Chapter 456: Hideout
Translator: chuchutrain Editor: DavidT, Rock
"Xiao Family?" Ling Jian immediately perked up. "Could it be that there are movements from the Xiao Family? But do they have the ability to go against the Yu Family?"
"Not only have they just begun to move," Ling Tian smacked his lips before continuing, "you might not know this, but the strength of the Xiao Family today has long surpassed our original expectations. First, the people of the Xiao Family almost took the life of Justice the other day. Just based on this strength, they're definitely not below that of the Yu Family yesterday, really surprising."
"Ah? There was such a thing? Could it be that the combined strength of the Xiao Family is actually above that of the Yu Family?" Even someone of Ling Jian's indifference could not help but be badly startled after hearing of such a matter. "However, how did the Xiao Family get so much power?"
"They might not be stronger than the Yu Family. After all, the Yu Family is a zealous family whose aims are the same from the top down, whereas the Xiao Family relies on an external source that is the Above Heavens. Just based on this point, the Yu Family is supposed to be superior! However, there's one part that I did not expect, and that was their supporter or orchestrator was one of the three great sects, Above Heavens from the Heavenly Sun Continent! That sect was supposed to already have been extinct, but it only makes sense, as without Above Heavens's strength, what does the Xiao Family have to bargain with Justice?!"
Ling Tian's tone was heavy, and he sighed at this juncture, before muttering, "We need to push ahead with our next step. It seems like the trump cards of every single family are slowly being revealed, and it is almost at the point of going all out in the open. I believe that not long from now, the flags of war will be raised. I really worry how our preparations for war have been going."
"Young Noble can rest assured that our brothers will definitely not let down your expectations!" Ling Jian resolutely spoke. "If they fail to completely prepare themselves, and spoil young noble's great plan, then I, Ling Jian, would be the first to go after their heads!"
"On the contrary, if they fail to perform, what makes you think that you will be able to escape responsibility? You're the head instructor after all." Ling Tian suddenly smirked, "If I want to pursue the matter, then it would have to start with you."
Ling Jian's face turned sour in an instant. It couldn't be, right? His flames of loyalty had ended up burning him instead!
"Eh, Ling Tian! No wonder you made up your mind to rush over to Bright Jade City, as you already knew of the location of the men from the Above Heavens!" Li Xue huffily complained, even to the point of not addressing him as 'Tian'ge' and directly addressing him by his name! "When did you find this out? Why have I always been kept in the dark? On the journey here, you spat out over ten reasons. To think that you actually hid the most important one of them all! What evil intentions do you have? What is the meaning of this?! Are you treating me like an outsider?!"
The more she spoke, the more this great Miss Li started to feel anguish due to not being trusted. She more visibly more upset as she scolded, to the point that even before she finished speaking, the rims of her eyes were already red, and her mouth was pouting, about to burst out into tears at any moment...
"Oh my dear great-grandaunt," Ling Tian immediately begged humbly with clasped hands, "Please stop scattering your golden droplets (tears) everywhere, I've already been drowned a few times, and I only have this set of clean clothes left. Besides, you're the one sleeping like a pig the last few nights, and how would I even dare to try to disturb you? I only tried once, but that only got me a whole lot of ineffectual punches and kicks from you. I had no choice, and could only go on my own… and now it's all fine and dandy, you start blaming me for hiding everything from you… can you still talk reason?!"
Ling Tian felt like jumping up and smashing his head against the wall. "My little grandaunt, we're still in the midst of taking refuge, if you ignore everything and start bawling, wouldn't that spell the death of all of us?"
"You're the pig!" Li Xue rolled her eyes at him as she blushed. She seemed to know her own faults, and immediately it was like the calm after the storm, her expression turning much better. However, she maintained her pout as she muttered, "At least you could have brought me up to date this morning." Her voice had already gotten much softer.
It seems like the great Miss Li was not an ordinary lady, able to talk reason!
"O great Miss Li, me bringing you, this burden, is already a good thing, okay? I don't have to consult you for every single thing I do!" Ling Tian snorted as he rolled his eyes before saying, "You should be satisfied that I'm bringing you for any interesting and fun stuff, and besides, is there a difference between you knowing it earlier or later?"
"That's true." Li Xue directly replied without thinking, before suddenly glaring and shouting out loud, "Who did you say was a BURDEN?!!"
"Him, I said it was him…" Ling Tian's arm immediately snapped to point in Ling Jian's direction, his face almost sweating bullets out, "This fellow is the burden, can it do? My dear sister, can you not be quieter? We can't afford to be crazy here. This is not our territory, and we need to be more careful!"
"Hmph." After gaining the advantage, Li Xue arrogantly threw down a sentence for her retreat, "See if you still dare to offend me," before she swaggered out of the door.
Just like that, the number one assassin Ling Jian became a burden. While it was simply a method to pull the wool over one's eyes, he still felt extremely indignant, and mumbled continuously, "I'm not a burden, how did I become a burden?..."
"Shut up!" Ling Tian furiously whispered, "Are all of you planning to revolt against me?!" The moment Li Xue left, without the threat of falling tears, Ling Tian's tyrannical side immediately showed.
