Once Wu Long was out of the city again he noticed people following him from a distance, but he did not speed up, allowing them to catch up. He soon saw about 20 men and women in plain clothes that would look like normal pedestrians, as they overtook and surrounded him on a winter forest road.
He simply took out his spear, which was, though damaged, still somewhat usable. They showed surprise on their faces, as normally one would start a conversation here. Just as the first one took a breath in and opened his mouth to start speaking, Wu Long’s spear made a beautiful arc that separated his neck in the middle, making only a gurgling sound come out instead of speech. They reacted too slowly, only after the third one of them lost the weight of a head. As they all brandished their weapons. Wu Long moved in a continuous motion plowing through them as if they were weed on the side of the road.
The crows that were sitting on branches of the trees nearby took off with loud croaking and flapping of their wings at the moment the carnage started, and were circling in the air above as he was finished with all but one of them. The last one, who Wu Long identified as the least experienced of the group, stood there trembling but not from the cold weather. She could not move, as she felt that the moment she ran, her life would be reaped by this monster. What terrified her was not only Wu Long’s strength but the absolute absence of emotions related to killing people in Wu Long’s gaze or mannerisms, he was simply disposing of an obstacle. There were not even words spoken yet and he already annihilated them.
“I will give you a chance to live. Speak”
Wu Long simply said as he went to pick up spatial rings and weapons. The quality of weapons was not that good but it was better than nothing and could be used as disposable tools to unleash a technique that would destroy them.
The young girl looked at Wu Long and gulped. This was her only chance to live. Right now there was no sense of duty or loyalty in her. All of these were completely swept away by the soul-crushing fear gripping her heart. A more adept member of their group may have held together some semblance of reason, driven by the loyalty or the sheer willpower of an experienced expert, but she was too green and was not mentally prepared for such situations. The scene she witnessed, where all of her experienced seniors and comrades who mentored her and who she looked up to as almost invincible were absolutely powerless in the face of this man, it pulverized all of her resistance and broke her down.
“W-we are… we were part of the Tingren Secret Royal Guard…”
‘The hands and feet, eyes and ears of the royal family huh’
As the young girl started, Wu Long slightly nodded, inwardly confirming his guess as he picked up a sword, and looked at it for a moment, trying to figure out whether it would be useful. Many royal or imperial families had such an organization.
“… we heard that a Q-qi Condensation Realm practitioner was collecting information on the S-supreme Master Pavilion… a..and about royal family… s-so we were tasked to find out your origins, affiliation as well as any useful information and then … … d-d…dispose of you”
The young girl hesitated to state the final part of their mission, as she did not want to antagonize Wu Long with it, but something told her that she could only say the truth or else face death.
Wu Long nodded again, as he understood their reasoning. Qi Condensation Realm might not be that high in a decent sect even in this world, but it was a top-level expert in kingdoms such as this. And if such a person was snooping around for sensitive information, it was bound to raise alarms in the minds of local people with vested interests.
He usually did not bother concealing his cultivation base if he didn’t have any particular reason for it. If anything, it could save him the trouble of dealing with lowlifes who thought they could take him if they didn’t see his cultivation base, which was not dangerous but quite annoying. In this case, though, his cultivation base brought trouble instead.
“Is everyone who inquires about the Supreme Master Pavilion met with such a warm welcome?”
He then asked, turning his eyes to the young girl, which made the latter break in cold and sharp shivers again.
“W-we are with the radical faction. You were suspected of being from the conservative faction since we do not know your origins and the information you were gathering suggested so…”
She responded immediately, not daring to dawdle.
“Radical faction?”
Wu Long raised his eyebrow, and shock appeared alongside the fear in the young girl’s eyes.
“T-the royal family is currently divided into three factions, radical faction now led by the late princess’s son, Prince Cai Dong, the conservative faction, led by the king’s daughter Princess Cai Yin, and the neutral faction which is the majority of royal family members including the king”
She proceeded to explain, as she was lamenting the fact that they provoked someone who was not only not involved in their feud but did not even know of its existence.
“Hmm~”
Wu Long ponderingly hummed.
“And the serial killer?”
Wu Long asked, as he now made a prediction that the whole case of the serial killer was a ruse to cover up the feud between two factions, but to his surprise, the young girl shook her head.
“W-we don’t know who it is, but it seems they are targeting our faction. It could not be the conservative faction since Princess Cai Yin advocates peaceful negotiation, and is troubled by the situation as well…”
She replied, making Wu Long’s prediction a little less probable. It still could be the case that the girl was just not high enough on the ladder to be privy to such information, but the overall probability still slightly decreased.
“Hmm, I see~, you can go”
Wu Long said to her and turned to collect the remaining inheritance from these not overly but still quite generous people, not bothering with the young girl anymore.
The secret guard rookie looked at him in a daze, as she still could not believe she would be able to run far before she is disposed of. But gradually, she felt completely ignored, as if her existence was of no interest whatsoever to this mysterious monstrous man.
“…”
“If you think I will still kill you, why did you tell me what I want to know?”
Wu Long then turned around to look at her again. He spared her for two reasons, one of which was that she was the most likely to mentally break down and spew everything she knew out, as the youngest and least experienced of them, around Luo Mingyu’s age. The second reason was a little less compelling to Wu Long, but when the group surrounded him, there was hesitation, empathy, guilt, and pity in the eyes of this young girl, which made him a little curious. Such a personality did not suit the organization whose job mostly involved these kinds of encounters.
“I…I want to live…”
She replied, as a strong will to live still was hidden deep within her eyes.
Wu Long looked at her, with a curious expression. She did not look particularly stunning if compared to his women, but she was still beautiful. A pretty face, and a little petite but still feminine figure. He was normally not overly lenient to anyone who raised weapons against him, men and women alike. So he did not spare her because of any attraction, as he did not feel any. But now there was something that caught his eye a little.
He smiled, which brought shivers to her, as she was terrified to see this emotionless up to here man make a different expression.
“Why did you join the Secret Royal Guard?”
He asked, not sure why she was in this organization with her disposition.
“I… I admired Princess Cai Yin…”
“Hm? Then what are you doing in a radical faction, if someone you admire, whom you chose to serve, is in the conservative faction?”
“I was… not given a choice”
She said, a powerless and vexed expression appearing on her face, as even her fear was not able to hide it away. Wu Long nodded with understanding, as just because you join an organization with an aspiration, does not mean you will be allowed to follow it. And an inconsequential small rookie is not allowed to choose who she wishes to follow. 𝙚𝙙𝙣𝒐𝙫𝙚𝙡.𝙤𝙧𝒈
Wu Long looked at her a little more closely, and the more he looked, the more his little interest grew. There seemed to be nothing special about this young girl, who was around Luo Mingyu’s age but had nor her grace, nor her wisdom. She was not overly brave or an exceptional beauty, her talent, cultivation, and skills were only above average, which is probably the reason she was accepted into the Secret Royal Guard, but was only a rookie to be trained by observing and not really participate in the missions. However, there was some charm he now detected that surprised him.