690 There Is No Need To Secure It Any Longer (1/2)
After a long, long time, Yun Yang finally pocketed the items left behind by Ouyang Xiaoshe – yet, the two treasure maps were not placed together. He picked up the one owned by Old Dugu and took a rapacious sniff. ”Father, don't you worry – have I not recovered that which belonged to us?” He said softly.
He did not mull about it any further. With a loud scream, he struck a hole in the ground with a slam of his palm and buried the corpse of Ouyang Xiaoshe deep within it.
After that, with a sway of both his arms, the horizons were covered with dark clouds which grew thicker by the second. With a sudden clap of thunder, a huge, torrential rain started pouring down.
The dense droplets cascaded onto the burnt, reddened earth...
The heavy rain drizzled continuously. The weather was still extremely cold – it was neither likely for such huge rain to occur, nor should it have been accentuated with lightning and thunder. However, under Yun Yang's control, the rain still continued to pour.
”I burned and destroyed all of these; I have to restore some of it, one way or another...”
The torrent of rain poured and poured, largely restoring the potential of life to this barren piece of land...
In the meantime, Yun Yang's silhouette had already vanished in the midst of the drizzle.
...
Both the sun and rain contributed to a contrasting, extraordinary sight as they appeared side by side, sharing the same skies upon the horizon. A torrent of rain occupied one side of it, while the other half was painted with the colors of daybreak – there was not a cloud to be seen for a million miles.
A dense mass of purple clouds crept up the edges of the skies in a promising manner. With a glance, the rising sun was on the brink of emerging from the ground, appearing once more in the human realm.
Yun Yang was garbed in his signature purple robes as he slowly sauntered down the streets of Tiantang City. He was like a god that had descended into the human realm, enshrouded by the gushing, auspicious aura of the East, his expression one of peace and solemness.
Yun Yang's movements seemed sluggish, but he was actually rather fast. He quietly entered a pawnshop located on the main street in the center of the city.
In the pawnshop, Shui Wuyin – seemingly the shopkeeper of the place – lifted his head and exchanged glances with Yun Yang briefly before lowering his head. He did not attempt to initiate conversation as a form of acknowledgment - two of his employees rushed out attentively to welcome Yun Yang instead.
”Do you have any unclaimable items of value which have exceeded their pawn limits? Bring them out – the price will not be a problem,” said Yun Yang, with both his arms crossed behind his back.
”Valuable items which have long passed their redeemable period? Such things shall only come by through serendipitous encounters - they cannot be sought out so blatantly!” Shui Wuyin lifted his head. ”We have none in stock currently. Since it's the good stuff we're talking about, they will not fall into an unclaimed state so easily. However, if this young master insists, we can secure them for you if there is any in the future.”
Yun Yang snorted. ”Secure? Whatever for? Serendipitous encounters? Cannot be sought? This young master has nothing but money. Do you think that I can't afford the good stuff? Items that have never before surfaced in this world?
His tone of voice was shrouded with annoyance as he turned around to leave, clearly displeased.
Shui Wuyin waited a moment before standing up. ”Look after the storefront. I'm going back to sleep for a bit – I'm tired.”
Entering a private corner, Shui Wuyin gave out a command.
”Orders from the higher-ups – there is no need to secure it any longer!
...
The assassins in the eastern vicinity of the city had almost reached the end of the road.
From the very start, there had been billions of notorious martial world assassins, yet now, barely seven thousand people had survived. The casualties had taken up seventy to eighty percent of their original numbers.
Although the so-called Assassins' League was still not considered to have disappeared completely into thin air, they have already ceased to exist except in name, which still instilled fear and anxiety amongst the masses.
On the contrary, the good martial men who were besieged outside still surrounded the structure, making it totally impenetrable, surrounding it and holding it up like a sturdy pair of iron walls. Their eyes, however, sparkled with excitement, as their hearts mused and contemplated. Now that the situation remained clear and smooth, victory seemed to be a course set for us. In this fight, however, will I be able to reap the rewards of it? This was a very practical question to ask!
Those with brains that enjoyed a faster processing speed had already started to rally amongst themselves. Cliques were created and alliances were being formed.
In the meantime, at the core location of the city's east-central region, Hen Bieli and Hong Zhan, who were the top leaders of the two great assassin organizations, gathered thirty of the strongest individuals within the Assassins' League. These were also the ones who possessed the highest of cultivation bases.
”How is the situation?”
”Almost there.”
Their gazes fell upon each other momentarily, noticing how their eyes reflected a similar gleam of cold light.
It was almost time!
As long as the right opportunity arose, the two of them would charge outwards at the first moment alongside the combined forces of between three to forty people. Surely, they should be able to leave a bloody trail from this – perhaps there was not even a need to spend too much effort on it.
Throughout this entire stalemate, did Hen Bieli and Hongzhan really decide not to flee?
No, most of them did not wish to leave!
Even the likes of Ouyang Xiaoshe and many other martial world practitioners could come up with such a trick –was it really possible that the two most formidable assassins in the world could not conjure this thought?
If it was up to them both, they would have fled earlier – even Yun Yang would have found it hard to completely defend himself against that!
Fortunately, either Hen Bieli nor Hongzhan were ordinary characters – they were, at the very least, highly ambitious, ruthless individuals. Ever since the dragonhide treasure map had fallen into their hands, leaving it exposed, they had already started making arrangements, exploiting Yun Yang's scheme by laying out their own within his!
Without a doubt, the Assassins' League's prior agreement was an impediment to them, yet it was not completely without room to wiggle. The arrangements they had conspired required slaughter - much, much more of it. In the midst of this bloodbath, the highly-desired turning point would appear – a moment they thoroughly yearned!
The two sides of the battle were encountering casualties.
The martial world practitioners' forces were losing men, exerting their resources; Hong Zhan and Hen Bieli were also quickly depleting their assets, encountering many fatalities, rapidly decreasing the numbers of their very own assassins.
The million men from the assassins' forces were dubbed the most notorious in the world, yet there were not many true experts within; furthermore, they were caught in a situation that kept them here - their interests did not truly align with the two.
While what Hen Bieli and Hong Zhan needed – or perhaps the simple goal behind this part of the scheme - was to eradicate all these men, or slowly convince them.
Only by achieving this goal could they finally attain the cream of the crop that they truly desired - a group of elites that were even more fearsome than the ordinary members of the two greatest assassin organizations combined.