In the wilderness west of the city, a young man dressed in black stood straight as a sword inside a dilapidated pavilion.
The night shrouded him like a sheer veil. Not a trace of aura escaped his body, and he seemed to have melted into the darkness around him.
Just then, however, a shaft of moonlight slipped through the clouds and fell slantwise across his face.
It illuminated an extraordinarily handsome face.
The young man had swordlike brows and star-bright eyes, and an air of heroic vigor. He was none other than Ye Tianming, the former genius of Cang Mountain Academy who had long fallen silent.
At some point, a dark figure appeared behind him. It seemed to be a man in fitted martial attire, a long saber hanging at his waist. On seeing Ye Tianming, he stopped abruptly, a flicker of surprise crossing his face.
He had failed to sense the other man's aura at all!
Moonlight illuminated the man's face. It was Lin Xiong, the Warrior retainer serving under Fang Qianyuan!
Ye Tianming stood facing the moonlight, his hands clasped behind his back and his eyelids lowered, seemingly lost in thought. Hearing the sound behind him, he neither opened his eyes nor turned around. He merely showed a hint of disappointment and sighed. "Has he truly become so different from before? Even when I come in good faith with information, it's difficult to see him!"
"You misunderstand," Lin Xiong said. "Our young master merely sent me ahead to scout the way. He'll be here shortly."
"Is that so?" Ye Tianming finally turned around and smiled faintly. "He certainly is cautious!"
Lin Xiong did not know Ye Tianming. He only felt that the man's gaze was piercing, yet his bearing was as deep and still as water, restrained to