Heaven’s Shadow

A vicious glint flashed in the eyes of the black-clothed man, and he took a step forward in fury. The young gongzi frowned and signs of impatience could be seen from his gaze. He was about to speak when a small commotion broke out outside.

The young man's face darkened as he bellowed, "What's wrong?"

Another black-clothed man from outside the cottage hurried in and, in panic, announced, "The mountain is on fire!"

Everyone in the tavern was taken aback. They rushed to the entrance and saw that under the dark night sky, there were six to seven spots on the tea mountain that were alight. The flames had yet to grow too big, but they were clearly gaining in intensity. Given the strong mountainous winds, it was likely that it wouldn't take long before the entire mountain would be burning in flames.

The group of black-clothed men fell silent. Then, someone cursed, and there were even a few who wanted to rush up the mountains. However, they were stopped by the young gongzi. Scanning his surroundings, his face turned cold for the first time. With a frigid tone, he said, "This place is just 30 li away from Nansong Mountain. The moment the mountainous flames expand, the Thousand Autumn Doors would definitely send someone to check the matter out. By then, the matter would have blown out of proportions. Right now, it isn't the time for you all to be messing around."

The group of black-clothed men remained completely speechless. After a brief moment, the young man sneered coldly. He slapped the fan in his palms and commanded, "Set the houses alight! Kill the fatty in the house! Let's go!"

Soon, in the silence of the night, flames were swiftly lit. In just moments, flames were lit around the tavern. Based on their effectiveness at setting the flames, it seemed that this group of black-clothed men were experts who had committed such acts countless times. What was even more bizarre was that even though there was quite some commotion this night, other than this small tavern, the entire village was plunged into silence. It didn't seem like there were any villagers who were alarmed by it.

At the same time, while the flames slowly swallowed the small tavern, two black-clothed men charged in and dragged the withered Old Ma out and threw him onto the empty grounds before the tavern.

The young gongzi walked over with a stern expression. It seemed that due to the various unexpected events that had occurred tonight, he was finally no longer able to sustain that tranquil expression of his. Authoritatively, he spoke, "Fatty, I respect you for your tough will, but you have seen the situation for yourself. I will give you one last chance. Tell me the background of that Shadow and where he is now. Otherwise, you shall..."

He glanced at the two black-clothed men who dragged Old Ma out, and each of them whipped out a gleaming dagger. The man on the right was slightly faster and immediately, he placed his sharp dagger against the fatty's thick neck. The other man who was slightly slower hesitated for a moment before retracting his dagger and stepping back into the crowd.

The cold edge of the dagger was pushed right against Old Ma's neck, causing Old Ma's body to cower backward before it. His face was ghastly pale and it could be seen that he was actually somewhat nervous. In fact, he couldn't resist the urge to lift his head to glance at the black-clothed man.

Perhaps it was an instinctive reaction when one was at the border between life and death, his body convulsed intensely. Then, he stared fixedly at the black-clothed man who was about to kill him, as though he was trying to mark the features of his murderer and exact vengeance on him as a specter. But it was a pity that the black-clothed man had concealed all personal traits beneath his black robe, such that even his face was hidden from plain view. All that could be seen was a pair of eyes.

Old Ma glared furiously at the black-clothed man.

The black-clothed man was unmoved by Old Ma's actions.

The young gongzi's patience seemed to have worn thin. He coldly spouted, "Have you thought it through yet?" After which, he paused for a moment before he harrumphed coldly. With a wave of his hands, he said, "Do it..."

"Don't!" A shout of agony suddenly reverberated. It was from the fatty, Old Ma. At this moment, his steeled and pertinacious face had disappeared without a trace, and in its place were depression and submission. He quickly shouted, "I'll speak! I'll speak!"

"Hu..."

A ruckus broke out among the black-clothed men. Even the young gongzi seemed to have been caught off-guard by the sudden change in Old Ma and blanked out for a moment. His mind couldn't adapt to the abrupt twist in the situation.

On the other hand, the black-clothed man standing behind Old Ma seemed to be in greater shock, staggering and nearly falling backward. Seemingly infuriated for his embarrassment, he lifted his leg and kicked the fatty!

"Aiya..." Old Ma was immediately sent rolling on the floor, and his figure looked strangely reminiscent of a blob of meat. He grimaced in pain.

On the other end, the young gongzi had also recovered and he quickly bellowed for the black-clothed man who was about to thrash the fatty to stop. He walked over to Old Ma in hurried steps and said dignifiedly, "Ma Xiao Yun!"

Although he was the one who mentioned his name, he couldn't help but frown. The disparity between the fatty before him and the name was simply too great, making it difficult for him to form connections between the two. However, based on the news he had received from the Immortal Alliance's Fleeting Cloud Division, this was definitely this man's name... However, it wasn't the time for him to be bothered over this. The young man took a deep breath and said, "Ma Xiao Yun, hear my words. My name is Shang Fei Yi, a vice-head of the Three Realm Divine Cult's 'West Altar'. As long as you speak the truth, I would make sure that you live a worry-free life from now on, and you need not fear the pursuit of the Fleeting Cloud Division."

Ma Xiao Yun... The fat Old Ma quickly nodded his head. "Thank you, thank you. You must save me!"

Expectation and nervousness appeared in Shang Fei Yi's eyes as he asked, "Then speak, what is the identity and background of the Shadow hidden here?"

The grounds turned silent. Subconsciously, all of the black-clothed men in the surroundings were listening intently for Old Ma's reply.

The night wind blew, and only the crackling of the flames on the tavern could be heard. In the further distance, in the depths of the darkness, a faint sound could be heard. It seemed as though someone's buffalo had been alarmed by the commotion and a 'moo' sound could be heard.

Old Ma gritted his teeth. Seemingly getting past the final shackles in his heart, he glanced at the black-clothed man equipped with the knife fearfully and spoke, "I don't know the original name of the Shadow, but when I received him, he was already known as Lu Chen. He is 28 this year and is of average figure..."

Shang Fei Yi eyebrows shot upward as he nodded his head faintly. Clearly, he was also aware of these basic pieces of information on the Shadow, and this verified that the fatty had truly given in and wasn't lying. "Well said. What else?"

The fatty hesitated for a moment. The black-clothed man beside him seemed to hold extreme disdain against the despicable man who kept changing his words and placed his knife on Old Ma's neck once more as he bellowed, "Speak!"

...