"Western Depot, Yu Huatian?"
Those five words fell into his ears like five thunderclaps, exploding in Jia Rui's mind.
He raised his head and looked toward the top of the wall.
The moonlight was like frost, coldly spread over that figure.
The night wind stirred the hem of his clothes, flapping loudly.
That face was so handsome under the moon as to be almost uncanny, yet between his brows and eyes congealed a cold, chilling air.
It was as if a single indifferent glance from him could see through a person's bones and their thoughts alike.
Such noble bearing, such cold killing intent—no ordinary person could possess them.
Jia Rui's thoughts raced, and the original body's memories came flooding in.
The current Great Xia seemed peaceful across the four seas, but in truth, both inside and outside the court, undercurrents surged violently.
In the court there had long been a saying: "Two suns and moons hang, illuminating heaven and earth."
Ten years ago, the Retired Emperor returned in defeat from the Northern Expedition, and the court had been swept by a bloody storm of "seizing the throne."
Though later, forced by circumstances, he passed the throne to Emperor Longwu.
That old emperor had not truly retired behind the scenes, and still entrenched himself in Daming Palace.
Firmly controlling the Nobles, the court officials, and a large number of Capital Garrison Troops.
The Eastern Depot and the Dragon Guard were the two sharpest blades in the Retired Emperor's hands.
One supervised the hundred officials, one suppressed the realm.
Deeply rooted, their claws and fangs spread throughout the court and the countryside.
By contrast, Emperor Longwu, though named Son of Heaven, was frail and sickly, and for many years had no son.
His prestige and foundation in the court could not begin to compare with the Retired Emperor's.
Had Noble Consort Wan not been ruthless in her methods, gathering confidants for him.
Emperor Longwu's throne would likely have long since been teetering on the verge of collapse.
And the Western Depot, established barely half a year ago, was precisely the sharp blade Noble Consort Wan and Emperor Longwu used to check the Retired Emperor's faction.
As for Yu Huatian, he was the sharpest tip of that blade.
Rumor had it this man was ruthless and merciless, his martial arts unfathomably deep.
In the mere half year since the Western Depot's founding, it had already stirred up several bloody storms in Shenjing Capital.
Jia Rui had never imagined that tonight, killing Jia Rong, he would run into this Western Depot Lord.
His heart was full of shock and uncertainty.
But Yu Huatian had already smiled faintly.
"Though your cultivation is merely the trifling Post-Heaven First Grade, your strikes are ruthless, and your courage is not small."
"Facing the legitimate grandson of Ningguo Mansion, you killed him just like that, and afterward did not flee in panic."
"You rather suit this commander's taste."
He paused slightly here.
"The Western Depot is newly established, and it is precisely a time for recruiting people."
"Are you willing to come?"
Hearing this, Jia Rui's heart gave a sudden jolt.
He was no fool.
Yu Huatian's words seemed like a casual recruitment, but in truth they had already given him the only way to live tonight.
He had just killed two people in succession.
One of them was even the legitimate grandson of Ningguo Mansion.
However worthless Jia Rong might be, he was still the rightful heir of Ning Mansion, the last remaining direct-line descendant of the Duke of Ningguo's line.
For such a person to suddenly die at his hands—how could Ningguo Mansion let it go?
Not to mention that Jia Zhen would surely go mad.
Even the old Noble relatives behind the Rongguo and Ningguo Mansions would not allow him, a collateral branch descendant, to live on.
And his aged grandfather Jia Dairu would be dragged in as well.
With only his current Post-Heaven First Grade martial arts, he could never escape Shenjing Capital.
Unless some force powerful enough to suppress the Rongguo and Ningguo Mansions took him under its protection.
The Yu Huatian and Western Depot before him happened to have exactly such qualifications.
Though the Western Depot's fearsome reputation ran high, and it was even despised by the court's hundred officials and the realm's scholar community.
Yet precisely because of this, ordinary Nobles did not dare provoke it lightly.
Moreover, the Western Depot was different from the Eastern Depot.
The Eastern Depot, from top to bottom, was mostly controlled by palace Eunuchs.
Though the Western Depot was headed by Inner Court experts like Yu Huatian, it broadly recruited jianghu Martial Artists, desperate outlaws, and all manner of extraordinary people.
It asked only of ability, not of origin.
For the current Jia Rui, this was instead the most suitable place for him.
Thinking of this, he no longer hesitated in his heart.
Jia Rui immediately bowed low.
He said in a deep voice, "Jia Rui is willing to pledge himself under the Commander's command."
"From now on, should there be any errand, I will not shrink from death a thousand times!"
Yu Huatian looked down at him, a trace of faint approval showing in his eyes.
"A clever man."
With that, he gave his wrist a light flick.
A streak of golden light came piercing through the air.
Jia Rui raised his hand and caught it, feeling only a slight coolness in his palm.
Looking down, it was a Jade Token suffused throughout with a gilded golden luster.
The Jade Token was warm to the touch, carved on the front with a soaring eagle, and on the back only a single forceful, cold, severe character: "Yu."
"Tomorrow, take this token and report to the Western Depot Office outside Xizhi Gate."
Yu Huatian said indifferently, "As for tonight's matter here, the Western Depot will naturally clean it up for you."
Before the words had finished echoing in the courtyard, that white figure on the wall had already flickered with the wind.
Jia Rui felt only a blur before his eyes.
When he looked up again, the top of the wall was already completely empty.
As if that Western Depot Lord who made all who heard of him tremble in fear had never appeared at all.
Jia Rui clenched the Jade Token tightly and slowly straightened up.
Only at this moment did he realize that the clothes on his back had long since been soaked through with cold sweat.
