Westwind Pawnshop was tucked away in a secluded corner of the West Market’s North Quarter, and passing merchants were few to begin with. The three or four shop hands from the neighboring rice shops had been in the middle of unloading goods when they saw these masked figures suddenly materialize out of nowhere, and for a moment none of them could quite take it in — they all stood there gaping, until the masked figure Lin Sui’an had cleaved away traced a parabolic arc through the air and crashed heavily to the ground. Only then did they snap back to their senses. With cries of alarm they stampeded back into their shops and slammed the doors and windows shut. Hua Yitang had barely stuck his head out before the pawnshop’s own clerk shoved him back inside.

A window of the east rice shop opened a crack. A copper gong was thrust out, and someone seized a mallet and began pounding — clang, clang, clang — the sound of the gong rang out across the entire North Quarter, evidently the West Market’s emergency alert system for sudden incidents.

The six black-clad figures panicked at once. They raised their sabers and charged. Their speed was considerable, and their grip on their blades was markedly similar — especially their opening stance, which came slashing straight for the throat and bore about a fifty-percent resemblance to the first form of the Ten Purities Collection, “Slit the throat, blood floods ten zhang, the King of Hell summons souls.”

Well, well! Lin Sui’an thought — how the tables had turned. Last night she had pulled off a high-grade imitation of “Twin Dragons Emerging from the Sea,” and today she runs straight into knock-offs of both the Ten Purities Collection and Qian Jing herself. How very entertaining.

Unfortunately for these six, they had learned nothing more than the outward form, and their speed meant nothing to Lin Sui’an. She couldn’t even be bothered to use any particular technique. She sank her stance, dropped low, and charged into the middle of them. With her left foot as the pivot, her right sole planted on the ground, she spun like a top, and Qian Jing wheeled in her palm — ting ting ting ting — sending sparks flying in a ring as she sliced through all six of the imitation sabers in one pass.

The six black-clad figures flew apart and reeled back, their expressions turning to horror.

“Oh my, oh my, oh my! She must be the legendary Lin Sui’an who can fight one against a hundred! Last night she routed sixty members of the Golden Feather Guard and defeated the Fierce Tiger of Taiyuan Commandery in a single blow! How tremendously mighty!”

A booming voice rang out, its tone as overwrought and theatrical as it was possible to be, giving Lin Sui’an goosebumps all over. She turned to look — Hua Yitang had stuck his head out the window, and that whole string of exaggerated praise had obviously come from him.

The exposed portion of the six masked figures’ faces turned grey. Three of them charged toward Lin Sui’an; three charged toward Hua Yitang. Hua Yitang’s head instantly vanished back inside the window like a turtle retreating into its shell. Lin Sui’an laughed in spite of herself. Hua Yitang’s talent for drawing aggro was truly at maximum level. She picked up her pace — an upward slash, a downward cleave, a horizontal sweep — she put down the three coming for her, flicked up onto the tips of her toes, leapt into the air, scissor-kicked two more off their feet, used the momentum to flip over, and landed squarely in front of the last one. The black-clad man inhaled sharply. His instinct screamed at him to flee — but before he could act, a blur of motion flashed before his eyes, and a hand cracked into his jaw with a grip that closed around it. He even heard the sound of his own teeth cracking under the pressure. His legs buckled, and he sank to his knees.

“Who goes there, daring to cause trouble in the West Market!” A squad of constables came charging in, brandishing their iron rods. When they took in the black-clad figures strewn across the ground and Lin Sui’an’s posture, every last one of them froze in alarm. They formed a ring around Lin Sui’an and shouted, “West Market Office constables on duty! This is the West Market — conduct yourselves with order!”

“Bang!” Hua Yitang kicked open the door of Westwind Pawnshop. Right hand swinging his fan, left arm tucked around the wooden box, he sauntered out. “Hey, hey, hey — who are you calling disorderly?!”

One of the older constables startled, then broke into a wide grin. “Why, it’s Fourth Young Master of the Hua Family visiting in person! Quick, quick — everyone, show respect!”

The remaining constables scrambled to clasp their hands in salute.

Hua Yitang tossed out a pouch of gold leaf. “Tie these ones up nice and tight.” Then he circled around Lin Sui’an once. “What a magnificent stance.”

Lin Sui’an sighed. “I was worried he might bite down on a poison tooth.”

Hua Yitang tilted his head and looked. “You’ve already crushed his teeth. If there was poison concealed in them, he’d have died from it already.”

Lin Sui’an felt a touch of embarrassment. “First time doing this — still not quite practiced.”

The black-clad man spat out a mouthful of blood.

