While Zhao Xincheng was still turning things over in his mind, Pan Long had already arrived at the Duke of Chen's Residence.
The mansion stood on the outskirts of North Winter City. It was not particularly large, and at first glance, it looked no different from the home of any wealthy family.
Pan Long used Stealth and was about to pass through the open gate when he suddenly frowned and stopped.
He looked at the screen wall facing the gate. Its relief depicted a fully armed hunter with an eagle perched on his shoulder and a Hunting Hound lying at his feet.
The hunter's body was turned slightly to one side, so his face did not point outward. The eagle and Hunting Hound, however, were both looking toward the gate.
Though they were only carvings, Pan Long clearly felt two gazes projecting from the screen wall, watching the entrance.
He did not know where those gazes came from, but instinct told him that if he swaggered straight in, they might spot some trace of him.
Stealth could not truly make him cease to exist. He still walked across the ground; the skill merely reduced the traces he left behind.
An expert skilled at tracking could still spot his footprints if they watched where he walked.
And the two gazes from the screen wall seemed to have precisely that ability.
He frowned and retreated behind the outer wall. After a moment's thought, he leaped lightly upward. Like a leaf caught in the wind, he drifted over the wall, swayed slowly through the air a few times to survey the grounds, then landed softly.
Quite a few servants patrolled the mansion, and every one of them knew martial arts. Moving quietly among them, he swept his gaze around and soon spotted several