Commander of the Imperial Guard Hui Chunqiu stepped forward, his right hand already gripping his sword hilt.

He looked at the black-clad figure standing on the high platform, eyes full of wariness.

This was the first time in his entire career — from the day he first drew a blade — that he had felt such intense wariness.

Dozens of corpses had fallen beside this figure. At least one or two hundred more lay below the platform. And judging by the timeline, those officials couldn’t have arrived very early — so they couldn’t have been dead very long… yet the air carried not the faintest trace of bloodshed.

If the planning had been meticulous and the strike sudden, killing this many people was not impossibly difficult.

But to kill this many people *without a drop of blood* — merely imagining it was enough to tell you how extraordinarily difficult that would be.

And the bodyguards of these officials — not one of them was a mediocre fighter. Had even one person escaped, Hui Chunqiu and his men would have received word by now and turned back toward the prison.

“Who are you?”

Hui Chunqiu asked.

The black-clad figure on the platform did not answer. Instead, he raised a hand and pointed at Jiang Qianneng.

“Him. Let him go.”

Hearing those words, Hui Chunqiu’s brow lifted slightly. His wariness was at an all-time high — and yet the warrior’s pride and competitive instinct within him surged up even stronger.

Hui Chunqiu said: “You say release him, so I release him?”

The black-clad figure seemed too lazy to answer such a question. He simply stood there, looking at him in silence.

Hui Chunqiu said: “Who are you to Jiang Qianneng? How dare you kill so many court officials — this is a crime that brings ruin to your entire clan.”

The black-clad figure still said nothing.

Hui Chunqiu gave a cold snort and ordered: “Guard the prisoner carriage.”

His dozens of Imperial Guard soldiers immediately replied in unison, forming a defensive formation encircling the carriage.

Hui Chunqiu channeled force into his legs, hurled himself forward — and in the moment he reached the base of the platform, his long blade sang out of its scabbard. In the light of the torches, the blade drew a line of light like a bolt of lightning.

That single strike — there were few people in the entire jianghu who could take it lightly.

Yet the black-clad figure clearly took it lightly. He didn’t even move.

Because he had decided to look impenetrably, unshakeably hard.

And so the blade came down on the black-clad figure’s shoulder — with enough force to cleave a man cleanly in two.

But as the blade struck, there was a sharp, crisp clang, and sparks flew.

Hui Chunqiu, still airborne, was seized with shock — his eyes snapped wide open. His feet hit the ground and he instantly pulled back, then swept the blade horizontally to seal off any counterattack the figure might attempt.

But the black-clad figure remained perfectly motionless, as though the blow had not affected him in the slightest — had not even stirred in him the faintest desire to strike back.

The man’s outer garment was thin and light — not like someone wearing hidden armor underneath. But even a padded undershirt of soft armor could not possibly produce such an effect.

Hui Chunqiu knew the weight of his own blade. He knew how sharp it was. An ordinary padded soft armor would have been cut through long ago.

Meanwhile, the Li Chi standing on the high platform was inwardly utterly unruffled — and was, in fact, feeling a slight urge to show off.

What he wore beneath his long robe was no ordinary soft armor — it was the scale armor discovered in the underground palace of the Youshan Kingdom. As thin and light as jade plates, yet no divine weapon could pierce it.

In the eyes of Hui Chunqiu and those Imperial Guard soldiers, Li Chi at this moment looked like an indestructible demon.

That was exactly the effect Li Chi wanted.

It had to match the Yaksha mask on his face. It had to match the words he was about to say.

Li Chi raised a hand and pointed toward Jiang Qianneng again: “On behalf of Hell — I am here to inform you. Hell will not accept him.”

“Theatrics!”

Hui Chunqiu shouted, and flicked his left hand — three throwing knives flew out, aimed precisely at Li Chi’s face.

Li Chi still didn’t move. All three knives struck him squarely on the forehead, and again a shower of sparks.

The Yaksha mask Li Chi wore tonight was not made of cloth — it was forged from refined steel.

Never doubt Li Chi’s determination to craft himself protective armor. There was nothing he wouldn’t do.

