Xiao Chen conjured a ball of light that illuminated their surroundings. In the dark, all they could see was the wet, moss-slicked walls. “Let’s go,” he said, already expecting what laid ahead.

After an hour of plowing through the half-submerged tunnels, they finally saw light. The water began to deepen and ordinary people would have needed boats to leave the tunnel. But being mages—practitioners of arcane magic—they effortlessly leaped out of water and glided over the surface of the river to reach ground.

With the vastness of Black-horn City, the sprawl of its outskirts were equally as large. They traveled on foot back to the outer peripheries of the city to hear the people whispering rumors about.

“Have you heard? Something big happened last night at the Bloodied Moon District. More than a thousand of Black Horn men were killed, including the members of two of its Halls… That’s terrifying…”

“Is what you’re saying true? But who would have such powers? Gods… is there going to be turmoil again? Heaven forfend helpless peasants like us be caught in the middle of all this carnage…”

“Of course it’s true. Look at how the sky is dark today. King Shen is leading raids to apprehend the suspects. Word on the street is that there are six of them.”

“Six?! Look that way, there’re six people there… Do you think they look like the criminals? Gods, we’d better get out of here…”

Huddling together under a roof, one of Yang Qing’s men spat bitterly, “Damn that King Shen! He’s led us into a trap!”

Xiao Chen’s forehead wrinkled deeply in thought. He knew that it was King Shen’s guards who had come hunting for them at the Illusive Aroma Lane in the morning. The monarch had been hinting to him about how they shared a common enemy in Black Horn and how he wished to weaken them. That encouraged him to turn a blind eye to Xiao Chen’s and his companions’ movements, in addition to provide some degree of assistance.

However, the catastrophic failure last night had forced King Shen into supporting Black Horn instead and King Shen had had to disavow them like pawns.

So, here they were inside Black-horn City, hunted by both factions like dogs. Unless they retreat back to White Fog City, they were as good as sitting ducks here.

Xiao Chen squeezed his fingers as he calculated a plan. This, naturally, was all a game laid out by Meng Wuyan. He had the chance to kill them last night, yet he chose not to. He was enjoying this like a cat with a vole…

The rest of his companions could see this too themselves. They slipped quietly into a tavern. They needed to find a place to stay while they discuss their next recourse.

Inside the room, everyone frowned. With two factions now pursuing them, they were caught between anvil and hammer with no way out.

Not even Xiao Chen could come up with any ideas. He had admittedly underestimated the might and influence of Black Horn, and for that, two of Yang Qing’s companions have become prisoners of the Wuyan Chamber, to be tortured mercilessly until they die. Ren Yuntian could possibly be there too. But they could not know; storming Wuyan Chamber with their inferior numbers and strength was tantamount to committing suicide.

Xiao Chen rubbed his fingers again, taking a deep breath to think clearly. This was the Wastelands, not the Violet Manor, where he could always count on allies such as Yi Tong and None-flower, and even the occasional assistance from Su Lianyue, if the Elders Zi Mo and Qingfeng and his friends at the Jade Qing Sect were not able to. Last but not least, there was also Fengxi from the Xianyong Sect too.

But this was the Wastelands, where he would have to fend for himself. The Cloud Mist Academy could never be in open conflict against Black Horn for him. No one, probably… And the notion of being lonely here roused a certain forlorn sadness in him.

Time passed on and the company came no nearer to finding a solution to extricate themselves from the kettle of fish they found themselves in. If anything, the news about the death of the one thousand Black Horn members blazed through the Wastelands so quickly that even the people in the White Fog City heard about it.

Admittedly, Chu Qi and the others had killed no more than two or even three hundred Black Horn members last night. Apparently, King Shen had conveniently attributed the massacres at both Bluestone Hall and Purple Wind Hall to them.

Before long, the whole of White Fog City swirled with whispers and hushed voices discussing the massacres, including the Cloud Mist Academy. Since the early hours after daybreak, disciples and acolytes of the Academy, old and new alike, could be found huddling together to talk about this. Yet it was only natural. The deaths numbering up to a thousand, within which included the complete wipeout of two Halls of Black Horn, would have been great news anywhere.

