Chapter 33: The Assassin

After bypassing the seemingly overly startled old man, Xing Yue put this small incident behind her and continued toward her predetermined target—the North Wall, quietly “floating” away.

That’s right, she came here for an on-site inspection.

A mere distant glance from the top of the bell tower was obviously not enough. Xing Yue needed to probe the actual situation here and obtain more precise intelligence.

She moved swiftly along the shadows at the base of the wall. The night wind carried the sour, rotten smell unique to a distant garbage heap and the cold, damp odor of the wall’s stones, which had been moist for years, causing even Xing Yue, who wasn’t particularly fastidious, to wrinkle her brow slightly.

At the same time, the closer she got to the north side, the sparser the lights became. Even the footsteps of the patrolling guards sounded lazy and slack, completely different from the tense, sword-drawn atmosphere of the south wall.

Still, Xing Yue couldn’t help worrying whether this surface laxity was some kind of disguise. After all, the contrast between the strict south and the relaxed north felt almost deliberate.

However, as time passed, after careful and patient observation, the last remnants of vigilance in Xing Yue’s heart were gradually replaced by a sense of absurd disbelief.

The defense here wasn’t just thin—it was practically “undefended.”

The patrol guards walked in pairs, and they moved slowly. One pair even stopped in a wind-sheltered corner of the wall, using the faint light to play a simple gambling game with small stones. Their arguing voices were clearly audible in the silent night.

And this wasn’t an isolated case. Another pair of guards leaned against the battlements, exchanging gossip about the taverns in the district and the waist of some maid, their laughter short and frivolous. One of them was munching with relish on a piece of food he had pulled from his pocket—its original form unclear—while the salty, fishy smell of dried meat faintly drifted through the air.

Even the soldiers on fixed guard posts were mostly slouching, holding their spears, nodding off as they fought against drowsiness.

One of them seemed to be dreaming of something pleasant. He smacked his lips and muttered vaguely, “Mm hehe... love your mom... add some honey...”

Here, everyone had something to do—except stand watch or defend.

Xing Yue silently observed all of this.

The complex conjectures she had initially conceived—about “disguises,” “traps,” and “hidden posts”—now seemed utterly superfluous, even a little self-indulgent, in the face of this atmosphere of complete relaxation.

Where was the deception of appearing relaxed while actually being vigilant?

These guards were just like the thoroughly laid-back security uncles in old residential complexes—they couldn’t even be considered a proper defense force at all!

Moreover, on this side, Xing Yue didn’t find any barracks buildings. It seemed that Baron Jiefulun’s center of rule and armed forces were all unabashedly concentrated on the south side and in his own mansion.

As for the north wall, in his eyes, it was probably no different from a decorative fence.

Perhaps there was no need for a frontal assault. Just a well-timed “disturbance” would be enough to draw the attention of the mansion’s troops—and even the Baron himself—to the north side.

The core outline of a plan began to take shape in her mind.

She didn’t need to defeat Baron Jiefulun’s entire army—that was neither realistic nor necessary.

What she needed was a precise decapitation strike.

Xing Yue looked up at the watchtower behind the north wall. The tall structure cast a silent, massive shadow under the moonlight, as if issuing a soundless invitation.

“Alright, then you’re the one!”

Having made up her mind, Xing Yue quickly and stealthily approached the base of the watchtower.

Then she circled the tower once and selected a key stone foundation. This point bore the greatest stress and showed the most severe weathering, covered with crack patterns.

She carefully compared the angle and distance to ensure the collapse would only press against the wall and never reach the distant residents’ shacks.

Then Xing Yue concentrated her will. From the mass of black mist, she separated a more solid tendril of shadow—essentially her finger—and lightly touched the rough stone surface.

Where the shadow passed, it left no physical scratches. Instead, faint purple light seeped into the stone cracks, linking together gradually to form a precisely structured, ominously beautiful inverted flow magic circle.

This was the “Low-Grade Detonation Array” she had learned from a magic book in the Demon King Castle—a magic array with low consumption, high concealment, and the ability to chain detonate multiples.

When Xing Yue first saw this array, she thought it could be used to make landmine traps, and now it was coming in handy.

She set up more than a dozen low-grade detonation arrays in a row before finally stopping. She glanced at the faint purple glow on the stone base and nodded, quite satisfied with her work.

Although she hadn’t tested the power of this array yet, with so many stacked together, the resulting explosion should be enough to collapse the watchtower.

To prevent anyone from discovering it early, Xing Yue found a cloth strip and covered the array, then moved all the dry grass from a nearby haystack over here.

During this, a patrol of guards passed by, but they only came behind the haystack to relieve themselves. Everything seemed perfectly natural, as if another haystack appearing here wasn’t anything particularly strange to them.

Just as she was preparing to withdraw, her sharp ears caught a slightly... unusual sound.

The sound was very faint, but abrupt. Mixed in with the wind and the sporadic voices in the distance, there was a dull tearing noise of leather and flesh, followed by a short, stifled grunt—choked off almost as soon as it began—full of shock and pain.

Huh?!

Something’s up!

Xing Yue immediately buried herself deeper into the shadow beside the watchtower’s base and looked toward the source of the sound.

On the patrol path along the wall, the pair of guards who had passed by lazily just moments ago were now lying flat at the intersection. Striking wounds had appeared on their chests and necks, spurting blood with a sputtering sound.

And in the midst of that spreading dark red stain, a figure stood still. No hood for concealment. No intention to flee in haste.

She just stood there, between the moonlight and the pool of blood, as if she had stopped to admire the view while passing by.

Tch...

An assassin actually attacked the patrol guards and is still at the scene?

Just as this thought popped into her mind, Xing Yue’s gaze froze.

She saw that on top of the figure’s head, a pair of distinctly triangular ears were twitching very slightly, fuzzily, in the night wind.

Cat... cat ears?!

Not a decoration—they’re real!

As the figure tilted her head slightly to survey the surroundings, a short black-furred tail also appeared leisurely behind her, swaying comfortably from side to side.

Whoa! This is actually a cat-eared girl!

Cute! Want to pet!

The other party seemed completely unaware that she was being watched by a pair of eyes.

After dealing with those two unlucky guards, she clapped her hands lightly, as if she had just finished some trivial task.

Then, under Xing Yue’s curious gaze, this cat-eared girl did something even more puzzling.

She swaggered over to the middle of the patrol path and finally stopped in front of an idle empty iron bucket against the wall.

She adjusted her stance, her fluffy tail stiffening with excitement, and then—

Lifted her leg and delivered a solid side kick to the side of the empty bucket!

CLANG!!!   *

The violent reverberation of metal rang out in the silent night like a thunderbolt from heaven, suddenly exploding in the ears of everyone nearby!