"How long have you been here? Why didn't we notice!" the veiled woman exclaimed.
"I've been here for a while, but I was over there, pretty far away. Naturally, you wouldn't notice," Evan Yang replied with a smile.
Evan pointed to the spot where the fight had just happened. Their conversation earlier had been quiet, so it should've been impossible for him to hear—unless he had some special ability. But Evan really did have Thousand-Mile Echo: as long as his divine sense could reach, he could hear sounds from that area.
"And you didn't even bother to come over and say hello," the veiled woman said with a smile.
"Aren't I here now?" Evan smiled.
"So, how are you going to deal with those two assassins?" the veiled woman asked, seeing Evan tease her like this.
"That's my business. Unless, Miss, you have something to do with it?" Evan deliberately smiled. He actually knew it was impossible for the woman in front of him to be involved—unless her outward appearance didn't match her inner self, and she truly wanted him dead.
"You're overthinking it. Sure, we've had our issues, but it's nothing major. I wouldn't go hire the Black Hand Gate just to deal with you," the veiled woman immediately retorted, sounding genuinely annoyed at being misunderstood.
Seeing her react like that, Evan laughed. "Just messing with you. By the way, what should I call you, Miss?"
"Want to get to know our Miss? Not a chance!" As soon as Evan said this, a man behind the veiled woman immediately cut in.
Evan felt annoyed. He hadn't even answered yet, and this servant had jumped in. He wanted to retort, but the veiled woman spoke up: "When you can see my real face, I'll tell you my name."
"Oh? Now I really want to see it," Evan said with a smile. He waved his hand, sending a gust of wind toward the veiled woman's face.
The veiled woman just smiled, lightly smoothed her veil with her hand, and effortlessly blocked Evan's wind.
"A real expert!" Evan thought, seeing how easily she dispelled the wind he created—without a sound. The sheer strength shocked him to his core.
Seeing Evan make a move, the people beside the veiled woman hurried forward to teach him a lesson, but she stopped them, saying, "Let's go."
The five of them slowly left Evan's sight. Evan finally snapped out of his shock and muttered, "Just wait—I will see your face one day!"
The more he couldn't get something, the more Evan wanted it. He really wanted to pull off her veil himself—but not now. Right now, there was too much difference between them. This was the first time since arriving here that Evan had met someone he considered a true expert. As for her exact strength, he couldn't judge; he could only assume she was stronger than the Out-of-Body Realm.
After the veiled woman and her group left, Evan composed himself and headed back toward Purple Sky City.
On his way back, something else was happening in a secret chamber at the Shaw Family estate. The butler was holding a Transmission Stone even bigger than Evan's, and a report came through: "Mission failed!"
"What? Mission failed! Is this the extent of your Black Hand Gate's abilities? That's two failures in a row! How am I supposed to trust you?" The butler was furious when he heard the news.
"Raise the price. We'll absolutely make sure he can't escape," came the reply from the other side.
"Raise the price? Why?" The butler couldn't believe it.
"His strength is already beyond ordinary people of the same realm. So the price must go up," the voice replied.
"Damn it, is this how you do business?" The butler was furious that they'd raise the price just because Evan was stronger than most.
"You can choose to back out, but we'll keep the deposit. After all, we've lost quite a few men," the reply came.
"You—fine, how much more?" The butler was angry about the deposit but had no choice.
"Double it!" came the answer.
"You're bleeding me dry! That's ruthless!" The butler was even angrier at the doubled price.
"If you want, we'll go ahead with the third assassination attempt," the other side replied coldly.
"Damn it, and if the third attempt fails? Will you raise the price again?" the butler shouted, nearly losing his temper.
"No need. If the third attempt fails, we won't charge you—but we won't give up either. We'll keep hunting him until the end," the other side said decisively.
Hearing that there would be no charge if the third attempt failed, the butler was delighted. "That's more like it."
"Now, let me know the time and place for the third attempt," the other side said smoothly, as if used to such negotiations.
"Wait. I'll plan it carefully after he gets back," the butler replied after thinking for a moment.
"Alright. Contact us anytime when you're ready." With that, the other side cut off the Transmission Stone.
The butler had no choice but to put away the Transmission Stone. It was incredibly valuable—he'd paid a huge price for this star-grade stone, which could transmit messages across planets, unlike ordinary stones that only worked within a single world.
