Heroine, don't turn back, I'm just a farmer.

Su Wancheng is gone.

Quietly.

Lu Guo had his reasons for telling her to go to Jinling first.

According to Ai Mian's account, she had already died in Tianluoxiang. She provoked him because of her reputation and was killed with a single blow. This not only gave him a reason and excuse but also saved him some trouble.

After all, having the strength to kill the Tianluoxiang assassin with a single strike, anyone else who wants to make a move will have to think twice.

Although it cannot be ruled out that others from Tianluoxiang might come to investigate, the incense master will not let her be exposed, nor will he let anyone look for her, before she confirms whether to cooperate with Tianluoxiang.

The leader of the incense will definitely send someone to monitor, but this monitoring will be secret and will not be known to anyone in the Tianluo Incense except for Ai Mian. To some extent, Ai Mian may monitor personally, so going to Jinling is safer than staying by your side.

He initially intended to use Su Wancheng to level up, but after Ai Mian appeared, it seemed that this was no longer suitable. He had hoped that Ai Mian would fight him, or even kill him a few more times, but he did not expect her to be so cautious, showing no martial ethics that an assassin should have.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. Assassins aim for a single, fatal blow. The opponent might not be very confident in killing them, which is why they didn't act rashly.

It seems this NPC is not only intelligent, but also quite cautious.

Since I can no longer be a sparring partner, I can only send Su Wancheng to Jinling first.

In the adventure, players can add NPCs to their collections so they can learn about them through their character profiles even when they are not around.

Sending her ahead is like planting a spy in Jinling. If Tianluoxiang looks for her again, Ai Mian will definitely follow, and she might even be able to gather some information about the Chang Le Gang, allowing her to make some preparations.

No matter how you look at it, it's more valuable than having someone by your side.

Now, we need to add the character of the master thief.

After thinking about it, he exited the adventure.

……

"His presence vanished instantly."

Across the street from Yuelai Inn, there is a three-story building with upturned eaves. The window facing the street is open, and the person speaking is a young woman, a broad-minded young woman.

The girl's surname is Hua and her given name is Guniang. She is not only broad-minded, but also loves to speak her heart to others.

Ai Mian didn't speak. Her silk-wrapping technique wasn't good enough, and she didn't like to use her hands to dig into people's hearts because it would get bloody. She usually used a knife.

The aura inside the cabin had indeed vanished, which was extremely eerie, as if the swordsman had never been there. If she hadn't actually sensed his presence and spoken with him before, she might have thought it was an illusion.

"This person is formidable." The young woman reached into her clothes and rummaged around for a while before slowly pulling out a letter, along with half a purple undergarment. A smile graced her face.

"What?"

"The new appointment of the head of the incense shop."

Ai hesitated for a moment, then began to open the letter. Her hands were covered with a layer of internal energy to resist the poison on the letter.

Tianluoxiang's letters are also poisoned. It's a small security measure. If you're not one of Tianluoxiang's insiders, you'll be poisoned after reading the letter. Of course, you need to wear deerskin gloves or use your inner energy to isolate yourself when reading the letter. This is common practice in the martial arts world, and it's also her caution as a top-tier assassin.

The letter was fine, so she unfolded it and began to read it.

"People from the Wuji Demon Palace have also arrived. They're said to be a Grand Elder, a truly important figure. This swordsman has quite a few secrets." The young woman straightened up and said seriously.

"Tian Dao is incredibly talented, so his disciple is naturally no ordinary person. Little Seventeen..." Ai Mian hesitated for a moment, "...died, died quickly, and peacefully."

"He's really hiding his true strength; he might even be a Grandmaster-level expert," the young woman said, neither confirming nor denying.

"Why would the leader of the incense shop want to cooperate with him?" The eyebrows behind the mask of sorrow furrowed again and again.

"Who knows? I'm just a lowly manager, how could I dare to guess what the master is thinking?" The flower girl waved her fan and slightly pursed her lips.

"..." The sorrowful face stopped speaking, and the flower girl was unfathomable.

It's even deeper than her.

In terms of strength.

She was just an assassin. Although she had killed many people and was quite skilled, she was still just an assassin. Her opponent, on the other hand, was a manager. The difference between them was obvious. After hesitating for a moment, she decided to set off for Jinling.

This swordsman is very mysterious.

This needs to be noted.

Without hesitation, Lu Guo exited the adventure and immediately unlocked the identity of the "Gentleman on the Thief".

