Chapter 147: The Assassin Unleashed

Stepping out of the cave tavern, Li Yuan spotted the snake-faced old man at a glance, busy amending the 'Mission Board'.

He tapped his foot, leapt up a dozen metres or so, grabbed the edge of the stone tablet with one hand, and with the other held flat like a blade, scraped off a great shower of stone chips.

"Mm?"

Li Yuan stepped closer and saw that what the old man was amending was none other than Valley Master Lord Master Gongyang Yu's bounty.

"Whoever assassinates Lord Master Gongyang Yu may freely choose four secret martial arts from Qianjun Cave, one supreme-grade famous weapon, eighty thousand taels of gold, and the right to found a sect in any one prefecture…"

Such lavish terms?!

Li Yuan's heart skipped a beat; he had already guessed that the Divine Armament Valley must have made its move against Qianjun Cave.

Sure enough, after amending Lord Master Gongyang Yu's entry, the snake-faced old man worked his way down, and the bounties on every true-inheritor elder of Divine Armament Valley, Han Han Chuijun included, were raised several times over in one stroke.

"Whoever assassinates Li Yuan will be rewarded with three thousand taels of gold, three famous weapons, and ten Minor Soul-Returning Pills…"

Seeing that even his own bounty had been raised so steeply, Li Yuan could be nearly certain that Qianjun Cave had suffered a grievous loss.

Hoo!

When the snake-faced old man landed, Li Yuan sidled up and asked in a pinched voice:

"Elder Snake, what has happened? The bounties on every true-inheritor elder of Divine Armament Valley have been raised?"

"A few days ago, on the Grand Canal at Dechang Prefecture, Lord Master Gongyang Yu and Han Han Chuijun joined forces to ambush Qianjun Cave—

in that one battle, Qianjun Cave suffered terrible casualties."

The snake-faced old man did not conceal it either: "This matter will spread across Huizhou, and the world beyond, within a few days."

"Divine Armament Valley has made its move against Qianjun Cave?"

Li Yuan feigned shock.

"It was only to be expected; why the surprise?"

The snake-faced old man's voice was hoarse: "For a thousand years, these Sida Sect great sects have clashed from time to time; this time they simply fought a little harder, that's all."

"And these bounties?"

Li Yuan glanced at the stone tablet.

Qianjun Cave had put up serious money — not only elders and true inheritors, but even a great batch of inner disciples had bounties posted.

"Take them freely; even if Qianjun Cave loses the war, they wouldn't dare default on our payment."

As the snake-faced old man spoke, he unclipped the token from his waist, flung it upward, and left a clear mark beside Lord Master Gongyang Yu's bounty:

"With such generous payment, even this old man is tempted."

Catching the token, the old man turned and left, still tottering on his feet, but moving with extreme speed; after a few rises and falls he had vanished into the tunnel.

"Full Meridian, or Organ Refining?"

Watching his retreating back, Li Yuan's expression grew solemn; this surge in bounties was sure to spur a flood of assassins to hunt down Divine Armament Valley disciples.

"These missions being open to anyone makes things very troublesome…"

The assassination missions at the Star-Plucking Tower were not exclusive, which meant many assassins might take on the same mission.

Whoo whoo~

Before Li Yuan had even left, the sound of wind rose from the surrounding tunnels, and one masked assassin after another arrived in the cavern.

"All well-informed folk, these."

A sweep of Li Yuan's peripheral vision showed that in just this short while, several dozen assassins had already gathered in the cavern, Linghu Baiman among them.

The bald man had disguised himself well — even his mask had been swapped — but the superior-grade famous-weapon curved blade at his waist could not escape Li Yuan's eyes.

"Mm, I must note down these assassins' weapons."

Li Yuan had been about to leave, but now he stopped, and likewise pretended to be taking on a mission, circling the stone tablet.

Relying on the Weapon-Holding Register, the weapons and inner armour of the assassins all glimmered; once noted down, he would be able to recognise them at a glance the moment he ran into them.

"Lucky for me my memory's improved quite a bit."

After memorising the weapons of the over hundred assassins coming and going — chiefly the great assassins carrying famous-grade weapons or above — Li Yuan at last turned and left.

