I became a martial arts saint while playing games.

The accountant was stunned for a moment, then stammered, "This... sir, I don't understand what you mean..."

"Oh, I didn't understand. Let me ask you another question," Gu Yan said slowly. "Is your waiter here?"

*Splat*

That was the sound of the accountant sliding off the counter and falling to the ground.

Gu Yan asked, "Sir, are you alright?"

"No, no...it's nothing." The accountant hurriedly got up.

At that moment, a woman's voice came from behind: "What's going on?"

The woman who emerged was about twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old, with phoenix eyes that seemed to hold spring in them, and skin as smooth as jade. Her appearance was beautiful and gentle, yet her figure was full and well-proportioned, with soft shoulders, a slender waist, and graceful curves.

"Manager!" The accountant scrambled up from behind the counter in a flurry of activity.

This woman's name is Liu Yuru, and she is the manager of Tongyue Inn.

The accountant hurriedly pulled her aside and explained the purpose of the Demon Suppression Division official's visit. Manager Liu was also startled upon hearing this, glancing at Gu Yan, but quickly regained his composure and stepped forward with a beaming smile.

"You jest, sir," she said with a smile. "You wouldn't be suggesting that our waiter is the infamous Thief Saint of yesteryear, would you?"

Gu Yan simply smiled and remained silent.

Shopkeeper Liu laughed and said, "Our waiter here is more timid than a rabbit. Really, if you don't believe me, just ask around among the neighbors. He's an honest man, and at the slightest sign of trouble, he runs faster than a woman like me."

Gu Yan said slowly, "Do you know that harboring a fugitive and knowingly failing to report it is tantamount to being an accomplice?"

The accountant's face turned pale instantly. He turned to look at the shopkeeper and said, "Shopkeeper, I think we should..."

But halfway through his sentence, when he met Manager Liu's threatening gaze, he seemed to swallow the rest of his words and paused before saying, "...we should...we should wait until the waiter comes back and let him explain to the master. There must be some misunderstanding."

Gu Yan smiled and said, "No need. Since he's not here, I'll come again next time."

After he finished speaking, he turned around and left the inn.

Gu Yan already knew that the waiter was originally in the inn. His two questions alerted the waiter, who immediately slipped away in fright.

This means the hidden quest has been triggered.

No one would have guessed that the legendary Thief Saint, who was once famous throughout Xuanzhou, is now working as a waiter in this small inn in Xuancang City.

However, Gu Yan didn't give chase. The Thief Saint was renowned throughout Xuanzhou, and his professional career had never ended in failure, which was undoubtedly related to his unparalleled lightness skill. So chasing him would be pointless; even if Gu Yan hadn't learned the basics of lightness skill and qi manipulation, even a master at the Condensing Qi Realm wouldn't be able to catch him.

But it's not a big problem.

Leaving the inn, Gu Yan wandered aimlessly through the streets. He strolled into the bustling downtown area, sometimes glancing at a shop, sometimes asking prices at roadside vendors...

He was just like a tourist wandering aimlessly.

He wandered around aimlessly until he reached a street corner and passed by a traveling doctor with a banner that read "Cures All Illnesses." The doctor seemed to be engrossed in reading at the time.

In the instant they brushed past each other, Gu Yan suddenly turned around. His movements were lightning fast; his five fingers were clasped together, and he had already grabbed the doctor's right wrist. He swiftly pulled the doctor into a deserted alley.

The doctor was completely taken aback when he suddenly attacked him as he passed by. By the time he came to his senses, his right wrist was already under control.

Terrified, he didn't hesitate. He brought his index and middle fingers together with his left hand, concentrated his strength, and swiftly struck at Gu Yan's face. The attack was swift and ruthless, with a sharp finger strike, clearly indicating that he had already reached the Qi Control level and possessed considerable martial arts skills.

But Gu Yan raised his palm lightly and calmly parried, dismantling the attack in the blink of an eye.

At this moment, Gu Yan gripped the doctor's right wrist with his left hand, leaving both of them fighting with only one arm. There were no grand, sweeping movements, only the interplay of fingers and palm strikes. In the blink of an eye, they had exchanged seven or eight blows, their offense and defense shifting with extreme precision.

The doctor's brows furrowed slightly in surprise, and he let out a soft exclamation, probably not expecting that this young man, despite his young age, would possess such remarkable skill and cultivation. Although he had not traveled the martial world for many years, he was quite confident in his master's finger techniques, considering himself to be among the best in the Qi Control Realm.

Who would have thought that the young man in official robes could dismantle his finger techniques so smoothly and flawlessly, and that he had already fallen into a disadvantageous position in less than ten moves.

He was timid by nature, especially when he saw official robes, which made him even more anxious. Now, seeing his formidable opponent, he became even more anxious. In his haste, he gathered strength in his left finger and released it swiftly, a cold glint appearing at the tip, as he pointed it toward Gu Yan's chest.

This finger strike employed his unique meridian-locking technique, where the force of the finger can seal the body's energy channels, causing the martial artist's energy to stagnate and their limbs to become weak and unbearable.

But Gu Yan seemed to have seen through the attack. He had his left hand holding the doctor's right wrist, and the doctor was trying to break free by channeling his inner strength—the doctor's skill was superior to Gu Yan's, so he should have been able to break free by force.

