28: Chapter 28 Liu Ruyan's Shadow

Before dawn had even broken, Liu Ruyan woke up.

She slept in a small tent on the west side of the Bright Camp, sharing it with three other girls, but for her, this "sharing" had always been nominal.

The habits of a Phantom Assassin were already etched into her bones and blood:

She slept closest to the tent flap, one hand always resting on the short dagger by her pillow, her breathing frequency deliberately lowered to be almost inaudible; any sound exceeding the normal threshold would instantly jolt her from her light sleep.

The wilderness in the early hours of today was very quiet; the sound of the Lingxi River was like an endless lullaby, and the silver-blue light dome flowed through the night like a river of stars.

But Liu Ruyan still woke up, not startled by sound, but by an indescribable, vague sense of unease.

She opened her misty, phoenix-like eyes in the darkness, the silver-blue glimmer filtering through the gaps in the tent flap reflected in her pupils, and she lay there quietly for a long time.

The things she had discovered yesterday at the Myriad Races Market were like a fine thorn pricking deep into her consciousness.

A spy from the Shadow Clan. A beastfolk merchant collecting intelligence on transmigrators. The name of Ying Wuyue.

These fragments rolled repeatedly in her mind, like a scrambled puzzle, each piece hinting at a dangerous picture whose full scope she had not yet seen.

She had to go back.

She had to go back today.

Liu Ruyan rose silently, her movements so light that not even the tent flap made a sound.

She stepped barefoot onto the mud of the camp, dampened by morning dew; the chill went straight from the soles of her feet to her brain, making her mind even clearer.

She looked down at herself; the plain long dress hung loosely on her, and as the morning breeze blew, it outlined her willow-slender waist and slightly curved hip line, her long, fair legs appearing and disappearing beneath the hem like two hazy crescents of moonlight.

She changed back into her grey-brown short outfit.

The form-fitting short outfit outlined her figure perfectly; her slender waist could be spanned by a single hand, her flat stomach had no excess fat, but above the waistline, there was an unexpectedly rounded curve, like a slender willow bent by the spring breeze that had suddenly burst forth with plump fruit.

The hem of the short outfit was tucked at the waist, revealing a section of fair, taut waistline, which, set against the grey-brown fabric, looked like uncarved white jade.

Liu Ruyan glanced at her reflection in the waters of the Lingxi River; the grey-brown hood covered most of her face, revealing only her misty, phoenix-like eyes and slightly pursed red lips.

This was her classic image in class: inconspicuous, not initiating conversation, always standing on the outermost periphery of the crowd, like a wisp of smoke that could dissipate at any moment.

No one knew that inside this wisp of smoke, a blade was hidden.

She tucked two short daggers at her waist and hid a third in her boot—this was the habit of a Phantom Assassin, to always have one more weapon than the opponent.

Finally, she took out a veil as thin as a cicada's wing from her backpack; she had made it herself using the silk membrane of a special Savage Beast from the banks of the Lingxi River.

Covering her face with it could conceal her facial features without affecting her vision or breathing.

Everything was ready.

When Liu Ruyan walked out of the camp, the ones on night watch were Wei Lanzhi and Tang Waner.

The Earth Guardian and the Iron Wall Shield Guardian looked at her simultaneously, but Liu Ruyan simply nodded gently and disappeared into the morning mist, so fast it was as if she had never appeared at all.

Wei Lanzhi was stunned for a moment: "When... when did Liu Ruyan leave?"

Tang Waner scratched her round face, her large eyes filled with confusion: "I think I just saw a figure, but it also felt like I didn't..."

The journey from the Bright Camp to the Myriad Races Market took Liu Ruyan only one hour.

It was nearly twice as fast as yesterday; the speed of a Phantom Assassin traveling alone was far beyond that of marching with a team.

Her footsteps were as light as a falling leaf, and while traversing the canopy of the Savage Beast Forest, she made almost no sound; her grey-brown short outfit served as a natural camouflage in the dappled light and shadow of the forest.

Occasionally, low-level Savage Beasts would dart through the bushes beneath her feet without even looking up at her; the stealth ability of the Phantom Assassin allowed her aura to blend completely into the surrounding environment, like a drop of water merging into a river.

