“No, no, no!” Yun Zhong Yue stepped back several paces, waving his hands frantically. “We’re already so well acquainted — all this talk of fighting and killing, it’s quite unbecoming, isn’t it?”

“Brother Yun’s words are quite mistaken. I’ve never even seen your face — how could we call ourselves acquainted?” Lin Sui’an smiled, and with a sudden twist of her wrist made a lightning charge forward. Qian Jing’s blade light split into over a dozen extremely fine, extremely green lines, attacking Yun Zhong Yue from every direction.

This was an improved version of the group attack technique “Swift Wind Shaking Autumn Leaves.” When used against multiple opponents, it required coordinated footwork; but when the target was only one person, simply substituting blade momentum for the footwork steps would produce this dazzling, encircling effect — perfectly suited for dealing with Yun Zhong Yue, who was skilled at evasion and slippery as an eel.

Yun Zhong Yue’s expression changed drastically. His toes danced furiously through the nine-palace eight-trigram steps, attempting to use the Lotus Step to evade — but the Lotus Step had barely been deployed when it slammed right into the cave wall. Had he not braked in time, he would have bashed his head open, and in the confusion he spun around and stopped himself — back against the wall.

Lin Sui’an’s smile grew broader.

Yun Zhong Yue’s greatest skill was the Lotus Step. The Lotus Step’s greatest advantage was making the eye perceive afterimage illusions through extreme speed — but it had one fatal flaw: it required considerable distance to execute. Without enough space, it could not generate sufficient acceleration, and without sufficient acceleration, the afterimage illusion naturally could not be produced.

So every time Yun Zhong Yue deployed the Lotus Step, it was in relatively open areas: the rooftop of the White Egret Raft on the Cloud Water River, rooftops along streets, the Lotus Bridge in the Hua Family’s estate of sixty-six compounds—

But this cave was a natural cavern, with limited height and width, and only a single entrance and exit. No matter how Yun Zhong Yue twisted and turned, as long as the passage entrance was held, catching him was simple as scooping a turtle from a jar.

Lin Sui’an still clearly remembered — on the Lotus Bridge, a fleeting glimpse of the face beneath Yun Zhong Yue’s cracked mask.

Such a beautiful face — hidden away every single day. What a waste.

Lin Sui’an’s smile grew increasingly dangerous, like a butcher sharpening his knife for the pig. She advanced on Yun Zhong Yue step by steady step, Qian Jing held at the ready.

Yun Zhong Yue’s back was pressed flat against the damp cave wall. He crabbed sideways a step at a time, fingers frantically scrabbling at the stone behind him — but found nothing except a few wet fragments of stalactite.

Yun Zhong Yue’s heart was beginning to curse inwardly: he’d had absolutely no idea this cavern was a dead end, and the space was so cramped, with the only exit sealed off airtight by Lin Sui’an and Qian Jing.

He knew her combat ability better than anyone. The last few times he’d barely managed to escape, it was half owing to the Lotus Step and half to sheer luck. And he’d noticed — every time he encountered Lin Sui’an, her speed and strength had improved. Even more terrifying was that she kept acquiring stranger and stranger techniques, which was a living demonstration of what it meant to be “a martial prodigy for whom learning truly has no end.”

With Lin Sui’an drawing closer by the second and Qian Jing’s blade light flickering like ghostly fire, Yun Zhong Yue was sweating all over. Beneath the human-skin mask, sweat pooled and gathered — stifling and damp — deeply uncomfortable.

This was not a good sign.

The Great Thief Under Heaven, Yun Zhong Yue, who had ranged freely across the jianghu, was genuinely somewhat frightened at this moment.

“Lin Niangzi — how about we make a deal?” Yun Zhong Yue smiled.

Lin Sui’an shook her head with a smile. “There’s no hurry. Stripping off your face and then discussing it will be plenty of time.”

Saying this, she suddenly raised Qian Jing high above her head. The ink-green blade light swept over skin — an icy killing intent so sharp it made every hair on Yun Zhong Yue’s body stand on end. He cried out, “I’ll help you!”

Qian Jing’s blade light stopped. Lin Sui’an raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Yun Zhong Yue gritted his teeth. “I can help you break the situation in Cheng County.”

Lin Sui’an said nothing, but with one hand she flicked a flashy little spin of the blade.

“I have already successfully infiltrated the inner circle of Longshen Temple. I can assist from the shadows — and when the time is right, we strike from inside and out simultaneously. Great things can be accomplished!”

Lin Sui’an smiled coldly. “I don’t trust you.”

Though Lin Sui’an’s tone was not particularly pleasant, Yun Zhong Yue’s sharp sixth sense told him her killing intent had weakened slightly. He’d been surviving in the jianghu long enough to have some faith in his sixth sense.

He felt — Lin Sui’an might actually be a little interested.

