Princess Dongyang

The man in black said the gatekeeper lived inside. They used nightingale calls as a signal—seven long, four short—but Qin Sang could not imitate a nightingale, so he could only hide in the shadows and summon Yanwang.

"Go in..."

Qin Sang stared at the residence. Yanwang had no intelligence and could not tell one person from another. After hesitating for a moment, he said in a deep voice, "Kill everyone inside!"

Yanwang passed through the wall, and Qin Sang then vaulted over it with borrowed momentum, entering the courtyard just in time to see Yanwang hook out a middle-aged man's soul.

This man looked exactly as the man in black had described. He was the gatekeeper!

Having found the right man, Qin Sang secretly rejoiced and immediately began questioning him.

What concerned him most, naturally, was how many people knew that Old Wu and the man in black had appeared at Green Goat Temple.

If this gatekeeper had reported it upward, Qin Sang would hunt them down without end, even if he had to trace it all the way to the master of Jiangshan Tower!

Qin Sang had seen it clearly: even against martial arts masters, Yanwang remained invincible.

Old Wu, the man in black, and the gatekeeper were all top assassins of Jiangshan Tower, first-rate experts in the martial world, yet they had still died without a sound or the slightest resistance.

No matter how high one's martial arts, they could not withstand Yanwang.

Besides, he could obtain the most accurate intelligence.

Qin Sang quickly learned everything he wanted to know, and the tension on his face immediately eased.

Jiangshan Tower's organization was even more tightly woven than he had imagined. Every commandery had its own branch altar. Although the gatekeeper was a core member of Jiangshan Tower, to prevent others from following the vine to the melon and uprooting the branch altar, he did not know where it was located and was not qualified to contact it on his own.

Even in an emergency, he had to release a secret signal and wait for the branch altar to contact him.

This gatekeeper had not been lurking in Three Witches City for long. The branch altar had contacted him for the first time only today, when it assigned the mission, so although the matters in his hands were all recorded, none had been reported upward.

Tonight, the man in black had told the gatekeeper he was going to investigate Green Goat Temple, but before the results came in, the gatekeeper had not spread the news far and wide.

Hearing this, Qin Sang was relieved. As long as he burned the gatekeeper's notes, every clue would end here.

However, to completely clear Green Goat Temple of suspicion, he still needed some measures. Qin Sang immediately questioned the gatekeeper about the identities and hiding places of every assassin lurking in Three Witches City. Because of the mission, the gatekeeper had sent out word to summon the assassins, and they were now all hiding in a residence outside the city.

Once he had learned everything, the gatekeeper's soul was nearly at the time of its disappearance.

Qin Sang had now gained some understanding of Jiangshan Tower's mission. Not only had all six assassins under this gatekeeper been activated, but other gatekeepers lurking in Zhenshui Commandery were also converging on Three Witches City. Nearly thirty assassins would gather for this operation.

Who was their target, to warrant such a grand mobilization?

Out of curiosity, Qin Sang asked, only to hear an answer that shocked him.

"Princess Dongyang!"

Their target was actually Princess Dongyang—King Dongyang's daughter and the current emperor's niece!

It was merely an assassin organization from the martial world, yet it dared to oppose the authorities and assassinate a princess. Qin Sang found it hard to imagine. Was the master of Jiangshan Tower truly so audacious as to defy heaven itself, unafraid of bringing calamity that would destroy him utterly?

Only after asking did he learn that this was not Jiangshan Tower's first time killing an official. Ten years ago, a Governor Ma had even been assassinated in broad daylight on the street, shocking Great Sui. Jiangshan Tower had been responsible.

When that happened, the late emperor had flown into a rage, yet Jiangshan Tower had continued to thrive.

Moreover, the name Princess Dongyang made Qin Sang's expression shift uncertainly. He could not help recalling the young lady aboard the ship who had never shown herself. Could she have been Princess Dongyang?

He hurriedly asked for the reason.

According to Jiangshan Tower's intelligence, Princess Dongyang had departed in great fanfare for Chunyang Villa many days ago to escape the summer heat, but she herself had quietly slipped away and vanished without a trace.

