A rocky island.
The edge of the island rose more than a dozen meters above the sea, forming sheer, near-vertical cliffs. Waves dashed against the rock face, sending up bursts of spray as dusk gradually settled in.
The isolated island sat amidst the vast ocean as though abandoned by the world.
There were two moments of absolute loneliness in this world.
One was waking from an afternoon nap at six or seven in the evening to an empty house, with only the distant din of the streets drifting in.
The other was nightfall in the depths of the ocean.
Humans were social creatures. Especially in the face of danger, having even a completely useless companion by one's side brought immense peace of mind.
Shao Qiu remained nearly motionless, gripping a protrusion on the rock face in that position. Having soaked in the seawater for a long time, he had arrived here completely alone.
This place was far from the mainland; none of the others could have reached it.
Night was nearly upon them.
He waited patiently for the optimal moment.
Because he had joined Fan Domain, he was privy to far more classified intelligence.
For example...
The ghost tide that would make landfall four years from now.
When that time came, this island would be the very first to perish. In normal times, the island was indeed a natural fortress, safe enough that they had never even needed to build walls around its perimeter. But once the undersea ghost tide made landfall, this location would be completely cut off from aid, thrown directly onto the front line.
Even if he didn't lift a finger, these people wouldn't survive more than a few years.
Yet how could he possibly not make a move?
Shao Qiu switched hands to grip the rock protrusion, a faint flicker of excitement gleaming in his eyes. Just thinking about what he was going to do tonight made him tremble uncontrollably with anticipation. The sheer thrill of surging adrenaline felt better than any woman.
Someone had once told him that achieving fame at an early age was no blessing.
Perhaps that person had been right.
He had risen to fame at seventeen, stumbled at the Immortal Slaughter Holy Land, and been imprisoned for seven years. Now, having joined Fan Domain with his soul restored, he could finally flex his muscles once more. In this life, he pursued neither wealth nor longevity; he sought only to make a name for himself.
Whether a person lived forty years or eighty made no real difference.
In the history books, everyone left behind only a single stroke of the brush. Some strokes were thick and heavy, while others were faint and thin. He wanted to be a thick, indelible stroke.
In this world, everyone had something they excelled at. Even the humblest commoner had their own special knack. Everyone had their passions, and everyone had their dreams.
What made a genius?
When what one excelled at was also what one loved, and that very thing was one's dream—
That was a genius.
Thus, he never hesitated to call himself a genius, for he truly was one.
Night fell.
The Eternal Night swept in like a curtain from the horizon, blanketing the entire ocean in the blink of an eye.
Shao Qiu tilted his head toward the ends of the sky. One day, he would journey there and see for himself where the Eternal Night originated. But he did not dawdle for a second. Using both hands and feet, he hauled himself up out of the sea and clung to the cliff face seven or eight meters above the water.
At this height, he could avoid most ghost creatures in the sea while remaining undetected by the people on the island.
He was waiting for them to fall into deep sleep.
Four hours later.
Not a sound came from the island anymore. It had grown utterly silent, save for the faint, muffled sound of snoring. In this world, no one made a habit of staying up late; after all, once the Eternal Night fell, there was nothing one could do anyway.
Clinging flat against the rock face, Shao Qiu released his right hand, drew his dagger, and swiftly carved a special pattern into his left arm. Then, pressing his index finger against the sigil, he murmured,
"Concealing the Heavens!"
In the next breath—
His entire body practically merged into the rock face, rendering him imperceptible.
He began to climb rapidly.
No breath sounded. No climbing noise could be heard.
Like a ghost, he ascended the cliff face.
Back when he was seventeen and infiltrated the Immortal Slaughter Holy Land, he had unleashed this martial technique. It had bypassed all detection measures of the Holy Land, only to be sniffed out by an exotic beast in the end. This technique required the sacrifice of lifespan.
That time, he had sacrificed fifty years.
The Wind and Rain Tower was nowhere near the caliber of the Immortal Slaughter Holy Land; there was no need to sacrifice so many years.
He had sacrificed only one year of lifespan, which was more than enough.
This was a yellow-grade martial technique.
Its grade alone spoke to its sheer power, and it was exclusive to "living dead" cultivators, fitting him like a second skin. Furthermore, among all martial techniques, those requiring lifespan sacrifices were undoubtedly the most potent.
These three factors combined made his stealth capabilities utterly overwhelm the Wind and Rain Tower.
Shao Qiu climbed onto the island.
The entire island was a massive natural ghost fire zone.
