Chapter 354: Chapter 354

In the middle of the night, three shadows escaped the Han residence without any disturbances. Even the family head’s guard and Commander Lin didn’t catch the wind of it until way later when it was too late.

They didn’t think a man without any Spiritual Essence or any Spiritual Tool to help him would be able to get out, so they merely had a couple of guards watching over the dungeon.

Those guards were knocked unconscious before they even knew what was happening.

“How long?” Ozul asked as they sped through the city.

The woman turned her head towards him and replied, “The Elder I’m taking you to is staying in the neighboring city. With our speed, it will take a few hours at most.”

. . .

After a few hours, it was still dark when they had crossed the Howling city and reached another.

.....

It seemingly looked on par with the former, but there was an obvious difference between the two.

Even at this time of the day, the Howling city had more people active on the streets. There were considerably fewer night stalls on the streets of this new city.

Ozul didn’t have the time to look around as those two people brought him straight to the point of interest.

It was a considerably large manor, but there was nothing notable about the place except for its size. That too, however, paled in comparison to the ones located further into the city.

Ozul would have guessed that this manor might have been their destination if not for his senses which were able to locate the source of such dense Spiritual Essence that even he felt a little wary.

‘Although still weaker than Old Gu’s subordinate, it would be difficult to escape if things don’t fall in place,’ Ozul once again considered his options, but in the end, decided to go through with his earlier decision.

The source of this Spiritual Essence was currently in the small tavern beside the manor.

As expected, the lady and the man headed straight towards the tavern.

The woman stopped before the door and turned around to face Ozul, “The Elder is inside.”

Although Ozul could guess as much, he still nodded his head and went inside.

‘Seems like on the way here, they have already communicated,’ he thought as he noticed that both the woman and the man chose to leave right after.

A lot of things were on his mind, but he was at least relieved knowing that Raven, Blaze, and Zier aren’t with him. He might have a chance of escaping, but he couldn’t say the same about them.

The familiar graze by his feet woke up him as he stepped inside with confidence.

The little black creature followed right beside him with her small graceful steps.

...

The tavern was small, and it reeked of the smell of alcohol.

As it was already way past midnight, the people inside were drained out of their usual energy.

The few tables were occupied with men either sleeping or knocked unconscious. There was a lingering smell of vomit as well.

Ozul’s gaze swept past everyone and finally rested on the cloaked figure sitting at the bar. That person and the tavern owner were the only two people conscious in the tavern right now.

He went to the seat beside the cloaked figure and stared directly at them.

“Calm down boy,” the figure spoke with a rough voice, shifted in their position, and spoke again, “That lass has told me about everything.”

‘An old lady...’ Ozul determined.

Ozul could sense her emotions despite her feigned indifference. He knew she was impressed and wary of him because he knew she was the person he was looking for the moment he walked into the tavern.

After all, unless they had a special Spiritual Tool, they could only deduce her strength if they were stronger than she was or she allowed them to. And, because she had obviously hidden her Spiritual Essence, Ozul was clearly not ordinary in her eyes.

“I don’t have time, boy. Speak whatever you have to and give me a reason not to kill you right now.”

The old lady spoke roughly before she chugged the whole jug of beer in one breath.

The tavern owner pretended not to hear their conversation and quickly refilled her beer.

“I can work for you.”

“Huh?”

“I said I want to work for you.”

The lady shifted in her position and faced Ozul with an indescribable look on her face.

She looked at him as if she was contemplating whether to kill him or not.

“I know what you are thinking. Not only is there no point in killing me, you aren’t even sure if you can,” Ozul spoke calmly, negotiating his own life.

The fact that the old lady couldn’t detect any Spiritual Essence in him made her even warier. She indeed couldn’t be completely sure that she could kill him as she was unaware of his abilities.

“How do you know what ‘we’ do?” the old lady asked the most crucial question.

Before this, she thought that one of their rival organizations had caught the wind of their actions and was now going to blackmail them. But it didn’t seem to be the case considering Ozul’s actions.

“Why do you think I know what you do?” Ozul questioned instead of answering.

He shook his head and continued, “I am honestly unaware of anything you do except for the fact that the assassination attempt was your doing.”

Ozul’s eyes landed on the wooden jug of beer before him and he wondered internally, ‘How does it taste like?’

Since he never got hungry, he only ever ate to keep up appearances. As for drinking, he had never thought of trying them.

Only now he was a little curious since a person considerably stronger than him was currently indulging herself with this beer.

The old lady stared at him suspiciously. She thought for a second and decided to be straightforward about it.

“What reason do I have to trust someone I don’t know the origins of?”

“Hmm...” Ozul nodded his head in agreement. Placing himself in her shoes, he wouldn’t have so easily trusted him either.

“I will tell you about my origins truthfully. How about that?”

The old lady contemplated for a few moments again.

Looking at it from an objective point of view, the only thing she stood to gain from killing him was to avoid leaking their agenda.

But if he really wanted to work for them, he would be a great asset to their organization. She knew that because she had even used a probing Spiritual Tool on him discreetly, but found no traces of Spiritual Essence at all!

‘That means he can leave and go to important places as he pleases!... If possible, I want to recruit him...’ the old lady was determined.

Because even if she opted to kill him instead, there was no guarantee that he had no friends who knew the truth about the assassination attempt.

“Very well. But I will have to confirm your identity later. Until then, you will remain with us,” as she said that, the old lady looked at Ozul carefully, trying to discern if he had any reaction.

She was satisfied when he looked unmoved. After all, if he really came harboring ill intentions, he would be wary of them investigating at the very least.

“So... who are-”

The old lady was about to speak, but then she remembered something, “Let’s pause that thought.”

Holding the jug of beer, she stood up and smiled provokingly at Ozul.

“You look smart. Let’s see what you can do about our current situation.”

Being tested like this, Ozul wasn’t fazed a bit.

These people were flawless in their act, but since he could sense people’s emotions, something like this would never work on him.

“Am I allowed to kill?” Ozul asked indifferently.

“Do you have the ability to?” the old lady while narrowing her eyes. This would at least help her understand how strong this boy was.

But it seemed as though she had underestimated him a lot.

Because her sentence had just finished when the whole tavern woke up with loud noises of groaning, and a few seconds later, the smell of blood overcame that of the alcohol.

The seemingly unconscious people scattered around the tavern all had holes in their heads as their blood dyed the stone floor in crimson red color.

The only man spared from this egregious slaughter was the tavern owner, who stood there with trembling feet.

“S-spare me... please!... I have a wife and a daughter...” tears flowed uncontrollably from his eyes. The tavern owner didn’t know that all those people were not ordinary. They were all cultivators.

Ozul ignored the tavern owner and waved his hand, motioning him to leave.

As his eyes fell back on the old lady, he could see the twisted expressions on her face.

Even though he couldn’t hear her thoughts, he was positive that he could make the gist of it.

‘I want him! I can’t let anyone else snatch him!!!’

The old lady understood very well how important this boy’s ability could be. Even after killing every one of her men, she wasn’t able to feel any fluctuations of Spiritual Essence!

She was so enthralled that she didn’t care that the men whose blood had soiled this cold stone floor were working for her! To merely put Ozul to the test, she had them killed!

“Khahaha!”

.....

The old lady cackled like an evil witch who had found her long-lost treasure.

“Boy... Finish that beer and follow me!”

She walked out of the tavern, scheming about the future and how she would use Ozul in her plans.

Ozul looked at her back emotionlessly. He knew what she was thinking, and he would of course never play in anyone’s games. He would only do what was necessary for him to gain a footing in this new Realm...