Chapter Sixty-Four: A Thief’s Journey

When the old man had finally finished drinking his water, he spoke at last, his tone calm and steady. “What grade of information are you looking for? Beasts—lesser demons, or middle, upper tier?”

Six Chou at last felt a thrill of delight. Just as the stories in those online novels of his past life had described, sometimes the best treasures or rare encounters—and reclusive masters—hid in the most unremarkable shops. He had barely made an attempt, and already he had gained something—wasn’t this luck a bit too heaven-defying?

He blurted out, “You have lesser demons available?”

Even a demon beast would do. Strip it for bone and flesh, sell it and make ten thousand or so coins. Use the demon core to forge a crossbow; for ten thousand, he could buy two or three artificial demon cores. That was Six Chou’s lowest standard.

He hadn’t expected the old man to flick his eyelids and reply with a hint of disdain, “Of course. Both lesser and middle tiers, even upper tier isn’t rare. I just fear that you, working alone, won’t be able to take it down!”

Lesser demons? There were actually lesser demons inside the city?

Given Six Chou’s abilities, those were the most suitable prey. The beast class was too weak—three or five demon cores wouldn’t be enough. The upper tier was out of his league. The best would be a middle or lower tier minor demon—enough for crafting a crossbow, and he could pocket tens of thousands, buy a few artificial demon cores for his Golden Eyes.

“Good! Let’s hear it. If the price is right, I’ll take the job!” Six Chou agreed instantly. As long as the grade wasn’t too far off, this was exactly the prey he sought.

“Sixty miles east of the city, at Tiger Leap Ravine, it’s said—”

“Did you hear me clearly just now?” As soon as the old man mentioned the east of the city, Six Chou’s heart sank. He cut him off before he could finish. “I already said—inside the city!”

“You only want news of monsters within the city?” The old man blinked, as if he really had forgotten what Six Chou had just said. He thought for a moment, then slowly let out a breath. “You ought to know, thief, that there are four major merchant guilds stationed in the city. If there were lesser demons, they wouldn’t escape notice. Any that arrive are cut down by the Giant Axe. How could there be any left? If you want outside the city, within a hundred miles, there are several to be found—”

Six Chou shook his head. “Outside the city won’t do. Only inside.”

The old man let out a slow breath, his squinted eyes narrowing even more, almost forming a single line. After a while, he said, “Then that’s that. As far as I know, in the entire city, aside from the three minor demons in the underground demon cage of the Taixi Guild—soon to be sent to Zhou territory—there are absolutely no other monsters.”

Hope to despair came too swiftly, as if Six Chou had plummeted from the sky into an abyss. Countless curses surged to his lips—he nearly swore outright, but in the end, he forced himself to hold back, only able to ask, unwillingly, “There truly are no demons to kill in the city?”

“Truly none. This humble shop dares to stake its reputation on it!” The old man’s squinted eyes finally opened wide, his tone full of conviction. “If there are any, they must be monsters of deep cultivation. Not only would you be unable to defeat them, but you wouldn’t even be able to find them—this humble shop dares to guarantee, in all of Liyang, apart from the Taixi Guild’s underground, there isn’t half a demon left!”

Six Chou nodded and stood up. “If that’s so, I’ll take my leave.”

He strode out quickly, and behind him the old man saw him off, neither angered nor annoyed, his voice polite and respectful. Six Chou did not pause.

Back on the street, he made for the West Gate Pavilion. After two streets, a sudden thought struck him.

“Taixi Guild?”

To explain: besides hunting monsters, the major guilds all had other means of livelihood. The Giant Axe doubled as night patrol and monster exterminator for Liyang; Eagle’s Perch sold artificial demon cores; and the Taixi Guild purchased demon captives from the western armies, kept them locked up, and sold them off to other regions.

Just now, the old man had mentioned the minor demons to be sent to Zhou territory—those would be captives bought from the west, shackled and held underground, until five, six, or eight could be sent off together.

Six Chou carefully reviewed the exchange just now and finally came to his senses: “That old man mentioned the Taixi Guild twice, was he trying to lure me into stealing from them?”

With four great guilds sharing the city, there were bound to be conflicts. It was only natural for the old man to play dirty behind the scenes. Whether or not Six Chou could pull it off, making trouble for Taixi was all to the good. After all, he hadn’t said anything outright—whatever happened, no blame could fall on Eagle’s Perch.

“What a sly, wily old fox!” Now that he understood, Six Chou cursed inwardly. “I almost fell for his trap!”

If it had been a real desperate thief, in a pinch, he might well have set his sights on those minor demons locked in six-fold chains. But the old man couldn’t have guessed that Six Chou was a demon himself, avoiding the monster-hunting guilds like the plague. Why would he ask for trouble—was he tired of living?

The monster-hunting guild’s prisons would always be guarded, twice as vigilant as any shop. Stealing from there wasn’t impossible, but the risks were far too great. These shops, by contrast, whether servants or night watchmen, were all ordinary folk...

Wait!

Six Chou suddenly realized: the reason he hadn’t planned to steal from the shops in the first place was to avoid alerting the monster-hunting guild. But now that he was even considering breaking into their prison, why not simply find an easier target and rob these shops directly?

