Chapter 1745: The Mission That Must Not Fail

“Shi Ying, we had you and Yuan Ying hunt only two enemies, yet one of you died, and that woman escaped. What happened?”

The middle-aged man looked coldly at Shi Ying. Shi Ying’s face flashed with panic. He lowered his head and cupped his hands in apology. At that moment, a sharp light flickered deep in his eyes, but no one saw it.

“The cultivator who just died was a late-stage Spirit Transformation expert himself, and his artifact was truly powerful. Yuan Ying was likely careless and was killed instantly. As for the woman, I… I…” Shi Ying’s voice became almost inaudible.

“Hmph. You fought her; did you notice anything special about her techniques?” the middle-aged man asked with dissatisfaction.

“Her speed and defense were both incredible. Otherwise, she couldn’t have dodged my hidden strike!” Shi Ying replied quickly.

“Speed and defense? And she has speed… We need to leave this place quickly. Although she can’t bring help back so soon, this isn’t a place where we can linger. The mission isn’t truly finished, and we can’t report back like this. We must head toward Xianhe Manor immediately and see if she still dares to go there!”

Though the middle-aged man was dissatisfied with Shi Ying and the deceased subordinate, he had sensed the woman’s movements while controlling the array. Five of the six Huangqi Valley cultivators were dead, and they had four pieces of the cargo. Excluding the one who self-detonated, the employer wouldn’t be satisfied with this result.

He was also shocked by the reality. He had thought the late-stage Spirit Transformation cultivators at the core were the priority. He never expected that the two at the periphery would be the most difficult. One had a treasure that could block Divine Sense, which even he coveted.

The woman was even more bizarre; she likely possessed a treasure he would also desire. Under Shi Ying’s pursuit, she had actually torn through his grand array. By the time he noticed, she had exited the array and vanished. She had clearly prepared a teleportation talisman and activated it the moment she was clear. Even his Divine Sense couldn’t find her afterward. He was stunned—what kind of item could tear his array? Though it was only a tiny rift that lasted for less than half a breath, it was enough for her to escape.

Realizing time was short, he merely rebuked Shi Ying and didn’t press the matter further. After all, Shi Ying had lost her during a pursuit, and even his own array hadn’t held her. She was indeed formidable.

With a wave of his sleeve, streaks of purple light shot toward him from the rain like meteors. These were the array flags, glowing with a soft purple light amidst the rain. At the same time, a thin, dark-red blade appeared beneath his feet. It expanded to over a hundred feet in length. The other two young assassins didn’t wait for orders and leapt onto the blade.

Shi Ying, who was taking medicine, was a bit slower. Under the middle-aged man’s cold gaze, he didn’t care about refining the medicine and hurried onto the blade. With a slight blur, the dark-red blade shot into the rain and vanished.

The middle-aged man stood at the front of the blade with his hands behind his back. The three subordinates stood silently behind him. He was lost in thought. One of their targets had escaped.

‘That woman’s strength is only at the mid-stage of Spirit Transformation. The item that helped her escape must be a specialized treasure for breaking restrictions. If she used a teleportation talisman, it likely wasn’t a directional one to Xianhe Manor. If they had that capability, they wouldn’t have risked the journey. Generally, such talismans provide non-directional teleportation.’

‘Even if she prepared a retreat, it was likely a random jump. However, to vanish from my sense in an instant means she traveled a significant distance… Following normal logic, she knows she’s been ambushed and might expect our presence to be less dense along the rest of the route. Could she be harboring a trace of hope? After all, she still has a chance to reach the Manor.’

‘If she takes a detour, we would need to set ambushes in four directions to catch her, but we don’t have enough time. She should know this as well… Based on the distance of a typical teleportation, she’s quite far. The entire battle here took less than two hundred breaths. Unless she coincidentally teleported toward the Manor, she won’t arrive before us.’

The middle-aged man didn’t need to split his forces. Their mission was to ensure nothing reached Xianhe Manor.

‘So, I still have a chance to set another ambush near the Manor… But if she’s been terrified, she might head back to Huangqi Valley. In that case, the mission is effectively finished. If the worst happens and we only have four items… we can negotiate with the employer. But that will lead to arguments…’

He considered every possibility. If the worst-case scenario happened, it would be a headache. He feared the woman might have randomly teleported very close to the Manor. If he went there now and missed her, he would be punished upon his return.

The four of them moved rapidly through the night in silence. As dawn approached, the torrential rain eased into a light drizzle, and a faint light appeared on the horizon.

