After Shangguan Zan departed, Guo Jiang remained alone in the Eastern Mansion garden overlooking the direction of Maple Forest and distant Jinhung City.The old patriarch’s grief had not left with his carriage, because the death of Shangguan Rong carried consequences far beyond one mourning household.Shangguan Rong had been his father’s only son and expected heir, which meant the Shangguan Clan now faced uncertainty inside its own succession.Guo Jiang knew that uncertainty would spread outward through merchants, retainers, workshops, tribute networks, and households depending on Shangguan business.He had accepted the eastern seat partly because it placed him near powerful people and regional currents important to his original purpose in Logun Continent.Yet authority had begun demanding something different from him, because every death inside Jinhung now arrived at his door as responsibility.Guo Jiang rested one hand behind his back and thought, “If I ignore disorder here, then ev

The ten operatives separated instinctively after realizing Guo Jiang stood inside their formation, but the five closest chose immediate violence over retreat. Their decision was tactical rather than emotional, because an intruder who heard their conversation could expose the entire covert group if allowed to leave. One attacker barked, “Kill him before he reports us,” while all five shaped their fingers into clawed striking forms. Three moved toward Guo Jiang’s front, aiming for chest and heart, while two circled behind toward ribs and spine. Sharp qi gathered around their fingers strongly enough that the five non-attacking companions felt their exposed skin sting from several paces away. Guo Jiang did not retreat immediately, because he wanted to read timing, coordination, and whether their claw force came from one shared training method. T

Guo Jiang stood among ten bodies without celebration, because the fight had solved only the danger immediately in front of him. Broken silver swords lay across disturbed leaves, while cold mist thinned gradually between trunks after the final attack. He extended perception through the surrounding forest, checking whether the ten operatives had hidden observers, reinforcements, or escape support nearby. Nothing answered within immediate range, leaving only insects, settling leaves, and the quiet aftereffects of cultivation pressure around the clearing. That absence did not make the encounter simple, because the group’s earlier conversation had already revealed they were waiting for someone specific. “Ning Ju,” Guo Jiang repeated quietly, testing the name against everything he knew from recent events. The ten had argued about her delay, her st