As Hua Chin left the scene, he began to think of the words that he had just said.

Some of his men were killed, a few of his items were stolen from him, and there was even a moderate flesh wound around the area of his neck where Hua Yan had placed his sword.

Considering this, Hua Chin should have harboured a grudge against Hua Yan.

Yet, what was he thinking when he gave the latter some crucial information on how to escape from the clan?

Why did he offer his assistance? Why did he say those words? Just what exactly was going on in his mind?

He clearly knew that if anyone were to have heard him speaking, he would’ve suffered the dire consequence of being labeled as a traitor. He would have been seen as nothing short of a rebel that sold his clan out to support criminals.

If he were to be charged with such a thing, he would definitely receive a punished many times more severe than Hua Yan’s.

After all, he was a hired guard captain.

He was supposed to be setting positive examples for the masses. If he himself was a traitor, then the clansmen wouldn’t respect the guards anymore.

Hence, Hua Chin would have been punished severely to serve as an example to all those that had similar thoughts.

And though he was certain that there was no one was around to hear him when he spoke, why did he take such a large risk?

And just why did he have to go so far for a person like Hua Yan, who he had no agreeable relationship with?!

Was it because of Hua Yan’s bearing? Was it because he was impressed by Hua Yan’s strength? Was it because he admired Hua Yan’s manner of dealing with all the things that were tossed at him?

No, this definitely wasn’t it. These things about Hua Yan would only serve to make Hua Chin jealous and wish harm onto him for being such an outstanding person.

It was definitely due to a different branch of reason.

Because he was grateful that his life had been spared? Because he felt like Hua Yan understood all his struggles? Because he did not have to be forced to make a choice that had no real right answer?

Hua Chin did not know for certain, but he did have a very reasonable guess.

Perhaps the most important reason why Hua Chin was willing to offer those few words of advice to Hua Yan was because he saw a lot of himself in the youngster.

Hua Chin had his family to support and, in life, he didn’t really care about anything else. Even towards riches and status, he was only greedy for them on the surface. But, deep down, he was actually very apathetic and indifferent.

The only thing that could move him and make him break his limits was his family.

The thought of them being in danger or suffering terribly really tore his heart apart. He was not an unfilial type that could just look the other way while using his family as sacrificial pawns.

If he turned traitor, he wasn’t scared of the clan coming after him; he was most afraid of them going after his family.

So, when Hua Yan let Hua Chin go after seeing Hua Chin’s resolve to stand his ground, Hua Yan’s true character was displayed.

Hua Yan was no irrational killer. He was someone that valued certain things over others. And it just so happened that Hua Yan and Hua Chin valued the same thing.

It was this understanding between Hua Chin and Hua Yan that had caused Hua Yan to spare Hua Chin. It was also this very chemistry that had urged Hua Chin to give Hua Yan a helping hand.

Whether or not Hua Yan decided to make use of this help, however, was not Hua Chin’s problem. This was a battle that he would have to fight alone.

Hua Yan quickly rushed out of 24th courtyard.

From this point forth, he could not go to the Eastern Gate or the Northern Gate. Hua Chin’s men would have already informed their superiors by the time he got to either of those places, so he would not waste his time by even considering them as escape routes.

Furthermore, it was more than possible that the other four gates would also be locked down. The spreading of news within the clan was rather efficient.

After all, Complete Ballooning Stage experts were rather quick on their feet, so it would not take long for them to deliver all kinds of information.

The only thing was that the Southern and Western gates would not be as informed as the Eastern and Northern ones.

And, in practice, this made a lot of sense.

The guards were, after all, from the Northern Gate. Because of this, they would dedicate more importance on rushing back to their own base and reporting the incident to their superiors first.

Furthermore, the entire incident had happened near the vicinity of the Eastern Gate, in a courtyard that was under the gate’s radius of influence.

As such, it was only natural that the clansmen that lived within the courtyard would have already scurried over to the Eastern Barracks by now to inform the officers stationed over there about the tragedies that had taken place.

Because of these reasons, Hua Yan could not go to either the Eastern Gate or the Northern Gate.

He would have to try his luck with the other two areas.

Taking into account the information that Hua Chin had told him, if the man wasn’t bluffing, then he would have to try his luck with the party that was happening at the Western Gate.

Though he did not really know what kind of party or gathering it was, he had to try anything that was available to him.

He was actually quite worried about his sister. He didn’t know if she had gotten out safely or not, so the matter kept weighing down on his heart.

This was precisely the reason why he wanted to get out of the manor as fast as possible and to head to Chil Pin.

As Hua Yan was passing through the various courtyards, he heard loud footsteps coming from a random direction.

It was the guards! They were all suited up and looking for someone!

Judging by where their search radius was, it was quite obvious that they were looking for him!

Since they were already here, Hua Yan needed to be stealthy.

If he were to bolt towards the Western Gate, he would immediately attract attention.

Just as he planned to slip into some random courtyard and wait for the guards to pass, a voice of a familiar man screamed out.

“He’s over there! The murderer is right there!”

The one that was screaming was none other than the bully, Hua Gwan, that he had bumped into earlier. This man, who was now ratting him out, was the root cause of all his problems today.

Thinking about him, Hua Yan’s anger once again awoke.

This time around, there were more than 30 guards that had arrived at the scene.

Hua Yan knew that he could not wiggle his way out of such a large number. Confrontation was to be absolutely avoided, unless of course he wanted to be killed.

In addition, there were more stronger experts in this group.

Judging from their uniforms, Hua Yan saw around 7 people that were around Hua Chin’s rank, and 1 that was dressed even more elaborately.

It was a Guard Colonel!

Such a person was actually sent after him so early on!

He was someone that had already surpassed the limits of the Continuous Ballooning Stage and had stepped into the next realm!

A Complete Deflation Stage expert!