Dense black clouds smothered the starlight. Only a single thread of bleak moonlight slipped through a gap in the dark curtain, glinting off a blade that dripped blood.
"Usual rules."
Inside a great manor, Li Fei stepped over the corpses littering the floor and gave her orders offhandedly to the men waiting outside the gate.
"Yes, my lord."
The subordinate knelt and bowed his head to receive the command. The way he looked at Li Fei was unmistakably reverent.
Though the Commander was a woman, she led from the front on every operation. She dealt with every opponent who had any cultivation base by herself, and only then summoned her men to handle the aftermath. She was nothing like those other lords who used their soldiers as cannon fodder.
Not only that, her cultivation base was overwhelming. She could cut down even Innate experts in a single exchange, and anyone below the Innate realm was no better than a mud chicken or a tile dog.
No wonder a figure this decisive had pushed through such sweeping reforms of government policy. She had introduced the performance-based system and made the Demon Suppression Bureau a whole new organization in no time.
Obviously, they had no idea that Li Fei charged to the front only for the merit, and that her opponents really were just that weak.
The soldiers rushed into the manor like wolves and tigers. Li Fei walked out against the flow, gazed at the night sky, and murmured:
"The last house…"
His Majesty had passed away and the new emperor wasn't even born yet. The court looked calm, but undercurrents churned beneath it. The Bureau's spies had also dug up a batch of stubborn, restless traitors who wouldn't listen to reason.
Following the principle of courtesy before force, the Bureau first sent men with generous gifts to call on them politely. But there were always those who refused the toast only to drink the forfeit. Besides secretly plotting to "purge the emperor's side," they fabricated and spread all sorts of rumors aimed straight at Miss Commander. They said she was crooked and of unknown origin, in league with eunuchs, keeping ghosts and monsters, and intending to coerce the Son of Heaven in order to command the lords.
For a while rumors flew among the common people, and quite a few fools believed them. Heroes of the martial world galloped toward Lin'an without rest, determined to eliminate the demon and defend the Dao.
So over the past few days, the vast city of Lin'an had seen heads roll and blood run in rivers. Miss Commander, following the example the Immortal Venerable had set years ago, personally led teams to seize property and wipe out entire households, cowing the four seas and eight wastes with thunderous methods.
A swarm of vermin who dreamed of stopping a chariot with their forelegs had been crushed and turned to dust in the annals of history. Yet the wheels of the age kept rolling on.
Killing the chicken to scare the monkeys is always an efficient and practical method. Amid the sky-high stench of blood, the whole court fell silent as winter cicadas. The greenwood heroes lowered their banners and silenced their drums. Every rumor about Miss Commander in the markets vanished like smoke, and the city returned to its fine old state of song, dance and peace.
A table and chair had been set up outside the manor, hauled from who knew where. Li Fei settled into the seat at her leisure and crossed her legs.
Through half-lidded eyes, she watched the fierce blade-wielders file through the gate. Before long, the sounds came from within: splintering wood, shattering porcelain, men roaring, women screaming, children wailing…
Her murderous subordinates had gone in with blades and came out loaded with spoils.
The valuables went into the national treasury. The able-bodied men were sentenced to lifelong labor. The attractive women were consigned to the Entertainment Bureau, which had just gotten a new director named Huang Zhenzhen. After all, only women who had suffered would show compassion to women of equally bitter fate, right?
In fact, handing the Entertainment Bureau over to the female ghosts was the only decent thing Li Fei had done on the Demon-Sealing Continent. It gave the women of the debased classes the choice of "selling art, not bodies," spread the culture of the Golden Tangerine Tavern to a foreign land, and fulfilled her promise to the female ghosts. It also cemented her title as the leader of women's rights and greatly raised the loyalty of the female ghosts of the [Qian] Division.
Half an hour later, flames lit up the sky. A subordinate came to report:
"My lord, we caught a group of martial artists at the Yunlai Inn. They're waiting for you to interrogate them personally."
"Good."
Li Fei held the Demon-Slaying Blade point-down, still unsheathed. She casually grabbed a handful of broken silver from the confiscated loot and handed it to him, then strolled toward a nearby commandeered house.
Tables and chairs had already been set out in the woodshed serving as a temporary interrogation room. A swordsman looked anxiously at the wooden door, waiting for fate's judgment.
Tonight was a little cold. The chill was like water, and it kept his legs trembling. Moonlight fell through the skylight, and the mottled stains on the walls fouled what should have been a flawless cold glow while lighting up the suspect's ghastly pale face.
Everything within sight was so eerie and terrifying that sweat soaked the swordsman's collar before he even noticed.
Then the door swung open, and a bright crimson python robe crashed abruptly into the interrogation room, split down the middle into black and white.
The swordsman stared at the woman's soul-stirring beauty in a daze for a long while before finally letting out a long breath.