At the Mystic Sky Pavilion, a relaxed Elder Wu nibbled casually on his banana. “I say, Elder Shui Yue,” said he to her, “Don’t you worry. I’m sure the brat is only out somewhere for some fun. I know young people like him. He won’t be in any trouble, I’m sure of it.”

That did little to quell the worried frown on Shui Yue’s forehead. “No,” she muttered sourly, “There’s something wrong about him when he wanted a leave to leave the mountain… Yet he refused to tell me why…” She paused, only to give Elder Wu a very hard look, “I bet one hundred Mystic Stones, that that damned brat must have gone to Black-horn City!”

“Pfttt!” Elder Wu almost spat out his banana. Startled by what he heard, he hastily recollected himself and gasped, “Wait! Do you mean to… You think it’s him, don’t you?! You think it’s possible?!”

Quietly, a distressed Shui Yue replied, “I’m not sure. But there has been disturbing word from the Abyss of the Hidden Dragon. With the three Perfected Immortals allowing some of the students to venture outside, I’m sure that damned boy won’t be returning in seven days. I should have known! I should have stopped him!”

“There, there, Elder Shui Yue,” Elder Wu waved her off with gentle dismissal, “Don’t you worry. I’m sure he’ll come back sure enough when he’s had his fill of fun. But then again,” he paused and glanced at Shui Yue again, saying, “Aren’t you behaving strangely these days? I’ve never seen you being so concerned with any students before?”

“What makes you think so?” Shui Yue stared at him, irritated.

“You don’t think so?” Elder Wu remarked with a shrug.

“I don’t think so,” Shui Yue responded curtly and she spun around to leave. With a little tap of her heels, she floated into the air, gliding towards the magical teleportation formation and disappeared, leaving only Elder Wu sighing alone inside the granite chamber.

At the same time, inside the training areas, scores of students clustered together to talk. A youngster went to Qin Tianyu, looking worried, and whispered to him, “It’s been two days Brother Xiao Chen has left… I do hope everything is all right…”

That earned him a glare from Qin Tianyu who hissed, “What piffle you speak!”

The boy slapped a hand over his own mouth as if he had uttered something foul. But a split-second later, he went again, “But it’s scary, don’t you think? A thousand men dead in one single night… It’s a terrible coincidence that Xiao Chen’s away for these two days… and he refused to tell us why is he away for… Gods, I’m only worried…”

“Enough with all that nonsense,” spat Qin Tianyu, glaring at him again, “Just work on your practice. I’m sure he’ll be back in a few days!”

“Oh… Okay…”

On the other hand, at the next area, Beigong Qin sulked in silence. A youngster went to him and spoke hushedly, “Senior Brother Beigong, have you heard what happened last night? One thousand Black Horns were killed last night. Gods, a thousand… What monstrosity is this… It’s terrible…”

“What is there to be afraid of?!” an irate Beigong Qin, whose dark look only intensified, scowled exasperatedly, “You bumbling bumpkin! This is nothing compared to real battles which would have thousands of more corpses strewn around everywhere!”

Beigong Qin could not suppress a cold snort right after finishing his admonishment of his fellow student. His eyes wandered to the Mystic Sky Rankings and spied Xiao Chen’s name. “Could he really… No… Impossible… He lacks the means even if he is indeed so reckless… No one would be reckless enough to attack Black Horn…”

More buzzings abounded the training areas, and no one knew who it was behind the huge ruckus last night. But one. Only one person knew who.

Perched atop the lush-green crest of a mountain with his robes snapping and his long hair fluttering proudly in the wind, he studied Xiao Chen’s name on the board of the Mystic Sky Rankings with utmost silence.

Noon came, and far away, inside the tavern in Black-horn City, Xiao Chen and his companions were still at a loss as to how should they proceed. It was foolhardy, if not impossible, for them to storm the Wuyan Chamber to save Yang Qing’s two companions and Ren Yuntian.

“I can see no other way,” breathed Yang Qing dejectedly, “We can only go to the Black Sands.”