When she crossed the low hill, the outline of the Myriad Races Market was already emerging in the morning mist.

The second day of the market was even livelier than the first.

More stall owners had joined the trade, and the flow of people from various races surged through the river valley like a tide.

The air was filled with the mixed scents of various foods and spirit herbs, shouts rose and fell, and occasionally, the low growls of Savage Beasts and the unique, deep hissing of the Dragon-kin were mixed in.

Liu Ruyan did not enter the market directly.

She first crouched on the ridge of the low hill for a full quarter of an hour, her misty, phoenix-like eyes overlooking the layout of the entire market from above: the distribution of the stalls, the flow of the crowds, the locations of all entrances and exits, and most importantly, the location of that abandoned stall in the southeast corner of the market.

The beastfolk merchant she had tracked yesterday went there once every two hours.

There was a Spirit Rune mark unique to the Shadow Clan there.

Today, she had to figure out what exactly was hidden under that abandoned stall.

Liu Ruyan circled down from the other side of the low hill, not taking the main entrance of the market, but instead sneaking into the edge of the market along a tributary of the river.

Her stealth ability was nearly invincible in such a noisy environment; it was too loud, too chaotic, and there were too many spiritual power fluctuations around for anyone to notice a grey-brown figure moving like a fish through the shadows between the stalls.

She first found the beastfolk merchant's stall.

A middle-aged beastfolk male with tiger ears and a tiger tail was behind the stall organizing Savage Beast furs, his movements exactly the same as yesterday: rough, casual, and seemingly without method.

But Liu Ruyan noticed a subtle movement of his right hand while he was organizing the furs: every time he finished organizing a fur, his right index finger would lightly trace the inside of the fur, as if confirming something.

She observed from the shadows for a quarter of an hour and confirmed the beastfolk merchant's pattern of action: he would leave the stall about once every two hours, each time for about a quarter of an hour, and the direction he went was always the southeast corner.

Two hours.

Liu Ruyan had plenty of time.

She did not rush to track the beastfolk merchant, but went to the abandoned stall first.

The southeast corner of the market was a relatively secluded area; most of the stalls were empty, with only a few peddlers selling low-quality Savage Beast bone powder guarding their stalls in boredom.

That abandoned stall was in the deepest part of the corner, surrounded on three sides by the thick trunks of ancient wilderness trees, forming a natural, semi-enclosed space.

The roof of the stall had already collapsed halfway, and the tattered spirit cloth rustled in the wind, looking just like an abandoned pile of trash.

But Liu Ruyan's phoenix-like eyes saw something different.

She crouched on the canopy of an ancient wilderness tree, observing the abandoned stall from a commanding height; the edges of the tears in the tattered spirit cloth were not tears caused by natural weathering, but had been cut open by someone, the edges as neat as if cut by a blade.

The ground beneath the stall looked like ordinary dirt, but there were several extremely shallow footprints on the ground, all in the same direction: pointing toward an ancient wilderness tree behind the stall.

Liu Ruyan's gaze fell on that ancient tree; the trunk was about as thick as three people could embrace, and the bark was covered with the clinging marks of wild vines.

But one section of the vines was slightly darker in color than the others, which would be impossible to notice without careful comparison.

And at the root of that section of vine, there was an almost invisible groove—a Spirit Rune.

A Spirit Rune unique to the Shadow Clan.

Liu Ruyan's phoenix-like eyes narrowed slightly, their misty, foggy luster becoming exceptionally deep in the shadows of the canopy.

She did not rashly approach that Spirit Rune; the Spirit Rune mark of the Shadow Clan might have a sensing function, and once triggered, it would notify the setter of the mark.

Her Phantom Assassin stealth ability could block most spiritual power perception, but when facing the professional methods of the Shadow Clan, caution was always wiser than risk-taking.

She needed a safer way to investigate that Spirit Rune.

Liu Ruyan slid silently down from the canopy, drifting into the crowd like a falling leaf.

She walked aimlessly around the main road of the market and bought a small bag of Savage Beast bone powder; this was the cheapest thing, requiring only one spirit herb to exchange, but it was enough for her to use as a disguise.

Then she waited.

Waited for the beastfolk merchant to leave the stall again.