In Hand

"These three Chizuru Family contacts—two Great Samurai and one Onmyoji..."

Information from the Grey Mirror surfaced in Su Yuan's mind.

The Great Samurai of Fusang Kingdom were equivalent to Xia Kingdom's Huajin Grandmasters, while Onmyoji were beings closest to Great Onmyoji.

Onmyoji had frail bodies but powerful minds, and their methods were strange and unpredictable.

With two Great Samurai, whose bodies were powerful, protecting the Onmyoji, the Onmyoji could bring out one hundred percent—one hundred and twenty percent—of their strength.

Of course, whether Great Samurai or Onmyoji, both were exceedingly rare in Fusang Kingdom.

Even a powerful family like the Chizuru Family had only a handful.

If not for the Tianshan Snow Lotus being crucial to the condition of the Chizuru Family's Great Onmyoji, the family wouldn't have been willing to pay such a high price.

"They should have entered Room 6006 by now."

Su Yuan thought to himself.

Since his Room 6009 was an independent room in a corner, it was quite far from Room 6006.

The hotel rooms were indeed numbered in order: 6001, 6002, 6003... But once they reached the end, the next room was across the hall, starting from the other side.

Room 6009 was one such room.

"In twenty minutes, the fleeing Fusang citizen will also arrive at Yuan'an Hotel. He'll follow the instructions he agreed on with the contact, enter Room 6006, and hand over the Tianshan Snow Lotus."

Su Yuan thought to himself.

With the Grey Mirror, he knew the Fusang citizen's plans inside out—even better than the three contacts did.

Nine minutes later.

Su Yuan stood up, opened the door to Room 6009, and turned the final digit, "9," in the room number all the way around.

The original Room 6009 thus became Room 6006.

After doing that, Su Yuan went back inside and waited quietly.

Thirty seconds later.

Su Yuan felt a faint vibration from the elevator.

Ten seconds later, he heard a soft knock at the door.

The knocking wasn't continuous. The person paused briefly after every two or three knocks.

Seeing this, Su Yuan immediately went over and gently knocked back from inside, answering the person outside.

The knocks were actually a secret signal between the Fusang contact and the fleeing Fusang citizen.

The other party would only come in if the signal matched.

If the signal was wrong, or if there was any hesitation, the fleeing Fusang citizen would turn around and leave without a second thought.

If necessary, he would even destroy the Tianshan Snow Lotus.

Click.

The door opened.

Su Yuan looked outside.

A middle-aged man stood at the door. He had an ordinary, unremarkable face.

But Su Yuan knew that he was also a Great Samurai. Otherwise, he couldn't have fled from Northern Heavenly Mountain to Magic City while being hunted by Xia Kingdom.

"Qi-kun, you've had a long journey."

Su Yuan ushered him inside and spoke in fluent Fusangese.

As a cultivator with both intelligence and comprehension, Su Yuan had a terrifying capacity for learning.

He might not be able to learn the whole Fusang language in a short time, but memorizing a few specific phrases was easy.

Welcoming the fleeing Fusang citizen inside and saying, "Qi-kun, you've had a long journey," in Fusangese was also part of the Grey Mirror's plan.

Su Yuan didn't need to learn Fusangese properly. He only had to say that phrase at the right moment.

"For the glory of the Chizuru!"

The fleeing Fusang citizen, Qi-kun, replied in Fusangese, his eyes gleaming with fervor.

Then he looked at Su Yuan.

To make sure the Tianshan Snow Lotus would be safely sent back to Fusang, the fleeing Fusang citizen, Qi-kun, hadn't been told anything about the contact. Who was the contact? How many contacts were there? He knew none of it.

Otherwise, if he were caught by Xia Kingdom's authorities and couldn't withstand their special interrogation, wouldn't the contact be exposed too?

Although Qi-kun considered himself absolutely loyal to his family and believed that even if he died, he would never reveal the contact's identity, the Chizuru Family didn't trust him.

