Chapter 146: Chapter 119: Broken Hand Stealing Skill
"Your taste is truly... unique."
Zheng Xiu was speechless. He watched as Feng Bei, oblivious to the deeper meaning in his words, bought it without a second thought. But of course, Zheng Xiu wouldn’t carry it on his person. The moment he canceled his [Divine Travel], his Incarnation would vanish, leaving the mask behind on the ground. How was that any different from letting the cat out of the bag? Wouldn’t he be exposed instantly?
The two of them lingering at the street stalls was just a disguise. Zheng Xiu hadn’t expected Feng Bei to actually spend money on these trinkets.
After walking a few more steps, Feng Bei threaded the two masks together and hung them from her waist.
She spun around in place before Zheng Xiu, then turned her back to him and said with a smile, "Brother Zheng, how does it look?"
Zheng Xiu was hesitating over whether to ask if "it" referred to the masks or something else when suddenly, his gaze fixed on Feng Bei’s back. After a moment of silence, he pointed and said, "Feng Bei, did you happen to... forget to bring your waist token with you today?"
Hearing this, Feng Bei froze and looked down at her waist.
The place where her "Upper Three" waist token should have been.
Now, it was empty.
The atmosphere between them grew silent for several seconds.
The rare, faint smile on Feng Bei’s face vanished, and she slowly clenched her fists.
Zheng Xiu also found it unbelievable.
Feng Bei didn’t say anything, but her reaction seemed to say it all.
She’d been pickpocketed.
And her Ye Weiyang waist token had been stolen while she was happily strolling and shopping.
The silent Feng Bei was expressionless. She used her teeth to pull her black silk gloves tight.
"Calm down."
A few drops of cold sweat appeared on Zheng Xiu’s forehead as he promised, "I definitely won’t tell them. I swear I won’t say a word."
Feng Bei nodded.
Zheng Xiu’s judgment of Feng Bei’s mental state was actually a little off.
He thought Feng Bei was angry about losing her token and losing face.
But that wasn’t the case.
What Feng Bei actually cared about wasn’t a mere Ye Weiyang waist token.
What was a Ye Weiyang token? If it was lost, it was lost. She could just have another one made later. Feng Bei didn’t care about it at all.
What she truly cared about was that she had actually been disgraced in front of Zheng Xiu.
The two parted ways at a nearby street corner, ostensibly to split up and search for the lost token.
The moment Feng Bei entered an alley, she vaulted onto a roof. Like an agile little pantheress, she crouched low, her gaze as sharp as a falcon’s, scanning the main street with deeply hidden killing intent.
Zheng Xiu pretended to search, looking left and right on the ground.
He had a rough idea of who had stolen Feng Bei’s token.
Not long after leaving the teahouse, Zheng Xiu had seen the symbol Si Youqing mentioned.
In fact, the small town of General Town was rather special.
The town was small, located at the foot of a mountain, with inconvenient transportation and a remote geographical location. Its strategic significance was negligible.
So this tiny town called General Town not only had no garrisoned troops, but it also lacked a branch of Ye Weiyang.
But it was precisely this kind of place, a paradise for outlaws, where good and bad were mixed together, struggling to survive in the shadows.
In the Imperial City, at least, this kind of petty theft was rare. It hadn’t been common before, and it would be even harder for it to exist in the future.
With Ravens flying all over the city and the Divine Martial Army patrolling day and night, who would dare cause trouble right under the Emperor’s nose?
As a result, public order in the Imperial City was ridiculously good.
Anyone who could steal the token from Feng Bei without her noticing was definitely no ordinary thief.
It was very likely an Odd Person who had joined the [Thief Sect].
But what Zheng Xiu couldn’t figure out was, if it was a Miracle Master from the [Thief Sect], how could they not recognize Feng Bei’s uniform? If they did recognize it and still dared to steal her token, Zheng Xiu truly had to admire this "thief." That was one tough bastard.
If nothing else, they had guts.
Zheng Xiu walked down the street alone.
Before long, he keenly sensed that someone was spying on him again.
’They’re here?’
Zheng Xiu, who was about to give up on the act, felt his spirits lift.
He focused all his attention, wanting to see just how this person had managed to steal Feng Bei’s token.
Suddenly, Zheng Xiu’s expression changed. He thrust his hand into his robes and grabbed something inside his clothes.
Though inwardly surprised, Zheng Xiu’s face remained impassive. He quickened his pace for a few steps and entered an alley.
"Did you catch them?"
Feng Bei had been watching Zheng Xiu’s every move from a high vantage point.
When Zheng Xiu had reached into his robes and quickly ducked into the alley, Feng Bei sensed something was wrong and leaped down from the roof.
"I’m not so sure."
Zheng Xiu had a strange expression on his face. In front of Feng Bei, he pulled out the "thing" that had been struggling and squirming in his robes.
It was...
A hand!
A pale, slender "severed hand" was struggling in Zheng Xiu’s iron-like grip.
Zheng Xiu sized up the "severed hand." It looked just like a real one; even the bones and veins were clearly visible at the stump.
Wisps of black gas were faintly seeping from the stump of the wrist, giving it an inexplicably bizarre appearance.
"Hmph."
Feng Bei snorted lightly and reached for the struggling hand, preparing to destroy it.
"Not so fast."
Zheng Xiu held the hand tightly, refusing to let go. A smile appeared on his face. "The owner of this severed hand should be showing up very soon."
They waited in the alley, lying in ambush.
After a while, both ends of the alley were blocked by two or three people.
The ones blocking the alley were all poorly dressed young people, both men and women.
The oldest among them was in his early twenties at most. He carried a small knife and took a few menacing steps down the alley toward Zheng Xiu and Feng Bei, saying, "Hand over the hand."
The others also took out their own weapons.
What made Zheng Xiu not know whether to laugh or cry was that, compared to the others’ weapons, the leader’s could already be considered a "Divine Weapon."
The others were holding hammers, kitchen knives, and someone even had a spatula.
At this bizarre sight, most of Feng Bei’s anger dissipated.
