My Cultivation Techniques Upgrade Automatically

Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Surprised? Unexpected?

Black Stone City, at the city gate.

A gray-haired old man in plain clothes stood before the city gate.

At his waist hung a straight, ink-black blade nearly four feet long. In his hands, he held two portraits—wanted posters he had acquired from the black market.

The man and woman depicted on them were none other than Wu Chen and Xue Hongling.

’This blade cost me two hundred silver.’

He caressed the precious blade at his waist, his eyes full of delight. ’I hear the girl is in Black Stone City. That’s half my investment earned back right there.’

He then glanced at the boy’s portrait and clicked his tongue. ’I just wonder if the other hundred silver is here too?’

He shook his head with a slight swagger and glanced at the tall city gate archway, his gaze finally settling on the lifeless refugees huddled at the base of the city wall.

’These thousand pairs of eyes just sit by the gate all day. Someone must have noticed whether this boy has gone in or out of the city.’

With this thought, he walked over to the refugees and held up the boy’s portrait.

"Have any of you seen this boy?"

"Ten silver for the truth. A taste of my blade for any lies."

The old man spoke loudly, and quite a few refugees gathered around. They glanced at the portrait, then at the long blade hanging from the martial artist’s waist.

Remembering his threat about a taste of his blade for liars, they all shook their heads and dispersed.

Most of the time, they just slept slumped against the city wall, only stirring when someone from the city came to distribute congee or when a human trafficker came looking to do business.

No one had noticed Wu Chen when he passed by that day.

But one refugee remained in front of the portrait, scrutinizing it. He recognized the boy, and he also recognized that it was a bounty poster.

This was the same refugee who had been tossed around as a living target by the Black Scorpion Gang’s grunts, the one who was ultimately rescued by Wu Chen and Xue Hongling.

He quickly made his choice. Bowing and scraping before the old man, he said fawningly,

"Great hero, I saw this person late last night in an alley in the eastern part of the city."

The old man nodded, put away the portraits, and turned to leave. With two hundred silver within his grasp, he was in an exceptionally good mood.

’It doesn’t matter where he was seen, as long as he’s in this city!’

"Sir! The silver! You haven’t given me the silver yet!"

Seeing the man turn and walk away, the refugee grew anxious. ’He promised ten silver! Why isn’t he paying me? He’s not going to just stiff me, is he?’

The old man spun around with a dry chuckle. "Almost forgot."

SHING!

A flash of the black blade bit through the air, and the refugee’s head was separated from his body.

’If you could give the information to me, couldn’t you also give it to the boy?’

’And you still wanted silver? In your dreams!’

Besides, it wasn’t that he didn’t have the money right now—even if he did, he would never have given it.

Without a single glance at the corpse, the old man strode into the city as if nothing had happened, completely unconcerned about having just killed someone at the main gate.

He left behind a crowd of panicked refugees, shouting that there had been a murder as they scrambled to get far away from the body.

This all happened right next to the city gate, and the two guards on duty saw everything clearly.

But they acted as if they had seen nothing at all, lowering their heads and letting the man enter the city.

"See?"

The old soldier nudged the young soldier beside him with his elbow. "What did I tell you? You don’t mess with these martial artists, right?"

The young soldier gritted his teeth. "Killing someone in broad daylight! What about the law?"

The old soldier chuckled. "Black Stone City doesn’t have such a thing."

The young soldier asked resentfully, "Then what’s the point of us even standing here?"

"To keep them from entering the city."

As he spoke, the old soldier gestured with his scruffy chin toward the crowd of refugees at the foot of the wall.

"That... HAH..."

The young soldier felt as if something was caught in his chest, but in the end, he just let out a long sigh and said nothing more.

The gray-haired, lean old man walked into the city without any obstruction, his mind still on what the refugee had said.

’He said he saw that boy, Wu Chen, at night. It seems the kid knows he’s in deep trouble and doesn’t dare show his face during the day, so he’s lying low.’

’So it looks like I won’t be able to find him during the day.’

’And that traitor from the Blood Slaughter Sect... It’s not just me looking for her; the Blood Slaughter Sect is after her too. She’s probably even less likely to show herself in daylight.’

’In that case, I’ll get some rest during the day and hunt for these two little dolls tonight.’

