Chapter 18: Chapter 18
Li Suifeng swung by Green Stone Alley first.
“Come on — we’re going to the Yang residence.”
No preamble. He called straight into the side room.
CREAK.
The door swung open, and Ye Qingmei stepped out.
She clearly hadn’t been asleep.
“What business do we have at the Yang residence?”
She fell into step behind Li Suifeng.
“The Red Lotus Sect hit the docks just now — tried to ship a load of medicinal herbs to Mingzhou Prefecture. I stopped them.” Li Suifeng filled her in on everything that had happened.
“Mingzhou Prefecture?” Ye Qingmei frowned. “The Red Lotus Sect must be unable to source medicine there anymore. They had to funnel it through Nanyang instead.”
“The Red Lotus Sect elder stationed in Mingzhou is a fifth-rank master. By disrupting his supply line, you’ve made an enemy — even if you don’t go after Song Xian, Song Xian won’t let you walk.”
“Then I’ll take his life first.” Li Suifeng’s voice was flat.
They moved fast.
In barely half an hour, they’d crossed from Green Stone Alley to the Yang compound in the northern quarter.
Standing on a rooftop, Li Suifeng pulled a strip of black cloth from his robe and masked his face.
“You’re really…”
Ye Qingmei’s expression was somewhere between amused and incredulous.
Li Suifeng glanced at her. “If things go sideways, you can dust off your hands and disappear. I still have to make a living in Nanyang.”
“Let’s go.”
Ye Qingmei didn’t argue further.
The two of them ran along the rooftops. The Yang compound was heavily guarded — sentries every few paces, watchmen at every post.
Even the Canal Gang branch headquarters didn’t maintain this level of nighttime security.
But both of them were skilled in qinggong. Ordinary guards had no hope of detecting them.
The study of Yang family head Yang Tianqing was still ablaze with lamplight.
Li Suifeng and Ye Qingmei crept to the eaves above the study, channeling internal energy into their ears to listen.
“Branch Master — why hasn’t any word come yet?”
Yang Tianqing paced the study, anxiety radiating from every step.
He’d joined the Red Lotus Sect, yes — but the Yang family still meant everything to him. If this operation was exposed, the Yang family would face annihilation from both the jianghu and the imperial court.
Certain death.
“Calm down.”
“Pu Yuan has been with me for seven years. He’s reliable. Nothing will go wrong.”
Song Xian sat in the study’s seat of honor, his voice unhurried.
“Liu Zhenhe left Nanyang Prefecture today. The Divine Fist Gate is outside the city. Right now, the number of people in this city who could stop Pu Yuan can be counted on one hand.”
“Relax. After this shipment clears, we go dormant for a while. Your Yang family will be the same respectable merchant house it’s always been. Nothing will happen.”
Yang Tianqing exhaled.
At that moment—
TAP TAP TAP!
A patrol of Yang family guards rounded the corner toward the study.
Li Suifeng and Ye Qingmei launched upward, springing for the roof.
TAP!
A faint sound — one foot grazing a roof tile.
Not good!
Both of them tensed simultaneously.
“Intruders!”
A furious roar erupted from inside the study.
WHOOSH!
WHOOSH!
Twin blasts of palm force tore through the air.
CRASH!
The study’s roof exploded outward. Tiles became a hail of projectiles, raking toward the two of them like a volley of hidden weapons.
Sixth-rank!
Understanding flashed through Li Suifeng’s mind.
Only a sixth-rank master could project true qi outside the body with such devastating force.
HISS!
Before Li Suifeng could react, Ye Qingmei’s sword was already drawn. A single horizontal slash carved an elegant arc through the air, and the barrage of tiles was swatted aside.
“Intruders!”
“Kill them!”
In an instant, the entire Yang compound erupted into chaos.
Song Xian and Yang Tianqing vaulted upward, landing on the rooftop to face the two figures standing on the opposite ridge.
“Ye Qingmei — I knew it was you!”
Song Xian’s face darkened.
If Ye Qingmei had tracked them here with a companion, Pu Yuan’s operation had almost certainly failed.
“Branch Master, why waste words — seize them and find out who else knows!”
Yang Tianqing had lost his composure entirely.
If this got out, the Yang family was finished.
“I’ll hold Song Xian. You handle the rest.”
Ye Qingmei pushed off lightly and dropped into the courtyard below the study. Her long sword swept upward in a graceful rising arc.
The flagstones paving the courtyard tore free under the force of that single stroke, launching themselves at Song Xian and Yang Tianqing like a storm of projectiles.
“Refining spirit into the blade. Unity of wielder and weapon. Will transmuted into edge. Swordsmanship touching the divine.”
“Nineteen years old, and she’s already grasped sword intent.”
“If word of tonight’s display got out, your ranking would climb even higher.”
“A pity — tonight, you die.”
Song Xian’s face was pure frost.
One palm thrust forward.
BOOM!
Every flagstone projectile detonated in midair.
The next instant, Song Xian’s figure blurred like a phantom — crossing over a dozen zhang in a single bound to land near Ye Qingmei, driving a palm straight at her.
His palm had turned a livid blue-purple. Even from a distance, a foul, acrid stench reached the nostrils.
This was the Five Poisons Palm cultivated to its deepest level.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
In the space of a heartbeat, Song Xian and Ye Qingmei had already exchanged several blows.
“Ngh!”
A trace of blood appeared at the corner of Ye Qingmei’s lips.
She’d been more seriously injured than Song Xian to begin with, and Song Xian was no pushover among sixth-rank fighters. Trading blows directly was taking its toll.
“Master!”
“Master!”
By now, Yang family guards had converged on the scene.
The Yang family had earned its place as Nanyang Prefecture’s premier herb merchant — three eighth-rank fighters stood among the household guard.
“What are you waiting for? Help me kill this one!” Yang Tianqing snarled, seeing that Song Xian already had Ye Qingmei suppressed.
He slid forward, ten fingers hooked into claws, and lunged for Li Suifeng’s chest.
“Well, well — the Yang family head is a seventh-rank master after all.”
“All these years in Nanyang, and no one ever saw through you.”
A mocking edge gleamed in Li Suifeng’s eyes.
Yang Tianqing had the cultivation, but years without real combat had left his technique riddled with gaps.
SHING!
Steel cleared the sheath.
A flash of blade-light.
SQUELCH!
A thin red line appeared at the center of Yang Tianqing’s brow. It widened. Blood erupted outward. A single slash had split the man perfectly in two — the halves toppling apart, spilling blood and viscera across the rooftop.
CLATTER!
A weapon hit the ground.
“URGH—”
One of the Yang family guards turned his head and retched.
The rest were white-faced and rooted in place. Not one dared step forward.
This masked man was terrifying. If they charged him, their fate would be the same as their master’s.
“Another genius who’s comprehended blade intent — which name on the Human Rankings are you?”
Even Song Xian’s composure cracked. He drove Ye Qingmei back with a palm strike and fixed Li Suifeng with a wary stare.
Ye Qingmei’s grudge against Elder Yun had brought her to this backwater — that much he could understand.
But why was another prodigy of this caliber also in Nanyang? Was he one of Ye Qingmei’s admirers?
Yet he’d never heard of Ye Qingmei being close to any ranked talent.
And among the blade-wielders on the Human Rankings, none matched this man’s profile.