The West Market Office constables were reasonably efficient. They obtained lengths of hemp rope from the rice shop, trussed all the figures on the ground with a few deft moves, then dragged them all together like links of sausage. They doused the unconscious ones with cold water to wake them, then positioned themselves at a tactful distance in a wide ring to stand guard.

Hua Yitang pulled off the face coverings of all seven in turn. All unfamiliar faces. Their gazes nearly burned holes in Hua Yitang’s box.

“Oh, you want this, do you?” Hua Yitang tapped the box. “Then why go to all the trouble of snatching it by force? You could just buy it from me.”

As he said this, Hua Yitang’s brows curved and his smile bloomed warm and innocent — the picture of pure, harmless sincerity.

Lin Sui’an thought to herself: that scoundrel is at it again — baiting them to slip up and confess.

All seven black-clad figures stared at Hua Yitang without a flicker of reaction.

“The things inside are something I’ve already seen — not much use to me. But for the Taiyuan Jiang Family, they’re probably worth a bit.” Hua Yitang said, “What do you say I sell it to you for a thousand gold?”

The black-clad man whose teeth Lin Sui’an had crushed hawked a mouthful of blood onto the ground.

Lin Sui’an stood to one side with Qian Jing in her arms, observing all seven of them. They were all powerfully built men standing over eight chi tall, aged roughly in their twenties, with heavy calluses on the web between the thumb and forefinger of their right hands, clearly indicating years of martial foundation. Moreover, in the brief exchange of blows just now, their technique had carried a fierce, rough-and-ready flavor of the jianghu, similar in feel to the Eastern Zhao style. At the mention of the name “Taiyuan Jiang Family,” not one of them showed any change in their pupils or breath — clearly the name meant little to them.

“Perhaps you think the price is too high?” Hua Yitang said. “What about a five-percent discount? Ten percent off? Oh, but we really can’t go lower than that — the Su Family of Suizhou has offered nine hundred gold.”

Lin Sui’an was completely unsurprised that Hua Yitang would say this. He had never been able to stand Su Yiyun to begin with, so taking a swipe at her on the side was nothing out of the ordinary.

Yet the seven black-clad figures still showed no particular reaction. The looks they directed at Hua Yitang even carried a trace of contempt.

Hua Yitang clicked his tongue thoughtfully, just as he was about to keep on pushing, when Lin Sui’an stopped him. She stood over the seven figures and looked down at them. “Has no one ever told you that the Ten Purities Collection you’ve been training is wrong?”

At those words, all seven pupils contracted violently at once. One man even blurted out, “What did you say?!”

It was as expected. People who practiced martial arts hated nothing more than being told they had practiced incorrectly.

Lin Sui’an kept her face expressionless, suppressing her inward amusement. “I observed your saber technique just now. There are three serious flaws. First: you have captured only the outward form of the moves, not their spirit, which renders them hollow — against a truly skilled opponent, you will be routed completely. Second: you have only trained your saber technique without cultivating your internal energy. Your dantian is empty — you are like a hollow stalk of bamboo, all surface and no substance, with no real combat power at all. Third: when you first began training the saber, you did not open up the governing and conception meridians. These two meridians are now obstructed and your blood circulation is blocked. If this continues, your energy will reverse its flow, and you will go violently mad.”

All seven faces went white in unison.

Hua Yitang was also greatly taken aback. He had no knowledge of martial theory, but listening to Lin Sui’an speak with such authority, and recalling the state of the battle just moments ago in which these seven had indeed been completely routed exactly as she described, he looked at their complexions — which confirmed about eighty percent of what Lin Sui’an had said was the truth — and felt a surge of admiration. He leaned over and murmured, “You’re actually willing to give your enemies pointers on their technique?”

Lin Sui’an glanced at Hua Yitang with a flicker of surprise, thinking to herself: this playboy must have bribed the worms living in her stomach — how had he figured out so quickly that she was bluffing, and slipped in right on cue to play along?

Lin Sui’an said, “We are all people of the martial world. I know too well how difficult this path is. I simply cannot bear to see them deceived, their life’s effort wasted, and their lives forfeited on top of it.”

Hua Yitang drew a sharp breath. “Is there any hope of saving them?”

Lin Sui’an furrowed her brow and said nothing.

She was working out these men’s identities and origins. The first thing that came to mind was the Eastern Capital’s Pure Gate — but she quickly dismissed that. The reason was simple: the Pure Gate’s primary business was intelligence-gathering, so Pure Gate disciples were universally social and silver-tongued. But these seven had nothing but blunt brute force and not a shred of cleverness — a completely different breed from the Pure Gate style. Hua Yitang had casually mentioned two of the great clans and they had barely reacted at all, so they were probably unconnected to the major families either. That meant they were likely a different faction altogether.