Jiangshan Tower had tracked her all the way and only recently uncovered a few faint clues. Princess Dongyang and some of her attendants had disguised themselves as traveling merchants and secretly entered Zhenshui Commandery. If nothing went wrong, they would reach Three Witches City by noon today.

The Three Witches City branch altar planned to set an ambush at Luoma Mountain outside the eastern gate.

Qin Sang was familiar with the people of the Wuwei Escort Agency and had studied the escort agency's maps, carefully learning the terrain around Three Witches City. He knew Luoma Mountain was sparsely populated and precipitous. The road on the mountain had been cut along sheer cliffs, beneath which rolled a vast river below ten-thousand-zhang precipices. The terrain was extremely perilous—perfect for an ambush.

Qin Sang wanted to ask for more details, but the gatekeeper's soul had reached its end and turned into a cloud of soul mist.

Qin Sang needed to think carefully. Two paths lay before him.

One was to pretend he knew nothing, settle his own affairs, and flee far away.

The second was to take a gamble and save the princess.

Not to mention that his benefactor Bai Jianglan might also be there—he had to make the trip to repay that debt.

The Yanluo Banner and Yanwang's uncanny abilities had made Qin Sang basically certain that the Netherworld Scripture was absolutely not ordinary martial arts. Eight or nine times out of ten, it was an immortal cultivation technique.

To ordinary people, he could now be considered an immortal master.

Perhaps "demonic cultivator" or "Demon Lord" would suit him better.

He knew nothing about immortal cultivation. The Netherworld Scripture and the Yanluo Banner had both come from the black-clad Demon Lord; commanding ghosts to kill was wicked in the extreme. If he rashly went seeking immortals and encountered someone like that sword-riding youth, someone who hated evil as though it were a personal enemy and sought to vanquish demons and eliminate devils, then he would truly be left wanting to weep but without tears.

Besides, the world was vast beyond measure. Seeking an immortal opportunity was no different from fishing for a needle in the sea. Using the powerful and noble to come into contact with other immortal masters, then slowly inquiring into the world of immortal cultivators, might be the more prudent course.

Though his mind was deep in thought, Qin Sang's movements did not stop. The east was whitening and dawn was approaching. He did not have much time left.

Inside, he found a stack of books beneath a floor tile under the gatekeeper's bed. They contained the gatekeeper's notes, but they were all fake.

Each time he made a record, the man wrote one true copy and one false one. The false notes were left here, while the real notes were with a courtesan surnamed Li in nearby Red Dust Alley.

This Li Xing Shou was also a Jiangshan Tower assassin. She was somewhat eccentric by nature and enjoyed hiding in the pleasure quarters, entertaining men with her charms. The gatekeeper trusted her greatly, and the two were lovers as well.

To put on a complete show, Qin Sang took all the notes away even though they were fake.

To avoid alerting the snake in the grass, he did not touch the gatekeeper's residence and immediately headed for Red Dust Alley.

At this hour, quite a few people were still moving about Red Dust Alley. Qin Sang spent considerable effort disguising himself before slipping into Li Xing Shou's room.

Li Xing Shou was inside playing with a favored client. Qin Sang could only apologize for the trouble. He found the real notes, took them outside and burned them all, then left the city to find the other three assassins, sparing none of them. Finally, he set the residence ablaze, thoroughly muddying the waters.

After all that bustling about, daylight had fully broken. Qin Sang mounted his horse and raced eastward. He had decided to seize this opportunity and, if possible, infiltrate Princess Dongyang's side to slowly learn about the world of immortal cultivators!

Fearing Jiangshan Tower had watchers who might notice him, Qin Sang did not dare take the main road through Luoma Mountain and instead cut across by smaller paths.

Only near the end of the Hour of the Dragon did he circle around Luoma Mountain. Qin Sang reined in his horse for a brief stop and looked back toward Three Witches City, wondering whether, after the chaos he had stirred up, Jiangshan Tower would still make its move?