Two weeks had passed since Han Cai arrived at Ravenfall city, and every night the man who had opened window would come, bringing tea and food. But he would not sit with Han Cai. He would keep the tea and food on the doorstep, knock three times, and then leave.
One day when the man brought the food and tea, He did not leave after knocking on the door.
Han Cai opened the door and saw the man standing with a tray in his hand. Han Cai nodded and went inside and sat on a chair. The man followed. He kept the tray on the table and sat down on the opposite chair. He made tea for Han Cai and himself and started sipping.
While sipping tea, he spoke.
"The area where Liu Jie is being kept is located deep within a mansion, in the upper levels reserved for the Yang family. The mansion is heavily guarded by cultivators and equipped with advanced security measures to detect any intruders.
One of the biggest challenges would be the numerous layers of security. The area is surrounded by powerful formations and arrays that are designed to detect any movement or fluctuations in spiritual energy. You have to be extremely careful when moving through this area, as any mistake could result in being detected by the guards.
Another challenge you would face is two skilled nascent soul cultivators that guard the area as it is a stronghold of the Yang family. You already know that the Yang family is known for their mastery of the hidden arts, and those two are highly trained in stealth and espionage. One of them has a unique sensing technique, and no assassin has been able to escape his grasp as long as he is in the area. One of the two nascent soul cultivators always stays in the mansion where Liu Jie is.
In addition to the physical security measures, you will have to pass through the psychological chasm array of the mansion. It makes you fall into an eerie and unsettling atmosphere, losing your sense of self."
The man took out a parchment kept on the table. It was a map of the area.
Han Cai shook his head and said, "I am already aware of all of it." "What I want to know about is the third powerful cultivator in the city who is pretending to be a nascent soul."
The man has a surprised look in his eyes. "Third man, who is pretending to be Nascent Soul? But I am sure there are only two."
Han Cai thought something," Leave this city tonight. Whatever you hear, never come back; go directly to the sect."
The man nodded, finished his tea, got up, and left.
Han Cai fell into deep thought. This challenge was tricky. This mission was supposed to be of B+ difficulty, but now it was S+.
Morning came, and Han Cai spent all day still contemplating how to finish this mission and kill Liu Jie. In the night, Han Cai sneaked out of the window.
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A week later, Han Cai was sitting in a cabin with five chairs around him. This cabin was situated in a remote valley. The valley was one day's distance from Ravenfall City. Han Cai was sipping tea again. He took out the mission completion token and lit it up. Thirty minutes later, the cabin door was opened from outside, and five people dressed in black with masks entered the cabin. They were five backup elders of Darkhall.
They all looked at Han Cai, nodded, and sat on empty chairs. Han Cai took out his storage ring and inserted some Qi into it. Soon there was a head in his hand, and in his other hand was a token. He rolled the head and token on the ground. The five elders checked the token. When they were about to touch the head to check it, Han Cai stopped them.
Han Cai spoke," Confirm from a distance. Don't touch it, or you will be in trouble."
They had masks on so that no expression could be seen, but if their expression could be seen, you would notice that they were shocked. They looked from the distance the head belonged Liu Jie, Han Cai's target.
One of the elders spoke," Yang family did something with the target's corpse?"
Han Cai shook his head and spoke," It is not the Yang family, but you don't have to worry about it. After confirming the mission, you need to run as soon as possible, or no one will be able to protect you."
Sweat formed on the forehead of dark hall elders. They knew How strong Han Cai was, so they took his warning seriously.
Han Cai waited for them to come out of their thoughts. Seeing they were taking too much time, he coughed, and they finally got out of their stupor. They nodded at Han Cai and then took out the mission completion talisman. They lit up five mission completion talismans. When all the talismans were lit, Han Cai got up, picked up the head, and was ready to leave.
One of the masked elders couldn't help but ask, " How did you complete the mission?"
Han Cai answered, "Money."
After that, Han Cai disappeared.
He soared above the clouds; the cold winter wind whipped through his hair and against his face, but he didn't mind. The moon was full and bright, casting a silver glow over the clouds and the landscape below. Han Cai felt a sense of peace wash over him as he flew.
Soon, he noticed someone blocking his path in the clouds. It was the man in green. The man had a teasing smile on his face as if he had found a new toy.
Seeing Han Cai fly closer to him, the man spoke, " I thought I would not be able to find you. You are good at running."
The man continued in a curious tone," I wanted to ask about the family those attackers mentioned. Does it really exist? Who were those attackers? And what are you doing in remote northern Yin? From your techniques, I am sure you are not really from the Sky Soaring Sect."
Han Cai took off his mask, his charming face was revealed, and he looked at the man with his deep eyes.
The Man was taken aback seeing this Kid was such a beautiful young man.
Han Cai spoke, " How did you track me?"
The man laughed: " You hid your tracks well, but it seems you are not very experienced. You did everything right, but you made the mistake that all rookies make. You hid your every movement, but you were so obsessed with hiding your traces that you did not stop to think that the target that you were carrying might be marked and could be traced."
Han Cai spoke, "Why do you want to help the Yang family?" "You are not from the North; why are you here?"
The man was startled and laughed: "Seems I made a wrong judgment. You really are from the north, aren't you? You and your family must have had some very lucky chances to become so powerful at such a young age; the prophecy was true then."
Han Cai replied, "What are you talking about?"
The man chuckled, "Haven't you heard that some great divination masters have divined that the North will be one of the most prosperous continents in the upcoming ten thousand years? Rumor has it that a hidden treasure left by a venerate from the past will resurface in the north, and from that treasure, a new venerate will be born to rule the entire north. Hearing this, many cultivators from all over the continent are flocking here to try their luck."
Han Cai probed, "So you are in the north to get lucky chances?" "What were you doing in Raven City with the Yang family?"
The man moved his hand. A golden turtle appeared in his hand. He spoke, "I am just a tourist visiting the North, trying to understand what this fortune of the North rumor is about. I was not interested in helping the Yang family, but I am interested in finding out about the lucky chances and treasures you have."
The man continued showing the golden turtle, "This is a clairvoyant turtle; it can detect fortune and misfortune and alert me. A few days ago, it started acting up, and I am guessing this was when you infiltrated the city. It predicted the fortune and told me I was going to come across some event. I generally avoid situations where I am not sure if it is fortune or misfortune and wait in the dark. But seeing that your target was only a golden core, I immediately marked him, and when your family attacked, I noticed the highest level cultivator was soul formation. Having a hidden family with a soul-formation cultivator that no one in this country has heard about means only one thing. Your family is the one that found that rumored treasure. This is why I decided to catch you mid-journey, as I was not sure if your family has anyone more powerful or if soul formation is strongest in your family. It would be best for you to give up all the treasures and tell me about your lucky chances. I know your cultivation is not foundation establishment, but you are not a nascent soul either; I can vaguely sense you are somewhere in the middle. No matter how much you try to hide it, my cultivation is at least three levels higher than yours. You can't escape me, so tell me the truth. Were you able to uncover the legacy of Venerate?"
Han Cai laughed. His laugh was not pretentious or evil. It was an honest laugh. He seemed to be genuinely happy and carefree at that moment, which was a refreshing change from his usually serious demeanor.
Han Cai spoke, "Do you know we both are idiots?"
