"Yes, sir!"
Everyone replied in unison, their voices tinged with excitement.
At first, everyone had thought this was just an ordinary mission, but after the Qi Replenishing Pills were brought out, they all grew eager to prove themselves!
Some of those with more abundant Qi Blood even had expressions that said they were determined to win.
After everyone had left.
"Brother Liu, what can a bunch of kids who are still wet behind the ears even do?! We'll be lucky if they don't drag us down!
"Especially that Jiang Che fellow—his Qi Blood is pathetically weak! No wonder that girl, Yin Yingying, didn't want to team up with him! If it were me, I wouldn't have agreed either!" a constable complained.
"Exactly! I don't think these Martial Arts Halls want to lift a finger to help! I didn't say anything back when the city was peaceful.
"But now the city's getting more and more chaotic, and our brothers are working themselves to death! For the Martial Arts Halls to just try and save their own skins is completely shameless!" another constable chimed in.
"That's enough. Let's get back to business."
Liu Hai sighed and said in a heavy voice.
His earlier smiling expression was gone, replaced by a stern, even grim, look.
"Alright, Brother Liu, we'll be on our way then!"
The constables took their leave one by one.
Once Liu Hai was alone in the room, he walked over to the desk and pulled a scroll from a thick stack of case files.
He unrolled it, revealing faint writing:
[...The Blood Spirit Sect is causing chaos, raising a Blood Sacrifice with living humans...]
[...Worked with the Seven Stars Gang to destroy a sub-altar, but the Blood Sacrifice was not found...]
[...The Blood Sacrifice is skilled at concealment, preys at night...]
[...Many have died gruesome deaths, all disemboweled...]
[...The more it eats, the stronger the Blood Sacrifice becomes...]
Liu Hai couldn't help but sigh.
Although his superiors were putting immense pressure on him over the flower thief case.
But the one truly giving him a headache was the Blood Sacrifice case.
In just a few short months, the beast had already hunted hundreds of people.
Rumors of an evil spirit had begun to circulate in the city, causing widespread panic.
But this Blood Sacrifice was extremely cautious, making it impossible to capture.
'This won't do. The Blood Sacrifice is growing stronger too quickly. I can't delay any longer!'
...
「Inner City, Fireworks Street.」
This was one of the four main streets of the Inner City. The shops here primarily sold rouge, powder, jewelry, and fabrics—all places that women loved to frequent.
Compared to the desolation of the Outer City, this place was clearly much more prosperous.
Not only were there more pedestrians on the street, but the clothes they wore were also made from fine materials.
Occasionally, one could even spot a young lady from a Noble Family shopping with her guards.
As they passed, a fragrant breeze would drift by, a clear sign they were wearing high-end perfume.
Jiang Che and Yin Yingying walked down the street, their eyes constantly scanning the shops and pedestrians.
Their Martial Arts Hall disciple uniforms, which were conspicuous in the Outer City, seemed rather plain here in the Inner City.
As they passed a jewelry shop, Yin Yingying's large eyes kept peering inside.
Though she came from a good family, it was merely a prominent household in the Outer City.
She never had to worry about food or clothing, but where would she ever have seen such exquisite and luxurious jewelry? Her steps couldn't help but slow down.
As Jiang Che walked on, he suddenly realized Yin Yingying was gone.
He turned around and saw her stopped at the entrance of a jewelry shop, her eyes glued to the pieces on display inside.
Jiang Che shook his head. He was about to go over and tell her to keep moving when he noticed that the young lady from the Noble Family, the one with the guards they'd seen earlier, had also entered the same shop.
This young lady was dressed in a magnificent long blue dress, a string of shining pearls adorning her neck.
Her features were exquisite, like a beauty who had stepped out of a painting, setting her apart from everyone around her.
Although Yin Yingying was also quite pretty, the moment the lady brushed past her, Yin Yingying was instantly made to look like her handmaiden.
