Chapter 513 - 509: Secret Mission
Chapter 513: Chapter 509: Secret Mission
Zhao Jun’s pupils constricted. He drew his blade, but it was only halfway out of its sheath when Fang Han was already upon him.
He couldn’t even see how Fang Han moved. He just felt his wrist go numb, and the long blade flew from his grasp.
A kick to the back of his knee sent him involuntarily to the ground on one knee.
He tried to struggle to his feet, but a hand pressed down on his shoulder. The Palm Force was so immense that his bones creaked, and he was completely unable to move.
The youngest disciple’s face had already drained of color in terror. He turned to dive into the woods, but after only two steps, he was seized by the back of his collar.
An irresistible force dragged him back through the air, slamming him down hard beside the tall, thin disciple. The impact made him see stars, and he couldn’t get up for some time.
From start to finish, it had taken Fang Han only a few moments to subdue all three of them.
He took a rope from his Storage Ring, tied their hands behind their backs, and confiscated all their Weapons and Hidden Weapons.
Once he was done, Fang Han stood before them, his gaze sweeping across their faces.
Just like Meng Zhao, none of them were wearing the Red Flame Sect’s uniform.
’From the Elder down to the disciples, they were all hiding their identities here in Songquan County. He had a feeling there was a secret behind it all.’
"I ask, you answer."
Fang Han spoke, his voice low but carrying an undeniable chill.
Zhao Jun gritted his teeth, saying nothing.
The sturdy disciple was still unconscious.
The youngest disciple was the first to crack. He was trembling like a leaf, lips quivering. He opened his mouth to speak, but after a fierce glare from Zhao Jun, he swallowed his words.
Fang Han didn’t waste any more words.
He stepped forward and pressed a spot on Zhao Jun’s shoulder. A sharp CRACK of breaking bone immediately followed.
Zhao Jun’s face instantly flushed crimson. Veins bulged on his temples as large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. He bit his lip hard enough to draw blood, but still stubbornly refused to speak.
Fang Han increased the pressure.
Zhao Jun finally broke. A strangled groan escaped from deep in his throat, and his body went limp as if boneless, slumping to the ground as he gasped for breath.
Seeing this, the young disciple’s face turned white as a sheet. He blurted out before Fang Han could even speak:
"I’ll talk! I’ll talk! Don’t kill me!"
Fang Han withdrew his hand and turned his gaze to the young disciple.
"This trip to Songquan County," he asked, "besides Meng Zhao and the three of you, was there anyone else?"
"No one else!"
The young disciple shook his head desperately, his voice trembling.
"It was just Elder Meng and the three of us. No one else."
"Did you send a message back to the Red Flame Sect about my appearance here?"
"No, absolutely not!"
The young disciple said urgently, adding quickly as if afraid Fang Han wouldn’t believe him,
"We were going to send a message back to the Sect, but Elder Meng stopped us."
Hearing this, Fang Han’s mind stirred. He had already guessed what Meng Zhao was thinking.
’That old bastard must have wanted to keep any treasures from the Ancient Ruins for himself. That’s why he didn’t report back to the Sect—to prevent other Elders from coming to claim a piece of the pie.’
’That actually reduces my risk of being exposed.’
"Why did you and Meng Zhao appear in Songquan County?"
Fang Han asked the question that had been nagging him.
The young disciple hesitated for a moment, but one glance from Fang Han was enough to make him abandon any thought of concealment.
He swallowed hard and said:
"It was... it was a mission from the Sect. We came to Songquan County to secretly search for a Grandmaster’s Tomb."
"A Grandmaster’s Tomb?"
Fang Han raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, a Grandmaster’s Tomb."
The young disciple began spilling everything out, speaking in a rapid-fire burst as if trying to get it all out in one breath.
"The Sect got a clue from somewhere that a Grandmaster’s Tomb was most likely located near Songqiao City, so they sent us to search for it secretly."
Fang Han fell silent for a moment, rapidly weighing his options.
A Grandmaster’s Tomb. He knew better than anyone the weight those two words carried.
Among the Seven Sects of Qingyang County, every Supreme Elder was a Grandmaster-level expert. They were the top-level combatants who served as the unshakable pillars of their respective Sects.
