Xu Qi'an sat on the large chair, holding a teacup and took a sip, slowly saying, "Tell me."

Miss Rong Rong pursed her lips and said, "Since Master Xu has heard of my name, you must be familiar with the Thousand-Faced Female Thief as well."

"I have heard of her." Xu Qi'an touched his chin and looked at her. "Are you saying that the one who stole my treasure is the Thousand-Faced Female Thief?"

"Min Yinluo, find me the information on that female thief."

Min Shan then instructed the officials to find it. After a cup of tea's time, an official came over with a book, opened it to the corresponding page, and handed it to Xu Qi'an.

There wasn't much information on the Thousand-Faced Female Thief, only that she was an extremely skilled thief who worked alone, with unknown origins and background. She had committed numerous crimes of various sizes and had never been caught.

This information provided Xu Qi'an with two pieces of information: first, the thief was not an ordinary one, as she had never failed even in major cases.

Second, the female thief's expertise was limited to theft and didn't cause much destruction. Therefore, the Nightwatcher's office had only a few records and didn't pay much attention to her.

"She's a highly professional thief." Xu Qi'an closed the book and returned it to the official, then turned to Rong Rong, who was tied up, and asked, "Why did the Thousand-Faced Female Thief disguise herself as you?"

Rong Rong sneered, "Who knows? Perhaps Xu is jealous of this lady's skills."

... It seems they had a conflict, and that's why she was retaliated against. Xu Qi'an grabbed his sword and hung it back on his waist, saying, "Min Yinluo, I'll leave her to you. Until I give my consent, she cannot be released, no matter who comes."

After a while, Xu Qi'an hurriedly left the office, mounted his beloved mare, and galloped towards the outer city.

He had to find Taoist Master Jin Lian in person. Fortunately, he knew where Taoist Master Jin Lian lived, even though he had never been there before.

As the sun gradually moved westward, it would soon be curfew. He had to find the female thief and retrieve the fragment of the Earth Book before that, or he would have to return to the office and ask Wei Yuan for a search warrant.

Taoist Master Jin Lian was the master of the North City, residing in a small courtyard by the river. The distinctive feature was the rooftop of the main house, which had a small scarecrow standing on it.

When Xu Qi'an arrived, he knocked on the courtyard door, but there was no response from inside.

"Has the master gone out?"

Xu Qi'an climbed over the wall and entered the courtyard, pushing open the door of the main house. The room was clean and tidy, and on the bed, Taoist Master Jin Lian lay peacefully, as if he had passed away.

Xu Qi'an called out "Master" a few times, but seeing that he remained asleep, he knew that the old man had gone out for a stroll again.

Why did he suddenly develop such a strange habit... What should he do now? The master didn't even know when he would return... Xu Qi'an frowned and pondered for a moment, then suddenly realized something.

He walked to the side of the bed, raised his hand, and slapped Taoist Master Jin Lian's face several times.

As a mature senior in the martial world, Taoist Master Jin Lian should know how to protect his physical body. He must have left a backup plan. As long as his physical body was injured, he would immediately sense it, and even...

"Slap, slap, slap!"

When you're just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Only the sound of slaps remained in the room.

After a long time, Xu Qi'an heard Taoist Master Jin Lian's emotionless voice from the door, "What are you doing?"

The sound of slaps immediately stopped, and Xu Qi'an happily regained his senses and looked towards the door, saying, "Master, you're back."

A ginger cat stood at the threshold, gazing at him silently.

Seeing that Taoist Master Jin Lian didn't speak, Xu Qi'an hurriedly explained, "I had urgent matters to discuss with you, but you weren't in the courtyard. I guessed that you must have left a backup plan on your physical body, so I had no choice but to resort to this."

The ginger cat's voice remained emotionless as ever, "Did you guess that I sensed your presence the moment you entered the courtyard?"

Even when I entered the courtyard, Taoist Master Jin Lian had already sensed that a guest had arrived... Xu Qi'an said in confusion, "I didn't know."

The ginger cat nodded, elegantly leaped into the room, and asked, "What's the matter?"

"My fragment of the Earth Book was stolen."

Immediately, Xu Qi'an told Taoist Master Jin Lian about his encounter with the Thousand-Faced Female Thief and how he mistakenly arrested Rong Rong.

"After the Earth Book fragment recognizes its master, outsiders cannot see the messages or take anything out of it. You can rest assured." The ginger cat remained calm.

"So when I obtained it from you, it was ownerless?"

"It had its imprint erased by the Earth Sect's leader."

Xu Qi'an nodded. He had already known about these things. "We shouldn't delay. Let's go and retrieve the fragment of the Earth Book."

"Follow me."

The ginger cat leaped off the bed and rushed out of the room. Xu Qi'an followed and found it perched on the back of his horse, waiting patiently.

Why didn't the master go in his physical form? Even if he had a habit of transforming into a cat, now was the time to do important things... Could it be that for him, there was no difference between going in his physical form and going in his spiritual form?

