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Chapters 471-480

Chapter 471: What the white-robed gentleman detests

The moon cast a dreamlike light upon the robes as white as snow. A serene, clear aura emanated from the figure of the white-robed man, fresh and refined, removed from mortal cares. His eyes were calm and unruffled with that eternal gentle air. But a flash of pity flickered in those pupils as he stared in the direction of the Duke of Qin's estate.

He stood on the roofs for a long while after the estate had resumed its quiet, unwilling to go. Perhaps he had simply lost himself in thought, perhaps he wanted to linger on; in any case, he forgot to leave. It wasn't until he sensed movement from nearby—the Duke of Qin's guards going on nightly patrol—that he sighed softly and flickered out of sight.

Since the Nether Clan's already found their way to the Duke of Qin's estate, it's about time I pay a visit to the old friend I haven't seen in years.

Night in the capital was absolutely silent. The white-robed man kept to the shadows in the streets, following along the same extra path that Su Xiaoyu had once tread on her feet. Hidden in a private residence in one alley was Chu Tianyin's secret headquarters in Tianning's capital city. Currently the man was still awake, fooling around with an exquisitely made crossbow in the courtyard.

"It's so late yet you're still not resting. It looks like I didn't end up disturbing you after all," the white-robed man's voice reached Chu Tianyin first.

Chu Tianyin grew alarmed and nearly dropped the crossbow in his hands. He stood up and looked around, but didn't see anyone. Still, he knew that the man from the Shadow Clan had come!

"Still not showing yourself? I've looked for you at least ten times! Why wouldn't you meet with me?" Chu Tianyin asked.

Last time when he and Duanmu Baiye came to the empress dowager's banquet, he'd searched around for this fellow, but the latter had constantly refused to meet. Neither did he respond to any of the secret missives Chu Tianyin sent him. In the past, the Shadow and Nether Clans had joined hands to protect Western Qin's imperial heir. The Nether Clan concealed their identities beneath the name of the Chu Clan. Presently, they already controlled half of Western Zhou's military strength and established a foothold for themselves in the country. In contrast, the Shadow Clan had no one left but this solitary white-robed man. Moreover, he was a chronic invalid with poor health who depended on medicine to nurture his body.

The two of them hadn't met often, but it was always Chu Tianyin who'd made the first move over the past few years. If there was one thing that annoyed Chu Tianyin, it was the fact that the white-robed man from the Shadow Clan didn't seem half as anxious as the Chu Clan to find the heir to the West Qin imperial clan.

"That Su Xiaoyu from the Duke of Qin's estate was one of your agents, wasn't she?" The deep, magnetic voice hung in the night air, inexpressibly hypnotizing. Unfortunately, Chu Tianyin was no woman, so he wasn't affected by such tones. He followed the sound of the voice to the roof and saw that the white-robed man was already sitting on its edge. Chu Tianyin used lightness techniques to fly to the roof himself, intending to take off the white-robed man's face veil.

The white-robed man didn't seem like he moved, but right as Chu Tianyin's hands grabbed for the veil, he vanished to land in the middle of the courtyard. Chu Tianyin jumped back down with a cold snort. "We haven't seen each other in years, yet you're still hiding your face?"

He had seen the white-robed man's true face before and disliked it when the other visited him with his face concealed. They should be the most intimate of allies and friends, but the face veil only made him feel like they'd drifted apart.

The white-robed man sat down at the stone table and murmured, "You're not stupid enough to provoke the Duke of Qin in his own territory, are you?"

Chu Tianyin had concealed himself in Tianning's capital, first to investigate Han Yunxi, next to be Chu Qingge's support behind the scenes. He was to help his sister claim the spot as Tianning's empress, then eventually power over all of Tianning. In the scramble for power, the Duke of Qin would be his strongest adversary and his final foe. Chu Tianyin wouldn't be stupid enough to touch the man now. He had sent Su Xiaoyu into the Duke of Qin's estate purely to verify whether Han Yunxi had a winged phoenix birthmark.