Chapter 47 - Act 7. Designated Mission (4)

Yise knew at a glance that this was the killer he sought. There was no particular reason for it. It was simply an exorcist’s finely honed instinct.

He committed the Cultivator’s appearance to memory. The man looked about thirty and wore unremarkable Daoist robes. Slightly slanted eyes and a mole above the left side of his lips were his only distinguishing features. He smiled affably, yet his lips were pressed tight. A manufactured smile. Nor did he wear a single ritual implement, perhaps having deliberately concealed them all. Didn’t he look as though he wanted to shout to the world how harmless he was?

The moment their eyes met, Yise quickly checked his cultivation realm. Sixth-star Qi Refining. The same as his own. If it came to a fight, it would be a battle between equals.

This man had the highest cultivation of any independent Cultivator Yise had encountered—a rare level for one of their kind. Considering that most independent Cultivators wandering the mortal world remained at early-stage Qi Refining, the man himself would seldom have met anyone of a lofty realm. No wonder he had run wild without knowing whom to fear. He had even dared contemplate hunting and plundering his fellow Cultivators—Daoists of Daemudo, no less.

But instinct was only instinct. Before resorting to force, Yise needed grounds for suspicion at the very least, even if he lacked physical evidence.

Yise began his act, assuming the manner of a perfectly ordinary Cultivator encountering an unfamiliar senior: just cautious enough, and just tempting enough.

"Yes, I am, but how did you know?"

"Haha. No need to be wary, fellow Daoist. I only want to do business. You’ve been going on about defensive ritual implements so much that word reached my ears."

"Oh..."

Yise peeled away a layer of wariness and overlaid it with a little excitement.

"Senior, do you happen to have a defensive ritual implement?"

"I do. Unfortunately, it isn’t here. I came to buy today, not sell. I keep my valuables at the Ajin County branch of the Haeun Guesthouse. Why don’t we go there together and make the trade?"

An undisguised attempt to lure him into a trap. To keep the act convincing, Yise couldn’t fall for it too readily. He hesitated, putting on a wary expression again.

"May I first ask what sort of implement it is?"

"Of course, but I have three kinds of defensive ritual implements. I’ll need to know your budget before I can tell you which one would suit you."

"Three defensive ritual implements..."

Yise voiced his admiration, his suspicions gaining further weight. The man was plainly trying to gauge his wealth. He would need to know how many resources Yise had to decide whether he was worth hunting.

"I’m thinking of spending up to about three hundred. But if it’s truly good, I’m prepared to pay more."

Something flashed deep in the Cultivator’s eyes. The change lasted only an instant. He maintained his composure so expertly that it was difficult to identify the flicker as greed.

"Then an implement called the Yellow Grand Parasol would be just right. Despite its name, it’s shaped like a shield, not an umbrella. It’s sturdy enough to withstand an attack from an early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, so it normally trades for around three hundred and fifty. But I’ll make a special exception and let you have it for three hundred. It isn’t often I meet a Cultivator with enough spirit stones to buy it, which is why I’m giving you a bargain."

"As it happens, a shield-type implement is exactly what I need, but..."

"Oh, really? How fortunate. It seems even ritual implements have destined owners."

The independent Cultivator smiled genially, chattering about how this must be fate.

Yise did indeed need a shield. He still hadn’t replaced the one he had lost to the Iron Sun Thunder Sect Cultivator. Had he not been on a mission, the offer would have been quite tempting. The name came so readily to the man’s lips that the implement apparently did exist. Whether he actually owned it or had simply brought it up as plausible bait was another matter.

'If he remembers the novice disciples’ faces, he might have figured out what weapons I prefer, too.'

Until he lost his shield to the Foundation Establishment demonic practitioner, Yise had carried it and his hand axe at either hip. The man might have seen and remembered them.

Yise pretended to waver, then shook his head.

"I’m sorry, Senior, but following someone I’ve only just met..."

"What a cautious fellow Daoist you are."

The Cultivator chuckled.

"I understand. Prudence is a necessary virtue. Then how about this? Let’s set a time tomorrow and meet inside the Haeun Guesthouse. As I recall, there’s a Daemudo outpost nearby. That should put you more at ease, shouldn’t it?"

He pointed a fingertip at Yise’s Daemudo robes.

He had mentioned the Daemudo outpost. It was meant to reassure Yise, but instead it brought his suspicion closer to certainty.

'So he even knows where the outer affiliates’ outposts are.'

Yise pretended to deliberate briefly before replying as though he had made up his mind.

"Very well. I’ll see you at the Haeun Guesthouse at the start of the hour of the Monkey."