A more professional way to describe it would be as a master thief.

Although the swordsman is quite skilled, when it comes to "intelligence gathering," it's best to have someone with the expertise.

Like the swordsman, each class has a backstory. To help players better immerse themselves in the game, the developers have also created identities for each class and built a series of relationship chains.

The Robber Hua Wuque

You often roam the streets and alleys, honing your skills to the point of scaling walls and leaping across rooftops. Whether it's a grand mansion or a humble dwelling, you move freely, taking other people's treasures as easily as picking candy from a baby...

Since mastering this divine skill, it has been able to obtain anything—gold, silver, treasures, secret techniques, or unpredictable individuals—but there is one thing in the world that is difficult to fathom and steal: a woman's heart.

[Four Great Void Divine Skill x1, Night-Walking Clothes x1.]

This profession comes with a built-in lightness skill bonus, plus two unique skills unique to game exploration: lock picking and theft, and also comes with martial arts techniques based on the background.

"This description of the technique is quite something."

"A woman's heart is indeed the hardest to understand; even a master thief can't steal it."

After clicking "Confirm," the screen changed.

The night was as dark as ink. As a dark figure reappeared, he appeared in front of the gate of Qingluo Manor.

[The Four Elements Emptiness Divine Skill, when activated, allows one to be enveloped in a mist, making them difficult to hit.]

After assessing his own condition, he looked towards Qingluo Manor.

Unlike the gates I saw during the day—vermilion gates, stone lions guarding the entrance, and servants lined up—the manor had a different face after nightfall: high walls stood menacingly, covered with blue tiles, dark and gloomy, concealing countless traps.

However, none of these traps could stump the master thief.

I controlled the character to spin around in place to get a feel for the controls.

"Tsk, this feels really good."

With a light leap, the character touched the ground with their toes, and like a black feather blown by the wind, silently floated onto the pile of debris by the wall. With another leap, they grabbed the protruding brick edge on the top of the wall, twisted their waist, and flipped onto the roof. The whole process was without making a sound, blending directly into the night. From a distance, they were just a blurry shadow flashing across the top of the wall.

[Infiltration (satisfied with light-footed skills)]

The notification popped up, and Lu Guo felt much more at ease.

Characters with innate lightness skills are much more convenient. Swordsmen would never have such exquisite movements. Although swordsmen are all-rounders—strength, speed, reaction, they have a little bit of everything, but they are not proficient in anything. They can climb walls without any problem, but to achieve such silent infiltration without a single feather touching them, they are still far from mastering it.

This is the difference between "professional focus" and "amateur proficiency".

Lu Guo squatted on the wall, looking down at the backyard.

During the day, he used his identity as a swordsman to enter the manor, where he had already unlocked some explorable areas, learned some locations, and found out the residence of "Madam Liu".

"Let's first check out the villa's true condition and take a look at the map."

The master thief silently landed on the wall, behind a bamboo grove in the backyard, and headed towards the Buddhist shrine.

Stealth mode is now enabled.

Lurking beside the half-open back window on the left side of the Buddhist hall, the window paper was new and pasted tightly, but there was a very thin gap between the window frame and the wall, probably due to slight deformation over the years.

Lu Guo moved closer to the gap.

The view was extremely narrow, only allowing a small portion of the room's interior to be seen, but it was sufficient.

He saw Madam Liu.

She sat at the table.

As if in broad daylight, she was dressed in a plain, moon-white robe, with a white silk flower in her hair. She wore no other adornments and sat upright yet relaxed. The soft cushion was pressed into two rounded outlines, giving her a very "noble lady's demeanor." At the same time, she also possessed a "relaxed and calm" state unique to martial artists, capable of transitioning from stillness to explosive power at any moment.

On the table in front of her lay a yellowed book, and to her left was a cup of tea, its steam rising gently as if it had just been poured. To her right was a small bronze stove, in which some kind of incense burned, the thin smoke rising straight up, almost invisible in the lamplight.

She was reading a book.

But Lu Guo noticed that although her gaze was on the pages of the book, her right hand was tapping lightly on the table, as if she was counting or waiting for something.

So he held his breath and continued to observe.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Madam Liu stopped tapping her fingers, raised her head, and looked away from the pages of the book towards the door.

Lu Guo adjusted his perspective following her gaze and then noticed that, in the direction of the main entrance of the side room, under the tightly closed carved wooden door, there had been a very faint light and shadow.

There are people outside the door.