The Bells Rang

The courtyard wall wasn't high. With Zhao Yijiu's skills, slipping over it without a sound wasn't difficult.

That was exactly what he did.

Even without a single weapon on him, he'd recklessly ventured into the area that might contain the mission's boss, all by himself.

Zhao Yijiu knew the people busy in the front courtyard hadn't overlooked the importance of the rear one. What he was doing now was no different from what Luo Xiangfeng had done. To everyone else, they were both the sort who couldn't keep their nerve and had to charge in first—the "cannon fodder."

But it didn't matter. In return, acting alone gave him an awful lot of advantages.

He landed in the darkness like a cat.

The weeds beneath his feet were flattened, and a few small pebbles rolled away despite his efforts. Still, such faint sounds shouldn't have startled the old man, who looked as if he were on the verge of death.

—Assuming the old man was human.

Zhao Yijiu waited a moment, figuring that if the old man came for him, he'd fight him. Once he was sure nothing had noticed him, he continued deeper into the courtyard.

The layout of the rear courtyard was much stranger than the front.

Several houses were scattered around the grounds in a haphazard arrangement. Wildflowers and weeds grew unchecked, and simple paths had been laid in places with stone slabs.

The place where he'd climbed over the wall was fairly close to the courtyard gate, but as soon as he entered, a house blocked his view. Silver bells hung from all four corners of its roof. They seemed heavy; when the wind blew, they only swayed slightly and made no sound.

After studying the bells for a few moments, Zhao Yijiu carefully went around the