The Imperial Guards, like Yama, slaughtered until the Empress cried out for help.

A look of fear and humility appeared on Sun Qian's face.

"Lord Centurion... I am just a lowly beggar, how could I possibly wait for someone?"

"Sir...is there...a misunderstanding?"

Sun Qian's disguise was excellent; his voice and expression were both obsequious and humble.

However, as soon as they entered the street, Shen Qing's innate sixth sense detected the murderous intent and disgust in Sun Qian's eyes.

Even if the killing intent is extremely weak and fleeting, it is amplified infinitely by the innate six senses.

Shen Qing smiled and said, "Oh, that's a rather novel way of putting it. You should go to the Jinyiwei prison to explain."

A beggar dares to show murderous intent towards the Imperial Guards? What kind of beggar is so bold?

Furthermore, dare to show murderous intent towards Shen Qing? Even if you were a dog, Shen Qing would kick you twice.

"My lord, my lord, it's really a misunderstanding."

As Sun Qian spoke, he shrank back, which looked exactly like a sign of fear. But in the next moment, Sun Qian's expression turned extremely fierce. He pointed two fingers of his right hand like a sharp sword and stabbed towards Shen Qing's neck.

Sun Qian knew that things were unlikely to end well today, so he chose to strike first. Moreover, Shen Qing's willingness to get so close to him clearly showed that he underestimated himself.

But the next second, Sun Qian's expression froze. He didn't know when, but Shen Qing had already gripped his two fingers tightly in her palm.

With a slight exertion, Sun Qian's two fingers twisted in a strange and unsettling way.

Click click click...

A sickeningly loud cracking sound of bones breaking rang out, and Sun Qian's two fingers were crushed into dust.

Throughout the entire process, Shen Qing maintained a warm smile.

Sun Qian then realized that Shen Qing had not underestimated him, but rather looked down on him completely.

Shen Qing applied a little force, and with a loud bang, Sun Qian was slammed to the ground, completely disoriented.

Blood trickled from the corner of Sun Qian's mouth as his mind raced, trying to think of a way to escape.

But how could Shen Qing let him have his way? In the next instant, Shen Qing's right foot slammed heavily onto his knee, crushing it.

"Stop fighting, stop fighting... I surrender."

Blood kept flowing from Sun Qian's mouth, but he still surrendered incoherently. The sinister ruthlessness in his eyes was replaced by deep fear. He desperately used one hand to support himself as he retreated.

Shen Qing sneered. He didn't care about all that. The other party was using deadly moves. Did they think they could just give up because they couldn't win?

Shen Qing stepped forward and did the same thing, breaking Sun Qian's other leg as well. Then he grabbed Sun Qian's arm and swung him hard, slamming Sun Qian against the wall.

The force was just right; it didn't collapse the wall, but it also smashed Sun Qian into it, making him look like a mural.

Just as Shen Qing was about to interrogate him, he noticed something amiss: Sun Qian's jawline had developed a wrinkle.

Human skin mask?

Shen Qing reached out and effortlessly ripped a mask off Sun Qian's face, revealing his original aged face.

"Quite a few underhanded tricks, huh?"

Just then, Fang Ming rushed in from the street corner.

"My lord, my lord, we've finally found you! We have new information. Sun Qian has escaped from Changshui Street. A flag bearer seems to have spotted the direction he fled in, which is this way."

"Hey, who's this old man?"

Shen Qing had initially had some doubts, but now he was certain that the old man was the rogue cultivator who had stolen the treasure.

"What a pleasant surprise, this is Sun Qian."

Fang Ming took two steps forward, looked closely, and a look of doubt appeared on his face.

"Wait a minute, although it looks vaguely familiar, it's not the same as the portrait."

Then he saw a human skin mask in Shen Qing's hand and suddenly realized what was going on.

"Oh, it's a human skin mask. But that doesn't make sense. Why does this face look so familiar?"

Shen Qing raised an eyebrow. If a captain looked familiar to him, he must have seen him on some wanted poster.

It seems my good fortune for today isn't over yet.

"Old man, just say it yourself."

"Of course, you also have a choice."

"First, obediently tell me the whereabouts of the treasure, and then explain the whole story, and I'll give you a good death. Second, go to jail, suffer all kinds of torture, and then tell me the whereabouts of the treasure."

Thinking of the various tortures in the Jinyiwei prison, Sun Qian decided not to struggle anymore. He sighed and coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood.

"Ahem... I never expected that after all this time, I would still end up in the hands of your Embroidered Uniform Guard."

"It's all about timing...fate. Thinking back to eight years ago..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was met with a hard slap from Shen Qing, which slapped his mouth crooked.

"What if I'm chatting with you?"

"Eight years ago? Why don't you start from when you were born?"

