This was the first time Hu Xiaotian had put the skills Unenlightened had taught him to practical use, and the sense of accomplishment was indescribable. Those skills were simply too useful. Even his own father would never have recognized this sleazy, hunchbacked monk with a pigeon chest as his son.
Hu Xiaotian lay flat against the roof tiles, listening for movement inside. Steady breathing came from the room; the false emperor appeared to be asleep. His body slid down the sloping roof like quicksilver, and at the edge he caught the eaves with both hands and hung there, employing the Dark Nether Yin Wind Claw. He dropped soundlessly to the ground without making the slightest noise, then approached the window and leaned his ear close to listen carefully. After a while, he detected nothing unusual.
Just then, a sound came from the eastern meditation room. Hu Xiaotian hurriedly leaped up, caught the eaves, and silently flipped back onto the roof.
Light spilled from the eastern meditation room, and two men emerged-two of the eight experts from the Heavenly Secrets Bureau. One headed straight out of the Samantabhadra Courtyard, while the other carried a lantern around the courtyard on patrol before returning to the eastern meditation room.
Hu Xiaotian thought that would be the end of it, but the man suddenly leaped up, planted one hand on the eaves, and vaulted onto the roof ridge.
Hu Xiaotian had intended to hide, but changed his mind in an instant. He stayed motionless, deliberately exposing himself. The man shouted, "Who's there?"
Without a word, Hu Xiaotian bent his knees slightly and pushed off hard, shooting more than twenty feet above the roof before soaring westward.
The guard leaped into the air as well, though he clearly could not match Hu Xiaotian's height. He