Ah, how could someone clever all his life be muddled for a moment!

Let’s do it!

With his mind made up, Six Chou felt a spring in his step. He bought a dog at the market, had it butchered, picked out five or six jars of good wine, a basket of fresh fish, and a selection of salt, sauces, and plums, paid the money, and had them delivered before meandering back to the West Gate Pavilion.

By the time he arrived, the dog was boiling in the pot, salt and sauce simmering. The night patrol had already heard that the “thief” was treating them again, and waited early, showering him with compliments.

With nothing else to do, they feasted and drank; Six Chou made sure to get himself thoroughly drunk and had himself carried to the guest quarters to rest.

It was a night for murder, a moonless night for arson. Snores thundered through the pavilion. At that moment, Six Chou secretly opened his eyes and got up.

Since he’d planned to act at midnight, of course he hadn’t really drunk himself into a stupor—he was only pretending, so he could stay the night. Shops were not like arsenals—those saw little traffic, and even if something went missing, it might not be noticed for days. But if a shop was burgled, by morning the monster hunters would be alerted. Six Chou had just visited today—he’d be the first suspect. Staying at the pavilion was far safer than sleeping at home.

He slipped quietly out, found a dark corner, and began to transform—soon taking on the appearance of someone he’d deliberately brushed up against at the market that day. He covered his face with a hemp scarf, then slipped swiftly through the shadows toward the shop. In no time at all, he stood outside the guild.

As he neared, he slowed, melted into a patch of darkness, and strained his senses to listen. As his breathing and heartbeat calmed, the surrounding noises grew louder, all falling into his ears.

Sure enough, there were guards in the guild—two at the door, eight patrolling the courtyard, and two hidden sentries atop the tower and on the porch beams, twelve in total.

In addition, there were people staying in the guest quarters, their deep, steady breathing marking them as experts. They weren’t on duty, but they remained within the guild to respond to emergencies.

From Six Chou’s perspective, none of these men were particularly strong—at least, escaping would be no problem. Once satisfied, he turned his attention to the shops, probing their situation.

Perhaps because they were attached to the guild, Six Chou discovered, to his surprise, that all the Eagle’s Perch shops were completely unguarded—empty and silent. After checking safety several times, he darted across the street like a ghostly cat, scaled the wall to the second floor, and slipped inside.

Arranged on the tables were rows of demon cores, displayed in proper order!

Six Chou didn’t stand on ceremony. In a few swift movements, he swept all the demon cores into his bag—dozens in total. But when he opened the cabinet, he was dumbfounded—the cores he’d bought that day had come from a brocade box in this cabinet, each box holding three, five, six, or seven. But now the cabinet was empty—the boxes gone.

After a moment’s confusion, Six Chou understood. The shop must have a rule of collecting the brocade boxes each day and sending them through the back door to the guild for safekeeping. That was why they dared leave the shop unguarded. Leaving goods worth hundreds of thousands here, even next door to the guild, would be unthinkable.

Though his haul was much smaller, it was still acceptable. Six Chou wasted no time—he slipped from the shop and into the adjacent buyback store, rummaged quickly, and found another seven or eight demon cores, half from minor demons, half from beasts.

He also found some weapons and armor, beast bones and flesh, which he stored in his gourd-world.

Six Chou worked at lightning speed, never lingering more than a moment in each store. He collected all manner of goods—not just demon cores, but even things he didn’t need: copper lamps, ointments, wine. He took so much that it would fill three or five cartloads, thoroughly confusing his trail and hiding his true intentions.

Such a spree could hardly be called theft—no ordinary robbery could make off with so much!

With the job done, Six Chou slipped out of the shop and into the darkness...

But soon he returned, slipping back inside.

He remembered something—something told to him when he’d been chained by the neck like a dog and locked in a black cell. It was a story told by a bearded monk named Guiqu, who had explained how he’d found clues about Six Chou in the wreckage of the Tianji Guild. Because of those odd clues, the monk had pursued him relentlessly and finally captured him.

At the time, Six Chou’s first thought was to set fire to everything. In the arsenal, he hadn’t dared for fear of drawing attention, but here in the shop, he was determined to torch the place.

He knocked over an oil lamp, lit the wooden curtains, and in a few short breaths had started fires in several rooms. Without waiting for them to spread, he slipped away. Once he was far enough, the howls and cries began behind him. Looking back, he saw the flames surging skyward, visible from several streets away.

A rare smile touched Six Chou’s lips as he quickened his pace and returned to the pavilion, stretching out on his bed.

The West Gate Pavilion was far from the Eagle’s Perch Guild. Even if fire broke out, it would cause no alarm here. Ears straining, he could faintly hear the commotion in the distance—the shouts and chaos, people running everywhere, guild members frantically hauling water to douse the flames. But the night was dry and windy, and the fire could not be saved.

After a long hullabaloo, the noise gradually subsided. It seemed someone had managed to contain the blaze—though the burning shops were lost, the neighboring houses had been saved.

Only then did Six Chou feel at ease. His mind settled, he slipped into the gourd-world.