Xie Yuan didn’t reveal himself until he was in a small town a hundred miles away. After changing his appearance once more, he wondered,
’How did another wave of assassins find me?’
After his spar with Zhang Junyi that day, Xie Yuan hadn’t managed to travel far in secret. He was greatly exhausted and had planned to rest in a county town, but he had barely settled in when he was ambushed by two formidable killers.
Both killers were at the Second Transformation Realm. Their attacks were ruthless and decisive, and their coordination was so seamless it was nearly impossible to defend against. The attack came completely out of the blue.
If not for the vast experience he’d gained roaming the martial world as a Darts Master, which belied his young age, Xie Yuan would have been done for in his depleted state.
Fortunately, his Golden Bell Shield proved incredibly useful. After weathering the initial assault, Xie Yuan gave his opponents no further opportunities.
Xie Yuan struck decisively and without mercy. The two killers died on the spot.
Although he left no one alive to question, Xie Yuan deduced from his opponents’ strength, style, and professionalism that they were assassins from the Autumn Wind Building.
As for how they had found him...
His earth-shattering battle with Zhang Junyi would have naturally drawn attention, so it wasn’t surprising that his trail had been picked up.
In hindsight, Xie Yuan realized the assassins had arrived too quickly. He suspected the Yao and Qian families had posted a bounty on him long ago. Even if they couldn’t find him directly, they must have been watching Zhang Junyi and Huie Jue, and through them, they had finally caught his trail.
After some reflection, Xie Yuan knew he couldn’t risk staying within a hundred miles of where he had sparred. He dragged his exhausted body and used the Celestial Concealment Skill to vanish, heading in the opposite direction. He found a safe place to rest and recover his strength before setting out again.
’Things had been quiet for the past few days. How could he have run into assassins again just now?’
’How are they recognizing me?’
Xie Yuan frowned, completely baffled.
’A Secret Technique? A treasure?’
Xie Yuan furrowed his brow for a moment, then sighed.
Regardless, these killers seemed to have a way of tracking him down.
’It looks like I’ll have to be even more careful,’ he thought. ’I have to constantly be on guard against these pervasive assassins.’
’The assassins from the Autumn Wind Building are notoriously difficult to deal with. I wonder how many resources the Qian and Yao families poured into this. When the great families make a move, things are never simple. They’ve already caused me so much trouble so quickly.’
’Still, with my Celestial Concealment Skill, the Autumn Wind Building can’t possibly know my exact location. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be sending these low-level minions after me.’
’Assassins at the Second Transformation Realm are manageable, but I can’t afford to be careless. An assassin’s strength isn’t everything. It’s not unheard of for a First Transformation assassin to take down a Third Transformation Realm master with poison. If a Third Transformation Realm assassin—or worse, a Celestial Tier assassin, the best of the best—were to come for me, I would have to be exceedingly cautious.’
Xie Yuan’s brow was furrowed in thought, but he couldn’t pinpoint the problem. If he couldn’t figure it out, Jiangnan would become a deathtrap. He’d face a constant stream of assassins, perhaps even masters from the great families themselves. He couldn’t stay here for long.
He sighed, altering his plans. He decided he could no longer afford to roam around Jiangnan.
’I’ll change my route and head north, across the river. There are plenty of Buddhist historical sites in the north I can visit at my leisure. And once I’m out of the Jiangnan families’ heartland, their influence should be significantly weaker.’
’As for the Illusory Dream Celestial Crystal... I’ll have to leave that to fate. Besides, it’s impossible to get it without Miss Mu anyway.’
Having made his decision, Xie Yuan restocked on fresh water and dry rations in the small town. Then, disguised as an ordinary man, he changed his route and headed north.
Over the next few days, Xie Yuan was occasionally ambushed while resupplying. The attempts left him bewildered but also heightened his vigilance.
Fortunately, the attacks all seemed to be chance encounters rather than premeditated ambushes. This suggested his enemies couldn’t pinpoint his exact location, but they could likely detect his presence within a certain area.
Xie Yuan was beginning to form a theory. It was most likely related to the Qian and Yao families’ influence in Jiangnan. He had observed an increased presence of patrolling Officials and government officials, martial arts masters, and even unsavory characters from all walks of life in cities and counties alike. They were clearly searching for someone.
He suspected that any stranger passing through these areas was being watched, and he couldn’t help but be astonished at the sheer scale of the great families’ operation.
’Does Jiangnan belong to the Imperial Court or to the great families?’
So, Xie Yuan began resupplying in towns less frequently, choosing to travel through the wilderness whenever possible. As expected, the number of encounters with assassins dropped significantly.
However, it seemed the string of counter-attacks had inadvertently traced a path. Even though Xie Yuan took a winding route to conceal his true intention of heading north, some expert behind the scenes was able to deduce his trajectory. He was intercepted repeatedly, and on two occasions, he even ran into masters at the Qi Blood Third Transformation Realm.
Unwilling to get bogged down in a fight, Xie Yuan relied on a combination of the Celestial Concealment Skill and the Celestial Illusion Skill to shake them off. Yet, he couldn’t escape the feeling that masters could intercept him even in the wilderness.
The moment he dropped his guard and revealed himself for more than a brief instant, a hidden killer might leap out from the grass, a pond, or even a mud pit.
Although the encounters were less frequent than when he’d shown his face in town, the fact they could intercept him in the wild at all was baffling.
No matter how powerful his Celestial Concealment Skill was, he couldn’t keep it active twenty-four hours a day. Meanwhile, it felt as though the entirety of Jiangnan had been woven into a net, silently closing in on any spot where he left the faintest trace.
’Are they just using human wave tactics?’
Xie Yuan found the situation vexing. ’There has to be more to it than that,’ he thought, but unable to grasp the key to the mystery, he decided his best course of action was to leave Jiangnan as soon as possible.
’But my previous trail seems to have already revealed my direction...’
After a moment’s thought, he abruptly turned around and headed back the way he came.
「Jinling, Yao Mansion.」
Inside a dimly lit room.
A middle-aged man with the air of a scholar was arranging a set of counting rods.
His complexion was unnaturally pale, and his body seemed frail. He would let out a soft cough from time to time.