When a figure of that caliber passed on, their burial goods were bound to be incredibly lavish—
Cultivation Techniques, Weapons, or other funerary objects. Any single item would be enough to make the outside world go mad fighting over it.
’It would be a lie to say he wasn’t tempted.’
But he was also keenly aware that the area around Songqiao City was a vast expanse of rolling mountains. Finding a tomb with no specific location in such a wilderness would be, if not quite like finding a needle in a haystack, still incredibly difficult.
The fact that Meng Zhao and his three disciples had been searching here for who knew how long with nothing to show for it was proof enough.
Moreover, once Meng Zhao’s group of four went missing, the Red Flame Sect would certainly not ignore it.
The disappearance of three disciples was one thing, but a First-Grade Elder going missing was a major incident that would enrage any top-level power.
In two or three days at most, experts from the Red Flame Sect would undoubtedly arrive. If he got greedy for the Grandmaster’s Tomb and lingered, he’d be cornered. Even with the Wind Shocking Sword, he’d be hard-pressed to escape.
"Forget it."
Fang Han suppressed the lingering temptation and his gaze fell back upon the young disciple.
Just as a glimmer of hope appeared in the disciple’s eyes after Fang Han’s long silence, he felt a chill on his neck, and his consciousness plunged into eternal darkness.
Fang Han sheathed his sword and finished off the sturdy disciple and Zhao Jun.
He looted the bodies and deposited all the gains at once.
[Wealth: 500,000 gold → 520,000 gold]
His wealth only increased by 20,000 gold, a far smaller haul than what he’d gotten from Meng Zhao.
This was to be expected. The three were only Middle Third-Grade Martial Artists, whereas Meng Zhao was a First-Grade Elder, one of the most senior figures in the Red Flame Sect.
He dragged the three bodies over to the dying embers of Meng Zhao’s pyre, doused them with oil, and set them ablaze. Flames licked at the three corpses, sending a plume of acrid smoke rising through the pine forest.
By the light of the fire, he erased all traces of the fight to prevent his Swordsmanship from revealing his identity.
’I have to change my clothes, too!’
Fang Han took a moon-white long robe from his Storage Ring and changed into it, storing the Silver-Striped Cyan Robe—the symbol of his status as a Qingxuan Sect True Inheritor—in the ring.
After killing an Elder and three disciples from the Red Flame Sect, traveling in the True Inheritance Robe of the Qingxuan Sect would be asking for trouble.
Of course, it would have been best to change out of the True Inheritance Robe before entering Songquan County, but he hadn’t anticipated running into Meng Zhao and his people.
’I need to get out of Songquan County as quickly as possible!’
Fang Han glanced back one last time at the dying fire to ensure he hadn’t missed anything, then turned and activated his Wind God Step.
His body became a streak of pale white light, shooting toward the border of Songquan County.
This time, he avoided the main roads, sticking to remote and untraveled mountain forests.
His Returning Ruins Hidden Essence Skill, which had reached the Realm of Perfection, suppressed his aura until it was nearly undetectable. He moved like a silent gust of wind, flitting through the vast pine forest without a trace.
He made his way out of Songquan County at the fastest possible speed.
...
「Two days later at dusk, near the site of Fang Han and Meng Zhao’s battle.」
One of the men was tall and thin, around sixty years of age, with a withered face. His eyes, however, were startlingly bright, glinting with a sharp light whenever he blinked. This was Yan Chong, a First-Grade Elder of the Red Flame Sect.
Beside him stood another First-Grade Elder, Zheng Kuan, who had a sturdy build and a grim expression.
The last person was a middle-aged Steward, a Martial Artist specializing in Tracking.
"This is the place."
The Steward led the way, bringing Yan Chong and Zheng Kuan to the site of the battle.
"According to the secret Sect markers, Elder Meng’s last known location was somewhere around here."
Yan Chong stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his gaze sweeping over the vast pine forest as his nostrils flared slightly.
A faint, acrid smell hung in the air.
SWOOSH!
His figure blurred, transforming into a streak of crimson light as he shot toward the source of the smell.
Zheng Kuan and the Steward followed closely behind.