However, Gu Yan skillfully used the Qiankun Shifting Technique to grab the other party's wrist and twist it slightly, then used the force of the doctor's struggle to break free.

Gu Yan did not resist the force, but went with the flow and borrowed the force. With a gentle pull, he used the opponent's own strength to make his right arm swing, which landed perfectly in front of Gu Yan's chest, blocking the path of the opponent's left finger force.

The doctor was startled and cried out in alarm, but it was too late to stop. His fingertips landed heavily on his own restrained right arm.

A surge of energy that locked his meridians rushed in, instantly sealing off the energy channels in his entire right arm, leaving him feeling numb, tingling, stiff, and cold. The doctor turned pale, and his arm went limp, rendering him unable to move for a moment.

Knowing he had lost, the doctor dared not struggle any longer and asked with a pained expression, "Sir, what is the reason for this?"

Gu Yan laughed and said, "At this point, are you still going to pretend, you master thief?"

As he spoke, he reached out and wiped the doctor's face.

Under this touch, the doctor's sallow, rough skin peeled off in pieces, revealing delicate, fair skin. It turned out that the layer on top was a disguise.

He had a soft plastic implant in his nose bridge to make it appear higher and wider, giving him the dignified look of an old man. When Gu Yan pressed it with his fingertip, it immediately collapsed and returned to its original shape, revealing his handsome and refined features.

With another tug, the few strands of long, gray beard under his chin, which were actually glued on and faked, fell off easily.

In the blink of an eye, the sallow-faced, long-bearded, otherworldly-looking quack doctor had transformed into a fair-skinned, clean-faced young man.

Gu Yan said, "I have long heard that Bai Jingye, the Thief Saint, is unparalleled in both lightness skill and disguise. Seeing him today, I can confirm that his reputation is well-deserved."

Seeing that there was no way to avoid it or deny it, Bai Jingye smiled bitterly and said, "Even so, you still saw through me, sir. How did you figure it out?"

Gu Yan smiled but did not answer.

How did you figure that out? I didn't even look at it.

Go to the inn to stir up trouble and scare away the master thief. Then, the other party, suspicious and uncertain, will circle back, disguised as a traveling doctor, to follow the player and find out their true strength and weaknesses.

These are memories from a past life.

Bai Jingye cautiously replied, "My lord, although I've been given the empty title of 'Thief Saint,' it's just a nickname bestowed upon me by my friends in the martial arts world. I, Bai Jingye, have a clear conscience; I've truly never done anything heinous..."

Gu Yan said, "Oh? I heard that before the Thief Saint retired from the martial world, he stole a thousand taels of gold from the Prince's mansion. Rumors in the martial world say that the Prince's mansion in the south is heavily fortified, with armored guards patrolling day and night. How could such a huge amount of gold just disappear into thin air? That Thief Saint must have the ability to pass through walls and courtyards and treat heavy guards as nothing. Could this be false?"

Bai Jingye said with a mournful face, "It wasn't me. This matter was widely discussed in the martial arts world back then, and I also found it strange, so I went to investigate it."

Only then did I discover that the Prince's mansion was rife with corruption and embezzlement, leaving a massive, unfillable deficit. That's why they fabricated the story of the Thief Saint robbing the mansion. The Prince's mansion was heavily guarded, with numerous experts stationed there. How could I, a mere Qi Refining martial artist, dare to seek trouble with them?

"This pot is so big and black, I can't carry it, sir!"

Gu Yan smiled enigmatically and said, "Let's assume what you say is true, but do you have any proof?"

Bai Jingye fell silent.

"No, then the fake becomes real," Gu Yan said. "Once I bring you to justice, not to mention other forces, the Prince of Nan's Mansion will not tolerate you. If it were just you alone, that would be fine."

But when I questioned them, the innkeeper, accountant, and staff of your inn clearly all knew about your past as the "Master Thief," yet when I inquired, they all refused to speak of it. Tsk tsk... these are all serious crimes."

Bai Jingye roared in fury: "You...you knew all along that I was the Thief Saint, and you went to the inn to inquire just now, so that's why...how could you be so despicable!"

Knowing that everyone in the inn was covering for Bai Jingye, if Bai Jingye's identity were exposed, it would inevitably implicate those around him.

He had been retired for many years and worked as a waiter in an inn. He had long regarded the inn's staff as family, and now he was extremely anxious.

But as soon as the words left his mouth, he realized he had acted impulsively and quickly changed his tune with a forced smile: "I mean... Your Excellency is insightful, your judgment is divine, your martial arts are superb, and your methods are ruthless. I truly admire you."

But a true man takes responsibility for his actions; the people at the inn have absolutely nothing to do with the Thief Saint. Sir, what do you think of this…”

"Don't rush, I haven't said I'm going to arrest you yet," Gu Yan said with a smile. "I've always heard that the Thief Saint robs the rich to help the poor, and that even thieves have their code of honor. He has a great reputation in the martial arts world, which is why he is respectfully called the 'Thief Saint'."

I actually admire him quite a bit. I came today for two reasons: first, to make a friend; and second, out of curiosity, to learn the legendary thief's unparalleled lightness technique, where he appears and disappears without a trace.

Bai Jingye was stunned for a moment before he realized what was happening.

Good heavens, so this was what they were waiting for me.

My lord, you want my lightness skill?