Hidden Shadow – CH 129

Chapter One-Hundred-Twenty-Nine: Disappearance

Hearing these words, An Jiu was certain her whereabouts had not been exposed; otherwise, they would not be speaking so casually.

An Jiu recognized the man’s voice as that of Wei Yuzhi, the second master of the Piaomiao Mountain mansion. She had only met Wei Yuzhi briefly, exchanging a few words, but he was unforgettable because he was the first man to propose to her in both her past and present lives.

Wei Yuzhi was from the Piaomiao Mountain mansion, so his presence here was not surprising. What was strange was the female voice—Mei Ruyan!

How could she be mingling with people from the Piaomiao Mountain mansion?

“Kill them,” Wei Yuzhi said by the river. He wore a wide, dark blue robe, his face somewhat pale, but his refined and clean appearance resembled that of a scholar appreciating the scenery.

Mei Ruyan, with striking features and dressed in fiery red, sat cross-legged beneath a verdant pine tree. A guqin lay across her lap, the character “陌¹” etched on the charred end of the instrument.

Having received Wei Yuzhi’s command, she flicked her wrist and shot out several silver needles. Two muffled groans, and two shadowy figures from the Konghe Army collapsed to the ground.

As she struck, she lightly pressed the strings of the zither, and the music stopped abruptly.

A month ago, she was half-dead; now, her killing was so practiced.

Recalling that day, Mei Ruyan felt a sharp pain in her heart.

She rushed back to the Mei Mansion, only to find the valley entrance charred black and countless corpses unrecognizable. Yet, she immediately recognized the only person standing there, leaning on his sword—it was Master Mo.

At that moment, Mei Ruyan truly felt the sky had fallen. She rushed into the fire, embracing his body, unable to even cry. She thought, perhaps it would be better to perish in the flames.

But Mei Ruyan’s life was not meant to end there. A heavy rain extinguished the fire and restored a sliver of her sanity. She buried him in the bamboo grove of the Mei Mansion, sitting before his grave for four days, overwhelmed with grief and without food or water, until finally, she fainted. When she awoke, she was lying in the bamboo house where Master Mo had lived. His faint scent still lingered on the bedding, and the sound of a zither drifted outside. It was as if Master Mo was still there.

Mei Ruyan walked out blankly and saw a strange man in plain clothes playing the zither, but his face was not the one she remembered.

He introduced himself as Wei Yuzhi, the second master of the Piaomiao Mountain mansion.

Wei Yuzhi said he had a close relationship with Master Mo. Hearing of the attack on Mei Mansion, he brought men to investigate, but they were too late.

Mei Ruyan knew that Master Mo had once been the top assassin of the Piaomiao Mountain mansion, but she knew nothing of his past.

“Truly worthy of being Master Mo’s disciple, quite like him in his prime,” Wei Yuzhi praised.

Mei Ruyan’s eyes reddened. Tears instantly welled up. This was a wound she could not touch…

“Such a selfish person,” Mei Ruyan murmured. Her upbringing instilled in her a selfish nature; she believed she would only ever love herself.

If she could have guarded her heart, she would not be in such agony right now. But ultimately, what she hated most was the mastermind behind Master Mo’s murder! Therefore, she accepted the help of the Piaomiao Mountain mansion, rapidly increasing her internal energy to the seventh level. Now, her internal energy had gradually stabilized, though she needed to take medication regularly.

Mei Ruyan’s eyes were filled with ruthlessness; she wanted revenge. At any cost!

A mountain wind, carrying rain, swept by, and Wei Yuzhi coughed.

Mei Ruyan took a cloak from beside her and draped it over him. “Are you alright, My Lord?”

“I am fine, just a slight cold.” Wei Yuzhi adjusted the cloak. He stared at the corpse on the ground for a long time, then slightly raised his hand, signaling the surrounding assassins to approach.

He turned his head and whispered a few words to the two assassins.

The two obeyed, taking flight like eagles, heading straight for An Jiu.

An Jiu’s heart tightened. She drew her bow and arrow, her killing intent erupting instantly. With a flick of her wrist, she unleashed a mental energy strike.

The two plummeted from mid-air. An Jiu showed no mercy; before they could regain their senses, two sharp swords were firmly embedded in their throats.

Having done this, An Jiu immediately turned and left.

Mei Ruyan was about to give chase, but Wei Yuzhi stopped her. “Do not chase. Although my martial arts are weak, my mental power has reached the Transcendent Realm. Even I did not detect that person’s presence. You are probably no match for her.”

If she did not detect her, why would she send someone to investigate? Mei Ruyan was filled with doubt.

