Immediately, Sa Min threw on his gray robe on his sticky body—sticky from sweat—and picked up his dagger, putting it behind his belt like most men in the Xi Empire did. 

 

This 1 hour of sleep was definitely not enough. He should sleep 5 more hours if he wanted his Ba to recover completely. 

 

No time for underpant or boots, he yanked the door open and jumped down the stairs. 

 

The inn was empty, in complete silence. Stirred from his sleep behind the front desk, the innkeeper straightened up as Sa Min approached him.

 

"Got an umbrella?" Sa Min asked, his eyes swollen with sleep. “I’ll return it later.”

 

The furrowed, thick-mustache man took a gray umbrella from beneath the desk and passed it to him.

 

Sa Min nodded and walked out of the inn. The pouring rain slapped down on him. He stood there for a moment, rubbing the water over his eyes and face to awaken him completely. Then he put the umbrella up and set off.

 

The street was dimly lit by those oil lamps on the poles and completely empty. It was 3 in the morning, and with this heavy rain, everyone was indoors.

 

In the distance, the figure of Qing Lian disappeared as he turned into an alley. Sa Min hastened, following his footsteps until he reached the edge of the Qin residence fence, where the alley Qing Lian had gone to was, and stopped. 

 

He had to be careful. Couldn’t have Qing Lian noticing him, or appeared suspicious to anyone who might pass by.

 

Certain that Qing Lian was at a discreet distance, he crept into the alley, keeping the umbrella low and his eyes vigilant, ready to catch any suspicious thing his intuition kept telling him there was.

 

Ahead of him, Qing Lian was simply… strolling. And there was nothing suspicious in his penguin-like stride Sa Min could see.

 

No lamps in this alley, which made it difficult to observe him keenly. Nevertheless, Sa Min continued to cautiously shadow Qing Lian as he made his way through the darkened alleys.

 

After a while, the rain began to abate, and Sa Min emerged onto Red Spring, the northern main street that led towards the northern gate. Soon enough, he arrived in the commoners' area, where the houses were small, short, and lacked refinement.

There were few people walking along the street.

 

The road was well-lit, and perhaps this was the reason Sa Min managed to catch onto something.

 

He never drinks from that black bottle he is carrying, Sa Min thought, his blue eyes locked on Qing Lian ahead. Whenever he wanted to drink, he pulled out a tiny bottle from his robe. Is it empty or...?

 

Sa Min frowned. What was in that bottle? Why was Qing Lian swaying it like that? Don't tell me...

 

Right when a sudden thought struck him, a manly voice called out from behind, “Aye, you there.”

 

Sa Min turned around and stopped. Oh, fuck.

 

Two male officers of the Investigation and Justice Bureau approached him, their umbrellas matching the deep blue color of their uniforms. “What are you doing this time, young man?” the younger one asked.

 

“Going to my clan. I’m a member of the Sa Clan.” Sa Min said. 

 

The middle-aged officer raised an eyebrow. “Sa with blue eyes. You must be…”

 

“Sa Min, officer, here is my….”  Sa Min took out his ID and the academy seal and showed them to them. He had this unconcerning look on his face, but in his head, thoughts were racing.

 

And he brought his hand close to his dagger under the belt.

 

If they want to search me, I have to kill them. Can’t let them see the parchment  I’ve written. They might be in rank 10, but I’m sure I can slice their necks before they can craft any Yantra. But then I have to run form—

 

“Be careful, Mr. Sa Min. This is not the time for a walk,” the officer said and returned Sa Min his stuff. “You should know what happens to people like you. Be careful!"

 

Sa Min gave them a smile of thanks, taking his ID and the Seal. “Sorry officers, I’ll be more careful,” he said.

 

“Alright, you can go,” the middle-aged officer said, moving away with his partner. "And remember to keep yourself on the main roads. This is the time of day those thieves come out to their work.”

 

That was a close call. Sa Min breathed a sigh of relief to calm himself and continued his pursuit. The situation could have easily gone out of control. And honestly, he wasn’t really sure if he could take them down or not. 

