Jin An Cheng dodged high and low, suddenly advancing and retreating, sometimes left and sometimes right, running wildly inside the Tian Ding City for a full two minutes before slipping into an ordinary-looking courtyard.

  This wasn't him discovering Meng Qi, but rather an old habit from years of being on the streets, instinctively circling around to change direction, always assuming someone was following.

  Meng Qi landed lightly on the tile, like a feather touching the ground, without making any sound. Then he looked at Jin An and walked familiarly into the courtyard, arriving at a side house, where he knocked rhythmically on the door.

  "This guy is cunning, almost got lost." Meng Qi muttered to himself in the shadow of the eaves.

  This was his first time tailing someone, and if not for his exceptional agility and precise footsteps, he would have either been discovered or worried about being discovered and losing the target. As it was, this one trip had also made Meng Qi break out in a cold sweat, comparable to half a day of intense training.

  "This ordinary courtyard is definitely not Fei Zhengqing's mansion, who exactly does Jin Ancheng want to find...” Meng Qi furrowed his brow in thought. As the tenth most powerful person in Tiandu City and the head of the city guards, this humble two-section courtyard was absolutely impossible to be Fei Zhengqing's home. "Could it be that Jin Ancheng's words earlier still hid a lie?"

  Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock. After Jin Ancheng knocked rhythmically for a while, the door opened silently, and he slipped in with a flash of his body, habitually closing the door behind him.

  Seeing this, Meng Qi slid slowly down the beam, like a leaf drifting away, unnoticeable in the quiet night.

  His feet had just touched the ground when Meng Qi took a step forward, his body as light as smoke, and in two or three steps he hid outside the window of that wing room.

  After listening carefully and finding no movement inside, Meng Qi quietly got up and poked the white window paper with his saliva-stained finger.

  After a faintly audible sound, there was an additional hole in the window paper. Meng Qi stuck one eye to it and looked inside.

  Nobody!

  Inside was an ordinary compartment with a table, cupboard and bed, but there wasn't a single person!

  Jin Ancheng who just went in has also disappeared!

  Meng Qi's heart tightened again, and he looked around once more. Confirming that there was really no one inside, he gently pushed open the window and slipped in.

  Just as Meng Qi was about to step inside, he suddenly remembered something. If there was no one inside, then who had opened the door for Jin Ancheng just now?

  Clap, clap, clap, applause came from beside the bed. Meng Qi's sword was horizontal, and he didn't panic. He raised his eyes to look over.

  Only the trunk beside the bed was pushed open, revealing a big black hole. Standing next to it were Jin Ancheng and a middle-aged man with a horse face and long whiskers. The one applauding was the latter.

  It's indeed the local way, Jin Ancheng seems to be heading towards the nearby mansion, that's his destination, and there's a spacious estate next door... Meng Qi probably understood what happened earlier.

  Jin Ancheng blew out the lighter in his hand, grinning hideously, and the flesh on his forehead quivered: "Thanks to my rich experience in Jianghu, I waited a little longer in the tunnel, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to wait for Mr. Shen Hou."

  At this time, perhaps seeing the firelight, other outhouses outside began to make a noise of opening doors, voices were suppressed very low, quickly surrounding this outhouse in an orderly manner.

  "Who is this?" Meng Qi didn't even glance at Jin Ancheng, his playful monkey-headed mask fixed on the middle-aged man with a horse face and long whiskers.

  "Mr. Shen Monkey, being pretentious is not a good habit. Will the twelve zodiac animals no longer recognize Mr. Fei?" The middle-aged man's voice was rough and hoarse, but with a strange sharpness.

  "It turned out to be Fei Zong's capture, I just found it strange that you're here in the middle of the night, aren't you alone admiring the moon?" The smiling monkey face made it impossible to see Meng Qi's expression.

  Fei Zhengqing smiled and said, "No wonder you're the most mysterious and sinister of the Twelve Beasts in the Jianghu. Mr. Shen Hou is indeed calm and composed. If it were me, I'd probably be looking for a chance to escape by now."

  "It just so happened that Mr. Fei had something to attend to tonight and was planning to leave through the tunnel, but he ran into Mr. Shen Hou."

  As they spoke, Jin Ancheng walked in another direction, preparing to ambush Meng Qi, and flattered: "Thanks to the chief catcher's deep strategy and foresight, he established a rule for coming and going through the underground tunnel, otherwise it would be really hard to catch Mr. Shen Hou."

  "Haha, you're indeed knowledgeable and experienced." Fei Zhengqing had an additional pair of judge's pens in his hand, and casually praised Jin Ancheng with a sentence, "Master Shen Hou, why not surrender? With your abilities, the city master should have a mind to appreciate talent."

  Meng Qi snorted: "Actually, no matter how thoughtful you are, no matter how rich your experience in the jianghu is, I only know one thing."

  "What?" Facing Shen Hou's calmness, Fei Zhengqing was slightly solemn.

  "I'm the only one who knows you can't beat me."

  Before the words had fallen, Meng Qi pounced on Fei Zhengqing like a ghost, his footsteps changing rapidly, making it impossible for anyone to grasp his shadow. His hand holding the ring knife made a false slash, pointing directly at Fei Zhengqing's neck.

  Facing such a move, Fei Zhengqing secretly praised "the name is not in vain", stepped aside and judged that the official pen was urgent to hit Meng Qi's head acupuncture point.

  At the same time, Jin Ancheng attacked from the side, his ten fingers hooked like an eagle's claw, grabbing towards Meng Qi's back heart acupoint.

  I know you have horizontal practice skills, but hitting acupuncture points is just right to restrain you!

