Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! Four shadows of men jumped over the walls of Zhu manor late at night. By their movements, they seem to be Cultivators.

Everyone in the manor is fast asleep by now except the guards.

The four men seem to be quite knowledgeable about the ins and outs of Zhu manor. The side they picked to sneak inside is none other than the side of Zhu Furong's courtyard which is at the very back corner of the Zhu manor.

As we know, none of the guards in Zhu manor pays much attention to this side.

Zhu Furong, who had a wonderful date with the princess during the daytime is sleeping peacefully in his room unaware of these unwelcome guests.

The four men suddenly stopped under a tree at Zhu Furong's garden, they exchanged glances, then the four men separated into two equal pairs.

One of the pair dashed over the courtyard gate and went somewhere else. While the two men left, they rushed towards Zhu Furong's room.

Both the men are fully covered in black garments from head to toe. They wore a full-face mask with only their eyes visible.

The men stopped near the wall of Zhu Furong's room, then one of the men silently walked to one of the open windows of Zhu Furong's room.

The man peeked inside and saw someone sleeping, covered in a blanket.

He nodded to his partner and the partner nodded back. Both took out a long knife hidden inside their clothes then they silently entered the room through the window.

As soon as they got in, both the men rushed to the bed and stabbed the lying figure. But to their surprise it didn't feel like they stabbed a body rather than it felt like they stabbed cotton. Both men realized what had happened but they didn't fret.

According to the information they had received, the third Young Master of Zhu Family is incapable of Cultivating Martial Arts. So he should be just a normal person.

But where did the third Young Master of the Zhu Family go then?

Did someone found out about their planned assassination and moved Zhu Furong to another place for safety?

Then the question arises who is the person capable enough to know about their plan.

Both the men frowned and started searching the room. They almost turned the whole room upside down but couldn't find what they were looking for.

"It's weird, where did the boy go?" One of the assassins asked.

"How will I know?" The other assassin gave a frustrated look. "Well, let's meet up with the other two, we can decide what to do after that." He said and then dashed out of the window.

"But what about our task here?" The other assassin asked from behind scratching his head. Then he too jumped out of the window to follow his partner.

After both the assassins had left, a figure wearing all black, climbed down a thick tree beside the house. The figure walked two steps forward before rushing back to the tree again to hide.

The two assassins who had just left a moment ago came back to the house. One of them entered Zhu Furong's room again and came out after some time.

"Not in the room, not in the courtyard, not even in the storage room around the corner. It seems like someone really has moved him out of this place. Did someone really find out about our plan?" The assassin frowned, rubbing his chin.

Then both the assassins prepared to dash towards the direction of the two other assassins from before, but suddenly...

Fweeet... Fweeet... Fweeet... Dong! Dong! Dong!... Sounds of whistle and gong of bell started rising from every corner of the house.

"This is bad, we have been found out, run!" The assassin rushed his partner and dashed towards the back side of the courtyard to escape.

The two assassins had almost reached the outer wall of the courtyard when...

One of the assassins turned back and threw a punch.

Bang! His fist hit another fist at a lightning speed.

"Fuck! Revolving Core rank." The man who launched the sneak attack, cursed and fell back.

He backflips several times, stopping at a safe distance he starts blowing on his bleeding fist. "I almost lost my hand there. Too careless of me." He grumbled.

"Who are you?" The assassin who threw the punch frowned and asked. He looked confused. 

Just a moment ago when he crossed punches with the man, he didn't notice any traces of Qi. But the power from the punch of the sneak attacker was no joke. His fist was numb from the impact, though unharmed.

"Harrumph!" The black-clothed man jeered, turned around and dashed back inside the Zhu manor.

The other assassin who was idle in all this, tried to give chase but was stopped by his partner. "Let him go, we can't afford to stay here any longer." Saying this he turned back and jumped over the wall with his partner vanishing into the alleys.

Soon after the two assassins left, Zhu Bohai arrived at Zhu Furong's courtyard with his men. Leaving his men to stand guard, he rushed inside Zhu Furong's room to check on him.

Entering the room he found Zhu Furong wearing a white t-shirt and black trousers, sitting beside his study table applying bandages to his right hand.

"They left." Zhu Furong calmly said while treating his wound.

Zhu Bohai frowned and asked. "You fought them?"

"Just exchanged a single punch. I drew back after realizing the opponent was an early Revolving Core rank Cultivator." Zhu Furong said nonchalantly.

"I see." Zhu Bohai stared at the clam and composed Zhu Furong. He found it ridiculous how easily Zhu Furong said 'early Revolving Core rank', like it's no big deal.

"How is your wound?" Zhu Bohai asked with a worried look.

Zhu Furong completed bandaging his hand and turned towards Zhu Bohai. He smiled and showed his bandaged hand. "Just a fracture, it will heal in a few days." He assured.

Zhu Bohai couldn't take it anymore, things here looked too calm compared to the seriousness of the situation. He rushed to Zhu Furong, grabbed his ear, twisted it hard and pulled him off the chair.

