East of Cloud Peace City, Guantou Town.
Clip-clop, clip-clop...
Six swift horses galloped down the main road, entered the town under cover of darkness, and stopped outside the inn opposite the town's carriage stable.
Travel-worn Cao Aning had returned to the place where he had experienced the great rises and falls of his life thus far. Inevitably moved, he dismounted and gestured at the carriage stable opposite.
"This used to be a secret property of the Heir of Prince Yan. After Blood Bodhi failed to assassinate Prince Jing, he hid here to recover. Later, I don't know if a horse kicked him in the head or what, but Blood Bodhi went off to assassinate Ye Jingtang. What a spectacular death that was..."
Walking beside him, Xu Tianying pointed toward Jade Pool Mountain at the edge of their view.
"That's Jade Pool Manor. My master, Teng Tianyou, and the other experts conspired to assassinate the Empress, only for Ye Jingtang to stop them single-handedly and kill them all. Even now, no one knows where their bones lie..."
Jia Shengzi, the leader of the six, was a retainer of the Left Xian King, and a resourceful, courageous commander in his own right. But after listening to the pair recount Night Great Yama's magnificent achievements all along the journey, he almost felt he had one foot in the grave by the time they reached Yun'an. After all, compared with such towering figures as Lu Jieyun, Sima Yue, and Duansheng Ji, he did not amount to a hair. Wasn't coming here to assassinate Ye Jingtang simply courting death?
Although Jia Shengzi was utterly loyal to the Left Xian King, no amount of loyalty justified throwing his life away for nothing. After gazing at the lingering glow of the distant city, he said:
"Someone like