……

"Junior Brother Zhang!"

The instant he returned to the Inner Isle, Li Yuan heard a startled shout; he whipped his head around and saw ripples on the Cold Pool as someone plunged into the water clutching a head.

"An assassin killed Junior Brother Zhang!"

Day had just broken, and several small boats were already on the Cold Pool; hearing that furious roar, the inner disciples passing by all turned pale.

"How dare you!"

A soft rebuke rang out from the lake, and a sword-wielding figure plunged into the water; in the distance the surface churned, and the clash of weapons could be heard.

Splash!

Before long, someone burst from the surface, sword in one hand and the corpse of a black-clad, masked figure in the other.

"Senior Sister Fang, it's Senior Sister Fang!"

The surrounding inner disciples recognised her — the one who had slain the assassin was none other than Fang Fang Yunxiu.

"Senior Sister Fang's swordsmanship is growing ever more fierce."

Li Yuan poled his boat over as well; his eyesight was excellent, and even from a great distance he could make out those sweeping sword-lights.

Compared with fellow disciples who seldom left the mountain gate, Fang Fang Yunxiu was constantly out in the world, and her swordsmanship carried a heavy killing edge.

"This one is a blade-carrier from Fucheng!"

On the small boat, Fang Fang Yunxiu pulled off the assassin's mask and frowned deeply: "Daring to come to the Inner Isle to kill — has he gone mad?"

"Many thanks, Senior Sister Fang."

On the small boat, a pale-faced inner disciple bowed in thanks, still shaken, his eyes blazing with fury.

Li Yuan knew him — this disciple was called Zhang Zhang Yuke; having joined the sect over a decade ago, though not an elite, he had long since achieved Internal Strength Mastery.

As for that man in black.

Star-Plucking Tower has many assassins, not lacking desperate fugitives—this one probably wanted to take advantage of the news not yet spreading to kill a few first…

"That beast is too cunning! I saw the float twitch and thought a big fish had taken the bait, yanked hard, and nearly had my head chopped off by the bastard!"

Zhang Zhang Yuke's face was extremely ugly—if not for fellow disciples at his side, he would have almost died!

"Report this matter to the Supervisory Hall!"

Fang Fang Yunxiu searched the corpse and found nothing in the end, but she seemed to have guessed something.

"Yes!"

A disciple answered, picked up the corpse, and headed toward the inner island.

"Senior Sister Fang!"

Only now did Li Yuan cup his hands in greeting.

"Junior Brother Li, why are you here too?"

Fang Fang Yunxiu answered, her brow immediately furrowing: "Come back to the island with me!"

She seemed to have guessed something, but couldn't be sure at the moment. She turned and headed toward the inner island, and Li Yuan poled his boat to follow.

More and more boats appeared on the Cold Pool, with many inner-gate disciples flooding in, and disciples from the Enforcement Hall also coming to inquire.

"Ah!"

Just then, another scream rang out—this time, from the other side of the riverbank.

Fang Fang Yunxiu's face darkened. Enforcement disciples were already hurrying across the lake, and Li Yuan followed Fang Fang Yunxiu in pursuit.

At the outer-gate dock, the air reeked of blood—several outer-gate disciples had been beheaded.

"Beast!"

Several Enforcement disciples' faces were grim.

That assassin was at least at Inner Strength Grand Completion, while the two slain outer-gate disciples were only at Body Tempering Grand Completion—killed without the slightest chance to fight back, and the others had no time to pursue.

"All disciples, return to your quarters for now!"

Feng Feng Zhongyi had already hurried over, his face ashen. He first coaxed the frightened outer-gate disciples back to their quarters, then gathered the patrol disciples.

In an instant, the outer gate was in a state of panic.

Fang Fang Yunxiu had wanted to go up and look, but glanced at Li Yuan and immediately turned back—her heart was heavy.

"That assassin is probably from Star-Plucking Tower!"

The two small boats drew close and moved slowly. Fang Fang Yunxiu flipped her wrist, and a wooden token suddenly appeared in her palm, painted with a tiger's head.

