Ambush

The night passed without incident. The next morning, Leian rose early as usual to head out for training.

The day passed quickly. After dinner, he skipped his meditation, instead dressing early in his night gear and strapping on his longsword, waiting silently in his bedroom.

As the time he had left the previous night approached, Leian slipped out of the small courtyard without a sound, then hid on a rooftop outside Laman Manor, quietly watching the entire estate.

Before long, three figures appeared in his line of sight, avoiding the patrol teams, vaulting over the manor walls one after another, and darting off toward the outskirts of town.

Seeing this, Leian suppressed his presence and quietly followed.

Once outside the town, Leian slowed his pace. The wilderness was open and barren, and since he did not practice Dark Battle Qi, he dared not follow too closely.

By the time the riverbank outside the town appeared in his view, the Laman party had grown to five; they had clearly rendezvoused with Commander Cal and the guard captain, Kelun.

The five of them whispered to each other as they traveled, but because Leian was too far away, he could not hear the specifics of their conversation.

Soon, the Laman party stepped onto the main road leading to Hashan Prefecture City, yet they did not head toward the city, instead moving in the opposite direction.

Leian was not surprised to see this, as the direction Laman was heading was precisely where the territory of the Cleo Family lay.

However, after traveling for a distance, the five men suddenly stopped on a slope by the side of the road.

Leian followed suit, crouching down to hide and observing with focused attention, only to see the five men hiding behind the hillside, looking as if they were prepared for a battle.

Seeing this, Leian was slightly puzzled, wondering to himself, Could it be that Elvis will pass through here tonight?

Harboring this suspicion, he slowed his breathing and waited silently in place.

This wait lasted over an hour. As midnight approached, there was finally movement on the main road ahead.

Leian's spirit jolted, and he immediately focused his vision, peering into the distance. Soon, he saw a group of travelers round the slope and appear in his line of sight.

The group was small, numbering only eight, walking in pairs with long, hurried strides.

Because the night was thick and the distance great, Leian could only count the number of people; he could not see their faces clearly, and thus could not confirm if Elvis was among them.

However, just as the group rounded the slope, Laman and his men jumped out decisively. The five of them held their weapons high, charging at the rear of the group like tigers descending from a mountain.

"Who goes there?"

The low, booming shout echoed across the wilderness. At the same time, a figure leaped out from the traveling party, flying to meet the sudden attack.

Clearly, there was an expert in this group as well. The moment Laman and his men made their move, their presence was called out by the opponent.

However, Laman's party had planned for this. Caught off guard by the ambush, the "expert" could not fend off so many attackers at once. Although he successfully blocked one person's strike, the four others at the rear of the group were either killed or wounded.

Facing the shout, the five men from Laman ignored it entirely. Before the operation, they had prepared for every contingency; in an instant, they recognized the "expert" who had jumped out to save the others as Elvis Cleo.

Immediately, Commander Cal turned, his giant axe hacking down repeatedly, each strike aimed at Elvis's vitals.

"It's you!"

Elvis's eyes blazed with fire. As he parried with his blade, he roared in anger, clearly having recognized Laman and the others.

In fact, Laman and his men had not covered their faces. After all, they were in the same prefecture with adjacent territories, and they were all very familiar with one another. If they weren't going to fight, so be it, but once they did, there was no hiding their identities.

Therefore, there was no need for such superfluous actions.

At this moment, Laman and his son, Captain Kelun, and the steward Ryan took advantage of Cal pinning down Elvis to strike, taking four more lives in an instant.

During the hunt half a month ago, the Elvis Family's guard unit had suffered a devastating blow, with all their experts dying in the Youquan Mountain Range. In the current group, the strongest was only a level five warrior—they were no match for Laman's men.

Under the cover of night, the shrill, miserable screams sent a chill through the heart.

Just as Laman and his men finished off the last guard, Elvis finally forced Cal back. He held his long blade horizontally to protect himself and retreated rapidly, stopping only after putting a dozen meters of distance between them.

Perhaps feeling that victory was in sight, or perhaps to wear down Elvis's will, Laman did not pursue. Instead, he lowered his voice and urged:

"Elvis, it's two against one. You have no chance left. Surrender now. As long as I get what I want, I guarantee I will spare your son's life. How about it?"

Elvis remained completely unmoved, his eyes locked onto Laman as he asked in a sharp tone: "Laman, how did you know I would be leaving tonight?"

Laman chuckled. "Elvis, neither of us is a fool. Why bother with pointless probing? You just want to know who tipped me off, right? What harm is there in telling you?"

With his thoughts seen through by Laman, Elvis was not disappointed. Indeed, as Laman said, they were no fools. His decision to travel secretly at night had been made on the spur of the moment. For Laman to grasp his movements so precisely, there was only one possibility:

There was a traitor in his inner circle leaking information!

However, having a traitor was not the scary part; the scary part was not knowing who the traitor was.

Just a moment ago, Elvis had quickly run through the names of the few people who knew about tonight's operation in his mind, yet he still could not identify the traitor, which made a chill run down his spine.

Hearing Laman's words, he took a deep breath and asked in a low voice: "Who is it?"

"It's Bird, your steward. Didn't see that coming, did you? Hahaha..."

