Young hero, stay put and don't be reckless.

Chapter 36 So I'm leaving?

Jiang Xun turned and left, but in his heart he was thinking, "It seems I need to be more discreet these next few days and not be too flamboyant."

He turned into a small alley, intending to find a brokerage firm to look at houses.

He had just reached the alley entrance when he heard a commotion outside, followed by a scream:

"Ah—the horse is startled! Get out of the way!"

Jiang Xun looked up abruptly and saw a tall, powerful horse pulling a carriage, rushing towards them like a madman.

Pedestrians scattered in the street, but a five or six-year-old child stood in the middle of the road, crying loudly and motionless.

Jiang Xun didn't have time to think. He moved his feet and used the Azure Lotus Divine Movement technique. He was like a wisp of green smoke and instantly rushed to the child's side.

He scooped up the child, touched the ground with his toes, and leaped into the air, narrowly avoiding the speeding carriage.

Then he crashed headfirst into a wonton stall on the roadside.

"Splash—"

The shed collapsed, the table overturned, and the bowls and chopsticks were broken all over the floor.

Jiang Xun held the child and rolled around several times before finally crashing into the wall and stopping.

He was panting heavily, and looked down at the child in his arms.

It was a little boy, about five or six years old, his face was deathly pale with fright, and his eyes were brimming with tears. The candied hawthorn in his hand had fallen out at some point, leaving only a bare bamboo stick.

Jiang Xun grinned and said, "It's alright now."

The child stared at him blankly, then suddenly burst into tears.

Jiang Xun breathed a sigh of relief.

If you can cry, then everything is alright.

The child's mother ran over, hugged the child tightly, cried uncontrollably, and knelt down to kowtow to Jiang Xun.

Jiang Xun quickly helped the person up, repeatedly saying, "No need, no need."

Just then, a clear, melodious voice came from the direction of the carriage, tinged with a hint of panic: "Miss, you've been frightened! Is anyone injured?"

Jiang Xun turned his head and saw a girl who looked like a maid sticking her head out of the carriage, her face deathly pale.

Immediately afterwards, the carriage curtain was lifted, and a woman stepped out, her pale hand resting on the door frame.

Jiang Xun was stunned.

The girl was about eighteen or nineteen years old, wearing a moon-white long dress, with exquisite features and skin as smooth as jade.

Although her face still showed signs of shock, her calm and elegant demeanor was impossible to conceal.

She stood in the messy alley, dressed in a plain white dress, like a flower untouched by the dust of the world.

Jiang Xun suddenly felt a little embarrassed and looked down at himself—

His clothes were torn and covered in mud, and a few strands of chives from wontons were still hanging from his chest.

How embarrassing.

"Young master," the woman said softly, looking at Jiang Xun, "were you the one who saved that child just now?"

The sound was clear and gentle, like a mountain stream flowing slowly over the stones.

Jiang Xun suddenly felt a bit thirsty and, almost without thinking, blurted out a literary phrase: "It's nothing."

The woman bowed gracefully: "Thank you, young master. If it weren't for your timely intervention, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

Jiang Xun quickly waved her hand: "No, no, no, Miss, there's no need for such formality. It was really just a small favor."

The maid jumped down from the carriage, walked up to Jiang Xun, looked him up and down, and took out a silver ingot from her sleeve and handed it to him: "This is a small token of my young lady's appreciation. Please accept it, young master."

Jiang Xun glanced at the silver; it amounted to ten taels.

He swallowed hard, but shook his head. "No need. I'm not doing this for the money."

The maid was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at her mistress.

The woman nodded slightly, and the maid took the silver back.

"Young master, you are truly virtuous," the woman said softly. "May I ask your honorable name and where you reside? I will certainly pay you a visit another day to express my gratitude."

Jiang Xun originally intended to make up a name on the spot, but for some reason, looking into those clear eyes, he couldn't bear to lie.

He thought for a moment and said, "My surname is Jiang, and my given name is Xun."

