Consort of a Thousand Faces

The man clad in a cyan changshan swiftly brought the cloaked man to a bamboo hut in the countryside.

“Quickly change out of your clothes, then go to Xiangxiu House.” The man in cyan said with a smirk.

The cloaked man nodded, but just as he was about to remove his cloak, the other man’s eyes flickered coldly.. “Hold on.”

“What’s wrong?” The cloaked man was baffled.

“Don’t take it off. Your clothes have been stained with tracking powder; even if you remove the cloak, a scent will be left behind.” The man explained with contempt.

The cloaked man’s eyes turned icy as he turned towards the back door. “Stay here. I’ll go to Yun Ruofeng.”

The man in the cyan changshan remained where he was as he nodded, watching as the cloaked man took a deep breath and left. As for himself, the man changed out of his own clothes before wearing a special mask and lighting up some incense to disperse the smell.

Eventually, Wu Ling arrived at the bamboo hut with Huige. However, the bird’s huge beady eyes began rapidly turning as if it were thinking about something.

“Isn’t this the place?” Wu Ling asked, knowing that Huige could understand humans.

Huige flapped its wings and kept turning its head before flying off in another direction. Wu Ling watched it with furrowed brows before realisation dawned in his eyes.

“You,” he spoke to one of the guards whom he had brought along. “Stand guard at this hut with a few people. Don’t let even a mosquito out. The rest will come with me.” 

Splitting up, Wu Ling took a group of men to chase after Huige, but found that the current route was headed back for the city, or to be more precise, Xiangxiu House. Something clicked in his mind, and he gently patted Huige’s head.

Wu Ling made a hand gesture towards his back, signalling for everyone to conceal themselves while one swiftly made his way back to the posthouse to report to Pei Qianhao.

~~~

In a private room.

The cloaked man walked in exhausted. Yun Ruofeng was resting on the bed when he detected a visitor, and his eyes glistened coldly. 

Yun Ling swiftly dashed out from the shadows and engaged the cloaked man.

“Prince Yun, it’s this old man.” After being pursued all this way, even a martial arts expert would already be depleted of all their energy.

Receiving a glance from Yun Ruofeng, Yun Ling lit the candles in the room.

“Why did you come looking for this Prince this late at night?” Yun Ruofeng asked coldly.

Naturally, the cloaked man couldn’t divulge the truth, so he plastered on a composed appearance. “This old man specially came to discuss matters with Prince Yun.”

Yun Ruofeng also didn’t buy it, simply waving his hand. “Yun Ling, stand guard outside.”

Understanding the undertone in his words, Yun Ling immediately left.

“What’s your exact purpose in coming here? You had better be truthful.” Yun Ruofeng’s eyes glimmered ruthlessly.

“This old man just went to the posthouse to do a final confirmation.” The cloaked man remained calm as he mixed a kernel of truth into his lies.

“This Prince understands. You were discovered and pursued.”