The night sky of Dong Lin City faded into an abrupt silence, the world detaching itself from reality. The treading passerby of the streets continued their nightly movements, but none of the sounds filtered into An Fei’s hearing.
The young girl stared into the distance of the alleyway – above a stone courtyard, towards in which a faint shadow lay.
As though responding to her piercing glare, the patch of darkness cast off its camouflage provided by the cold moon to stand.
“…how did you find me?” an ancient voice rasped amongst the dim shrills and clatters to glance at the young girl with a pair of interested eyes.
“I was certain that nobody underneath the peak stages of the Core Formation Realm could detect my presence, but to think that a mortal girl was capable of such a feat…”
“Next time, don’t kick around pebbles so much, thinking that nobody can hear your presence.”
An Fei released a disdainful snort, leaning her exhausted body against the stone wall of the alleyway. Her eyelids fluttered upon the cool sensation racing through her back, and the young girl released a sigh of content.
“I see, so that gave me away?”
The shadow flowed down the walls to converge at the base of the alleyway, transforming into a man adorned in a large leather hood.
The ancient and worn-out voice transmitted from underneath the safety of the cowl, the tone laced with praise and a cold, calculating intent.
“However, to be able to slaughter all of my juniors with your anemic condition, as well as detect my position within such a short amount of time – you must be quite skilled, young girl.”
An Fei’s lips twitched as the fingers of her right hand trailed over the surface of the qama sheathed at her waist, her left arm arising to guard her chest from any possible harm. The young girl’s mind flared with a trace of alarm and wariness as she lowered her body into an agile posture.
“Who are you?”
“Why, nothing more than a dying old fellow – one that can be found anywhere in this world,” the hooded man released a low chuckle.
“As compared to you, who possesses such a tender and extravagant external martial arts technique. Have you never considered that your presence simply may raise the ire of others?”
The man covered in the hooded cape did not release any aura pertaining to that of a cultivator, nor did his words possess any malicious intent towards An Fei. Albeit a tad raspy and parched, the voice was lighthearted as though its owner was on a night stroll.
Nonetheless, the young girl’s back quivered as a bead of sweat trickled down her spine.
The man’s words were far too cold and devoid of many changes in emotion. Even if his voice remained pleasant and light, indicative of a lack of a killing intention, the glacially transmitted words proved one conjecture in An Fei’s mind.
Standing before her was a true assassin, if not a masterful spy.
Capable of restraining his emotions and malicious desires to the minimum, as though he was in the midst of a conversation and nothing more.
The words, however cold, did not radiate any warning vibes, merely a presentation of an awkward voice.
If An Fei had never experienced such a circumstance before, she would have fallen directly towards the hooded man’s trap.
“People who are capable of restraining their emotions to such an extent are rare,” the young girl scowled, her pale countenance displaying a clear trace of exhaustion.
“Almost as if you aren’t saddened by the death of your juniors…”
“Juniors?”
The hooded man chuckled as the cape and cowl covering his visage rippled to accompany his coldhearted mirth.
As the archaic voice swept forth, a pair of hidden ribbons weaved through the streets towards the young girl, hidden by the sea of people in the background as well as the overcrowding din of cacophony.
“We are assassins, little girl! Death means little to us, even if it were that of our comrades!”
An Fei’s heart gave a faint shiver, and the fingers of her right hand latched themselves onto the hilt of the qama. Drawing a silver line upon the midnight sky, the short blade swept through the air as the young girl dropped herself onto the ground to unleash a counterclockwise rotation.
Shua!
A pair of ribbons forged from a flexible material whose exterior resembled that of silver scattered over the paved limestone floor, their resplendent forms shredded into dust. An Fei’s eyes narrowed, and the coldness in her heart multiplied as she tore a glare into the hooded man’s hidden visage.
“Pretty ruthless. Are those silver strings?” the young girl uttered in a low tone.
