Watching from the Shadows

The Black Kill Pavilion moved quickly. Once they had taken the money, they showed just how professional they were.

They made a list of everyone who had ever had dealings with Li Feng. After two days of screening and investigation, they had already eliminated the vast majority.

Lu Chen's name was on their list as well.

At first, he was among the first to be ruled out.

Later, when they reviewed the case, they discovered that he had actually been at the Jade Pavilion that day.

Li Feng had been there at the time too, and the two had even exchanged a few words.

Lu Chen's private room had also been directly beneath Li Feng's.

All at once, Lu Chen became much more suspicious.

Could someone beaten nearly to death recover so quickly?

Could a formerly impoverished youngster afford to visit a brothel and hire a girl?

They found the doctor who had treated Lu Chen, as well as Xiao Taohong and the madam who had received him that day. After asking them many detailed questions, they put Lu Chen's name on the final list.

There were three names on it, along with one that had been crossed out: Zhao Defu.

The three names were Li Jun, Hu Bufan, and Lu Chen.

"This Lu Chen is interesting! Not only is he connected to what happened to Li Feng, he also has ties to the Green Bamboo Gang! Tsk, tsk! We really do need to look into him properly. I never paid him any attention before!"

The man who looked like an old farmer was sitting in a small courtyard, examining Lu Chen's information with great interest.

"Elder Ning, should we send a three-star Iron-Token Killer to sound him out?"

The Black Kill Pavilion had a complete promotion system, divided into wood, iron, bronze, silver, and gold. Wood token members were ordinary people who handled odd jobs.

For a wood-token killer to be promoted to a zero-star Iron-Token Killer, they only had to complete a mission equivalent to the strength of the Copper Skin Realm.

To advance from zero stars to One-Star, they had to kill two Iron Bone Realm martial artists.

To rise from One-Star to Two-Star, they had to kill three Organ Tempering Realm martial artists.

And so on. A three-star Iron-Token Killer had to kill four Blood Exchange Realm martial artists.

A four-star assassin had to kill five Marrow Washing Realm martial artists.

A five-star assassin had to kill at least ten Marrow Washing Realm martial artists, at least three of whom had to be at the peak of the realm.

So although three-star Iron-Token Killers might not seem high-ranked, they had at least the strength of the Blood Exchange Realm. Quite a few were even in the Marrow Washing Realm.

Surely that would be enough to deal with someone like Lu Chen.

"No, send a four-star assassin. Better to be safe!"

The old farmer looked over the Black Kill Pavilion's four-star Iron-Token Killers near Shahu County.

"Crippled Blade will do. He's the closest, and he's strong enough. Send him the mission and have him bring Lu Chen back alive today!"

"Yes!"

Since transmigrating here, Lu Chen had finally begun to live a relatively comfortable life.

He taught reading, writing, and arithmetic in the morning, taught Cultivation Methods in the afternoon, and practiced with his younger brother and sister in the evening. It was quite pleasant.

Occasionally, he went into the woods to hunt a few pheasants and turtle doves to build up their strength.

It was much more comfortable than running off to the county town every few days to kill people and stir up trouble.

Well, he did think of Xiao Taohong from time to time.

Ahem.

Don't misunderstand. He simply thought the food at the Jade Pavilion really was delicious.

I found some medicinal herbs before, and I also bought quite a few herbs needed for the Ox-Cleaving Saber Technique. I don't need them anymore. Once Lu Ming and Lu Tang get started in any Cultivation Method, I can teach them the Ox-Cleaving Saber Technique. With medicinal baths to go along with it, their progress should be much faster.

Lu Chen stood at the lectern, looking down at the thirty-four children, and felt a great sense of accomplishment.

With the boost from his Teaching the Way and Imparting Knowledge Trait, almost every one of these children had become a genius, and their studies were progressing rapidly.

It wasn't just them. Teaching martial arts in the afternoon gave him much the same sense of accomplishment.

By now, three people had gotten started!

One was Lu Ting. He was only thirty, in the prime of his life. As a hunter, he ate meat at home regularly, making him considerably stronger than the others. With the boost from Lu Chen's Trait, he had quickly gotten started in both Eight Directions Step and the Formation-Breaking Spear.

The second was Teng Yue's son, Teng Feng, who had just turned twenty. He too had gotten started in both techniques.