Knowing Evan was still alive, the butler was frustrated, but the thought of a third and final chance—guaranteed by the Black Hand Gate—made him feel much better. He left the secret chamber in high spirits, thinking that only he knew about it, since it was supposed to be soundproof.
But he had no idea that, not long after he left, someone behind a cabinet in the chamber muttered, "Damn, it really is him. Good thing I recorded everything—I'll let Brother Evan hear it when he gets back."
The butler had no clue that many rooms in the family estate had hidden compartments. Only Cyril Shaw and Tanner knew about them—no outsiders did. Cyril was glad Tanner hadn't told the butler about this.
When Evan returned to the Shaw estate, the butler greeted him with a grin. "Young Master Evan, how was the scenery over there?"
"Not bad, but I ran into a bit of trouble," Evan sighed.
"Oh? What kind of trouble? Need me to help you out?" The butler pretended to be shocked, though he already knew, and acted concerned.
Evan knew he was faking, so he smiled. "No need, it's nothing now. Thanks for your concern. Is your young master still resting?"
"Yes, he's still in his room," the butler replied, completely unaware that Tanner had overheard everything.
Evan naturally headed toward Tanner's room. As the butler watched Evan's back, he cursed inwardly, "Damn, he's hard to kill!"
"You're finally back," Tanner said excitedly when he saw Evan return safely.
"How did it go?" Evan asked curiously.
"Just as we expected—it really was him, and he contacted the assassin group directly," Tanner replied.
"So it really was him. But I have no grudge with him—why does he want me dead?" Evan was puzzled, especially since the butler had acted alone, not through someone else. That confirmed he was the one who wanted Evan dead.
"No idea. What should we do now?" Tanner had the evidence and was just waiting for Evan to decide.
"Let me hear it," Evan said, curious about what Tanner had recorded.
Tanner played his recording for Evan. After listening, Evan sneered, "A third attempt on me? They're dreaming. I don't believe they can do anything to me."
"Are you crazy? What if they send someone really strong? That'd be a problem. I still think we should let my dad expose him first," Tanner said, worried by Evan's attitude.
"But can you be sure he only has one body? No clones or anything?" Evan wasn't against taking action, but if the butler had clones, a sudden attack could cause trouble. After all, Evan knew the butler was after him, but the butler hadn't realized he'd been exposed yet.
Tanner was stumped by Evan's question and didn't know what to say.
"Let's go find your dad and let him hear this recording," Evan said. He needed to learn more about the butler's background from Cyril Shaw before making a move.
With no better idea, Tanner brought Evan along.
Cyril Shaw was busy with something else, but Tanner called him over, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Weren't you resting?" Cyril asked suspiciously.
Tanner pulled Evan inside and closed the door—this was Cyril's room, soundproof and without hidden compartments. Cyril found the whole thing odd and wondered what Tanner was up to.
"Dad, there's something I need to tell you," Tanner said seriously.
Cyril looked at Tanner, then at Evan, completely puzzled. "Why are you acting so weird today?"
Tanner didn't explain much—he just played the recording for Cyril.
At first, Cyril didn't get what it meant, but after Tanner explained, Cyril's face grew darker and darker. Finally, he managed to hold back his anger and said, "Brother Evan, no matter what, I'll make sure you get an answer."
To think the man who saved his son was now being targeted by his own butler—it infuriated Cyril, the family head, so he wanted to rush out and confront the butler.
But Evan stopped him. "Master Shaw, don't rush. He doesn't know we've uncovered his plot yet."
"Do you have any ideas?" Cyril asked, feeling awkward.
"I want to know his background," Evan asked curiously.
Cyril now knew the butler wanted Evan dead. He didn't even bother apologizing, and quickly told Evan everything he knew about the butler.
In the end, all they knew was that the butler was a rogue cultivator at Great Perfection Realm, but they had no idea if he had clones elsewhere.
Evan frowned. "That's a problem. If we destroy his main body but he still has clones, he could keep working with the assassin syndicate."
"Damn it, let's just capture him first!" Cyril wasn't thinking as far ahead as Evan—he just wanted to give Evan an explanation, since both he and Ling Tian considered Evan someone they couldn't afford to offend.
"Here's the plan: bring him here, and I'll make sure he can't self-destruct," Evan said after thinking it over.
Cyril, not knowing what Evan was planning, told Tanner, "Wait here with Evan. I'll call him over right now."