"A wise decision. Fair warning, though: I won’t lower the price by so much as a coin. Make sure you bring the agreed number of spirit stones."

"Yes, of course."

The man maintained his act meticulously despite having no intention of selling anything. He was astonishingly cautious, much like Yise himself. No wonder Daemudo’s Cultivators had struggled to deal with him.

Yise added a lavishly flattering remark.

"You’ve taken quite a weight off my mind, Senior. Thank you."

Then he offered his hand for a handshake.

"It’s good for me, too, finding someone to take a treasured implement off my hands at a fair price. I like how straightforward you are. If our paths cross again, let’s become good friends."

The Cultivator clasped his hand. At that moment, the Lingering Scent Powder Yise had applied to his palm transferred to the other man’s hand. The Cultivator patted Yise’s shoulder, none the wiser, thanks to Yise having dissolved the powder beforehand with his body heat.

"See you tomorrow."

Only after the independent Cultivator turned away did Yise slowly move off, walking with a natural gait. He had confirmed both the man’s appearance and his realm. All that remained was how to hunt him—and how to turn suspicion into proof.

Yise considered what he knew. The killer understood the habits of Daemudo’s novice disciples well. They generally left the training compound only for missions, particularly when setting out on one. Every body had been discovered just beyond Daemudo’s territory, after the victims had descended Azure Mountain.

In other words, he stayed in Azure Mountain Capital gathering information on his targets, selected a suitable novice setting out on a mission when the periodic market was open, then secretly followed them beyond Daemudo’s territory and killed them. This was hunting. He was hunting Daemudo’s novice disciples in much the same way Daemudo hunted its prey.

'He’ll try to ambush me the moment I leave Azure Mountain.'

'He’s an independent Cultivator with plenty of ritual implements. I should consider him more dangerous than his apparent realm suggests.'

'Still, as long as I have the Twin-Banner Spirit-Domain Sealing Standard, I’m unlikely to lose a head-on fight.'

'What I need to watch out for is poison, along with implements that incapacitate the body or mind.'

'I need to make him want to conserve his resources. If I look as defenseless as possible and he decides I’m easy prey, he’ll think an ambush alone will suffice.'

'In that instant, I’ll turn the tables and hunt him.'

Yise could detect no gaze on him. The crowd also made it difficult to pick out the independent Cultivator’s presence. But the man would be following him. He was almost certain of it.

Remaining alert, Yise entered a nearby inn, adding the occasional anxious glance around him to his performance. As soon as he was inside his room, he uncorked the Scent-Tracing Water. He needed to test it and the Lingering Scent Powder before the man went too far.

The flower-scented, grayish-white liquid sloshed inside the small bottle. He took a sip, and a cool sensation followed the sweetness down his throat. Immediately, a sweet scent began to reach him—the same floral fragrance as the Scent-Tracing Water he had just drunk. It was a wondrous item that let him estimate direction and even distance from scent alone.

Having established that the ritual items worked properly, Yise tried to familiarize himself with tracking by scent. Then gooseflesh prickled over him. The smell pointed to three places.

One lay outside the inn, a fair distance back in the direction he had come from: the killer’s location. Another was his right palm, presumably the residue left from transferring the powder to the killer. The last was on his own shoulder. Why was there Lingering Scent Powder here...?

Yise recalled the independent Cultivator patting his shoulder before they parted. Unfortunately, they had both applied Lingering Scent Powder to each other at the same time.

'... He had the same ritual items.'

This was how the killer had tracked the novice disciples. If the independent Cultivator who sold Yise the Lingering Scent Powder and Scent-Tracing Water brought the same goods to every market, the killer would have had little trouble obtaining them.

'The question is whether he’s noticed.'

The man’s original plan must have been to follow Yise by the powder’s scent, then ambush and kill him as soon as he left Azure Mountain Capital. But the moment he realized Yise had applied the powder to him as well, he would sense something amiss.

'Why would a fourth-star Qi Refining brat put Lingering Scent Powder on me?'

'Is this a trap?'

'Did he approach me deliberately?'

Those were the suspicions he would have. The man was a cautious hunter. Hoping he would simply think, 'He must have had some Lingering Scent Powder in his hand and rubbed it off on me,' was far too naive. He would certainly grow suspicious and try to withdraw.

Having reached his conclusion, Yise burst out through the door. At the same time, the Lingering Scent Powder’s fragrance, which had remained at a steady distance, began rapidly receding. The man had noticed. Yise unleashed Dokkaebi Steps and sprinted at full speed.