Chapter Nine: Midnight Raid

A group of people deliberated for a long time without coming to any consensus, and ultimately decided to proceed with the Martial Arts Tournament as scheduled. They would wait for the arrival of the renowned martial arts masters and handle whatever situations arose accordingly.

With so many of them gathered here now, it served as a certain degree of deterrence to the enemies lurking in the shadows.

Returning to his tent, Murong Xun merely instructed the members of the Furious Dragon Sect to remain on high alert.

He had a bad premonition that this Martial Arts Tournament would not be held so easily.

Many of the participating sects and factions had already been completely wiped out, while others suffered heavy casualties, with very few escaping unscathed.

There were barely any factions that suffered minimal losses like the Furious Dragon Sect or the Shaolin Temple.

Since the adversaries had meticulously orchestrated their entrapment here, their purpose could not possibly be mere assassination. Otherwise, attacking the various sects directly would have been far simpler.

Zhao Ze had naturally anticipated and given orders regarding all this long ago.

As a seasoned veteran of the pugilistic world, he possessed vast experience and considered every aspect with meticulous care. He usually kept a low profile to give Murong Xun, the young master, opportunities to shine and gradually establish his own prestige.

Murong Xun actually cared little for the rivalry between the Dayang Dynasty and the grasslands. To him, he was merely a transient traveler in this world.

The most important thing for him was to complete his missions and reap the rewards.

Night fell.

Murong Xun, who was sitting cross-legged in meditation, was suddenly jolted awake by a chorus of battle cries.

Without a second thought, he grabbed his Shadow of Slaughter resting nearby and rushed out of the tent.

By this time, the other members of the Furious Dragon Sect had also emerged.

"Young Commander, do not act recklessly."

Zhao Ze intercepted him.

"We do not yet know the exact situation. It would be better to wait until we have scouted the area before making a move!"

With that, he nodded to the men beside him.

Two Xiantian realm experts immediately stepped out from the crowd and melted into the night.

No one felt this was inappropriate. If Murong Xun had to charge into the vanguard for every single matter, what use would they, his subordinates, be?

"It seems the grassland barbarians are starting to grow restless!"

Zhao Ze sighed.

He had hoped for a peaceful and smooth conclusion to this Martial Arts Tournament—a chance to properly showcase the strength of the Furious Dragon Sect's successor and let everyone know that the supreme leader's disciple was exceptionally capable.

Yet things had gone contrary to his wishes; he never expected the so-called Martial Arts Tournament to be a trap set by individuals with ulterior motives.

"No one is willing to sit still and await death."

Murong Xun saw this very clearly. He was that exact type of person; if he sensed danger, he would choose to nip it in the bud.

"I fear this matter is far from simple!"

Zhao Ze shook his head. Knowing more than Murong Xun and piecing it together with recent events in the martial arts world, it was not difficult to draw certain conclusions.

"Is it related to the slaughter of those who participated in the ambush at Yandang Mountain?"

Murong Xun was no fool and quickly grasped what Zhao Ze was implying.

"Indeed!"

Zhao Ze's tone was heavy.

"The person targeted back then had an extraordinary identity, and he has descendants still living. I fear they have now come to exact revenge."

"There has been constant talk about the Yandang Mountain ambush, but who exactly was the person targeted?"

Murong Xun frowned. Not far away, fires blazed into the sky, and the clamor showed no signs of abating.

"Back then, that person was the Left Wise King of the grassland's Golden Tent Khanate, and also the biological younger brother of the current Khan!"

Zhao Ze's expression turned grim.

"At that time, someone sent a secret letter. For the sake of the country and its people, several veteran masters used their influence to gather numerous martial arts experts with the sole purpose of stopping the Left Wise King from marching south."

"Initially, these martial artists were unaware of the target's true identity. However, the target arrived in a formidable procession, accompanied by a large detachment of soldiers and numerous expert bodyguards—precisely matching the description in the secret letter, which claimed the target intended to instigate chaos in the martial arts world and plunder the secret martial manuals of all the Dayang sects. Consequently, a bloody battle ensued, and in the end, only twenty-one people survived, all heavily wounded."

"Was there something special about this Left Wise King?"

Murong Xun was puzzled as to why Zhao Ze's tone carried such complex emotions.

"The Left Wise King was deeply inclined toward Dayang, and his wife was a Dayang native. He had always dedicated himself to peaceful coexistence between the grasslands and Dayang, which earned him many enemies back in the grasslands."

Zhao Ze smiled helplessly.

"It was precisely upon realizing that the person they had ambushed was the Left Wise King that the surviving veteran leaders committed suicide out of shame and remorse. Killing the Left Wise King not only eliminated a rare pro-Dayang figure, but more importantly, it provided the grassland people with a righteous pretext to dispatch their troops."

"Back then, people thought nothing of it, simply assuming the intelligence in the secret letter had been mistaken. But looking back at it carefully now, it mirrors current events so closely that it feels as though an invisible hand is manipulating everything from behind the scenes."

