Xie Zhaolin swept her gaze across the crowd, all of them silent as cicadas in winter, before it finally locked precisely on the second-floor corridor.
That same lanky man who'd stirred the pot with his mocking words earlier. His face was pale as paper now. The instant he met her cold eyes, his entire body trembled and he instinctively tried to shrink back into the crowd.
But at some point, Xie Zhaolin had already appeared silently in the corridor, standing right in front of him.
"Y-you... what do you want?!" His voice shook with panic, the color draining from his face. "I... I was just watching... just joking..."
"Joking?" Her tone was calm, steady, yet the chill within it made bones freeze. "Then I'll share a joke with you too."
Before her words had even finished, a flicker of spiritual light flashed at her fingertip.
The lanky man didn't even have time to react. His terrified expression froze in place.
Gurgle—
His head, eyes wide in disbelief, slid cleanly from his neck and thudded onto the wooden floor, rolling away. His body stayed stiff for an instant as blood gushed from the stump, splattering bright red across the floor and drenching several unlucky bystanders who couldn't dodge in time.
A few warm drops even splashed across Xie Zhaolin's face, only adding a strange, wicked allure to her beauty.
The headless body swayed, then collapsed heavily onto the floor with a dull thump.
The second floor of the inn fell into dead silence once more. One could hear a pin drop. The thick stench of blood spread through the air, stabbing at everyone's senses. Every gaze was fixed on the twitching headless corpse and the severed head on the floor, eyes bulging in horror.
Their minds stalled, unable to process what they'd just seen.
She's insane...
This woman's insane!
They'd seen death before. In a chaotic place like Tianxing City, fights, injuries, even killings weren't rare. But to kill so decisively, without warning, over nothing more than a few jeering words?
That shattered their understanding entirely. Usually, fights were for profit or revenge. Even when bystanders were involved, it ended with a beating, theft, maybe crippled cultivation. But to behead someone without hesitation?
This wasn't ruthlessness anymore. This was utter disregard. Did she not fear that lanky man's backing? Did she not fear Tianxing City's enforcers? Did she not fear sparking public outrage?
That cold, merciless indifference, treating human lives like grass, sent a bone-deep chill through everyone present. They finally realized this wasn't some core disciple from a sect who might still talk reason. No, she was more like a murderous star who'd walked out of a sea of corpses.
Xie Zhaolin calmly raised her hand, wiping the warm droplets of blood from her cheek with her fingertip. Her movements were slow, unhurried, almost casual, yet no one dared look her in the eye.
"Anyone else," she asked in that same calm voice that hammered against everyone's chest, "think what just happened was funny?"
No one answered. The only sound in the silence was the steady drip of blood hitting the floorboards.
She gave a cold snort and ignored them. With a casual kick, she sent the severed head rolling down the stairs. Then she turned, walked back to the ruined room, and began calmly gathering her scattered belongings.
Just then, hurried footsteps echoed from the stairway.
The innkeeper rushed up, carrying several bloodstained storage pouches, clearly stripped from the three corpses.
"Fairy," he said respectfully, bowing, "these are the belongings of the guests who offended you. I retrieved them on your behalf. Please handle them as you wish."
Her hands paused briefly as she glanced at him and the pouches. She took them, then tossed him a bag of spirit stones. "Clean it up," she said flatly. "And bring me a quieter room."
The innkeeper accepted quickly. Estimating the value of the bag, his expression eased a little.
"Fairy, rest assured. I'll arrange it immediately. There's a secluded chamber in the rear courtyard, tranquil and reinforced with restrictions. No one will disturb you."
Soon enough, Xie Zhaolin followed him to a quiet courtyard at the back of the inn. After this display, no one would dare provoke her again, at least not for a while. Opening the storage pouches, she'd expected nothing more than the belongings of ordinary loose cultivators. But when she looked inside, her brows lifted slightly.
The three had been wealthy.
Just their superior-grade spirit stones added up to nearly a hundred. Mid-grade and low-grade stones were piled up like a small hill. There were also plenty of quality pills, talismans, and crafting materials, not to mention the Blood Spirit Mushroom they'd mentioned earlier.
"Killing and looting, a golden belt... the ancients didn't lie." She couldn't help but sigh.
The three had likely robbed and killed often. Otherwise, with their cultivation, there was no way they could've accumulated such wealth. Now, it had all fallen into her hands. After sorting everything, she changed into a plain gray cloak, pulled up the hood, and checked her human-skin mask carefully. Once she was certain it hadn't shifted during the fight, she slipped quietly out of the inn.
Tianxing City's largest auction house, Tianxing Auction Hall, sat right at the heart of the bustling city center.
As soon as she stepped inside, a maid approached swiftly. Despite her plain appearance, the maid's attitude was nothing but respectful. "Senior, may I ask if you're here to attend the auction, or do you have items you wish to consign or appraise?"
"Consign. Appraise." Her voice was curt, low and husky beneath the hood.
"Please, follow me." The maid didn't dare slack, leading her into a quiet side room for appraisal.
Inside sat an old man with hair and beard white as frost, his cultivation already at early Golden Core. Clearly, he was a senior appraiser of the auction house.
"Elder Ge, this senior has items for appraisal and consignment," the maid reported respectfully before leaving.
The old man lifted his gaze to study the cloaked figure. A sharp gleam flashed in his eyes before he gestured toward a chair. "Daoyou, please sit. What treasure would you have this old man appraise?"
Xie Zhaolin didn't reply. She simply placed the heavy storage pouch on the table.
Elder Ge showed no change in expression as he picked it up and swept his spiritual sense inside.
A flicker of surprise passed through his eyes, though his calm returned quickly. As an appraiser for Tianxing Auction Hall, he'd seen countless dubious items before. He was long past shock.
Inside the pouch were a jumble of things: weapons, materials, jade slips, varying in grade. But one thing stood out.
Every item carried the marks of different sects.
And some... were from the demon clans.
His hand trembled slightly before he raised his gaze back to her.