"Ah, ah, grandpa, what are you doing? It hurts, ooh, oof, aah, it hurts." Zhu Furong jumped in pain.

"You rascal. Is this a joke to you? It was an assassin attempt. You are talking it like it's none of your business. What's more you even went ahead to exchange fist blows. That was a Revolving Core rank Cultivator not some apple pie. You, you..." Zhu Bohai twisted Zhu Furong's ear more harder.

"It will tear off grandpa. I won't look good with only one ear. Have mercy, ah." Zhu Furong begged.

"Humph!" Zhu Bohai let go of Zhu Furong's ear.

Zhu Furong covered his ear with his hand wailing silently in pain.

"Did you see their face?" Zhu Bohai asked.

"No. They were covered in all black from head to toe, though... I saw a hawk pattern carved on the knives blades they used." Zhu Furong replied.

"Nighthawk Assassins organization. Sigh!" Zhu Bohai sighed with grief.

Zhu Furong noticed Zhu Bohai's sad reaction so he looked at him with inquiry.

Zhu Bohai let out a long breath. "Sit." He gestured. Then he went to the door and passed some orders to the guarding men. He shut the door close, then pulled an empty chair to Zhu Furong and sat in front of him.

Zhu Bohai leaned back on the chair and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He started reminiscing about something.

After a while he spoke. "During the heyday of his life Zhu Shi(honest), your late adoptive father was the best General in the Ming army. All the men in the army respected him very much. I was so satisfied with him that I even decided to retire from the army and promote Zhu Shi as the next Great General."

"You may not know but the western fort of the Ming Dynasty is constantly at war against the forces of the Wen Dynasty."

"This continent is quite large so each of the two dynasties can easily rule half of it."

"But the Emperor of the Wen Dynasty is quite ambitious and wants to rule the whole continent."

"10 years ago, a huge war broke out on the western side of the Ming Dynasty. I myself lead the Ming Dynasty army to the frontline along with your late adoptive father Zhu Shi."

"That was the war which made Zhu Shi's name resound throughout the Ming Dynasty and even the enemy Wen Dynasty." Zhu Bohai's eyes looked extremely bright and proud while saying this.

"Millions of lives were lost in that war, but none of the sides won. At the end the two dynasties decided to carry on the battle into small skirmishes."

"The reason why your forth uncle Zhu Da is always out of the home is due to him being positioned as a Captain in the West Fort of Ming Dynasty."

"Being a General and Squad Leader, your first uncle Zhu Tai(extreme) and third uncle Zhu Kai(triumph) should also be positioned there, but those two... Sigh! The government is filled with corruption." Zhu Bohai shook his head.

He slapped his thigh. "These two bastards of a son are more interested in politics than honour." Zhu Bohai said with anger.

Zhu Bohai clenched his hands and hung his head.

"The death of Zhu Shi and his wife wasn't some accident but a conspiracy."

Then he raised his head and snorted, "They thought I was a fool and wouldn't notice it but it didn't even take me three days to find out the truth back then."

"But I wish I wouldn't have known the truth." He closed his eyes with sadness.

Then he opened his eyes which were now wet with tears. "It was the work of Nighthawk Assassins. They are the largest assassin organization all over the continent, even having Open Ascension rank Cultivators as their members."

"They will kill anyone if paid a fair amount."

"Zhu Shi's success had won him the approval of the Emperor and Zhu Shi's wife was also the best friend of the Empress."

"With such favourable conditions, of course there will be discrepancies between Zhu Shi and other high ranking people of the society. Of course there will be people who also want Zhu Shi's life."

Zhu Bohai slammed Zhu Furong's study desk with a fist angrily. "But I never thought the ones to hire the Nighthawk Assassins would be Zhu Shi's own brothers. Those bastards, just because they couldn't become as successful as their second brother they went so far as to..." Zhu Bohai gritted his teeth with anger.

Suddenly tears flowed from the corners of his eyes. "Even if I know who killed my second son, what can I do about it? How can I take revenge for him? As a father, my hands are tied. I can't avenge one of my sons by killing another son right?" He grieved with sorrow.

Zhu Furong placed his hand on Zhu Bohai's hands to console him.

After some time Zhu Bohai wiped the tears off his face with the sleeve of his hanfu. He has calmed down.

He then made a serious face. "If I am not wrong, the assassins from tonight were also hired by your first uncle and third uncle."

"Maybe... Maybe they have found out about your relationship with princess Ming Lan."

"But how?" Zhu Furong asked with surprise.

"You went to the Million Flowers house yesterday right? Maybe someone from there informed your uncles. That's the only possibility I can think of."

"That..." Zhu Furong doesn't know what to say. The possibility of an informant working at the Million Flowers house working for his uncles or some official related to his uncles is definitely quite high.

"Well, even if they didn't attack today, they would have done it sooner or later. Your first uncle is always looking for ways to get rid of Zhu Ling to make way for his daughter." Zhu Bohai said.

"It must be the idea of one of his political partners. That idiot Zhu Tai doesn't even know he is being used. There is no way the other man will let Zhu Tai get what he wants. After getting rid of Zhu Ling successfully, he will probably backstab Zhu Tai." Zhu Bohai greeted his teeth.