“Besides Longshen Temple, Cheng County has two other factions — the Hall of Virtue and the Hall of the Four Corners. You’ve only been here a few days — you surely haven’t uncovered them yet?”

Hall of Virtue? Hall of the Four Corners? What were those?

Lin Sui’an gave an inward start, but kept her expression completely neutral. “Since you’re so earnest, why not give us a couple bottles of talisman water to sample, as a token of good faith?”

The corner of Yun Zhong Yue’s mouth twitched. If the talisman water were so easy to obtain, why would he have spent over two months painstakingly infiltrating Longshen Temple? But this was something he absolutely could not say — after all, he did carry the title of Greatest Thief Under Heaven. To have been lurking for all this time and still failed to steal a single small bottle of talisman water — if word got out in the jianghu, where would his face go?

Yun Zhong Yue: “The talisman water is not in Longshen Temple.”

Lin Sui’an: “Today’s talisman water was taken from the Hall of Yuanji.”

“The Hall of Yuanji has a hidden passage, leading to a chamber for the talisman water.”

“Are you referring to this place?”

Yun Zhong Yue’s gaze swept around him, and he shook his head. “I originally thought so as well, but now it appears this hidden chamber has already been abandoned. There must be another location.”

At this, Lin Sui’an suddenly felt something was off. She had entered from the Hall of Yuanji, with Jin Ruo still standing guard outside. If Yun Zhong Yue had also entered through the Hall of Yuanji, then wouldn’t Jin Ruo have—

Lin Sui’an’s gaze sharpened. “What did you do to Jin Ruo?!”

Yun Zhong Yue startled. “I came in through a gap in the Hall of Yuanji’s roof — I didn’t dare disturb your disciple.”

Lin Sui’an narrowed her eyes. Yun Zhong Yue wiped the sweat from his neck. “Right now the two of us are grasshoppers tied to the same rope — we rise and fall together. Deceiving you would bring me no advantage.”

Yun Zhong Yue had been wiping sweat since a little while ago — something he hadn’t done before. In Lin Sui’an’s memory, no matter how fierce the fighting had been, there had never seemed to be any sweat on Yun Zhong Yue’s face or neck — which meant that his face and neck had previously both been covered by human-skin masks, no sweat glands. But today—

Lin Sui’an arrived at an irresistibly ridiculous possibility.

“Could it be that today you forgot to apply makeup to your neck, and the mask started slipping?”

Yun Zhong Yue went rigid. This woman had far too sharp a pair of eyes!

It was true — today he had gone out on impulse to do some scouting, casually grabbed a mask resembling Jin Ruo’s face and put it on, thinking he’d be back quickly and so had been lazy with the foundation underneath. The mask hadn’t been applied particularly securely, and the neck had been left undone — he had forgotten that the Qingzhou climate was humid and stifling, and he sweat heavily. By now, the sweat had soaked through to the seams of the human-skin mask, and as the sweat ran along the mask’s edge and dripped away, it signaled that the parts of the mask that had been adhered were beginning to peel.

Lin Sui’an burst out laughing. It was the first time she had ever seen Yun Zhong Yue in such a state — even through the human-skin mask, she could feel his embarrassment.

She suddenly found this version of him rather endearing.

“What do you want in exchange for helping us?” Lin Sui’an sheathed Qian Jing and asked.

Yun Zhong Yue was quiet for a moment. “If the day ever comes when you see my true face — please keep it secret for me.”

Lin Sui’an’s eyes went wide.

Yun Zhong Yue wiped at his neck again. “There should be another hidden passage that leads to a different chamber storing the talisman water — but the Hall of Yuanji only has one mechanism and one passage, and that passage only leads to this cavern. Perhaps something was overlooked—”

In Lin Sui’an’s mind, something clicked into place. “The passage itself is the blind spot!”

Yun Zhong Yue startled, and immediately understood. “Once inside a hidden passage, attention is entirely focused on the chamber at the end of the passage — very few people pay attention to the passage itself. If a mechanism were concealed within the passage walls, it would escape the notice of the vast majority of people.”

The two were of one mind. They returned to the passage and began checking both walls as they walked, with Yun Zhong Yue holding the fire stick and Lin Sui’an drawing out the luminous pearl.

Yun Zhong Yue’s eyes nearly fell out of his head. “You’re using a three-hundred-tael Northern Province luminous pearl for lighting purposes?!”

Lin Sui’an: “Luminous pearls in the Hua Family are used for lighting.”

Yun Zhong Yue made a silent vow: once this was all over, he would pay a proper visit to the great Hua Family estate and steal himself a fortune.

After spending so much time with Hua Yitang, Lin Sui’an had developed something of an early-warning system for certain people’s scheming minds. When Yun Zhong Yue’s eyes lit up with that greenish glow, she was already guessing that some thief had set his sights on something he had no business eyeing.

