Chapter 33: Unexpected Wealth

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The dust settled, and the street fell silent.

“Huff, puff…” Ye Jingtang was panting like an ox. After sheathing his saber, he turned to look at Luo Ning. He saw her clutching her left shoulder, her lips slightly parted, staring at him with her mouth agape.

“How is your injury?” Ye Jingtang walked over quickly and held Luo Ning’s left arm to check it.

Luo Ning twisted her waist slightly to avoid Ye Jingtang’s touch. She didn’t even have time to care about her injury as she exclaimed in surprise, “What saber technique was that? Why is it so powerful?”

“Did I say I was weak?”

“Didn’t you never learn martial arts?”

“I trained in the courtyard a few days ago. Didn’t you see?”

“You’ve only practiced for a few days…” Luo Ning opened her mouth, then paused. She felt that it wasn’t impossible for this shameless little thief to comprehend a peerless saber technique in a few days…

She put away her shocked thoughts, held her left shoulder, and said calmly, “It’s the Wingless Owl’s unique poison, Tendon Piercing Powder. I sealed my acupoints myself. It’s fine.”

Hearing this, Ye Jingtang inwardly heaved a sigh of relief. He took out the Jade Dragon Ointment that he had obtained from Third Lady and handed it to Luo Ning. Then he rummaged through the headless corpse. “Don’t block hidden weapons for me in the future. You can’t even block them…”

When Luo Ning heard these heartless words, her eyes were naturally full of anger. “Why do you care if I’m willing? Do you think everyone in Jianghu is like you and watches coldly from the sidelines without caring about the safety of their companions if they don’t think they can help?”

Ye Jingtang just didn’t want the people around him to get hurt because of him. He was still very touched, so he didn’t retort. He just quickly searched the corpse.

In the end, he didn’t find an antidote bottle. Instead, he found a golden item on the corpse’s chest.

Ye Jingtang took out the golden paper and sized it up. He knew that it was an invulnerable treasure, but he didn’t know the details. He placed it beside him and continued to search.

Luo Ning came over and was about to say something when she caught sight of the golden paper from the corner of her eye. Her body trembled slightly.

Ye Jingtang was engrossed in searching for things when he noticed Luo Ning’s heavy breathing. He turned around and looked at the golden paper. “You know what this is?”

Luo Ning’s pale face concealed her shock, but she was clearly a little flustered. She knew what this golden paper was. The Pacifying Heaven Cult Master was also collecting the ‘Roaring Dragon Chart’ and had a page.

According to Pacifying Heaven Cult Master, each page of the Roaring Dragon Chart contained one of nine mystical sect secret techniques. Obtaining one page would allow one to far surpass ordinary people. Luo Ning wasn’t sure if one would be able to ascend after learning all of them, but she was certain that one’s appearance would last forever.

Because from the moment she had first met the Pacifying Heaven Cult Master until now, apart from her mature temperament, her appearance was no different from back then. She had also learned a little, and her skin was still as tender as Yunli’s…

Even though it didn’t have the magical effect of allowing one to become an immortal, just the rejuvenation of one’s youth was enough to drive countless Jianghu Grandmasters crazy.

When the previous dynasty perished, various Grandmasters had taken advantage of the chaos to rush into the capital. In order to compete for the Roaring Dragon Chart, it was not uncommon for brothers to stab each other in the back and master and disciple to kill each other. There had been countless human tragedies in history.

It could be said that this thing was a scourge. Whoever obtained a page would basically silence those who knew to prevent the news from spreading and being hunted down by the people of Jianghu.

If she informed Ye Jingtang, what if this little thief coveted the treasure and made up his mind…

With this little thief’s character, he shouldn’t… Luo Ning hesitated for a moment before replying euphemistically, “Store this thing well. It’s very important. Don’t let outsiders see it… Otherwise, you’ll be killed.”

Ye Jingtang blinked and looked at the drawing of a dragon turtle carrying three mountains on the golden paper. He pondered for a moment and said, “This can’t be the Roaring Dragon Chart, can it?”

“…”

Luo Ning didn’t say anything. She took a few steps back and looked at Ye Jingtang warily.

Seeing Luo Ning’s apprehensive expression, Ye Jingtang guessed her worries. He shook his head and continued to search for the antidote. “You risked your life to block the hidden weapons for me just now, but you’re on guard now. Are you schizophrenic?”

Luo Ning also felt that her actions were a little inconsistent and said in a deep voice, “I don’t think you’re a sinister person, so I told you. If you really didn’t have any morals, you would have died on the first day you saw me.”

Ye Jingtang ignored her stubborn words and continued to search. He found that this cat burglar had a lot of belongings. Not only did he have the golden paper, but he also had a jade pendant and a small booklet at his waist.

The booklet was ordinary and even a little old. He glanced at the content. It was similar to a diary and was all casually written insights. It was written unsystematically, but the strokes were bold and powerful. It was obvious that it was written by a master. If he wasn’t wrong, it was the martial arts insights of the legendary Lu Jieyun.

Standing behind him, Luo Ning looked at the small wooden box that had been thrown aside.

The wooden box was very exquisite. When looking for the antidote, Ye Jingtang had opened it. There was an emerald green jade pendant lying inside.

