The meeting point that was mentioned before was a small earth cave hidden inside a lush forest. This forest almost reached the south wall of Boundary Hill City and so the two advanced Spirit cultivators that weren't injured in the battle before had to guard the cave entrance. The rest of the ambush group were inside both to hide and to take care of their injuries.

As the two sensed someone approaching, they quickly grasped their scabbards and prepared for battle. But when they saw the approaching man, their hands left the weapons and drew a complex seal in the air. In response, the man repeated the password seal and the two guards' expression relaxed.

After which one of them reported while cupping his hands and stepping forward, "Reporting to the Commander, six are dead, four have their dantians crippled and another eight ended with light injuries that are almost healed. The bodies of the dead ones are inside this Holding Pouch." Saying this, he pointed to a small brown unadorned pouch that was hanging from his belt and continued, "The old man's corpse because of some reason could not be put inside the Holding Pouch, so we brought it with us." the man pointed to a sack that was lying near them.

"What?!" Zong Jun suddenly shouted, then after taking a breath as if to calm himself, he asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, we also tried to use our ones, but it was rejected." answered the man that was silent until now.

"Open the sack!" said Zong Jun with an anxious expression on his face.

The man that had explained took out his sword and slashed the sack open, but in place of the old expert corpse, something that ressembled a human figure made of crystal saw the light. Both of the men had personally put the corpse into the sack and then brought it here, so it wasn't strange that thye shouted in surprise as they did not know what and how happened. Quickly calming themselves, they turned to face the person they called Commander, intending to explain, but they saw the person that they thought invincible staring at the crystal shape with a dumb look on his face, with his mouth open as if he was about to say something.

"We are finished." Zong Jun muttered in a strange, low tone. Then looking at his subordinates, he sighed and explained to them,

"This is the Earth Crab Molting escape technique, the first hour it will look and even feel like a real corpse, while the expert who used it, disappears and becomes almost invisible, and after an hour, when the qi used dissipates it will slowly lose its appearance and become what it is, a layer of protective crystal created by cultivating the technique." after this explanation, Zong Jun looked a lot calmer, but while he talked, his subordinates started going pale,

"This technique is one of the inheritances that the Three Hills Sect obtained during the island's war, it requires spiritual earth to cultivate, so only the palace masters and great elders should have access to it. I didn't tell you yet, but when I reached the ones that went to pursue the targets, they were already dead, the targets escaped and I sensed someone of my cultivation level." After saying this, his expression had a subtle change, as if he inwardly decided on something, and looking from the glint in his eyes, this decision was not good.

"Lord Commander, you need to quickly leave the Three Hills Sect territory." both of the men said, and then added

"We will take care and slowly move with the injured."

"I can't leave my men here, but I must return to the City." Saying such a strange phrase, the man that called himself Zon Jun and used the identity of a Boundary Hill City Captain before, operated his Holding Pouch. And took out a strange ball made of crystal, full of a black mist. Before the two men could react, the crystal ball was thrown into the cave.

"Commander! Why?!" Shouted one of them

"As I said, I can't leave my men or their corpses here. So... I will return and bury them with honors, and make the families get compensation from the city, You two are not injured so you will accompany me." He said to both men, then looking at their distressed faces, he added

"Don't grieve over them, they are injured and would be easily captured by Three Hills or Boundary City, and then with torture or interrogation implicate the city." Coldly answered them Zon Jun, and when the two men turned to face the cave, from where panicked shouts and groans could be heard, he suddenly brought out his ax, and beheaded both of the men in a wide arc movement. Then he took the Holding Pouch that had the six corpses of the men that died in the ambush and with a hand seal it opened and absorbed both the bodies and heads.

After waiting enough time for the poisonous mist to act, he entered the cave, personally checked that every one of the twelve people in there was dead, and put their corpses into a Holding Pouch, and their weapons and possessions were stored into another one. he also collected the shards of the crystal ball that he previously threw in and left the cave.

