186: Temporary Refuge Plan

The night was deep, the clamor of Ruins Abyss City gradually settling, leaving behind only scattered lights and the long, drawn-out clapper sounds of the night watchman.

Lu Chen's figure drifted out like a wisp of faint smoke from the direction of the entertainment district, but he did not head straight back to the small courtyard in the west of the city.

With a few leaps, he melted into the deeper darkness, arriving shortly at the backyard of a medium-sized carriage and horse yard in the city.

This place was noisy with people and animals during the day, but at night, it was exceptionally quiet.

He slipped familiarly into a side room in the backyard used for storing miscellaneous items, closed the door behind him, and with a slight movement of his fingers, several simple Restrictions to block detection and sound were quietly set up.

"Come out," Lu Chen said, his voice flat.

A faint rustling came from behind the pile of clutter, and a somewhat short and stout figure emerged—it was Wang Hou.

His face wore its usual, almost ingratiatingly cautious smile, but his eyes held a trace of poorly concealed anxiety and urgency.

"Boss,"

Wang Hou called out in a low voice, skipping any further pleasantries. He quickly retrieved an inconspicuous grayish-white Jade Slip from the inner pocket of his shirt, close to his chest.

He placed it on an old saddle leaning against the wall nearby and gave it a gentle push.

The Jade Slip slid silently along the smooth leather surface to Lu Chen's feet.

Lu Chen bent down to pick it up and pressed the Jade Slip directly against his forehead.

His Divine Sense sank into it, and a flood of information poured into his mind.

After a dozen breaths, he lowered the Jade Slip, flicked his wrist, and tossed an utterly unremarkable small gray cloth bag toward Wang Hou.

Wang Hou hurriedly caught it; it felt slightly heavy in his hand.

He quickly untied the string. Inside were about a hundred lustrous Low-Grade Spirit Stones, and nestled among them was a folded piece of thin paper made of special material.

He unfolded the note and, using the extremely faint moonlight filtering through the window, made out the handwriting on it. His eyes narrowed slightly.

Immediately, he applied a slight force with his palm. The note ignited spontaneously without fire, turning into a wisp of green smoke that dissipated without leaving a trace.

"Boss,"

Wang Hou swallowed, his voice dropping even lower. "The lead you want investigated this time... involves deep waters. It's murky. The other side is very alert and has cleaned their tracks thoroughly. Five hundred Spirit Stones, at least. And... it will take time. A month, I'll do my best."

When he quoted the figure, he was nervous himself, secretly observing Lu Chen's reaction.

Lu Chen, wearing his mask, showed no expression, only giving a slight nod.

Then, his figure flickered and vanished from the spot like a ghost, leaving only the faint spiritual glow of the dissipating Restrictions.

From beginning to end, he did not utter another word.

Wang Hou let out a sigh of relief, wiping nonexistent cold sweat from his temple.

He swiftly tucked the cloth bag into the most hidden pocket inside his clothes, listened intently for a moment, then slipped out of the side room as quietly as a mouse, disappearing into the complex shadows of the carriage yard's backyard.

After leaving the carriage yard, Lu Chen's figure sped silently across the intersecting rooftops and alleyways of Ruins Abyss City.

He did not return but headed towards a certain direction in the east of the city.

Moments later, he drifted down like a falling leaf, quietly entering the backyard of an inconspicuous Talisman Materials shop on a relatively quiet street.

The shop had long been closed, pitch dark inside.

But in Lu Chen's perception, in a quiet room in the backyard, someone was sitting cross-legged in meditation.

Around that person lingered an extremely faint, yet to his keen senses, detectable thread of bloody aura—cold, familiar, and originating from the same source as the Blood Gate Cultivation Technique he had encountered before.

Inside the quiet room, a middle-aged man with a sinister countenance was immersed in circulating his Qi, a faint blood-red glow flickering around him.

He was completely unaware that an ethereal, faint cyan shadow had drifted in through the slightly open window crack and was approaching him as if weightless.

Only when Qing Yi suddenly burrowed into the center of his back did the sinister man jolt awake, his eyes snapping open with a flash of blood-red light!

However, at the very moment his eyes opened, a point of icy, razor-sharp light had already pierced his throat before his gaze could even focus.

"Ugh..."

A very soft, choked groan was stifled in his throat.

The sinister man's pupils dilated. The blood-red glow that had just begun to brighten around him instantly dissipated. His body stiffened, and his vitality drained away at an inconceivable speed.

Lu Chen's figure appeared almost simultaneously beside the man as his throat was pierced, catching the corpse as it fell backward, his movements swift and steady.

He deftly pulled the Storage Pouch from the man's waist.

Then, he took out a specially prepared, rather spacious Storage Pouch, aimed its opening at the corpse, and with a faint flash of light,

the corpse was stored inside, leaving only a few almost invisible tiny blood droplets on the ground.

His gaze swept the quiet room like lightning.

With a wave of his hand, he collected all objects in the room that seemed valuable or possibly involved secrets—bottles, jars, books, wooden boxes—into his possession.

