Infinite Professions from a Pearl Collector
Chapter 24 - 22: Waning Moon Standoff

Chapter 24: Chapter 22: Waning Moon Standoff

Chen Ye paid no mind to the uproar gripping the city.

He was sitting in his small hut, preparing for the operation in three days’ time.

His decision to act so openly, even giving advance notice, wasn’t born from arrogance.

He just wanted to see how much he could gain from an operation under the public’s watchful eye, and whether it would allow his Profession and Skill Levels to break through once more.

Of course, a test was just a test, and he never acted without confidence. Before he had even left the message on the wall, a complete plan had already taken shape in his mind...

Night fell once again.

While most people in the Capital City were focused on the heavily guarded Duke An’s Mansion, a dark figure slipped silently into the night.

This time, Chen Ye’s targets were the businesses under Duke Anguo’s name.

With Duke Anguo, Li Jun, having pulled all his elite guards back to his mansion to protect his precious son, the shops under his name were left as hollow shells—strong in appearance but weak within.

Combined with his experience from the last few times, he robbed two banks and a pawnshop in a single night.

As for the silver coins he obtained, Chen Ye did the same as before, breaking the large sum into smaller amounts and distributing it all among the poor.

When the news spread, the Capital was shaken.

Duke Anguo, Li Jun, was so furious he nearly coughed up blood. He pointed at the members of the Arresting Department and Six Gates standing before him and unleashed a torrent of abuse.

"You useless pack of freeloaders! Does the Court support you just so you can stand by and watch a Flying Thief run rampant in the Capital City? Huh?"

No one dared to speak. Everyone lowered their heads.

Li Jun was caught in a dilemma. If he kept all his men piled up at the mansion to protect his son, his other shops would be left defenseless, ripe for the picking.

But if he dispatched men to protect the shops, what if the Stepping Moon Thief actually came knocking? How could he guarantee his son’s safety then?

The key was, he still didn’t even know if the culprit was a man or a woman, tall or short. The feeling of helplessness was infuriating, so he vented all his rage on the members of Six Gates.

Zhao An and the others took the tongue-lashing but could only meekly accept their orders and withdraw. They then mobilized all their forces to launch another near-frenzied search of the Capital City.

But the common people refused to cooperate, and after a full day of frantic activity, they still had nothing to show for it.

Unlike the chaos boiling over outside, Cheng Zhiwei’s room was quiet.

She hadn’t joined the others on the city-wide manhunt. Instead, she stood quietly before a massive map.

This map of the Capital City was the result of three years of work. She had personally walked every street and alley to draw it, and its level of detail far surpassed the archives of the Government Office.

Right now, several red dots were marked conspicuously on the map with a Vermilion Brush, indicating the locations of Fuman Cang, Hengtong Bank, and the other properties of Duke Anguo that had been robbed the previous night.

Cheng Zhiwei’s brow furrowed slightly. Her clear, bright eyes moved slowly across the map as she tried to find a pattern among the seemingly unrelated red dots.

From time to time, she would also sketch lines on a piece of scratch paper, inscrutable to an outside observer.

Just then, Cheng Ming pushed the door open and walked in.

"Zhiwei, have you found anything?"

Cheng Zhiwei shook her head with a wry smile. "No. I was hoping to use the crime scenes to determine his operational range or find a pattern in his targets, but I’ve failed."

"This Stepping Moon’s methods are wildly unpredictable, completely without any discernible pattern. But..."

Cheng Zhiwei paused before continuing, "It hasn’t been a complete waste, though. I’ve marked the locations of all of Duke Anguo’s properties. Factoring in his habit of robbing the rich to help the poor, I’ve narrowed it down to three most likely targets."

At this point, it was a long shot, but it was the only lead they had.

Cheng Ming made an immediate decision. The two of them, grandfather and granddaughter, led a team of elite constables and quietly made their way to the location Cheng Zhiwei had deemed the most likely target.

It was a silk shop in the West City, another one of Duke Anguo’s properties.

The group silently took up ambush positions in the shadows around the silk shop, holding their breath and waiting.

Time trickled by. As the hours crept toward dawn, even the sound of the Night Watchman’s clapper seemed to lack energy. The constables lying in ambush were growing weary, their eyelids heavy.

Only Cheng Zhiwei, seated at a corner tea stall, remained alert, her eyes clear and free of drowsiness.

Her gaze wasn’t fixed on the silk shop’s front door; instead, she periodically scanned the surrounding rooftops and alley entrances.

Suddenly, in the back courtyard of the silk shop, an orange-red blaze erupted toward the sky without warning!

"Fire!"

"Quick, put out the fire!"

The silent night was instantly shattered. The ambushing constables were all startled and instinctively moved to rush toward the fire.

Cheng Zhiwei shot to her feet as well, but instead of rushing toward the flames, she did the opposite, sprinting toward the streets and alleys away from the shop!

As she ran, Cheng Zhiwei drew the Repeating Crossbow she carried at her waist.

She had trained in martial arts with her grandfather since she was a child and was quite skilled. Her marksmanship with a crossbow was especially accurate.

However, as she rounded a corner at high speed, she came to an abrupt halt.

There, on the eaves of a roof across from the alley’s entrance, stood a silent figure clad in black.

The person was dressed head to toe in black, their face covered by a cloth, and their posture was as straight as a sword.

Behind him, a crescent moon hung in the sky like a hook.

Cheng Zhiwei’s heart hammered in her chest as she instinctively raised her Repeating Crossbow.

But in the instant she aimed, the figure on the eaves shot her a single, indifferent glance before flickering and vanishing into thin air.

Cheng Zhiwei stood frozen, crossbow raised, staring at the empty space. The cold moonlight washed over her pale face, her eyes lost in a daze.

A moment later, she snapped back to her senses. She quickly pulled a charcoal pencil and paper from her robes and, using the moonlight, began to sketch rapidly.

She didn’t draw the almost demonic figure, nor did she sketch the signature black clothes and mask.

She drew the one thing seared into her memory from that fleeting glance: a pair of eyes.

A moment later, Cheng Ming rushed over. His spirits lifted the moment he saw what his granddaughter was drawing.

"This is..."

"That’s right. It’s him," Cheng Zhiwei said softly. "I just saw him, right on those eaves."

"But before I could act, he vanished."

Vanished.

Cheng Ming mulled over the word, his mind in turmoil.

He knew his granddaughter’s capabilities, and he especially knew her skill with the Repeating Crossbow. To be able to casually depart the very instant she aimed... that level of Body Technique was simply terrifying.

But a moment later, Cheng Ming felt a surge of excitement.

This was the only clue they had on the Stepping Moon Thief to date.

Although searching for a person in a vast city based on nothing but their eyes was like finding a needle in a haystack, it was, at last, a clear direction!

「Meanwhile, in a sprawling courtyard complex」

Chen Ye had already returned to his dilapidated hut.

He took off his night attire and changed into his faded, coarse-cloth clothes. He once again blended into the common, everyday world of the lower class, as if he had never left.

He had, of course, also seen the female constable who had rushed out of the alley.

’When everyone else had been drawn to the fire, she was the only one who had calmly predicted my escape route. Such perception and decisiveness really makes her stand out from that crowd of incompetents at Six Gates.’

’Interesting, indeed!’

Chen Ye smiled but didn’t take the matter to heart.

Tomorrow was the final day of the three-day period.

He closed his eyes and mentally reviewed the entire plan one last time. After confirming there were no oversights, he lay down to rest.

A new day was coming.

’I hope tomorrow... will be a fine day.’