Xu Qi An decided to gather some information first, regardless of whether he could help or not. If Number Six turned out to be a villain, Xu Qi An would expose him, reducing the number of bad elements in the Tiandi Society.

Of course, before that, he needed to trick Number Six into revealing his hiding place to ensure there would be no future troubles, as Number Six was very powerful.

Breaking into Marquis Pingyuan’s mansion at night, killing the Marquis, seriously injuring a Night Watchman, and escaping with ease – this was the work of a high-level expert, perhaps even stronger.

If there was a justifiable reason, Xu Qi An would help as much as he could, shaping his image as the great leader Chen Jinnan of the Tiandi Society.

Wei Yuan had sent him to go undercover, not just to stay silent. He needed to show some results.

Could Number Three provide help?

Could he lead Number Six away safely amidst the search by the Night Watchmen and Imperial Blade Guards?

What was his identity? Was he merely a Confucian disciple?

At this time, without a reasonable identity, even walking in the inner city would lead to immediate arrest.

Or could he command the Imperial Blade Guards or Night Watchmen?

Xu Qi An’s words made the Earth Book fragment holders imagine various scenarios, secretly guessing his true identity and speculating about his next move.

[Nine: Heh, if Number Three is willing to help, there’s no problem. Number Six, don’t hide anything.]

Daoist Jin Lian was certain that Number Three could help Number Six resolve the crisis… Number Three was not an ordinary Confucian disciple; he must have a more secret and higher-level identity… The recruit Daoist Jin Lian had brought in this time was extraordinary.

The Tiandi Society members perked up, maintaining silence and observing the situation.

[Number Six: One of my junior disciples has been missing for a year. I suspect he was kidnapped and sent out of the capital through secret channels.

[After extensive investigation and elimination, I locked onto a broker organization. They trick and kidnap women and children, selling them to brothels, the Beggar Sect, and other places that need women and children.

[They not only traffic children and women but also kidnap cultivators. I haven’t found out their true purpose yet.

[Finally, I discovered that the owner behind this broker organization was Marquis Pingyuan.]

[Three: So you killed him in anger?]

[Six: I infiltrated Marquis Pingyuan’s mansion, and interrogated him about my junior disciple’s whereabouts, to no avail, so I killed him and absolved his sins.]

[One: Using force to break the law, why not report to the authorities?]

Number One didn’t agree with Number Six’s way of handling things.

[Two: Nonsense, if the law was effective, Marquis Pingyuan would have been punished long ago. Officials protect each other. There’s no divine justice above, only justice in the blade.]

… This is an angry youth! Reporting Marquis Pingyuan could have worked. The killing was unwise, Xu Qi An thought.

However, from this, he deduced that Number Six was someone with an upright, even rash, and impulsive character, who liked to convince others through force (physical force). This was quite similar to the Confucian school.

Number One seemed unwilling to argue with Number Two and didn’t respond.

[Six: I had my reasons. Over the year, I rescued many children. Some had their limbs cut off and were left begging on the streets. The cleverer ones were trained to become thieves. But the most appalling was…

[I once rescued a child whose hands and feet had been cut off, his skin boiled with hot water, then wrapped in black dog skin. After the wounds healed, the dog skin grew onto the child’s body.

[The brokers disguised him as a black dog, taught him a few auspicious phrases to please unsuspecting commoners and ask for rewards.]

[One: Is this true?]

[Six: Of course.]

Number One remained silent for a long time.

[Three: You’ve successfully convinced me. Although I dislike brutes who use force to break the law and act without thinking, I’m still willing to help you.]

Xu Qi An suppressed the anger in his chest and imitated Xu Er’lang’s personality, speaking in a tone befitting a Confucian scholar.

[Two: Hmm, I’m starting to agree with Number Three now.]

[Four: A man of passion, let’s drink together sometime.]

[Six: Thank you.]

They didn’t call Number Three by name, probably all-knowing that Chen Jinnan or whatever wasn’t Number Three’s real name.

[Three: Where are you hiding?]

[Six: In the water canal outside Marquis Pingyuan’s mansion.]

