Otherworldly Desert Dust

Chapter 332 - 287: Big Data Enemy Locating

Indeed, liquor is a fine thing, allowing one to own the night completely when faced with visible darkness. It appeared as though one could become another self, destined for a different path in life.

Nearing noon, when the rain was gentle, Ruan Muhuan gradually woke up.

In the inn, she washed away the mud and stench that had accumulated over the days. Her suppressed emotions had been somewhat relieved as she realized that to shatter the mountain of authority that stood before her, she needed to become powerful enough not to rely on others anymore. Then, who in the vast world could imprison her?

"Lu Yun?" Ruan Muhuan walked to the next room and knocked on the door.

There was no response inside. Ruan Muhuan pushed open the door and found the room empty.

This made her, who had just managed to stabilize her mood, feel an emptiness inside. Perhaps, he had left without saying goodbye?

It made sense, after all, once the helpful companionship was over, it was time to part ways in Jianghu.

Arriving at the inn, she ordered some food. The proprietor had some clean meat, and subconsciously she also ordered a pot of wine…

"No way, are you drinking wine in the middle of the day, female knight?" Suddenly, a voice came from outside the door.

Ruan Muhuan looked over and saw Wu Hen standing there, clean and neat. Dressed simply, he exuded a scholarly elegance like a scholar with a sunny, cheerful smile but filled with cunning ideas inside.

"Where did you go?" Ruan Muhuan asked.

"I used some old connections to gather some intelligence. Although we currently have nothing, we are lacking many things, the simplest being money… So how can one make money fast? Obviously, by robbing," Wu Hen sat down, asking the innkeeper for a plate of ordinary meat.

Wu Hen did not practice martial arts and was not particular about food ingredients.

Besides, with Third Rank Taste, eating some contaminated food didn’t affect him much.

"Do you think the military officers in the prefectures are just for show?" Ruan Muhuan remarked.

"Miss Ruan, I didn’t say we’re robbing illegally!" Wu Hen exclaimed. Enjoy exclusive adventures from NovelBin.Côm

"Isn’t robbing illegal?" Ruan Muhuan asked.

"Of course not, ’He who steals a hook shall be executed, he who steals a kingdom becomes a marquis,’ haven’t you heard this saying? For example, if we rob the people depicted in these posters, not only is it not illegal, but it’s also gaining merit," Wu Hen said, placing a wanted poster on the table.

Ruan Muhuan glanced at it and immediately grasped Wu Hen’s idea.

"Speaking of cultivation, these fiercely evil criminals may not necessarily be powerful enough to deter hunters. It’s just that their whereabouts are hard to pin down, they disguise themselves or hide their identities, or they join local gangs and are protected by local tyrants and officials," Ruan Muhuan explained.

"This person is Che Tianlie, known for slaughtering villages and consuming children’s flesh. He has been active in Hongchuan City recently, working as a Darts Master for a local trader of Spiritual Meat. This is his current appearance, very recognizable." Wu Hen flipped the reward to the other side.

On the other side of the reward, someone had sketched the portrait of the wanted criminal, and the quality of drawing was pretty high.

"How did you come to know about this?" Ruan Muhuan inquired doubtfully.

"I made use of some connections. Over time, I have made many friends in Jianghu. If I asked them to lend me money or save my life, they might not be able to help, but they are more than willing to provide valuable information," Wu Hen explained.

Ruan Muhuan noted that Wu Hen did not want to elaborate.

Had he left early in the morning just to search for this information?

"Then… without delay, shall we head out to Hongchuan City?" Ruan Muhuan suggested.

"Let’s eat and drink well before we set off… Plus, I’ve used the reward money we received from Mrs. Zeng to buy a Horned Horse. We’ll be traveling to many places in the coming months, and we shouldn’t waste too much time on the road," Wu Hen pointed out.

He pointed to a sleek, tall horse outside the door, Ruan Muhuan’s favorite jujube red color.

A flicker of joy and affection flashed in Ruan Muhuan’s eyes, but the composed part of her soon thought of another issue.

"All the reward money?" Ruan Muhuan asked.

"Yes, not a word left," Wu Hen nodded.

"I also put all my scattered jade coins in that reward money pouch," Ruan Muhuan suddenly lowered her voice.

Wu Hen paused for a moment, then glanced at the table full of fine wine and food.

…

In the long street, a sleek Horned Horse started galloping, speeding along the main road of Prefecture City.

Above the battle horse, a man and a woman rode closely together, like the most flamboyant and spirited couple in Jianghu…

As people around watched with envy, the innkeeper rushed out of the tavern, cursing loudly at the dashing duo!

"Bah, looking fitting but running without paying, may you both perish together!" His curses echoed down the entire street.

The bystanders were shocked!

Indeed, the young ones know how to play.

Riding a Horned Horse but unable to afford the meal!

Typically wealthy heirs and prestigious daughters playing thrilling games, mocking those shopkeepers.