“Black Sands?” asked Xiao Chen.

“The Black Sands are a company of underground sellswords that spills blood in return for payment. Unlike regular mercenaries, the Black Sands do anything. Inciting chaos and anarchy in any nation-state, pilfering of intelligence and secrets, assassination; you name it. They’d do anything so long as you can afford them.”

Xiao Chen mulled in silence, his brows furrowing in deep thought. Enlisting the help of the Black Sands sounded viable to him. They needed to rescue Yang Qing’s men. And quick. They have had a glimpse of his savagery last night that one could even argue that he was more monster than human after all.

“Very well. So be it then. We leave at once!”

“That’s fine, but Brother Xiao, there is one thing you should know: Lord Black Sand, the chief of the Black Sands, is a mercurial, if not difficult, figure. I need not remind you that we need to be careful when we speak to him. I’ll tell you more on the way. Let’s go.”

They set off at once for the stronghold of the Black Sands, which was quite a distance away from the Moon-river District they were at. The journey took almost four hours. Despite being within the limits of Black-horn City, the Black Sands ruled this district freely, without any trouble from King Shen and Black Horn.

They came to a building and they saw four sentries guarding the stone steps leading to the entrance. “We’re here to do business,” Xiao Chen revealed quickly before they could say anything.

“I see,” said one of them politely, “On you go then. Inside.”

The company of six followed the guard until they came to a wide chamber. Scores of people scurried about inside, each of them seemed to be busy with work and among them, there were also others who were here like them—to talk business.

The guard arranged a large table for them to sit and wait. “If you’re here seeking audience with Lord Black Sand,” informed the guard, smilingly, “Please wait here a moment. He’s dealing with some guests at the moment and shall join you shortly.”

The sentry left to return to his post. Xiao Chen sat at the table and brooded quietly. There was something about the atmosphere here that did not quite agree with him, although he could not say what. A foreboding and ominous sensation that tingled at his senses, unlike the stronghold of usual Cultivators’ sects of the Orthodox Path. Yet it varied differently from the lairs of those belonging to the Devil’s Practice too. He thought of Shui Yue suddenly, wondering how would she chastise him for coming to a place like this.

After a quarter of an hour and some tea, one of the doors leading to an antechamber opened. A dark-robed stranger, looking almost in his late-twenties with his heavily-tattooed arms and a vicious scar down one of his eyes that accentuated an air of ferocity and viciousness about him, appeared. No one needed any telling that this was a dangerous man. More so, when everyone got to their feet reverently and greeted him, “Lord Black Sand.”

Enter Lord Black Sand. The leader of the Black Sands sellswords company strolled over to Xiao Chen’s table and sank pompously into a chair and propped his feet on the edge of the table. He raised a hand into the air and snapped, and a servant came scuttling over, offering him something that could only be a cigar and lighted it for him.

Lord Black Sand took a swig and exhaled a smog of fumes before he finally regarded Xiao Chen and his companions. “Let’s hear it,” he muttered bluntly.

Xiao Chen frowned on the inside. His instincts confirmed what Yang Qing had warned him: Lord Black Sand was a difficult person with an effervescent temperament indeed. Knowing words could hardly impress their host, Xiao Chen’s hand snuck into his robes and he produced two plaques that he slid across the table.

Lord Black Sand eyed narrowly the words inscribed on the two little plaques, reading them aloud, “Ji Xiu, Chang Ning.” He looked up and peered at Xiao Chen, “To save or to slay?”

Those were the names of the two companions who were being taken. Xiao Chen needed only to speak a one-syllable word, “Save.”

Lord Black Sand snapped again and a servant materialized next to him. He nudged a chin at the plaques on the table and uttered, “These two names. To save.”

“Understood,” replied the servant who retrieved the plaques and walked away. “You have not asked me the location where they’re held,” Xiao Chen observed quietly.

The remark made the servant froze. But Lord Black Sand took in another draft from his cigar and blew a mouthful of smoke at Xiao Chen, hissing brusquely with ice, “I know what to do. What are you being so anxious for?!”

The atmosphere grew tense suddenly.