Watching the rogue cultivator collapse to the ground in frustration, still breathing his last, Xu Feng delivered a swift Golden Arrow Spell straight to his forehead, landing a perfectly executed finishing blow.
"Mind blown wide open. That should do it; he's thoroughly dead now."
He clapped his hands in deep satisfaction, then looked over at the female cultivator surnamed Liu, just in time to catch her cleaning the bloodstains off her dharma tool. Sensing his gaze, she raised her head and gave him a perfunctory nod.
Xu Feng did not take offense at this. It was common knowledge that aristocratic family scions looked down on rogue cultivators like them. Besides, with his low cultivation, he had no choice but to accept being treated with contempt.
Just as he was about to turn and leave, he suddenly sensed a large group of people rapidly approaching.
Sure enough, a mere few breaths later, a group of cultivators flying on swords appeared in the already narrow alleyway.
At their head was a middle-aged man wearing a golden crown and a jade belt around his waist. Named Liu Weishan, his cultivation had reached the Qi Refining 9th Layer, and he was specifically dispatched by the Liu Family to manage the patrol guard in the market town.
When he saw his family's junior safe and sound, a rich wave of joy surfaced on his face.
"Changzhi, it's truly wonderful that you're okay! Otherwise, if anything had happened to you, your uncle here wouldn't even know how to explain it to the family!"
Listening to his uncle's mixture of relief and mild reproach, Liu Changzhi offered an apologetic smile. She first put away her cleaned dharma tool into her storage bag, then cupped her fists and saluted:
"Uncle, you needn't worry. Before making a move, I did a thorough investigation, so there was no risk of an accident. Take this rogue cultivator tonight, for instance.
Although his cultivation is on par with mine, both in terms of spells and dharma tools, he was no match for me. A few Rank 1 Mid-Grade talismans gave me a bit of trouble, but in the end, he still died beneath my sword."
Hearing this, the people present finally shifted their gaze to the thoroughly chilled corpse.
"That's not right. I was the one who killed him," Xu Feng thought to himself.
However, given the occasion, it was clearly not appropriate for him to interrupt. Besides, had Liu Changzhi not heavily injured him first, Xu Feng wouldn't have had the chance to land the final blow, so her words weren't entirely inaccurate either.
At a hand gesture from the leader surnamed Liu, five or six men stepped out from behind him and approached the corpse. One of them pulled away the black veil that had been concealing the rogue cultivator's face.
The moment the man's true features were revealed, Xu Feng began to search his memory, but found not the slightest trace of familiarity—meaning he did not know this person at all.
"Eh, I seem to know this guy," someone in the surrounding crowd spoke up when the face was revealed.
"Oh? Then tell us who he is," Liu Weishan asked, stepping forward to address his subordinates.
"This fellow often hangs out in the outer district market, making a living by swindling and cheating. Once, when I was strolling around there, he actually tried to pull a scam on me. In the end, I flashed my identity, dragged him off to the patrol guard, and gave him a harsh lesson."
"Ah, now that you mention it, I seem to remember. One of the brothers in charge of market entry for the outer district mentioned this to me back then. He said there was someone in their assigned market who spent all day idling about and harassing female cultivators. His name is Li Kaishan, and he has a very distinct scar on his chin. This must be him."
Another person chimed in.
Listening to the chatter all around him, Liu Weishan raised a fist, and the crowd immediately quieted down.
"Good. Since his identity has been confirmed, have someone carry the corpse away for safekeeping. Tomorrow, hang it at the boundary between the outer and inner districts of the market town to be publicly displayed for half a month. Let those idle cultivators who only think about plundering others see what awaits them: the sole end for a rogue cultivator is death."
Watching Liu Weishan stand off to the side giving orders, Xu Feng said nothing aloud, but in his heart, he thoroughly approved of this handling method. After all, this would at least ensure that the security in the outer district would improve for a period of time, which served as a safeguard for his own safety.
"Brilliant, Captain! It should be done just like this. These rogue cultivators are like flies; if you don't squash a few of them from time to time, they never settle down."
"Spot on. All rogue cultivators deserve to die. This time, we owe it to Fairy Liu for acting on behalf of heaven in cutting down this scoundrel. Who knows how many outer district cultivators' lives this act has saved?"
Flattery poured in continuously—some aimed at Liu Weishan, some at Liu Changzhi. The atmosphere instantly turned warm and cheerful, resembling a commendation ceremony.
Yet the latter seemed completely unimpressed by these sycophantic words. She simply walked up to the rogue cultivator's corpse alone, removed the storage bag hanging from its waist, weighed it in her hand, and let a smile cross her face.
Under Liu Weishan's direction, the patrol guards quickly carried the corpse away and left.
Just as Xu Feng was also preparing to leave, Liu Changzhi called out to stop him.
"Hey, don't leave just yet. You contributed to killing the rogue cultivator just now, so you deserve a share of the spoils."
Hearing this, he froze and instinctively began to refuse:
"Being able to kill this rogue cultivator was entirely thanks to the Daoist friend's power. How could I possibly claim any of the spoils?"
This statement held a kernel of truth. Without Liu Changzhi, he suspected his own storage bag would have been plundered—and inside it was his entire livelihood.
Tonight's events served as a wake-up call, however: from now on, he could not keep all his possessions in a single storage bag. Should any accident happen, everything would be lost.
What he hadn't expected was that Liu Changzhi had merely been exchanging pleasantries; mentioning a share of the spoils had been an offhand remark, not genuinely meant. Had he eagerly accepted right away, she likely would have sneered at him instead.
Yet his refusal actually made her view him with a touch more favor, prompting her to genuinely split some of the spoils with him.
"Cut it out. You're a grown man, why are you dawdling and fussing? I said you contributed, so you contributed. If not for you stepping in to stall for time, this little thief might well have escaped.
If you had acted like that other male cultivator, frozen in terror and bolting the moment the fight started, you wouldn't have gotten a single scrap of the spoils."
Seeing her beckon, Xu Feng had no choice but to step forward.
Liu Changzhi then took the storage bag belonging to the rogue cultivator Li Kaishan. With mana surging in her hand, she flipped the pouch upside down, spilling a considerable amount of spiritual items before the two of them.
First to catch the eye were dozens of multicolored spirit stones, illuminating the otherwise dim alleyway quite brightly.
Next came four dharma tools, several small bottles and jars, some spiritual medicine seeds, a few tattered books, a heap of spiritual rice, and a modest amount of monster meat.
Looking at the spiritual items before her, Liu Changzhi unceremoniously took all the spirit stones, followed by three undamaged dharma tools.
Finally, after glancing through the books and seeming unimpressed, she casually left them behind for him, alongside two small bottles, some spiritual medicine seeds, spiritual rice, and monster meat.
"Well? Do you have any objections to how I've divided this?"
"None at all," he hurriedly shook his head and said.
"Good. Since that's settled, I'll be leaving. Until next time."
"Until next time."
With their farewells done, Liu Changzhi vanished swiftly into the dark of night. Xu Feng didn't linger in the spot either, hurrying back toward his dwelling at a brisk pace—fortunately, it wasn't too far away now.
What he did not know, however, was that right after they left, a cultivator dressed similarly to the rogue cultivator appeared at the scene, inspected the area briefly, and then vanished back into the night.
Jogging all the way while tightly gripping the dharma tool left to him by his Master, Xu Feng only let out a breath of relief once the familiar wooden cabin reappeared in his field of vision.
He was home.