Chapter 2743: Chapter 2743
After settling in, Ye Liuyun finally let the thieving cat out of its confinement.
"Got the merchant guild’s location memorized? This whole city is packed with wealthy households!" Ye Liuyun said.
"Got it. I’ll make my move tonight. Might as well hit a few more while I’m at it!" the cat replied confidently.
"Good. Stay sharp—don’t get careless! There are three sixth-level Sovereign cultivators in this city, and even more at the fifth level," Ye Liuyun warned.
"Relax, leave it to me!" The cat thumped its chest in assurance before inspecting its storage rings.
To ensure it had enough space, Ye Liuyun had given it thousands of high-capacity storage rings.
"Focus on airships, treasures, elixirs, and source energy!" Ye Liuyun reminded once more before closing his eyes to meditate, waiting for nightfall.
As midnight approached, the cat vanished without a sound, its spatial powers masking its departure.
"That damn cat’s really grown stronger—I didn’t even sense it leave!"
Ye Liuyun frowned, impressed yet frustrated. He couldn’t help but wonder how the cat had honed its spatial abilities so well.
But barely half an hour later, chaos erupted outside. Extending his divine sense, Ye Liuyun detected cultivators bursting from the merchant guild, scouring the area. Soon after, the city lord’s residence descended into turmoil.
"That greedy little thief... It must’ve gone straight for their storage rings. No way they’d notice this fast otherwise."
Knowing the cat’s habits, Ye Liuyun sighed. It never left a single scrap behind—even targeting the rings of high-profile figures, which explained the immediate uproar.
Still, he resisted using the slave mark to contact it, not wanting to disrupt its operation and risk exposure.
Before long, major factions across the city mobilized, with some rushing to the city lord’s residence to report stolen resources. The city guard had already sealed the gates, patrolling the streets for suspects. But with so few people out at night, they quickly rounded up every soul in sight.
Soon after, the soldiers conducted a search of the inn. Just before they reached Ye Liuyun’s room, the thieving cat returned and was swiftly stashed away into his spatial world.
The inn staff vouched for Ye Liuyun, confirming he hadn’t left his room, so the soldiers merely inspected his Interspatial Ring. Finding no stolen goods, they moved on to search elsewhere.
"How many places did you hit?" Ye Liuyun asked the cat through their mental link.
"Seven—including a merchant guild and the city lord’s residence. But then some powerful figures showed up, and I didn’t want to risk being spotted, so I came back early," the cat replied.
With a flick of its paw, it spilled out the stolen loot.
"Damn, you really hit the jackpot this time!" Ye Liuyun couldn’t help but gape at the haul.
There were over six thousand units of primordial energy, along with an assortment of battleships, treasures, elixirs, and other resources. They had struck gold—literally.
"No wonder everything here is so expensive. Just seven targets and this much loot?" Ye Liuyun muttered in awe.
And this was only what had been stored in their vaults and rings. Their spatial worlds likely held even greater treasures.
"The merchant guild and the city lord’s place had the most," the cat added.
"Good work. Really good work. You’ve earned a rest," Ye Liuyun said, sending the cat off before distributing the spoils—elixirs to Lin Luoyi, treasures and battleships to Tong Xin and Qiong Qi for research.
At dawn, Ye Liuyun’s divine sense detected the city gates were still sealed.
"Guess we’ll have to wait it out," he mused. Knowing the city lord wouldn’t let this go without catching the culprit, he resigned himself to cultivating in his room to pass the time.
But then the soldiers stormed the inn again—this time, heading straight for him.
"What’s the meaning of this? Why are you arresting me?" Ye Liuyun demanded, feigning confusion.
"Were you at the Merchant Guild yesterday?" a soldier captain demanded.
"Yeah," Ye Liuyun admitted frankly.
"The guild was robbed, and you’re a prime suspect. Come with us to the City Lord’s Mansion for questioning!" Without waiting for a response, the soldier grabbed Ye Liuyun and shoved him forward.
Ye Liuyun hadn’t expected the soldiers to arrest people so arbitrarily. He considered resisting, but his spiritual sense detected a sixth-level Dominator martial artist already monitoring the situation from outside.
"Fine, I’ll go with you. No need to manhandle me," Ye Liuyun said, shaking off the soldier’s grip and walking out on his own. Seeing his cooperation, the soldier didn’t push further.
The sixth-level Dominator kept his spiritual sense locked onto Ye Liuyun the entire way, only revealing himself after they arrived at the City Lord’s Mansion.
In the mansion’s courtyard, several martial artists lay motionless like beaten dogs, their true essence sealed and their bodies barely recognizable. They were likely the men captured on the streets the previous night.
City Lord Huo Ting’an sat leisurely on a chair, sipping tea. The Dominator bowed respectfully before taking his place behind him.
"Your name is Ye Liuyun?" Huo Ting’an asked unhurriedly.
"That’s right," Ye Liuyun replied directly.
"What brings you to Jing’an City?" the City Lord continued.
"Just passing through. Wanted to get a feel for the place, maybe find some work," Ye Liuyun answered.
Huo Ting’an nodded. "What’s your connection to the Changliang Mercenary Group?"
"Only dealt with them a few times," Ye Liuyun said simply.
"Yet my soldiers say you claimed to be one of them when you entered the city?" Huo Ting’an’s gaze sharpened as he studied Ye Liuyun.
Ye Liuyun explained casually, "Just a passing remark to make things easier for the soldiers."
He deliberately avoided claiming outright that he was part of the mercenary group. If Huo Ting’an sent someone to verify, the lie would be exposed too easily—better to admit it himself.
Huo Ting’an nodded. In truth, he had already sent someone to question Xue Liang and confirmed that Ye Liuyun wasn’t affiliated with the Changliang Mercenaries.
Seeing that Ye Liuyun had been upfront, he pressed further, "You arrived in Jing’an City just yesterday, and last night, both the merchant guild and the city lord’s estate reported stolen goods. Any connection to you? I heard you paid a visit to the guild. Should I summon witnesses for a confrontation?"
Ye Liuyun remained unruffled. "No need for confrontations. As an outsider, the first places I’d naturally visit are the merchant guild and taverns—to gauge prices and gather local information. Though I must say, the lack of people here was... unexpected."
"As for the thefts, they have nothing to do with me. I never left the tavern that night. In fact, I planned to leave this morning, but the city’s still locked down, so there was no rush."
His words were airtight, leaving Huo Ting’an no opening to exploit.
Huo Ting’an sighed, rubbing his temples in frustration.
Truthfully, while Ye Liuyun was a suspect, he didn’t fit the profile of the culprit. By all logic, they shouldn’t have even detained him for questioning.
