A Double Kill! Murder by Proxy

Under the cover of night, Gu Han hurried along.

Rather than heading to the courtyard where Kalon was meeting the Golden Goose Sect's Da Dou Shi, he first went to the Misty Cloud Sect's station in town, just as he had told Mo Feng.

"Senior Brother Zhang."

Upon arriving at the station, Gu Han presented his Identity Token and, led by a disciple, met Zhang Chuchen, who had been waiting for some time.

"Junior Brother." Zhang Chuchen rose to greet him with a smile, carrying an air of refined ease. "Can you tell me now what surprise you have for me?"

That morning, Gu Han had sought him out and invited him down the mountain, saying he had a surprise for him.

Having resigned as head of the Outer Sect Training Hall to devote himself to being Gu Han's Guardian, he naturally had not refused.

Yet after arriving at the station, Gu Han had told him to wait, all the way until now.

"Senior Brother, can I trust you?" Gu Han met Zhang Chuchen's gaze, his expression grave.

Zhang Chuchen's smile faded, and his eyes turned serious. "Junior Brother, as long as you do nothing that harms the Misty Cloud Sect, you can trust me without concern."

"Good." As though making up his mind, Gu Han said, "A mysterious Dou Emperor has taken a liking to my talent and wishes to accept me as his disciple."

Zhang Chuchen: ???

"Junior Brother, are you planning to betray the sect?" Zhang Chuchen frowned. "No, if you intended to betray it, you wouldn't have told me. So you want to leave the sect?"

"No." Gu Han shook his head, dismissing Zhang Chuchen's guess. "The Misty Cloud Sect raised and taught me. I will not betray the sect."

Of course, if the Misty Cloud Sect wronged him in the future, he would strike back as he should.

And once his strength reached a certain level, he would always seek development in a broader world.

"If I were to leave, I would discuss this matter with the Sect Leader," Gu Han answered.

"Then why did you come to me?" Zhang Chuchen was utterly bewildered.

"That Senior wishes to forge a good connection with me." Gu Han told the story he had long prepared. "He said he is from Ice River Valley in the Middle Continent, a force with a Dou Venerate overseeing it."

Zhang Chuchen: ?!

"If I leave the Jia Ma Empire in the future and wish to explore the Dou Qi Continent, I may choose to visit Ice River Valley when I reach the Middle Continent. This is the token he gave me."

As he spoke, Gu Han took out the Hundred Year Cold Jade he had polished into the shape of a jade pendant.

At a glance, it was clearly no ordinary item. Zhang Chuchen immediately believed ninety percent of what Gu Han said.

"That Senior comes from the Middle Continent and must be immensely knowledgeable, so I wanted to ask him to examine your body." Gu Han put away the Cold Jade pendant and continued.

"Examine my body?" Zhang Chuchen froze, then his body began to tremble. "You know about my condition?"

"No, the Sect Leader values you, so it is perfectly normal for you to know about my circumstances."

"Junior Brother, you..."

Excellent. Zhang Chuchen had indeed come up with an explanation himself.

He could not possibly go to Yun Yun to verify such a matter. It would remain a wonderful misunderstanding forever.

"Senior Brother, examining your body is what matters." Gu Han smiled noncommittally.

But to Zhang Chuchen, that smile confirmed that his guess was correct.

"Junior Brother!" Zhang Chuchen's voice trembled. "It can't be easy to have a Dou Emperor from the Middle Continent help me, can it?"

"It isn't that difficult." Gu Han deliberately sounded relaxed. "I merely promised that if I ever have the chance to develop in the Middle Continent, I will consider Ice River Valley first."

Yet Zhang Chuchen felt that things could not possibly be so simple.

Junior Brother Gu Han must have agreed to some conditions from that Senior. He was only keeping silent because he did not want Zhang Chuchen to feel burdened.

"Junior Brother, thank you." Zhang Chuchen solemnly saluted him. "Whether this succeeds or not, from this day onward, you are my brother through life and death."

"You flatter me, Senior Brother." A faint smile appeared on Gu Han's cold face. "Let us go to that Senior's residence now."

All of this was merely a well-intentioned lie he had fabricated in order to take out a Fourth-Grade Pill and resolve Zhang Chuchen's physical condition.

Even Pill King Gu He could not see the problem, so there was no reason for Gu Han to identify it at a glance and devise a solution.

Making up a Senior would also add some weight to his standing and make the sect value him more highly.

With a jade pendant made from Hundred Year Cold Jade as a token, along with resolving Zhang Chuchen's problem,

no one would doubt the truth of his words.

Moreover, resolving Zhang Chuchen's problem with a Fourth-Grade Pill and having a Dou Emperor intervene to resolve it were vastly different favors.

This was called killing two birds with one stone, gaining two benefits in one move.

Oh, no, it was three benefits!

"Oh, right, Senior Brother, this matter should not be publicized." Gu Han spoke as if worried. "I will personally speak to the Sect Leader. If others learn of it, I fear they may target me."

"No problem." Zhang Chuchen agreed at once.

If Gu Han had not intended to help him, he would never have told him about this.

Even if Gu Han had said nothing, he would have kept his mouth shut.

"Excellent, they are here. So Gu Han really did discover a spy's trail. His luck is quite good, but they belong to me now!"

Across from the Misty Cloud Sect's 73 South Street Residence, several finger-sized holes had appeared in the wall of 74 Residence. Several people stood inside, led by Mo Qing.

Through the holes in the wall, he saw someone dressed in a black Night-Walking Garment knock on the door of No. 73. The knocking came twice short and once long, then repeated after five seconds, three times in a row. It was clearly a coded signal.

The courtyard gate opened, and an unremarkable middle-aged man appeared. "Why are you here?"

He seemed quite surprised by the black-clad man's arrival.

Hearing this, Mo Qing instinctively frowned.

But the next moment, his attention was drawn to the conversation between the middle-aged man and the black-clad man.

"You know the item has arrived?" The middle-aged man's tone carried a hint of mockery.

"The item is here?" The black-clad man sounded excited before saying, "Steward, let's speak inside."

"Mm." The middle-aged man was quite satisfied with the black-clad man's caution.

But after hiding in Yunlan Town for more than ten years without being discovered, he did not believe anything unexpected would happen tonight.

"Come in."

The middle-aged man let the black-clad man enter.

At that moment, an Ink Pigeon swiftly descended under the cover of darkness and landed on Mo Qing's shoulder.

"Gu Han has brought people!" Mo Qing's expression turned cold as he said to the four people behind him, "Elder Xuanqing, take them and infiltrate the courtyard. Subdue them silently first."

He had originally intended to seize them directly, but the conversation between the middle-aged man and the black-clad man made him feel that there might be something to gain.

Mo Xuanqing was a One Star Da Dou Shi, originally summoned only because Mo Qing wanted someone to watch his back.

But since he had decided to end this swiftly and without causing a disturbance, he would have a Da Dou Shi make the move.

"Yes, Young Master." Mo Xuanqing clasped his fists in acknowledgment.

With a wave of his hand, he led three Mo Family Dou Masters out of Courtyard 74 and to the wall outside Courtyard 73. He took a ladder from his Storage Ring, set it up, and began climbing quietly.

As a Da Dou Shi and Dou Masters, infiltrating a courtyard without making a sound was naturally no challenge for them.

Unless there was an expert at the Dou Ling level or above, no one could easily detect them.

Boom!

The time it took to drink a cup of tea later,

a violent explosion suddenly erupted within Courtyard 73.

At the same time came Mo Xuanqing's panicked cry: "You're a Seven-Star Dou Grandmaster!"

Mo Qing: ?

"What happened!?"