Half an hour before Bai Yulin's arm was severed, ten minutes before the three left the building, Qi Qing left the city at the appointed time specified in the Flying Letter he had received that morning. He went to a wooded slope farther away than before and waited to meet its sender.
The sender was none other than Yetos. The letter said they would lead their troops here again today, and this meeting would settle the final details of their operation, including how to assassinate Qi Qing in secret. That was all the letter said.
Qi Qing had fought Yetos several years earlier, but it had been on a pitch-black night. They had only seen each other's eyes, not their faces, so he knew full well that as long as he kept his elemental power concealed when they met, the other man would notice nothing amiss.
However, they had probably already met that bastard Lin Yanmu, so he still had to make a simple disguise, putting a Black Tree-Bark Mask over his face.
Everything was ready. All that remained was for them to arrive. He was quite eager to learn what scheme they would devise to let Lin Yanmu assassinate him in secret.
The setting sun swelled with golden light as the morning quietly slipped away. Birds sang amid fragrant flowers in the woods, and the grass beneath his feet was covered in glittering golden dewdrops. The fresh air cleared his mind. Just a few minutes here seemed enough to relax his entire body, and Qi Qing was no exception. Without realizing it, he closed his eyes, though his awareness remained perfectly sharp.
"Whoosh..." A breeze swept through the woods, rustling the leaves. Mingled with that faint sound was the soft bursting of dewdrops. Quiet as it was, it did