"Star Dreams is really not open. I think I saw their official account say yesterday that Teacher Meng-Meng has resigned and that the boss is currently looking for a new consultant. I even thought that it was an April Fool's joke."

"What? Teacher Meng-Meng has resigned? I saw that she updated her WeChat Moments yesterday, she translated that astrological chart analysis or something. Does this mean that she won't be updating anymore in the future? No… why did even the guide I'm following do this to me?"

"Tianyi Crayfish is also under renovation. What's wrong with this Boss Meng? It's almost peak season and he wants to renovate. I think he wants to close the business this year. Sigh… shit, fuck your grandpa! Does this road belong to your family? Can't you look where you're going?"

Two female delinquents from No. 13 High cycled through the narrow alleys of Mudpool Backlane, chatting as they biked. The girl in front was just turning her head back to speak to her companion when a cowering middle-aged man suddenly charged into the street. Her bike's handlebar swayed, nearly hitting him as they passed each other, and she broke out into a loud cursing.

The man silently retreated to the side of the road. He didn't retort and let the girl pass by, her curses ringing out in the street. His face grave, he glanced at the tightly shut Star Dreams and Tianyi Crayfish, then took out a phone from his pocket.

"She might be running away… Not sure, that Meng Tianyi has also gone off somewhere. Only a little student from out of town is left at the shop, he doesn't know a damn thing… What now?"

The person on the other end said something.

The man looked warily around him as he spoke softly, "But she's staying at Zhang… Branch Master Zhang's place… I know that Zhang has already cut off all ties with us but she's still…"

The other person interrupted him.

The man lowered his head. "Them? Are you sure… All right then."

That night, at one in the morning, a low-profile unlicensed cab stopped at the entrance of the alley at the south side of No. 110 Courtyard. The cab driver was none other than the middle-aged man who had gone to scout out Star Dreams.

The car had just come to a stop when two men dressed in black who seemed to be the passengers got down from the cab. One was middle-aged, the one a little younger.

The center of the middle-aged man's face was curved in like he had been punched in the face. His cheeks were squarish and his chin sharp, and he seemed to be gnashing his teeth. He looked extremely fierce.

He waved at the driver. "Thanks. If you're scared later, you don't need to wait for us. You can just avoid the CCTVs and leave."

The driver wound down the window and smiled nervously. "We Travellers' Sect have always done small businesses like being drivers and boatmen since ancient times. We really…"

"I know you guys from Travellers' Sect are cowards. Don't worry, when we Chun division do our work, we won't drag you guys in." The middle-aged man dressed in black spat with no regard for manners. The tip of his foot rubbed into the phlegm he spat out and he nodded at his companion. The two of them wandered around the area for a while. Then, sticking close to the wall, one ahead of the other, they climbed over at the corner where the covered bicycle racks were in No. 110 Courtyard.

A person dressed as a janitor was waiting for them there.

The "janitor's" attitude was even more subservient than the cab driver, bowing and scraping as he welcomed them. "I've been waiting for both of you here for a long time."

"Xu Lin." The middle-aged black-clad man pointed at himself, then at the young man next to him. "My disciple. I wasn't here last year. The few juniors of our Chun division were all taken down by this courtyard. I was wondering what kind of dragon was hidden here, so it turns out to be the renegade from Wan Mu Chun. I have purposely come here today to get an explanation. I thank my Travellers' Sect brothers for sending word."

The "janitor" tapped on his phone to light up the screen and showed the two of them the photos inside—they had all been taken secretly, and were all photos of Gan Qing.

"She went out once today and came back around one in the afternoon. I've been keeping watch here the whole time. She hasn't been down. The lights in Unit 1003 came on at seven in the evening. A food delivery worker went up to deliver food to her."

Xu Lin asked, "Is there anyone else inside the house? I heard that she's renting and that the owner is related to your Travellers' Sect?"

The "janitor" answered, "Yes. I'll be honest with you guys, the owner is the former North Branch Master of our Travellers' Sect, Zhang Meizhen. Later on, because of some personal matters, she cut off ties with us. We have already helped to lure this person away. I saw her leave, she called a cab at the entrance."

Xu Lin nodded. "What time did she turn off the lights?"

"10.30. She turns them off at 10.30 every day. She should be sleeping like the dead now."

After hearing that, the man who called himself Xu Lin walked towards the building stairs. At the same time, he beckoned and the young man behind him took out a face mask from his pocket and pulled on a hood, covering his face. He climbed up a pipe at a corner of the building of No. 110. These two people took different routes, their movements well coordinated.

The "janitor" waited for the two of them to leave before stealthily slipping out of No. 110 Courtyard.

The cab driver who brought them there just now poked his head out furtively from the mouth of a small lane. The "janitor" peeled off his outer garment and stuffed it carelessly into a trash can, then squeezed into the car.

The driver asked, "Have the two Xu clan idiots gone in?"

"Yeah." The fake janitor nodded. "Back then, for the sake of getting the Xu clan's resources, Wei Huan sold out his sect's skills to Xu Zhao and that's how the Chun division came about. Now, this bunch of jokers with their sloppy and slapdash martial arts are running back to say that Wan Mu Chun's true descendant is a renegade. Isn't this fun?"

"It would be even more fun if they start fighting. These Xu fellows are having a grand time expanding their cult in the remote spots in the mountains. They treat Yanning as their own backyard." The driver stepped lightly on the accelerator, driving the car away. "That Wan Mu Chun didn't go to Mudpool today, she must have sensed something. We don't have enough people now. Thanks to this crackdown, our brothers have either been taken away or are in hiding and don't dare to come out. President Wang should want to resolve this matter as quickly as possible. If we let her escape and hide for eight to ten years, where would we go to find her? She's a time bomb."

