Chapter 397: Imposter
Translated by Rachel of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
The next day, Ling Xiao’s neck was horribly bitten. Most people would immediately remove the traces, but Ling Xiao did not. He saw the bite marks on his neck as a mark of You XiaoMo’s love for him. With that thought in mind, he appeared unabashedly in front of others.
Said other person was a staff of the hotel.
Since then, the staff had been looking at You XiaoMo more and more strangely. He was shocked at first, but afterwards he looked at him as if he was a monster and dared not come back.
You XiaoMo utterly regretted his actions. He should have known better than to compete with him in terms of who was more thick-skinned. He would never win. After all, he knew Ling Xiao was no ordinary person.
You XiaoMo ended up having to beg him to remove the marks on his neck. You XiaoMo tearfully swore he would never do this sort of thing again. After agreeing to a number of unequal terms, Ling Xiao finally dismissed the idea of walking around with the marks for show.
He would definitely get back at him one day!
After another two days had passed, You XiaoMo had a small discussion before finally deciding to broadcast the information he saw in his jade drive regarding the Metal Swallowing Beast.
The news spread like wildfire, and in less than half a day, the whole of June City knew about it. Everyone was talking about the Metal Swallowing Beast.
However, this move did not jeopardize the interests of the Cang Alliance. This was because as early as the day before; Xiong Xiao had already stopped selling the information jade drive. Those who bought the jade drive were also wary of the Vermillion Blood Clan and were unwilling to freely divulge information they bought with spirit gems. So in the end, nothing got out.
But one thing did change. After You XiaoMo leaked the news, the Vermillion Blood Clan and the other forces lost their privileges.
The Metal Swallowing Beast symbolised power and status and almost no one could resist this temptation. Driven by their desires, some people relentlessly probed around for information on where the entrance to the natural underground palace was.
As the saying goes, “When there’s a will, there’s a way.” Eventually, someone really did find out where the entrance was located.
In reality, the Vermillion Blood Clan and a few other large powers already had a plan in mind. All this time, they hadn’t taken action because they were observing how the underground palace moved. From their observations, they discovered that the next time the entrance would reappear would be at the south-western part of June City’s mountain range, along Broken Valley.
But time was very limited. The underground palace’s entrance only stopped for seven minutes or so before shifting again. If they couldn’t get in within this time frame, the location of the entrance would shift once more and no one knew where it’d end up next or how far away it’d be. Basically, they only had one shot.
That being said, there was still no news on which day and what time it would make an appearance. You XiaoMo was also starting to get anxious. He felt it could be any day now.
If he couldn’t obtain information on the exact whereabouts of the entrance, it would be useless to search the whole mountain range of June City. The entrance would have long since disappeared.
“What now?” Although Ling Xiao had already said that he wasn’t omnipotent, You XiaoMo still asked him out of habit.
Ling Xiao rubbed his clean shaven chin before suddenly smiling after a moment.
“I reckon the Vermillion Blood Clan would has taken precautions after the information leaked the last time. They won’t let many people know about it to ensure nothing is leaked a second time. It’s useless to rely on others. In this case, we can only find out about it ourselves.”
“How?” You XiaoMo asked with interest.
“Killing and arson,” Ling Xiao replied.
Soon, it was nightfall and what better time to set fire and kill people than on a dark, stormy night. In the darkness of the night, dozens of figures were on the move. These people were heading in one direction and that was the June City’s Lord’s Mansion.
That day, Hu Yin was leaving the inn after being irritated by You XiaoMo. He then accepted the invitation from the city’s lord and proceeded to lodge in the Lord’s Mansion with his entourage. After that, people from the Mage Guild also moved in. This gave the lord great honor. The smile never left the lord’s face.
As to why they chose to deal with the Vermillion Blood Clan and the Mage Guild instead, it was because they couldn’t afford to offend the Cang Alliance. They had an intelligence network all across the Tong Tian Continent and if they dared to lay a hand on their people, they wouldn’t even how they ended up dead. The Cang Alliance was known to be extremely protective of its own people.
They couldn’t offend the Beast Transfiguration Guild either. They were renowned for their beast taming techniques across the Tong Tian Continent. From the high level demon beasts down to the lowest level ones, one might never know if they were being watched by demon beasts as they made their move. The risks were too high. Hence, they settled for the Vermillion Blood Clan and the Mage Guild.
While they couldn’t afford to offend the two forces either, it would be difficult to trace the attacks back to them if they were more careful. Not long after, a group of people arrived at the heavily guarded Lord’s Mansion. It was as if these people already had it all planned out. They regrouped before dispersing again, sneaking into the mansion from different directions.
