"Brother Chen, tell me. In a situation like this, shouldn’t I feel hatred?!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Yi just looked at him quietly.

After a moment of silence, he finally spoke. "Indeed, you should."

The ferocious look on Liu Jing’s face faded slightly, his expression easing. "You think so too, right?"

Chen Yi nodded, his gaze falling upon the darkness outside as he spoke calmly,

"Hate all you want, but it was foolish of you to come find me."

"Foolish?"

Liu Jing faltered, his face instantly darkening. "Brother Chen, I was only indulging you with a few extra words because you seemed to know your place, letting you live a moment longer."

"But your words... they chill my heart. I feel like my earnest goodwill has been thrown to the dogs."

Chen Yi let out an incredulous laugh. "’Earnest goodwill?’ Coming from you, Brother Liu, that’s truly hilarious."

"You?!"

Just then, an old man behind him spoke up, advising, "Young Master, there is no need to get angry with a man who is about to die."

"To avoid any unexpected trouble, let’s deal with him quickly. Then we can head to You State to lay low for a while."

Liu Jing paused, the anger in his glare at Chen Yi receding. "You’re right. I shouldn’t waste my breath on him. It’s just a waste of my time."

"Brother Chen, it’s getting late. We’ll send you to the underworld now."

"And when I return from You State, I will make the Xiao Family pay for today’s offense!"

With that, he leaned in close and whispered with a smirk,

"I hear that Xiao Wan’er and Xiao Jinghong are a pair of exquisite beauties, truly heavenly. I am so looking forward to what I’ll do with the two of them..."

CRACK!

Before Liu Jing could finish, Chen Yi’s hand, which had been resting behind his back, was already clamped around his throat.

With the slightest pressure, his fingers crushed Liu Jing’s larynx.

Chen Yi then retracted his hand and looked at him, his expression cold.

"Brother Liu, it would be impolite to say any more."

It all happened in an instant.

Chen Yi had moved so fast that even the two old men standing nearby hadn’t noticed a thing.

The two guards posted at the doorway, their backs to the room, also saw nothing.

Liu Jing stared in a daze, only then did a searing pain flare in his throat.

He clutched his throat, trying to scream, but no words would come out.

Only a gurgling whimper, like air escaping a puncture, came out.

He pointed frantically at his throat, pleading with the old men for help. "Guh... urk..."

Only then did the two men finally realize something was wrong.

"Young Master?"

The two guards, hearing the strange noise, turned around. Just as they were about to see what was happening, their vision blurred.

Chen Yi was already beside them, True Essence erupting from within his body.

He crouched slightly, pulling his arms in close. Mountain Shattering Force coiled around them as True Essence gathered in his hands.

Giving the two Martial Artists no chance to react, Chen Yi drove both palms upward and outward.

—Mountain Shattering·Heaven-Supporting Style!

Instantly, two faintly shimmering, palm-shaped projections of True Essence appeared over his hands.

"You!?"

"How dare you!"

The two guards’ cultivation was not weak; both were at the Seventh Grade Realm.

Though caught off guard, their reactions were swift, and they both tried to raise their hands to defend themselves.

But they had only just begun to raise their hands when an inexplicable, crushing force bore down on them.

It left them powerless, able only to watch as the palms struck them squarely on the neck.

CRACK! CRACK!

Amidst the crisp, clear sounds.

The necks of the two Seventh Grade Realm Martial Artists snapped backward, the backs of their heads touching their spines.

"Ugh... urk... Punch..."

"Punch... Intent..."

Before they could finish, they froze, standing completely still.

But Chen Yi didn’t stop there.

He executed the Meteor Butterfly Step, spinning around to strike down the two old men before they could cry for help.

Then, under Liu Jing’s astonished and horrified gaze, he vaulted over the railing of the wooden building. He landed directly behind a group of five men, led by a burly middle-aged man, who had heard the commotion and were about to head upstairs.

The five men heard the landing, paused, and turned to see Chen Yi. One of them roared in anger,

"What did you do?!"

Chen Yi looked at the five men in the hall, ignoring their question. He calmly stepped inside and casually closed the door behind him.

He looked at the leader, his gaze sweeping over the others.

"You were wrong about something a moment ago."

"Whether I live or die is not for your young master to decide."

Before the words had even faded, Chen Yi charged.

His body blurred into a streak like a shooting star, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake.

The burly, middle-aged leader drew his long blade. "You’re courting death!"

"Kill him!"

The five men surrounded him, their long blades slashing down in unison.

Chen Yi’s footwork faltered for only a fraction of a second, but it was just to sidestep their attack. His eyes remained fixed on the burly, middle-aged man.

His figure flickered. His hands, shaped into palms, slipped past the long blade at an impossible angle and struck the man’s chest.

The man’s chest caved in. His eyes turned bloodshot as he stared down in disbelief.

Holding nothing back, Chen Yi used the Flower-Piercing Step from his Hundred Flowers Palm to weave around to the side of another Eighth Grade Realm Martial Artist.