 

He didn’t know what Yantra they possessed and what transformation stage of rank 1 they were at. So it’s impossible to predict how much time it would take them to craft and activate their Yantras.

 

He only knew they were rank 1 because only rank 10 could be officers. When officers advanced to rank 9, they would become captains.

 

He only knew they were rank 10 because of their uniform. Only police officers—the lowest rank of the Investigation and Justice Bureau—were required to wear hats. Almost all of the police officers were rank 10 ka wielders.

 

Sa Min knew before he’d even decided to follow Qin Lian that things could easily go wrong.

 

It wouldn't take a lot of thinking to know that going out to the city where colored-eyed people were getting kidnapped by who knows how many parties were searching for the Key, while he was colored-eyed himself and hadn't even opened his essence core yet, was indeed dangerous.

 

Let alone that, without even the matter of the Key, the city at this time was not safe for the weak. 

 

A random criminal could cross him at the wrong time and attack or even kill him to loot him, and he could do nothing about it. 

 

A random criminal looter could cross paths with him at the wrong time, attack, or even kill him to steal his Ka and Imprints, and he would be helpless to do anything about it.

 

He didn’t open his essence core after all.

 

There were always possibilities of things going out of control, always. However, if Sa Min kept brooding about these possibilities, he would never do anything. If he kept thinking like this—'this might happen, this might not happen'—he'd be stuck in a state of paranoia. And this wasn't how Sa Min lived his life.

 

Sa Min was cautious, yes. He liked making plans. He liked to think ahead and prepare in case he encountered trouble. Yet, as long as death wasn't certain and his principles wouldn't be crossed, Sa Min was never afraid to put himself in danger if that would benefit him.

 

Sa Min quickly shifted his attention to Qin Lian. He didn’t want, after all this trouble and time, to lose him.

 

Qing Lian had distanced himself further, walking into a side street that led to the eastern part of the city — and specifically, the Cursed Area. Sa Min quickened his steps, determined to confirm the thought that had hit him earlier.

 

The western part of Tetra-Blessing City was divided into four territories. The southernmost territory belonged to the Lin Clan, followed by the Sa Clan, and then the Duo Clan. The Cursed Area occupied the northern part. 

 

Considered the most dangerous and infamous place in the city, the Cursed Area was where poor people, gangs, criminals lived; where wanted people went into hiding. It was a place where brothels, gambling dens, black markets, and illegal fights thrived.

 

Simply put, anything the law forbade, you would find there. 

 

Of course, that didn’t mean the entire place was under the criminals control. There were safe Neighborhoods there and many poor people lived there just fine. After all, a branch center of the Investigation and Justice Bureau was there. 

 

It was not always like this, though. And this was not the reason it was called the 'Cursed Area'. 

 

Just 60 years ago, there had been four clans in the city - the four clans that had helped establish Tetra Blessing City 900 years ago. What was now known as the Cursed Area was once the territory of the lost Hui Clan."

 

That had been the case until that Cursed Day, the day everyone in the city knew very well. On that day, every last member of the Hui Clan had turned into demonic donkeys with bloody fangs.

A mysterious kind of demonic beasts.

 

Thus it came to be known as the Cursed Area.

 

The rain gradually decreased, and the sun began to brighten. 

 

Qing Lian turned into a murky alley. Soon after, Sa Min walked into the same alley. His eyes were no longer gazing at Qing Lian in the distance, but on the ground he had stopped on. 

 

This sunlight this time of the day did not really do much, Sa Min had to lean in and scour through the darkness for something that sudden thought had told him about.

 

It didn't take long for a smile to creep onto his face. He bent down, touched the red dirt on the ground with his finger, and then tasted it. Blood. His smile turned into a grin as he spat it out. That just confirmed what he was thinking.

 

That bottle must be some preservation-type Ka, Sa Min thought, moving ahead, searching for more blood to confirm his suspicion even more. And, here it was again. Blood drops. He moved ahead again. He found it yet again.

 

This is the way they search for the Key.’ Sa Min thought as he stopped, watching Qing Lian disappearing into another alley. He had no intention to follow any longer. He had only come out to figure out two things, and he did. 