“The Water Cloud Sword Pool’s Zhou family’s heirloom, the Dragon Pool Tourmaline… I heard that the Wingless Owl went to the Water Cloud Sword Pool, but the Zhou family didn’t do anything. It turns out that they lost this thing.”

Ye Jingtang wrapped up the incomparably precious booklet to prevent it from being soaked by the rain and asked, “Is this jade pendant very precious?”

“It’s just an ordinary jade pendant. The Zhou family’s ancestor picked it up and treated it as an heirloom. Losing this is no different from slapping the Water Cloud Sword Pool in the face. No wonder the Zhou family didn’t make a fuss.”

Ye Jingtang was not interested in these trivial matters and didn’t reply. He carefully searched the waist of the corpse for a long time. Other than some miscellaneous items, he didn’t find anything else. “There doesn’t seem to be an antidote.”

“In order to escape, most cat burglars will place antidotes elsewhere for their poisoned pursuers to retrieve and wait for an opportunity to escape. You killed him too quickly and forgot to ask.”

“Uh…” Ye Jingtang’s expression stiffened. He stood up and looked at Luo Ning, whose complexion was getting worse and worse. “So, what do we do?”

Luo Ning wasn’t very worried. “I won’t die from the poison. I’ve sealed my acupuncture points and just need to get the poison out. Quickly clean up the mess and send me back to Double Osmanthus Alley.”

Ye Jingtang wasn’t a bandit. After he killed someone, it was impossible for him to throw the corpse on the street. After putting away the spoils of war, he was about to hide the headless corpse when many horseshoes sounded on the street in the distance.

Tap, tap, tap…

With such a huge commotion, it was obvious that bandits were causing trouble in the capital. It wasn’t strange for officials to rush over.

Ye Jingtang hurriedly asked Luo Ning to hide first and then waited on the street. Not long later, more than ten riders dressed in black and blue robes galloped over. They were constables from the Black Office.

Ye Jingtang was afraid that there would be a conflict by mistake, so he took out the wanted poster issued by the Black Office and shouted, “Heavenly Water Bridge’s Ye Jingtang is under the orders of the Black Office to capture a thief.”

The banner commander of the Black Office constables dismounted from his horses and came over. He took Ye Jingtang’s wanted poster to check it. After confirming that the seal was correct, he put away his crossbow and cupped his hands. “Young Master Ye, you have good methods! You are the young hero who sparred with Sir She a few days ago, right?”

“Exactly.”

The banner commander looked respectful when he heard this and cupped his hands again. “Thank you for your help, Young Hero Ye. Are you sure it’s the Wingless Owl?”

According to the rules, ‘bounty hunters’ would help capture bandits. Other than the stolen goods that the Imperial Court had ordered to recover, the rest would belong to the bounty hunters.

Ye Jingtang naturally wouldn’t foolishly take out the martial arts insights and the page of the Roaring Dragon Chart for the constable to confiscate. He only threw the jade pendant to him. “This seems to be the Dragon Pool Tourmaline. I hope that you can bring the corpse and item back to the Black Office to report. I just finished a fight and have to rest for a while, so I won’t go now.”

When the constable saw the house full of broken walls, he knew that the fight had been very fierce. Fortunately, Young Master Ye didn’t have any obvious injuries.

The banner commander asked his subordinates to carry the corpse and head away. At the same time, he handed Ye Jingtang a token. “Imperial Physician Wang of Literary Virtue Bridge is a divine doctor in the capital. Anyone from the Black Office injured in the line of duty can go see him. Young Master Ye, since you’re injured, take this token and go over there directly.”

“Thank you.” Ye Jingtang told the constables where the Wingless Owl had been found and asked them to check on the aftermath. Then he bade farewell and left.

After walking out of the sight of the constables, Ye Jingtang turned back and arrived at a dark alley under the guidance of the bird.

Luo Ning was waiting in the alley, her face slightly pale. Seeing Ye Jingtang return, she hurriedly said, “Let’s go—Huh?”

Before she could finish speaking, Ye Jingtang came up to her and carried her on his back.

Luo Ning lay on his back while holding her shoulder. Her thighs were being held, so her eyes were full of anger. “My arm is injured, but my legs are fine. Why are you carrying me?”

“Don’t talk nonsense. I just got a token. I’ll bring you to an imperial physician for your injury.”

Imperial physician? Luo Ning had investigated the Black Office for a long time and knew who he was talking about. She said helplessly, “I’m a rebel. Imperial Physician Wang deals with people like the Six Fiends all day long, so his eyesight must be sharp. Am I going to walk into a trap?”

Ye Jingtang stopped in his tracks. He thought about it and then turned around and ran toward the West Market.

Seeing how enthusiastic he was, Luo Ning felt a little uncomfortable. Initially, she didn’t want to be carried by the little thief, but she soon realized that he was running in the wrong direction. “Where are you going? This isn’t the way to Dye Workshop Street…”

“Let’s go to the inn. Double Osmanthus Alley is half the city away. You’ll be dead by the time I run over. Can’t we force the poison out in the inn?”

For some reason, Luo Ning’s attitude was very firm. “I’m not going to the inn! Put me down. I’ll go back to Double Osmanthus Alley myself. Little thief! Did you hear me…? Say something…”