"I knew she was trouble," the pot-bellied man murmured as he suddenly appeared at the edge of another village. He dusted the invisible dirt off his clothes as he made his way to the village.
"Wait!" One of the two guards at the entrance—both carrying spears—called out as he was about to waltz in. "State your business with our Qinghe Village, and you'll have to pay the gate fee."
"How much is the toll?" he inquired.
"Ten copper pieces."
He dipped into the pouch at his side and tossed a silver coin to the guard. "Keep the change."
"Beloved guest, you are welcome to our Qinghe Village ," the guards instantaneously became courteous, as one silver coin was worth one hundred copper pieces—three months' pay for them.
"We can even get an escort to protect you from harm," the second guard quickly offered. Since he couldn't sense any aura on the man, he wasn't sure if he was or wasn't a cultivator.
"That will not be required," the pot-bellied man said, already strolling into the village.
"So much bootlicking," the man heard a voice in his head. He could almost see it shaking it head disapprovingly.
"Yup, money does change people," he said as he walked towards the market. "Fortunately I took this during all that panic ."
The market was at the center of the village, packed with consumers and sellers. Merchants shouted above one another to advertise their wares, haggle prices, and attract customers. The whole market was loud and packed with vibes.
"More people cram this village than the last one. Is it because of that one borders the darkwood forest?"
"Since there are more individuals, therefore there has to be better food, right?" he rationalized, already looking around at a few of the food stands while walking towards the food stalls.
At the village gate, in the meantime—
"Why am I only receiving 40 copper coins when you are receiving 50?" one guard grumbled, clearly displeased.
"Because the money was being given to me."
The guards continued arguing as a man in a standard red-and-black robe—indicating that he belonged to the Azure Guards—approached.
"By the orders of the Azure Guards, if you see a bald, pot-bellied man in his early sixties with a cat, you are to report his last seen to the nearest Azure Guard. Don't harass or follow him, just observe and report." He went straight to the point as soon as he got there, skipping all form of formality.
The same order was being issued throughout the entire Azure Alliance. Even a reward had been offered for information leading to the man's discovery, setting everyone to speculation over his identity.
As the officer went to leave, one of the guards rushed after him.
"A man matching that description just came in a few minutes ago, sir. He has a cat and the works," the guard—still grumbling over his lesser share—told him.
"Good. As this village only has one entry, be sure to keep guard in the event that he departs," the officer directed as he departed.
---
Within a high-rise office building, Azure Guards strode purposefully—some turning in reports, others stamping off arrests—each task performed with practiced efficiency. On the second-highest floor, within a large and tastefully decorated office, two individuals were lost in discussion.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Chi Xianyan asked for the umpteenth time, sitting opposite her.
"Yes. If he will accept me, I will go," Jing Tu answered honestly.
"If you're going, then I'm going as well. Someone has to take care of you. You know you can't be alone," Chi Xianyan protested.
"You can't! The Grand Commander will never take kindly to losing me, and with you shadowing me won't go well," Jing Tu replied sharply. "And, for that matter, who instructed you that I am not able to take care of myself? I'm just a few years older than you."
"I was told when I arrived that I could leave whenever I wanted," Chi Xianyan reminded him. "As you always say—the only path is the path of the Dao. My goal is the peak of the martial arts."
"He will not permit his brightest subordinate to walk away so easily. If he could, he'd kill the Lightning God himself in order to keep you from leaving," Jing Tu cautioned.
"Make that tw—" Before Chi Xianyan was able to say it, there was a knock on the door.
"Who's there?" Jing Tu inquired.
"Zhi Hao, sir," said the officer's voice.
"Enter."
"Junior greets Commander, junior greets Captain," he added with a bow as he entered.
"From the logistics department," said the officer, still bowing. "I have come to report—the man you're searching for has been spotted."
"Where did he come from?" Jing Tu jumped up hastily.
"He was last seen by the gate guard of Qinghe Village entering the village two hours ago," the officer replied.
"Impossible… even with movement skill, I don't believe I could ever move that fast," Chi Xianyan cried in astonishment.
"Station three members of the monitoring team around him. Warn them to keep back, do not get close, and do not get detected," Jing Tu ordered.
"You can go. And any fresh information—report to me in person," he added before sending the officer off.
Gossip spread like wildfire that the Huanglin unit commander placed top priority order on someone, so much so that he even deployed a surveillance team into another's territory. The officers noted that the commander had never been more agitated—not even when he was faced with a peak Grandmaster-realm creature when himself was only at the early stage Grandmaster level.
Speculation ran wild. Who was this individual who could make the whole of the Azure Guard move? With a reward in place, speculation ran rampant, every rumor wilder than the previous.
"Who do you think he is? Maybe a long-time escaped criminal they've been searching for years," one officer panted to another as they staked out his location.
"Or. maybe he's Commander Jing Tu's unknown father," another theorized.
"He can be his master—the master who wanted to take him to Azure Sky Kingdom before his death," said a third.
"What! If he could enter the Azure Sky Kingdom, he'd at least be the late stage of Heavenly Origin Realm," the first officer exclaimed.
"I heard that he was at the peak Heavenly Origin cultivator. Fact is, folks say he was Azure Sky Kingdom, or maybe another kingdom, I don't know which," the third replied.
"If he was at the peak of Heavenly Origin, then what could possibly kill him?" the second inquired, clearly skeptical.
"I've heard of realms where even a Heavenly Origin cultivator would be swatted away," grumbled the third with a scowl.
Lost in their conversation, the pot-bellied man they were assigned to watch was already out of the food stall and was headed towards another stall in the marketplace. Passing along the way was a weapons merchant. Stopping to see if there was something of value, he overheard the conversation between the merchant and a young cultivator.
"I had this specially made at Shangtai City," said the salesman proudly, displaying the weapon.
"That does not change the fact that I have only 20 silver coins," replied the customer.
"I have clarified, this sword can hurt a Master Realm expert, and you wish to buy it for 20 silver coins?" the merchant snapped. "With your weak initial Advance Realm cultivation, you think you can assassinate a Master Realm expert, and you think the weapon to use will be cheap?"
"Final offer: 25 silver coins, or nothing," the boy insisted.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk… I won't give you less than 30, and that's only because you seem like a good kid," replied the merchant.
"Thirty coins is all I made selling the beast cores I collected during the last beast wave in Huanglin Village," complained the boy.
"If this weapon would save your life, is it not worth more than money? Can you pay in coins if you are dead?" the merchant urged.
Finally grasping the fact that he could not make the price lower, the boy reluctantly slid his hand into his pouch to pay.
"I don't know it is worth it."