Unlike the lavish and colorful main street of Tianji Village, where the aroma of sizzling street food filled the air, this particular street was starkly different.
To reach the secluded alleyway, Ji Wuye had to weave through the stalls. This street was tucked away behind these stalls, almost hidden from plain sight. Despite the ornate two-story buildings that lined its edges, their wooden facades weathered and chipped, many beggars leaned listlessly against the crumbling walls.
The street was wide enough for two carriages, covered with a hard-packed dirt path flanked by a few ramshackle huts constructed from bamboo frames and cracked mud walls.
When Ji Wuye arrived, an eerie stillness hung in the air, the only sounds being the occasional cough or shuffle of bare feet on the dusty ground.
It was cloaked in inky darkness, with not a single flickering lantern to guide the way, making it nearly impossible to navigate after nightfall. Yet Ji Wuye's crimson eyes, glowing faintly like embers, casually scanned every nook and cranny of the desolate street.
image [https://i.ibb.co.com/n6FQDZv/Notif-1.webp]
As the transparent screen materialized before him, Ji Wuye's crimson irises hidden under the bamboo hat blazed brighter, and the once pitch-black alley was suddenly illuminated as if by daylight in his enhanced vision.
He strode forward with purposeful steps, the soft folds of his black long hanfu whispering against the ground. His arrival immediately drew the haunted gazes of the beggars huddled against the walls.
"Y-Young M-Master!" A withered old woman in tattered robes croaked, her bony fingers clutching at the hem of Ji Wuye's dark garment as she crawled forward.
"P-please, kind sir..." Another beggar, this one a young man with a twisted leg, pleaded hoarsely. His sunken eyes fixed on Ji Wuye, or rather tried to pierce through his dark veil under the bamboo hat, with a desperate hunger.
One by one, the destitute figures stirred from their listless repose, encircling Ji Wuye's feet like a pack of mangy dogs. Despite their matted hair, hollow cheeks, and filthy rags clinging to their emaciated frames, their eyes shone with a startling clarity.
Ji Wuye halted in his tracks, his gaze sweeping over the ragged throng as they averted their eyes, suddenly uneasy under his intense scrutiny.
'Worn and ragged clothes, yet their eyes are clear...' Ji Wuye thought inwardly while squatting and silently cataloguing every telling detail, from the faint tremors in their bony limbs to the way their nostrils flared at his proximity.
'Yet there are injuries...' His crimson gaze under the bamboo hat flickered over the mottled bruises and poorly-bound wounds peeking through the tears in their garments before he shook his head in a subtle gesture.
Ignoring the closest beggar still clutching at his robes, Ji Wuye shifted his penetrating stare towards the others.
"Y-Young Master?" the beggars stuttered, confused and wondering why Ji Wuye was squatting and staring at them. His strange behavior also attracted the attention of the other beggars who remained in their spots.
'Not you, and not you either,' his inner voice echoed as he abruptly straightened, causing the beggars clinging to the hem of his dark loose robes to be unceremoniously pushed back a few paces.
"Ah! Young Master, you hurt me!" An elderly woman with a twisted spine wailed in outrage, clutching her bony shoulder as if struck.
"How cruel! A martial artist like you, hurting the helpless? Pay me for my injuries!" Another beggar, this one a muscular young man with a shaved head, bellowed with an undercurrent of menace as he shot Ji Wuye a scathing look.
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A chorus of angry shouts and accusations erupted from the throng as Ji Wuye completely disregarded their protests, his eyes already scanning the rest of the ramshackle street.
His penetrating stare finally settled on a solitary figure leaning against the cracked wall of a dilapidated hut.
Though dressed in the same ragged and filthy hanfu as the rest, this beggar's sharp eyes glinted with a sly intelligence as he met Ji Wuye's probing gaze.
Bamboo hat, dark veil, and dark hanfu—Ji Wuye's appearance was too suspicious, yet he had become accustomed to this kind of attire.
Thus, without a change in his expression, the beggar offered a toothy grin that revealed a gap where a tooth was missing, and extended an empty, hardened clay bowl in supplication.
"Kind sir, please give this humble one some money to eat," he rasped, his voice carrying an undeniable edge of cunning despite the piteous words.
As Ji Wuye scrutinized the beggar from head to toe, his crimson eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. 'No sunken eyes or visible injuries, healthy skin tone despite the grime...' His mental assessment was clinical, cataloging every detail.
In the next instant, Ji Wuye's indifferent mask finally cracked into an inscrutable smile under the dark veil as he closed the distance between them, towering over the seated beggar.
"Recently, there's a rumor that the Yellow River has ninety-nine bends," he stated in a mild tone that contrasted sharply with the weight of his crimson stare.
