Mark stared at the dead body for a brief amount of time in silence. He couldn't understand why someone would shoot themselves just because they were discovered.
Grabbing his chin, he fell into thoughts, "The fact that a spy is specifically hiding here means either he should be here for me or there's some secret treasure here.
But, this guy committed suicide, which means he doesn't want his intentions to be found out. And his clothes aren't in proper condition. The armor is just made of leather and isn't even a graded one. Why would this person hide here in the first place? Ah, I forgot about it. Let's see who this man is and see if I can find something about him."
Mark proceeded to use Sage's eye to inspect the dead body.
In an instant, all the information appeared on the holographic screen and Mark furrowed his brows after reading the description.
"He's a bandit? And that too, a member of Kunyu bandit group? I never knew such a bandit group existed nearby this place." Mark wasn't only surprised about the existence of the bandit group but was also surprised by this guy's loyalty.
After all, bandits are supposed to be greedy, selfish, and cowards. To save their lives, they wouldn't hesitate to sell out their comrades. But, this guy who is probably on the lookout has committed suicide?
If such a low-level person is that loyal to the group, it would either mean that their leader is indeed charismatic, or they fear their leader very much, or the group itself is actually a rebellious group.
For Mark, the third is the best option but even it is one or second, it wouldn't matter as long as there isn't some legendary expert in their midst, which is of course impossible.
Mark searched the dead body and found nothing but a few spare bullets, and 7 silver coins.
Meanwhile, Alina was seen dragging an unconscious injured man with an energy chain. There's another fellow who was voluntarily following her.
They reached Mark and the Android reported, "Mission, successful, Big Brother."
As she shifted her eyes towards the dead body for a moment, Mark stared at the young man that was standing beside Alina, about a couple of meters away.
He inspected him with Sage's eye.
Xing Yimu
Rank: 5 (intermediate stage)
Spirit Path: Assassin
Description: An elite member of Mt. Hua Sect who specializes in scouting.
The moment he read the description, everything became clear for Mark.
"Mt. Hua Sect, huh," Mark slowly opened his mouth and the young man's face paled.
As soon as he realized that even his identity was blown, Xing Yimu quickly fell on his knees and begged, "I'll tell everything, please have mercy on us."
"What is there to explain?" Mark scoffed as he heard the plea. He further said, "Mt. Hua Sect is located in Sui Province. That would mean Sui Clan is closer to your sect. Sui Clan was supported by the Crown Prince. And Song Clan's Patriarch was defeated by me.
Naturally, your sect would have gotten the information about this land even before I receive the land deed from the Emperor. Or I should say you purposely allotted me this land so that you can kill me without causing any trouble.
The escort was appointed by the palace. So, I highly doubt he would turn into a witness for my murder. Is there something else you want to add?"
Mark's gaze turned cold as he silently stared at the kneeling young man.
The young man answered, "The Kunyu valley is the place where the infamous Kunyu bandits live. You are given this land so that your presence can keep them in check."
After adding a detail, he pleaded once again, "Please have mercy. We were only scouts and nothing more."
Mark stared at him in silence for a few seconds. On one hand, there's a civilian-level bandit who doesn't hesitate to commit suicide and on the other hand, there's a 5-circle Elite realm assassin who intends to beg for life. What an irony.
After a brief silence, Mark opened his mouth, "fine, I'll leave the two of you if you answer my questions."
"Yes, please ask me. I'll answer everything truthfully." The young man appeared to be hopeful once again.
"First, answer me, who are Kunyu bandits?"
Xing Yimu answered, "This is something we have yet to confirm but there's a speculation in our sect that Kunyu bandits were the former soldiers of the Western Yan before it was invaded and later annexed into the Phoenix Empire, about a decade ago."
"Western Yan?" Mark felt like he was missing something critical but didn't know what it is.
"What is the strength of Mt. Hua Sect?" Mark pushed aside his thoughts and then asked him before adding another question, "How many experts do you have over 6-circle and above?"
"As far as I know, there are a total of 22 experts, of which, 17 elders are 6-circle, and the other four guardians are 7-circle. Our Sect leader, Dai Long is at the peak stage of 7-circle. But, there's a rumor that he entered the legendary realm." Xing Yimu answered while hoping that Mark would at least try to think of the consequences and his chances of survival will increase.
Mark furrowed his brows when he heard that. He felt Mt. Hua Sect is formidable than the Imperial Palace.
He further asked, "Who gave you this mission?"
"Guardian Sui Ping, He is an uncle of Grand Elder of the Sui Clan." Xing Yimu replied.
Something clicked in Mark's head and he asked, "Suppose you found me without being detected. How did you plan on relaying this information to your sect so that this Guardian Sui Ping or your sect members will be deployed before I return?"
"Eh?" Xing Yimu was surprised for a second before taking out a paper with some strange drawings. "With this communication Talisman. Usually, we were given an intermediate quality and can contact our sect's communication hall as long as we are within 1000 km range. The communication hall will act as a mediatory between us.
But, for private missions, we will be given separate talismans like these, which are imbued with our superior's ether energy, so that we can report to them directly."
Communication Talismans were rare in the cultivation world but Xing Yimu didn't expect an Exalt realm expert like this Lu Zhen wouldn't know about it. Or maybe, he was mistaken about it.
Anyway, that doesn't matter. What matters to him is how to get out alive from this place. After this, he decided to kill his unconscious partner, steal his storage ring, desert the sect, eventually go into hiding.
Mark thought for a bit, weighing the pros and cons.
After a whole minute of silence, he nodded, "okay, you can leave with your partner."
Xing Yimu kowtowed, "thank you."
Alina handed his unconscious partner and he carried him on the back while walking away. Just as he walked more than 20 meters, Mark suddenly gave an order, "Alina, kill the both of them."
Alina nodded and dashed towards them while conjuring energy daggers.
Within just three seconds, Xing Yimu's throat was slit and blood start to pour out endlessly.
Throwing away his partner on the ground, Xing Yimu grabbed his throat with his eyes widened. "You…"
"Sorry but my master isn't kind-hearted." Alina let out a smile and slashed his wrists without giving him any time to recover. In a fraction of a second, she then pierced the chest with her daggers, accurately damaging the heart.
He fell to the ground. Before he lost his life, he cursed in his heart, "Everyone will receive their karma. You bastard will one day…"
At least, he had last moments but his partner didn't even have such luxury. Alina killed him ruthlessly and collect their storage rings before returning to Mark. Meanwhile, the blood spilled on her face disappeared automatically, although nothing can be done about the clothes.
Taking the storage rings, he inspects them. From the two storage rings, he received 67 low-quality ether crystals, 263 gold coins, a couple of gold-grade weapons, and 6 advancement pills (intermediate).
The clothes, food, exclusive talismans, and pouches, things like that are of no use to him. After storing the corpses in one of the storage rings, Mark directly dismantled the two of them, earning about 97 credits.
Then, he proceeded to dismantle the gold-grade dagger and gold-grade staff. Mark received about 153 credits and 296 credits, respectively.
"Not much but I guess something is better than nothing."
Mark put aside the matter and shifted his attention towards the mountains. "Former soldiers of Western Yan, eh! Now, that's something worth investigating."
