The explosion had lit the night sky like a second sun.
Light and sound seared across the Bai Clan estate—and in its wake came chaos.
Bells began to ring.
Guards jolted awake, Bai Clan members burst from their chambers, and eyes swept across the sky like crashing waves.
Cries of alarm echoed in all directions.
“The inner courtyard!”
“An explosion—someone’s attacking!”
“It’s in Bai Zihan’s courtyard direction!”
“Check on Bai Zihan—now!”
…
Meanwhile, halfway across the estate, heading towards Bai Xinyue, the second group of assassins had stopped short.
They stood on a tiled roof just outside the barrier leading to Bai Xinyue’s residence—silent, cloaked in shadow, still unseen.
But all five turned toward the sudden blast of light in the distance.
The leader’s eyes narrowed behind his mask.
“Those idiots!”
It had only been a few seconds since they had separated—and already, an explosion had rocked the estate.
They knew their silence and secretive mission had been exposed—and it was all thanks to the other five. Or so they blamed.
One of them clicked his tongue.
“Now everyone will know we’re here. Escaping will be very difficult.”
“No shit,” another snapped. “We’ve got maybe a minute or two before the whole place is swarming.”
The leader clenched his fist.
“We move now. Kill the girl—then escape immediately.”
The five assassins darted forward, movements no longer careful, just fast.
Their stealth arrays still cloaked them from sight, but the urgency was palpable. They no longer had the luxury of silence.
***
Wind rushed past Bai Zihan’s face as he dashed through the air, the scorched remnants of his courtyard vanishing behind him.
He didn’t bother calling for backup—there was no need.
With that explosion, he was certain the elders would arrive soon enough without being summoned.
BANG!
By the time he reached the outer wall of Bai Xinyue’s residence, the sound of distant crashing echoed through the air—followed by muffled screams and the sharp thud of bodies slamming into stone.
His eyes narrowed.
And then—
A pair of black-robed assassins flew through the air like broken dolls, crashing into the courtyard walls with sickening force.
One twitched once. The other didn’t move at all.
Bai Zihan landed silently on a nearby rooftop, just in time to watch the last two assassins stagger back, blood spilling from their mouths.
Standing in the center of the courtyard, surrounded by shattered paving stones and torn flower beds—
Was Bai Xinyue!
Her long hair whipped in the wind, her white nightrobe lightly scorched at the edges. Her eyes were sharp and cold.
She didn’t look surprised.
Only annoyed.
Her gaze swept over the assassins with disdain.
“Who is there?”
But then she caught movement above—and turned her head sharply, locking eyes with Bai Zihan.
She didn’t lower her guard.
Instead, her voice rang out—calm, yet laced with suspicion.
“…Was it you?”
Bai Zihan raised a brow.
“What?”
“The assassins,” she said, not moving an inch. “Was this your doing?”
A sharp breath of silence passed.
Then Bai Zihan scoffed, stepping down from the rooftop and landing lightly on the ground.
His robes fluttered in the moonlight, still singed from the earlier explosion.
He dusted off his sleeves and looked her dead in the eyes.
“You overestimate yourself!”
His voice was flat.
“If I wanted you dead, Bai Xinyue, I wouldn’t rely on third-rate assassins like these.”
A faint flicker crossed Bai Xinyue’s expression.
Although there was no way she could trust him—no one should trust Bai Zihan, who was full of schemes and underhanded methods—this assassination attempt was too hasty and clumsy to be his style.
And more importantly… she’d already been awake.
The explosion from Bai Zihan’s courtyard had torn through the night like thunder, shaking the entire estate and jarring her from meditation before the intruders even reached her perimeter.
Therefore, she was able to be prepared and face the Assassins.
Otherwise, if it wasn’t the case, there was no saying what might have happened.
And indeed, after looking at Bai Zihan’s appearance, one could tell that he was involved in the earlier explosion.
However, Bai Xinyue didn’t lower her guard completely—but she no longer saw him as the threat at that moment.
Bai Zihan, on the other hand, looked far too casual for someone who’d just been the target of an assassination attempt.
He stepped past the ruined hedges without a care, Eternal Spirit Sword trailing calmly behind him.
One of the assassins near her groaned, trying to crawl away.
Looking at everyone’s cultivation, he seemed to be the strongest and the leader of the group.
Bai Zihan hoped that he would at least have an answer rather than self-explode unlike the earlier leader of the group.
