The Zhou Family was one of Daming County's wealthy households, and Zhou Xiong himself was the Golden Cauldron Sect's chief outer disciple. He placed great importance on the family's defenses, training a large number of sturdy servants to take turns patrolling at night. It might not have been an impenetrable wall of bronze and iron, but it was still extremely tightly guarded.
Even if some petty thief broke into the Zhou Family, it would not take long before he revealed his tracks and was discovered.
Duàn Yì was different. His martial arts had already achieved modest success, and the Ice True Qi he cultivated possessed unique properties. It could still his breath and calm his mind, making him seem like an inanimate object. Thus, he slipped in all the way, bypassing sentries and patrolling servants with great ease.
The Zhou Family estate was enormous, with winding corridors, pavilions, terraces, and flowered halls. The front courtyard, central hall, and inner residence were so tangled together that one could hardly tell one from another. Duàn Yì, however, had a clear goal and headed straight for the inner residence, which had to be where the masters rested at night.
Duàn Yì also discovered a weakness in the Zhou Family's patrols. The front courtyard and central hall were heavily guarded, while the inner residence was exceedingly lax, with scarcely anyone patrolling. Presumably, Zhou Xiong was unaccustomed to having too many outsiders interfere in the place where he rested each day.
As he passed a room midway through, Duàn Yì's sharp hearing caught Zhào Yù's voice. His heart stirred, and he stopped. Then he used his lightness skill, springing more than twenty feet into the air.
As he descended, he hooked his foot around the outer eaves, making only the faintest sound. Then, like a