But in the eyes of Hui Chunqiu and the Imperial Guard soldiers, this only deepened the demonic quality of the figure before them.

Three throwing knives — and all they did was knock the black-clad figure’s head back slightly, before he lowered it again amid the shower of sparks.

Li Chi exhaled slowly: “Hell will not accept him. But Hell will accept you.”

As he finished speaking, Li Chi drifted lightly down from the high platform.

As he landed, shadowy shapes seemed to materialize around him — one after another, black-clad figures stepped out of the darkness beyond the reach of the torchlight.

They were dressed identically to Li Chi — the same black robes, the same Yaksha masks.

It was as though the moment he touched the ground, he had split into countless forms.

Black-clad figures appeared in every direction at once. Suddenly the very air grew heavy — every breath seemed to cut cold as ice.

Li Chi raised a hand and pointed toward the prisoner carriage: “Release him.”

All the black-clad figures raised their hands simultaneously toward the carriage, and the same words rang out in unison.

“Release him!”

Hui Chunqiu had never in all his years witnessed anything so uncanny.

He still firmly believed these were all skilled fighters. But not every one of his Imperial Guard soldiers shared that firm belief.

The bone-chilling cold of the atmosphere, the ghost-like movements, the nerve-severing pressure — it seemed impossible that living people could project such a thing.

Hui Chunqiu stepped back one pace at a time until he was beside the prisoner carriage, then glanced at Jiang Qianneng.

Jiang Qianneng’s face was also a mask of bewilderment — and there was fear in it too.

These were not his people. He could never have assembled so many. If he could have, he would not have waited three years without a chance to kill Zhao Jingzhong.

Hui Chunqiu called out loudly: “If you do not fall back, I will kill Jiang Qianneng first.”

Li Chi’s hands moved as he walked forward — from the loose sleeves of his robe, black chains descended.

All the black-clad figures stepped forward in unison — from every loose sleeve, a black chain descended.

*Chains of the death-summoning Yaksha.* Surely this was what they would use.

Li Chi said nothing. But Hui Chunqiu already understood: kill Jiang Qianneng, and not one of his men leaves this place alive.

“Minister Jiang.”

Hui Chunqiu suddenly turned to look at Jiang Qianneng — and smiled: “Take care.”

Then he swept his arm: “Retreat!”

The dozens of Imperial Guard soldiers immediately pulled back, rapidly withdrawing from around the carriage — and in moments, disappeared into the streets.

Li Chi had not actually anticipated that they would simply leave just like that. It was somewhat different from what he had planned.

Around the prisoner carriage, more than ten black-clad figures simultaneously swung their chains out to wrap around the bars of the wooden cage. As the ten-odd figures pulled outward in unison, the wooden cage was wrenched apart.

—

Half an hour later. The Court of Judicial Review.

Jiang Qianneng stared at Gui Yuanshu before him, his eyes full of utter disbelief.

He had never — not in any of his imaginings — thought that it would be Gui Yuanshu who had arranged for people to rescue him.

“Where did you find these people?”

Jiang Qianneng asked.

Gui Yuanshu gave a bitter smile. What could he say?

He had been locked in that room — he didn’t know where that place was, and he didn’t know who might come to save him.

In the first moments after he came to, he had almost no strength left in his body — he couldn’t break open the locked wooden door.

It wasn’t until some of his strength recovered that he threw himself against the door, smashed it open, and ran.

The place he came out to was an ordinary civilian residence — nothing remarkable about it at all. And in that moment, the one thought in his mind was to save someone.

But how was he to save a Jiang Qianneng who was determined to die?

As he ran out, a name surfaced in his mind — the Young Marquis, Cao Du.

All of Daxing, and all of its people — and yet the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review could think of no one else to turn to.

He ran in a single breath to the official lodging house. What happened next was entirely beyond Gui Yuanshu’s control — beyond his control, beyond his ability to predict.

He had no idea what method Cao Du would use to bring Jiang Qianneng out. But at the time, Cao Du said two words to him — and those two words settled his heart.

*Wait.*

Just those two words. After Cao Du spoke them, Gui Yuanshu understood one thing: Cao Du would certainly bring Jiang Qianneng back.

