Chapter 37: The Chase

Li Musheng blew out the burning palace lantern in the room, casually lifted the young soldier from beneath the bed, and vanished from the room in an instant.

The moonlight was bright tonight. Carrying a person, Li Musheng's figure moved with extreme speed under the clear moonlight, without leaving even a trace of a shadow.

Following the threads of true qi in his hand, he searched toward a certain location within Shangyang City.

The imperial capital of Great Li was vast, consisting of seventy-two wards divided by four long streets: the Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, and White Tiger.

The area of each ward in Shangyang City was as large as an entire Shun'an City in Wanzhou.

Furthermore, the streets and alleys here were wider, and the houses were arranged in orderly, dense rows, far surpassing anything Shun'an City could offer. This spoke to the grandeur and prosperity of this imperial capital.

It took little time before Li Musheng arrived at Lanshan Ward, located two wards away.

Carrying the young soldier, he landed silently in a courtyard and glanced at the threads of true qi in his hand.

He confirmed that Cang Yinyue was in the room within the courtyard, though she clearly had not yet noticed his arrival.

"Such an exquisite little courtyard; Miss Cang is quite wealthy, isn't she?"

Li Musheng scanned the courtyard and couldn't help but remark aloud.

In a place like Shangyang City, where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold, purchasing such a courtyard must have cost a fortune.

At that moment, hearing Li Musheng's voice, the person inside the courtyard room finally reacted.

The previously lit window instantly went dark, and a shadow drifted silently out of the darkness, appearing behind Li Musheng in the blink of an eye.

Simultaneously, a slender blade reflected a snowy white glow under the moonlight, resting quietly against Li Musheng's shoulder.

Li Musheng turned around, extended a finger to push the blade away from his shoulder, and looked at her.

"We are old acquaintances, after all. Miss Cang, there's no need for such an introduction, is there?"

Cang Yinyue narrowed her eyes slightly. The blade in her hand retracted into her sleeve like a spiritual serpent, and a look of suspicion crossed her face.

"How did you find this place?"

"I naturally have my methods."

Li Musheng smiled but offered no further explanation. Instead, he tossed the young soldier in front of her and said

"I'll leave this fellow to you, Miss Cang. Please interrogate him thoroughly to see if you can extract any clues regarding the Apocalypse Treasury."

Earlier today in the main hall of the Aurora Pavilion, Li Musheng had noticed that the soldier possessed Northern Qi Meditative Qi. However, he hadn't made a scene at the time, intending instead to find an opportunity to probe the man for the key to the Apocalypse Treasury.

To his surprise, the fellow hadn't been able to hide it and was actually discovered by the people of the Six Doors.

Fortunately, the final result was that the man ended up in his hands.

At this moment, Cang Yinyue stared at the young soldier on the ground, and suddenly exclaimed in shock

"Is this the Great Qi remnant who escaped from the Aurora Pavilion earlier today?"

Although the Heaven Brocade Guard and the Six Doors had promptly suppressed the news regarding the Aurora Pavilion incident, it could not be hidden from Cang Yinyue. After all, she was not only a constable of the Six Doors but also a secret agent of the Hidden Intelligence Bureau.

"That's right, it's him," Li Musheng nodded.

Hearing this, Cang Yinyue abruptly looked up at him, unable to help but take a deep breath.

"I heard from the people in the Six Doors that this person not only cultivates Northern Qi Meditative Qi, but his martial arts cultivation is comparable to that of a Martial Grandmaster. Today, even with Ji Feiyun and Gong Lishan working together, they were both severely injured by him."

"If it weren't for the palace experts intervening at the critical moment, Ji Feiyun and the other would have nearly lost their lives. How on earth did you take him down?"

Facing Cang Yinyue's questioning, Li Musheng shrugged.

However, he did not hide the truth. He briefly recounted what happened at the Aurora Pavilion and how he had captured the young soldier.

"That's how it went. I figured you are more skilled at interrogating people, Miss Cang, so I brought him here."

Cang Yinyue's eyes flickered uncertainly. Originally, she thought Li Musheng had been hiding his strength and that his true martial cultivation was likely at the Xiantian Grandmaster realm.

But the current situation suggested that he had single-handedly taken down an expert comparable to a Martial Grandmaster.

She knew very well that even if this soldier had lost an arm and was heavily injured, he was by no means someone an ordinary Grandmaster could easily handle.

He was, at the very least, a half-step Martial Grandmaster.

As Cang Yinyue speculated, a sudden, intense curiosity regarding the opportunities Li Musheng had encountered arose in her heart.

A half-step Martial Grandmaster under the age of twenty was considered a top-tier martial genius in the entire martial arts world; such individuals were rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

As far as she knew, the fake prince currently imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison was also a half-step Martial Grandmaster.

And to her surprise, the man before her was likely one as well.

One must remember that the fake prince's teacher was the Director of the Hidden Intelligence Bureau, an existence whose martial arts reached the divine. So, what kind of opportunity had Li Musheng encountered?

"Miss Cang, isn't it time to get to work?"

Seeing her suddenly dazed and silent, Li Musheng quickly spoke up to remind her.

Hearing this, Cang Yinyue exhaled softly, suppressed her thoughts, and gave Li Musheng a deep look.

Then, she picked up the immobilized young soldier and walked toward the room in the courtyard.

Although what Li Musheng said about creating his own martial arts was complete nonsense, his actual martial strength truly left her startled.

Clearly, she had misjudged him again!

"Give me half an hour. Everything you want to know, I will question out of him, word for word."

As Cang Yinyue's voice fell, the sound of a door closing echoed from the courtyard.

Seeing this, Li Musheng said, "Thank you," then glanced around before leaping onto the roof of the courtyard.

The sky was clear tonight, without a single stray cloud. The bright moon hung in the deep blue sky, and the snow-white moonlight spilled over the entire imperial capital. The moonlight was truly magnificent.

Since there was nothing left for him to do, Li Musheng simply sat on the roof ridge, looking up at the moon, feeling quite at ease.

"I hope there will be some gains tonight. Otherwise, who knows how long it will take to find those six keys?"

Li Musheng's face showed a look of anticipation.

Just then, three figures suddenly flew up from a distant alleyway.

One was fleeing in the lead, while two were in pursuit. All were using true qi to perform lightwork, leaping continuously across alley walls, rooftops, and tree branches.

The direction the three were heading was straight toward Li Musheng.

Seeing this, Li Musheng frowned slightly. His rare enjoyment of the moonlight had been interrupted, and he was clearly displeased.

However, thinking that it was better to avoid trouble, he decided not to bother with them.

Soon, the three arrived nearby.

The one in front was a masked man, while the pursuers were a woman in red and an elderly man.

At that moment, the masked man noticed Li Musheng on the roof, and his eyes suddenly brightened.

He pulled a cloth-wrapped object from his robe and threw it directly toward Li Musheng, shouting

"Little brother, take this treasure as a gift!"