Ji Palace, Gong city, Western Yan;
In the palace, Mark and a few higher rank members of Kunyu bandits took their seats in the place where that earlier meeting Ji clan held it. Behind Mark, the demon was standing like a loyal servant to keep up appearances, although he was the strongest person here. He doesn't have a thing such as an ego when he is summoned. So, no harm is being done here.
"Okay, the sun is about to rise and I need to return to prevent any unnecessary suspicions. Any problem, just send me a message." Mark said to everyone as he rose to his feet.
As the others got up their seats too, Feng Wu slightly bowed in respect, "Once again, thank you for your help, Owner Lu. I never expected to go our war this smooth."
"No mention." Mark smiled as he waved his hand. He further added, "You have to be careful. People don't know that Feng Chun is the real king. And before your enemies know the truth, they would think that you are going to be the king and will likely try to assassinate you during these seven days. You are on your own for that."
"I know." Feng Wu nodded seriously. It was also the reason he was very careful to keep the existence of his nephew a secret, the former king's only grandchild.
Soon, Mark equipped the exo suit and flew away from the palace, landing in a remote location.
As Bael also landed before him, Mark gave his next order, "I need you to go to my home and protect the girl named Xie Mei from the shadows. The place is named Genesis Weapon store. You can find your way by hypnotizing any soldier stationed in the city.
As for your mission, keep an eye on her until someone attacks her. If that happens, you should capture them and send a telepathic message."
"Consider it done," Bael promised to do the task and Mark opened up a portal and walked into it, returning to Helios City, although finding himself in the outskirts.
Nevertheless, he used the tracking system to track Allen's location at the royal palace. With GPS (sort of) function, he made it to the Royal palace and used the stealth ability of the suit and quickly got to his room by flying up to the second floor and getting in through the window, all in a matter of just 30 seconds of time.
Throwing away the suit in inventory, he collapsed on the bed to have some sleep.
Meanwhile, in the Imperial city of Phoenix Empire;
A group of masked individuals made their way through the streets, evading the soldiers who are patrolling around. They were four in number.
"I'm excited about this mission, you know," said a masked individual as they entered the outer sector where commoners live and where there is almost no patrolling because of the invasion. His hoarse voice and his words don't match at all but no one complained as they were used to it.
One of them with the codename Viper replied, "Panther, just because you are a summoner doesn't mean Griffin will submit to you."
"But, I have the greatest chance, right?" countered the guy codenamed Panther.
Before Mark and Allen left for the Eastern Sun kingdom, the android was met with a guild member who surprisingly knows something about Soul.
While the information is useless because it was already something Mark indirectly learned from Shang Wei, Mark figured out that this fellow named Li Ming is pretty much close to Nie Rougang and confirmed that this revenue minister knows a way to contact them.
Bribing him with 500 gold coins to keep his identity a secret, Allen gave him the letter, a pouch with more than 100,000 gold coins, another pouch with 10,000 gold coins, and another scroll with a mission written on it.
Li Ming gave them to Nie Rougang. The letter contained a message stating that he would have to deliver the mission to Soul organization with the advance in a big pouch. The smaller one with 10,000 gold coins is his commission for doing the job.
Now, whether Li Ming does his job, whether Nie Rougang does his job, or they betray because of their greed for gold is something Mark had to take a leap of faith.
But, faith is something Mark lacks. Hence, he made sure to attach a postscript where he threatened Nie Rougang that in the event of betrayal, his name will be given to private assassins. And for that, the employer (Mark) wouldn't hesitate to spend another 100,000.
As for the mission, Soul organization will have to kill Xie Mei when she is out of protection from Lu Zhen (Mark). She should die and her body should disappear while a letter should be left behind stating her departure.
Mark didn't forget to give her details and the abilities he knew. Along with 1 million gold coins as a reward for doing the job, he also mentioned that the girl has griffin as her contracted beast. If they kill her, they can capture the beast emperor and take it with them as their prize too.
The griffin might be a beast emperor but it is still a baby with only the strength of a 5-circle realm. For legendary realm experts, it shouldn't be difficult to defeat it.
That was the thing that attracted Soul organization the most and not just one or two but four members were deployed for the mission.
Soon, they reached the weapon store and are looking for a way to enter.
Having the knowledge of the store's suppression inside, they knew that breaking into the store and killing her would be an impossible task. Hence, they decided to draw her out.
As the rest of the three went into hiding and suppressed their cultivation realm, the sole woman member of the team, codenamed Peafowl, took out her mask and lowered her hood walked toward the store, and knock loudly on the shutter until it was opened by a teenager.
Xie Mei was half asleep as she looked at the person, "what is it?" She asked while letting out a yawn.
The woman grabbed Xie Mei's hands as if she was in a huge problem and is in hurry, "My husband was bitten by stray dogs on the way and bleeding. No one is opening the doors. Please help me."
"Stray dogs? It's weird. Anyways, bring him inside. I know how to save him," replied Xie Mei.
"Thank you so much…" The woman shed tears as she grabbed her hands before saying, "please come with me. He is lying there." She pointed in some random direction.
Xie Mei didn't think too much at first and followed her. But, after walking a few steps, she then asked curiously, "May I ask how it happened?"
"We are traveling merchants from Northern Yuan province. On our way, we met with a pack of mad stray dogs. They attacked our bullock for no reason. My husband protected me and shoo them away but in the process, he was bitten a lot." The woman narrated a story in a brief manner while taking away the girl from the store.
However, Xie Mei felt odd even in that story. She couldn't help but say, "I'm sorry but there should be no stray dogs in our district or the surroundings. I heard that a while ago, all of those stray animals like dogs, cats, goats, and pigs were captured because of the inconvenience they cause to our store and our customers."
The woman stopped walking and turned around. She wiped the tears and let out a smile, "well, I didn't know that. If I had known, I would have used a better excuse."
"What do you mean?" Xie Mei furrowed her brows. "Who are you?"
Three figures simultaneously landed around her. Panther spoke, "well, let's just say your grim reapers."
Xie Mei instantly realized that they were trying to assassinate her as Mark was no longer in the city. Xie Mei quickly used a significant portion of her ether energy and expelled it through her body in all directions.
The assassins didn't expect it and were hit by the sudden attack. They blasted away a few meters and crashed onto the ground, giving space for Xie Mei to escape.
"Iffy." She shouted at the top of her lungs as she leaped into the air.
A powerful screech echoed in the surroundings before the griffin woke up, flapped its wings, and flew into the sky.
It happened so fast that even the assassins didn't expect their target to perfectly land on her mount's back by the time they get up and take out their weapons.
"We can't let her escape," said the woman codenamed Peafowl.
However, the response came from nowhere, startling everyone.
"You have to worry about yourselves, humans."