Ling Jian immediately shrank his neck in fear, changing the topic, "Young Noble, so where are we exactly? Can Nineteen and the rest really find us?"
Ling Tian chuckled before answering with another sentence, "Yu ManLou had three great sons, Yun, Shui, and Feng. Of which, Yu LiuYun has fallen under your blade, leaving the other two. But both of them are hegemons of the red-light district, probably the honor graduates of rouge and powder. It just so happens that the two of them are sentimental fools, hehehe…"
"And so what about that?" Ling Jian's head was in a fog.
"So what? Well, there really isn't a so what." Ling Tian only gave a sinister smile. "It's just that two years ago, Yu LiuYun, the second young master met this beautiful lady, Chun Xiang from the Floating Fragrance Pavilion in Bright Jade City, and immediately fell in love with her. After scraping together all his funds, he then bought her over and settled her in a separate pavilion, providing a golden house to keep his mistress. Hehehe…"
Seeing how Ling Tian was laughing so strangely, Ling Jian immediately had a sudden thought, and incredulously spoke, "Could it be that this Lady Chun Xiang…"
"Oh, there's actually no special circumstances in Miss Chun Xiang's history." Ling Tian tried to play it down. "It's just that one of her identities happens to be a hidden thread for our Crystal Pavilion. As for the Floating Fragrance Pavilion, that also happens to be one of the businesses run by the Crystal Pavilion."
Ling Jian could not help but glare incredulously, and his face turned into an expression where he did not know whether to laugh or to cry. Finally, he collapsed into laughter, "So it turns out that we're at the place where Second Young Master Yu has hidden his mistress?"
"Smart!" Ling Tian nodded his head as he loudly praised. "Not the Pavilion Head of the First Pavilion for nothing, your thoughts are really nimble! Come to think of it, there would not be a safer place than here, right?"
Ling Jian was conflicted, "Since Young Noble has already mentioned the Crystal Pavilion, if I still cannot guess, then wouldn't I be stupider than a pig?"
Ling Tian only laughed, before commanding, "You had better sit quietly here and recover from your wounds. I'll be making a trip outside and since the Yu Family has opened up a city-wide search, I definitely have to allow them to catch a few fish, or else wouldn't that be an absolute waste of their strength?"
Ling Jian let out a knowing smile at this as he chuckled, "If the fish is too big, the fishermen might be dragged into the sea instead!"
"Hahaha, that's right!" Ling Tian laughed in acknowledgment as he exited.
At this time, it was already almost high noon.
When Ling Tian walked out, his healthy looking face had already been covered with a dusty gray color, and he was dressed in light blue robes and carrying two metal weights in his hands. Above his lips, he had even pasted a little mustache, and coupled with that avaricious look on his face, he appeared to be a crafty merchant randomly found on the streets...
It had to be said that the imitation skill of Ling Tian was really too good, impersonating anyone to perfection. This was also another skill that he brought over from his past life, a true top assassin not only needed to be ruthless and decisive but also needed a seamless method of performing his act. This perfect imitation skill was not to be missed. However, at this particular skill, Ling Jian was obviously deficient, and thus, he had never considered himself as the number one assassin in this world. This was because in Ling Jian's heart, he only believed that his young noble had this qualification! To be crowned as the 'number one under heavens', these four words!
Right now, this face that Ling Tian wore actually belonged to a certain someone. The true owner of this face was a merchant named Zhao DaFu. He ran a specialized apothecary in the city, already existing for twenty years, with even some relations with the Yu Family. He could be considered someone of repute in the city.
"Zhao DaFu, male, thirty-five years old, six feet tall, skinny, a relatively well-known merchant in Bright Jade City. His character: Avaricious, stingy, calculative, with the tag of a cheapskate." All these were the information that Ling Tian had gathered about this Zhao DaFu. Right now, the true Zhao DaFu was already ensconced in a very secure location, fast asleep. As to whether he did it willingly, there was no need to know. Right now, the face of Zhao DaFu already did not belong to him.
As for this identity, it was something that the subordinates of Ling Tian had meticulously arranged for him to live in Bright Jade City.
Walking down on the street, Ling Tian let out a look of distress and distraction. Around him, people who recognized him constantly greeted him, but he appeared to not notice or care. While Ling Tian was assured of his skill of impersonation, he could not claim to have understood Zhao DaFu's entire life, and there were many faces that he did not recognize. Thus, he could only assume a look of rejection to turn people away. Besides, his target's character was also one whom only sucked up to the upper class and looked down on the lower class, thus his actions were not too different from normal. This was also one of the reasons why Ling Tian chose this identity!
But the strange part was that there were actually White Jade ranked experts from the Yu Family that would pass by and greet him from time to time. Ling Tian did not dare to tarry and could only engage in some pleasant bantering before excusing himself. He felt that this was strange, a stingy merchant was actually able to reach the point of conversing with the martial arts experts of the Yu Family? It seemed like this Zhao DaFu was no ordinary merchant!