Next, he casually sent out several palm gusts, toppling shelves, overturning tables and chairs, and tearing cabinet doors, creating a chaotic scene of ransacking, as if after a fierce struggle and thorough looting.

All this took no more than a few dozen breaths.

Lu Chen swept out through the back window like a gust of wind, disappearing into the vast night.

Within the next hour or so, at three other secret strongholds in different parts of Ruins Abyss City—

the back hall of a pawnshop, the cellar of a coffin shop, and a seemingly ordinary side room in a small courtyard—almost identical scenes played out in succession.

Qing Yi infiltrated to disrupt perception, Lu Chen struck with thunderous force for the kill, then collected the corpse, took belongings, and fabricated the scene.

Then he left quietly, his actions clean and efficient, leaving no effective clues for pursuit.

When Lu Chen's figure, like a night bird returning to its nest, quietly landed back in the small courtyard in the west of the city, the sky was still pitch black.

Without disturbing anyone, he went directly down to the secret chamber.

Inside the secret chamber, Li Wuya was meditating with his eyes closed. He opened them the moment Lu Chen entered.

"Dealt with."

Lu Chen was terse, his voice carrying a chill from the night's journey.

He sat down opposite Li Wuya, took out three ordinary-looking, blank-covered booklets from his chest, and placed them side by side on the stone table.

Li Wuya's gaze fell on the booklets. Lu Chen opened all three to a certain page in the middle.

By the light of the fluorite in the secret chamber, it was clear to see that within the lines recording various jumbled information, code names, and locations in these three booklets from different places and different people,

on a certain page, all coincidentally bore a line of small characters in different handwritings:

"Qian Gui Grocery Shop..."

Followed by either brief annotations like 'newly opened,' 'suspicious,' 'under observation,' or simply a blank space.

It was as if the recorder had only had time to write down this name before being interrupted for some reason, or had not yet had time to fill in the specific details.

But regardless, the fact that this name had been noticed and recorded by three different spies belonging to the Blood Gate's covert network itself signified great danger.

Li Wuya's expression darkened slightly, his gaze turning sharp.

"It seems we were still too conspicuous."

Lu Chen's voice sounded in the silent chamber, carrying a hint of coldness and a barely detectable gravity.

Using the grocery shop as a semi-public contact point and information channel in their Early Stages had indeed not completely escaped the notice of those ubiquitous eyes.

Li Wuya remained silent for a moment, then nodded heavily, agreeing with Lu Chen's assessment.

Negligence often stems from overconfidence in one's own concealment, and the enemy's reach is far more sensitive than imagined.

"Tomorrow, I need to go find Ding San again."

Lu Chen let out a soft breath and said.

"Find him?"

Li Wuya frowned slightly.

"Would contacting him now increase his risk of exposure? Moreover, his situation..."

"Precisely because he might be unstable, we need to use him once more. And besides, this matter cannot be done without him."

A glint of calculation flashed in Lu Chen's eyes. "Qian Gui's grocery shop is due for a temporary disappearance. But if a perfectly good shop suddenly closes down for no reason on our own accord, it would inevitably arouse suspicion, especially from eyes that have already noticed it, making them look even closer."

He paused, lightly tapping his finger next to the words 'Qian Gui Grocery Shop' on the three booklets. "Since it's already been noted, we'll give them a reasonable excuse. Let the Black Flood Dragon Society help us with this."

Li Wuya instantly understood Lu Chen's intention. "You mean... create a conflict? Have the Black Flood Dragon Society's people cause trouble at the shop, even..."

"Exactly."

Lu Chen nodded. "A seemingly accidental dispute provoked by low-level members of the Black Flood Dragon Society, escalating into conflict, smashing the shop, injuring the shopkeeper, forcing the shop to cease operations, having to close for repairs... perfectly reasonable. Even if the Blood Gate investigates afterward, they'll only trace it to the Black Flood Dragon Society, perhaps even mock them for their brutish stupidity in ruining their observation point. Meanwhile, we can fade from their sight, completely sink the grocery shop line, and Qian Gui can transition to more covert activities."

"Having Ding San push this is most suitable. He's a newly promoted leader, in need of achievements or a show of authority, and his subordinates are mostly reckless brutes who don't know better. With a little guidance, it can be done. Moreover, after my warning, he should know how to act to satisfy me and keep his little life."

Li Wuya pondered for a moment, a cold glint passing through his eyes. "The plan is feasible. However, Ding San is a man of flexible loyalties, prone to wavering. Perhaps I should go see him and tighten the screws! Coincidentally, tomorrow is also the day Yuanbai agreed to return with a message. I need to go outside the city to meet him. It would be more convenient and less noticeable for me to drop by and remind Ding San on the way."

Lu Chen thought briefly, then agreed to Li Wuya's suggestion.

Li Wuya had higher cultivation, acted more steadily, and naturally held a deterrent effect over Ding San. It was indeed more suitable for him to go.

"Good, then I'll trouble Elder Li with this. The specific plan is..."