With doubts in his mind, Xu Qi'an untied the reins and stroked the face of his mare, thinking that it was unfair to let other men ride her.

Clip-clop...

The mare galloped on the spacious street, and pedestrians voluntarily made way, knowing not to block the middle of the road.

This was an era where people gave way to carriages.

"Turn left!"

The ginger cat suddenly spoke.

Xu Qi'an turned the horse's head and skillfully executed a graceful drift, turning to the left.Under the command of Taoist Master Jin Lian, Xu Qi'an moved from the North City to the East City and arrived at an inn. Taoist Master Jin Lian said, "The fragment of the Earth Book is inside."

As he spoke, Xu Qi'an felt a connection as if their bloodlines were linked, a mysterious and clear sense of the location of the Earth Book fragment.

When the Earth Book fragment is in close proximity to the host, it can create resonance.

..........

In a room of the inn.

A woman with heavy makeup and big almond-shaped eyes sat at the table, one hand supporting her cheek and the other playing with a jade stone mirror.

"Why can't I use this treasure?"

The fake Rong Rong girl examined the Earth Book fragment. At first glance, it seemed ordinary, but as the sole successor of the Thieves' Guild, she had a keen intuition for treasures.

Searching for treasures is a talent of the disciples of the Thieves' Guild.

The mirror had many strange patterns: boxes, silver tickets, crossbows, silver ingots... With years of experience in "treasure hunting," she quickly made a guess:

This is a blood-contracted treasure with storage capabilities.

The fake Rong Rong girl's heart immediately heated up. She didn't expect to catch so many big fish at once. Not only did she obtain a treasure, but there was also a huge fortune inside.

"How do I take out the things inside..."

The fake Rong Rong girl held the Earth Book fragment and knocked on the table.

She had never seen a blood-contracted treasure before and was at a loss. Of course, there was one principle that remained unchanged: as long as the storage artifact was destroyed, the items stored inside would automatically fall out.

But this was a blood-contracted treasure, its value was immeasurable, and she definitely couldn't do something that killed the goose that laid the golden eggs.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?"

The fake Rong Rong girl frowned. She didn't ask the waiter for hot water, and she still had enough money to pay for the room.

"Cha Shui Bang." A man's voice came from outside.

Upon hearing this voice, the fake Rong Rong girl's face changed drastically. Without thinking, she grabbed the jade stone mirror and put it in her pocket, got up, and rushed towards the window.

"Bang!"

She opened the window, about to escape from here, but she saw a ginger cat squatting by the window, its amber eyes looking at her calmly.

The fake Rong Rong girl's brain felt like it was being pierced by steel nails, tearing her soul apart. She covered her head, groaned, and sat down on the ground in frustration.

The door was pushed open, and Xu Qi'an, with a knife in his hand, entered the room with an indifferent expression.

The ginger cat also jumped into the room from the window.

"It's really you!"

Xu Qi'an drew his black gold long knife and pressed it against the fake Rong Rong girl's neck, sneering, "The Thousand-Faced Female Thief."

"Sir, what are you talking about?"

The fake Rong Rong girl's agile eyes turned, seemingly contemplating a countermeasure.

Xu Qi'an reached out and gently grabbed the Earth Book fragment, which flew out of the fake Rong Rong girl's arms and automatically fell into his hands.

The fake Rong Rong girl exclaimed and reached out to try to stop it, but her neck hurt, so she gave up on the idea in frustration.

This man's combat power was formidable. He could easily kill ten of herself with a single slash.

After checking the Earth Book fragment and confirming that no items were missing inside, Xu Qi'an breathed a sigh of relief, and the heavy stone in his heart fell.

The gold and silver in the mirror were all his belongings. He had been in this world for half a year, going through wind and rain, and finally managed to save up some assets.

They were all his hard-earned money.

He put the Earth Book fragment back into his arms, then put away his knife, pulled over a chair, sat down, and smiled as he scrutinized the disheartened female thief, saying:

"Oh, why don't you try to defend yourself? Maybe if you plead your case, I'll let you go."

The female thief's expression changed instantly. She showed a look of sorrow and teary eyes, saying:

"I, too, am a miserable person. Sold to a brothel at the age of three, forced to serve customers at the age of ten, chosen by my master as a closed-door disciple at the age of fifteen. I thought my days of suffering were finally over, but who knew my master was also a heartless person. On a dark and stormy night, he, he..."

Perhaps her acting was too convincing, and Xu Qi'an couldn't judge the truth from the falsehood for a moment.

"Alright, alright, I sympathize with your experience, but the law does not allow for mercy. I have a few questions to ask you, answer them honestly."

Xu Qi'an said, "How did you manage to steal my treasure without me noticing?"

"This is a skill of mine. Below the fourth rank, I can steal however I want."

