Chapter 47: The Lurking Threat

That large hand gripped with such immense force that, within mere seconds, the veins on Li Yuyan’s back bulged and sweat broke out across her skin.

"It hurts..."

Her body shuddered.

Guan Sheng snapped back to his senses and hastily released his grip, trying to calm himself down.

The night breeze blew against his hair. He remained silent, not knowing what to say, but the complex look in his eyes revealed just how terrifying that dream had been.

Pulling back her hand, Li Yuyan realized she might have disturbed Guan Sheng. She gazed at his profile, wondering why she felt a trace of something entirely unsuited to him—fragility—emanating from this man.

To be precise: vulnerability!

Yes!

His vulnerable side.

Lately, the persona Guan Sheng projected was one of overwhelming dominance; his fearless, untouchable demeanor made strangers keep their distance.

Yet just now...

His mumbles in his sleep, his shivering frame, and the profoundly lonely picture he made staring up at the night sky made Li Yuyan feel an unexpected surge of pity.

It was as if the man before her was neither some mysterious figure of great consequence nor a terrifying martial arts expert.

He was merely a young man in his early twenties who had never been enfolded by love, never been looked forward to, and never been embraced...

"I..." Li Yuyan clutched the hem of her clothes, at a loss for words.

Guan Sheng said coldly, "Next time, don't approach me without a sound."

Feeling a pang of guilt, Li Yuyan replied, "I just heard you talking in your sleep and breaking out in a cold sweat, I thought you were sick..."

"This has nothing to do with you." Guan Sheng’s tone dropped to absolute frost.

Li Yuyan froze, not expecting this fellow to utter such heartless words.

Nothing to do with me, is it?

Fine. Next time I won't bother with you at all.

As if anyone actually wants to care about you.

Treating good intentions like a wolf's heart and lungs—she was utterly speechless.

Li Yuyan turned as if to leave, but couldn't bear to. Stopping in her tracks, she asked again, "What on earth is wrong with you? Is something making you uncomfortable?"

"Do you want me to take you to the hospital?"

Guan Sheng shook his head. "No need. Go back to sleep."

"I'll be fine once I've spent a little time alone."

Seeing that Guan Sheng had no desire to say more, Li Yuyan hesitated, then finally returned to her room. Pulling the quilt over herself, she watched from a distance as Guan Sheng sat alone on the balcony.

What on earth is wrong with this fellow?

Why does it feel like he is harboring so many secrets?

***

Why wouldn't he speak of it?

The pain he exhibited just now had been so intense—it was far beyond the reaction of a mere nightmare. What was he hiding?

Li Yuyan couldn't fathom it and remained deeply puzzled, but the one thing she could be certain of was that she seemed to care about this man more and more.

Unawares, she drifted back to sleep.

Meanwhile, Guan Sheng pressed a hand to his chest. That region had originally felt hollow, but as his memories continuously welled up to the surface, it grew heavy indeed.

***

At the same time, far away in Jiangnan Province, upon a mysterious verdant mountain, a bronze bell tolled to mark the hours, the Taoist priests finished their evening classes, and the lights gradually went out. Yet, within one particular Taoist hall, an angry voice rang out.

"What did you say?"

"Mo She is dead?"

Qi Xiaolong stared in utter shock at the severed head resting on the table, his pupils trembling violently as he struggled to accept the reality before him.

His elderly servant on the mountain was dead...

Someone had sliced off his head... with a single blade?

A young Taoist acolyte knelt before Qi Xiaolong. "Senior Brother Qi, the person who brought this head up from the foot of the mountain asked me to relay a message to you. He said he will use all his resources to investigate the killer."

"He assured us that Mo She will not have died in vain."

"Please accept our condolences, Senior Brother!"

Qi Xiaolong swung his arm, knocking over the bronze incense burner on the table. As wood ash scattered across the floor, a rich medicinal fragrance permeated the air.