The water canal was essentially the sewer, a dirty and smelly place. In this era, there were no sewer workers, and ordinary people wouldn’t go in there, making it a blind spot for searches.

But this was only temporary. Once the Night Watchmen gathered more manpower, they definitely wouldn’t overlook this place.

[Three: I understand. Wait for my news.]

Xu Qi An put away the jade mirror, holding his saber in one hand and stroking his chin with the other, thinking about how to handle this situation.

He couldn’t lead someone out of the inner city; there were Imperial Blade Guards and fellow Night Watchmen along the way.

All Xu Qi An could do was turn a blind eye in his patrol area, and he had to do it quickly. Otherwise, once the Imperial Blade Guards and Night Watchmen sealed off the surroundings and conducted a thorough search, he wouldn’t be able to save Number Six even if he wanted to.

“Time is of the essence. I need to come up with a foolproof plan…”

To save Number Six, he needed to deceive both the Night Watchmen and the Court of Astronomical Phenomena’s technicians simultaneously. So, Xu Qi An had to achieve two things: First, help Number Six find a hiding place. Second, help him conceal his aura.

The former wasn’t difficult. If they could get through tonight, Number Six could disguise himself as an ordinary person and leave the city in the morning.

Given Marquis Pingyuan’s status, the inner city gates wouldn’t remain closed for long. They would open at daybreak.

The challenge was how to conceal Number Six’s aura.

“After killing someone, he’ll inevitably be tainted with a murderous aura. This definitely won’t escape the Qi-observing technique of the Court of Astronomical Phenomena’s technicians. Should I engage in another exchange with Master Song? No, I haven’t paid for our last transaction yet. I still haven’t sent the periodic table to the Court of Astronomical Phenomena. Besides, Master Song is as unyielding as I am. It’s a bit difficult to ask for his help in this matter. Unless I manage to bed that little beauty Chu Caiwei…”

Although the Earth Book could accommodate people, none of the Tiandi Society members had mentioned this. Xu Qi An guessed that the aura couldn’t be concealed and would be detected by the Qi-observing technique.

The key point was still concealing the aura… Xu Qi An had a method he could try. This was also why he dared to show off openly in the “Earth Book chat group.”

He took out the booklet and flipped through the pages, finding one that read: One Leaf Blinds the Eye!

In the afternoon, Xu Qi An had already memorized all the spells recorded in the booklet, familiarizing himself with them.

One Leaf Blinds the Eye could allow the caster to conceal their form and aura, achieving the effect of “erasing” their existence.

Its essence was to distort the corresponding rules through the “words become law” ability of the fifth-rank Moral Realm in the Confucian system. Then, through the “learning” ability of the sixth-rank Scholar Realm, this rule was recorded on paper.

Xu Qi An looked around, locked onto an inn across the street, and with a light step, flew onto the roof ridge. He listened carefully for heartbeats and breathing, finding an empty room.

Like a gecko, he clung to the wall, using his saber to slowly pry open the window latch.

After doing all this, he rushed to Marquis Pingyuan’s mansion not far from him, standing on the roof ridge across the street and looking around for a while until he found the water canal.

Xu Qi An took out an arrow from the leather bag at his waist, tied the torn paper to the arrow, and threw it with force.

“Thud!”

The arrow stuck into the earthen wall by the water canal.

He crouched low on the roof ridge, took out the jade mirror, and transmitted a message:

[Three: Number Six, there’s an arrow on the earthen wall by the water canal where you’re hiding. There’s something you need on it. I’ve prepared a room for you at the Qingshu Inn in the neighboring street. The sixth window on the second floor is open. Go quickly!]

He didn’t look at the mirror but stared at the water canal. After about ten seconds, a bald head emerged from there. The man had a square face, thick eyebrows, and big eyes, with a deeply resentful expression.

The bald man cautiously scanned his surroundings before his gaze fell on the arrow embedded in the wall.

He pulled out the arrow and unfolded the paper attached to it, taking a look.

One Leaf Blinds the Eye?

The bald man seemed to understand something, his face showing relief.

