Rean and Roan went to see elder Hulian right after the announcement. As soon as Hulian saw them, he immediately brought them up to the mountain. There, they entered the main building and made their way to the Sect Master's office. Finally, Hulian left those two in front of the door and left straight away.
Rean then knocked on the door.
"Enter."
The twins opened the door and saw Mia working on a few documents. Surprisingly, Elder Tiria was there as well. Mia continued to write on the papers for a few more minutes before she put everything down and looked at the twins.
"Do you know about the Shadow Reapers?"
Rean and Roan looked at each other and then back at Mia.
"We never heard about them."
Mia nodded, already expecting this answer.
"During the last time you left for your mission, Tiria followed you two. The reason was that my Master detected that someone was spying on you. After that, I had Tiria follow you two on your journey. Sure enough, she found and killed one of them on the way."
Obviously, Rean and Roan were taken aback.
"Why were they following us?"
Mia shook her head.
"No idea. I called you over so that I could try to figure it out. However, after that guy was caught, we didn't detect the presence of any other member of this organization anymore."
Roan pondered a bit and asked.
"Then, what are those Shadow Reapers? From what you are telling me, it seems like they are some kind of assassin organization."
Tiria was the one to answer this time.
"You are correct. The Shadow Reapers are indeed an assassin organization. This group only moves for money, which means that someone put a bounty on your heads. However, the fact that we didn't detect anyone after we killed the first assassin is strange. Once they take a job, they would keep trying until they succeed. Even if they can't enter our sect, sure there would be someone observing you. However, so far, we didn't find anyone like that."
Roan then asked a few questions.
"What was the cultivation level of the guy you killed?"
"Core and Soul Fusion Realm."
"Did you battle, causing some damage and catching the attention of others?"
"No."
"Did you leave any clues behind after he died?"
"No."
Roan nodded.
"I don't think there is anything strange about it. The first one to come was a Core and Soul Fusion Realm expert. However, he died without being able to get even close to complete the mission. It's true that they would keep trying, but that is only in case the money is worth it. You said it, they move for money. That means when the first one died that easy, the mission turned into something much more difficult. That also means that the initial payment was not worth the risks anymore."
"Think with me. That guy died so easily that no clue was left behind. Could another Core and Soul Fusion Realm cultivator have done it? Not likely. The guy was an assassin, so he knows how to protect himself against assassinations. That means someone much stronger than him that he couldn't detect with his Spiritual Sense instantly killed him. Simply put, the organization behind him should be at least 90% sure that a Nascent Soul cultivator was involved."
"That being said, they would not move anymore unless a higher price is offered. That is also considering that they have someone stronger enough to deal with both the target and a possible Nascent Soul protector.
There is only one possibility here at the moment. The client is not willing to pay for the extra costs of having us killed."
"Of course, there are other possibilities. They might be biding their time and waiting for when we come out. There might be spies in the sect that are keeping an eye on us. Or perhaps they don't have or don't want to risk sending anyone stronger. However, I believe these other possibilities are very improbable."
Tiria couldn't help but ask.
"Why is that?"
Roan then explained.
"The answer is related to you two. You seem to consider those Shadow Reapers very dangerous. That means they definitely have some people capable of completing the job. Since they didn't send anyone, it means the client simply can't or don't want to pay for higher service. Or perhaps the client himself decided to try it. Last but not least, the client might have given up."
Mia and Tiria looked at Roan with weird expressions.
"Are you really a kid?"
Roan narrowed his eyes after hearing that.
"Why does everyone ask this same question so many times? Is it really that unbelievable that I have a brain?"
Mia sighed and shook her head.
"Forget it. Do you have any idea why someone would want you dead?"
Rean answered that question with another one.
"It depends. How much would it cost to have us killed?"
Tiria pondered a bit and answered.
"Considering your cultivation and background, I would say something around ten thousand Rank Two Spirit Stones. After all, it was supposed to be an easy job."
Rean shook his head.
"That's a lot of Spirit Stones. I can't think about a reason to employ an assassin by such value. I do have my steelwork going around, and it is definitely worth more than ten thousand. However, even if Roan and I die, the metal wouldn't disappear."
Mia knew about Rean's business. After all, she had been keeping an eye on the twins ever since they arrived at the sect. Rean and Roan also considered this possibility.
Roan then shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, then we are doing or did something that made some rich guy very angry. But what could it be?"
It was at this moment that Rean looked at Tiria.
"Umbral Energy!"
Tiria nodded her head.
"You and Roan left our Dalamu Sect to do your mission after you healed the Umbral Energy assaulting my body. Suppose the Umbral Sect found about your ability somehow. In that case, it is definitely possible that they paid to get you killed."
Mia heard from Tiria about Rean's capability of healing Umbral Energy before.
"That makes sense. Also, if it wasn't too difficult, they wouldn't do it themselves. After all, the tension between our sects after that last battle is quite high. If we found out that they killed more of our disciples, then a war might have started between us. However, if they employ the Shadow Reapers, there would be no clue left behind."
Roan immediately found an issue in this theory.
"There is a problem. If it is really the Umbral Sect, I don't think they lack Spirit Stones to pay for a better assassin to get rid of us, right?"
Mia shook her head.
"It's not that they don't have it. It's just that they are too proud to pay so much just to have two Foundation Establishment Kids killed. I know their Sect master personality. He definitely wouldn't spend more than it. Chances are that he didn't even want to pay for it in the first place, but his elders changed his mind. However, now that they failed and the price increased, their Sect Master definitely won't pay for it again. Which means…"
Rean and Roan understood what Mia meant.
"They are coming for us by themselves."