Zhao Ze was no fool; the past events had been full of doubts. Although he had not participated personally, he knew there was more to the story than met the eye, though the organizers of that era kept the identity of the secret letter's sender strictly confidential to protect them.

The events of that year had been sealed away with the death of the participants. Yet now, someone had used the pretext of the Martial Arts Tournament to summon so many of them here under false pretenses, bearing an uncanny resemblance to the handiwork of twenty years ago.

While the two were still conversing, the two scouts sent to investigate quickly returned.

"How is it?"

Seeing them return, Zhao Ze hurried forward to inquire.

"Some intruders sneaked in, carrying out quiet assassinations and setting fires everywhere. Fortunately, it was discovered early, and the assassins were eliminated, though a few people were indeed assassinated."

The two men quickly recounted what they had witnessed.

"They made their move so quickly."

Although he had anticipated that the enemy would strike, Zhao Ze truly had not expected them to act with such speed and ruthlessness.

"Hmph!"

Murong Xun suddenly drew his saber and fiercely slashed toward the two men.

The two were dumbfounded, never expecting Murong Xun to attack them out of nowhere.

However, Murong Xun's strike deviated, passing right under one man's armpit.

"Clang!"

The sound of clashing metal rang out.

The man reacted swiftly, extending his hand to shift his position.

Murong Xun frowned; he had lost his connection to the target.

Just moments ago, his Heart of Sword Clarity had warned him, and he had sensed a gaze of surveillance coming from directly behind this man.

Yet the moment he turned, that feeling vanished.

"Turn around!"

"Oh! Oh! Oh!"

Hearing the command, the Xiantian expert did not refuse, obediently turning around to present his back to Murong Xun.

Murong Xun immediately slashed down with his Tang saber.

"Clang!"

To the astonishment of everyone present, a hand emerged from the man's own shadow, wielding a slender sword that blocked Murong Xun's strike before swiftly retreating back into concealment.

"Whatever kind of demons and monsters you are!"

Undeterred, Murong Xun pressed his attack.

Realizing he could no longer hide, a dark shadow burst forth from the Xiantian expert's shadow, brandishing a slender sword as it lunged at Murong Xun. In truth, its raw strength was not particularly formidable; its threat lay solely in its extreme stealth. Once forced out into the open, it was not difficult to deal with.

Murong Xun disposed of it in a matter of strokes, yet his mood remained far from pleasant.

[You have slain player ID xxx0211, Shadow Monarch—Shadow Legion member!]

This was a player's trick!

This meant he had already been targeted by players.

Moreover, the enemy's methods were too bizarre, capable of observing his every move at any given moment.

"What on earth is this thing?"

The surrounding members of the Furious Dragon Sect were struck with utter panic. The Xiantian expert himself was filled with shock and lingering fear. The thought that such a creature had been lurking within his own shadow terrified him; if it had launched a sneak attack against him, how could he possibly have evaded it?

Hiding in a shadow and striking while you were eating or sleeping—it was entirely impossible to guard against!

"Could this be the sorcery of the occultists?"

Amidst his shock, Zhao Ze recalled certain legends from the martial arts world.

He had certainly heard tales of mysterious arts like the Arts of Qi Men Dun Jia.

"Perhaps!"

Murong Xun remained noncommittal and did not delve deeper into the matter.

It was enough that he understood the players' affairs.

After this farce, the group completely lost all sleep. The mere thought of an entity hiding within one's shadow—one that left not a single drop of blood upon death—filled them with a chilling dread.

"Wait!"

Someone suddenly cried out.

"Earlier, when we were at the entrance of First-Line Gorge, those people in black robes we killed also left behind no corpses, just like this."

The speaker was one of the two Xiantian experts left behind when Murong Xun and the others ascended the mountain, and he retained a vivid impression of that day's bizarre anomaly.

"It seems to be the same batch of people."

Zhao Ze furrowed his brows deeply.

Murong Xun's expression was similarly unsightly. This indicated that other players were present in the vicinity at that time. Since their strength and identities remained unknown, if the enemy continued to hide in the shadows and operated solely through puppets, he would be powerless to root them out.

"Forget it. Everyone remain on high alert, and take turns resting. Give them no openings!"

Murong Xun helplessly issued his directives.

Faced with such an elusive and erratic enemy, he had no other recourse.

With the enemy in the light and them in the dark, the only viable course of action was to remain unchanged in response to all changes; otherwise, any mishandling could make the situation even more perilous.

Seeing that his arrangements were orderly and well-structured, Zhao Ze smiled with gratification and willingly accepted the orders without further objection.

His purpose in coming out this time was precisely to act as a guide, allowing Murong Xun to gain experience and stepping in with reminders only when his decisions fell short.

Presently, it appeared the heir to the Dragon Head was quite exceptional. Though lacking in pugilistic experience, that was a stage everyone had to traverse; once he experienced more events, he would naturally adapt and require no worry.

What Zhao Ze needed to teach him more were the nuances of dealing with people and worldly sophistication, but for now, it seemed no excessive reminders were necessary—the Young Commander was handling things admirably.