The next day, the sky had only just begun to brighten.
Chen Chen silently left the safe house.
He changed into an even more inconspicuous set of coarse hemp clothes, painted several scars across his face with medicine, and added a broad conical hat. Altogether, he looked like a down-and-out mercenary who had eked out a living in the Black Mist Mountain Range for years.
Using the Breath Concealment Art, he suppressed his cultivation once more to the Body Tempering Realm—and the sort of Body Tempering Realm whose aura was unsteady, as if he had suffered internal injuries.
As he walked through the streets, he drew no one's attention.
Just as Steward Wang had said, the atmosphere throughout Tianfeng City had changed.
There were noticeably more martial artists on the streets, their gazes sharp and their auras fierce.
They moved in groups of three or five, seemingly wandering about idly, but their eyes constantly swept over passing pedestrians—especially those wearing conical hats or otherwise acting suspiciously.
Chen Chen knew that these people were all Liang Family informants.
The Liang Family was truly desperate.
Aside from the Liang Family's people, Chen Chen also keenly sensed an intermittent, icy killing intent lurking in certain shadowy corners of the city.
That killing intent had been locked onto him all along.
A Blood Fiend Tower assassin!
He was like a venomous snake lurking beneath the water, patiently waiting for the moment his prey exposed an opening.
"How interesting."
Chen Chen sneered inwardly.
He was like a dancer walking along a blade's edge, enemies all around him. One careless misstep, and he would be doomed beyond redemption.
Yet he happened to relish that thrill.
He did not go to the Land God Temple in the west of the city.
It was too early to go there now. It would only expose him.
His agreement with Lin Yueru was to make their move three days later—that was, today.
But he still needed one final confirmation with Lin Yueru.
To confirm the details of the plan, and to confirm the other party's resolve.
He came to the shore of Cuiwei Lake in the east of the city, where he had first "made contact" with Lin Yueru.
Cuiwei Lake in the early morning was still veiled in a thin mist, as beautiful as a fairyland.
But today, that white figure was nowhere to be seen by the lake.
Chen Chen was not surprised.
With something this huge happening, Lin Yueru, as the eldest daughter of the Lin Family, could not possibly still have the leisure to come here and gather morning dew as she once had.
He found a concealed grove and did not show himself.
Instead, he took a small paper crane from his storage bag.
It was a little trinket he had bought on the side while purchasing information from the Shadow Tower.
A Sound Transmission Paper Crane.
A low-grade talisman that could carry a strand of Spiritual Sense or a sentence, then automatically fly to its designated target.
Though it could easily be intercepted, it was perfectly suited for passing along simple messages when a meeting was inconvenient.
Chen Chen imprinted a strand of Spiritual Sense onto the paper crane.
"Tonight at midnight, at the Mass Grave west of the city. When Wang Teng trades with the Blood Fiend Tower and is caught red-handed, that will be the moment for us to act. I will draw everyone out. You will stop the assassin pursuing me. Once it is done, Wang Teng's life is mine. His storage bag is yours. This is the final confirmation."
After finishing, he lightly tossed the paper crane toward the residence in the east of the city known as Tingxue Small Residence.
The paper crane transformed into a streak of white light and silently vanished into the morning mist.
Chen Chen did not linger and turned to leave.
He knew that all the bait had been cast.
Now, it depended on how many big fish he could hook tonight.
Tingxue Small Residence.
Within the residence, the fragrance of plum blossoms drifted through the air.
Clad in white, Lin Yueru stood quietly beneath a blooming winter plum tree, her expression cold and serene.
Before her stood a Lin Family Dark Guard with a respectful expression.
"Miss, the Family Head has ordered the entire city sealed off. All Dark Guards are searching for the gray-clad man who won the Azure Cloud Token. But... so far, there are still no clues. That person seems to have vanished into thin air."
"I understand." Lin Yueru's voice revealed neither joy nor anger. "Continue searching."
"Yes." The Dark Guard bowed and withdrew.
"Miss," the personal maid who had always followed her could not help asking, "could that gray-clad man have already fled the city?"
"No." Lin Yueru shook her head, her tone certain.
"Why?" the maid asked in confusion.
"Instinct," Lin Yueru said flatly.
She did not know why herself, but she always felt that the mysterious gray-clad man had definitely not left.
He was still in Tianfeng City.
And he was surely plotting something.
Just then.
A snow-white paper crane passed over the courtyard wall and silently landed before her.
The maid's expression changed. She immediately drew her sword and said warily, "Miss, be careful! This is..."
"No need to be nervous."
Lin Yueru waved a hand, signaling for her to step back.
She recognized the paper crane.
This was how that mysterious person contacted her.
She extended a slender jade finger and tapped it lightly.
The paper crane turned into specks of light and dissipated, while a message flooded into her mind.
"Tonight at midnight, west of the city, the Mass Grave..."
After receiving the entire message, ripples finally stirred across Lin Yueru's cold face.
Her pupils contracted slightly.
"He... is really going to make his move."
Seeing the shifting expression on her mistress's face, the maid asked anxiously, "Miss, what did that person say this time?"
Lin Yueru fell silent for a moment before slowly speaking, her voice carrying a trace of complicated emotion that even she had not noticed.
"He told me that tonight would be Wang Teng's day of death."
"What?!" The maid was greatly alarmed. "He... he really intends to kill Wang Teng? In Tianfeng City?"
Wang Teng was an Inner Sect Disciple of the Azure Cloud Sect!
Killing an Inner Sect Disciple of the Azure Cloud Sect in Tianfeng City was simply an earth-shattering affair!
"Miss, this is far too dangerous! That person is clearly using our Lin Family!" the maid urged anxiously. "We cannot let him use us as a spear!"
"Use us as a spear?" A cold killing intent flashed through Lin Yueru's eyes. "As long as Wang Teng can be killed, what does it matter if he uses us as a spear?"
The humiliation from a year ago was a thorn in her heart that could never be removed.
If Wang Teng did not die, her Dao Heart could never rest easy!
"But... the Blood Fiend Tower... that is a demonic organization! What if..."
"There is no what if." Lin Yueru cut her off, her gaze becoming incomparably resolute.
"Fortune is sought amid danger. This time is both a crisis and an opportunity our Lin Family may not encounter even once in a hundred years!"
"If we can obtain proof that Wang Teng colluded with the demonic path, not only can I avenge my hatred, but the entire Lin Family can also win a tremendous favor from the Azure Cloud Sect!"
"When that time comes, let alone one Azure Cloud Token—even ten or a hundred—the Azure Cloud Sect will have to obediently send them to us!"
The maid was frightened by the crazed gleam in her mistress's eyes.
She had never seen her mistress so out of control.
"Pass down my order." Lin Yueru took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down, her voice returning to its usual chill.
"Have every elite remaining in the residence head to the outskirts of the Mass Grave west of the city tonight and await orders!"
"Remember, without my command, no one is to act rashly!"
"Yes, Miss!" The maid did not dare say another word and hurriedly bowed to accept the order.
Watching the maid's departing figure, Lin Yueru raised her head and looked toward the sky.
The skies over Tianfeng City were about to change.
And she, Lin Yueru, would be the one... holding the pieces on the board!
Before you continue