With skin so pale and a frame so thin, no matter how you looked at him, he absolutely did not seem like someone who did physical labor.
Add to that the “Mister Zheng” he had mentioned.
Kang Zongdan needed only the span of a single breath to quickly understand what was really going on.
These were people from Mirage Palace.
Even now, Kang Zongdan, who came from a martial arts family, still had no idea what kind of colossus Mirage Palace truly was in the world of immortal cultivation.
He only knew that any so-called immortal sect was something he had to look up to.
Even if he himself had now stepped into what that great senior from long ago had called the second realm, the Qi Circulation Realm, that fact remained the same.
“So, you’re honored guests sent by Mister Zheng.”
Kang Zongdan raised his hands and clasped them toward the several cultivators dressed in coarse cloth robes before him, then said in a clear voice:
“As for tea, there’s no need.”
The pale, thin man at the front spoke while also raising his hands to chest level, making a slight bow in Kang Zongdan’s direction:
“As I just said, Mister Zheng sent us here to help tidy up your residence.”
His tone was even more emphatic than before.
“So… what do you gentlemen mean by that?”
Kang Zongdan probed.
“I’ve heard there are rats in the Jiangdu Prefecture area now. Is that right?”
The man in coarse cloth at the front asked Kang Zongdan.
Kang Zongdan hesitated for a moment, then said:
“Yes.”
He knew who the “rats” these people were referring to.
It was precisely that Body Forging Realm cultivator named Chen Yan, currently staying temporarily at the Listening to the Waves Pavilion south of the city.
When Kang Zongdan recalled the look in Chen Yan’s eyes from a few days ago, his heart couldn’t help but sink.
Even though he himself had now formally broken through to the Qi Circulation Realm, whenever he thought back to the gaze of that young man in plain white daoist robes, he still couldn’t stop a chill from running down his spine.
He was just a kid in the Body Forging Realm…
But why?
If he could use the hands of Mirage Palace’s immortal masters to eliminate that “rat,” it would be perfect.
It would also remove a serious threat to his peace of mind.
“Tell me more details about the rat’s situation.”
The Mirage Palace cultivator in coarse cloth said.
“That person’s name is Chen Yan. He looks about fifteen or sixteen, with Body Forging Realm cultivation. He’s quite handsome. And there’s another boy with him, a little younger, named Su Hongzhen. He has no cultivation.”
Kang Zongdan said.
“Body Forging Realm cultivation?”
The pale, slender Mirage Palace cultivator at the front frowned slightly.
“That’s correct.”
Kang Zongdan replied.
This Mirage Palace cultivator with very fair skin was named Hua Yu. He was a late-stage Martial Spring Realm cultivator from the Illusion Time Tower, one of Elder Zheng’s trusted subordinates.
His mission to Jiangdu Prefecture this time was to carry out some “cleanup” work on Elder Zheng’s orders.
Other than Kang Keyang, everyone who needed to be eliminated was to be wiped out cleanly.
If it was just a Body Forging Realm cultivator…
Hua Yu turned his head to look at the other similarly disguised Mirage Palace cultivators behind him, also dressed in coarse cloth robes. Then he fixed his gaze on the disciple with an even paler, sickly complexion, tall and thin, with a sinister look in his eyes and high cheekbones.
“Go.”
Hua Yu said.
“Yes.”
The disciple with high cheekbones spoke in a very effeminate voice, raising his hands slowly and lightly to bow toward Hua Yu, then turned and walked out of the Kang Mansion’s main gate.
“This time, don’t dawdle.”
Hua Yu said without turning his head, addressing the disciple with the deathly pale skin and sinister eyes who was heading out of the Kang Mansion.
The high-cheekboned disciple’s footsteps paused slightly.
“Yes.”
His listless voice sounded again, and then he stepped through the gate.
…
South of the city, at the Listening to the Waves Pavilion.
Little Su stood before a large tree in the courtyard, staring directly at a branch hanging about one and a half zhang in front of him.
A few leaves hung from the branch, swaying gently as the wind blew.
The boy’s eyes locked tightly onto the leaves on the branch ahead, and he held his breath and concentrated.
He swung his palm out!
Palm wind, carrying true qi, howled forward as a sharp momentum surged ahead—
At the spot one and a half zhang away, the leaves hanging on the branch swayed slightly.
Even though this was already his one hundred and seventy-ninth failure of the day, Su Hongzhen still wasn’t discouraged.
One more time.
Su Hongzhen held his breath and focused again, then stepped half a pace backward, locked his eyes on the branch ahead, and swung his palm out once more.
Palm wind, carrying true qi, howled out again.
One hundred and eightieth time!
The leaves on the branch swayed noticeably more violently than before, and then one of them slowly drifted down to the ground.
Success!
Su Hongzhen’s heartbeat quickened, and a smile spread across his face.
Crack—
The very next instant, the branch hanging one and a half zhang in front of Little Su suddenly snapped clean in half.
Huh?
Su Hongzhen was stunned for a moment.
Had he suddenly gotten stronger?
The boy hesitated for a moment, then turned his head to look toward the entrance of the Listening to the Waves Pavilion.
He saw a man in coarse cloth robes standing there, tall, with high cheekbones, radiating an incredibly cold and sinister aura.
“Who are you?”
Su Hongzhen looked at the sinister man standing at the gate with some confusion.
“Are you Chen Yan?”
The high-cheekboned man spoke, his voice perfectly matching his appearance—quite effeminate.
“I’m not…”
Little Su shook his head to deny it, but before he could even finish half his sentence, the sinister man cut him off.
“Then you’re Su Hongzhen?”
The sinister man asked.
Little Su nodded instinctively.
But in the very next instant, that pale, sinister face was suddenly right in front of Su Hongzhen’s.
His breathing slowed by half a beat.
Then came a massive impact slamming into his chest.
His entire body flew backward, then crashed heavily into the rockery in the courtyard of the Listening to the Waves Pavilion.
The boy tumbled to the ground, then struggled back to his feet.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Su Hongzhen shouted angrily.
“Oh?”
The sinister man in coarse cloth paused his steps for a moment, turned around to look at Su Hongzhen, who had just been kicked flying, as if puzzled why he hadn’t been killed by the blow.
Then, after thinking for a moment, he voiced his question to Su Hongzhen:
“A Qi Circulation Realm cultivator?”
“Yeah. So what?”
Su Hongzhen said as he brushed the dust off his clothes.
Just two days ago, he had successfully broken through to the Qi Circulation Realm.
When he had told his big brother the good news, Chen Yan had just looked at him with a rather complicated expression a few times and said nothing.
But this strange, sinister man in front of him was clearly at a higher cultivation level than him.
Su Hongzhen glanced back at the house behind him.
His big brother had given him this life. He couldn’t always trouble him with everything.
So…