Chapter 46: Letter In The Middle Of The Night
The duck, having received the tight roll of parchment tucked securely into its tiny waistcoat pocket, sat upright for a brief moment. It let out a single, sharp, highly indignant honk that resonated with injured pride, as if deeply offended that its career as a high-stakes extortionist had been derailed by a counter-threat.
Lu Feng watched the creature with a calm, analytical eye. Without wasting another breath, he gestured toward the open window, signaling that the messenger was free to depart.
The spirit-duck didn’t hesitate. With a frantic flap of its fluffy pink wings, it leaped from the edge of the polished mahogany table and hurtled straight toward the night air, its neon-colored form dissolving into the deep shadows of the estate gardens as it began its return journey to whatever eccentric master had trained it.
As the sound of the duck’s frantic wingbeats faded into the distance, Lu Feng turned back toward the two women standing near the center of the room. The brief, chaotic interruption had cleared, leaving them standing in the quiet, lantern-lit sanctuary of the guest villa.
"Well, that settles the delivery," Lu Feng said, walking over to lean against the edge of the study desk. "Now that our feathered messenger is heading back to its owner, we should finalize our schedule for tomorrow. The events of this evening proved that Crimson Vale City is going to keep us on our toes, so we need to stay structured."
Han Lin stepped forward, her expression turning professional as she mentally mapped out the logistical priorities for the following morning.
"As we discussed earlier, my primary objective tomorrow will be securing our own permanent foothold," Han Lin stated clearly, her voice steady. "I will head out into the upper commercial and residential districts early in the day. I want to inspect at least three different estates that offer strong perimeter defenses, high privacy walls, and enough distance from the bustling merchant guilds to keep us away from unnecessary prying eyes. If any of them meet our standards, I’ll secure the initial paperwork and bring the deeds back for your approval."
"Be thorough," Lu Feng instructed, nodding in approval. "Do not compromise on the security measures. We need a place where Chenxue can practice her cultivation techniques without causing any disturbances that attract the city garrison’s attention, and a place where we can operate without Lin Laifu dropping by unannounced."
Lu Feng then shifted his gaze toward the cold, ethereal cultivator standing quietly nearby.
"And for you, Chenxue?" Lu Feng asked.
"My schedule remains unchanged," Ye Chenxue replied evenly, her piercing eyes meeting his without a flicker of hesitation. "I will spend the entire day in deep meditation within my chambers to stabilize my qi core after the spiritual strain of the journey. Once my internal energy is fully settled, I will resume my standard martial training protocols the following morning. If anyone attempts to disturb the villa while I am meditating, they will regret it."
"Good," Lu Feng murmured, a faint, confident smile touching his lips. "Between Han Lin securing our future estate, Chenxue locking down our internal security and cultivation base, and myself managing our external social standing and exploiting the loan shark’s network, our foundation in Crimson Vale will be rock-solid within a matter of days."
With the brief strategic discussion concluded, the heavy exhaustion from the long days of travel finally began to catch up with them. The lingering adrenaline of the duck encounter faded, replaced by the quiet pull of the night.
"We should get some rest," Han Lin suggested, stretching her arms gracefully overhead as a soft yawn escaped her lips. "Tomorrow is going to be a long day of walking through real estate markets."
"Agreed," Lu Feng nodded.
Without further ado, the trio parted ways, retiring to their respective chambers across the upper floor of the villa. The doors clicked shut one by one, sealing the quiet rooms in absolute stillness as all three of them drifted off into deep, restorative slumber, entirely unaware of the catastrophic ripple effect their survival was currently causing far away.
~~~~~
Hundreds of miles away, isolated from the bustling chaos and trade-driven energy of Crimson Vale City, the ancient and heavily guarded territorial borders of Silver Jade City slept under a cold, heavy blanket of moonlight.
Within the sprawling, opulent compound of the prominent Lu Family estate, absolute silence reigned over the inner courtyards.
Inside his luxurious, silk-draped bedchamber, Lu Bao had just returned from a late-night council meeting regarding the family’s outer trade routes. The young master of the Lu household let out a tired sigh as he unlatched his heavy outer robe, tossing it carelessly onto a mahogany armchair. His mind was heavy with calculations, plots, and the relentless desire to cement his absolute authority within the clan.
