Chapter 61: The Great Thief
"What?" Lv Gang was taken aback, momentarily unable to comprehend what Song Changming meant.
In the deserted alley, the person walked halfway and suddenly stopped, looking ahead.
At the other end of the alley, accompanied by a flurry of footsteps, Lv Gang and several Patrol Guards emerged, blocking his path.
"Who are you? State your name," Lv Gang asked in a deep voice as he approached the person.
"Looking for death!" The person beneath the hat showed a fierce expression, and without a word, flew at Lv Gang.
Lv Gang was shocked by the person’s ruthlessness and even more so by their explosive speed.
In the blink of an eye, the opponent was upon him.
Lv Gang decisively drew his sword to slash, but the opponent abruptly halted, leaping up and easily dodging Lv Gang’s long blade.
He raised his hand, revealing two sharp iron claws from his sleeves, viciously grabbing at Lv Gang’s head.
Lv Gang used his sword to parry these iron claws, but the opponent kicked him in the chest with both feet, forcing him to retreat several steps.
Looking at the agile, monkey-like person in front of him, along with the iron claws, Lv Gang recalled something.
There aren’t many in the Jianghu who use iron claws as their weapon of choice.
"Night Traveler, Sun Meng!" Lv Gang identified the opponent.
This guy was the notorious thief on the government’s wanted list, and if Lv Gang remembered correctly, his bounty was as high as three thousand silver!
That’s not a small amount.
Because this guy was notorious for more than just theft; he was guilty of all sorts of crimes, including rape and plunder.
A bona fide villain.
Previously, other districts’ Patrol Armor Bureau had reported sightings of this criminal.
Now, he had drifted to their Houli Street.
"Die!" Sun Meng laughed strange and sharply.
After repelling Lv Gang, he flipped backward, stepped on the alley wall beside him, and launched himself at Lv Gang again.
Lv Gang shouted loudly, swinging his blade in a circle, performing his sword skill, and slashing heavily forward.
As a Patrol Guard Captain, his skills were not bad, but against this thief with a three-thousand-silver bounty, he still fell short.
Several attacks were thwarted, and his long sword was even knocked away by the opponent.
Lv Gang was startled and immediately drew his second sword from his waist to defend himself, retreating repeatedly while shouting.
"Changming!"
A cold flash flickered over the wall, instantly blocking Sun Meng’s life-threatening assault.
At the moment Lv Gang called for help, Song Changming had already taken timely action.
In fact, if Lv Gang hadn’t wanted to test his improved sword skill and asked Song Changming to stand by, he wouldn’t have waited this long to act.
"Oh!" Sun Meng glanced over at the newcomer, a quite young Patrol Guard Captain.
Without much thought, his twin iron claws twisted, attempting to repeat the trick of knocking the long sword aside.
However, the spinning long sword turned and pecked at his wrist instead, causing blood to flow.
He immediately changed his expression, realizing that this young Patrol Guard Captain was tricky to deal with, and wanted to retreat quickly.
Song Changming, on the other hand, wasn’t about to let this credit slip away, firmly held his long sword, and pursued with his Light Body Skill.
The Soul-breaking Saber at the Perfection Realm was aimed directly at the opponent’s head.
Sun Meng felt the fierce and gloomy wind howling towards him and exclaimed, "Ghost Blade Sect! You’re a descendant of the Ghost Blade Sect?!"
He recognized the sword skill genre Song Changming was using, but he quickly realized that Song Changming’s Light Body Skill did not belong to the Ghost Blade Sect, nor was he a true disciple of the Ghost Blade Sect.
He just practiced martial arts in a mixed manner.
But even if he wasn’t a true disciple of the Ghost Blade Sect, how could he have practiced this sword skill to the Perfection Realm?
Sun Meng was puzzled, but at this moment, he didn’t have the luxury to think more, as the two engaged in a fierce fight in this narrow alley.
Sun Meng wanted to retreat, but Song Changming shadowed him closely.
A powerful slash came, and despite Sun Meng’s iron claws on both arms defending, he was still pressed by the blade’s force, unable to stand straight, out of breath.
The blade swept over, leaving a bloody mark on his emaciated and sunken cheek, almost taking his life.
Just as Song Changming was about to strike again to severely wound him, Sun Meng triggered a mechanism on his iron claw, suddenly shooting two copper needles straight at Song Changming’s face.
Close-range combat, caught off guard, this hidden weapon was quite deadly.
Sun Meng had used this trick to take down many enemies stronger than himself.
He thought it was a sure thing this time too, but didn’t expect Song Changming’s reaction to be incredibly fast. His long sword forcibly turned, drawing a half-circle in the air, skillfully knocking the two copper needles aside with the blade flat.
Seeing this, Sun Meng had lost all fighting spirit, leaping, and using both hands and feet, trying to climb over the alley wall to escape.
He had strong confidence in his Light Body Skill; as long as he left this narrow alley, these Patrol Guards would never find him.
However, at this moment, Song Changming threw his long sword with precision, pinning Sun Meng’s left leg to the wall!
This move was also part of the Flying Swallow Technique, including the previous blocking of copper needles which also came from the Flying Swallow Technique.
After reaching the Minor Success Realm, he could wield these sword skill techniques with great ease.
Sun Meng lay on the wall howling in pain, never expecting to fall so abruptly into a trap today.
And to be defeated by an unknown young fellow.
He misjudged; had he attempted to flee from the start, these people couldn’t have caught him.
Song Changming stepped forward to pull out the bloody long sword, while Lv Gang and the other Patrol Guards placed shackles on the defenseless Sun Meng, marking the capture a success.
"You really did it, Changming, in the time it takes for a meal, you captured another major crook!" Lv Gang, after repeatedly confirming Sun Meng Night Traveler’s bounty identity, was overjoyed.
Although he hadn’t helped much throughout the process, when it came to credit, he could share a bit.
He knew that Song Changming never monopolized all the credit.
"Just a coincidence," Song Changming said with a faint smile, casually wiping the blood from his sword on Sun Meng’s clothes.
"Also, if I remember correctly, this guy’s worth is three thousand Reward Silver!" Lv Gang added.
Hearing this, Song Changming couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows.
For him, this was indeed a considerable sum of money!
Even though, according to the regulations, some of it had to be shared with Liang Chuan Mountain, Lv Gang, and others above, the majority still belonged to him!
Previously worried about how quickly money flew away, now he had another windfall.
Indeed, sometimes luck just drops such a high-bounty fugitive into your lap, where the reward alone can equal a Patrol Guard Captain’s salary for several years!
Normally, Patrol Guards in ordinary districts would hardly catch such high-bounty fugitives.
Lv Gang was a perfect example; without Song Changming’s intervention, forget about the reward, he would’ve probably lost his life if he had pursued recklessly alone.
If Song Changming hadn’t practiced the Flying Swallow Technique to the Minor Success Realm, he might not have captured this cunning Night Traveler in the end, and could even have been killed by a surprise attack with those copper needles.
As they say, seeking wealth often involves great risk; if successful, riches await, if not, one’s life might be lost...