"I have tried to warn both Zhu Tai and Zhu Kai to change their ways, but it's like my words just passed through their ears from one side out of another. Sigh!" Zhu Bohai seemed dejected.

"Tonight, not only you but even Zhu Ling was attacked. That too by two peak Revolving Core rank Cultivators. They escaped too." Zhu Bohai said with seriousness.

"It was fortunate that I had placed some of my private men to guard her place in secret, else-" Zhu Bohai is scared to think about it.

"I also wanted to place some bodyguards for you but I thought you wouldn't like it, but now it seems I should have gone for it even if you have blamed me for it later." Zhu Bohai said with worry.

"I understand. It would be bad if others find out about my secret, the less number of people knows the better. Thanks for your concern grandpa." Zhu Furong thanked with sincerity.

Zhu Bohai nodded.

"Well, they have failed this time to place any harm on both you and Zhu Ling so they will come back for sure. The Nighthawk Assassins are known to complete their tasks after taking the payment no matter what." "We have to make preparations for your safety." Zhu Bohai suggested.

"That won't be needed." Zhu Furong rejected.

"What do you mean? You are not thinking of doing something stupid again right? I don't know what kinds of secrets you are hiding but looking at your hand, it doesn't seem to be promising enough." Zhu Bohai retorted.

"Er... That's not it." Zhu Furong scratched his cheek with embarrassment.

"I was thinking of leaving the house for a while. I want to go out to gain some real world experience. That single moment of bout against the early Revolving Core rank Cultivator made me realise that I lack quite a bit of experience. Only doing closed door training all the time is not a good thing isn't it?" Zhu Furong reasoned.

"That's true. But still I don't agree. You don't know how dangerous the Nighthawk Assassins are. They will find you in no time." Zhu Bohai denied.

"Your dead body is the last thing this old man wants to see." He said with grief.

Zhu Furong understood Zhu Bohai's worry for him, but he still can't afford to stay enclosed in the house. Till now he didn't have any strength to tread in the Martial World, but now, even though his strength is on the weakest side, he can at least protect his own life.

"Let me go grandpa, you know a flower born inside the greenhouse can't survive a storm right?" Zhu Furong pleaded.

"I know but..." Zhu Bohai still hesitated.

Zhu Furong racked his brain to find a plausible reason. He found it.

"How about this? I will go to the West Fort to work under my fourth uncle. There are small battles going on there everyday right? What can be a better place than that to hone my skills? I can even learn some neat tricks of war." Zhu Furong suggested with excitement.

"No way. That's still dangerous." Zhu Bohai rejected.

"What? How? I will be there under my fourth uncle's supervision right? There are also other soldiers there. The Nighthawk Assassins won't be so stupid to attack me there right?" Zhu Furong persisted.

"No means no. It's still not safe. The Nighthawk Assassins can do anything to achieve their target. They are all cruel people and also strong Cultivators. The soldiers at the border are at most Core Formation rank Cultivators, there's no way they can save your life. There may even occur unnecessary deaths because of you." Zhu Bohai didn't step back. He was fully against the idea.

"It will be all fine. You know the most dangerous place is also the safest place right? You just have to keep my whereabouts secret. I will also hide my name and disguise my face. I go there as a recruit. As the Great General of the army you can pull a string or two for me right? Now come on, agree to it grandpa, don't be so stubborn." Zhu Furong shook Zhu Bohai's hand with puppy eyes.

Zhu Bohai melted to the puppy look of Zhu Furong. "Sigh! Fine. You may go. But... There are several conditions you have to follow. If you don't follow these conditions I won't let you go and hide you inside my room for safety." Zhu Bohai threatened.

"Hahaha, grandpa, what are you talking about? Your room smells of old man, I won't dare to live there." Zhu Furong laughs out loud. Then he rubbed his hands and leaned towards Zhu Bohai. "Now hurry up and tell me your conditions fast."

Zhu Bohai hit Zhu Furong's head with a karate chop and harrumphed. He then presented the conditions to Zhu Furong which were mainly orders for him to follow his fourth uncle's instructions and always keep him informed about his whereabouts. All in all, the conditions were designed for Zhu Furong's own safety.

"Now go to sleep, time is tight. I will prepare everything for you. You will leave at dawn. I will also inform your elder sister later, so you don't have to meet her." Saying this Zhu Bohai stood up and exited the room.

Zhu Furong jumped on his bed and went to sleep. There wasn't much time for dawn to break, so it was more of a power nap than sleep.

Early in the morning as the sun rose from the east, Zhu Furong quietly left the Zhu manor towards the west, wearing a cyan hanfu. His hair is tied with the crimson scarf which princess Ming Lan had gifted him.

His face is disguised making him look like an average ten-year-old boy. There isn't even a hint of beauty on his face. Even the fair skin of his has a brown tone to it. He looks more like a country boy than a Young Master.

He is traveling on foot to enjoy the view of nature. He is in no hurry after all.

He bought a few dangos at a street stall then chewing the dangos he continued his journey towards the west.