On such occasions, a preemptive warning was in order.

Lin Sui’an: “Those beaded ornaments that kept disappearing from the Hua Family’s jewelry boutiques whenever someone dressed as a noble lady came to try them on — that was you, wasn’t it?”

Yun Zhong Yue gave a scoffing sound.

“I heard that afterward, the Hua Family’s jewelry boutiques revamped all their rules for trying on pieces, and nothing has gone missing since.”

“And I heard the Hua Family even generously sent that anti-theft system to non-Hua-Family jewelry shops free of charge.”

Two large eyes rolled over at her with wounded indignation. “Lin Niangzi, one doesn’t bring up old grievances when insulting someone.”

Lin Sui’an smiled. “I’m just warning you — Hua Yizhuan is far more troublesome to deal with than Hua Yitang.”

Honestly — birds of a feather, this woman was starting to sound more and more like Hua Fourth Young Master, infuriating beyond belief. So thought Yun Zhong Yue.

The passage walls were covered in grime — unpleasant to the touch. Lin Sui’an ran her hands along the surface, and suddenly felt a smoother texture under her fingers, slightly cold — iron. Her eyes brightened. “Yun Zhong Yue — here!”

Yun Zhong Yue used his sleeve to wipe away the loose dust. Lin Sui’an held the luminous pearl to illuminate: it was a round iron mass — some kind of circular iron object or plate, its edge embedded into the stone wall. Its color was almost indistinguishable from the surrounding stone, nearly impossible to see by sight alone.

Yun Zhong Yue’s fingers were extraordinarily nimble, moving like someone plucking a pipa as he tapped several points around the iron object’s perimeter. With startling magic, the iron object let out a click and revealed a tiny keyhole — a peculiarly shaped hidden lock.

Yun Zhong Yue clicked his tongue appreciatively, then drew a thin black hairpin from his bun. With a turn of his fingers, it became two — both extremely thin and narrow. He held one in each hand and inserted both simultaneously into the keyhole, working them in tiny, tiny adjustments.

The hidden passage was extraordinarily quiet. Yun Zhong Yue held his breath, his hands moving in millimeter increments. Lin Sui’an stilled her breathing to the faintest possible thread. From inside the keyhole came the occasional tiny clicking sound — it seemed as though a great many gears were meshing and turning behind the lock, suggesting a highly complex mechanism. Click, click, click — clack, clack, clack — Yun Zhong Yue pressed both hairpins down in his two hands simultaneously. The hidden lock emitted a strange, crisp sound. The entire lock receded into the wall. Yun Zhong Yue flew the hairpins back into his bun, shot a glance at Lin Sui’an. Lin Sui’an read his meaning and retreated half a step.

Yun Zhong Yue pressed his palm to the lock and gave it a gentle rotation. The entire section of wall shuddered and shifted to the side, revealing a half-person-height hidden door. Yun Zhong Yue extended the fire stick into the gap and swayed it — seeing the flame remain unchanged, he signaled Lin Sui’an to enter with him.

Beyond the hidden door was yet another long passage, this one constructed entirely of blue bricks. They both took the lesson from before — checking the walls on both sides as they walked. This time they found no other mechanisms. After a stretch of time roughly equal to two incense sticks burning, another hidden door appeared. Yun Zhong Yue copied the method from before to open the hidden lock, and the hidden door opened to a moveable bookshelf. They emerged from behind the bookshelf to find themselves in a side chamber, exquisitely and tastefully appointed. On the wall directly opposite hung a portrait of the Grand Supreme Elder Lord.

Yun Zhong Yue turned a full circle around the room, deeply impressed. “To think even Xuanming Shanren’s meditation chamber is connected to a hidden passage. This is genuinely interesting.”

Lin Sui’an was in no mood to appreciate the design concept of Longshen Temple’s hidden passages. She pressed for time to search for the talisman water — but the result left her greatly disappointed. It wasn’t here either. Yun Zhong Yue not only failed to help, he stood on the side and poured cold water on the whole endeavor.

“It seems the underground of Longshen Temple has been honeycombed with hidden passages — there’s no way to map them in a short time. It’s also quite late. Lin Niangzi might as well go home and get some sleep.”

Lin Sui’an let out a cold laugh, and with a flick of her wrist, Qian Jing came halfway out of its sheath.

“Ahem! Lin Niangzi can rest easy. Since I’ve said I’ll help, I’ll naturally see it through — I’ll send Buddha all the way to the West. Once I’ve thoroughly mapped out the layout of Longshen Temple, I will be sure to get a message to Lin Niangzi.” Yun Zhong Yue smiled with skin but no warmth. “As a token of my sincerity, allow me to escort Lin Niangzi safely out of the temple.”