The three of them stopped in a clearing in the forest.
In the clearing, four charred skeletons lay beside a long-extinguished fire pit, stripped of all flesh.
"This skeleton has a healed fracture on its left hand... It must be... Elder Meng."
The Steward drew a sharp breath, his voice trembling as he pointed to one of the skeletons.
Yan Chong said nothing. His face ashen, he crouched down to examine the skeleton.
He soon found a conspicuous sword mark on the skeleton.
The gash ran diagonally from the left shoulder to the right hip, nearly cleaving the body in two.
He then examined the fatal wounds on the other three skeletons—all were clean, fatal sword wounds.
"This was the work of a master of swordsmanship!"
Zheng Kuan said grimly.
"Whoever killed Elder Meng must be a First Grade Martial Artist at the very least, and not an ordinary one. Which nearby power is most skilled in Swordsmanship?"
Yan Chong slowly rose to his feet, flicking the soot from his fingertips. His gaze swept over the four charred bodies as he asked in a low voice,
"Longquan Manor."
Zheng Kuan mulled it over for a moment before saying the two words.
A brief silence fell over the three of them.
Longquan Manor was one of the top powers in Songquan County, famous for its Swordsmanship. Their signature technique, the "Longquan Swordsmanship," was renowned for its fierce and piercing style.
And Songqiao City was well within Longquan Manor’s sphere of influence.
"Elder Meng was on a secret mission to find the Grandmaster’s Tomb," the Steward speculated. "Their deaths might be related."
Zheng Kuan snorted coldly and interjected:
"It’s highly likely Longquan Manor found out about the Grandmaster’s Tomb. They didn’t want the treasure to fall into the hands of our Red Flame Sect, so they struck a fatal blow."
Yan Chong didn’t comment immediately.
He clasped his hands behind his back and paced a few steps through the darkening woods, the pine needles crunching softly underfoot.
He felt that something was off, but the fact remained that Meng Zhao and his three men had been killed by a master of Swordsmanship.
"Let’s return to the Sect first."
Yan Chong finally made his decision, his voice low but resolute.
"We will report this to the Sect Leader and let him decide."
Zheng Kuan and the Steward exchanged a look and nodded silently.
The three figures turned and vanished into the deepening twilight, quickly disappearing into the pine forest.
When the news reached the Red Flame Sect, its upper echelon was enraged.
The loss of three elite disciples was bad enough, but the loss of a First-Grade Elder was a grievous blow.
The Red Flame Sect immediately dispatched several Elders to Longquan Manor. Their message was harsh: they were certain Longquan Manor had killed their First-Grade Elder.
The Manor Master of Longquan Manor flew into a rage at the accusation, denouncing the Red Flame Sect for their baseless slander.
Both sides held their ground, refusing to back down. The argument quickly escalated from a war of words to small-scale skirmishes.
The news spread like wildfire, throwing all of Songquan County into an uproar.
"Have you heard? Longquan Manor is clashing with the Red Flame Sect from the next county over. It all started because one of the Red Flame Sect’s First-Grade Elders died in Longquan Manor’s territory."
"How did someone from the Red Flame Sect die in Longquan Manor’s territory?"
"I heard the Red Flame Sect people were looking for something near Songqiao City."
"What could they be looking for that would require a First-Grade Elder to come personally?"
"Whatever requires a First-Grade Elder’s personal attention can’t be ordinary. Maybe it’s a clue to some Ancient Ruins, or the inheritance of a powerful expert..."
Similar conversations became the talk of the town among the major powers of Songquan County.
Astute observers soon pieced together the truth.
A First-Grade Elder from the Red Flame Sect had secretly infiltrated Songquan County and was active near Songqiao City. He was discovered and killed by Longquan Manor.
What else but a massive prize could drive two top-level powers to tear each other apart like this?
Catching wind of the situation, many other powers joined the "search."
Suddenly, the once-unremarkable town of Songqiao City became the epicenter of the storm brewing in Songquan County.
Spies, elites, and Elders from every power flooded into the city in droves. Taverns were packed, business at weapon and medicine shops boomed, and even the ordinary townsfolk could sense the unusual tension in the air.