owlsbooks Chapter 46 Murderous Intent in the Night
Chapter 46 Murderous Intent in the Night
The shopkeeper's eyes lit up when he saw the spirit stones, and he quickly put them away, lowering his voice to say, "Young Master Lin, it's not that I'm being nosy, it's just that..."
"After noon today, a few people came and said they were friends of the young master. They asked which room the young master Zhang was staying in. Although I knew that the young master Zhang was you, young master Lin, I did not say so. I just said that there was no young master with the surname Zhang staying at our inn and that I did not know who they were looking for."
"How many people? What do they look like?"
"There are three of them, all cultivators, at the late stage of Qi Refining. The leader is a young man wearing a brocade robe and a jade pendant at his waist, clearly a scion of a noble family."
"He was followed by two attendants, dressed in gray, with expressionless faces."
The shopkeeper thought for a moment, then added, "That person was very generous, giving me ten spirit stones and asking me to keep an eye on the young master's whereabouts."
Zhang Lin nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
He turned and went upstairs, his steps steady and his expression normal.
Zhou family.
It really is the Zhou family.
Only half a day after the Dharma assembly ended, the Zhou family had already sent people to the inn to inquire about his whereabouts.
The speed of his actions and the meticulousness of his thinking are evident.
Zhang Lin pushed open the door, went inside, and closed the door behind him.
He didn't light a lamp, but stood by the window, looking through the paper window at the pitch-black night outside.
Tonight will not be peaceful.
He sat cross-legged on the couch, placed the Qinggang Sword on his lap, and closed his eyes to rest.
True Qi flowed slowly through the meridians, and the seven drops of liquid true Qi in the dantian trembled slightly, like seven stars guarding the core of the dantian.
Night deepened.
The inn gradually quieted down, with only the occasional bark of a dog coming from afar.
Zhang Lin suddenly opened his eyes.
He sensed an extremely faint fluctuation of spiritual energy.
It wasn't murderous intent, nor was it hostility; rather, it was something more subtle—someone was setting up talismans.
He stood up, walked silently to the door, and pressed his ear against the door panel.
Outside the door, extremely faint footsteps could be heard, almost inaudible.
There is someone outside the door.
Zhang Lin activated the third-level concealment technique, reducing his aura to zero and concealing his figure, disappearing into the darkness like a wisp of smoke.
He gently pushed the door open a crack and peered out through it.
In the corridor, a gray-robed cultivator at the early stage of Qi Refining had his back to his door and was affixing a yellow talisman above the door frame directly opposite him.
The runes on the talisman flowed, and the spiritual light was contained within; it was impossible to detect unless one consciously perceived it.
Vision Talisman.
Someone placed a talisman opposite his door, intending to monitor his movements.
Zhang Lin sneered inwardly.
The Zhou family's methods were indeed underhanded.
He didn't rush to take action, but observed quietly.
The gray-robed monk affixed the talisman, checked it again to make sure it was correct, and then turned to leave.
Their steps were light and their landings were silent, clearly indicating that they had received specialized training.
After the gray-robed cultivator had gone far away, Zhang Lin opened the door and went outside.
He looked up at the yellow talisman above the door frame. The runes on the talisman glowed faintly in the darkness, like a vigilant eye.
Zhang Lin raised his hand, gathering a subtle stream of true energy at his fingertips, and precisely cut into the spiritual connection between the talisman and the door frame.
"laugh--"
With a soft sound, the spiritual light on the talisman went out, the runes dimmed, and it turned into an ordinary piece of yellow paper, which floated to the ground.
Zhang Lin reached out and caught it, putting the talisman into his storage bag.
Although this spiritual vision talisman is of low grade, the runes are finely engraved and the spiritual power flows smoothly. It has been carefully crafted and can be remotely connected through mirror-like magical artifacts.
Once he strengthens the talisman, we can keep it to increase our resources.
He returned to his room, closed the door, and sat cross-legged on the couch again.
Since the Zhou family has already taken action, they won't just release a single spiritual vision talisman.
