Hidden Shadow – CH 307

Chapter Three-Hundred-Seven: Domineering Ranking Takeover

The Bounty List was once just a martial arts organization whose bounty hunters included many wanted criminals. However, due to the sudden rise of the Piaomiao Mountain Mansion, the Bounty List suffered a huge blow, and coupled with a government crackdown, it was once on the verge of extinction. Later, the government’s attention was diverted by the Piaomiao Mountain Mansion, allowing the Bounty List to survive. However, due to the severe damage it suffered and the lack of leadership, it had been practically extinct for many years.

In fact, the Bounty List’s resurgence was a recent phenomenon, occurring only in the last year or two. Someone had been recruiting many martial arts assassins with large sums of money and issuing numerous high-bounty missions, gradually attracting the attention of more reclusive bounty hunters.

Although Sheng Changying was no longer with the Konghe Institute, he understood the institute’s communication methods and could often intercept messages. Since he had nothing to do all day and enjoyed intercepting messages, he had not become oblivious to the news while living on the island; on the contrary, he was even more knowledgeable about martial arts news.

An Jiu, holding the map given to her by Sheng Changying, found her destination without any difficulty.

This place was a bustling market during the day, so the government always posted notices on the most conspicuous wall, a practice that had remained unchanged for over a decade.

An Jiu, her face covered by a black cloth, hid in an alley.

This street was not a night market; after dark, few pedestrians remained, and at night it became even quieter, save for the eerie sound of the wind whistling through the alleyways.

Around midnight, a masked figure carrying a scroll of notices landed in front of the wall.

An Jiu could sense the unusual activity around her without using her mental power. After the figure finished posting the notices and left, people began to appear one after another.

An Jiu also left her hiding place.

Although there were clearly thirty-odd people standing on the street, it was eerily quiet, as if no one was there at all. An ordinary person would surely think they had encountered a ghost.

When they saw the black silk scroll pasted on the wall, some bounty hunters who were there for the first time that day exclaimed in surprise, “There’s a black notice!”

Bounty lists were divided into three levels: white, red, and black. White lists were for private grudges and vendettas. Prices were generally under 20,000 taels of silver. Red lists may involve officials, wealthy merchants, or notorious bandits; they were highly dangerous and expensive, around 150,000 taels of silver. Black lists only listed prices, without details of the mission; anyone with the courage and ability could claim one, and the prices were in gold.

Because the bounty list was only re-established less than two years ago, there were very few martial artists above the eighth rank among those vying for it, so even red lists were rarely posted, let alone black lists.

“This black list has been posted for over two months. Someone took it down three days ago,” another person whispered. “It’s been posted again today; that person must be dead.”

Among the bounty hunters, An Jiu appeared particularly thin and small, buried in the crowd, craning her neck to see the contents of the list.

Five white silk scrolls and one black silk scroll hung on the wall, each with brief information about the target and the price.

The prices ranged from two hundred taels to one hundred and fifty thousand taels, all for figures who wreaked havoc in the region. The prices on the white silk ranged from two hundred to ten thousand taels. The black silk listed one hundred and fifty thousand taels but did not specify the target. Sheng Changying had not elaborated on these details, but An Jiu, observing the reactions of the others, knew this black list was definitely an extremely dangerous mission.

An Jiu did not want to risk her life. She was interested in the six thousand tael one, targeting a bandit leader with martial arts skills around the seventh level.

She slowly released her mental energy. The surrounding bounty hunters were mostly at the sixth or seventh level of martial arts. There were many other ways to kill; it would not be a direct confrontation. They could all be competitors for this target.

According to the rules, after reading the notice, everyone consciously retreated ten chi, waiting for the midnight watch.

The moonlight was silvery, and the atmosphere was tense like a drawn bowstring in the deathly silence.

Time passed slowly, and soon everyone caught a faint sound coming from afar.

Bang! Bang! Bang! At the sound of the night watchman’s gong, the bounty hunters, who had been as still as statues, moved with lightning speed.

An Jiu did not rush forward; she stood still, her eyes fixed on the notice she desired. Several others beside her remained motionless, just like her.

Going forward now would inevitably mean fighting with the crowd, wasting time and energy. It was better to wait until the competition had subsided.

The others were scrambling because this competition also had a time limit. The night watchman had traveled from two li away, stopping frequently along the way, which would take about the time it takes to brew two cups of tea. The bounty hunters’ movements could not be seen by the night watchman. In other words, obtaining the notice within two cups of tea was valid; after that, competing for it would be meaningless.

Some of the bounty hunters who remained stationary were there to try their luck, while others were confident in their skills.

An Jiu listened to the night watchman’s gong while watching the fight unfold before her.

The fight quickly split into five groups.

A burly man wearing a bamboo hat snatched the 6,000 taels of silver mission from the notice board, and six others were fighting him, also trying to take the notice.

An Jiu observed that although they were fighting, none of them were going for the kill. She guessed this might be the rule for grabbing the notice.

This discovery was very disadvantageous for her! Without the goal of killing her target, she did not know how to fight.

While she was struggling with this, the people around her moved. One of them, a seventh-level expert, charged straight at the 6,000 taels of silver scroll, knocking down each opponent with a single move. His speed was astonishing, clearly that of a seasoned veteran.

An Jiu noticed that the night watchman had already traveled more than halfway—in the blink of an eye!

Forget it, thinking too much was useless! If she was not confident in her strength alone, then…

An Jiu charged forward, and in the blink of an eye, the scroll was in the hands of the seventh-level expert.

“A mere external cultivator like you wants to try grabbing the notice?” The man chuckled softly, clearly underestimating his opponent.

An Jiu’s mental energy surged forward with her movements, instantly striking the man who had been immobilized, unable to retaliate! An Jiu snatched the notice, tucked it into her robes, and retreated more than ten steps in an instant.

This time, her mental energy was highly concentrated, comparable to her usual powerful mental attacks, without dissipating outward. Therefore, to those unaware of the situation, the scene appeared as follows: a large, seventh-level martial artist had his notice snatched in one move and was simply surrendering it without moving.

The seventh-level martial artist’s mind went blank for a few moments. When he recovered, his eyes widened in shock. Knowing his limitations, he did not try to snatch it again, his tone becoming extremely respectful: “I apologize for my earlier rudeness, senior.”

He believed that someone with such terrifying mental energy was definitely not a young girl.

An Jiu did not waste any more words and turned to leave.

Some of the people she had previously knocked down, who were about to try to snatch it again, hesitated upon hearing these words.

“Since you possess such skill, why not go for the Black List?” a seventh-level martial artist asked.

The entire hall fell silent, all eyes turning to An Jiu.

Just now, everyone was focused on vying for the rankings and had not noticed anything amiss. Only now, hearing this, did they realize something was wrong. The petite woman who had left alone was like air; if they had not seen her back, they would not have detected her presence at all.

This seemed to be… a Transcendent Realm expert.