"Whooo... whooo..."
A cold, sinister wind brushed his face, making Pei Changtian want to cough again, but he pressed his fingers against several acupoints on his body, forcibly suppressing the reflex.
He feared breaking his train of thought, breaking the spirit that had risen within him.
For years, Pei Changtian had appeared calm and decisive while inwardly sinking into despondency. Now, the ambition in his heart had been rekindled.
At that moment, Pei Changtian was like a fierce tiger that had lain dormant for ages, slowly shaking out its fur. An astonishing aura radiated from his entire body, dispelling some of the surrounding chill.
Suddenly, Pei Changtian seemed to hear something. He stepped out of the house into the courtyard and looked in a certain direction. In the dim yellow dusk, as the evening glow slowly faded, nothing unusual seemed visible.
But Pei Changtian had indeed heard it: a crisp crack. The sound was faint, yet unmistakable to him, because it was the sound of a roof tile breaking underfoot.
If a townsman had been climbing onto a roof, there would have been a succession of noises, not a single sharp crack. Someone was using lightness skills to bound across the rooftops and had failed to control their strength upon landing, crushing a tile beneath their foot.
Luling County's town was actually quite small, nowhere near the size of the large county towns in Great Yong's prosperous regions. There was really no need to use such lightness skills merely to get around.
Today, Pei Changtian had abandoned his usual deeply guarded manner, and some recklessness had returned to his nature. He leaped back into the house, snatched a painted theatrical mask from the wall, and went out again, putting it on as he sprang into the air.
Under cover of