Lin Sui’an raised an eyebrow. “Oh? How do you propose to get me out?”

Yun Zhong Yue smiled mysteriously, stepped back two paces, and was just about to remove his nightraider clothes when he turned his head and discovered that Lin Sui’an wasn’t averting her gaze at all — she was watching him with a pair of luminous, highly interested eyes.

“Ahem! I — I need to change into different attire.”

Lin Sui’an pulled a cushion over, settled herself directly opposite him, propped her cheek in her hand, and said, “Go ahead.”

“Lin Niangzi… it is improper between a man and a woman… this is somewhat… inappropriate, isn’t it?”

“You just said we’re comrades who face death together — no need to be a stranger.” Lin Sui’an smiled. “You change, I’ll watch. No interference.”

Yun Zhong Yue’s composure was beginning to crack — the sweat pooling under Jin Ruo’s human-skin mask had reached a critical point of adhesion failure. If he didn’t strip it off soon, it would give him away.

Yun Zhong Yue wiped at the sweat again. “Lin Niangzi — listen — is there something outside?”

Lin Sui’an smiled as if to say: Go ahead and make things up — keep making them up!

Suddenly, Yun Zhong Yue’s eyes changed. “There truly is shouting!”

Lin Sui’an heard it too — disjointed shouting voices were sounding outside, coming and going, near and far. She darted forward and cracked open the window. Outside, torchlight chased itself across the grounds, and the patrolling Taoist priests — faces full of murderous intent, clubs in hand — were surging toward the Hall of Yuanji. “Intruder! Intruder! Any who intrude upon the temple — kill without mercy! Kill without mercy!”

Trouble! The Hall of Yuanji was where Jin Ruo was standing post. Jin Ruo was in danger!

Lin Sui’an’s face went white. She turned back. “Yun Zhong Yue — you—what in the—?!”

Yun Zhong Yue was gone!

Lin Sui’an’s teeth itched with rage. Yun Zhong Yue, I swear to heaven — next time, if I don’t strip you bare from head to foot, I’ll write my family name sideways!

Lin Sui’an’s fury ignited, her killing spirit blazed, she fastened her veil, kicked the door panel off its hinges, and shot into the crowd like an arrow. Moving in a zigzag, with an outrageously nimble pattern of steps, she swung Qian Jing’s sheath in both directions like a great spinning wheel, mowing through the crowd like a scythe through wheat.

The Taoist priests of Longshen Temple had never encountered such terrifying combat ability. All they saw was a black shadow sweeping past like a cyclone, and anyone who came within arm’s reach was like a scrap of cloth caught in a storm — blown tumbling and tossed in every direction, clattering and crashing, thrillingly chaotic.

“The intruder is fierce! Requesting reinforcements! Reinforcements!”

“Quick — summon the Temple Master!”

“Help—!”

Countless cries and screams swept past Lin Sui’an’s ears like the wind, unable to slow her by a single step. She cut her way through to the Hall of Yuanji, looked up, and saw that Jin Ruo was being surrounded and attacked by over twenty Taoist priests.

Jin Ruo was in the thick of it, deploying the three-tenths of “Swift Wind Shaking Autumn Leaves” that he had so far mastered — locked in fierce battle.

How dare they bully her disciple — asking for death!

Lin Sui’an sent a blocking priest flying with a single sweep, mounted the upturned eave of the Hall of Yuanji with one leap, and dropped from the sky like a black-robed tempest — half-obscuring the face of the moon — to land steady and straight in front of Jin Ruo. She cast Qian Jing out with one hand. The blade had not yet left the scabbard — yet the pitch-black sheath sliced through the air like a ghost given wings, spinning and soaring, sweeping a whole swath of the temple’s Taoist priests flat.

Covered in cold sweat, Jin Ruo stared in a daze as Lin Sui’an raised one hand lightly, and with a snap caught the Qian Jing flying back to her. The young woman’s slim, upright silhouette behind him was like an eight-zhang golden warrior, too dazzling to look at directly.

The entire Longshen Temple fell into dead silence. Then torchlight surged from every direction, converging — fifty, sixty, no — nearly a hundred Taoist priests. At their head stood the high-and-mighty Dragon God Temple Master from earlier that day, Xuanming Shanren.

Xuanming Shanren’s face was dark as the bottom of a pot. The horsehair on his fly-whisk flared out in his agitation. His voice was so sharp it could have been a needle piercing the night sky.

“Who are you people?! How dare you run rampant in my Longshen Temple — are you not afraid of the Dragon God’s heavenly retribution?!”

Lin Sui’an let out a cold laugh, crossed her arms over her chest, and tilted one foot back in a devil-may-care pose. “I, this one, walk without hiding my name — I am Yun Zhong Yue, Greatest Thief Under Heaven!”

Jin Ruo: Huh, wait, what?