"How am I supposed to accept condolences? This was a martial arts servant I paid a massive fortune to acquire! To have him die in such an obscure and unaccountable manner—how can I rest easy in my sleep?"

"Didn't I just send him to apply the *shougongsha* [1] on Li Yuyan? Didn't I just tell him to kill that fellow named Guan Sheng?"

"How on earth did he end up dead?"

"No!"

"I am going down the mountain. Immediately."

With that, Qi Xiaolong moved to pack his belongings, but the acolyte quickly stopped him. "Senior Brother Qi, you must not go down the mountain! Right now, our sect's undercover agents in the Capital are in imminent peril, and the situation is grave. The elders have explicitly instructed that no disciples are allowed to leave the mountain."

"If you go down now, it will be seen as defying the sect's commands, and your cultivation will be crippled."

"Besides, the identity of the person who killed Mo She remains unknown. Even if you go down, what can you possibly do?"

Hearing this, Qi Xiaolong’s features twisted in rage.

He knew he couldn't afford to be reckless.

Taking a few deep breaths to force himself to calm down, he demanded, "Have the elders said when the situation in the Capital will stabilize?"

"Didn't those high-ranking representatives from the martial world claim they had already negotiated with the top brass of the Dragon Kingdom? Exactly when will they allow martial artists like us to enter the secular world?"

"Must we really wait for that Old Man Ji to nod in agreement?"

"Can't he just die?"

***

The young Taoist acolyte raised his hands in a polite greeting. "Senior Brother Qi, please watch your words and actions."

"That Old Man Ji holds an unshakeable position."

Qi Xiaolong clenched his fists.

Before he could speak further, however, he noticed the acolyte breaking into an eerie, sinister smile.

"Such words must never be spoken by martial artists of our sect."

"How can you be certain that no one within the Capital's political court desires Old Man Ji's death?"

"Perhaps those people have already taken action?"

Seeing the acolyte's smile, Qi Xiaolong felt a sudden jolt of dread. On this green mountain, not a single Taoist was truly benign; everyone cloaked themselves in superficial courtesy. He instantly snapped back to reality, realizing he too needed to put on a mask.

He forced a smile and cupped his fists toward the acolyte. "Junior brother is right."

"For all we know, there are plenty of people who want that old man dead even more than we do!"

"He refuses to appreciate people from our martial world, which destined him to be an enemy of our martial practitioners from the very beginning."

"As the saying goes, if one refuses a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit, we have already shown more than enough sincerity, haven't we?"

The young acolyte slowly stood up, placing his hands behind his back. "Indeed, Senior Brother Qi."

***

***

The Capital, a gathering place for winds and clouds across the realm.

At this moment, several cars drove up to a busy intersection and came to a stop side by side.

A total of three vehicles occupied three separate lanes. As the one-minute red light at the intersection began its countdown, the rear windows rolled down one after another, revealing the faces of three middle-aged men.

The middle-aged man sitting in the central Hongqi sedan adjusted his round fedora and said in a deep voice, "The identity of the fellow who cleared away the martial world's surveillance personnel for Old Man Ji that day remains temporarily unknown."

"His martial arts must be exceptionally high; he has received professional training, possesses acute counter-reconnaissance awareness, and moves with extreme speed."

"For that individual to eliminate all surveillance personnel within the same zone in a mere half-minute—such operational capability is hard to match even when searching through our own roster."

The middle-aged man in the right-turn lane said coldly, "Could it be a powerhouse secretly cultivated by Old Man Ji?"

The middle-aged man in the left-turn lane stated angrily, "Regardless, the current situation has already turned against us. Those people from the martial world can affect the entire situation with a single move, disrupting our plans."

"Execute the final protocol!"

"Issue an international assassination order, summon all top-tier assassins from the Hitman Rankings, and kill Old Man Ji!"

"I agree!"

"I agree!"

[1] *Shougongsha*: A mythical red mark traditionally used in Chinese fiction to verify a woman's chastity/virginity.