At this thought, Lin Sui’an could not help but sigh inwardly, thinking: this was the Eastern Capital for you — the waters ran far too deep.

What Lin Sui’an didn’t know was that her little performance had given those seven a considerable fright. When this young woman said nothing, her eyes were dark as the sea and her expression carried a compassionate grief, and the gaze she turned on them was as if they were already dead men. There was also Hua Yitang at her side, sighing repeatedly and setting the atmosphere to something utterly bleak. And when Lin Sui’an at last heaved that sigh, it very nearly sent all seven souls to the afterlife then and there.

“Are — are we really beyond saving?!” One of the black-clad men was on the verge of tears.

“Brothers, don’t listen to her nonsense! This woman is spouting lies to unsettle our minds!” one of them shouted furiously. “Lin Sui’an, you are unworthy of wielding Qian Jing as its master. You’re a willing accomplice to evil — divine retribution will come for you!”

The man saying this was the one whose teeth Lin Sui’an had crushed last. His voice was meant to be ferocious and cold, but unfortunately the missing teeth made him whistle and hiss as he spoke, which gave the whole speech a rather comical quality.

Lin Sui’an maintained her expressionless composure and thought quickly: based on the style of his speech, this man was likely one of those jianghu types who fancied themselves righteous heroes. People like that tended to respond to gentleness and resist force, so harsh interrogation tactics might backfire. Better to try a soft approach, or perhaps — she slid a glance at Hua Yitang —

Hua Yitang smiled. He gathered his robes and crouched down, moved the wooden box in front of the black-clad men, tapped it twice, and said quietly, “I can see you’re all at death’s door, and I feel genuinely sorry for you. How about this — I’ll give you this box to take back and satisfy your employer. Would that do?”

The black-clad man sneered. “You’d be that generous?”

“Of course there’s a condition,” said Hua Yitang with a smile. “Bring us along to meet your employer. Maybe they have money to pay me, you never know.”

The black-clad man’s eyes flickered. “You think you can just waltz into the Eastern Capital’s Pure Gate whenever you please?!”

Hua Yitang’s eyes narrowed. He leaned closer. “So you’re from the Eastern Capital’s Pure Gate —”

“They’re not from the Pure Gate — watch out!” Jin Ruo’s voice exploded overhead. Lin Sui’an felt a sudden violent gust of wind at her back. Her reflexes kicked in and she lurched sideways, throwing herself on top of Hua Yitang. The force of the momentum sent the two of them skidding nearly ten paces away. Without pausing to look at Hua Yitang’s expression, Lin Sui’an was already rolling off him, snapping upright with one knee on the ground in a spring-ready crouch. Qian Jing cleared its sheath and swept out in a fierce arc. Three iron rods cracked in two on the ground — the ambush had come from those very West Market Office constables.

Three of the constables, seeing their weapons broken, fell back swiftly. Five more stepped up to engage Lin Sui’an, but their target wasn’t Lin Sui’an at all — it was Hua Yitang. Lin Sui’an didn’t dare press the attack and could only prioritize protecting Hua Yitang first. In those few split-seconds of hesitation, the seven black-clad figures retreated swiftly under the escort of the constables. One of the black-clad figures was clutching the wooden box that had been hurriedly snatched up in the chaos. Jin Ruo gave chase relentlessly, but each time he drew within a few steps of the box, the constables forced him back. These two groups worked together with organized retreat and advance — their coordination was remarkably smooth. When they reached the corner of the street, the constables let out a whistle signal, and suddenly several pouches of flour were hurled from above, bursting into clouds of white dust in mid-air. In an instant the entire scene was obscured in murk, visibility gone.

By the time the powder settled, both the black-clad figures and the constables had vanished without a trace.

Jin Ruo was furious. He didn’t even stop to brush the flour from his clothes, and was on the verge of giving chase when Hua Yitang and Lin Sui’an called him back simultaneously. “Don’t chase.”

Jin Ruo turned. “Are you two out of your minds? They took the goods and you’re just going to let it go?!”

“You’re the one out of your mind,” said Hua Yitang, walking along and brushing the flour off his clothes with his fan. “It’s just an empty box. Let them have it.”

Jin Ruo: “Huh?”

Hua Yitang raised an eyebrow with a grin, and from his chest he produced the scroll and gave it a little wave. “West Market constables are the laziest, most cowardly people around — they would never show up that quickly. And besides, as strikingly handsome and peerlessly distinguished as I am, this is my first visit to the Eastern Capital — how on earth could they possibly have recognized me at first sight? Clearly those were imposters.”