Striding toward the interior of the island, he wore no disguise whatsoever, simply walking straight inside. Yet at a glance, not even a shadow could be seen; he practically blended into the Eternal Night behind him.
There were no walls on the island, but several cannon towers were positioned about.
However...
With a calm expression, he walked past a cannon tower and gently pushed open the door to a building. The cannon tower showed no reaction, ignoring him completely. Inside the room, six burly men lay fast asleep.
Perhaps peace had lasted too long.
There were no sentries, overt or covert, anywhere on the island.
Then again, for a faction that didn't even bother to build walls, it only proved their immense confidence in their secluded location and natural defenses. Why would they need night guards?
He stepped forward silently.
Like a shadow, he materialized beside a bunk in the deepest corner of the room. He held his dagger in a reverse grip; the fuller on either side was specially designed to muffle the sound of spurting blood as much as possible during a cut.
*Their vigilance is terrible,*
Shao Qiu murmured inwardly.
*And they sleep far too soundly.*
His left hand drifted down like a feather, hovering ever so gently over the man's mouth and nose. At the same time, the dagger in his right hand thrust upward from below at a razor-sharp angle, piercing the junction between jaw and neck.
The blade passed through soft tissue, precisely penetrating to the deepest point before giving a slight twist.
The burly man's body produced only a barely perceptible twitch. Without making the faintest whimper, he was dead.
He repeated the process.
The second, then the third.
His movements were mechanically precise and repetitive.
Soon, the sixth man in the room also died by his hand. There were no surprises. From beginning to end, all six had died in their sleep; his strikes were so swift that none of them had even awakened when death took them.
Everyone died eventually.
No one lived forever.
Thus, choosing an appropriate manner of death was an inevitable lesson everyone had to undergo.
Being killed silently in one's sleep was actually a relatively good and comfortable way to go—at least far better than drowning or being torn to shreds alive by ghost creatures.
Shao Qiu wiped the blood from his dagger on the rough hemp robe of the last target, pausing to listen intently. There was no movement outside. It appeared no one monitored the life tablets at night.
Otherwise, the shattering of six life tablets would have already alerted the entire organization.
He slowly backed out of the room and closed the door as it had been.
Then, he proceeded toward the other buildings.
All detection methods failed against him, and no alarm sounded. He was like a silent phantom, methodically harvesting lives as they slept through the night.
Not until the Eternal Night receded on schedule like an ebb tide did the first pale rays of morning light spill down.
Clad in white robes flecked with a few spots of blood, Shao Qiu stood at the edge of the island, twirling his dagger as he watched the sun slowly rise over the distant horizon, a broad grin on his face.
The tang of blood and the briny scent of the sea mingled together across the island, an enticing, faintly sweet aroma.
One man.
One night.
Single-handedly, the Wind and Rain Tower was wiped from existence.
The greatest assassin organization?
Compared to his former God Slaying Hall, they were nowhere close.
How should he brag to the Domain Lord about this trip once he returned? Surely, this earned him a compliment.
Time passed, and the day went by quickly.
Soon, the sky darkened once more.
A few solitary boats drifted over the sea. According to plan, his Dark Pavilion operatives had arrived to meet him. They would spend the night taking inventory of the spoils before packing everything up the next day to bring back to Fan Domain.
Whatever could be taken would be hauled away.
By now, Shao Qiu had once again left behind the familiar Dark Pavilion insignia on the island, along with a Dark Pavilion Hunt Order.
A pity.
Who knew when this place would ever be discovered; it might be a very long time indeed.
After all, this island was truly secluded.
***
Fan Domain.
Deep in the night.
Tomorrow would be the auction. Sick Monkey and the others were bustling about the camp, making final preparations for the event.
Meanwhile, inside an inn in Fan City.
The Patriarch of the Gongyang clan, an old man with greying temples, had arrived in person with the merchant caravan. Seated in the inn room, he stared at Gongyang Yue, who was full of grievance. After maintaining an expressionless silence for a long time, he turned toward Gongyang Yiyue beside him and said hoarsely,
"My wife passed away early. Fearing she might follow in her mother's footsteps, I never let her venture outside, so her temperament is naive.
"She lacks sense, but do you lack sense as well?
"Do you know what it means to barge into another faction's territory during the Eternal Night?
"Especially when you are a Nightwatcher.
"Are you not aware of this yourself?"
Gongyang Yiyue bowed his head and sighed softly. In truth, he dearly wanted to say that although he looked like a middle-aged man on the outside and served as the Gongyang clan's Grand Elder with seemingly high status and authority,
He was a Nightwatcher.