Facing a figure like Yu Huatian, the pressure was truly too great.
Jia Rui let out a long breath of turbid air.
Looking again at the corpses of Jia Rong and that servant boy on the ground, the trace of bewilderment about the road ahead in his eyes had already been swept completely away.
Having entered the Western Depot, he now had a backer.
From today onward, he no longer had to be like the original body, ordered about and trampled at will by the masters of the Rongguo and Ningguo Mansions.
Only, thinking of how Jia Rong had earlier bullied and schemed against him, the foul anger in Jia Rui's heart had still not fully dissipated.
He lowered his head and looked at the two corpses for a moment, then suddenly gave a cold laugh.
"In the Rongguo and Ningguo Mansions, apart from that pair of stone lions at the gate, I fear there are few clean things."
"You vermin, since you like doing shameful, filthy things in the dark, I'll spread your fame for you."
With that, he tore off the outer garments from Jia Rong and that servant boy.
Then he stacked the two together, arranging them in an extremely indecent pose.
In this way, when the Ning Mansion servants discovered the corpses, there would naturally be no shortage of ugly rumors outside.
Even if it could not harm the Ning Mansion's foundation, it was enough to make Jia Zhen and his son a laughingstock even after death.
Having done all this, pale golden text suddenly surfaced before Jia Rui's eyes.
【Special event triggered: Kill Jia Rong, greatly affecting the causal fortune of this world.】
【Reward obtained: Cloud-Laddering Technique, Mystic Grade Upper Rank, Middle Realm.】
【Current realm raised: Post-Heaven Second Grade.】
In an instant, a hot current surged up from his Dantian.
Jia Rui's whole body of Meridians trembled slightly.
His originally still-weak Inner Breath suddenly swelled, circulating rapidly along his four limbs and hundred bones.
Especially several acupoints in both legs, which seemed suddenly to be forced open by an invisible force.
As his internal energy circulated, his body actually felt several degrees lighter.
At the same time, a great mass of insights regarding lightening the body, raising qi, borrowing force, and leaping poured into his Sea of Consciousness.
It was as if he had bitterly trained in this Cloud-Laddering Technique for many years.
Jia Rui closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, his eyes were full of delight.
Post-Heaven Second Grade.
And he had also obtained the Cloud-Laddering Technique, a superior Qinggong.
He raised his head and looked toward the two-zhang-high wall ahead.
Just moments ago it had seemed like an impassable chasm, but now, in his eyes, it seemed only a single step away.
Jia Rui felt elated, and channeled his Inner Breath to both feet.
He lightly tapped the tip of his foot against the wall's surface.
His whole body, like a fallen leaf lifted by the night wind, drifted lightly up onto the top of the wall.
The movement was natural and smooth, producing almost no sound at all.
The moon was cold, the stars few.
The night wind came head-on, blowing his robe into a slight billow.
Jia Rui stood atop the wall, looking down over the dark, heavy residence beneath his feet, feeling the stifled anger in his chest swept completely away.
Just moments ago, he had still been a collateral branch descendant bullied by anyone, living from hand to mouth.
And tonight, he had killed Jia Rong, obtained the system, and entered the Western Depot.
These vast high walls and deep courtyards no longer seemed as unattainably high as before.
"The sky is high for birds to fly, the sea is broad for fish to leap."
"Since heaven has brought me here for this turn, how can I live again as the spineless wretch the original body was?"
Jia Rui's gaze swept across the mansion.
As his realm rose, internal energy poured into his eyes, and his eyesight was now far stronger than before.
Pavilions, terraces, winding corridors, courtyard walls—all were faintly discernible under the moonlight.
Not far away, deep within Ningguo Mansion.
In a secluded pavilion, a single bean of dim yellow lamplight still showed through.
That pavilion was built rather exquisitely, surrounded on four sides by winding corridors, its eaves upturned in the night, the outline of a plaque faintly visible.
Jia Rui's heart stirred.
"Could that be Tianxiang Tower?"
Tianxiang Tower.
The moment these three words entered his mind, he could not help but think of one person.
Qin Keqing.
One of the Twelve Beauties of Jinling.
Possessing both Baochai's vivid beauty and Daiyu's elegance, she was slender and delicate in form, gentle and peaceful in temperament, and was praised as the foremost beauty of the Rongguo and Ningguo Mansions.
Only, the fate of this Madam Rong was truly miserable.
In the original work, her death was strange and suspicious.
And the dirty, sordid rumors of Ningguo Mansion were mostly connected to this Tianxiang Tower.
Thinking of this, Jia Rui's heart turned wary.
It was already near deep night—why was there still lamplight in Tianxiang Tower?
Could it be...
Jia Rui could no longer hold back the urge in his heart.
With a tap of his foot, the Cloud-Laddering Technique unfolded once more.
His figure, like a wisp of faint smoke, drifted down from the top of the wall.
Then, using the eaves, rockery, and corridor pillars, he leaped again and again in succession.
Though there were night-patrolling servants in Ningguo Mansion, how could such ordinary servants detect him?
Several groups of household guards carrying lanterns had just passed beneath the corridor.
And Jia Rui had already soundlessly swept up onto the roof ridge, passing over their heads.
In but a moment, he had arrived outside Tianxiang Tower.
All around this pavilion was extremely quiet.
The courtyard gate was half-closed, and no attending maidservants or old maids were seen beneath the corridor, which seemed quite unusual.
Jia Rui tapped his toe and landed silently on the second-floor winding corridor.
The moment he steadied himself, he heard the faint sound of a man and woman talking from within the central side room.
Mixed in with it was a woman's suppressed sobbing.
……