He rubbed his eyes, feeling the pleasant, heavy exhaustion of a man who believed his plans were quietly falling into place.
Lu Bao turned around, walking toward the center of his massive, feather-stuffed bed, fully intending to strip off his remaining garments and collapse into a deep, uninterrupted sleep.
However, the moment his eyes drifted across the smooth, dark expanse of the silk sheets, his footsteps ground to an absolute halt.
Sitting dead in the center of the pristine mattress was a foreign object.
It was a stark, ominous piece of dark parchment, folded with crisp, deliberate precision and sealed with a smear of dried, dark crimson wax that gleamed faintly under the dim glow of the bedside oil lamp.
Lu Bao’s breath hitched in his throat.
His heart skipped a violent beat, and every single trace of drowsiness vanished from his mind in a fraction of a second, replaced by a sudden, terrifying spike of adrenaline.
’How did that get in here?’
The inner chambers of the Lu Family estate were guarded by elite spiritual arrays, heavily armed perimeter patrols, and complex locking talismans designed to prevent unauthorized intrusion. For someone to bypass every single layer of security, slip directly into his private sleeping quarters, and leave an uninvited letter sitting on his bed without triggering a single alarm was an impossibility that defied logic.
It meant the intruder could have slit his throat just as easily as leaving a piece of paper.
A cold, greasy sweat broke out across the back of Lu Bao’s neck. A shiver ran straight down his spine, making his entire body feel ice-cold despite the warm, indoor air of the chamber.
Trembling slightly, Lu Bao stepped closer to the bed. He extended a hesitant, shaking hand, his fingers brushing against the cold parchment before he snatched it up as if it were a venomous viper.
He broke the dark wax seal with a sharp crack, unfolded the letter with shaking fingers, and brought it close to the flickering light of the oil lamp to read the contents.
The message was written in a sharp, ruthless, commanding stroke of dark ink.
"Your primary objective failed entirely. The elite elimination team you dispatched to hunt down Lu Feng has been completely wiped out—annihilated with terrifying, gruesome efficiency by a higher-level entity guarding the target. The leader of your strike team met an end so horrific that his remains defy standard identification. Consider this a formal inquiry: explain immediately why you knowingly sent men to their slaughter while concealing the fact that your target operates under the protection of such an unfathomable powerhouse. Your negligence threatens the security of the entire bloodline."
The words seemed to burn straight into Lu Bao’s eyes, searing themselves into his brain.
The letter slipped from his nerveless fingers, fluttering downward until it landed softly back onto the silk mattress.
Lu Bao staggered backward, his knees trembling violently as he collided heavily against the edge of the mahogany armchair. He caught himself just in time, his chest heaving as he gasped frantically for air. ’Failed? Wiped out? Eliminated by a higher-level entity?’
The brutal reality of the report crashed over him like a tidal wave of ice. He had hand-picked those assassins—seasoned killers, ruthless mercenaries steeped in blood, men who had never failed a contract in their lives. He had sent them out into the wilderness with absolute confidence, expecting them to return with Lu Feng’s head on a silver platter, securing his path to absolute dominance within the family.
Instead, they had been slaughtered. Erased. Butchered so thoroughly that the survivor—or rather, the anonymous informant delivering the grim appraisal—had deemed the leader’s death unsettling beyond measure.
And worse still... the letter was demanding an explanation from him. It was questioning his judgment, holding him directly accountable for feeding their best operatives to a terrifying, unknown monster of a protector.
Panic, cold and sharp, clawed at Lu Bao’s throat.
His sleep was entirely gone, burned away by a creeping, suffocating terror. The air in his own bedroom suddenly felt thin, suffocating, and freezing cold, as if the phantom shadow of whatever invincible being had protected Lu Feng in the northern wilderness was standing right behind him in the dark.
Lu Bao grabbed his head in his hands, trembling uncontrollably as the first genuine, unadulterated fear he had ever known in his life took root in his chest.