He raised his hand, forming a blade shape, and jabbed his fingertips through the back of the man’s skull.

Instantly, the Martial Artist lost consciousness, his brain having been turned to mush.

"Boss?!"

"Second Bro—"

Before the remaining three could cry out in terror, Chen Yi’s form moved like a blossoming flower, its petals brushing past each of them.

THUD. THUD. THUD.

Three muffled thuds echoed in quick succession. Other than Chen Yi, no one else in the hall was left standing.

Chen Yi glanced around the room. Using his Qi Observation Skill to confirm they were all dead, he then strolled upstairs.

By now, Liu Jing was scared out of his wits.

He wanted to jump from the building, but with no knowledge of Martial Arts, he feared the fall would kill him.

He scrambled back into the room, trying to hide under the desk or behind a screen.

But all he did was make a mess of the tidy study; he couldn’t find a single place that felt safe.

"Ugh, ghh..."

Hearing the footsteps grow clearer and closer, the fear and panic in Liu Jing’s eyes reached a crescendo.

He threw himself to his knees at the top of the stairs and began kowtowing, smashing his forehead against the floor.

THUD, THUD, THUD...

Amidst the continuous thuds of his head hitting the floor, Chen Yi’s figure appeared at the bend in the staircase.

He looked up at Liu Jing, a gentle smile gracing his lips.

"Brother Liu, what is the meaning of this?"

"Such a posture... you’re tarnishing the name of the Jing State Liu Family."

As he spoke, Chen Yi walked to his side and helped him to his feet.

"To be honest, I much preferred your defiant and unruly demeanor from before."

"It was, at least, fitting for a young master of a Noble Family."

"It prevents me from feeling like my first kill is a worthless coward, which would be a waste of getting my hands dirty."

Chen Yi patted his shoulder. "Here, pull yourself together."

Liu Jing stared at him in terror. After a dazed moment, he managed to force a hideous, savage grin. "Heh... heh..."

"Not quite right, but... oh well."

Chen Yi looked at the smile, which was uglier than a crying face, and suddenly found the whole thing dull. He raised his hand and snapped his neck.

Liu Jing’s eyes bulged. His head lolled to the side, but that ugly smile remained frozen on his face as he stared at Chen Yi.

Fear, shock, and a smile.

Chen Yi looked at him for a moment, then reached out and brushed a hand over his eyes, closing them to give his face a more peaceful look. Then he dropped the body to the floor.

He scanned the wooden building one last time, confirming there was no other movement.

Then, Chen Yi began to erase all traces of his presence.

This primarily meant the marks left by his Fist Technique, Palm Technique, and Step Technique.

He had heard from Wang Ji at noon about the Imprisonment Department’s investigative methods, so he took some precautions.

After about fifteen minutes.

Once Chen Yi was certain he hadn’t missed anything, he walked out of the residence and headed toward the distant Dingyuan Marquis’s Mansion.

Just as when he had arrived, his steps were so light that they left no footprints.

It was only when he was outside the Marquis’s Mansion that he activated the Black Tortoise Concealment Technique to mask the True Essence within his body.

Instantly, his scholarly aura returned in full.

Chen Yi looked at the distant lanterns bearing the character "Xiao." He let out a soft breath and walked over at a calm, unhurried pace.

Old Li was right.

Kill a man every ten steps, leaving no trace over a thousand miles.

’I suppose that’s the true meaning of the line. Not just to travel, but to leave no trace of one’s form.’

As he drew closer, Chen Yi saw several figures waiting by the gate.

There was Xiaodie, her face etched with anxiety; Pei Guanli, looking utterly bored; and even Xiao Wan’er, who rarely set foot outside Jiaxing Garden, was standing outside, peering down the street.

Wang Lixing and Ge the Third stood guard beside them.

Hearing his approach, Pei Guanli was the first to spot him and waved eagerly. "Brother-in-law, you’re finally back!"

Hearing her voice, the others quickly looked over. They all breathed a sigh of relief when they saw it was Chen Yi.

Xiao Wan’er glanced in the direction he’d come from. Though she was smiling, her tone was tinged with reproach.

"Brother-in-law, why did you come back that way? Why didn’t you take the main road?"

Chen Yi chuckled and scratched his head. "I was at the Hundred Herbs Hall for a while and thought I’d take a shortcut home, but I got a little lost..."

Xiaodie trotted over, her eyes already welling with tears. "Young Master, next time you go out, you must take someone with you! You made us... you made us so worried."

Chen Yi said a few words to comfort her, then led her inside the gates before turning to Xiao Wan’er apologetically.

"My apologies, Eldest Sister. I’ve made you worry."

Xiao Wan’er froze for a moment, then turned her head and started walking into the mansion.

"Who... who was worried about you?"

"Hurry up and get inside. The food’s gotten cold from waiting for you."

Chen Yi chuckled and called out, "Coming..."

After everyone had gone inside.

Ge the Third, however, remained at the gate, staring suspiciously at his retreating back.

’The scent on the Fledgling seems... a little strange...’