Chapter 69: Late At Night
Thanks to Ye Chenxue’s cultivation that stretched far into the midnight, the entire atmosphere was pretty chilly with winds cold enough to make one wear a dozen robes and hide beneath half a dozen covers.
Inside the newly acquired estate, the lotus pond shimmered faintly, its crystalline waters unruffled by the faint mountain breeze.
High above the ten-foot perimeter wall, three dark silhouettes materialized like specters. Dressed in fitted black night-suits with cloth masks obscuring their faces, they crouched atop the slate tiles, their dark eyes scanning the quiet courtyard below.
The middle-grade Protective Array that came with the estate’s foundation stones—the very formation Master Wei had praised during the purchase—suddenly flickered with a faint, translucent sheen as the three men dropped into the courtyard.
Yet, there was no sharp chime of alarm, no sudden flare of light, and no burst of defensive energy.
One of the intruders simply pulled a small, brass-carved compass from his pouch, holding it out as its needle spun in a quick, counter-clockwise sequence. The spatial barrier parted around them like water around a prow, allowing them to glide over the wall and land soundlessly on the stone path.
Their footsteps were utterly silent. The way they kept to the blind spots of the roof eaves, effortlessly avoiding the creaking floorboards near the lotus pond and moving with practiced, synchronized precision, suggested they were seasoned infiltration experts.
More than that, their fluid navigation through the courtyard’s layout implied a chilling reality—they were already somewhat familiar with the architecture of this specific estate.
Inside his private suite in the central wing, Lu Feng lay fast asleep on the carved sandalwood bed.
His breathing was slow and even due to fatigue and mostly mental stress.
He was worn down by the day’s events and confident in the estate’s built-in array alongside the flags he had given Han Lin, so he remained completely unaware that the outer perimeter had been so effortlessly compromised, or that three unknown shadows were currently slipping through the main residential hall.
The intruders moved down the central corridor, their dark robes whispering faintly against the air. Bypassing the central hall, they made a beeline straight toward the eastern wing—Han Lin’s quarters.
However, as the lead intruder reached out to slip his thin blade past the latch of Han Lin’s chamber door, a soft, faint blue barrier flared to life around the doorframe, blocking his path. The Tier-3 Frost-Guard Array set up by Han Lin had taken effect, creating a thin, protective field over the entrance.
The lead intruder let out a low, irritated click of his tongue. Reaching into his leather belt, he produced a long, slender silver needle that gleamed with a toxic, deadly violet light under the dim hallway lantern. Without a second’s hesitation, he stabbed the needle directly into the wooden doorframe where the array’s energy pulsed thickest.
Sizzle...
A faint, burning odor filled the narrow hallway. The blue barrier shuddered violently, its light turning pale and sickly as the needle’s corrosive poison ate through the formation’s core line. Like paper crumbling before an open flame, the defensive array dissolved into nothingness, leaving the door completely unsealed.
Slowly, silently, the lead man pushed the door open.
The three men slipped into the room, their movements ghostlike as they began searching the wooden cabinets, desk drawers, and scroll racks. They were exceptionally skilled at their craft, lifting heavy porcelain vases and shuffling through parchment without making a single audible sound.
Despite their stealth, Han Lin was a naturally light sleeper. The faint shift in air pressure and the soft, almost imperceptible creak of a floorboard near her desk roused her from her slumber.
Her eyelids fluttered open, her vision adjusting to the dim moonlight filtering through the window lattice. But before she could even process the shadow standing near her bed, a cold, razor-sharp edge of a steel dagger was pressed firmly against the sensitive skin of her throat.
"Not a sound," a low, harsh voice rasped right beside her ear, smelling faintly of dried iron and tobacco. "Make a single noise, and it will be the absolute last sound you ever make."
Han Lin’s body froze completely. A wave of icy terror gripped her chest, her breath catching in her throat as she stared up at the masked man holding her at knifepoint.
From across the room, the second intruder paused his quiet search through a wooden chest, turning his head toward the leader. "Are we sure this is the right place?" he whispered, his voice barely audible. "There’s nothing here but ordinary scrolls and silver coins."
The lead man keeping his blade pressed against Han Lin’s neck gave a subtle, confident nod. "I am almost certain we are in the right place. The spatial layout matches the layout given to us."
The third intruder, who had been checking the floorboards near the sandalwood wardrobe, chimed in with a low mutter. "Since all the residential suites in these high-tier estates follow the same structural design, we probably need to check the other rooms too. We need to confirm that our target is actually hidden on these grounds."
They weren’t here to kill a resident, nor were they looking for a person. They were searching for a specific, hidden target.
The intruder holding the dagger tightened his grip slightly, his dark eyes locked onto Han Lin’s terrified face. "I’ll stay behind to keep this woman shut and compliant," he suggested softly. "You two search the remaining suites and the central hall. If our target is anywhere in this building, find it."
The other two nodded silently in agreement, turning on their heels to glide back out toward the hallway to fulfill their roles.
Unbeknownst to the intruders, at that exact hour, the doors of the left training hall across the courtyard slowly swung open.
Ye Chenxue emerged from her intense seclusion. She had spent the better part of the day cooped up inside the stone chamber, continuously refining and absorbing the immense, icy energy from the Ice-Blooded Blossom Pills Lu Feng had bestowed upon her.
Having successfully digested the medicinal potency and suppressed her rising Qi into a controlled, masked state deep within her meridians, she felt remarkably light. Her mind was clear, her strength had reached a higher stability, and now that her cultivation session was complete, she realized she was thoroughly famished.
She decided it was time to step out, find something to eat, wash off the light layer of sweat and frost, and get some proper rest. She certainly deserved it.
Stepping out onto the stone path, Ye Chenxue paused. Her sharp instincts immediately picked up on the fact that the mini estate was eerily calm—far too quiet, even for midnight. The ambient protective array over the outer wall felt strangely dead, lacking its usual subtle vibration.
Rather than releasing her spiritual sense—the sixth sense every cultivator possessed—to scan the entire estate, which would instantly alert any high-level intruder to her presence, Ye Chenxue chose a far more subtle approach.
Suppressing her breathing and masking her presence as best as she could, she turned into a silent shadow, gliding across the courtyard to check the premises on foot.
As she stepped into the central corridor of the primary residential building, heading toward the eastern wing, her glacial eyes caught a faint, sudden glint of light reflecting off the wooden wall outside Han Lin’s chamber.
She stopped in her tracks, her brow furrowing slightly. Han Lin was not supposed to be awake or moving around at this hour.
Curious and instantly vigilant, Ye Chenxue silently drifted down the hallway toward the doorway, intending to check in on Han Lin to make sure everything was fine.