So he had already sensed something was wrong the moment those constables appeared. Lin Sui’an thought to herself that she hadn’t caught on until Hua Yitang offered to hand over the box, because that was entirely contrary to that particular playboy’s nature — he would never have willingly spat out a duck that was already in his mouth.

Jin Ruo said, “So the box was empty?”

Hua Yitang gave him a look of undisguised disappointment. “They’re not stupid — I obviously put something in it.”

“What did you put in?”

Hua Yitang sniggered. “I bought several years’ worth of Westwind Pawnshop’s disused transaction ledgers. Let them pore over those until their heads spin and their eyes go dry.”

Jin Ruo: “……”

Lin Sui’an: “……”

That was ruthless.

Sure enough, just as Hua Yitang had predicted, it wasn’t until the three of them had strolled at their leisure all the way out of the West Market’s North Quarter that they spotted a few pot-bellied constables panting as they jogged toward them. As they passed by, a powerful reek of alcohol made Jin Ruo sneeze.

Jin Ruo rubbed his nose. “So you’re planning to play the long game and lure out the big fish?”

Lin Sui’an said, “In three days we negotiate with the Eastern Capital’s Pure Gate — it’s a perfect opportunity to add a condition about finding these people.”

Hua Yitang said, “As long as we can track down their movements in the Eastern Capital, we may be able to follow the vine to the gourd and find whoever is behind this. I truly want to see who it is that wants to steal this scroll.”

Jin Ruo said, “Most likely an enemy of the Taiyuan Jiang Family.”

Hua Yitang was quiet for a moment. “I fear it may not be limited to that.”

“Besides, even with the Eastern Capital’s Pure Gate, trying to find people of unknown name and appearance in a city this vast would be like searching for a needle in the ocean,” Jin Ruo murmured. “If only we had their likenesses — that would cut our work in half —”

Hua Yitang and Lin Sui’an both stopped mid-step and wheeled around to stare at Jin Ruo.

Jin Ruo looked puzzled. “What?”

Hua Yitang narrowed his eyes. “You seem to have forgotten that I can —”

Before he could finish, Lin Sui’an grabbed him and shoved him behind her. She gripped Qian Jing tightly and fixed her gaze on Jin Ruo’s eyes. “You don’t seem the least bit curious about what’s in this scroll.”

Jin Ruo blinked twice, then suddenly smiled. His wrist turned, and as if by magic, the scroll that should have been inside Hua Yitang’s chest appeared in his open palm. His toes tapped the ground — front, back, left, right — his entire form instantly split into five flickers of shadow, and with a dash, he leapt back a dozen zhang.

Hua Yitang screamed in shock. “What the —! A ghost in broad daylight! Ahhhhhh!”

Not a ghost — the Lotus Blossom Steps!

Lin Sui’an drew her blade and gave chase, but by now they were at the West Market’s ward gate, where the crowds were enormous and goods were piled high, with long camel trains stretching from inside the ward all the way out. That “Jin Ruo” seemed to dissolve like an illusion into the crowd and vanished in an instant. Lin Sui’an leapt up onto a camel, ignoring the stream of foreign traders shouting angrily below, swept her eyes rapidly over the scene — her pupils contracted sharply — she launched off the camel, bouncing across more than ten hump-backs in rapid succession, burst out through the ward gate, and dropped down in a sudden landing. One hand shot out in a capture grip and seized the shoulder of a person at a sesame-cake stall. The person cried out and spun around furiously. “Who is it, are you trying to die — Lin Sui’an?!”

The person had Jin Ruo’s features, cheeks stuffed so full they bulged out on both sides, and was dressed identically to the “Jin Ruo” from just moments before.

Lin Sui’an said, “What’s Fang Ke’s favorite tea?!”

Jin Ruo: “What?”

“Say it now!”

“Ow, ow, ow! How would I know what that stuff is that Yi Ta brews in a pot every day?!”

Lin Sui’an gritted her teeth and let go. She turned to scan the crowd once more — but there wasn’t a trace of the person to be found. Fury shot straight to her temples and her pulse pounded with rage.

“What the — you — you —” Hua Yitang came sprinting over, robes hiked up, pointed at Jin Ruo just about to curse him out, then stopped. He looked again and caught on. “Wait, this — this is —”

Lin Sui’an: “This is the real one.”

Hua Yitang stared, utterly at a loss. “Then — then just now, that other one —”

Jin Ruo, chewing his sesame cake: “What real and fake? What’s going on?”

Lin Sui’an took a slow, deep breath. “Just now, Yun Zhong Yue disguised himself as you and stole the important scroll left behind by Shan Yuanming.”

The sesame cake fell out of Jin Ruo’s mouth. “WHAT?!”