Wei Yuzhi said, “I observed that the Konghe Army’s formation this time resembles a rookie trial, with shadows lurking around to monitor the participants. Your zither music attracted two shadows, but the participants themselves were nowhere to be seen. Is that not strange?”

“I see, My Lord, you are wise.” Mei Ruyan looked at the man before her. He was already thirty-two, yet still resembled a young scholar. His appearance was decent, but not particularly outstanding. He would be indistinguishable from an ordinary person on the street. Yet, this same man commanded countless cold-blooded assassins and held the affairs of the world, large and small, in his heart.

Wei Yuzhi was born with extraordinary abilities. He could memorize two archives of information stored in the Piaomiao Mountain mansion without missing a single word. He could even recall the exact dates and details of small jobs taken on when the Piaomiao Mountain mansion was first established and even the information on the employers and targets of those jobs.

The Piaomiao Mountain mansion’s current status as the number one mansion in the martial arts world was not only due to the charisma of its master, Wei Chuzhi, but also to Wei Yuzhi’s meticulous efforts in building this empire from scratch. His talent was comparable to Elder Zhi of the Mei Mansion.

“Strange…” Wei Yuzhi murmured, staring in the direction An Jiu had fled. If the other party was at the Transcendent Realm, how could they be a trial participant of the Konghe Academy? And why would they stand by and watch Mei Ruyan kill two Shadows without intervening?

After a moment of contemplation, a faint smile appeared on his face. That person was most likely like him—lacking in martial arts, but possessing immense mental power!

Wei Yuzhi suddenly recalled the fleeting glimpse in the dilapidated temple, and his smile deepened. He then confirmed his guess with Mei Ruyan, “Your sister, Fourteenth Young Lady, must have joined the Konghe Army, right?”

Mei Ruyan was also quite intelligent. Hearing his words, she immediately connected it to what had just happened and exclaimed in surprise, “You mean that person was her?”

Wei Yuzhi walked to the foot of the rock wall, squatted down, and carefully examined the corpse.

His expression as he examined the corpse was no different from when he was reading—a focused yet relaxed look.

“Apart from the throat, there were no other wounds.” Wei Yuzhi straightened up, squinting, replaying the scene in his mind: the two assassins plummeting straight down from mid-air… shot dead in an instant, like wild geese. He slowly said, “Startling the String.” He was almost certain of the identity of the person from before.

“My Lord, could you…” Mei Ruyan bit her lip. “Could you spare my sister?”

Wei Yuzhi coughed for a while, an unnatural blush rising on his face. “I will not kill her. She and I… have some kind of fate.”

“Thank you, My Lord,” Mei Ruyan, though puzzled, relaxed slightly upon hearing his willingness to show mercy and continued, “It’s windy outside, My Lord; you should go back quickly.”

“Yes,” Wei Yuzhi replied.

…

Facing the wind, An Jiu ran wildly, her face mask quickly soaked by the rain.

She only stopped and rested under a tree after her mental senses confirmed the two figures were far away.

The rain gradually subsided, and night had fallen.

An Jiu suddenly thought of the “Fragment of the Heavenly Book” and the box she had sought in the ancient temple. Those items could enhance spiritual and internal strength; were they some kind of treasure specifically for external cultivators? She knew she would learn some martial arts techniques upon entering the Konghe Academy, but instead, she had been forcibly dragged here for trials!

Thinking of this, she felt resentment towards Gu Jinghong.

However, now was not the time to dwell on it. The Piaomiao Mountain mansion had discovered them, and acting alone was too dangerous. She had to get close to Lou Mingyue and the others.

An Jiu touched the three copper tubes on her body. One was engraved with the character “red,” one with “yellow,” and the other with “white.” An Jiu felt frustrated. She had just joined the Konghe Army and was thrown here without any prior knowledge. Judging from their shapes, she could guess they were signals, but no one had explained what each color represented!

She thought for a moment, then simply lined up the three tinderboxes on the ground, blew on them to light them all, and ran towards the hidden location of Piaomiao Mountain mansion.

After running for about ten paces, three whooshing sounds followed behind, and three different colored flowers exploded in the air above.

An Jiu turned around and looked up, feeling a little relieved.

An Jiu did not know how the Konghe Army would react to the signal. After searching for half a day and finding tracks of Lou Mingyue and the others, she had been traveling swiftly for two days, finally approaching the valley.

After arriving, she found a place to hide and used her mental energy to investigate, only to be surprised to find that Lou Mingyue and the others were nowhere to be found!

An Jiu’s mental energy could detect a range of ten li. She had been able to sense their presence just an hour ago; how could they have suddenly disappeared?