Lanterns and torches lit up the surroundings, casting a bright glow all around.
High above, dozens of agile hawks soared through the sky, their sharp cries occasionally ringing out clear and melodious.
The alley where Lu Qian had been attacked was now completely sealed off at the street level.
Groups of iron-armored imperial soldiers patrolled the streets, while sworn palace guards in various colored robes stood on the surrounding tall buildings, armed with powerful bows and crossbows, their eyes fiercely watching every nearby courtyard.
Luo Qingzhou of the sworn palace guards, Shui Ying the magistrate of the Wind Regulation Bureau, General Yueshan commanding the bureau’s garrison soldiers, and several veteran chief detectives from the Ministry of Justice were all gathered together in the alley, their faces dark and grim.
There had been thirty-two assassins in total; five of them were kicked to death by Xiong Dingtian.
Under the light of the lanterns and torches, several forensic examiners from the Ministry of Justice carefully laid out these five almost shattered bodies neatly on an oilcloth, examining their corpses bit by bit.
The remaining twenty-seven assassins had all died in a neat row.
Their skin was an unusual shade of red, muscles convulsing and joints stiffened, as if they were zombies—rigid and heavy.
They were lined up in a single row against the wall of the alley, each placed on their own piece of oilcloth.
Just moments ago, when Lu Qian sent out the signal, the sworn palace guards and imperial troops had surrounded the place on all sides.
Not a single assassin escaped.
Or rather, these assassins, having taken the Bloodburn Pill, had already given up any thought of fleeing.
When encircled, they fought to the death, each throwing themselves with abandon into the desperate battle.
The sworn palace guards and imperial soldiers suffered hundreds of casualties between them before finally cutting these assassins down on the spot.
The ground was soaked with blood, and a cold wind swept through, freezing the blood into thick sheets of ice.
After taking the Bloodburn Pill, these assassins’ vitality and stamina had become beyond imagination.
Their blood inside the body was almost completely drained before they finally collapsed under the barrage of arrows and crossbow bolts from the sworn palace guards and the piercing spears and halberds of the imperial troops.
On the oilcloth, their bodies had been stripped clean, covered in countless brutal wounds.
Facing the cold wind, the forensic experts carefully dissected each body, looking for the slightest clue.
Nearby, a few master artists from the sworn palace guards had set up drawing boards, sketching the portraits of these assassins under the lantern light with serious focus.
Each finished portrait was immediately sent away by palace guard officials.
Thousands, even tens of thousands of these copies would be made and sent out in all directions, so that law enforcement agencies everywhere could investigate the possible identities and backgrounds of the assassins.
The owners of several nearby courtyards had already been “invited” out.
They stood shivering at the alley entrance, pale-faced and trembling from the cold wind.
Veteran investigators from the Ministry of Justice were sweeping through the nearby mansions, searching inch by inch.
Luo Qingzhou and the others stood silently to one side, their faces as cold as ice, waiting for the forensic and investigative experts to report.
The Siji District had now largely quieted down.
The archers and assassins had vanished like drops of water swallowed by the vast sea, leaving no trace behind.
The group of assassins captured by Lu Qian was the only lead obtained by the official forces—the sworn palace guard, the Ministry of Justice, the imperial troops, and the Wind Regulation Bureau.
Luo Qingzhou and the others had personally witnessed those two dozen or so assassins howl like wild beasts in desperate battle.
In just a few breaths, they had inflicted terrible casualties on the sworn palace guards and imperial troops.
These guys were without a doubt “death warriors.”
In Gaoling City, raising so many death warriors and committing such a major crime—whoever was behind this… just thinking about it was terrifying!
There was no doubt that when dawn came tomorrow, the high-ranking officials of the Dayin Kingdom would be thunderously furious.
A whole mess of trouble awaited everyone.
The more Luo Qingzhou, Shui Ying, and the others thought about how furious their superiors would be and the wretched fate that might befall them, the more uneasy and restless they felt.
