The man widened his eyes, realizing something, and took a sharp breath: "That medicine merchant is now in Xiong City?!" Ma Yu nodded with lingering fear, and said: "The Ministry of Punishment officials had only a short time and managed to pull the entry records, a skinny horse, a cloak, a black knife - these things are quite noticeable, so his current whereabouts have already been confirmed..." The previous man was at a loss for words. Ma Yu felt somewhat panicked, sensing that this matter was much more troublesome than he had anticipated. At present, there was no way to leave; he felt like sand swept along in the mighty rivers, following the martial soldiers of the Ministry of Punishment. From above overlooking this section of the city, you could see that the martial soldiers of the Ministry of Punishment, clad in red clothes and black armor, swiftly organized into formation and navigated the streets like a torrent. At the center of this torrent was a tavern. The tavern shopkeeper had been waiting outside for some time, but not for people from the Ministry of Punishment; the waves had not yet reached here. He was waiting for a frequent, and quite distinguished, guest. He had been respectfully waiting outside since an hour ago. It was at this moment that he finally saw, leisurely appearing from the eastern corner of the market district, two women dressed in men's clothing, who were evidently very attractive. The woman leading wore a moon-white long robe, even though it was winter, and fiddled with a folding fan in her hand, with a jade pendant dangled from her waist, her features clear and bright. The shopkeeper dared not slack, took a few steps forward and bowed low with flattery: "Young hero Li, you've finally arrived. Just now, I heard magpies exchanging chatter in the inner yard, and thought that an esteemed guest must be arriving, and sure enough, here you are, my lord!" The young hero Li was evidently amused by such 'games', and replied with a smile: "You are quite thoughtful." "Alright, let us enter your tavern. Bring forth my... pre-ordered items. If there's the slightest fakery, I certainly won't spare you!" The shopkeeper chuckled: "How could I dare? Please, please, honored guests, come inside, there's an excellent spot waiting for you." This 'young hero Li' seemed a bit smug, turned and grasped the arm of the woman behind him dressed in men's clothing, playfully teasing: "Young hero Yang, although this place may not compare to the ones you frequent often, it has quite the tasty dishes. The hand-grabbed lamb and snake stew from the Western Regions are quite palatable. This time, you must try them." Original content can be found at novel fire.net 'Young hero Yang' evidently was experiencing such an occasion in front of others for the first time; her face flushed slightly, yet unwilling to break away, she allowed her friend to drag her up the stairs. Following them was a martial artist with an impressively composed demeanor, clothed in dark blue long robe, with a hint of a beard at the corners of his lips. He was not yet forty, wore a wide blade at his waist, frequently smiled, and closely followed a few meters behind them, with toes lightly tapping, demonstrating exceptionally high qinggong movement technique. The locals knew his identity well, naturally didn't entertain any ideas, but in Xiong City's Northwest, the flow of people was inevitably quite diverse, with all sorts of identities among them, making encounters with ignorant eyes inevitable. He followed behind the two young lords, elegantly ascending the stairs, among the three, one was excitedly proud, another shy and reserved, and the last was carefree and casual. After 'young hero Li' went upstairs, he first scanned the diners on the upper floor. Find few people there, and was just satisfied, suddenly heard the guard beside him utter "Huh" with a hint of curiosity, followed the martial artist's gaze, and saw a rather peculiar person sitting alone by the window on the third floor of the tavern. Wearing black clothes, sitting alone, with a cold demeanor. A knife lay horizontally on the table. That knife was as black as the long, dark night without light. 'Young hero Li' knew well the identity and strength of the martial artist behind him; ordinary people wouldn't even catch his eye. Even the elders esteemed him, although seemingly gentle, in reality very arrogant; hence, anyone who made him utter 'Huh' must definitely not be ordinary. 'Young hero Li' thought for a moment, softly asked: "Is that person's martial arts very high?" The martial artist behind smiled and said: "High or not is not certain; in my eyes, probably not so high, but he possesses quite a solitary, cold disposition, should be a decent blade wielder." 'Young hero Li' eyes slightly brightened, said: "Blade wielder? Indeed, there's a knife on his table, must be a formidable blade wielder." Then gestured to the side, the shopkeeper was perceptive, bent down and listened to 'young hero Li' say: "Put the dishes I ordered on that gentleman's table." Then adjusted his sleeves and actively approached, knocked on the table, smilingly asked: "Brother, is there anyone here?" Wang Anfeng withdrew his gaze and shook his head. 'Young hero Li' smiled and asked: "Could the three of us sit here? Join the table?" A dozen steps away, another girl dressed in men's clothes softly said: "Sir, don't be angry. Yinxiang has recently been reading some jianghu novels about blade wielders. You know, she has always been fascinated by these jianghu heroes." The martial artist in dark blue clothes looked helplessly at 'young hero Li's response, he had a precious blade worth thousands hanging at his waist. If one likes blade wielders, among them in jianghu, who could compare to him?