Laman stated the traitor's identity without the slightest hesitation, and after speaking, he laughed with a face full of smugness.

Elvis's expression had turned ghastly, his eyes filled with disbelief. "Bird? Impossible. How could this be?"

The Bird that Laman spoke of was a level five warrior, already over sixty years old. He had been the steward of the Cleo Family for over thirty years, and he was a native born and raised on the family's land. For such a person to betray his lord was truly unbelievable.

Under normal circumstances, it would indeed be impossible for Bird to betray them, but human hearts are fickle, and furthermore, there were factors involving the Cleo Family at play.

As mentioned before, to maintain the family's livelihood, Elvis's father often led the guard unit to hunt magical beasts, during which the guard unit suffered heavy casualties.

As it happened, Bird's two sons and one grandson all possessed decent talent as warriors and had joined the guard unit one after another. Unfortunately, all three of them had died in the Youquan Mountain Range.

In particular, Bird's only grandson had died in battle just half a month ago. With his death, Bird's line had ended, which left him with more than a little resentment in his heart.

Just then, Bird inadvertently discovered the truth behind this magical beast hunt, a truth that made him feel his grandson's death had been utterly worthless.

Afterward, the more he thought about it, the more resentful he became, and gradually, the idea of taking revenge on the Cleo Family took root in his heart.

As the butler of the Cleo Family, he was well aware that Baron Laman had long coveted the Cleo estate, which made Laman the perfect partner for Bird.

Soon, the two sides made contact. Under Bird's cover, Laman had his trusted subordinates bring the Green-Eyed Demon Falcon raised by his family to lurk within the Cleo Family's territory, facilitating communication between them.

This Green-Eyed Demon Falcon was not a magical beast and possessed no offensive capabilities; its only advantage was its rapid flight speed. It was often used as a short-distance messenger and was kept in several small towns within Laman's territory. It was precisely thanks to this bird that they were able to track Elvis's movements so accurately.

As it happened, Elvis was severely injured this time and required the treatment of at least an eighth-rank Light Mage. Given the prestigious status of an eighth-rank mage on the continent, it was impossible for the Cleo Family to invite one to their home for treatment, and they might not even be able to produce the gold coins required for the service.

Of course, there was another way: purchasing a healing magic scroll crafted by an eighth-rank Light Mage.

However, such scrolls were extremely rare and expensive, and they might not even be for sale in the county seat. Elvis neither had the time to wait nor the peace of mind to send someone else with such a large sum of money to make the purchase.

After much deliberation, he had no choice but to act himself. Yet, the news of his severe injury had already spread far and wide; once he made a move, outsiders could easily guess his intentions.

Carrying such a fortune while suffering from grave injuries, there was no guarantee that bandits wouldn't target him.

Therefore, Elvis chose to set out quietly at night, intending to reach the county seat as quickly as possible. If the county seat didn't have a healing scroll for sale, he could at least hire a few mercenaries to protect him on the way to the provincial capital.

The plan had been meticulous, but unfortunately, there was a traitor in his midst.

However, having experienced life and death, Elvis quickly adjusted his emotions and stopped dwelling on the reason for Bird's betrayal. At this moment, he took a deep breath and said slowly:

"Laman, isn't it the wealth our Cleo Family has accumulated over the years that you want?"

"That's right, in order to treat my injuries, I did indeed bring all our family's assets with me. I can hand this money over to you, and I can treat tonight's events as if they never happened. Once you have the money, we can call it even, how about that?"

Upon hearing this, Laman curled his lips and sneered, "Elvis, do you think that's possible?"

Elvis's expression turned slightly ugly, and his voice suddenly grew cold.

"Laman, do you really have to be this ruthless? It's true that I am severely injured, but if you push me too far, it wouldn't be impossible for me to take a couple of people down with me before I die. Do you dare to gamble on that?"

Laman's mouth hooked into a smile as he chuckled, "If you hadn't said that, I might have been a bit worried. But now, I'm even more certain that your injuries are far worse than I imagined!"

"You!" Elvis gritted his teeth and glared at Laman, his eyes burning with rage.

Seeing this, Laman suddenly gave a light laugh, "Alright, I was just joking. It's not impossible to let you go, but besides the gold coins, I want one more thing. As long as you are willing to hand it over, I guarantee I will keep my word."

Elvis's heart stirred. Only then did he realize that Laman's goal wasn't the gold coins after all. After a moment of thought, a sense of unease crept into his heart, and he instinctively probed:

"What do you want?"

Laman's eyes narrowed slightly, and his expression turned serious in an instant, "A technique. I want the secret heritage manual of the Cleo Family!"

Before the words had even faded, Elvis's heart gave a violent jolt. For a split second, a flicker of panic flashed in his eyes, but he quickly regained control of his expression and said indifferently:

"It's just a battle qi manual. Although precious, what matters most for a warrior is the person practicing it. Sharing it with you is not out of the question. I agree."

Upon hearing this, Laman suddenly sneered, "Don't be so quick to agree. What I want isn't just the battle qi manual, there is also—"

He paused for a moment, then said word by word:

"There is also the Cleo Family Beast Transformation Secret Technique!"