"This one might be trouble," said an assassin in a nervous shaky voice, he was visibly shaken at the sight of his squad mate being spectacularly expelled from the inn through its solid front stone wall followed by a debris-field of dust and broken stones, the figure dressed identical to himself plopped onto the cobble stones like a dead fish ten meters away from him under the dim moon light, there were no groans of pain or calls for help, the body was a bloody mess and hadn't moved a centimeter since coming to a stop, it was obvious he was dead. The nervous assassin was about ten meters away from the inn's entrance in the dark shadows of the opposite buildings. The naked terror in his exposed eyes could not be disguised, it was a stark contrast to the shiver of excitement he had felt at the start of night when he embarked on his first hunt with the senior assassins.

"Lets not jump to conclusions" said the second assassin stood in the dark beside him, "we don't know what's happening inside, lets just hold our positions and stick to the plan for the time being." He too was nervous but as a more experienced assassin who had gone on many missions, he was able to control his feelings and remain calm on the outside but on the inside his stomach curdled with a sense of mortal danger, only the discipline acquired during his training and trying to set an example for the younger assassin kept him there waiting for the return of the squad.

Though the target was said to be strong, six mid phase xiantians should be able to easily overpower and kill the target, he couldn't understand why there was a struggle on the first floor, all fighting should be on the second floor inside the room of the unsuspecting target, losing a team member in that situation was not uncommon and could be considered as collateral damage during the course of a mission but the current situation was way too strange, he kept his eyes peeled on the entrance of the inn as he awaited the return of the surviving squad members.....

After descending the rickety stairway which creaked in protest at every step, Hartley, Qin Li and Zhi Ruo stopped for a moment offering silent condolences to the distressed woman on her knees crying and sniffling over the dead body of a tall man. The smell of blood tickled their nostrils as the dull blue moonlight crept into the building through the ragged hole next to the door and made the lobby bright enough to see the scarlet pools of blood and the numerous bloody foot prints laying on the concrete floor.

Hartley immediately picked up the fluctuations of the final two assassins outside, they were in a small alley directly facing the inn. The remaining two weren't very experienced. If they were, they would have noticed that all the elemental fluctuations of their squad mates had disappeared from the building and now the only xiantians inside the building were Hartley, Qin LI and Zhi Ruo, who knows what they were thinking about to not notice this detail.

"There is still two outside in the alley across from us," said Hartley as he approached the door. "Lets deal with them quickly and be on our way." Qin LI and Zhi Ruo nodded their response and prepared to rush out with Hartley.

Even as the assassins watched the inn's entrance with anticipation, a huge swirl of dust and a loud sonic rumble was detonated in the darkness, before they had time to take a breath, a black hair youth dressed in black robes had flashed across the short distance from the entry of the inn to their position in the alley, not far behind him was a red hair woman dressed in white who moved as if she was gliding on thin air and a man with green cyclone-like aura wrapped around his feet whipping up even more dust and dirt into the chaotic maelstrom of dust left in their wake. Ignoring the assassin on his left Hartley threw out a punch towards the assassin directly facing him utilizing spiral circulation in battle for the first time. The blue energy in front of his fist was spinning like a pin wheel rotating around a central point of a blue circle, lighting up the dark alley like a disco ball and produced a whooshing sound as the youth's robe and hair fluttered in the residual wind produced by the technique.

The nervous assassin was the target of this attack and as he scrambled to retaliate, he produced a brown earth elemental armor from his neck to his waist, he was also trying to get his sword up in defense but he was way too late.

Seeing the vicious attack initiated by the youth, the more experienced assassin saw this as his golden opportunity to eliminate the youth, even if he had to trade his partner's life in return, in a smooth flowing motion, a dim white aura wrapped around the assassin's silver sword as he swiped down in a straight line aiming at Hartley's head.... Hartley paid this strike no mind and put his faith and his life in Zhi Ruo's hand.

There was a muffled thump, then a loud clang!, then a boom and finally a scream of pain.....

The muffled thump happened when Hartley's fist connected with the chest of the nervous assassin, a split second later later the Clang happened when Zhi Ruo's right dagger which was now wrapped in a white aura intercepted the sword of the assassin on the left of Hartley producing a huge burst of white sparks that illuminated the entire alley, fine white circular ripples all radiated out from Zhi Ruo's feet. She then stepped forward with her right foot and rotated her dagger in a swift and smooth motion breaking the assassin's balance and sending him stumbling back while losing control of his sword, which dangled uselessly to the side.

The boom that happened produced a shower of blood, bone shards and inner organs which flew out the back of the nervous assassin and splashed all over the floor behind him with a sickening squelching sound, he stood unmoved at the same spot as he looked down in shock to see a hole the size of grapefruit had penetrated his earthen armor and his chest, before he could make a sound the life went out of his eyes and he collapsed on the spot.

The scream happened when the off balance assassin on the left who was in no position to defend himself after his clash with Zhi Ruo saw a neon green ax heading for his waist, he screamed at the top of his lungs in blood- curdling terror as his blood spluttered everywhere. Qin LI's ax bit deep into the man's waist and came out the other side in a smooth line from mid-right to mid-left, flinging the top half of his body at least a meter away from the bottom half, spilling innards and organs all over the alley as the masked assassin emptied his bowels involuntarily, this ended the assassin's desperate outcry and brought back silence and tranquility to the dark alley. The aftermath of the encounter was truly gruesome. The familiar bloody scent mixed with the rancid smell of shit rose up in the alley, it was enough to make a billy goat puke, the wild foxes were bound to have a feast before the break of dawn.

"That was too reckless," Zhi Ruo complained as sweat ran down her forehead, she pouted and punched Hartley on his shoulder in a playful manner to show her annoyance, there was a distinct look of distress on her beautiful face, she truly had not expected Hartley to give up the notion of defending in hopes of her or Qin Li defending his vulnerable flank for him. Hartley looked her in the eyes and with a smile hugged her closely then whispered in her ear, "I trusted you to be there for me Ruo, that's all" She took a deep breath and calmed herself then nodded, she was happy that he trusted her with his life but couldn't help wondering what the results would be if she wasn't dependable, the thought sent shivers down her spine.

Hartley waved his hands and there was a slight ripple in the air, he then spoke, "its over now, come down and prepare the carriage, lets leave as soon as possible." This was a trick he learned from Kang, it was the simplest way to use a slight space crack for communication.

Back in the inn Yang Yi held a long sword with both hands as he stood in the shadows at the back of his room, the door was barricaded with every piece of movable furniture available, even the kettle was hoisted atop the mess at the door. He then looked around in fright as he heard Hartley's instruction as if he was there in the room, "Yes sir" he answered nervously and proceeded to move the blockade at the door...

Clop clop clop, the feet of the four beast dragging the armored carriage moved in unison like a well drilled platoon as Hartley and company made their way further north, the wind had calmed down from earlier and the night air was fresh and crisp, a lantern was placed on a stick which extended outwards a few yards so Yang Yi could navigate through the dark night with the help of the the dim moonlight. Yellow flickering candle lights started to appear in random windows and black silhouettes of heads could be seen peaking out from behind curtains, it seems the ruckus had awakened lots of people who wouldn't dare venture out to investigate.

After the group traveled for about four hours Hartley's awareness picked up another group of people headed their way, they were 2 kilometers away and wasn't a immediate threat so they continued on their journey towards the north gate, he decided to just keep going, they would probably be there sometime in the evening of the next day.