Chapter 21

The man in black snorted coldly and said angrily, "You still dare to be defiant. We'll see if you confess or not in a moment!"

Before his words had even finished, the man in black suddenly vanished from his spot.

Qin Sang was greatly alarmed. In an instant, the man in black had truly disappeared from his sight.

Qin Sang had never encountered such an enemy. In the Wuwei Escort Agency and during practice with Yang Zhen's disciples, he could always rely on his keen eyesight to anticipate the enemy's moves and handle them with ease. This time, however, his eyes were not as effective.

This man in black could disappear right before his eyes; even if he wasn't a mysterious cultivator, he was certainly a top expert in the martial world.

No, that's not right!

Qin Sang's gaze suddenly sharpened. He still noticed something unusual; the air in front of him was slightly distorted, and only his sharp eyes could see it.

In his mind, a storm raged, but in reality, only a moment had passed.

In the blink of an eye, the distortion in the air spread to Qin Sang's face.

If Qin Sang retaliated now, he could still manage to throw a punch, but the man in black's movements were too bizarre. Qin Sang didn't dare to be overconfident and immediately activated the Yama Banner.

"Kill him!"

With Qin Sang's low roar, Yama pounced out of the Yama Banner, grinning ferociously as he charged at the man in black.

*Bang!*

The man in black's head hit the edge of the bed, and he lay there motionless. After a moment, Yama emerged, biting the man in black's soul and looking at Qin Sang with a pleasing expression.

The man in black's soul stood there with a blank expression, just like Old Wu.

However, when Qin Sang removed the man in black's mask, he found that his soul and physical appearance were identical. Only then did Qin Sang realize that Old Wu was likely in disguise.

Encountering such a crisis for the first time, Qin Sang was still shaken. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself and immediately began questioning. As expected, the man in black's soul would soon turn into soul mist.

"What was Old Wu's purpose in infiltrating the Daoist temple?" Qin Sang asked quickly.

The man in black answered expressionlessly, "To monitor the ferry and wait for tasks."

It seemed that neither the Daoist temple nor Qin Sang himself were the targets. Qin Sang felt relieved and asked, "How did you know Old Wu was dead?"

"Today, the Gatekeeper assigned a task. I sent a message to Old Wu via a pigeon, but received no response."

So those pigeons belonged to Old Wu!

Qin Sang cursed inwardly and pressed on, "Who is the Gatekeeper? What kind of tasks? Who are the people in Jiangshan Tower?"

After a series of questions, a look of deep surprise appeared in Qin Sang's eyes.

Jiangshan Tower turned out to be a top-tier assassin organization in the martial world, renowned for its infallibility.

The Gatekeeper was the messenger who connected assassins with Jiangshan Tower. Jiangshan Tower assigned tasks to assassins through the Gatekeeper, and assassins rarely communicated with each other.

This man in black was also an assassin and had been a long-time partner of Old Wu, both of them infiltrating the Three Witches City.

The target of this mission would only be known after meeting the Gatekeeper at dawn the next day.

Old Wu's martial arts were not top-notch, but his disguise skills were extremely high. He disguised himself as a refugee and worked as a ferryman, with one purpose being to monitor the ferry and the other to wait for tasks from Jiangshan Tower.

Sometimes, assassins might go without a task for one or two years, during which they would pretend to be ordinary people. Old Wu had lived in the Daoist temple for half a year, but unfortunately, he died at the hands of Qin Sang.

The martial world had thus revealed a small part of its iceberg to Qin Sang.

"Besides you and Old Wu, how many other assassins are in the Three Witches City?" Qin Sang asked, his eyes narrowing.

"I don't know."

Jiangshan Tower's organization was tightly controlled, minimizing contact between assassins. They only communicated with their respective Gatekeepers and knew nothing about other assassins' tasks or whereabouts.

That's for the best!

Qin Sang nodded. He didn't care about Jiangshan Tower's target but was more concerned about whether the Qingyang Temple would be implicated. "If you don't return, will Jiangshan Tower send someone to look for you?"

"Yes! If an assassin goes missing, the Gatekeeper will report it to Jiangshan Tower, and they will send someone to investigate until the matter is resolved."

Qin Sang frowned, "Who else knows you came to the temple tonight?"

"The Gatekeeper."

"Who else knows that Old Wu was infiltrating the ferry and living in the temple?"

"The Gatekeeper."

"Will he report it?"

"I don't know."

"Where does he live?"

"South of the Three Witches City, in Fuli Alley, House No. 13..."

"Do you have any secret signals?"

...

The man in black's soul turned into a wisp of soul mist and was swallowed by Yama. Qin Sang leaned against the wall, holding his head and sitting in a daze for a long time. Suddenly, he remembered something and quietly ran to the old Daoist and Mingyue's room. Through the window, he saw them sleeping soundly.

He stood there quietly for a while and whispered, "Daoist, Mingyue, I will take responsibility for my actions and will not implicate you."

He then returned to his room, packed the Yama Banner and other items, put on a set of clothes, and left the rest of the things untouched, taking only a bottle of golden wound medicine prepared by the old Daoist.

Finally, he placed the man in black's body on the bed, feeling it. The man in black had a sleeve arrow tied to his arm and a soft sword on his waist, but nothing else.

The man in black hadn't expected to be killed so quickly; he had just started to draw his sword.

Qin Sang untied the sleeve arrow. The mechanism was simple, and he quickly figured it out, tying it to his own arm. He then drew the soft sword and picked up an iron wooden stick from the corner, thoroughly inspecting the room he had lived in for a year. He took out several fire starters and threw them around.

The house, except for the stone frame, was made of grass, wood, and bamboo, with a pile of firewood in the outer room. The flames quickly spread.

"I wonder if this can clear the Qingyang Temple."

Qin Sang sighed softly. As the fire grew, he walked out of the temple without looking back. By the time he reached the halfway point on the mountain, he heard someone shouting for help.

Passing by Old Wu's grave, Qin Sang stopped in front of it. The flames from the Qingyang Temple had already dyed half the night sky red. He smiled bitterly, "Old Wu, why did you choose the Qingyang Temple?"

Since he had successfully refined the Yama Banner, Qin Sang had thought about leaving the temple, but he never expected to leave in this way.

The man in black's horse was tied in the forest at the foot of the mountain. Qin Sang mounted the horse and headed straight for the Three Witches City.

Riding at full speed, when Qin Sang arrived at the Three Witches City, it was still dark, and the city gates were not open.

However, due to the frequent trade at the ferry and the prosperous commercial route, the south gate of the Three Witches City had a side gate that remained open all night for the passage of goods. Qin Sang hid his sword, stick, and horse outside the city, spent some silver, and followed a merchant into the city, heading straight for Fuli Alley.

It was still early, and the entire Fuli Alley was deserted.

This alley was home to wealthy households, with high walls and red gates. Qin Sang quickly found House No. 13.

The house was not large, with a wall made of blue bricks, about four or five people high, and the main gate was tightly closed.