This courtyard was enormous, clearly indicating that it was the main one, so he concluded this must be Hu Chengxuanâs residence.
It was pitch black everywhere.
Qi Yue had already made her way to one of the doorways, pushed the door open, and went in.
He hurried to the window, flipped over and hung from the eave, peering inside through the gap between the eave and the wall.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Inside, Qi Yue had put on a strange object over her eyes as she rifled through drawers and closets for something.
Eventually, she found a letter on the bookshelf. Without lighting a lamp, she began reading it immediately, and then her expression suddenly changed drastically.
He thought he had been discovered and immediately prepared to leave, but then he saw a slight smile curl the corners of Qi Yueâs lips.
She waved her hand, and in an instant, everything in the room disappeared.
Tables, chairs, ink slabs, vases, ornaments⦠even the calligraphy on the walls was gone.
Invisibly, it seemed a magical power had transferred them to another place.
Zhao Xiyan was utterly shocked and almost lost his balance.
Knowing how vigilant Qi Yue was, he dared not look any longer and immediately hid himself in a large flowering tree within the courtyard.
Soon, he saw Qi Yue exit the room, look around carefully, and then enter another room.
According to general layout, that room should be Hu Chengxuanâs bedroom.
What was she doing there?
Listening intently and detecting no one else, he felt relieved.
Just as he was about to follow and see what was going on, he came down from the tree only to see Qi Yue coming out again, looking very pleased as she left the courtyard.
Zhao Xiyan hurried into the bedroom only to find it empty except for a few scattered quilts on the floor.
He immediately remembered how she had cleared everything from the study with a wave of her hand.
Hurrying out, he followed the direction she had taken and eventually arrived at a secluded location.
It appeared to be a storage room belonging to the Hu Family.
When he saw her again, she had already knocked out the guards and was fiddling with a door.
Zhao Xiyan furrowed his brows.
Silly girl, that metal door weighs tonsâ even with your Innate Divine Strength, opening it would require great effort.
He had never noticed her fondness for those ornaments and things in the room before.
It was his fault; he should have had people send her more, so she wouldnât have needed to risk coming here, to Hu Chengxuanâs residence.
The silly girl didnât consider that these items would be hard to sell or use casuallyâ what use was bringing them?
Zhao Xiyan secretly wondered to himself, then saw Qi Yue stretch out her hand and suddenly produce a black object.
He didnât know how she did it, but the object stuck firmly to the metal door.
Then he saw her run far, duck, and crouch under a wall.
While he was puzzling over her actions, a sudden, earth-shattering explosion rocked the tree where he was hiding.
Smoke and flames filled his view, and the air was littered with fragments of somethingâ¦
Was there an earthquake?
He immediately rushed out to grab Qi Yue, intending to take her to safety, but saw that she had already dashed into the flames.
âYueyueâ¦â
In his panic, he called out to her and followed, but then heard shouts behind him.
âCatch the thief! Someone come quickly!â
Worried that Qi Yue might not be able to escape, he turned back and killed a few patrolling servants before returning to the front of the storage room for another look.
There was no door left.
Instead, there was a huge hole, wide enough for two people to pass through.
Suspecting it was caused by the explosion, he didnât think much more and immediately entered the storage room to look for Qi Yue.
âYueyue, Yueyueâ¦â
The storage room was vast and empty; Qi Yue was nowhere to be seen.
Hearing hurried footsteps approaching, he quickly left the storage room, leaped onto the roof, and searched for any sign of Qi Yue.
But the number of people from the Prefecture Magistrateâs Office was increasing.
Everywhere people were shouting for the thief, and many were crying out that they had seen ghosts.
He searched for Qi Yue for quite some time but couldnât find her. Suspecting that she had already returned home, he headed back toward the direction of the pharmacy.
Soon, he arrived outside the residence and saw that it too was brilliantly lit.
Under the eaves of the front hall, he saw Qi Yueâs silhouette and immediately felt relieved.
She had changed into her night-traveling clothes, her red garb glowing under the light like a blood-red spider lily in full bloom.
Dangerous, enchanting, mysteriousâ¦
âYueyue, who exactly are you? Or rather, what kind of demon are you?â
This whispered thought from the bottom of his heart seemed to have reached Qi Yueâs ears directly, as he saw her step out from under the eaves and look cautiously in his direction.
Zhao Xiyan instinctively felt that Qi Yue did not want her actions to be seen, so he immediately left.
He decided to go back and prepare some fine things to send to her under the guise of the black market, hoping to spare her from engaging in such dangerous activities again.