The beggar's own smile faltered, his eyes widening almost comically before he managed to school his features into a squinting glare. Slowly retracting the proffered bowl, he scoffed, "I don't know what the Master has said - it's too profound for me. But I think it's better to be muddled."
Even as the words left his lips in a show of feigned ignorance, the rest of the beggars suddenly stirred to their feet with unsettling synchronicity.
Like a deadly creek rising from its banks, they advanced on Ji Wuye in a loose semicircle, their shadows stretching long across this deserted street and effectively blocking the exit.
What had moments ago been a tableau of meek destitution was instantly transformed, the air itself thickening with menace as cold, piercing eyes zeroed in on their target with the intensity of a snake preparing to strike.
Yet of course Ji Wuye didn't feel threatened or intimidated as he noticed this; instead, he continued, lips curved into an enigmatic smile as he gave a slight nod. "Interesting, but I've heard that with enough effort, an iron rod can be ground into an embroidery needle."
The beggar's eyes widened briefly at the veiled response before he composed himself, finally waving a hand in a subtle gesture. As if a spell had been broken, the rest of the beggars immediately dispersed, melting back into the shadowed recesses they had emerged from with eerie synchronicity.
"I see, with enough effort, success will come naturally," the beggar replied evenly, rising to his feet with a groan and gesturing for Ji Wuye to follow. The next moment, they made their way deeper into the dingy alley.
"Well, when there's no tiger in the mountain, the monkey becomes king," Ji Wuye murmured, leaning in conspiratorially. The beggar chuckled, a harsh, barking sound that held no mirth.
At last, they arrived at a ramshackle hut, little more than a simple bamboo structure with crumbling mud walls and a thatched straw roof. It was clearly more a place for furtive meetings than an actual dwelling.
The beggar ushered Ji Wuye inside, the heavy atmosphere of the street giving way to a cloistered quiet within the dim interior.
Once they were ensconced in the sheltered gloom, the beggar fixed Ji Wuye with an assessing look for a long moment before speaking. "A toad wanting to eat swan meat...what kind of information do you need?"
The smiles they had both worn like masks abruptly vanished.
"All information regarding the upcoming attack from the Unorthodox faction - specifically, which Clan, Sect, or Group will attack, who and how many of their men will be involved, and when they will strike."
The beggar remained impassive under the scrutiny, meeting Ji Wuye's stare with an eerie calm. This prompted Ji Wuye to produce a leather purse from his voluminous sleeve, the unmistakable clink of coins emanating from within as he proffered it.
"Two guan - you get what you pay for," Ji Wuye stated flatly.
The beggar's eyes glinted with avarice as he accepted the heavy purse, calloused fingers caressing the supple leather reverentially. "Within the four seas, all men are friends," he rasped with a gap-toothed smile.
...
A few contemplative moments later, Ji Wuye emerged once more into the dark street, his expression inscrutable as he made his way towards the exit, which was blocked by many stalls.
"All good things must come to an end," Ji Wuye spoke without turning back.
He punctuated the words with a casual wave of his hand before striding away from the dingy alley and emerging once more onto the bustling main street.
The cacophony of sounds and aromas assaulted his senses - the sizzle of street food mingling with the excited chatter of villagers and the strains of music drifting from open tavern doors.
Ji Wuye swiftly merged into the churning sea of people, a pale specter cutting an inexorable path towards the outskirts of Tianji Village.
However, his steps gradually slowed as he neared the boundary, his crimson gaze drawn inexorably towards a narrow, shadowed alley branching off the main thoroughfare.
This was the very place where the corpses of the Kunlun Outer Disciples had lain before its mysterious disappearance. Though no trace remained, an invisible weight still seemed to linger in that dark crevice between the buildings.
Ji Wuye's eyes flickered towards a distant rooftop for the briefest of moments before he altered course, approaching the gaping maw of the empty alley with measured strides.
Cupping his hands together, he murmured an achingly tender prayer usually reserved for those who were departed. "May you be reborn in a better realm."
'There's a saying - even if you don't know the person personally, if you share the same roof, sect, family, or close friends, you still need to pray for them. Otherwise, their spirit might haunt you.'
His eyes opened once more, the crimson irises blazing with an inner fire as he turned and continued on towards the village entrance, leaving the solemn alley behind.
This ritual had been performed not out of sympathy or guilt for failing to save those disciples, but as a pragmatic safeguard to protect himself from the restless, vengeful haunting of their spirits.
Soon, the cramped streets of Tianji gave way to the vast, scorched expanse of grasslands stretching towards the horizon under the canopy of night.
However, the next moment, Ji Wuye broke into a loping sprint, his dark robes billowing as inky shadows seemed to peel away from the darkness itself, giving pursuit with uncanny, predatory movements.