Rumor said the Demon Suppression Bureau's new Commander was beautiful as a flower but had a heart like a viper's. Now it seemed rumors couldn't be trusted. How could any flower of the mortal world compare to a celestial's face? A woman of such national beauty surely couldn't be a wicked person…
Her sky-shattering charm made the swordsman warm to her instinctively, and a good deal of his worry melted away.
"You're the Class A fugitive, the 'Dripping Blood Swordsman.'"
Li Fei sat squarely across from him and pulled out a document.
The swordsman breathed a sigh of relief. He smiled at the stunning woman and lifted the long blade he carried.
"My lord, it's a misunderstanding, a pure misunderstanding. Look, I use a saber…"
"Dripping Blood Swordsman. Male, forty-three. Last year in Nan Commandery, he robbed the tribute convoy bound for His Majesty and handed the goods out to rabble on the spot. The crime is punishable by beheading, execution to be carried out immediately."
Li Fei turned a deaf ear to his explanation and pushed the document in front of him. "Sign and press your thumbprint."
The swordsman froze, then protested frantically:
"My lord, I've been in the north these past few years and never set foot in Nan Commandery. Ask anyone! Besides, I'm only thirty, with old folks and kids at home. I can't even use a sword, and I don't have the guts to offend the court…"
"You're making this very difficult for me, you understand?"
Li Fei lit a cigarette and asked in return, "If you're right, then the court is wrong. Is that what you're trying to say? That the court is wrong?"
"No, no, that's not it, my lord, I…"
The swordsman felt as if he'd been plunged into an ice cellar. His voice shook.
"Good."
Li Fei exhaled a puff of smoke, and her face behind it looked hazy. "So you admit you're the Dripping Blood Swordsman. Last year you plundered the court's convoy. Three years ago you assassinated a constable…"
She calmly informed the man before her of the crimes he had committed.
The prisoner stammered and tried to prove his innocence, but it was futile.
He couldn't overturn the court, so he couldn't change the answer the court had given.
In the darkness, the fish-sinking, geese-stunning beauty gave off a thick aura of evil from head to toe. It became an invisible hand that wrung the air like water from a towel, until it was suffocating.
Dazed and broken, the swordsman signed and pressed his thumbprint.
Pfft—
The corpse hit the floor. Scalding blood poured out and was soon fouled by the ground, just like the truth the swordsman had carried into the interrogation room. It could only congeal and dim among the cold lies, and in the end be forgotten. [1]
Li Fei pushed open the door and walked out. Another entry had been added to her merit ledger.
She glanced up at the sparse moonlight, then lowered her head without a trace of longing. She picked up a copper coin someone had dropped and walked off into the deep night.
…
Lu Manor had become a prince's residence. It was as dazzlingly gilded as ever, and silk and bamboo music played its decadent tunes.
"Lord Li has had a hard time these days."
Lu Qianfan, with a beautiful concubine in the crook of his arm, raised his cup to Li Fei.
The Emperor's seventh-day rites hadn't even come, yet he had visibly put on weight. Give it time, and this androgynous beauty would surely turn into another "water-gun best actor."
"With the nation in mourning, there are always traitors who want to snatch chestnuts from the fire. A minister should pave the way for the new emperor and exhaust himself in service."
The corners of Li Fei's lips curled. "Even if I'm a little tired, I'm glad to do it."
"Only a few are left. Once that batch of traitors is wiped out, you and I can rest easy and divide the realm between us…"
Lu Qianfan drained the fine wine in his goblet in one gulp.
—Divide the realm between us? Two bosses, huh.
Li Fei's eyes smiled. She casually picked up a white jade inkstone from beside her and weighed it in her hand. It felt quite handy.
Bang!
A dull thud sounded. Lu Qianfan felt an agonizing pain in his forehead, and his eyes went black.
Li Fei's unprovoked attack threw the room into chaos. His wives and concubines shrieked and scattered in all directions. The guards outside heard the commotion, burst through the door at once, and drew their blades.
"How can anyone eat dinner at night without wearing a helmet?" Li Fei asked, baffled.
"You! You've gone mad!"
Through the violent ringing in his ears, Lu Qianfan's vision blurred with blood.
Through that red veil, he glared at the sweetly smiling woman and screamed hysterically, "Do you want us both to burn?"
"Since I'm paving the way for the new emperor, I have to pave it all the way."
Li Fei smiled bewitchingly, but the white jade inkstone came down on his head again and blood sprayed everywhere. "This humble official is merely helping Lord Lu lay down his life for righteousness."
"What do you think lets the new emperor take the throne safely? What lets you throw your weight around?"
Lu Qianfan slumped on the floor, his eyes bulging as if they would split. "If you dare kill me, the Great Song will fall within days!"