The third was Lu Huaiyi, who was a year younger than Lu Chen's father, Lu Hai, and was thirty-five this year. He had only gotten started in the Formation-Breaking Spear; his Eight-Direction Footwork still needed a little more work.

Aside from those three, the others had also made considerable progress, and their competitive spirits had been stirred. Lu Chen figured quite a few more would reach the beginner level one after another in the next few days.

At that thought, Lu Chen glanced at the students below and said, "All right, practice what I taught you a few more times when you get home. You can also find someone to quiz each other..."

As he spoke, he suddenly felt as though someone was watching him, and he couldn't help turning to look out the window.

No one was there.

A little puzzled, he gave the students a few more instructions and dismissed the class.

The children rushed out of the schoolhouse in a noisy swarm.

As Lu Chen gathered his things, he wondered about it.

Why does it feel so strange to be watched like that?

He had never experienced such a peculiar feeling before. He looked at Lu Ming and Lu Tang, who hadn't left yet.

"Xiao Ming, Xiao Tang, go hide behind a pillar at the back and watch me secretly."

Lu Ming and Lu Tang stared at him, mouths open, a little perplexed. "Brother, you want us to peek at you?"

"Mm!"

The two quickly did as they were told. They ran to the back of the classroom, hid behind a pillar, and secretly poked their heads out to stare at Lu Chen.

Lu Chen lowered his head, but he didn't have that feeling.

He turned his back on Lu Tang and Lu Ming. This time, he did feel a little like he was being watched, but it wasn't nearly as intense.

Could someone really be spying on me? And they should be quite strong!

His heart tightened at once, and his hand, hidden beneath the desk, clenched into a fist.

He didn't let the slightest sign show, though. Instead, he smiled and beckoned the two over. "All right, that's enough. Let's go home!"

The three shut the schoolhouse door and set off down the road.

In the fields by the roadside, the wind sent waves through the rice, and the golden grain gave off a fragrant scent.

In a few days, it would be ready to harvest.

Lu Chen glanced around without drawing attention to himself, but found nothing.

The earlier feeling of being watched, like a thorn pressed against his back, had also disappeared.

Damn it, they're all dead, so how could anyone still trace it back to me? And they even found me here! he thought through gritted teeth, feeling a little anxious. It feels awful to have the enemy in the shadows while I'm out in the open!

Now he knew how the Green Bamboo Gang had felt.

The Heavenly Dao truly came full circle!

Lu Chen laughed at himself inwardly and carefully went over everything. He felt the only possible source of trouble was probably Li Feng.

He had been too impatient back then. He shouldn't have made a move against Li Feng at a time like that.

After all, he and Li Feng had come face-to-face, and Li Feng had even fucking cursed at him. If someone took the trouble to investigate carefully, they might be able to follow that lead back to him.

He had been far too careless!

He reflected on it inwardly.

Maybe the Assassin's Creed approach to infiltration suits me better after all!

There was no need to use his brain.

He returned home without betraying anything. After eating, however, he didn't go back to teaching. Instead, he went to Second Grandfather's house.

"Second Grandfather, I have something to do today and need to go to the county town. Sorry to trouble you, but could you look after Xiao Tang and Xiao Ming again? I should be back tomorrow. Things in the village are basically on track now, and everyone has become familiar with Eight Directions Step and the Formation-Breaking Spear. It'll be fine if I'm gone for a day or two."

"Something to do?" Second Grandfather exhaled a mouthful of smoke and glanced at Lu Chen, then nodded. "All right. Xiao Ming and Xiao Tang can stay with Wen Jin and the others today. I'll let the people in the village know. You... stay safe!"

He patted Lu Chen on the shoulder.

Lu Chen grinned, then turned and smiled at the worried faces of Xiao Ming and Xiao Tang. He left Qingshan Village alone, heading out beyond the village.

He carried no saber and wore ordinary scholar's clothes. All he had concealed on him were a dagger, ten throwing knives, a bag of iron pellets, and two bags of lime, along with the protective mirrors he had previously ordered, strapped over his chest and back.

To lower the guard of any enemies who might be out there, he also carried a book in his hand, posing as a scholar as he headed toward the county town.

"Ah, I'd already made up my mind not to come to the county town again for a while! Why does everyone have to fight and kill? Can't we all live together in peace?"

He really did feel helpless.