In the dark alleys of the small town, the Crane Control Army was assassinating their fifteenth target.
Chu Dingjiang had chosen the route closest to the armory. To avoid being surrounded there, they had to eliminate as many enemies as possible along the way. But now, with the armory in sight, too much time had passed—they could no longer afford to act in separate groups.
Suddenly, the sound of a zither rose in the distance, its melody fluctuating in the fierce wind. The assassins of Misty Villa jolted awake from their slumber.
Chu Dingjiang sensed dozens of people rapidly approaching from the south. Soon, Sui Yunzhu also noticed, but unlike Chu, he couldn’t remain as composed. He lowered his voice to warn, “Sir, someone’s coming.”
“This alley leads straight to Misty Villa’s armory, where there are extremely powerful crossbows. That’s your target,” Chu Dingjiang spoke swiftly. “The armory is guarded by nine eighth-rank masters. Lou and I will handle them. The rest of you must find a way to infiltrate and retrieve the weapons as quickly as possible! Mei Shisi knows which ones to take. Here’s a rough sketch of the interior by Lord Gu—it may not be accurate, but use it as a reference.”
Everyone had seen the sketch before and had a general idea of its contents. Without hesitation, Chu Dingjiang tossed it to An Jiu.
Chu had once infiltrated this place and mapped out the exterior. Based on the building’s structure, Gu Jinghong had drawn the interior layout, marking all possible hidden weapon placements.
This was purely a battle of wits between Gu Jinghong and Wei Yuzhi—who would win remained to be seen.
The group accepted their orders and vanished into the alley, leaving only Lou Mingyue and Chu Dingjiang behind.
The two swiftly infiltrated a nearby residence.
“Let this old man see who dares to be so bold!” a cold voice rang out from beneath the eaves.
Without wasting words, Chu Dingjiang moved like a ghost, darting in the opposite direction. In the blink of an eye, he was under the eaves, a flash of cold steel in his hand—his sword had somehow been drawn, his entire being like a massive blade. With a single strike, the roof tiles groaned under the pressure, creaking ominously.
A figure tumbled from the beam.
Chu Dingjiang’s palm struck the man’s skull without pause.
The old man’s eyes widened, his pupils reflecting a towering figure before his breath ceased entirely.
Lou Mingyue’s breathing grew ragged. This was her first time witnessing Chu Dingjiang in action, and it left her deeply shaken. There were no earth-shattering displays, no flashy techniques—just an effortless, instantaneous kill of a master.
That old man had been close to ninth-rank. Lou could sense strength comparable to her own in him, yet he had been crushed so easily before a Transformation Realm expert!
Before this moment, Lou Mingyue, as one of the top talents of her generation, had harbored some pride. She had even believed that with her skills, killing Yelü Huangwu wasn’t impossible. But now, she realized she had been a frog at the bottom of a well.
The Transformation Realm…
“Move!” Chu Dingjiang commanded. “Fight, and comprehend in battle.”
“Yes!” Lou Mingyue steadied her racing heart and split off from Chu to intercept the other guardians of the armory.
Chu had assigned her an eighth-rank mid-stage martial arts master—slightly weaker than her in raw power, but far more experienced in assassination, giving them a clear advantage.
Meanwhile, An Jiu and the others, heading straight for the armory, encountered resistance upon entering the courtyard.
Two ninth-rank masters stood in their way: a slightly plump middle-aged woman in coarse linen robes and a hunchbacked old man.Among their group, only two had reached the eighth level of Internal Energy.
An Jiu immediately recognized the hunchbacked man as the undercover agent who had gone to Liu’s teahouse to retrieve the letter.
“You’ve got some nerve!” the hunchbacked old man snarled, reaching out to grab Sui Yunzhu, who was closest to him.
Sui Yunzhu’s Martial Arts had barely reached the sixth level, and he still hadn’t fully recovered from An Jiu’s earlier Mental Strength attack. Under the old man’s oppressive aura, he found himself completely immobilized.
Li Qingzhi, standing beside him, swung his blade to block the attack. The hunchbacked old man’s hand collided with the thick blade, producing a metallic clang like the ringing of struck metal.
The old man’s withered fingers flexed, firmly gripping the blade’s spine. The two were locked in a stalemate, veins bulging on Li Qingzhi’s arms as his released energy tore his sleeves apart. At the same time, the middle-aged woman closed in.
An Jiu drew her empty bow, aiming at the hunchbacked old man’s throat.
In the standoff between the old man and Li Qingzhi, the former held the advantage—he could retreat at any moment. Otherwise, An Jiu would have already fired a real arrow.
The hunchbacked old man caught An Jiu’s movement in his peripheral vision. Though he didn’t understand what she was doing, he distinctly sensed the dangerous aura emanating from her. As an experienced assassin, he immediately let go at the first sign of trouble.
An Jiu adjusted her aim slightly and released her fingers.
She had underestimated the old man’s speed—the arrow barely grazed him.
Even so, the hunchbacked old man was shaken. His pupils contracted as he stared at An Jiu in shock. Misty Villa had once housed a Madman obsessed with Martial Arts, capable of condensing Inner Force into arrows with an empty bow—so powerful that even the Explosive Crossbows personally crafted by the Second Villa Master couldn’t compare. This young woman’s arrows carried a similarly terrifying pressure, sending chills down his spine.
Seizing the moment of his distraction, An Jiu drew her bow again and fired two more arrows in quick succession. This time, one struck true, freezing the hunchbacked old man in place. The others immediately swarmed him.
An Jiu nocked another arrow but found it difficult to aim in the chaos.
In the past, An Jiu hadn’t been weak in close combat, but in this world saturated with Martial Arts and Inner Force, her skills were far from sufficient. Unless absolutely necessary, she wouldn’t charge in recklessly.
Avoiding the fray, An Jiu slipped away alone to the armory entrance.
She stood beside the door and kicked it open.
Silence greeted her.
An Jiu remembered the Blue Light Crossbow vividly—its immense power had left her deeply covetous. She doubted such a crucial location would be so lightly guarded.
Drawing an ordinary arrow, she fired it into the room.
Immediately, the creaking of wood echoed inside, followed by the whooshing of countless arrows being unleashed.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!...
The arrows struck something unseen.
An Jiu’s heart sank. Wei Yuzhi was a master of traps and mechanisms—charging in blindly would be a gamble with her life.
Thinking quickly, she fired two more arrows. This time, she listened carefully. First came two thuds—her arrows hitting their mark—followed by the Rain of Arrows. This meant the mechanism couldn’t react fast enough to intercept arrows at such speed.
Sang Nu’s map had emphasized the armory’s importance, but since he lacked the trust of Wei Chuzhi and Wei Yuzhi, he couldn’t have known its internal layout. Merely marking the approximate location of the crossbows in the southeast corner had already been a significant effort for him.Southeast corner...
Seeing the fierce battle raging in the courtyard, An Jiu quietly took a detour. (To be continued...)
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