Number Three was indeed a Confucian scholar.

He immediately ignited the paper with his Qi mechanism, and a mysterious force enveloped him, concealing his aura.

… This ability to conceal one’s aura!

The bald man’s pupils contracted slightly, showing a shocked expression.

This wasn’t something an ordinary fifth-rank Moral Realm cultivator could achieve. It required at least a fourth-rank Gentleman Realm.

Number Three’s identity was unmistakable. Not only was he a Confucian disciple, but he was also a student favored by some great Confucian scholars.

Daoist Jin Lian had said that each holder of an Earth Book fragment was a heaven-chosen talent. He wasn’t lying.

He didn’t leave immediately but unhurriedly took out clean and tidy monk’s robes from the jade mirror to change into, discarding his foul-smelling shoes and clothes into the jade mirror.

I need to leave quickly. If I delay any longer, it’ll be dangerous once the Night Watchmen’s experts gather… The bald man didn’t dare to traverse the rooftops and eaves but walked briskly on the street.

At this moment, he saw a young man standing straight on the roof ridge of a neighboring street, wearing a Night Watchman’s uniform, one hand on his saber, facing the night wind, his gaze looking ahead, eyes filled with loneliness and desolation.

His figure was as steady as a mountain.

He stood out like a firefly in the night.

This Bronze Gong had a deep, restrained aura and an extraordinary bearing… The Night Watchmen are indeed full of talents… The bald man glanced a few times, secretly admiring.

Following Number Three’s instructions, he found the Qingshu Inn, where the sixth window was indeed open.

The bald man leaped up lightly, entering the room silently. Shortly after, the window was closed.

“Phew…” Xu Qi An’s shoulders relaxed, and he stopped posing.

Although he knew Number Six was a Buddhist disciple and probably not a woman, he still felt a bit disappointed.

“Number Nine is that old fox Jin Lian, Number Six is a resentful Lu Zhishen. Among the other online friends, there must be some pretty girls, right?” Just as Xu Qi An was about to take out the mirror to check the chat records, his ears twitched, and he heard hurried footsteps.

In his view, dozens of black shadows were jumping up and down on the roof ridges, rushing this way.

“Next, if we can get through this, Number Six will be safe!” Xu Qi An squinted, thinking.

The murder of Marquis Pingyuan had alerted the Gold Gong on duty tonight, six Silver Gongs, and dozens of Bronze Gongs on night shift.

Almost all the Night Watchmen on duty had come out, bringing along several white-robed technicians from the Court of Astronomical Phenomena.

The Imperial Blade Guards cooperated with the Night Watchmen, sealing off several miles around Marquis Pingyuan’s mansion. These people, led by the white-robed technicians from the Court of Astronomical Phenomena, conducted a thorough search.

The leader, a Gold Gong named Jiang Liuzhong, was in his forties with black hair and a fine crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes. His eyes were as sharp as an eagle’s, flashing with a piercing, cold light.

These eyes were famous in the Night Watchmen’s yamen. Except for fellow Gold Gongs, no one could maintain eye contact with him for more than three seconds.

He led the team, constantly jumping up and down on the rooftops, his sharp gaze scanning the dark city districts.

Several white-robed technicians from the Court of Astronomical Phenomena were carried on the backs of Bronze Gongs, their eyes flowing with clear light, scanning the streets below inch by inch.

Jiang Liuzhong said in a deep voice, “After the culprit killed someone, his aura must be tainted with bloodlight. Have you noticed anything unusual?”

The technicians were only eighth-rank Qi Observers with average combat ability. They couldn’t traverse rooftops and eaves yet, needing to be carried by the Bronze Gongs, but this didn’t stop them from showing off their superiority to the martial artists.

“No!” The white-robed technicians from the Court of Astronomical Phenomena replied indifferently.

Jiang Liuzhong’s expression paused for a moment, but he endured it.

After moving for a while, one of the white-robed technicians from the Court of Astronomical Phenomena saw Xu Qi An standing proudly on a roof ridge. He was stunned for a moment, then ecstatic: “Go down, quickly go down.”