“We are about ten thousand miles from Xianhe Manor. Stay put and watch the surroundings while I set up an array before we leave this artifact!”

The middle-aged man looked at the large river ahead. The water had swollen from the rain, turning into a muddy, raging dragon as it surged downstream. He had scouted the area around the Manor and was very familiar with it. Coming within ten thousand miles of the Manor was a risk, even for him. If discovered, he would be in a dire situation.

Thus, he ordered the three to stay on the artifact, which had concealment restrictions and provided a quick getaway. He chose an ideal hiding spot that allowed him to monitor two directions. He gambled that the woman would come from this way. Splitting the team would improve their chances, but it would also multiply the risk of exposure, as the Manor housed experts who could make even him flee in terror. He needed to focus his strength for a guaranteed kill and then flee immediately.

Besides, he had another reason for keeping the team together. He could have intercepted her himself, but he intended to use these three subordinates. This was happening under the very nose of Xianhe Manor. If he couldn’t lure her into the trap, he would have to use force, and these three would be his shield to facilitate his escape…

The chosen area was home to small demon beasts and many unintelligent animals. They could use the chaotic auras here to hide their tracks, though staying was still dangerous. With a light step on the dark-red blade, he descended toward the riverbank—a wild field covered in waist-high grass.

The artifact descended without creating any spatial ripples; as masters of an assassination organization, their equipment was top-tier. The blade hovered silently over the grass. The three subordinates exchanged glances, having already suppressed their auras and withdrawn their Divine Senses, relying only on their sight.

With a flick of his sleeve, the leader sent out four array flags, which sank into the ground around them. He began to perform hand seals with incredible speed and silence… After ten seconds, his voice reached their minds.

“Once we descend, wait for my orders. We are very close to the Manor, and I am not entirely certain I can hide from their experts. Do not move unless I tell you. if you ruin this, don’t bother returning alive!”

His voice was like ice; this was their last chance. The three Spirit Transformation assassins nodded respectfully. They stepped off the blade and sat cross-legged on the ground. The blade shrank into a streak of light and flew into the leader’s storage ring. He drifted like a ghost to a spot five yards away and also sat cross-legged.

The three knew that spot was the eye of the array, but they couldn’t see it; they only guessed based on experience. Soon, all four closed their eyes. The area was filled with only the sound of the wind and the rushing water. Outside, the sky was grey and the rain was light. The roar of the river drowned out all other noise… Even if someone walked past the bank, they wouldn’t notice anything unusual in the grass. The rainwater continued to gather on the blades of grass and slide off silently.

Time passed. After half an hour, the four remained motionless. At one point, the woman assassin quietly opened her eyes and glanced toward the leader. He sat there like a statue, likely probing the surroundings with his Divine Sense.

The woman narrowed her eyes. Her long fingers, hidden by her sleeve, touched the ground. A sliver of magical power, invisible and silent, crept toward the side… Soon, her power was blocked by a restriction. No light erupted, but the space nearby distorted slightly before returning to normal. Strangely, no one was alerted, not even the Void Refining leader who was linked to the array.

A few seconds later, the woman suddenly stood up. With a flicker, she was before the middle-aged man. Her colleagues—the thick man and the youth—remained motionless, seemingly unaware. As she reached the leader, she reached out toward the storage rings on his hand. With a flash, several rings were in her hand.

Yet, through all of this, the middle-aged man remained motionless. This scene was incredibly bizarre! Everything seemed isolated from time and space, a rapid change in total silence.

With the rings in hand, the woman made as if to check them, but then she suddenly raised her palm and struck toward the man’s face. Her movement was like a thunderclap, leaving only an afterimage. But just as her palm was about to hit his forehead, the man—who had been devoid of aura—suddenly erupted with power. Though he remained sitting, he slid sideways across the ground as if on ice, dodging the blow in the blink of an eye.

Whoosh!

The palm strike, carrying a heavy wind, brushed past his ear, the friction stinging his cheek. As he dodged, the man pointed a finger. A long ice spike appeared at his fingertip. The woman’s attack had been fast, but his dodge was faster and more sudden! Even when she took his rings, he had remained like a corpse, yet now his counterattack was like a lightning bolt!

Thud!

As they traded blows, the woman suddenly fell heavily to the ground. A large hole had appeared in the back of her head, and a red-streaked white slurry poured out onto her neck and back. Her beautiful, snowy neck was ruined, and her lithe body slumped into a heap.

The middle-aged man finally released his full magical power and Divine Sense. Seeing that his strike had succeeded, he relaxed. He had been waiting while suppressing his aura. But in the next moment, his heart convulsed.