He pointed his sword at him..
Schlick!
A sword of light streaked through the air and pinned the man’s shoulder to the stone with a wet crunch.
The assassin screamed.
Bai Xinyue didn’t flinch.
She watched Bai Zihan walk past the downed killer, his gaze sweeping the ruins of her courtyard.
“Who sent you here?”
Bai Zihan asked.
He was certain that the assassin would give no answer and just as expected, he didn’t.
The assassin only gritted his teeth, refusing to speak—blood oozing from his mouth, pain etched deep into every line of his face.
Bai Zihan’s expression remained unreadable.
With a flick of his wrist, he had the Eternal Spirit Sword cut off almost every part of his body and made him a cripple.
Still, there were no words from the assassin’s mouth.
Then, Bai Zihan stepped forward and crouched, his eyes cold and detached.
“I asked you a question,” he said calmly, his voice dangerously low.
“I really don’t like repeating myself.”
When the man didn’t answer, Bai Zihan sighed as if disappointed.
He pressed two fingers to the assassin’s forehead.
A pulse of Qi surged from his fingertip.
It wasn’t an attack—no, it was far worse.
It wormed into the man’s spiritual sea, digging into the meridians and pressuring his dantian from the inside out.
Not a burst of damage… but a slow, creeping burn. The kind of pain that ate at your soul.
The assassin convulsed, jaw clenched so tightly it cracked. He shook, back arching, veins bulging like ropes under his skin.
Still, he said nothing.
“You’re really testing my patience,” Bai Zihan muttered.
Although he said that, even he must admit that the assassins that the person bought were of highest quality, refusing to answer anything despite all this torture.
Of course, that didn’t mean that he would let the Assassin Leader go.
He increased the intensity.
It was a brutal method. Crude, painful, and effective.
Normally, a person would’ve begged by now.
But this assassin?
He only bit down on his tongue until blood streamed from his lips, eyes locked onto Bai Zihan with a defiant glare.
“Still nothing, huh?”
Bai Zihan leaned in closer, voice dropping to a whisper. “You’ve got the same look in your eyes as the last one—right before he blew himself to bits.”
The assassin’s pupils contracted—just slightly.
That was all Bai Zihan needed.
Without waiting a breath longer, his fingers blurred through a rapid series of seals.
Snap!
In an instant, every meridian in the assassin’s body was locked down.
Qi froze!
The assassin jolted—eyes wide.
He struggled, but it was useless. His cultivation was still there, but it was locked tight, like being buried alive in his own body.
Bai Zihan stood up, dusting off his sleeves.
“There. No flow of Qi, no detonation. You’re not dying on your own terms.”
The assassin’s breath quickened. His glare twisted into something venomous—frustration, fury, and disbelief all churning behind his broken mask.
He knew.
He had been seen through.
The smug, resigned calm in his expression vanished, replaced by unfiltered hate.
“You were going to kill yourself,” Bai Zihan said.
“Would’ve been a lovely fireworks show. Bit redundant, though—I already had my courtyard blown up today.”
Well, most of it was already blown away by his own trap.
“Let’s see if you’re still so brave now that suicide’s off the table.”
The assassin’s eyes twitched. His lips trembled.
But still… silence.
Bai Zihan stood up slowly, brushing his robes again as if the entire thing had bored him.
“Tough guy,” he muttered.
It was at that moment—
WHOOSH!
Several figures descended from the sky, their robes flaring with elder insignias. Led by a powerful pressure blanketed the courtyard in an instant.
A dozen guards followed behind, weapons drawn, expressions grim.
“Zihan’er! Xinyue’er!”
The one at the front—Bai Ren who was both worried and angry.
“What happened?!”
The other elders fanned out behind him, immediately assessing the damage.
“The hell is going on?! Who launched a sneak attack inside the estate?!”
“It was an assassination attempt,” Bai Zihan said flatly. “Ten total—five came for me, five for her.”
The elders’ expressions darkened instantly.
“We neutralized them,” Bai Zihan continued.
“Others are all dead. This one…” —he gestured toward the chained man writhing on the floor— “survived.”
“He’s the leader of the group,” he added.
“He’s not talking. Yet!”
Bai Zihan’s gaze sharpened.
“But that’s your problem now.”
He stepped back and waved his hand, releasing the assassin.
“I’ve already made sure he can’t self-destruct,” he said.
“I suggest you try to get as much information as you can from him.”