Seven or eight people rushed into the alley right after him, looking at each other in confusion. The alley was straight, with every door closed and no side paths. You could see the street on the other side at a glance, but Qin Yi had vanished.
He had just dashed in—how could he have gotten out so quickly? The whole alley was empty. The only things against the wall were some residents' brooms and dustpans. There was no way anyone could hide there; where could Qin Yi possibly go?
"Don't be fooled, he definitely didn't leave the alley. Spread out and search; he must have hidden in one of the houses," one of them said.
Everyone slowly split up, heading toward different homes.
Behind Qin Yi's deadly enemy, a wolf’s tooth club slowly appeared beside a dustpan.
"Bang!"
A loud explosion rang out, making everyone’s eardrums throb. Turning to look, they saw that one of their companions had his head smashed in. It was hard to tell just how much force was used for that blow.
Then they saw another Qin Yi springing up from beside the dustpan, running back the way he came.
"..." The group was stunned, unable to react.
Basic magic technique, concealment.
It wasn't really invisibility or an illusion; it was more like giving oneself a camouflage to trick others' eyes. Of course, it was a bit more advanced than just camouflage—after all, it was magic...
At a glance, it just looked like a few dustpans. No one paid attention; who would know Qin Yi was hiding right there?
When warriors can use magic, it really is something you can't defend against...
Over there, Qin Yi dashed out of the alley, feeling exhilarated and light as a feather.
What he had hoped for in this ambush was revenge. Luckily, his sworn enemy was hiding nearby, making it easy to take him down. Even if he hadn’t been close, he had planned to suddenly appear and strike him dead anyway.
Killing two of his enemies himself made the lingering resentment that had been weighing on him dissipate significantly. It felt like his body and mind were both lighter, a feeling of pure joy.
He suspected that if he completed this act of revenge, he might finally break through the stagnant energy he had been holding onto for so long and reach a new level of power. Perhaps even the new magic he was learning would benefit from it.
Just as he was thinking this, he saw the tofu seller rushing toward him, shouting amidst the crowd.
Qin Yi smiled, showing his neat white teeth.
He didn’t run away anymore; instead, he turned and charged straight into the enemy’s formation.
The large group that had been chasing him was stunned by his sudden move, but then they were overjoyed and quickly organized themselves into a surrounding net.
Qin Yi seemed oblivious and charged right into the net.
The net tightened.
Suddenly, everyone felt a blinding flash of light in front of them, causing tears to stream down their faces as they couldn’t see anything.
Basic magic technique, brilliance.
It was just a brief moment, and soon the light faded. In the haze, they saw Qin Yi fiercely strike the disguised tofu seller on the head with his club. Taking advantage of their still-recovering vision, he broke through the encirclement and laughed as he ran away.
Two of his sworn enemies had fallen in an instant, and the thrill of that moment was something no one else could understand.
Liu Su had remained silent throughout, giving no advice, as if watching Qin Yi perform. Only when Qin Yi’s laughter began to fade did it finally say, “No wonder… you like Li Qingjun.”
Using what seemed like useless low-level techniques flexibly in battle was something Qin Yi could do, so that was expected.
But the heroic spirit of charging into a crowd of enemies, laughing as he went, was not something Qin Yi was known for.
It turned out that the Qin Yi, who had always seemed indifferent and aloof, actually had a heroic spirit deep down, reminiscent of the silver light he had shown when he bravely attacked the spider demon that rainy night in the temple, even though he had been afraid.
Perhaps this spirit had always been hidden within him, and it was only after meeting Li Qingjun that it began to emerge. That’s why he had admired Li Qingjun so much, thinking he was just being a sycophant; in reality, it was a reflection of what Qin Yi himself wanted to do but had been slowly worn down by the comfort and peace of another world.
Then, in the oppressive atmosphere of the capital and the battle against the ambush, seeing his enemy had finally stirred this wild side of Qin Yi.
“Yeah.” Qin Yi didn’t know what Liu Su was thinking; he just smiled and replied, “I like Qingjun.”
Liu Su chuckled softly, with a hint of meaning in its laughter.
Qin Yi took a few deep breaths and turned to look; the pursuers had fallen far behind. In fact, they had lost their will to chase him, slowing down as they watched him leave.