Their faces grew stiffer and colder, their eyes sharpening like blades, fixed coldly on the figure kneeling in the middle of the alley—Xiong Dingtian.
Poor Xiong Dingtian.
He had just been pinned to the ground and beaten by a group of crazed assassins, relying on his powerful physique to endure.
Despite the desperate attacks of those assassins, he had only suffered minor, insignificant injuries.
The wounds were nothing serious.
But the situation was dire.
Naked all over, Xiong Dingtian knelt in the alley with both hands clasping his head, his expression blank.
The cold wind blew, ruffling his thick fur wildly.
His arms, burned pitch black, faintly emitted the aroma of roasted meat.
A cadre of sharp-eyed experts from the sworn palace guards, the Ministry of Justice, and the Wind Regulation Bureau were blowing their noses and glaring fiercely as they circled around Xiong Dingtian like a pack of fierce wolves.
Lu Qian, hands tucked inside his robe sleeves, kept smiling and nodding to the veteran investigators before him.
“My lords, that’s basically the situation,” he said.
“I’m Lu Qian. Lu, from Jingyang’s Lu clan; Qian, meaning the master descending from the mountain. I’m a member of the Tian’en Marquis Mansion, and I just joined the sworn palace guard today. Earlier, amidst the chaos, I spotted a mysterious figure in black. Relying on a bit of skill and a bit of courage, I chased after him.”
“Oh yes, that man in black is the one on that oilcloth there—the one with his head blown apart and two big holes in his body. Surely that’s a case of killing to silence him, don’t you think?”
“That guy even tried to sneak up on me from behind with a throwing needle.”
“I have witnesses. Old Brother He and Lu Tianxing from our team saw it—the guy tried to sneak up on me from behind with a throwing needle but I shot him down.”
“My gun?”
“Oh, my steel-pointed spear, look here, here, right here on the wall—those are the fragments, aren’t they? I had a fierce battle with that big guy. He was brutal and actually shattered my spear.”
Several Ministry of Justice officers clambered over and inspected the fragments on the courtyard walls carefully.
“I’ve been cautious since childhood… to be frank, the boy was scared of death, didn’t learn much martial skill except to run fast.”
“This whole time I chased after the man, ended up here. Then the big guy burst out, screaming, ready for a fight.”
“He’s very strong, too strong—I was no match.”
“So I was about to run... no, I meant to signal my brothers and trap him.”
“But as I was about to send the signal, these dead ghosts sprang out.”
“They rushed at me and attacked viciously the moment we saw each other.”
Lu Qian smiled at Xiong Dingtian kneeling nearby, then lowered his voice just enough for Xiong Dingtian to hear clearly:
“So, my lords, this guy is definitely an accomplice of these assassins. If you take him back and put him through severe interrogation, we’re sure to uncover who’s masterminding all this!”
Xiong Dingtian grew desperate.
He suddenly lifted his head and roared hoarsely at Lu Qian, “Boy, stop talking nonsense!”
Xiong Dingtian knew very well what was at stake.
He had been entrusted to lie in wait in this alley and ambush Lu Qian—that was nothing too serious.
Lu Qian wasn’t dead yet, right?
If he just called it ‘a personal feud’ or ‘a fight,’ and with someone backing him secretly, Xiong Dingtian might at worst suffer a beating, be fined, or maybe be detained for half a year—the matter would be over.
But Lu Qian was calling him a conspirator with the assassins, which would drag Xiong Dingtian himself, his whole family, and even his Xiong Martial Hall right to ruin!
These assassins had committed a major crime.
In Siji District, in the heart of the Wind Regulation Bureau’s area, just next to the imperial city, they were killing and burning recklessly.
And the ones killed were hostages from various lords, and their residences in Gaoling City were set aflame.
This was a crime that warranted the extermination of one’s entire family!
Anyone involved would have their whole clan wiped out!
