The Faceless Lord flicked his sleeves and turned on his heel, his demeanor unhurried and entirely at ease. His receding silhouette did not resemble someone who had just escaped a dragon's pool or a tiger's den, but rather a wandering scholar who had just finished enjoying a pot of tea. He departed peacefully, swiftly melting into the chaotic throngs of the City of Chaos and vanishing without a trace.
He left behind the highest pavilion of the Rouge Pavilion, now submerged in a deathly, terrifying silence.
The eight most elite female assassins of the Phantom Shadow Pavilion remained standing there like stone statues. Their swords had not been sheathed, but their killing intent had completely dissipated, replaced by an overwhelming sense of bewilderment and terror. Their most classified internal code had been exposed, their junior sister's keepsake had been snatched, and the enemy had strolled in and out of their most heavily guarded stronghold with absolute leisure. This mysterious Lord, in their eyes, was no longer a mortal man, but a phantom emerging from the eternal void.
Yet, the one most profoundly shaken was the Blood Demoness herself.
She stood frozen in place, her hand gripping the edge of the table so tightly her slender fingers turned bone-white. Her enchanting smile, the haughty arrogance of one of the three great hegemons of the City of Chaos—all of it had completely vanished. Her peerlessly beautiful face now held only a deathly pallor and a primal fear stemming from the very depths of her soul.
"MOLE."
The word Faceless had written in tea water upon the table now gnawed at her mind like a venomous snake.
The Phantom Shadow Pavilion was renowned for its intelligence network and the absolute loyalty of its members, who were trained from childhood. Yet there was a mole? Furthermore, it was a mole capable of acquiring the personal keepsake of her closest junior sister. If this matter were to spread to the outside world, it would be an annihilating blow, enough to cause the entire organization to collapse from within due to rampant paranoia and mutual suspicion.
That man had not come merely to demonstrate his power. He had come to grip the very throat of the Phantom Shadow Pavilion.
"Pa... Pavilion Master..." a female assassin spoke up, her voice trembling. "Should we... pursue him?"
"Pursue?" The Blood Demoness let out a bitter, self-deprecating laugh. "With what shall we pursue him? Do you truly believe that a man who knows our internal codes and deepest secrets hasn't prepared a flawless escape route?"
She knew that on this chessboard, she had lost. A total, utter defeat from the very moment she sent out that invitation. Her "Hongmon Banquet" plan had been turned against her, transformed by the enemy into a "Counter-Espionage Stratagem" executed with unparalleled mastery.
"Pass down my command," she said, her voice turning hoarse. "Cancel all operations targeting the Vô Sect. From this day onward, everyone minds their own territory; no one is permitted to provoke them. Furthermore..." she paused, a frigid killing intent flashing in her eyes. "Commence an internal investigation. I want to know exactly who this rat is that has been hiding in our home all this time!"
She no longer had the mental capacity to deal with the Vô Sect. An internal menace was the most terrifying threat of all. The old fox, the Blood Demoness, had been forced to turn back and clean out her own den.
Within the safe house in the blacksmithing district.
Tran Kien sat in silence, carefully wiping his dull black saber. The mute man had brought him some medicinal wine to massage his limbs, then quietly withdrew without asking a single question.
A short while later, Thiet Phu appeared in the room like a phantom.
"Lord," he dropped to one knee, his voice brimming with absolute reverence. "This subordinate had our people monitor the situation. Immediately after you left, the Blood Demoness ordered a strict lockdown of the entire Rouge Pavilion. It seems that fox was truly frightened out of her wits."
"It is not fear," Tran Kien shook his head, laying the saber down. "It is that she has no other choice. When a ship has a massive hole blown into its hull, the first thing one must do is plug the hole, not sail off to wage war against another ship."
"Then... has our plan succeeded?"
"Only half of it," Tran Kien replied. "We have only temporarily stabilized one tiger. There is still a far more cunning python lurking in the shadows. The Black Dragon Stronghold will definitely not sit idly by."
"What should we do next, Lord?"
Tran Kien did not answer immediately. He stood up, walked over to the window, and gazed out into the night over the City of Chaos.
"On a chessboard," he spoke slowly, "one cannot solely rely on attacking. Sometimes, silence and patience are the most masterful moves of all. I have given the Blood Demoness a reason to lay low. I have also given Blood Shadow a reason to fear acting blindly. Now, it is time for us to truly 'conceal' ourselves and consolidate our forces."
He turned back to look at Thiet Phu. "Starting today, halt all expansion operations. Order all Blood Fiend Guards to withdraw deep into the shadows. Continue gathering intelligence, continue recruiting new seeds. At the same time, commence the true training."
"Training?"
"Indeed," Tran Kien nodded. "A blade sharpened only on a whetstone is insufficient. It must be tested in blood. Select the thirty most elite men. I shall personally train them, transforming them into a squad of 'Phantoms'—an army capable of entering places no one else can enter, and assassinating targets no one else can kill."
He was beginning to forge his true trump card. Not the mighty, standing army of the Blood Fiend Guards, but a special operations squad of ultimate elites possessing absolute loyalty.
"There is one more thing," he brought out a massive stack of bank notes and Spirit Stones acquired from their raids. "Use these funds to make purchases. Not shops, not gambling dens. Purchase all the rare and precious medicinal herbs, and all the special ores that can be found in this City of Chaos. The more, the better."
Thiet Phu froze. He did not understand what the Lord intended to do.
Tran Kien offered no explanation. He merely looked down at the palms of his hands. He knew that schemes and stratagems could win him one or two matches on the chessboard. But to truly stand firm in this world, to stand against colossal entities like Marquis Vinh An, what he needed most was absolute strength.
He needed to break through. He needed to forge his own magical artifacts and refine his own medicinal pills. He was preparing for a war of far grander proportions.
The City of Chaos, having just weathered a tempest, fell once more into an eerie silence. But no one knew that beneath this silence, a fierce tiger was quietly accumulating power, sharpening its fangs and claws, awaiting the day it would truly emerge from seclusion and shake the heavens.