Fifteen minutes had passed.
A powerful aura from within the mansion rose to the sky. Pained moans and cries rang in succession. Soon after, they were silenced. The dark night once again resumed its peace and quiet, as if nothing had happened.
“As expected, they don’t stand a chance when faced with a Divine level powerhouse.” From the darkness, Ling Xiao’s voice could be heard with a hint of foresight as he spoke.
You XiaoMo, who was laying on Ling Xiao’s back, looked towards the brightly lit Lord’s Mansion. It seemed like they already knew that the night wasn’t going to be a peaceful one. No one was planning to go to bed as they waited for their prey to show up at their doorsteps.
“Hu Yin probably hasn’t gone to sleep. Are we really going to start with attacking him?”
“Hu Yin may be a genius in Yu Xian City but he is nothing compared to the Vermillion Blood clan’s member. The Divine level powerhouse is probably beside that clan member and guarding him now. So we can only target Hu Yin.”
“Can’t we target Cheng DongQing?”
“Hu Yin and Cheng DongQing. Which one do you hate more?”
“Both.”
“Choose one first. We’ll deal with the other one another time.”
“Then, let’s stick with Hu Yin.”
“Make up your mind next time.”
“…Ok.”
The courtyard that Hu Yin was staying at was in the west wing of the mansion. They already surveyed the place during daytime and for some reason, he wasn’t in the same place as the others. This only made it more convenient for them to attack. However, afraid that Hu Yin would be disturbed, the lord deliberately sent people to guard the west wing closely. On the surface, indeed it looked like not even a fly could get in.
Ling Xiao and You XiaoMo snuck past the guards and defence lines with ease and finally located Hu Yin’s residence—an exquisite compound.
The outside of the compound was surrounded by the Guards of the Lord’s Mansion whilst the inside was people brought by Hu Yin. Other than Hu Yin who had an Emperor level cultivation, there was another person who was at the same level. The difference being the person had a stronger presence than Hu Yin and he probably was a four or five star.
Ling Xiao quickly knocked that person out.
You XiaoMo took over by stuffing the guy under the bed. Even if someone came in, they won’t be able to see him. Then, he got CatQiu to transform into the sagging old man under the bed.
“Like this you’ve really become an old man.” Ling Xiao joked.
You XiaoMo rolled his eyes at him before starting to carry out the plan.
In order not to alarm other people, they thought of using this knocked out old man’s identity and have You XiaoMo take on his appearance to deceive the others. The results were successful. You XiaoMo only had to say to them he had important matters to speak with Hu Yin and asked them and the lord’s guards to stand guard outside, which they easily obeyed.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
“Come in.” Hu Yin answered.
You XiaoMo immediately pushed the doors open and entered. He gave the room a sweep before concluding that it was indeed luxurious.
As expected, Hu Yin hadn’t retired for the night. He was drinking and his brows were set in a deep frown, as if he had remembered something unpleasant. When he saw him entering, he didn’t even suspect anything.
“Uncle Lu, do you need me for something?”
You XiaoMo gave a slight cough before speaking, “I have something important to tell you.”
With his wine-addled brain, Hu Yin couldn’t tell what You XiaoMo said sounded very different from the usual Uncle Lu. When he heard there were important matters, he asked about it.
“What is it?”
“Actually, I just want to tell you there’s someone standing behind you.” You XiaoMo smiled.
Hu Yin froze for a moment before noticing that the Uncle Lu in front of him was a little odd. Before he could even give a deep thought as to why he found him odd, he felt something strange from behind him.
He turned around sharply only to find a familiar handsome man before him. The man was smiling at him, which sent shivers down his spine. He opened his mouth to speak but not a single word fell out. Hu Yin’s eyes never left that man.
Ling Xiao didn’t give him a chance to speak before knocking him out like he did with Hu Yin’s Uncle Lu. No one caught him so Hu Yin just fell to the ground. His eyes that were staring wide open a moment ago were now closed
“This is easier than I thought.”You XiaoMo exclaimed.
Ling Xiao glanced at him.
“You can change back now.” He was not the least bit interested in seeing the old man’s face, not when that old face was making expressions that he was familiar with.
You XiaoMo grumbled quietly before doing as told.
Ling Xiao squatted beside Hu Yin and stuck out his right index finger. A nail that wasn’t long but had a sharp glint cut a deep wound into into Hu Yin’s neck. Blood spilled forth and soon the floor was covered by a pool of blood. And just like that, Hu Yin was killed while he was still unconscious.
You XiaoMo gulped.
He felt nervous and thrilled at the same time.