But even Gui Yuanshu had never imagined that Cao Du would kill so many people.

All together, perhaps close to three hundred — and all killed without a drop of blood. Working out the logic, if Cao Du were willing, anyone in Daxing he wanted dead — who could escape him?

Perhaps only the Emperor living in the Shiyuan Palace could be certain of his safety.

However weakened Dachu’s national strength might be, the skilled fighters inside the Shiyuan Palace would never have been quietly replaced with wine-sacks and rice-bags.

Hearing Jiang Qianneng ask again — *where did you find these people?* — Gui Yuanshu, beyond a bitter smile, didn’t know how to respond.

After a long silence, Gui Yuanshu finally replied: “I found a demon.”

That answer was not one Jiang Qianneng would believe, of course. But he could also see that Gui Yuanshu’s eyes were complicated in ways that were hard to read.

Gui Yuanshu asked: “Do you have any plans?”

Jiang Qianneng shook his head: “I only planned for death. I hadn’t planned for anything beyond that. In my design, this was the last step.”

He looked at Gui Yuanshu: “And what about you? What are your plans?”

Gui Yuanshu gave another bitter smile: “What plans could I have?”

He slowly exhaled and said: “I’ll find a way to arrange for you to leave Daxing. It may take some time — the city will be tightly locked down, and getting out won’t be easy. We’ll have to wait — wait until His Majesty’s fury cools a little.”

—

At that moment, Li Chi strolled in from outside.

The instant Jiang Qianneng saw Li Chi, he shot to his feet. On reflex, the words burst from his mouth.

“Cao Du — Cao Du, the good-for-nothing?”

Li Chi gave him a sidelong look: “I’m so grateful to you.”

Jiang Qianneng: “…”

Li Chi said: “Neither of you has a plan, and I’ve planned everything out for both of you.”

Gui Yuanshu looked at Li Chi: “What do you intend to do?”

That look of wariness — so thorough, so comprehensive — Li Chi found it deeply contemptible.

He gave Gui Yuanshu a sidelong look: “Once you’ve squeezed the donkey dry, you kick out the father?”

Gui Yuanshu froze. He couldn’t quite work out, on the spot, what the relationship was between a donkey and a father, or what the relationship was between a donkey and Cao Du, or between Cao Du and a father.

Li Chi walked himself over to an empty seat, sat down, and straightened his fine clothes.

He said: “The Cao family has operations in the capital that don’t see the light of day. Minister Gui has likely heard of this business.”

Gui Yuanshu asked: “What business?”

Li Chi answered: “The Cloud-Mist Map.”

With a *snap*, Gui Yuanshu leapt straight up — not stood up, but *leapt* up.

“The Cloud-Mist Map is the Cao family’s?!”

Li Chi sighed: “You truly are not suited to be Chief Justice. If the Cloud-Mist Map weren’t mine, then why were all those men Yao Zhidong sent so effortlessly killed? If your mind worked even slightly better, you wouldn’t be sitting there reacting like a stunned fool.”

Li Chi looked at Jiang Qianneng: “I’m entrusting the Daxing branch of the Cloud-Mist Map to you for now. You don’t have to do anything at the moment — just lie low. When there’s something to do, it will depend on whether you’re ready. If you are, then you’re better suited than anyone to do one thing.”

Jiang Qianneng asked in puzzlement: “Just what is it you want me to do?”

Li Chi said: “Rescue people.”

Then Li Chi said something Jiang Qianneng could not refuse.

“The court has many people like you and Gui Yuanshu — that idiot — who should not die. Who should not become the sacrifices of power and private desire.”

Gui Yuanshu: “I’m also so grateful to you.”

Li Chi shot him a glare, then looked at Jiang Qianneng: “Surely Minister Jiang can handle this.”

Jiang Qianneng asked: “You — are you really Cao Du? I find it hard to believe. Who are you really?”

Li Chi answered: “I’m the donkey I just mentioned.”

Jiang Qianneng couldn’t quite place when, just now, anyone had mentioned a donkey.

But Gui Yuanshu had placed it — and immediately cursed: “Your grandfather!”

Li Chi said: “Are you referring to your great-grandfather?”

—