“A new material forged from a combination of silver and steel, to be a matter of fact,” the senior assassin intoned in a dry tone.
“To think that you were able to spot their trajectory, as well as aptly respond. Indeed, you aren’t an ordinary mortal girl, aren’t you?”
“If you know that already, don’t continue to emphasize it!”
An Fei’s eyebrow twitched as she dashed forwards, the qama grasped in a reverse grip by her right hand.
The young girl lowered her center of momentum as she rushed towards the hooded man, her right hand maintaining the blade’s position near her chest as her right hand sought for a nearby wall.
The young girl slammed her left palm against the cobbled stone wall to her left, and crouched towards the ground as her right hand swept to her side. The steel blade of the qama howled as it tore apart the air, bracing for the assassin’s left leg.
Whoosh!
The hooded man stepped backwards to neatly avoid the sweep, a steel sword appearing in his right hand with a flourish. With a powerful lunge, the menacing tip of the jian stabbed onto the length of the qama, forcing An Fei to stumble backwards to mitigate the impact.
“Well done,” the hooded assassin stood in place as his hoarse voice applauded in a sincere tone.
“If it weren’t for your inopportune angle matching that of the moon, I would have lost a leg from that sweep.”
The young girl’s lips trembled in distaste at the praise, the fingers grasping the qama threatening to loosen their grip any second. As they resumed their staring match, An Fei glanced towards the jian clasped in the assassin’s hand.
To her dismay, the steel sword was hardly anything of consideration.
The sword’s handle and tang were chipped by a number of scars upon its surface, and the poor workmanship of the blade revealed that the core of the jian itself was unstable.
Even the channel of the blade that assisted its ability to puncture through armor were deformed from a lack of maintenance.
Nonetheless, the stab utilizing the jian in the senior assassin’s hand had prevented her <Steps of Underlying Shadow> from activating and protecting her from the kinetic impact.
“You seem to be lacking the stamina to continue this any further,” the senior assassin’s lips quirked into an unusual smile of appraisal.
“Perhaps… continuing this game of watchdog isn’t the best idea of consideration?”
The young girl remained silent as her scarlet irises coldly stared back towards the hood and cape. As her body swayed back and forth with the midnight sky as witness, An Fei knew that she was running out of options.
The anemia plaguing her body was sapping at her strength and stamina, causing her vision to warp and her hearing to be besotted by a series of discordant rings. If she couldn’t deliver a penetrating blow, the exhaustion coursing through her body was fully capable of reducing her combat potential to zero the next instant.
To make matters worse, it seemed that the senior assassin had obtained a clue in which to negate the tyrannical effect imposed by the <Steps of Underlying Shadow>.
However, if she brought the combat into point-blank, close quarters…
Whoosh!
The young girl dashed forwards towards the man obscured behind the hooded cloak, the qama in her grasp resting against her bosom. As she ran, An Fei remained true to her destination despite her warped vision.
“A final attack, indeed?”
The hooded man slowly sighed in pity as the steel sword in his hand leapt forth, his body swiftly retreating from the most probably target of An Fei’s strike. Watching the blurred pair of eyes desperately resisting the lure of unconsciousness, the assassin’s heart was touched by an unknown sentiment.
How long has it been, that he too had displayed such a countenance?
“A pity, for you shall lay your life here!”
The streets of Dong Lin City fell into a second moment of silence, the atmosphere grinding to an audible halt.
The jian and the qama glanced towards the other as they discerned their trajectories, exchanging a hidden communication as they flew past.
Psh!
The qama’s edge sheared through the jian as though it were butter, severing the assassin’s precious weapon without any hesitation or resistance. The steel blade of the dagger aimed to soar through the skies to lash through the hooded man’s visage and deliver a fearsome scar.
Alas, the blade fell short due to its compartmentalized design, the tip brushing the air just before the mysterious man’s nose.
However, before the breath of air could escape his throat, a powerful palm strike embedded itself into his chest.