"Tell me! What's your name?"

Sun Qian's face quickly swelled up, and even her voice became weaker.

"My name isn't Sun Qian, it's Sun Yun..."

Fang Ming suddenly yelled, "I remember now, Sun Yun, you are Sun Yun, the Cloud-Piercing Hand!"

"I saw your wanted poster when I was organizing the archives a couple of days ago. No wonder it looked familiar."

Immediately afterwards, Fang Ming turned to Shen Qing, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and knelt on one knee.

"Congratulations, sir! Congratulations, sir! Capturing this Sun Yun will certainly add to your achievements!"

"Eight years ago, this Sun Yun committed a series of thefts in Ningzhou. He visited sects, centurions, banner offices, government offices, and general's mansions."

"The total amount, when calculated in full, would be tens of thousands of taels of silver."

"The Garrison Command even offered a reward of three thousand taels of silver for Sun Yun!"

Shen Qing smiled, not expecting it to be a double celebration.

Fang Ming's gaze toward Sun Yun grew increasingly intense, as if he were looking at a great achievement printed on a wall.

Without caring about anything else, Fang Ming got up and walked over, slapping Sun Yun across the face.

"Tell me! Where did all that silver go! Those tens of thousands of taels of silver!"

Sun Yun was a little stunned by the slap, then his eyes widened in anger. Shen Qing hit me, fine, but how dare you, a mere Acquired Realm cultivator, slap me!

But then a chill swept over him, and his eyes cleared again as he lowered his head.

Shen Qing snorted: "Alright, we'll ask about these things later."

"Tell me the whereabouts of the treasure first."

Explaining those tens of thousands of taels of silver would be a troublesome matter, and it would take a long time to explain. If the trial were to end here, it would be too late.

"That treasure is no longer with me. I sold it to Peng Chun of the Blackwater Gang for four thousand taels of silver. Peng Chun also agreed to help me escape from Luoshui City."

"So you mean the treasure is now in Peng Chun's hands?"

"I don't know, or rather, I'm not sure..."

Fang Ming grabbed Sun Yun by the collar, and just as another slap was about to land, Sun Yun immediately roared.

"Listen to me, listen to me, the treasure is a piece of gold paper, which I hid on a Blackwater Gang disciple using a special method."

"What's that disciple's name? Tell me quickly!"

"Call him Wang Xiu! The Mad Swordsman Wang Xiu!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere fell silent. Sun Qian looked at the two of them and noticed that Shen Qing and Fang Ming had unusually strange expressions on their faces.

Finally, Fang Ming couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Congratulations, sir! This treasure truly belongs to you!"

Shen Qing couldn't help but laugh. Fate is a wonderful thing.

There's a saying that people are in high spirits when they have a happy occasion, so Shen Qing asked a few more questions.

"By the way, why did you choose the Blackwater Gang for your deal? They have a terrible reputation in the Ningzhou underworld. Aren't you afraid they'll kill you to cover their tracks after getting the treasure?"

Sun Yun puffed out his chest slightly: "After all, I've been on the run from the Embroidered Uniform Guard for eight years, how could I be so careless?"

"They didn't know I had hidden the treasure on Wang Xiu. As agreed, I would record the transaction information on a piece of paper in a special way and throw it out when I escaped. Then Peng Chun would deliberately open a hole to let me escape and send a disciple here to meet me. After confirming the treasure information, they would send a message by carrier pigeon to the disciple to help me escape through the secret passage."

"Of course, I was also afraid that the Blackwater Gang would kill me to cover it up. Moreover, I deduced that there would be at least two elders waiting for me at the exit of the secret passage. The night before last, I risked sneaking into the Blackwater Gang's base and overheard that the disciple who was supposed to meet me was Wang Xiu. So this morning, I secretly found an opportunity to hide the treasure on Wang Xiu's person."

"By the time Peng Chun deciphered the information on the paper, Wang Xiu was already in my hands. Peng Chun could only grit his teeth and send me out through the secret passage. Even after we got outside the passage, they couldn't cause any trouble."

After listening for a while, Shen Qing found a loophole: "Why go through all that trouble to hide the treasure on Wang Xiu? Wouldn't it be the same whether you kept it on yourself or on Wang Xiu?"

Sun Yun explained.

"Peng Chun practiced a strange technique that gave him an exceptionally sensitive nose. When he was plundering treasures in the ancient tomb, he took the opportunity to sprinkle a kind of powder on the treasures, which Peng Chun could smell if he got close."

"If I had any treasures with me when I ran away, Peng Chun definitely wouldn't have let me go."

Shen Qing nodded. That makes sense now.

Fang Ming nodded thoughtfully, revealing an expression of deep cunning but also confusion.

There was only one thought in my mind.

This world of martial arts.

That's still too insidious.