Chapter 763 - This moment
Chapter 763 of "Red Heart Patrols the Sky" opens presenting key developments: Jiang Wang moved forward, reaching the end of the street and, quite naturally, turned right,... Read on!
Jiang Wang moved forward, reaching the end of the street and, quite naturally, turned right, advanced, veered to the left, and then swiftly ducked into an alley.In the town of Wenxi, he travelled light with a practiced ease, as if he had lived here for a long time, never crossing paths with the passersby.
Vaulting over into a courtyard, by the time he reappeared, he was donning a cloak, draped in a black robe, having changed his attire entirely.
Before he left, he deliberately made some noise.
In no time at all, a fat man with his shirt open and belly exposed rushed out from the inner room, steel knife in hand, fuming with rage.
Upon glancing around the courtyard, he burst into a foul tirade, âDamn it!
Whereâs the robe that I hung out here?â
A skinny fellow squeezed out as well, âHey!
Who did this?
Even my cloak hanging outside is gone!â
âDamn it!â The fat man looked around, cursing loudly, âWho dares to steal even Zheng Lao Sanâs things?â
âThird Brother, look!â The skinny guy suddenly brightened and pointed ahead.
The fat man squinted for a look.
There was a stone table in the courtyard, and not far from it was the clothesline where the robe had been hung.
Now the robe was gone, but on the table sat a gleaming silver ingot, enough to buy countless sets of robes and hats.
âWow!â Zheng Lao San, enraged, stomped over and brought his knife chopping down, âThe audacity of a thief to mock me!â
His voice boomed with outrage, as it was clear his dignity and pride had been greatly provoked.
The knife came down, cutting the silver ingot in two.
Its blade struck the stone table, sending sparks flying.
Zheng Lao San wiped his fat hand and grabbed the larger half of the ingot, leaving behind only a small fragment, âSiâer, thatâs the money left for you to buy a new cloak.
The money for my robe, Iâll take first.â
Li Lao Si, though he might have had some words to say, fell silent before the gleaming blade of the knife.
He could only sulkily comply, âAs big brother says.â
To the west of Yong Country lie three kingdoms, from north to south: Chen Country, Reef Kingdom, and Luo Country.
Chen Country is to the northwest, Luo Country the southwest, and Reef Kingdom directly west.
Shunâan Prefecture is on Yong Countryâs western border, and Wenxi County is located in the western part of Shunâan Prefecture, almost touching Border City, hence it isnât too far from Reef Kingdom either.
The headquarters of Green Cloud Pavilion being situated in such a peripheral town signifies their struggles.
Theyâre probably a bit stronger than Cheng Countryâs Lingkong Hall, but not by much.
This trip to Green Cloud Pavilion, in search of the lost buildings of Cloud Top Fairy Palace, also differs from the situation at Lingkong Hall.
At Lingkong Hall, Dou Min had already cleared all obstacles, including resistance from Cheng Countryâs upper echelons.
The hall was entirely Dou Minâs, and with Dou Minâs cooperation, Jiang Wang only needed to take over.
However, at Green Cloud Pavilion, he had to take into account the force of Yong Countryâs upper echelons.
He didnât have the backing of a Dou Family, or a Chuguo.
So even if the strength of Green Cloud Pavilion wasnât impressive, he still needed to act discreetly.
Whether the people of Green Cloud Pavilion knew the existence of the lost buildings of Cloud Top Fairy Palace or not, they wouldnât easily allow Jiang Wang to take them away.
Even a trade would be out of the question.
Should he brazenly approach them, plainly stating the terms of trade, the most likely outcome would be for Green Cloud Pavilion to gobble up the Cloud Top Fairy Palace themselves.
Living in a foreign land, with no clear path before him and no support behind him, he needed to tread carefully.
Jiang Wangâs willingness to spend three days getting to know most corners of Wenxi County, to familiarize himself with this town, was a reflection of that caution.
And this prudence, at least at this moment, had provided him with the first advantage in facing Zhang Linchuan â âgeographical familiarity.â
An advantage must be fully leveraged to establish a winning position.
Cloaked and robed, Jiang Wang strode briskly and soon arrived at his intended destination.
On the street where he had just encountered Zhang Linchuan, there werenât so many likely destinations towards which Zhang Linchuan could have headed.
When he had turned to thank the old lady, he caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye of Zhang Linchuan heading left.
The left side opened into a straight path, with three left turns and two right turns in total, leading to five separate locations.
Jiang Wang presently hastened to the entry of the first left turn.
Based on Zhang Linchuanâs walking speed earlier, if nothing unexpected occurred, he should pass by or turn into this alley within half a quarter hour.
Timing was crucial.
Silently calculating the time in his mind, Jiang Wang breathed steadily and stepped out onto the main road.
He wasnât planning to make a move just yet.
But their first encounter had been so sudden, and in order to hide his hostility, he hadnât had the chance to take a close look.
He needed another meeting with Zhang Linchuan to observe his condition, sense his aura, and gather more accurate intelligence.
At the same time, he was pondering ways to leave a mark on Zhang Linchuan.
Perhaps he could attempt to plant a Soul Stealth Snake?
He quickly dismissed the idea.
Tongtian Palace was a critical location, and the Soul Stealth Snake was almost certain to be detected, which would alert the enemy.
Or capture some of his qi to track later?
That was a plausible strategy.
However, the low grade of the tracking made it doubtful to fulfill such an important task.