Having been activated only once, he had actually lived for only nine years.
To put it bluntly, he was effectively a nine-year-old child right now. Yet no one treated him like a child, so he couldn't afford to act like one either. He had to slowly learn how to handle unexpected situations like an adult.
"Father," Gongyang Yue stepped timidly up to Patriarch Gongyang. "This has nothing to do with the Elder; it was my own stubbornness. I already apologized to Domain Lord Chen, and he said he didn't mind."
"Didn't mind?" Patriarch Gongyang's expression was grim. "That was only because Domain Lord Chen gave face to Qi Yue! Otherwise, charging into another faction's territory at night with a Nightwatcher without so much as an advance notice—how is that any different from declaring war?
"To put it bluntly, if Domain Lord Chen had made a move back then, the entire Gongyang clan would have been dragged to the brink of destruction by the two of you! When you are out in the world, you represent the Gongyang clan. Every word and action of yours reflects on me. You cannot keep thinking you only represent yourself!
"And do you really think that just because you apologized, everything is fine?"
"Father..." Gongyang Yue's eyes welled with tears. Her father had never spoken to her in such a tone before.
"Forget it." Patriarch Gongyang began to say more, but seeing his daughter's state, he couldn't bear to be harsh. He let out a soft sigh, paused for a good while, and then looked at Gongyang Yiyue, speaking softly:
"I don't have many years left to live.
"The Gongyang clan's designated successor was originally Qi Yue.
"But now, Qi Yue has joined Fan Domain. If we seek another husband for Gongyang Yue, setting aside whether she is willing, with her personality she could never keep a husband in check. In the end, the entire Gongyang clan would be reduced to someone else's sacrifice.
"Many people would die.
"Therefore—
"The primary objective of this trip is not the auction. It is to find a way to merge the Gongyang clan into Fan Domain. That way, the Gongyang clan's successor can still be Qi Yue.
"Qi Yue has already broken through to Martial King, and his standing within Fan Domain is not low. He is more than capable of protecting the Gongyang clan."
"This..." Gongyang Yiyue found it hard to accept for a moment. He rose, visibly dazed. "Patriarch, this... the Gongyang lineage would be severed. With our Hidden City, our Gongyang clan can remain safe and secure."
The visibly aged man walked wearily to the window, his voice raspy. "If the Gongyang clan has no successor, it doesn't matter how hidden the city is. How many factions have collapsed from within?
"Letting anyone else succeed would fail to convince the clan, and internal strife for power would inevitably erupt.
"Merging under Fan Domain and letting Qi Yue take over is the best choice; no one would dare question it.
"What is the greatest purpose of a clan?
"It is for everyone to huddle together for warmth and survive in the Eternal Night.
"I believe that one day, the Eternal Night will recede. Since it has receded in the past, it will surely recede again. It is just a shame that I will not live to see that day. I only hope the descendants of the Gongyang clan will.
"Go to sleep. I am somewhat tired."
In truth, there was one thing he hadn't said.
Purely from the perspective of clan inheritance, marrying Qi Yue was not the optimal choice—marrying Chen Fan was.
He hardly dared to imagine what an incredible sight that would be.
Although Chen Fan was still young and didn't need to worry about succession just yet, an organization had to have an established successor to develop stably. Otherwise, if Chen Fan were to die in an accident, the entire faction would be left leaderless in an instant, and Fan Domain would fracture.
If Chen Fan had left behind heart blood before dying, someone could inherit his architectural constructs through that blood; but if his death was sudden and no heart blood was left, all those structures would crumble to ruins, and the pavilion masters of Fan Domain would have to scatter.
Yet he knew this was unrealistic.
So he had kept silent. Saying it would serve no purpose anyway.
***
Fan Domain, campsite.
Chen Fan watched as Zhao Shengping carefully used tongs to pick up an utterly inconspicuous lump of earth coated in a thick layer of yellow mud, then picked up a hammer.
When the dried clay was cracked open, an indescribable aroma instantly dispelled the winter chill, bringing a touch of warmth to the camp.
The moment the outer shell flaked away, steam billowed upward.
A fragrance mingling the crisp bitterness of lotus leaves, the earthy baked aroma of clay, and the essence of fruitwood instantly unfurled, revealing a whole chicken roasted to an amber, glistening sheen.
The skin was taut, without a single charred spot.
It was as perfect as a work of art.
If the maximum score was ten, on appearance alone, this beggar's chicken deserved a solid seven.
Chapter 140