Li Fei didn't care. She only swept a cold glance behind her, and the guards halted at once. Even the Innate expert dared not move.
After all, Miss Commander's hands had just been stained with an Innate expert's blood.
"Nie Yunyi worries about society collapsing and the sacred land sinking, but I don't care."
Li Fei crouched down and explained in a soft, gentle voice, "You flipped the table. I'll just go with the current and drain the pond to catch the fish. Who's afraid of whom?"
"But what do you gain from this?"
More than resentment, shock or hatred, what filled Lu Qianfan's eyes was incomprehension. "Don't you want merit? Work with me, and you could clearly get much more…"
Clearly, this powerful minister had never trusted Li Fei, and trusted even less in things like loyalty and good faith. He believed only in interest.
And at the moment, Li Fei needed to lean on his power, and he needed Li Fei as a way out.
If Li Fei ever showed a weakness, Lu Qianfan would swallow her whole. But if she truly became an immortal ancestor, he wouldn't mind handing over most of his fortune and bowing his head in submission.
Likewise, Lu Qianfan believed that Li Fei was a person like himself. At least while he was still of use, she would never do something as foolish as killing the goose for its golden eggs.
It was precisely this alignment of interests that had led him, after Li Fei produced a spirit medicine to restore his severed limb, to show matching sincerity by helping her eliminate her political enemies and stabilize the court.
But this time Lu Qianfan had miscalculated. He never imagined Li Fei would be so impatient to get rid of him, with no regard for the consequences.
"This humble official has unavoidable difficulties. I hope Prince Lu will forgive me."
Li Fei spread her hands, a little helplessly.
She really had considered a long-term partnership with Lu Qianfan, to find Yusura a coworker.
But first, she couldn't rest easy with her wife and daughter living among a wolf in the inner palace. Second, Qiao'er had a deep blood feud with Lu Qianfan, so sooner or later she'd have to get rid of him. Third, if Lu Qianfan didn't die, she couldn't farm any EXP.
Besides, Nie Yunyi worried about the court spiraling out of control, but Li Fei was different. She was confident that each time she reached the Demon-Sealing Continent she'd be stronger than the last. She could suppress any unrest until she built a stable spatial teleportation channel and took this folded plane fully into her grasp.
So once the situation eased a little, she burned the bridge decisively, before she had to go back.
"You'll regret this."
Lu Qianfan's heart sank, and his tone went calm.
But in those jet-black eyes, hatred surged like vast ocean waves, as if he meant to drag the Great Song down with him.
"Let's not talk about that for now."
Li Fei smiled lightly. "Prince Lu, a man like you probably wouldn't feel at ease keeping his fortune inside the manor."
"Those filthy things aren't born with you and can't be taken with you when you die. You have no use for them anymore, so why not hand them over to me to deal with… And I'll certainly take good care of your funeral arrangements, too."
A flash of mockery crossed Lu Qianfan's eyes.
"Or what? Torture? Give it up."
"This prince has cultivated a forbidden art that can burn my soul to ashes at any moment… so you'll never find what I've hidden in this lifetime."
"Oh, right. A man like this prince, with crimes too many to record, would probably earn Lord Li a good deal of merit if he died by your hand, wouldn't he? What a pity… Why not try, Lord Li, and see whether your blade is faster or my suicide is? Afterward, this prince won't mind if you desecrate the corpse to vent your hatred."
Faced with Lu Qianfan's deathbed taunts, Li Fei only spread her hands helplessly.
"If Your Highness puts it that way, this humble official won't waste effort."
Seeing Li Fei back down, Lu Qianfan's eyes plainly showed satisfaction.
Getting to disgust an enemy before dying was a pleasure of sorts, too.
"But…"
Li Fei's tone shifted, and she said softly, "I could never figure out why Your Highness agreed so readily to continuing the late Emperor's bloodline, even though it was an idea the enemy proposed."
"After all, with Prince Lu's position, it couldn't be shaken even without heirs… Back then, I even thought Prince Lu truly loved the late Emperor."
"Until Consort Xiang reminded me… Some people, even if they can't bear children for all sorts of reasons, still want descendants."
"Prince Lu was never trying to spread branches for the imperial house. You were worried this humble official would refuse, or be unable, to restore your severed limb, so you played along and secured descendants for yourself, lest your towering power have no one to inherit it. Am I right?"
"…"
Amid her gentle, soft-spoken questions, Lu Qianfan said nothing, and every trace of contempt drained from his face.
For the first time, Li Fei saw fear in the eyes of this Nine Thousand Years, and her smile grew even brighter.
Evidently, this prince, who had been castrated since childhood, held a considerable obsession with bloodline. He couldn't even manage his expression anymore.
