Zuo An's sudden appearance hit them like a sledgehammer. They were well prepared, but so was their opponent.
Their enemies weren’t fooled by their decoy tactics—instead, they threw out handfuls of silver and hired killers to track their movements. You had to admit, their adversaries were both clever and willing to spend big.
The three of them could no longer afford their previous leisure. The news Zuo An brought was serious enough to make them all take notice.
Ninth Royal Uncle and William Wang Jinling didn’t continue on the road. Instead, they found a farmhouse and decided to lay low for a while.
They needed to investigate who had spent two hundred thousand taels to put a hit on Serena Feng.
They hadn’t received a single whisper about this before. How had such a huge storm erupted in the assassin world, and yet they’d heard nothing?
How many people in the Nine Provinces Realm could even come up with that kind of money? And who hated Serena Feng so much they’d spend nearly thirty thousand taels of gold just to take her life?
If this was Skyvault Palace Sect’s doing, then why was Sean Xuan in the dark about it?
If it wasn’t Skyvault Palace Sect, then who was it?
A string of questions made William and Ninth Royal Uncle take this journey even more seriously, hiding their tracks with extra care.
Elaine Lane’s injuries were serious. Once things settled down, Serena Feng treated her external wounds first, then addressed the internal injuries she’d suffered from being crushed—her organs had taken a hit. Only after tending to Elaine did Serena remember her own wounds.
Her own injuries weren’t severe—just scrapes from the fall. Even so, by the time Serena finished treating both of them, it was deep into the night. She picked up the basin of dirty water, ready to dump it out, and when she opened the door, she found Ninth Royal Uncle standing outside. His handsome face was hidden in the shadows, making it impossible to read his expression.
Serena stood inside the doorway, surprised. “Something wrong?” she asked.
She knew Ninth Royal Uncle and William were busy—busy investigating the assassin situation and gathering manpower. With their disguises and the people they’d planted in the official expedition party, their whereabouts shouldn’t have been exposed so quickly.
Ninth Royal Uncle didn’t say a word. He took the wooden basin from Serena as if it were some precious jade, solemnly carried it outside, poured the water out with mechanical precision, and brought the basin back. The whole time, his posture never changed—he really seemed like he’d never done anything like this before.
A faint smile appeared on Serena’s face. She took the basin and set it aside, then looked up at Ninth Royal Uncle, her eyes bright with amusement, waiting for him to speak.
“Ahem…” Ninth Royal Uncle coughed awkwardly. “Let’s go for a walk.”
At night, the little farmhouse was perfectly quiet. The whole village was hushed, and you couldn’t help but relax. Serena nodded and closed the door behind her.
The two of them walked off side by side. William stood behind a pillar, gripping the medicine bottle in his hand. With a sigh, he turned away, and the bottle slipped from his fingers, rolling across the ground—who knew where it ended up, or who would pick it up.
Ninth Royal Uncle and Serena walked along the village’s little river for ages. Serena was starting to feel cold before Nolan finally spoke: “About today… I’m sorry.”
To hear him actually apologize was a shock. Not just for Nolan—even Serena was stunned, turning to look at him. Too bad it was so dark she couldn’t see his face.
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it—today was just a fluke. Who’d have thought, even looking like this, someone could still recognize me?” Serena waved it off. After all, it wasn’t Nolan’s fault, and it wasn’t William’s either.
“Besides, running into him was a blessing in disguise. Otherwise, we’d never know someone was willing to spend that much money to have me killed.” Serena kept walking, kicking stones along the riverbank, truly unfazed by the day’s events. Seeing this, Nolan finally relaxed.
To be targeted by the entire assassin underworld, yet still joke about it—Serena was remarkable. She was just fine the way she was, even if she carried the world’s biggest secret.
“Elaine Lane—I’ll send her away as soon as possible. She won’t be traveling with us.” Nolan had given up trying to investigate Serena’s origins.
Serena wasn’t like Liam Li or Elaine Lane—she was different, and that was a good thing.
“Send her away? Where? She’s probably on the assassin organization’s hit list too.” Serena didn’t feel strongly about Elaine—she was just a naïve girl. If they abandoned her, she wouldn’t last long.
This cruel world was no place for a girl like her. Even without the Lan surname, she wouldn’t survive long.
“We interrogated the people who kidnapped her this afternoon, and it’s confirmed—she escaped from the Cui Clan.” Nolan realized, almost in surprise, that he was actually discussing things with Serena.
“The Cui Clan? They actually hid members of the Lan royal house? What are they planning?” Serena stopped in her tracks, turning to Nolan.