An idea struck Jiang Che. 'If I were the flower thief, my targets would definitely become more and more ambitious.'
'Since he's already harmed someone from the Chen Family, he might be looking to find another daughter from a Noble Family.'
'This one right here would be an excellent target!'
With his thoughts racing, Jiang Che walked over to Yin Yingying's side and said:
"Miss Yin, since you like it so much, why don't we go in and take a look?"
"Hmph, I... I don't like it! I just want to see if the flower thief is inside!" Yin Yingying said stubbornly.
"That's what I was thinking, too. Let's go." With that, Jiang Che led the way inside.
Yin Yingying opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say, and followed him in.
"Wow, this piece is gorgeous!" Yin Yingying exclaimed, her eyes shining as she looked at a bracelet made of Gold and jade.
"That bracelet is inlaid with ice-type jadeite. It's the only one of its kind in all of Lin Yuan City, and it costs one thousand taels of silver."
Behind the wooden counter, a middle-aged woman glanced at Yin Yingying and spoke flatly.
"One... one thousand taels?" Yin Yingying was stunned.
Even though she was usually a spendthrift, the most she ever spent was a few dozen taels of silver.
One thousand taels was a sum beyond her comprehension.
Even Jiang Che was taken aback. One thousand taels could buy two of his family's residences. The Inner City was truly a place of obscene luxury.
Seeing Yin Yingying's shocked expression, the middle-aged woman, who was clearly used to it, paid her no more mind and instead turned to greet the young lady from the Noble Family with a beaming smile.
"Oh, Miss Shao, what wind blew you in today? We have a new necklace that I guarantee you'll be satisfied with!"
The Miss Shao smiled faintly and said, "Oh? Then bring it out and let me see. I'll tell you now, I won't be interested in anything ordinary. That last jade-inlaid bracelet was much too tacky."
"Rest assured! This one is anything but!"
The woman carefully retrieved a box from beneath the counter.
She opened it to reveal a necklace strung with dozens of Golden Beads, each the size of a longan pit.
Each Golden Bead was intricately inlaid with tiny pearls, making it glitter and shine.
The clasp above was made of Gold, inlaid with turquoise.
And at the very bottom of the necklace hung a large, round Ruby.
Below the Ruby dangled a teardrop-shaped Sapphire.
The middle-aged woman carefully lifted the necklace, and the Golden Beads clinked against each other, producing a faint, pleasant chime.
Miss Shao's eyes lit up. "Not bad. How much?"
"Only two thousand taels!" the woman said with a smile.
Miss Shao nodded. "Fine. Same as usual, wrap it up and send it to the Shao Mansion. Settle the bill with the steward."
"Yes, yes! I'll wrap it right away!" The woman was overjoyed.
Yin Yingying stared intently at the necklace and murmured:
"That necklace is just too beautiful. If someone gave it to me, I'd even be willing to marry him…"
"What if that person was old and ugly?" Jiang Che couldn't resist retorting.
"Of course not! What kind of person do you take me for!" Yin Yingying shot Jiang Che an annoyed glare.
Jiang Che just smiled and said nothing.
Suddenly, a dapper Young Master entered the shop.
His eyes were like stars, his face like polished jade. In his hand, he held a folding fan painted with a landscape, looking utterly dashing.
Jiang Che's interest was piqued. He looked closely, but he found that although this man was also handsome, his appearance was completely different from the person Chief Liu had described.
'Could it not be him?'
'But portraits aren't always accurate, and the flower thief might be using a disguise.' So, Jiang Che didn't give up his suspicion.
The man walked straight up to Miss Shao and said with a smile, "Miss Shao, we meet again."
When Miss Shao saw him, her eyes brightened. "It's you!"
Seeing that the two knew each other, Jiang Che dismissed the thought and decided to go back outside to keep watch.
However, just as the Young Master walked past him, the Omen suddenly sent out a warning!
Jiang Che's heart jolted in shock.
'There's something wrong with this man!'