 

It makes sense, since blood clots quickly and they can’t just take people around and behead them. Too dangerous, and a waste of blood. Sa Min turned around, and began strolling back to the inn. So they kill them in some place and use this Ka to preserve their blood for some time. In searching for the Key, they only spray drops of blood around, if the Key happens to be around the blood, the area would be shaken, and that’s all they want.

 

This was all he needed to know for now. The Qin were indeed the one — or at least one of — responsible for the disappearance of colored eyes people, and they were indeed searching for a Key.

 

Sa Min took a deep breath. He needed to think of what he would do next. But first… 

 

He glanced down. His feet were filthy with dirt. His body? He didn’t need to smell it to know he needed an urgent shower. After that, he had to sleep. His eyes were already closing themselves.

 

He walked about three steps, then, he felt this weird sensation on his neck. He stopped, reached to touch his neck and he found a needle sticking at him. This was not good. Frowning, he wanted to turn around to see who had attacked him, but… he couldn’t. He fell to his knees and he began losing control over his body.

 

Fuck.

 

This was the last thing Sa Ming thought before he passed out.

 

From a dark corner, a man who looked and dressed like a homeless person emerged and hastily approached the fallen Sa Min. He glanced over his shoulder to see if someone was there, then he grabbed him by his dirty legs and dragged him back to the corner.

Waiting for his young master to come  as he had notified him with a communication-Yantra, the man withdrew a Ka from his sea core that looked like a plastic sack the size of his hand. Then he started moving his fingers — a Yantra seal — crafting the One-Man Sack Yantra within his essence core. 

 

The little sack resting on the ground gradually expanded until it matched his height.

 

Using this rank 2 Yantra, you could put one man in this sack, zip it up, and it would shrink right back down to its original size. Only for 4 hours. Or else the Ka would be destroyed. And it should be a man.

 

At that moment, Qing Lian came back to the alley, hastening towards the hidden corner.

 

The man clenched his fists tightly together. “As I told you, young master. He had been following you from the moment you walked out the residence,” he said with a gravelly tone. "And... I fear he knows."

 

A sudden surge of urgency gripped Qing Lian's chest and his face went ugly. Someone was aware! How? This was bad. This was extremely bad. If they got exposed, the entirety of what was left of the family would be eliminated. They needed to inform his father immediately and… see what they could do.

 

“I already informed the Patriarch,” the guard added.

 

Qing Lian felt the need to take his mini bottle for a quick swig. “Have any idea who it might be?" he asked the guard, glaring down at the stinky unconscious young man lying face down. 

 

Why was this… robe familiar?

 

“I didn’t recognize him. I don’t think he’s this stupid but, but let me check if he has his ID on him.” The guard leaned closer, and pushed the man aside.

 

And Qing Lian’s eyes went wide. What in the world? “It’s… Sa Min,” he said in shock.

 

“Sa Min.” The guard frowned. “I’ve heard the name before, bu…” He noticed a rolled parchment inside his robe. “What is this?”

 

Qing Lian didn’t give him any attention. He couldn’t. He was as confused as he could get. Why the hell did the man he’d talked to yesterday follow him? Wait. Maybe this was why he had been following him in the first place. Maybe he didn’t know anything about the Key. Yeah, how could someone who hadn’t opened his essence know about such a thing.

 

With a glimmer of hope, Qing Lian turned to the guard. “Why do you think he knows abou…what happened?”

 

The guard was sitting on his ass, clutching the parchment in trembling hands, reading it with an open mouth.

 

He was in shock. 

 

“What is it?” Qing Ling asked again.

 

But the guard didn’t seem to hear.

 

Qing Ling scratched his head and snatched the parchment from his hand. “What’s wrong with you…”

 

And his eyes instantly widened in disbelief.

 

[I know that you, the Qin family, are the ones kidnapping people with colored eyes. I know that you’re taking their blood to search for the Key. I have proof of this. There are many other parchments like this in safe spots and with anonymous people. If anything were to happen to me, the entire world would come to know the truth."