In the courtyard, Qi Yue was observing the few people who were tied up like zongzi.
As she had expected, somebody did come tonight.
But Qing Nanzun did not show up.
âMaster, when will the people from the Prefectural Office come?â
She planned to publicize the break-in so as to create a big fuss, aiming to disconnect any possible link between the Prefecture Magistrateâs office burglary and herself.
âSoon, Iâve already sent the gatekeeper to notify them.â
âGood, just hand over the people to them later.â
âOkay, leave it to me, Master. You, as a young maiden, should hurry back to sleep to avoid getting ugly and remain unmarried.â
âIf you donât speak, no one would think youâre mute!â
âYou, a young maiden, could you show a bit more respect to your masterâ¦â
Qi Yue took out two bottles of Carefree Pills from her bosom and threw them over.
âThese are the new pills I made, a gesture of filial piety for you, Master.â
Huang Zaiâan caught them and took one. A smile of disbelief immediately surfaced on his face.
âGood disciple, you really respect and value your master the most.â
âHmph.â Qi Yue humphed and began to look around.
She thought she had sensed Zhao Xiyanâs presence just now, but why couldnât she see him?
âDisciple, what are you still watching? All are caught, not a single one ran away; theyâre all here.â
âOh, Iâm just looking.â
Qi Yue responded vaguely, withdrawing her gaze.
He really hadnât come.
Why would he come?
Ever since Hu Chengxuan had brought his troops that one time, he hadnât visited again.
She couldnât understand why he, being in Longnan County Government, would not come to see her, showing that he had no affection for her.
âA cold-hearted and unfeeling man!â
Qi Yue cursed inwardly.
Even if they were just siblings, even if he loved another, it shouldnât be to the extent of such heartlessness!
Could it be that he had discovered her feelings?
Thinking it over, she immediately denied that.
She had always masked her feelings well, confident that she hadnât revealed any trace to him.
Perhaps he was too in love with Lady Bai Shao, worried that she might overthink.
In the boundless Sunset Forest, close to the border of Luobei City, a thin and weak young person was curled up with her back against a big tree. She looked at the people who were gradually approaching her. âYou, what do you want to do? I just paid the protection fee yesterday.â
She had handed over the only three gold coins she had yesterday. These people had tricked her into coming here early this morning, saying that they had seen her brother here.
Her brother had been summoned to the capital by his family. She had not seen him for several years. In the past few years, she had been beaten up almost every day.
âProtection money? Ninth Young Master, even protection money canât save you. Who asked you to have a genius brother? If he comes back and finds out that we bullied you, will we still have a good life?â
âThatâs right. Besides, youâre just a piece of trash. What right do you have to be a direct descendant of the Beiting Family? Itâs so embarrassing.â
âIf I were you, I would have committed suicide a long time ago. How can you still have the face to live?â
âCut the crap and settle it quickly. Donât let anyone see you!â
The leader of the group, a tall man, kicked Beiting Huangâs back. The pain made Beiting Huang cry. They were both Level 2 to Level 3 Spiritual Practitioners. She was just a piece of trash. She could not even fight back.
âWho is it? Who told you to kill me?â Beiting Huang asked timidly. She held her head and did not dare to look at the group of fierce-looking young men.
âIt doesnât matter if I tell you!â The tall man chuckled. They were all branches of the Beiting Family and liked to see the three generations of the Beiting Family run away like rats in front of them. However, they were born useless. They could not even gather spiritual energy, let alone cultivation talent. âYoung Master Han said that a distinguished guest is coming to the capital. He was afraid that a useless person like you would embarrass the family in front of the distinguished guest, so he asked us to punish you.â
As long as Beiting Huang died, they still had 50 gold coins to take.
The punches and kicks became more and more concentrated. It was more painful than directly killing someone with a knife.
Beiting Huang curled up her body and covered her head and chest. She couldnât even cry. There was too much hatred in her heart. She would rather die than beg for mercy.
Someone kicked her in the neck. She felt a sharp pain and fainted.
âThis kid died just like that?â A short youth nudged Beiting Huang with his foot and spat on her. âShe really canât take a beating!â
âLetâs see if thereâs anything valuable on her!â The tall man clapped his hands and stomped on the ground twice, afraid that he would be tainted by Beiting Huangâs bad luck.
Having thought this through, she shook her head vigorously, casting out the sound of Zhao Xiyanâs voice, his image, and even the name Zhao Xiyan from her mind.
She needed to return to her space to tally the nightâs haul.