In short, his primary objective was to determine Zhang Linchuanâs current strength and condition.
The second goal was to attempt leaving some means of tracking.
Yet the best outcome would be to also confirm Zhang Linchuanâs purpose for this trip.
With that, he could plan his strategy accordingly, just as he did with Hai Zongming.
Know thyself, know thy enemy, and you will never be defeated in battle.
Itâs fair to say that Jiang Wangâs approach was cautious, and his actions were prudent.
He walked out to the intersection, and with the flow, turned right.
He was met by a variety of pedestrians, tall and short, thick and thin, with a cacophony of accents.
Jiang Wang allowed himself to feel even calmer, more composed, casually scanning the crowdâŚ
Nothing!
Not a single figure matched the target.
Zhang Linchuan had vanished!
For a moment, Jiang Wangâs heart skipped a beat, and Longing almost leapt out of its sheath right then and there.
But his breathing was steady, his gaze calm.
He continued to walk forward unhurriedly, his heart immediately regaining its beat, endeavoring to throb smoothly.
The problem had arisen.
This was the inevitable fork in the road, yet Zhang Linchuan was nowhere to be seen.
Either he suddenly changed direction or he suddenly changed his pace, either reason seemed to implyâhe had discovered something!
Had he been detected?
The more critical the moment, the greater the need for calmness.
Jiang Wang strolled leisurely along, seemingly nonchalantly resting a hand on his sword, his thoughts rapidly spinning in his mind.
Supposing he was Zhang Linchuan, regardless of the reason for detection, even if truly detectedâŚ
what could be discerned?
Merely that on the streets of Yong Countryâs Wenxi County City, he was suddenly the focus of a passerbyâs attention.
That passerby, masked, wrapped tightly, with an unfamiliar voice.
Could he have recognized him as Jiang Wang?
For the Bone Messenger, what warranted his attention were Dong Ah, Wei Quchibi, the individuals capable of thwarting the Bone Taoâs plans.
Even for the identity of Zhang familyâs Zhang Linchuan, Jiang Wang was merely a new inner gate Disciple, a promising future talent of the Daoist academy.
There had been one probing in Tangshe Town, but it was just probingâŚ
In his memory, Jiang Wang, along with the fallen Maple Forest City Region, should have already crumbled.
No different from the tens of thousands who had died.
Was that Jiang Wang of that time more outstanding than Wei Yan, Zhao Lang, Shen Nanqi?
Had he exhibited hostility, revealed the intent to kill?
Jiang Wang scrutinized himself earnestly.
He was certain he had not shown any emotions.
So, when faced with a stranger who merely showed interest, what choice would Zhang Linchuan make?
Would he lash out and kill, stay away, or investigate thoroughly?
The Bone Messenger naturally was indifferent to life and death, the choice to kill no more difficult than slaughtering a chicken.
But the optimal moment had passed.
If he was to kill, it should have been at that instant when Jiang Wang was observing but missed Zhang Linchuan.
No movement up until now indicated that Zhang Linchuan had forsaken the first option.
For someone like Zhang Linchuan, there was naturally no need to avoid a stranger who was merely interested.
So, he most likely wanted to investigate thoroughly.
He wanted to know who was taking an interest in him, why the interest, and whether there was any hostility towards him.
Amid the rapid whirlwind of his thoughts, he quickly judgedâZhang Linchuan might be spying in secret!
Jiang Wang hurried his steps, suddenly accelerating.
But as his gaze swept around, the passersby remained the same and within his line of sight, no one exhibited anything unusual.
Where was Zhang Linchuan hiding?
The situation had now been reversed, turning into the enemy hidden and himself exposed.
Jiang Wang had to admit that Zhang Linchuan was more difficult to deal with than he had imagined.
Despite his multiple disguises before observing Zhang Linchuan, it now seemed, it was still not cautious enough.
He didnât know where he had exposed himself, but with things having reached this point, all he could do was respond.
To respond adequately.
At this time, a porter, sauntering nonchalantly, was approaching head-on.
The porter was about to turn right, but for some reason, his thoughts shifted and he veered left.
In doing so, he bumped right into a man dressed as a scholar.
It seemed veering left was a poor choice.
âAre you blind!â the porter raged, grabbing the frail scholar by the collar.
The scholar retorted indignantly, âI moved this way to give you space, and you also moved this way.
How can you blame me?â
âDare to argue!â the porter lifted his fist to strike.
A hand caught his fist.
âSuch a small matter, why resort to this?â Jiang Wang effortlessly separated the two entangled men, calmly persuading, âWhen youâre out and about, harmony is precious.â
During this âmediation,â he thoroughly observed the people on the street.
Yet the result was the same.
There was still no sign of Zhang Linchuan.
Am I worrying over nothing?
he wondered.
Perhaps Zhang Linchuan had just received some news and turned back.
Best if that were the caseâŚ
That the porterâs fist was easily caught, he knew he had met his better.
Without any harsh words left, he quickly left at Jiang Wangâs âadvice.â
âThank you for lending a hand, brother,â the frail scholar bowed thankfully.
âYouâre welcome.â Jiang Wang patted his shoulder and continued onward, âI have things to do, Iâll take my leave.â
At that instant.
The crowded street suddenly came to a standstill.
One by one, the figures disappeared.
After the crowd had faded, only one back remained ahead.
The man stood straight, his hair hanging down, his aura aloof, as if detached from the world.
On the long street, only he remained; he was the sole figure in view.
He turned around.