Xiong Dingtian cursed hoarsely, “I don’t know these people, I’m not connected to them! I’m Xiong Dingtian, head of the Xiong Martial Hall. I came here just to give this boy a good beating!”
He pointed harshly at Lu Qian.
He was quite crafty; he only said he wanted to beat Lu Qian— never said he intended to kill him.
That way, even if things blew up, at worst he’d be charged with intentional injury instead of attempted murder, a much lighter charge.
Lu Qian widened his eyes, looking at Xiong Dingtian in disbelief, “Ha. You’re lying. You’re shameless and talking nonsense. We have no grudge or feud—I don’t even know you. Why would you hide here just to beat me up?”
Xiong Dingtian sneered, “You’re the one talking nonsense! You don’t know me? I know you! You’re Lu Qian, from the Jingyang Lu clan, a member of the Tian’en Marquis Mansion, just joined the sworn palace guard today!”
The moment Xiong Dingtian said that, he immediately felt something was wrong.
He opened his mouth but froze into complete confusion.
Lu Qian shrugged and forced a wry smile at the angry investigators, “My lords, you heard that. I just confessed who I am. I know the rules, cooperate with the investigation, and speak clearly about one’s background and experience—that helps you build a proper file, right?”
“But that guy is so sly. The moment he heard my identity, he immediately said he recognized me just to say he was going to beat me up.”
Lu Qian shook his head thoughtfully, “These assassins are not only vicious and cruel, they’re treacherous and deceitful as well.”
Casting a glance at the dumbstruck Xiong Dingtian, Lu Qian suggested to the officials, “He said he’s the head of the Xiong Martial Hall—who knows if that hall is their hideout, or whether the people of Xiong Martial Hall are their accomplices.”
Lu Qian narrowed his eyes. “I dare suggest that your lordships deploy forces to surround the Xiong Martial Hall immediately. Arrest all his family and close relatives, and also seize any old friends or close associates. Then interrogate them carefully under severe punishment—surely there will be breakthroughs!”
Lu Qian smiled brightly.
To kill Xiong Dingtian wasn’t so complicated.
From their earlier fight, Lu Qian judged that Xiong Dingtian was extensively trained and indeed extremely powerful, with actual combat strength definitely surpassing the Meridian Opening Realm of the Pulse-Unfolding stage.
But framing Xiong Dingtian...
Lu Qian wasn’t doing this out of boredom.
He wanted to see—if he could get Xiong Dingtian locked up, who would come to save him? And what would they do to save him?
No matter who the mastermind was, trying to get someone out of the sworn palace guards’ hands would definitely be a huge headache.
Trouble—that was exactly what Lu Qian wanted!
Xiong Dingtian’s eyes turned bloodshot with rage.
He let out a fierce roar, suddenly leaping up on the spot, throwing a punch down at Lu Qian’s head.
Some chapters have been revised and annotated:
1. The conflict between the Nine Yin Sect and Lu Qian was a sudden development.
Triggered by three coffins and by Old He revealing his face to the coffin shop owner, which led to the female ghost attacking Lu Qian and the green sparrow assaulting Qifang Garden—that's the overt conflict.
2. Chapter 20 added content about the Empress Dowager and the hostages, explaining that their support petitions from the regional lords allowed the Empress Dowager to govern behind the curtain.
The hostages’ arrogance was deliberately tolerated by someone.
3. Chapter 36 introduced the death warriors linked to the fire in Siji District.
They clearly have nothing to do with the Nine Yin Sect and are merely coincidental.
This is another plotline, not directly related to the Nine Yin Sect or the female ghost, but all tied to the awakening of spiritual energies and the reopening of the Immortal Path across the world.
4. The Nine Yin Sect’s arson, the death warriors’ killings, Zhu Yu’s manipulations controlling the protagonist’s life and death, and disruptions among the hostages—all these four events interweave.
They are complicated and mostly unrelated to each other, but all connected to Lu Qian.
(End of chapter)