Qin Yi finally relaxed a bit. His magic was nearly spent, and even his true energy was sluggish. Now he could finally recover a little.
He took out a recovery pill and popped it in his mouth, adjusting his breath as he continued running toward the princess's residence. After crossing another street, the princess's residence was right in front of him.
Qin Yi rushed over and directly asked the guard, “Is the princess inside?”
The guard smiled, “Oh, it’s Young Master Qin. The princess is inside; please come in.”
“Thank you.” Qin Yi was about to step up the stairs when he suddenly paused, “Wait, how do you know I’m Qin Yi?”
The guard laughed, “The matter between Young Master Qin and the princess has reached the royal banquet; how could we not know? Even if we haven’t seen you, we’ve heard descriptions. Your signature wolf’s tooth club is too recognizable.”
“Oh.” Qin Yi tightened his grip on the wolf’s tooth club and asked, “I was making a ruckus just outside; how come you didn’t react at all?”
The guard was taken aback, “A commotion outside has nothing to do with the princess’s residence. We didn’t know it was Young Master Qin who was attacked…”
Before he could finish, Qin Yi swung his club, “I only said there was a ruckus, and you already knew it was an attack!”
Qin Yi was worried about misunderstanding a good person, so he had only intended to scare them with the swing. But the guard couldn’t hold back anymore, and a spear poked out from inside, saving him.
A sigh came from within, “Young Master Qin is sharp; it’s quite a contrast to the image of someone wielding a wolf’s tooth club.”
The main door swung open, revealing Mang Zhan with his subordinates standing in the courtyard. Two fake guards also retreated to stand beside Mang Zhan, looking like his trusted aides.
Qin Yi stepped back down the stone steps and squinted, “Where’s Qingjun?”
Mang Zhan feigned mystery, “What do you think, Brother Qin?”
Qin Yi looked up at the buildings inside the residence, suddenly turned, and walked away, mumbling, “If it were me, if I had succeeded, I would have gone back to enjoy myself long ago. Why would I need to act and let my subordinates handle it? Why would I personally need to play the role? Qingjun is definitely still in the Crown Prince’s residence.”
He walked quickly, and by the time he finished speaking, he was already halfway down the street.
Mang Zhan was furious, chasing after him while shouting, “Two esteemed ones, if you don’t act now, when will you?”
A gust of demonic wind suddenly arose.
A black owl swooped in from the left, resembling a human. At the same time, the stone slabs of the street rose up, revealing a massive centipede in front of him.
The scene was quite terrifying.
But Qin Yi couldn’t help but laugh, raising his wolf’s tooth club and jumping to strike the centipede on the head, “Under the Seven Star Formation, even a Nightwing is left with just a breath. You two little demons that haven’t transformed are lucky to be alive, yet you dare to come out and pretend!”
With a loud “bang,” the poor centipede hadn’t even fully revealed itself before it was struck down on the spot. The owl in the air abruptly halted and flapped its wings to fly away, a feather drifting down in a panic.
Mang Zhan was furious and chased after him, but Qin Yi had already vanished without a trace.
He pretended to be relaxed and scornful, but inside he was quite serious.
Because although Dong Huazi didn’t have any troops, there must be quite a few cultivators with some level of skill. Additionally, the monsters shouldn’t all be weak ones that had been diminished by the Bright River Formation; there should be stronger demons hiding somewhere. However, as he fought his way through, he only encountered ordinary warriors.
Of course, it was because he wasn’t the core of this situation. Even though the enemy wanted to kill him, the truth was that his escape wouldn’t affect the overall situation. They knew how to prioritize and wouldn’t place their main force against him. The effort they put into capturing Li Qingjun at the princess's residence was clearly limited, and they had missed their target... so one could imagine the kind of pressure facing the Crown Prince’s residence at that moment.
But this was strange...
Attacking the princess's residence could be considered a sneak attack, which made sense. But how could they openly surround the Crown Prince’s residence to kill Li Qinglin? The king wasn’t dead, and Dong Huazi had gained trust; it didn’t seem likely that would happen. Was there some logic he hadn’t figured out?
(End of Chapter)