After the ghost-hunting master descended the mountain, his fame spread throughout the capital.

Huiming looked at the renewed light in her eyes, a clear and firm light that appeared after the clouds had parted and the sun had shone through.

He smiled with satisfaction, and suddenly, as if by magic, pulled an envelope from his sleeve:

"Look, your unreliable master, Xuanji, sent a letter a few days ago through a passing novice monk. This time, he finally said something sensible. The four words 'let nature take its course' will keep you pondering for quite some time."

Jiang Dusheng took the envelope, opened it, and inside was indeed only a thin piece of yellow paper with four large, bold characters written in familiar handwriting:

Go with the flow.

The brushstrokes are vigorous and the ink flows freely, as if one can feel the writer's open-mindedness when putting pen to paper.

Jiang Dusheng abruptly stood up, bowed deeply and respectfully to the smiling Huiming, and said, "Thank you, Master!"

He then turned around and ran towards the gate without hesitation.

Huiming looked in the direction she had disappeared, then clasped his hands together in prayer before the Bodhi tree: "Amitabha, does this count as encouraging frivolous thoughts?"

"Never mind, never mind!" He shook his head, as if consoling himself, a sly glint in his eyes. "Didn't Buddha also convert the girl Matangi back then?"

As the mountain wind blows, the Bodhi leaves rustle, their sound both ambiguous and enigmatic.

Qingshan Town, Dongfeng Inn.

Xie Jinchen lay on the eaves of the green-tiled roof, one leg bent, his hand behind his head.

His gaze vacantly followed the sparrows flying aimlessly across the sky, his eyes unfocused.

Under the eaves, An Yi held his sword, but his eyes kept glancing at the roof, his face full of unspoken worry.

He nudged An San, who was happily munching on a flatbread next to him, with his elbow, and lowered his voice:

"The young master has been lying there for almost half an hour, not moving at all, just staring at the sky... Do you think something might have really happened?"

An Yi frowned deeply. "I've heard that in those storybooks, when scholars and young ladies had a falling out and couldn't think straight, they either drowned themselves or hanged themselves..."

Upon hearing this, An San choked on a crumb of biscuit. After finally swallowing it, he rolled his eyes.

"Boss, wake up! Who is our young master? He's a man who fought his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood! Heartbroken? Drowning himself? Do you think our young master is that pedantic scholar from the village entrance who failed the imperial examinations three times?"

He leaned closer, lowering his voice, with a hint of mischief: "In my opinion, given the young master's personality, if he really had something on his mind, he definitely wouldn't jump off by himself. He'd have to..."

An San made a binding gesture, then gave him a half-pull pull towards his chest, "Tie that one up... ugh!"

Before he could finish speaking, An Yi covered his mouth.

"Shut up!"

On the rooftop, Xie Jinchen suddenly sat up without warning, his face returning to its usual cold and stern expression, even showing a hint of agitation and rage.

"Dark One".

He spoke, his voice not loud, but it carried clearly to the people below.

An Yi shuddered and immediately leaped onto the roof, kneeling on one knee. "Your Highness."

Xie Jinchen didn't look at him; his gaze was fixed on the undulating mountain outlines in the distance. His tone was nonchalant, yet it carried a pent-up, unvented anger:

"Are there any bandit strongholds nearby that have not yet been wiped out and are still operating in the mountains?"

An Yi: "...?"

His mind went blank for a moment, and he almost thought he had misheard.

But he reacted quickly, immediately regaining his composure, and replied, "Your Highness, the banditry, large and small, in the vicinity was eliminated by the end of last autumn..."

"I'm asking about those that haven't been wiped out yet," Xie Jinchen interrupted An Yi.

He turned his head to the side, a cold smile playing on his lips. "I'm not in a good mood. I'm thinking of finding a lawless village, like the Dangdang Mountain King's Village, to stretch my muscles a bit."

Upon hearing this, a thin layer of sweat instantly appeared on An Yi's back.

The young master doesn't want to be a mountain king; he's clearly venting his frustration caused by Miss Jiang and wants to find some clueless targets to beat to a pulp.

"Should I...should I go and investigate? Perhaps there are some who have slipped through the net..." An Yi said, forcing a smile, his mind already racing, wondering if he should borrow a few notorious thugs from the neighboring prefecture to appease the young master...

Xie Jinchen waved his hand listlessly, "Go." Seemingly finding the idea a bit boring, he lay back down.

However, he had barely lain down for three breaths when he suddenly sat up again.

This time, the lazy and irritable aura around him vanished, replaced by killing intent.

He slowly stood up, his moon-white brocade robe fluttering in the wind, his gaze sweeping across the quiet alleyways and rooftops surrounding the inn.

"No need to go," he said, his voice eerily calm. "Someone has already delivered themselves to our door."

The moment the words fell.

"Whoosh whoosh!"

A sudden whooshing sound arose.

Hundreds of dark figures emerged from the shadows from all directions, instantly surrounding the inn and even the rooftop.

Everyone was dressed in black and masked, holding a uniformly long, narrow curved knife, their eyes cold and numb—clearly well-trained assassins.

An reacted instantly, and he shot a signal arrow high into the sky, which exploded into a cloud of smoke.

Upon hearing the news, the hidden guards who had been lying in wait inside and outside the inn rushed over and quickly gathered on the roof where Xie Jinchen was, protecting him from all sides.

Xie Jinchen stood in the center of the rooftop, his gaze passing directly over everyone and landing on the black-clad leader, whose aura was clearly the most powerful, standing in the shadow of an old tree not far away.

Despite being not far apart, their gazes seemed to spark an invisible flame in the dim light.

Xie Jinchen's lips curled into a smile, filled with undisguised sarcasm and weariness. "Ever since I saw the fake Zhou Wanning, I knew this day would come. I just didn't expect the people behind you to be so impatient."

The leader's pupils contracted slightly, and he slowly raised his right hand, then suddenly swung it forward.

"kill!"

Without any unnecessary words, hundreds of black-clad assassins, like puppets receiving orders, sprang into action simultaneously.

The flashing blades wove a vast net of death, enveloping Xie Jinchen and the others in the center of the rooftop.

"Protect the Crown Prince."

The guards roared and charged forward. The clanging of swords and the dull thud of blades tearing through flesh shattered the tranquility of Qingshan Town.

Xie Jinchen and his guards were like tigers trapped in a net, fighting desperately and weaving through the flashing blades.

However, there were simply too many men in black, and they were completely disregarding their own lives, charging forward one after another.

They seemed to have no sense of pain and no knowledge of fear.

As the front row fell, the back row immediately stepped over their fallen comrades with expressionless faces to take their place. The angles at which they swung their scimitars were tricky and unpredictable, a style of fighting that was entirely about mutual destruction.

An San was caught off guard and got entangled by the two men, leaving his back wide open. Another man in black seized the opportunity and slashed down with his curved blade, which whistled through the air.

"Clang!"

Xie Jinchen had already flashed behind An San without anyone noticing. He snatched the curved knife from the man in black and slashed it. The man in black who had ambushed An San had his pupils dilated and his body fell forward.

"Form a circular formation and move closer to me!" Xie Jinchen shouted in a low voice.

The guards immediately tightened their defenses, forming a tight circle back-to-back and closing in on Xie Jinchen's location.

In an instant, swords flashed and blood and flesh flew everywhere.