Chapter 24: Assassination and Forced Breakthrough to the Courtyard

At the mountain pass, Qin Anyu sat on a boulder, holding dried meat in his left hand and a wine jar in his right. Through the gaps in the trees and leaves, he observed the old courtyard nestled in the valley opposite.

Taking a bite of meat, a swig of wine, and occasionally a roasted yam, he seemed quite at ease.

As dusk approached, he finished the two-pound jar of wine, put it away, shoved the remaining meat into his mouth, and began to make his way toward the opposite side, crouching low.

After half a day of observation, he had gained a clear understanding of the situation. The terrain formed a semi-elliptical arc; Qin Anyu was at the edge of one opening, while the old courtyard stood at the other. Though the straight-line distance was only a little over a mile, reaching it required a five-mile trek.

The Intelligence Sect suspected that the old courtyard was a contact point for a mysterious organization. He had confirmed their suspicions were correct. During his observation, he had seen several people entering and leaving, including a middle-aged man named Chen Qi.

On the mountain behind the courtyard, there was a cave containing at least five Qi Refining stage cultivators and twenty-one in the latter three realms of the Qi Nourishing stage. Surrounding the cave were five hidden sentries, all at the eighth realm. The people in the courtyard could see each of them. The closest one to Qin Anyu was only a mile away, positioned on a low cliff.

This sentry’s task was simple and tedious: to watch the entrance below the courtyard and prevent any surprise attacks. He was not the only one watching the entrance; there were three others.

"Twenty miles from the main road, the terrain is complex, and bandits are stationed nearby. Even the prefectural army wouldn't dare attack, so who would come here?" Despite his internal complaints, bound by duty and the intimidation of those overseeing the courtyard, he dared not leave his post except to relieve himself, keeping a sporadic watch on the entrance.

Suddenly, he saw a figure dash out from ahead, sword in hand, charging at him like lightning.

Stunned, he instinctively shifted his weight backward while letting out a roar. But the figure was too fast. Before his brain could process the command to retreat and his throat could vibrate, the opponent’s sword had already entered his mouth and pierced through.

He felt an instant of excruciating pain and sensed his consciousness rapidly fading. His only thought was: "How did he climb up without a sound, and why is he so fast?" He never found the answer before slipping into eternal darkness.

Qin Anyu quickly withdrew his simple sword, propped the body against a stone, and, before leaving, cut three azalea bushes and placed them in front of the corpse so it looked like it was bowing to admire the flowers. He then continued crouching toward the ridge.

There were two eighth-realm sentries on the ridge, one looking toward the valley and the other toward the far side. He used the same method, striking with lethal force. He decapitated one with a single swing and kicked the other in the head, sending him tumbling off the ridge. Ignoring the headless corpse, he chased after the one he had kicked.

Upon catching up to him, he couldn't help but laugh bitterly. The kick had actually shattered the man’s skull, twisting his features and causing blood to pour from his seven orifices. He had hoped to extract some information, but the man’s head was far from iron-hard.

"I haven't even achieved the Extreme Realm, and an eighth-realm cultivator ends up like this. Is he too weak, or is my body too strong?" Even the Peerless Immortal Emperor had never encountered such a situation before.

Dragging the corpse back to the ridge, he realized something was wrong. Red lanterns had been hung on all six large trees outside the courtyard. The Qi Refining mid-stage cultivator stood at the main gate, scanning the valley, and figures were darting out from the cave on the mountain. Soon, the valley was filled with various bird calls.

"This surveillance is... quite effective." Muttering to himself, he dropped the body and vanished into the woods.

A ninth-realm Qi Nourishing cultivator had just put his left index finger to his mouth when he saw a shadow pounce. He hurriedly let out a sharp bird call. He heard his own cry, heard his own scream, and watched his body drift further and further away before descending into darkness, his final thought being: "This person is so fast."

Chen Qi was sprinting through the mountains when he heard the frantic bird calls, his mind racing: "Who has broken in? Is it a late-stage Qi Refining expert?"

Suddenly, he saw a figure rush at him from the side. Before he could react, he felt a massive impact, followed by another, and collapsed with a dull thud. Through blurred vision, he saw a man walking toward him. Struggling to focus, he realized it was Qin Anyu.

"Indeed, his combat power is formidable. Avoiding him in the prefectural city was the right choice, yet I still died by his hand." He tried to speak, but only spat out a mouthful of blood, making "wu-wu ka-ka" sounds.

Qin Anyu swung his sword, and a head flew into the air. He then noticed a storage ring on the corpse's finger. Removing it, Qin Anyu muttered, "You escaped in the prefectural city, but I got you in the end. Why bother?"

Back in the city, he had wanted both the ring and the man's information. Now, he only cared about the ring; the person in the courtyard likely knew more.

After the ninth-realm cultivator had sounded the alarm, the bird calls in the valley grew more frequent. Qin Anyu didn't know if they were accelerating their communication, but he knew that since Chen Qi hadn't responded, many of the calls were now converging on his location. He didn't care, continuing toward the courtyard. Anyone crossing his path was cut down by his sword. Along the way, several bird calls went silent, and he acquired more storage rings.

"It seems not every Qi Refining cultivator in this organization has a storage ring; they only get one at the mid-stage. It's a pity neither of these two had a magnetic stone." After killing a Qi Refining early-stage cultivator and finding no ring, he reached this conclusion.

These rings had small spaces, only three feet in length, width, and height; they couldn't hold many wine jars, so he had to rely on quantity. What frustrated him was that after killing this early-stage cultivator, no one else appeared in his vicinity. The source of rings had dried up. They stopped making noise, the birds had long been scared away, and the entire valley fell silent.

As he walked, he heard a sound of rushing air and caught a glimpse of a black object darting toward him. An arrow!

He swept his sword, deflecting the arrow into a tree trunk two feet thick, leaving only the fletching exposed. Such power—this was an expert archer.

He heard bird calls again, coming from the archer. Just as Qin Anyu turned to kill him, he heard a cacophony of bird calls from ahead.

"Using sound to distract me? Very clever." After offering a compliment, he sped toward the archer's position. With a bow but no quiver, the man must have a storage ring.

The archer had just fired another shot and, seeing Qin Anyu chasing him, notched another arrow, retreating while drawing his bow. Watching him, Qin Anyu shook his head, "This guy is still inexperienced."

After a few flashes, he caught up. The archer, eyes full of despair, could only defend with his bow. Qin Anyu grabbed the bow with one hand and decapitated him with the other. "At this level, if you can't hit me in two shots, not running is just waiting to die."

"Oh, ho! A ninth-realm Qi Nourishing ring that's two feet larger than the others? Looks like he was highly valued. And a hundred arrows—this is perfect."

This was an unexpected bonus. He slung his simple sword, claimed the ring, and tested the bow. "Not bad, it can withstand eighty percent of my strength."

Stowing the bow and pulling out a jar of wine, he drank as he walked toward the courtyard. Soon, he saw the row of six red lanterns and the twenty or so men standing outside the gates.

"Everyone's here, then."