He stopped in front of an inn and knocked on the door.

An attendant opened the door and saw the gray-haired old man standing outside.

"Sir, are you looking for a room or...?"

The old man nodded. "A room."

The attendant glanced at the old man’s clothes and the ink-black blade, which looked expensive at a single glance.

"Five hundred copper coins a day."

The old man nodded. "Fine."

He paid for five days. Five days would be more than enough time to claim the heads on those two bounty posters!

The attendant thought to himself that business had been quite good lately. This was already the third customer this month!

The attendant welcomed the old man in and led him to the second floor.

The old man didn’t ask the attendant any questions, like who else was staying at the inn or if he’d seen a young man and woman in the city.

He knew very well that anyone who could run an inn in Black Stone City had connections, to one degree or another.

’If I ask, I’m bound to arouse suspicion and invite people to investigate me.’

’It’s not impossible that, after a few twists and turns, the news that I’m in Black Stone City for the bounty could reach the boy and girl before I find them.’

The attendant led the old man to the second floor, once again showing him to a room on the side facing the street.

He knew that these sword-wielding martial artists never slept peacefully at night; they were always up to some business of murder and arson.

So, a room by the street was most suitable.

During the day, they could hear any disturbance, and at night, it was convenient for slipping out the window to brandish their weapons.

The attendant didn’t ask the old man what he wanted to eat. He knew these types were wary of poisoned food and most likely wouldn’t order anything.

After showing the old man into the empty room between the young man’s and the young woman’s rooms, he said, "Sir, just give a shout if you need anything. I’ll be downstairs."

He then thoughtfully closed the door and went downstairs to greet other guests.

The old man nodded, placed his precious blade beside him, and lay down on the bed to rest.

He planned to wait for nightfall, conserve his strength, and then collect two fine heads.

The surrounding light gradually dimmed, and all sounds fell into a dead silence.

「Night had fallen.」

In the darkness-shrouded room, the old man rose silently and picked up the precious blade at his side.

Though he hadn’t lit a candle, he moved to the window with practiced ease.

CREAK~

Holding his breath, he stealthily pushed open the window and swung half his body out onto the windowsill.

Just as he was about to leap down, his body suddenly froze.

Because he saw a boy leaning out of the window of the adjacent room, a boy who, in the moonlight, bore a striking resemblance to the one in the portrait!

A fiery heat began to burn in the old man’s eyes.

He never would have expected that the target of his most coveted bounty, the one named Wu Chen, was not only staying in the same inn but right next door!

"Wu Chen?" he called out tentatively.

Wu Chen, leaning out of his own window at the same time, didn’t recognize the man. He’d been wondering why he hadn’t seen Xue Hongling today, only to find some old man peering out a window instead.

Looking closer, he realized it was the room next door.

Hearing his name called, he answered, "Hm?"

SHING!

The sound had barely left his lips when the man leaped, a black gleam in his hand slashing toward Wu Chen’s head.

But Wu Chen’s reaction was just as fast; he drew his own blade to block.

The moment the strange old man had called his name, he knew something was off about him.

’Only a handful of people know my name: Xue Hongling and Jiang Fang.’

’And the Blood Slaughter Sect... plus the assassins who’ve come for the bounty the sect posted.’

’So this man is most likely not one of the Blood Slaughter Sect’s devils, but an assassin after the bounty.’

No matter who he was, Wu Chen had no intention of letting him go.

He had answered the man’s call for the sole purpose of making him stay.

CRACK!

The black blade descended menacingly toward Wu Chen’s head, but with a sound of piercing flesh, it came to an inexplicable, abrupt halt.

The assassin’s arm and the precious blade he held were frozen in mid-air, unable to fall.

His strength was draining away, and an immense pain bloomed in his chest.

The old man looked down to see the tip of a dark red blade protruding more than three inches from his chest. It felt as if it had sucked away all his strength, leaving him unable to exert even the slightest force.

He had often joked that he’d rather be stabbed in the back by a blade.

But when someone actually did it, he certainly wasn’t happy about it.

The old man used all his remaining strength to twist his head around, his pupils shrinking abruptly.

Only then did he realize that the girl from the other wanted poster was also staying in the room next to his!

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