Upon leaving the city gate, galloping into the wilderness beyond, the figures of the two riders receded into the rain-soaked distance…

Yet, Ruan Muhuan’s cheeks were still burning hot, her neck flushed red.

Even in her poorest days, she had never committed such deplorable acts.

Ruan Muhuan could kill a person without as much as blinking an eye,

but let her skip out on a bill, and her cheeks would flush with embarrassment.

"Hey, think of it as a good deed on the shopkeeper’s part during a time of need," Wu Hen said matter-of-factly, as if this weren’t his first time doing something like this. "When we make it big one day, he can go around telling everyone that he helped us out when we were in our toughest spot by giving us a feast."

No matter how much Wu Hen tried to comfort her, Ruan Muhuan still felt bad about it.

But it was done.

However, Ruan Muhuan silently wondered how this man could get away with not paying and still confidently have the server fetch their horses, even making the shopkeeper think that he had paid.

...

By the time they reached Hongchuan City, it was already night.

The two of them simply found a temple to spend the night, waking up hungry the next morning.

Fortunately, as martial artists, a full meal could last them the entire day. Once this job was done, they would have money to splurge again.

After asking around the city for a bit, Ruan Muhuan found that Wu Hen’s information was incredibly accurate.

For a while, Ruan Muhuan had considered this line of work, especially since the bounties on fugitives were alluring and didn’t compromise her morals.

But after a few tries, Ruan Muhuan realized that the difficulty wasn’t in overpowering the fugitives, but in finding them.

Fugitives weren’t foolish; knowing they were wanted by the entire Prefecture, they would definitely hide or escape to sparsely populated areas. Most wouldn’t dare show their faces in public...

Thus, those who worked in this field full-time really needed to be well-versed in dealing with Jianghu people and have extensive connections to possibly know the whereabouts of these fugitives.

Yet, those with broad connections didn’t need to rely on such thankless jobs for a living, leading to most of the rewards being claimed by chance—either stumbled upon by martial masters passing by and dealing with it or not claimed at all.

Although Ruan Muhuan believed Wu Hen when he said he had connections—after all, he was the Young City Lord and involved in the jade business—she wondered how he had managed to obtain such detailed information so quickly after just having his own wanted poster removed earlier that morning.

Ruan Muhuan had tried asking, but Wu Hen seemed reluctant to elaborate, so she didn’t press further, though she still felt puzzled.

"I’ll watch from above. If he flees into the complex alleyways of the city, I can guide you," Wu Hen said.

"What’s his cultivation level?" Ruan Muhuan asked.

"First Level martial master, you can handle him," Wu Hen stated confidently.

This made Ruan Muhuan even more suspicious.

How did he even know the opponent’s cultivation level?

"Let’s go, whether we need to skip out on a bill for our next meal depends on Miss Ruan," Wu Hen said.

Hearing this, Ruan Muhuan’s expression suddenly became resolute.

Such a shameful act, she adamantly refused to do it a second time!

Ruan Muhuan donned her straw cloak and disappeared into the depths of an alley.

Wu Hen climbed to a high vantage point. Using his Spiritual Vision, he could already pinpoint the fugitive, Che Tianlie, in front of a manor.

In the True Martial Continent without mobile phones or Bluetooth headsets, communicating with teammates was inconvenient... otherwise, Wu Hen could have just sent Ruan Muhuan the tracking position.

Wu Hen knew Ruan Muhuan was curious about how he obtained his information.

But he could only brush it off.

He couldn’t exactly claim they had AI and big data precision positioning, where entering a name could pull up someone’s complete profile, could he?

Early the next morning, Wu Hen found a safe location to log out and returned to his own world, then logged into the shared information network...

After inputting all the names of the fugitives, he discovered there were records for Che Tianlie. After paying a fee, Wu Hen downloaded all the information about Che Tianlie.

"There are kinsfolk in Hongchuan City, huh."

"But. better we mind our own business."

Today, most of the world had stepped into the True Martial Continent, establishing their organizations and making all information about the True Martial Continent public. Through AI and big data integration, along with super AI’s deduction and computation, they could access plenty of information.

Clearly, some compatriots realized that bounty hunting in the True Martial World was a quick way to make money and gain social prestige, and had established the Ghostwriter organization to fill a void in the industry there.

Information gathering, something the True Martial World lacked—closed off from such data—was a strong suit of our homeland’s network technology...

Certainly, the information wasn’t cheap, and Wu Hen did spend some money.

But money wasn’t an issue for him back there!

As the son of Li City’s wealthiest man, the most powerful man, what’s the big deal if he spends some money?

Besides, Wu Hen had already started purchasing equipment for Ruan Muhuan from compatriots.

Seeing that it even included free shipping, Wu Hen promptly placed an order.

Now, he only had to figure out how to explain to Ruan Muhuan why someone would travel miles to deliver high-quality martial master level armor and eagerly await a five-star review?