Catching Their Trail

The two of them trailed the old man out of the village... Strictly speaking, the more cautious approach would have been for one to follow him while the other stayed behind to observe the village.

But Wang Qi felt that if even an old man from such a remote village had the wits to play tricks on him, he would just have to accept defeat.

They then spent an entire day traveling, only reaching an estate in the southwestern corner of Fei County after the sky had gone completely dark.

Wang Qi and Ran Jiao exchanged looks, clearly not expecting the old man to end up here... Or rather, they had not expected these bandits who had swept up the common people to have connections with the county's wealthy, powerful households.

"I'll do a quick reconnaissance first. Once we've confirmed everything, we can gather the others here," Wang Qi said, his tone slightly questioning.

"Are you confident you can sneak in without being discovered?" Ran Jiao asked.

Wang Qi nodded. "Don't forget, I also know the Light-Concealing Shadow-Masking Spell. That should be enough."

Ran Jiao did not seem surprised at all. Instead, as though she had been waiting for him to say precisely that, she replied, "So you do remember what the Light-Concealing Shadow-Masking Spell is actually meant for. What a rare thing."

Wang Qi felt a little embarrassed, but he did not think there was anything wrong with it. Instead, he said, "I only have a limited set of skills, so of course I have to dig into their potential to produce the effects I need. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"

Ran Jiao did not want to listen to his reasoning, knowing she would never win an argument against him. She waved a hand. "Get moving. I'll sneak in from the northeast, and you enter from the southwest... Reconnaissance only, no fighting. We'll meet back here in two hours."

With that, she left, looking thoroughly unwilling to work alongside Wang Qi... Not because she worried he was unprofessional, but because she felt that if they worked together, there might be nothing left for her to do.

Have I been rejected again? Wang Qi felt a little dejected and nearly sank into self-doubt.

He simply could not understand why so many people seemed to find him objectionable lately.

Once he had cast the Light-Concealing Shadow-Masking Spell on himself, his figure slowly faded.

The spell could not make his figure disappear completely, but on a lightless night, it could render him truly invisible.

He walked through the darkness, certain that no one would discover him as long as he avoided the direct glow of the flickering flames.

In fact, as soon as he entered the estate and saw its tight security and conspicuously excessive number of guards, he knew he must have found the bandits' lair.

But he still needed further confirmation, ideally of the bandits' leadership... The intelligence Xu Ping had initially provided was vague, so they would have to investigate for themselves.

At the center of the estate stood a fortified compound.

Its outermost perimeter was ringed by tall, thick brick walls, much like the walls of a castle.

Inside the compound, the buildings were tightly packed. Rows of small houses stood against the walls, forming what looked like another wall around the larger buildings within... These were the quarters of the private soldiers and servants.

The larger buildings in the innermost section included granaries and the owners' residence. There was a little more room there, but overall, it still felt crowded.

Looking at the brick walls within the compound, Wang Qi could clearly sense the weight of more than a hundred years... It seemed this stronghold had been built during the wars between the various states before Great Peng was founded. That it had survived to this day showed that its owners also belonged to a lineage of considerable age.

Fortified compounds were crucial to preserving clans through troubled times. Their walls could shield the clan's younger generations from the refugees and marauding troops outside, allowing their lineage to continue in peace.

But to Wang Qi, these towering walls were now as easy to traverse as level ground. Concealing his figure, he clung to the edge of the wall and climbed straight up.

Even with private soldiers standing guard atop the wall, none could make out his presence.

In fact, at that very moment, the old man who had come to pass on the warning had only just reached the compound's gate. His identity had been checked, and he was about to enter!

Wang Qi stayed atop the wall and watched the old man being led inside. A patrolling private soldier walked past behind him... Nothing happened.

This could not even be called gambling with his life. Wang Qi was confident that even if he were discovered, he could react in the shortest possible time.

From the wall, he committed the layout of the entire compound to memory, then climbed down along its inner face.

Below lay a dense cluster of brick-and-tile houses. As he passed between them, he could see rows of communal sleeping platforms inside, with many people snoring away.

Almost the entire compound had been turned into a barracks. Its owners' involvement with the bandits was already nailed down beyond doubt... It seemed that after sweeping up the displaced commoners, the bandits had roamed the countryside for a while before coming here.

He soon made his way through the maze-like passages between the tightly packed brick-and-tile houses and reached the main thoroughfare... He had cautiously avoided the rooftops, since his light-footed movement skills were poor and he feared someone might hear him.

Fortunately, the compound had not lit enough braziers, probably to save fuel. With his concealment active, no one could spot Wang Qi even as he walked straight along the main thoroughfare.

At this point, he even had the leisure to consider how to improve his Light-Concealing Shadow-Masking Spell... He realized that after successfully casting it, he might be able to increase its duration by prolonging the mental fluctuation at the end.

This inspiration had come after he had remained invisible for a while, felt the spiritual force on the surface of his body dissipating, and hurriedly cast the Light-Concealing Shadow-Masking Spell a second time.

It had helped him discover the trick to extending the spell's duration, and might also offer a direction for the Light-Concealing Shadow-Masking Barrier he had long envisioned.

He continued forward, enthusiastically turning these matters over in his mind, only for a small stone to suddenly come hurtling in front of him... He quickly turned sideways and caught it, then stopped with a start...

He hurriedly looked in the direction it had come from and saw a dark silhouette lying low on a roof ridge. Had he not looked carefully, and had his eyes not been able to see at night, he would never have noticed someone crouching there.

That had to be Ran Jiao. She had arrived too.

But why was she stopping him from entering the owners' courtyard?

After a moment's thought, he refrained from acting rashly. Instead, he carefully took a wide detour to the other side, then cautiously climbed the tall wall surrounding the owners' courtyard at its darkest corner.

This time, Ran Jiao did not stop him. Instead, she hugged the rooftop, her slender waist twisting like a water snake as she moved soundlessly over to join him on the same side.

Only then did she whisper into Wang Qi's ear, "Don't rush inside. There's a fairly formidable martial artist stationed in there... I'll send word to Sima Xu and the others now. What we've seen here is enough to establish what's going on."

Wang Qi nodded and asked curiously, "How will you send word? Do we need to leave first?"

Ran Jiao said softly, "No need. I have my own special method of communication. Once I've sent the message, we'll stay hidden here and keep watching. When the others arrive, we can help coordinate their movements."

Wang Qi nodded at that. He was simply a little curious about how Ran Jiao would send the message.