Si Ming Yiyi was half-convinced by Helmsman Jia's words, but as a well-trained Gold-Token Assassin, he naturally knew what he ought to do.
For some time afterward, he settled into the Fuji Trading Company, even helping load and unload goods like a genuine errand boy, doing everything he could to appear clever and obedient.
Everyone showered the new boy with praise, never imagining that he was actually a powerful assassin at half-step core formation.
By mid-May, Si Ming Yiyi's assumed identity had become firmly established. At last, he found an opportunity to use the Transformation Art of Shape-Stealing Skin-Painting to exchange identities with a branch steward disguised as a Demon Hunter.
That branch steward had limited ability and might not be able to play his role perfectly, but as the trading company owner's nephew, he only needed to stay at the branch and help with the work. There was little chance of exposing any flaws.
Si Ming Yiyi could now move freely under the identity of a Demon Hunter.
Their first stop was the wilderness, where they investigated Li Chen's recent troop deployments beyond the outskirts.
"Recently, there have been frequent unusual movements by the Legion in Broad Cloud Ward."
"His Legion is almost entirely privately owned. Whatever he does, he doesn't need approval from above, so no one can obtain intelligence through insiders. But our branch has its own way of spotting clues: we regularly send people to watch the outskirts in all directions. Whenever his forces move out, no matter how careful they are, they always leave a tail showing..."
A branch steward dressed in plain blue cloth, in the manner of a rogue cultivator, described their recent findings to Si Ming Yiyi.
"Over the past few months, we really have noticed something unusual."
"You mean he's been