He didn't say where he would stay.

"Jiang Xun..." the woman murmured, then nodded. "My name is Gu Yunqian, and I live in the Gu family mansion in the west of the city. Young Master Jiang, you are welcome to visit my home anytime you have the time."

After saying that, she turned and went back into the carriage, and the maid followed her.

The carriage slowly drove away. Jiang Xun stood there, watching the carriage disappear into the distance, and a strange feeling suddenly welled up in his heart.

"Gu Yunqian..." he murmured the name, his ears suddenly turning red.

As night fell, Yunzhou City was shrouded in darkness.

Jiang Xun changed into his night clothes, stood by the window of the inn, looked at the sparse lights outside, and pondered his target for the night—Zhao Dadou.

This man's name sounds honest and kind, but he's actually the most ruthless one. Last year, during a severe drought, he drove up grain prices to the sky, making it unaffordable for the poor, and several families starved to death.

Zhao Dadou earned money stained with blood.

"You're the one tonight. Finish this job and then we're done." Jiang Xun covered his face with a mask, pushed open the window, and disappeared into the night.

As Jiang Xun unleashed the Azure Lotus Divine Movement, he felt like a gust of wind, lightly brushing past the roof tiles.

This light-body skill is the master's specialty, emphasizing "the body as light as a lotus, each step swift as the wind."

Jiang Xun practiced for a month and did some hands-on practice. Although he couldn't reach the level of his master who could fly over rooftops and walk on walls, he could still move around freely.

Even he himself felt that he might actually have the talent to practice martial arts.

The Zhao family's house was in the west of the city, much smaller than Qian Bancheng's, but it was quieter.

The house has three courtyards and three entrances, with a small garden in the backyard featuring artificial hills and flowing water, which looks quite elegant.

Jiang Xun landed on the backyard wall and observed carefully.

The courtyard was quiet, with only a few lights on in the front yard. He listened intently and could faintly hear voices in the front yard, as if they were entertaining guests.

"Perfect timing, while they're drinking, I'll go check out the study."

Jiang Xun lightly leaped down from the wall, crouched low, and moved quickly along the base of the wall.

The study is located on the east side of the second courtyard, in a separate small building.

Jiang Xun came downstairs and was about to climb through the window when he suddenly stopped.

Not right.

It's too quiet.

It's not that the courtyard is quiet—courtyards are supposed to be quiet. Rather, there's an indescribable eeriness to this quietness, like the calm before a storm.

Having spent many years mingling in the streets, Jiang Xun's intuition for danger is far sharper than that of the average person.

He crouched outside the window, listening intently, and finally discovered a clue—there was someone in the study.

His breathing was so light, almost inaudible, but he could still hear it.

"There's an ambush." ​​Jiang Xun's heart skipped a beat, realizing he had fallen into a trap.

Without hesitation, he turned and left.

But it was too late.

A dark figure flashed out from the side of the study, as fast as lightning, and blocked his way.

"Since you're here, why rush to leave?"

The voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable air of authority.

Jiang Xun looked closely, and his heart sank again.

The man who stopped him was a young man, about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, tall and slender, with a handsome face and sharp eyes like a hawk.

He was dressed in a blue robe with a long sword hanging at his waist, and he stood there like a drawn sword.

Jiang Xun didn't recognize the person, but he recognized the aura emanating from him—the aura of a master, and a first-rate one at that.

"Who are you?" Jiang Xun asked in a low voice, already planning his escape route.

The young man didn't answer, but instead looked him up and down, then suddenly laughed: "You were behind those recent cases in Yunzhou City, weren't you?"

Jiang Xun's heart tightened.

He instinctively wanted to deny it, but the words stuck in his throat.

Since this person is waiting here, they must have already found out the truth.

"It's me, what do you want?"

"Nothing much." The young man smiled. "I just wanted to see what kind of person you really are."

Jiang Xun was taken aback: "Now that I've seen it, shall I leave?"