The fake janitor asked, "Can those two do it?"

"That Wan Mu Chun upstairs only has one arm." The driver wound down the window and lit a cigarette. "One arm versus four arms, what do you think?"

"After, she's the true descendant…"

"This thing called martial arts, when you've learned it, it's the real thing. All this rubbish about true descendants and fake descendants." The driver blew out a puff of smoke. "If they hadn't extracted everything about Paoding Jieniu from him, would the Xu clan people be so ready to betray Wei Huan back then? Just wait and see, there'll be a good fight."

The corridor at one in the morning was quiet and tranquil. The middle-aged black-clad man, Xu Lin, slowly approached 1003 and stood there, as silent and unmoving as a statue. A while later, his phone vibrated and he knew that his disciple was already in position outside the window. He took out his equipment from his pocket and started to pick the lock.

Next door, Yu Lanchuan was not yet asleep and was in the study reviewing a contract. Suddenly, he looked up, his eyes staring right at the front door.

The new type of locks weren't as easy to pick as the ones in the past. Xu Lin curled his body in, making his movements as light as possible. One door away, Yu Lanchuan took out a golf club from behind the door, his other hand already on the door knob.

Right at that moment, his hand that was ready to pull the door open was seized by someone behind him!

Outside the window of 1003, Xu Lin's disciple was suspended outside the tenth floor window like a spider. He extended a small rod, carefully avoided the window frame and quietly lifted a corner of the not-very-thick curtains, then peered inside.

In the small bedroom, the bed faced the window. The person on the bed was fast asleep and motionless, her mid-length hair spread out on the pillow. She was completely unaware that her own front door had already been pried open by someone. The black-clad man outside the window used a tool to fix his position and dug out a crossbow from his backpack—it was exactly the same as the one used by the person Gan Qing had encountered in the unlicensed guest house back when she was following Xiang Xiaoman. The tip of the bolt was aimed right at the person on the bed.

At the front door, Xu Lin made a final light twist and the door slid open without a sound. A waft of home fragrance blasted him right in the face, heavy enough to make him gag. Xu Lin subconsciously held his breath. A crossbow in his left hand and a dagger in his right, he verified that there was no one in the room before heading towards the second bedroom where the door was opened a crack.

The door was opened about two inches. Xu Lin probably didn't have Vitamin A deficiency, his night vision was very good. His gaze shot out like two beams of searchlights and he took in the sight of his target and his accomplice on guard outside the window. Then, he gave the door a violent push. The instant the door burst open, his left hand unleashed an arrow that directly pierced the target on the bed with a muffled thump. He was close on its heels, his hand gripping his dagger tightly, ready to deliver a fatal blow to his opponent.

Right then, Xu Lin's ears caught a soft whistling sound—something was shooting towards him. He instinctively bent down to dodge. The blanket on the bed was pulled off abruptly from the bottom and a black figure charged towards him.

Xu Lin was not surprised. If Wan Mu Chun could be killed so easily, he, the master, wouldn't have to take action himself. He immediately struck a pose and prepared to pit his Paoding Jieniu against the opponent's. At the same time, the crossbow lying in wait outside the window saw its opportunity and let fly a bolt.

The master and student were working in perfect coordination and could be said to be like the slogan One Red Heart Preparing Two Outcomes. Both the overt and the covert attacks proceeded in parallel.

Wan Mu Chun had defended against one side but not against the bolt sneaking up behind her. Before she reached Xu Lin, the bolt shot her down and she fell near the corner of the bed.

Xu Lin smiled.

Approached suddenly from the back, Yu Lanchuan's hair stood on end. On the back of his hand that was gripping the golf club, his veins pulsed. He steadied his elbow and lowered his shoulder, the Seven Secret Arts of Han Jiang's Calm Lake form already in his hands. He was ready to stretch his body and slash the sneak attacker behind him into two halves.

Then, in the instant that he was about to swing the golf club, someone meow-ed into his ear.

Yu Lanchuan, "..."

The golf club hit his own leg.

He turned around in shock and anger. Gan Qing, who had infiltrated his house at some unknown time, took a couple of nimble steps back and said softly, "Little Master Yu, please have mercy. One swing from you can send me right into the hole."

After speaking, her eyes slid downwards to land on Yu Lanchuan's chest. The collar of his pajamas was wide in the first place and in his own home, Yu Lanchuan had only carelessly fastened two buttons, one of which had even popped open just now. His chest and waist could be seen, the lines sharp and clear, and the faint light in the room even shrouded him in just the right amount of shadow.

"After more than ten years, it's now a sight to sit up and take notice of," Gan Qing said.

Yu Lanchuan clutched the front of his clothes and pointed the golf club at her. "When did you come in? How did you come in? What kind of immoral thing are you doing in the middle of the night… What's going on at your place?"

Next door, Xu Lin's smile froze before it could unfurl. First, his hair stood on end, then he noticed a problem—the falling sound was wrong!

A grown human falling to the floor wouldn't land so lightly!

Xu Lin took a sudden step forward and tore the bed sheet off the black figure. His eyes were greeted by the sight of a plush toy, a wig stuck on its head and a bolster tied to its body.

The plush toy locked eyes with him, a wide smile on its face. Its hands were also holding a wooden sign that was inquiring very artistically: On what do you build your life?