"Star-Plucking Tower?"

Li Yuan couldn't help furrowing his brow as well.

Assassination is not a duel—when an assassin strikes, the whole point is that it's impossible to guard against. The jianghu has never lacked tales of famous masters and great heroes dying to assassination.

If there really were veteran assassins lurking in the shadows, Li Yuan felt he wouldn't even be able to sleep soundly.

"Star-Plucking Tower is one of the largest assassin organizations in the jianghu. It acts without scruple and has assassinated multiple Emperors."

Fang Fang Yunxiu's brow was tightly knit: "Junior Brother Li, don't leave the island for the next few days. Let's wait and see if any news comes…"

She hesitated, but Li Yuan was far more decisive: "Senior Sister Fang, you mean Master has made a move against Thousand Jun Cave?"

"…Mm."

Fang Fang Yunxiu hadn't expected him to react so quickly. She nodded: "I'm only guessing, it may not be accurate.

In any case, don't leave the island for now. If anything comes up, let me know."

Pretty accurate, though.

Li Yuan muttered to himself, then cupped his hands in thanks.

He truly had no mind to leave the island either.

"Caution above all. If Elder Han really has made a move, it won't be peaceful for a while."

Burdened with worries, Fang Fang Yunxiu saw Li Yuan back to the inner island, gave him a few instructions, then hurried back.

For the foreseeable future, she had no plans to leave the island.

"Senior Sister Fang has grown quite a lot."

Li Yuan watched her go, suppressing the distracting thoughts in his mind. Thinking of the bounty on his own head, he decided to temporarily move out of Bingtang.

Those assassins' hands were dirtier than his own—to be safe, he even wanted to move into the Red Fusion Cave to live.

"Mm, I have enough pills on me. If I can master three Red Dragon Fishskin Armor pieces, living in Red Fusion Cave shouldn't be a problem."

Li Yuan felt a sense of urgency. People have to sleep, after all—what if he fell asleep and someone slipped a blade into him…

He only had to think about it, and Li Yuan, who hadn't slept all night, felt he might not be able to sleep.

……

……

Over the next three days, twenty-six disciples on the inner and outer islands of Divine Weapon Valley were assassinated, causing an uproar.

Although Feng Feng Zhongyi had acted and captured or killed most of the assassins, many disciples were still panic-stricken and uneasy.

"Desperate fugitives!"

In the small courtyard of Bingtang, several Enforcement disciples were all pinching their noses. Li Yuan's face was black as a pot bottom, and a chill ran down his spine.

He had still underestimated the bottom line of these professional assassins.

The assassin he had hammered to death had actually been lurking in the latrine for a full day. Had he not caught the glint of the blade, he would likely have taken a sword thrust from below…

"Audacity beyond bounds!"

Feng Feng Zhongyi arrived in shock and fury: "Li Yuan? He's all right, isn't he?"

"This disciple is fine."

Li Yuan responded, and saw Feng Feng Zhongyi, along with several elders he had never met behind him.

Even the veterans of the Divine Guard Army have been deployed?

Li Yuan was slightly startled.

These battle-hardened, death-defying veterans of the Form-Shifting realm are the true foundation of the Divine Weapon Valley, and the reliance that allows Lord Master Gongyang Yu to leave the valley.

If even the veterans have been deployed, it means the Star-Plucking Tower's assassination is more intense than he imagined.

"It's good that you're fine."

Feng Feng Zhongyi breathed a sigh of relief:

"These two are my junior brothers. After retiring from the Divine Guard Army, they lived out their days at the Outer Gate. From now on, they will protect you closely!"

"Thank you, Elder Feng!"

Li Yuan first cupped his hands in thanks, then spoke of his own plan.

"You—you're planning to stay underground in the Casting Weapon Valley?"

Feng Feng Zhongyi was somewhat taken aback, but his face was full of approval: "Excellent idea. Why didn't I think of that?"

After a few instructions, Feng Feng Zhongyi strode away.

Li Yuan, meanwhile, packed his belongings and, accompanied by the two veterans with strange expressions on their faces, headed to the Casting Weapon Valley.