"And how did you change your appearance?" Xu Qi'an leaned down, pinching her chin, carefully examining her, and sneered, "It's not a human skin mask, but this face is definitely not yours."

"This is our Thieves' Guild's unique skill, called the Art of Deception. It can truly change one's appearance, far superior to ordinary disguise techniques."

"Wait!"

Taoist Master Jin Lian suddenly interrupted, his amber eyes staring at the female thief, "What did you just say? What sect are you from?"The female thief, suddenly feeling a sharp killing intent, weakly said, "Thieves Guild..."

Taoist Master Jin Lian looked at Xu Qi'an and said coldly, "Just kill this female thief."

This was the most humiliating moment for the Thieves Guild... Xu Qi'an suppressed his rising smirk and asked seriously, "Do you know who this person is?"

The female thief shook her head.

"The boss of the Earth Sect of the Daoist School."

"From now on, our Thieves Guild will be renamed as the Divine Thieves Guild." The female thief's will to survive was strong.

Can a sect be renamed just like that? Xu Qi'an was taken aback. Seeing that Taoist Master Jin Lian remained silent, he continued the previous topic, "Hand over the secret manual."

The female thief put on a pitiful expression, "This is a technique for children, practiced since childhood, taught by my master personally, there is no secret manual. I started practicing when I was four and it took me over a decade to graduate."

"Weren't you just saying that you entered the brothel at three, started serving customers at ten, and became your master's exclusive rbq at fifteen?"

"....Perhaps, sir, you heard wrong?"

Xu Qi'an thought to himself, you really can't trust a single punctuation mark in the words of these seasoned jianghu veterans.

"Hand over the secret manual for the disguise technique."

The female thief nodded resignedly, "The secret manual is in the wardrobe, I'll go get it."

Seeing Xu Qi'an nod, she got up and walked to the wardrobe, took out a bundle, and said, "The secret manual is in here."

Xu Qi'an took the bundle, and the moment he opened it, a puff of green mist sprayed out. Caught off guard, he and Taoist Master Jin Lian inhaled a few breaths and immediately passed out.

The female thief, who had held her breath in advance, took out a porcelain bottle from the bundle, took the antidote inside, and then breathed comfortably, humming:

"You're still far from being able to compete with me."

Saying this, she vented her anger by kicking Xu Qi'an a few times, reached into his arms, groped around, and regained the small jade mirror.

Suddenly, she felt something hard pressing against her buttocks, and Xu Qi'an's voice came from behind her, "It seems it's better to kill you after all."

"Rongrong" looked down in horror to find that the silver gong that had been lying there was gone.

She didn't dare to move, knowing that there was a knife pressing against her buttocks.

"I warned you, this person is the boss of the Earth Sect of the Daoist School, and you don't even know when you were caught in an illusion." Xu Qi'an laughed, "Your butt is quite perky."

The female thief completely gave up.

"By the way, what's your name?"

"Ge Xiaoqing."

...........

Xu Qi'an sealed the acupoints of the female thief Ge Xiaoqing, tied her up tightly, threw her on the horse, and bid farewell to Taoist Master Jin Lian.

The orange cat nodded slightly and instructed, "Be careful on the road."

He left with an elegant stride.

Xu Qi'an untied the horse's reins, about to mount his beloved mare, but the mare suddenly went mad, turned her head, spun around at a forty-five-degree angle, and with a beautiful back kick, sent Xu Qi'an flying.

Then she neighed loudly and galloped away.

"???"

Xu Qi'an chased after her with a dusty face, managed to subdue her before she could collide with pedestrians, and it took a long time to calm the mare down.

"Little mare, don't you love me anymore? Have you grown tired of me after being ridden by that old coot Jin Lian?"

Sitting on the horse, Xu Qi'an thought to himself, I won't play tricks anymore, the old ginger is indeed hotter.

.......

Back at the Nightwatcher's yamen, Xu Qi'an threw the female thief into the prison, warned the jailer not to do anything unnecessary, as he still had use for her.

At this time, the curfew had already started for two quarters of an hour, and it was dark. But for a silver gong, the curfew was nothing.

"You can release 'Soul-stealing Hand Rongrong', but it's curfew now, she can't leave the inner city, deal with her tomorrow......"

The next day, Xu Qi'an rode to the Nightwatcher's yamen, where a clerk was waiting at the door. Seeing him arrive, the clerk ran up to him and said:

"Sir Xu, a group of jianghu people have come to the yamen to redeem someone. It's the lady you brought back yesterday. They're at the silver gong's place."

They're only coming to redeem her now? If I were a lecherous man who bullies women, her room would have been filled with children several times over... Xu Qi'an clicked his tongue:

"I see."

.............

PS: Hahaha, there was a bug in Rongrong's name, it didn't match the previous text, I've corrected it in the previous text. The tragic thing is, it seems no one noticed.

I suddenly feel like I'm stirring up a hornet's nest, hahaha.