In short, the Chizuru Family had already planned for the possibility that Qi-kun might be caught, break under interrogation, and reveal the contact.

That was precisely why they would never tell him anything about the contact.

The only thing Qi-kun knew was the secret signal.

"Lord Chizuru will remember what you've done."

Su Yuan nodded and spoke.

The Lord Chizuru he meant was Chizuru Shin, the Chizuru Family's Great Onmyoji.

After that.

The two chatted for a while.

They talked about their hometown, their family, and matters within the clan—even some trivial little things.

Su Yuan responded correctly to everything, giving Qi-kun no reason to suspect him.

"Kawashige-kun, I hope we can celebrate the next cherry blossom festival in our hometown together."

Qi-kun spoke earnestly. After their brief conversation, he'd found that Chizuru Kawashige, the man before him, shared his temperament and outlook on life. It was as if he'd found a kindred spirit he hadn't seen in years.

If he hadn't had a mission to complete, he would have asked Su Yuan which generation of the Chizuru Family he belonged to.

Qi-kun had been away from his family for far too long.

"Qi-kun, business comes first. Lord Chizuru is waiting!"

Su Yuan abruptly changed the subject and spoke to Qi-kun with a serious expression.

During their conversation, Su Yuan had made up a name for himself: Chizuru Kawashige.

"That's right. Business comes first."

Qi-kun nodded. He knew they could reminisce after they'd safely sent the snow lotus back.

Realizing this, Qi-kun opened the black duffel bag he'd brought with him and took out a metal briefcase.

The metal briefcase was small, about twenty centimeters long and wide. Qi-kun solemnly pushed it in front of Su Yuan.

"Kawashige-kun, the snow lotus is inside. The family knows the password. Just get it back to them."

Qi-kun briefly explained the briefcase to Su Yuan.

A self-destruct mechanism was built into the briefcase. Once activated, it would destroy the Tianshan Snow Lotus inside.

This was the Chizuru Family's contingency plan. If they truly couldn't bring the snow lotus back, they would destroy it.

"Understood."

Su Yuan nodded and took the metal briefcase.

Qi-kun felt a huge weight lift from his heart.

His mission would be complete once he handed the snow lotus to the contact.

From beginning to end, Qi-kun never once suspected Su Yuan's true identity.

Everything had gone according to plan from the moment he entered Yuan'an Hotel.

The room number was correct, the secret signal matched, and his conversation with Su Yuan had gone without a hitch. Even when he tested Su Yuan with questions, he'd received perfect answers.

He could say that even if someone came along now and told him Su Yuan wasn't the family's contact, Qi-kun wouldn't believe them.

If Su Yuan wasn't the contact, then who was?

"Qi-kun, be careful from here on."

Su Yuan said.

"I will."

Qi-kun stood up, turned, and headed for the door.

After Qi-kun left, Su Yuan shut the door.

Then he carried the metal briefcase to the window and climbed out.

Outside the window of Room 6009 was a street.

At this hour, there weren't many people on the street. The few who were there wouldn't look in Su Yuan's direction.

This was another part of the Grey Mirror's plan: leave the hotel by climbing out the window.

Two minutes later.

Su Yuan was already far from Yuan'an Hotel.

"The Tianshan Snow Lotus?"

Su Yuan looked at the metal briefcase in his hand.

The metal briefcase was exceptionally well made, crafted from a special alloy. The only way to open it was to enter the correct password.

Furthermore, the metal briefcase couldn't be opened by any other means. If someone tried to force it open, they would trigger the self-destruct mechanism inside.

"The password..."

Su Yuan looked at the metal briefcase, a smile appearing on his face.

If there had been another way to open the briefcase, Su Yuan might have had to go to some trouble.

Even if it had only been secured with an iron lock, Su Yuan would have needed to be careful, worried that he might damage the Tianshan Snow Lotus inside.

But a password? To Su Yuan, that was as good as nothing.