  Meng Qi's body didn't move, his feet didn't budge, but the originally forward-facing Jian sword suddenly swept up from the side, pointing towards Jin Ancheng's chest and abdomen. At the same time, he slightly tilted his head, fully activating the Golden Bell Shield, a layer of dark golden light appearing on his skin, like the image of an arhat in a temple.

  This time, Fei Zhengqing's judge pen failed to hit Meng Qi's temple, but instead directly pointed at the acupoint behind his ear.

  Even with horizontal practice skills, if the hole is punctured, you will still be powerless. You are not a forty-year-old pure yang Tongzi Gong's bitter and hardworking monk!

  The metal pen tip hit Meng Qi's ear and made a crisp sound, just like hitting a golden Buddha statue.

  The dark gold interior reflected the firelight, making Fei Zhengqing's already frightened face look even more unsightly.

  A thrust of the sword towards Jin Ancheng, a glance in front, suddenly behind, retrieved from an unimaginable angle, and Fei Zhengqing's judge pen was shattered. Just now, it was actually another feint!

  With one move, Meng Qi was like a fierce tiger descending the mountain. His knife shone brightly, and in no time at all, he captured Fei Zhengqing and Jin Ancheng, who couldn't break through his defense, and sealed their acupoints.

  After the fourth Jin Zhong Shang practice is completed, except for the eyes, Dantian and other gates, and Taiyang Xue, Zanzhong and other key points, Meng Qi's other places can only be broken through or pierced by opening-level water or sharp weapons.

  "I've told you before, you can't beat me." Meng Qi smiled behind his mask, revealing a row of white teeth.

  Fei Zhengqing, a renowned master, had a pair of judge's pen names that were known throughout the land. Few could match him, and among those below the level of a grandmaster, he considered himself to be one of the very best. But today, facing Shen Hou, one of the "Twelve Beasts", he felt an inexplicable sense of fear. His opponent clearly didn't have the characteristics of a grandmaster, so how could his strength be so terrifying? What kind of extraordinary skill had he cultivated?

  This battle severely damaged his confidence.

  "Mr. Shen Hou, you were indeed underestimated by Fei." As an old hand, he quickly stabilized his emotions, "In the previous task of the Twelve Constellations, Tian Ding City had collected relevant materials to judge your strength, but unexpectedly, Mr. Shen Hou, you never used your full strength, haha, it turns out that your forte is not knife skills."

  "Who told you I'm best at knife skills?" Meng Qi asked with a smile.

  Fei Zhengqing caught the tone of teasing, sighed and said: "It was our misjudgment, Mr. Shen Hou, your specialty is actually horizontal exercise, I wonder what relationship you have with Fahuanzong's Beisanguo?"

  "I really admire your composure, Fei Zong." Meng Qi suddenly sighed, "If it were me, if I were captured by someone, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to remain so calm and composed, let alone have the leisure to ask about my background and origins."

  Fei Zhengqing smiled wryly and said, "I come from a family of detectives, I'm used to interrogating people, and I know you're here to ask about Duan Gongzi's disappearance, not for murder. As long as you cooperate honestly, Fei won't take your life."

  "Yes, Master Shen Huan, I heard that you 'Twelve Xiang Shen' have a saying: 'No need to kill people for things outside of the task, it's too wasteful of energy.'" Jin Ancheng echoed, afraid that his continuous lies and opposition would infuriate Shen Huan.

  Meng Qi said with a smile that was not quite a smile: "It's not necessarily so, I kill people based on my mood. Tonight the moon is high and bright, shining everywhere, it's just the right night for killing. If you don't satisfy me, next year on this day will be your unlucky day, and also the unlucky day of your whole family."

  He always wanted to say these harsh words, and when he watched them before, he felt that the villain's lines were particularly impressive.

  Fei Zhengqing, as the chief of Tian Ding City, was able to control his terrified emotions and said calmly: "I, Fei, will speak without reserve, and say everything I know."

  "I'd like to know, why did the owner of the Golden Pavilion come here in the middle of the night to report something? Did he lie to me?" Meng Qi asked in a low voice. The people surrounding the courtyard outside remained in their previous state, as they had not received any orders from inside.

  Jin Ancheng said in a low voice: "Fei Zong has handed over the case, and someone will come to investigate this matter. You must inform him immediately. However, there is one place where I lied."

  He voluntarily confessed.

  Meng Qi thought for a moment, then pulled Fei Zhengqing to one side and said in a low voice: "Tell me quietly where Jin Ancheng lied, and I'll ask him. If it's not the same... heh heh..."

  Fei Zhengqing lowered his voice: "He only lied about one thing, that there were clues left in the room."

  "There was a leaf of Longguo tree under the table, this kind of tree only exists in the Dongda Temple in the east of the city, it should be brought by the mysterious person who accidentally stuck it on their body."

  "So I immediately mobilized personnel and searched the Dabeisi Temple overnight, but unfortunately we were half a beat too slow and failed to apprehend the suspect. Instead, we only found more clues, all of which pointed towards the remnants of the Xue Shen Palace."

  "We suspect that Duan Gongzi's disappearance is their doing, because Duan Gongzi has always been very interested in the treasure of Xue Shen Palace and has never stopped searching for clues."

  Meng Qi listened quietly, repeating the words "Treasures of the Snow God Palace" in her heart.

  Fei Zhengqing suddenly smiled: "In order not to frighten the snake by hitting the grass, I let An Cheng conceal the truth, but Mr. Xian Yin knows these things."

  Meng Qi's eyes narrowed slightly, did Duan Xiangfei know about this? Why wasn't it mentioned in the materials?