent.”

Li Chi said, “Putting it that way does touch my conscience — gives me just the faintest twinge of guilt. I’ve decided to give you something in return.”

Cao Lie: “There’s really no need.”

Li Chi said, “This time it truly is not a scheme to take your money — I’m giving you a lifetime reward.”

Cao Lie’s eyes narrowed. “Let’s hear it.”

Li Chi said, “I can have a lifetime complimentary meal voucher for the Tingwei Residence canteen custom-issued in your name — in recognition of your contribution in waiving over ten thousand years of rent for the Tingwei Residence.”

Cao Lie looked up at the ceiling. “I shouldn’t have asked. I shouldn’t have been curious.”

Li Chi said, “You think that’s not enough? Very well then — I can extend this lifetime complimentary voucher further: to your children and grandchildren, unto endless generations. As long as the Tingwei Residence still stands, your descendants will have these complimentary vouchers.”

Cao Lie was silent.

After a long pause, Cao Lie rose and clasped his hands in a bow. “My deepest thanks.”

Li Chi pursed his lips. “I suspect you’re about to rush off and have a child immediately.”

Cao Lie said, “Do you think everyone has the same special constraints you do when it comes to having children? If I wanted to, I could indeed see to that matter momentarily — but you seem to be in no position to say the same.”

Li Chi: “Who leaked this?!”

Cao Lie sighed: “Is this still a secret?”

Li Chi said, “The Ning King’s residence is full of traitors…”

The two of them sat in the tavern drinking tea and chatting. Not long after Cao Lie had sent his people out, information began flowing back continuously.

Every so often someone would come in and bow to Cao Lie to report — this family confirmed, that family confirmed, no trace of the wanted individuals.

At this rate, it was likely that before much longer, the entirety of Yuzhou City would be turned inside out with perfect clarity.

Cao Lie turned to look out the window. The sun had nearly reached due south. He stood and stretched — he had been sitting for half a day and his whole body was stiff.

Moving about, he asked Li Chi, “You are the Ning King, and yet you’ve managed to sit here chatting with me all morning. Aren’t you lazy.”

Li Chi said, “A king who doesn’t know how to be idle will never make a good emperor.”

Cao Lie stopped walking and turned to look at Li Chi. “That is the first time I have heard those words from your mouth.”

Li Chi said, “As I said just now — the Ning King’s residence is full of traitors. If I don’t make these things clear by now, the traitors won’t give me any peace.”

Cao Lie nodded. “Traitors are wonderful.”

Li Chi narrowed his eyes. “You’re starting to look like one yourself.”

Cao Lie smiled. “After being squeezed dry the way you’ve squeezed me, if I’m not going to be an outstanding traitor, I can’t justify all the money I’ve lost.”

He asked Li Chi, “Hungry?”

Li Chi said, “Depends.”

Cao Lie asked, “Depends on what?”

Li Chi said, “Depends on whether a certain person has the self-awareness to do the right thing.”

Cao Lie looked directly at Li Chi. “You’re not thinking of having me pay for the meal?”

Li Chi said, “Remove the ‘not.'”

Cao Lie asked, “Are you like this with everyone around you?”

Li Chi shook his head, and with absolute sincerity said, “No. None of them have as much money as you do. In a certain sense, right now I’m the one paying their salaries — and the money I use to pay them is the money that comes from you.”

Cao Lie: “Good lord!”

Two quarters of an hour later, the table was laden with food and drink. Cao Lie put his head down and ate — no conversation, eating at a rapid pace.

Li Chi sighed. “You’re the one who offered to pay — why are you eating with such ferocity?”

Cao Lie said, “Eating less just makes the loss worse.”

Just then, Cen Xiaoxiao came back in from outside and bowed to Cao Lie. “Based on the reports coming in from the field right now, four or five locations look fairly suspicious. Young Lord, can our people move in?”

Cao Lie looked up at Cen Xiaoxiao, then turned to glance out the window, then lowered his head and continued eating.

“Before sundown.”

Four words.

Cen Xiaoxiao bowed once, then turned and left the Pine Crane Tower.

Li Chi ate and watched Cao Lie, then said with undisguised admiration, “I wish I could carry myself with that kind of ease.”

Cao Lie asked, “You’re the Ning King, and the people around you are one by one better at playing it cool than you are. How does that make you feel?”

Li Chi said, “I’m the Ning King, and the people around me are one by one better at playing it cool than I am, and I… am actually quite happy about it.”

Cao Lie: “Pfft—”

Li Chi: “Pick it back up and eat it, don’t waste food.”

Cao Lie: “…”

Outside the Pine Crane Tower, Cen Xiaoxiao looked around at the surroundings, slowly exhaled, and then raised his voice:

“The Young Lord says — move.”

All around the Pine Crane Tower, countless dark shapes flickered out into the city.