Back to that moment when Jiang Wang and Zhao Rucheng had just parted ways.
Jiang Wang had walked the road to Mingde Hall more times than he could count. Every stall along the way, he knew by heart — which was good, which was bad.
This was Fenglin City, where he had lived and cultivated for years. Walking these streets gave him a sense of ease and safety he found nowhere else.
He was so relaxed that when a figure came rushing at him, he failed to dodge in time.
No — perhaps he had tried his best to dodge, but he still collided with it.
The impact felt deeply strange. In a normal collision, the two would be flung apart by force, then pushed down or left standing depending on their footing. But here, they stuck together.
That is, the force of the collision seemed to be attraction — not repulsion.
How bizarre!
Jiang Wang stared at the man in the black robe, who stood nearly pressed against him, and his hairs stood on end.
A strong intuition told him this man was terrifyingly dangerous. He was absolutely no match for him.
The gap in strength was such that, if Jiang Wang tried to flee and raise the alarm as a student of the Fenglin City Dao Academy, the man could kill him and walk away at leisure.
"It looks like you're that fellow's junior brother..." The black-robed man pressed close to Jiang Wang's ear and murmured, "Let me stay at your house a few days, won't you?"
Jiang Wang nodded stiffly.
"Good." The black-robed man pulled back just enough to let Jiang Wang see the face beneath his hood — coarse and brutal, with a natural menace. "You're a smart man. You know better than to do anything foolish."
It was only then that Jiang Wang noticed the man's hooded black robe resembled the one worn by the little fatty from Sanshan City. And this one was bald.
There was no time to think. The bald man's gaze was dangerous.
First, Jiang Wang was certain he absolutely could not bring this dangerous man home. Neither Zhao Rucheng nor Ling He could help him; they would only be dragged down with him. And there was still An'an at home.
"But... I live in the Academy dormitory." Jiang Wang swallowed, making no effort to hide his fear. "I'm an inner-court disciple."
"Hmm, meridians opened, but foundation not yet established. Plain honesty is a good start for cooperation." The bald man seemed satisfied. He turned and draped his arm over Jiang Wang's shoulder, walking alongside him. "But I trust you'll find a way, won't you?"
On the busy street, passersby came and went, and no one noticed anything amiss.
Rather, Jiang Wang had to work all the harder to seem perfectly at ease, lest he be killed on the spot.
His mind raced.
First, "that fellow's junior brother" — who was "that fellow" the bald man meant?
Combined with the bald man's robe, the same style as the little fatty from Sanshan City...
Jiang Wang had a bold guess — could it be Zhu Weiwo?
Then the bald man's identity followed naturally: the Swallow-Heart Human Demon, Xiong Wen!
These days, Zhu Weiwo had been hunting Xiong Wen, and had even missed the Three-City Dao Debate because of it. Who would have thought Xiong Wen was bold enough to slip into Fenglin City, playing hide-and-seek right under the lamp?
This was a cultivator who had opened the Heaven-Earth Gate, a Dragon-Rising Realm sixth-grade powerhouse.
Even armed with the two great secret arts — the Four Spirit Body-Tempering Art and the Purple Qi from the East Sword Art — Jiang Wang leaping three grades to beat this man was simply impossible.
"A way... there should be one, but I need to think... Can I think it over?" Jiang Wang was no genius who planned seven moves ahead. He tried to stall for time.
"You may. But not too long. My patience is thin." The bald man was surprisingly accommodating, patting Jiang Wang's shoulder.
So the two walked on, arm in arm, like close friends.
Jiang Wang continued to analyze.
Two days ago had been the Three-City Dao Debate. He had sensed the conflict hidden behind it, but since it was none of his business, he hadn't investigated. Zhao Rucheng had mentioned casually that it seemed to be Wei Quji's retaliation for the little Grove Town massacre.
Thinking back now, the only thing he knew was that the city had been on high alert for those two days — yet this bald man had leaked not the slightest breath of news. Clearly, he was skilled at concealing his trail.
So what had brought him out onto the street, picking a random person, looking for a new hiding place?
There was only one explanation: the place he had hidden before had been exposed. Zhu Weiwo had discovered he was hiding in Fenglin City!
Perhaps that was where his chance lay...
But obviously, if this bald man really was Xiong Wen, he would notice that too.
So instead, Jiang Wang absolutely could not leave any clue for Zhu Weiwo. Playing tricks under the nose of a Dragon-Rising Realm cultivator was asking for death.
Jiang Wang kept thinking about where to go next.
He dared not head toward the City Lord's Mansion, nor toward the Dao Academy. Both were unquestionably safe havens — but this bald man was no fool.
What on earth could he do?
He could not, with his own strength, gauge that of a Dragon-Rising Realm cultivator. In the Three-City Dao Debate, he had seen Lin Zhengren's combat power. This Xiong Wen was surely not weaker.
Idea after idea rose, only to be discarded.
A tangled mess; he was nearly in despair. But he could not afford to despair.
Then it struck him: today, he had not gone to pick up An'an. Would she find her own way home? Would she be afraid?
Then he thought of the little girl Qingzhi, and the unfathomable old man surnamed Gui.
Perhaps...
But he quickly cast these thoughts aside. He could never bring danger to Jiang An'an.
Yet thinking of her gave him strength.
"I have a friend..." Jiang Wang said with effort. "But I can't take you to where he lives now. I can't harm him."
The bald man looked intrigued. "And then?"
"He has a courtyard on the clan lands, which he hasn't visited in a long time. Very quiet. No one will disturb us." Jiang Wang added cautiously, "But the problem is, his clan is rather powerful. If we're careless, we might run into some trouble."
"Oh? How powerful?" There was a hint of undisguised contempt in the bald man's voice. A local clan of Fenglin City's domain would hardly matter to him.
"It's the Fang family, one of the Three Great Clans here. They might have some supernormal strength. I don't know the details."
The friend Jiang Wang spoke of was, of course, Fang Pengju.
Across all of Fenglin City, within Jiang Wang's knowledge, apart from the City Lord's Mansion and the Dao Academy, only the Three Great Clans could possibly cause trouble for the Swallow-Heart Human Demon.
Of these, he had no grudge against the Zhang or Wang clans. But Fang Pengju harbored a death-grudge against him, and Fang Heling had never stopped hounding him. Not to mention he had fallen out with Fang Zehou the last time...
Most importantly, of the Three Great Clans, he truly only knew the Fang family — and he had only ever visited the Fang clan lands.
In the little courtyard he described, Fang Pengju had once toasted him under the lamplight and talked with him late into the night.
Now it all depended on whether the bald man would accept this choice.
Concerned for his own safety, the bald man thought it over for a while. Then he said, "Lead the way."
Jiang Wang's heart lightened.
The first hurdle, passed!