It should be noted that under their agreement, Lu Qianfan would help her kill the emperor and stabilize the situation, and Li Fei would restore his body. After that, the two would rule the realm together, with Li Fei taking the Demon Suppression Bureau and the Entertainment Bureau, and Lu Qianfan taking control of the Heavenly Vial and the "ascension quota."
On the very day Zhao Bing died, Li Fei had honored her promise. She paid a steep price to buy a miracle elixir from Miss System at a high cost, and generously, thoughtfully threw in a pile of "kidney tonic" medicines for free.
By her count, it should be just about time.
She giggled, her tone kindly:
"Your Highness may not know… Some people who grew up poor go mad spending money after a sudden fortune, throwing gold around like dirt. Many famine victims, once a kind soul feeds them, stuff food into their mouths as if possessed until they stuff themselves to death. And the daughter of a Minister of Rit— ahem, of some scholarly family, raised with strict rules and proper manners, seems to have grown into a refined and virtuous lady. But the moment she slips her leash, she'll use every means to trample propriety…"
"I never expected Your Highness to be the same. Over the past few days since your body was restored, it seems your household has gained quite a few lovely beauties?"
"What are you up to."
Lu Qianfan's face was dark as water, and his gaze was as vicious as a snake's.
Li Fei smiled like a blooming flower.
"Your Highness may not know, but the medicine this humble official gave you was begged from the Child-Giving Bodhisattva herself. It not only restores vigor, it also greatly improves fertility."
"All the wives and concubines in your household are probably with child by now. This humble official congratulates Your Highness in advance."
"…"
Lu Qianfan stared hard at Li Fei, his gaze flickering, and in the end it turned savage and bitter. The voice squeezed through his teeth seemed to rise from the Nine Hells: "Kill them. Even if my bloodline ends, this prince will never…"
"Oh dear, what nonsense is Your Highness talking?"
Li Fei chided him, then her face turned grave, her warm, bright voice like a spring breeze on the cheek.
"This humble official's loyalty to the court is clear to sun and moon. How would I dare harm a prince's sons and commit such treason?"
"At most, I'd send the boys to the mines to be raised, to contribute to the state. When they're a bit older, I'd arrange a few wives for them from the best-run brothel, older women who know how to look after people, to spread branches for Your Highness's line. And of course, once they've had children, the eunuchs will see to cutting away their root of trouble for them, just as was done for Your Highness back then."
"As for the girls…"
Li Fei pretended to think for a moment, then clapped her hands in delighted surprise. "Ah, right! This humble official also happens to oversee the Entertainment Bureau. Why not send them there? What does Your Highness think? I'll have them looked after well, and taught to earn plenty of silver for the treasury and bring glory to their ancestors."
"By then, Your Highness's line will shine for the court generation after generation. Who wouldn't praise a family of loyal martyrs when they saw it?"
"Besides, this humble official's medical skill is excellent. I won't let them die too young, so Your Highness may rest assured…"
"You cur! May you die a terrible death!"
A furious roar cut Li Fei off. Lu Qianfan's eyes bulged as if they would split, and he howled.
But the moment the shout left his throat, he froze. A strange sense of familiarity washed over him.
Memories surfaced one after another like a tide, and Lu Qianfan soon had his answer. He laughed in sudden understanding.
So he had been through this many times before. It was only that, in the past, it had been others cursing him with bone-deep hatred.
Li Fei's face also turned cold, her expression solemn.
"Eunuch dog Lu, I've said all the kind words there are to say. Today this official will seek justice for the multitudes you've harmed! Confess at once where you've stashed the people's wealth you embezzled all these years, or don't blame this official for turning ruthless!"
"Heh heh, hee hee hee…"
Lu Qianfan laughed on and on, tears glinting in his eyes.
Though his body had been restored, his voice turned shrill again, just as it had been for the past several decades.
"Lord Li, uprooting the weeds is something this old servant has done far more skillfully than you! There's no need to show off your threats and bribes in front of this old servant…"
"After I'm dead, even if my descendants are slaves and whores for generations, what is that to me? Hee hee, ha ha ha…"
Amid the shrill laughter, he triggered the forbidden art of certain death.
Sensing his life force dissolving rapidly, Li Fei's gaze sharpened. She pressed two fingers together into a blade, and deep red battle qi pierced through his brow in a flash of lightning.
[You have killed Lu Qianfan and gained 1,793 EXP.]
The Nine Thousand Years who had covered the sky with one hand and turned the clouds and rain at will had finally died by Li Fei's hand.
"Looks like this official's hand was faster."
Li Fei slowly rose to her feet. She no longer looked at the powerful minister's corpse, but glanced at the white jade inkstone instead.
That once-magnificent work of art was now webbed with cracks like a spider's web, and blood kept dripping from it in a shocking stream.
"What a waste."
After a sigh of regret, Li Fei tossed the inkstone aside.
____
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