The Thorne of Destiny-Chapter 131: Chasing Ghosts.

Without explaining further, Adrian stepped out of the inn. The sun was just coming out, but it was bright enough to see.

However, there was a noticeable shift in the atmosphere in the city. There weren’t many individuals on the streets. The few that came out were either Qi condensation realm cultivators or were of the Golden core realm and above.

No Foundation Establishment realm cultivator could be found. And for good reason. No one wanted to be nabbed on the street while they were just going about their business.

The overall mood in the city was also down. Merchants were having a hard time selling their wares and were already thinking about leaving the city. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Also, the number of visitors had reduced over the past few days. News of what was going on in the city had spread, and people were starting to avoid it.

Adrian’s gaze hardened as he locked on two guards who were making their way through the city. As soon as both of them turned into an alley, Adrian followed them quietly.

It seemed that they were using the alley as a shortcut to their destination, but they would soon regret that decision.

Step! Step!

As soon as both guards heard the sounds of footsteps behind them, they turned around only to see the gleaming edge of a sword.

In one swift motion, Adrian beheaded one of them. The other guards stood frozen, but soon snapped back to reality. He was about to scream for help, but before he could,

Pierce.

The Skyveil sword pierced into his chest. He glanced down to find the sword embedded in his chest. His vision was fading, but just before ti did, he noticed something strange.

The man before him transformed from a Golden Core realm cultivator to a Foundation Establishment realm cultivator.

"Ahhh," He finally realised what was going on. This was the very man they were looking for. He wanted to warn his comrades, but sadly, he would never get the chance.

The light in his eyes faded, and his body collapsed on the ground. He was dead.

Adrian glanced at the bodies of the two men. This fight, if you could even call it that, took only a few seconds. Adrian stared at the sword in his hand, pondering his own strength.

Yesterday, when he attacked the two guards, not only the spectators, but even he was surprised by his strength. After his realm increase, he hadn’t had a chance to test out his new strength.

He didn’t think he would have become strong enough to oneshot a Golden Core realm cultivator. Even now, it was still a bit overwhelming for him.

However, he didn’t dwell on it too much. He quickly stored the bodies of the two guards and left the alley as silently as he had entered.

Adrian moved through the winding streets of the outer district until he reached a derelict courtyard wedged between two abandoned warehouses. He paused and looked around, ensuring no one had followed him. Then, from his sleeve, he pulled out a small glass vial filled with blood.

It wasn’t his. It was from one of the guards that he had just killed.

He uncorked the vial and carefully dribbled the blood across the stones, letting it form a crooked trail leading to a cracked wooden door that opened into one of the abandoned buildings.

Then he placed a broken formation disk beside the trail, a bronze grade illusion array, shattered. It was one of the junks he had found in the Hundred faced theif’s storage ring.

He didn’t think it would be useful, but didn’t bother throwing them away since he had the space. Now he was glad he did.

To the untrained eye, it would seem like someone had desperately tried to hide here but failed.

Next, he drew a crude sigil on the wall using charcoal and spirit ink, a false sect mark, similar in design to what was worn by a few rogue cultivator groups operating near the Misty Mountains. Just enough to raise suspicion. Just enough to make them think they were on the right trail.

Then he vanished.

The streets swallowed him again, and he reappeared in the northern district an hour later, where he planted another piece of evidence, a shredded robe, dyed with faint traces of the qi signature of a Foundation Establishment realm cultivator.

Not his own, but one from the Veil of a Hundred shadows, The shredded robe was torn and embedded into the tiles of a rooftop. It looked as if someone had leapt across in haste and left behind a piece of their clothing.

Finally, before noon, he visited the far end of the city, near the east wall. There, in a quiet alley, he dumped the body of one of the guards there.

However, he left signs of battle on the body and in the alley. He wanted those who found it to think it was not an easy battle.

"Let’s see how far they’ll run in circles," Adrian muttered.

******

At the center of the city, the traps worked.

Before evening, all three false sites had been discovered.

The first to fall into the trap was a team of guards who found the trail of blood and a broken illusion disk in the west warehouse district.

By the time they raised the alarm and requested reinforcements, the second patrol stumbled upon the shredded robe on the rooftop, reporting a visual match to the earlier disguise seen by witnesses during the murder of the guards.

City Lord Richards received both reports nearly simultaneously and immediately dispatched four elite squads to begin canvassing the areas. His eyes burned with anticipation.

"He’s panicking, "City Lord Richards growled to Julian. "He’s trying to run."

Julian’s eyes sparkled with malice. "Good. Let him run. He won’t get far."

What neither of them realized was that they were chasing ghosts.

Adrian, cloaked in his veil, was already back at the inn by the time the sun began to set.

He opened the doors to find the children having lunch. Without much hesitation, he joined them, and the three of them had a wonderful time together.

Meanwhile, the rest of the city was slowly becoming even more chaotic. The patrol of guards in the three regions where Adrian had set up the trap had become even more condensed.

Almost all the residences in the three regions were being searched thoroughly. Now, even the residences of those noble families and sects in the city were searched thoroughly.

City Lord Richards, who thought he was closing in on his target, didn’t bother with the plesantries anymore and gave the guards full power to search and investigate this region.

Dozens of individuals were arrested, and public outrage over the Richards family was growing by the second. However, in order to get in the good graces of Bella, City Lord Richards didn’t hesitate to do this.

However, his search ended up fruitless. Adrian continued this pattern for two more days, constantly ’making mistakes’ and leaving trails for the guards to follow.

By now, Stonehold City felt different from before. There was an unspoken tension in the air. Shops and stalls only stayed open during the day. As soon as the sun even showed signs of dimming, they immediately packed up and went home.

It wasn’t as if they were getting good business anyway. Not many people were moving around to purchase things. Ironically, the outer regions of the city where the slums were now, seemed more peaceful than the inner regions of the city.

On the fourth day, Adrian set out once again, attempting to do the same thing he had been doing since. With the Veil of a Hundred Shadows, he headed towards the edge of the inner city.

He wanted to avoid the very powerful cultivators who would find him easily. With Astral Steps, he was able to avoid the guards until he reached his destination.

An inn that was multiple times bigger than his current one. This was the type of inn where one could only enter after spending serious money.

However, Adrian wasn’t looking to enter. He retrieved another broken formation disk from his storage ring. However, this time, just as he was placing it in the area;

"Heh! So this is the guy that has been causing a ruckus these past few days," a voice rang out from behind him. A wave of terror suddenly washed over him as he quickly turned around to see who it was.

To his horror, four individuals in cloaks could be seen standing not too far away from him. Immediately he saw them, Adrian quickly backed away, trying to further increase the distance between himself and these individuals.

Not that it made a difference though, with how they were able to sneak up behind him, if they wanted to do anything to him, he wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop them.

However, he wasn’t thinking rationally right now.