There might be more tricks up their sleeve tonight.
Zhang Lin closed his eyes and continued to use the Breath Concealment Technique to suppress his aura to the lowest possible level.
His whole body was like a stone, lifeless and devoid of any spiritual energy.
The night was deeper.
Moonlight streamed through the window paper, casting a soft glow on the ground.
The third quarter of the hour of Zi (11:45 PM).
Zhang Lin opened his eyes again.
This time, what he sensed was not a fluctuation of spiritual energy, but a faint killing intent.
The killing intent was extremely faint, almost imperceptible. If he hadn't cultivated the third-level Breath Concealment Technique and been extremely sensitive to changes in aura, he wouldn't have been able to detect it at all.
Someone is coming.
And there's more than one.
Zhang Lin stood up, walked silently to the window, and looked outside.
The street outside the inn was bathed in moonlight, and there was no one around.
But he saw three men in black turn out from the street corner and silently speed toward the inn.
All three were at the late stage of Qi Refining, dressed in night clothes, with black masks covering their faces, only their eyes were visible.
The leader was a burly man with a steady gait. He had a long sword hanging at his waist, and the scabbard was engraved with runes, from which a faint spiritual light flowed.
Zhang Lin withdrew his gaze, already having made up his mind.
Zhou family.
It really is the Zhou family.
The Dharma assembly had only ended half a day ago, yet they sent men to launch a night raid. Their audacity is extraordinary.
But after a moment's thought, Zhang Lin understood the key to it.
The identity of an outer disciple of the Danxia Sect can intimidate ordinary rogue cultivators, but it cannot intimidate local tyrants like the Zhou family.
The Zhou family has been operating in Qingxuan City for generations and has a deep-rooted foundation. They also have some connections in the Danxia branch.
Even if Zhang Lin were killed, it could be dismissed as a feud between martial arts practitioners or a battle between rogue cultivators, and the matter might not be investigated further.
Moreover, Zhang Lin's status as an outer disciple has only just been established and has not yet been officially recorded in the sect's roster.
If he were to die at this point, the Danxia Sect would at most conduct a token investigation, and ultimately the matter would be dropped.
A cold glint flashed in Zhang Lin's eyes.
The Zhou family wanted to kill him.
Let's see who kills whom.
He activated his concealment technique, suppressing his aura to its lowest level, and his figure blended into the darkness, silently walking behind the door.
Outside the door, footsteps grew closer.
The three people's footsteps were of varying weights, with the leader's footsteps being the lightest, clearly indicating that he was the one with the highest cultivation level among them.
The other two were slightly heavier and their breathing was also slightly weaker.
The footsteps stopped in front of the door.
After a moment of silence, a very faint metallic scraping sound came from outside the door—the sound of a long sword being drawn from its sheath.
Immediately afterwards, a thin wire was inserted through the crack in the door, precisely probed the door latch, and gently flicked it.
"Click".
The latch came loose.
The door was gently pushed open.
The leader of the men in black slipped in first, his long sword held horizontally in front of his chest, his eyes scanning the darkness like those of a hawk.
He saw that the bedding on the bed was bulging, as if someone was curled up inside.
A cold smile curled at the corner of his lips. He raised his longsword, channeled his true energy into the blade, and the runes lit up, causing the sword energy to surge forth.
With a single slash!
"laugh--"
The long sword struck the bedding, and the bedding tore open with a sound, but there was no sensation of blood and flesh flying everywhere.
The man in black's expression changed.
empty!
He turned around abruptly, about to warn others, but what he saw terrified him.
His two companions stood frozen in place, each with a thin line of blood, as fine as a hair, flowing from their throats.
Behind them stood a young man in a blue robe.
The young man stood with his hands behind his back, a sky-blue flying sword hovering beside him, runes flowing on its blade, its spiritual light concealed.
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
The blood dripped onto the floor, standing out vividly in the quiet night.
"you……"
The man in black was shocked. He slashed horizontally with his long sword, and the sword energy swept out like a bolt of lightning.