After leaving, he took a small red pill, that looked as if made of fire and threw it inside, after the pill entered the mist, the air and even part of the ground suddenly started burning, and after a brief moment, the fire disappeared, leaving the earth cave with some light patches of burnt ground and no signs of the mist.

Only after making sure that all tracks were erased, the man that just killed his subordinates touched the Holding Pouch on his belt, which, different from the plain ones before was decorated with golden leaves, opened it with a hand seal, and stored all the plain-looking pouches he gathered before, after that, he took out a short sword that had qi fluctuations around, he adjusted this sword to his belt, then he took out a long plain cloak that he quickly draped over himself and at last he took out a golden identity medallion engraved with a leaf pattern and the words Gou Yong, Flowing Leaves City, First Commander. After hiding the medallion into a small pocket on his belt, he activated his moving technique and disappeared from the spot.

The next morning, in a small room situated on the eighth floor of the Three Hills Tower, Palace Master Chen, Shu Qiang, an enormous man with flowing hair that reached his shoulders, and a common-looking middle-aged woman were sitting in wooden chairs facing each other, except the chairs, the room was empty, most of the illumination came from some kind of runes that fully covered all the walls, roof, and floor. The room was about five square feet in size, and by some strange reason, not even a hint of a door could be seen.

"So, what do you think, Head Enforcer Zhen, Vice-Master Leng?" Asked Master Chen after recounting the ambush.

"I am fairly sure that the one that attacked you was Gou Yong, First Commander of the Flowing Leaves City, he tried to mislead you by using his ax techniques in place of the sword mastery that he's famous about, but I remember that he used an ax aura technique like the one that you described in one of the matches during the Island Battle Ranking some years ago." Slowly said the man that was addressed as Head Enforcer Zhen. He was of enormous stature, towering two heads over everyone else when sitting, and easily took the space of two men with his wide, muscular build. He was dressed in a black robe, and an iron badge indicating his position as an enforcer was strapped on his arm.

"What I am more interested, is in how did the ambushers evade Boundary Hill City? I could accept if they had bribed the guards to pass, but on their return journey, with injured people, how did they evade our eyes? We have been personally watching the North Gate for the last day without missing a single person passing through, and there were only two apart of you." Said the middle-aged woman, the Vice-Master of the Wisdom Palace.

"Indeed, I also received reports from the South Gate guards interrogation, and I am sure that they have not seen anyone who isn't either a citizen, a member of our sect or a merchant in the last two days." Added Enforcer Zhen.

"I had my doubts before, but I am now sure that there is a secret pass around or under the City Walls, after all, its the only explanation of how did they bypassed the City, they used the method from the assassinations in the rear camp during the siege in the Island's War." Said Palace Master Chen.

The assassinations that he mentioned, were an incident that remained unresolved for more than eighty years. At least once a week, unknown experts appeared at the island command camp located miles away from the City, killing whoever they could, and then escaping. Enormous resources were mobilized, but no clues could be found as to where they hid, and strangely, most of the trophies they took, appeared in the enemy siege-camp, as if flying over the City.

"I will investigate the terrain again, maybe now with recent usage, some clues will be found." He finished as if reaching a decision.

"So, when we should leave for the Sect Headquarters?" Asked Shu Qiang, that was silent until now.

"If your qi recovered and your son feels well, then you should leave right now." Answered Enforcer Zhen.

"It has recovered, and Min'er is alright." Quickly responded Shu Qiang.

"If that's so, then indeed leave now. I will remain to investigate, if something unexpected arises, send me a message to the tower, Head Enforcer Zhen will take care of passing it to me." After saying this, Palace Master Chen got up, indicating the meeting was over. He walked to one of the walls, and after touching it and injecting some qi, the runes became brighter and a part of the wall disappeared opening a doorway as if it was always there.

After everyone except him left, he made some hand seals and all the runes in the room faded out, leaving the room in darkness. Before exiting himself, he closed his eyes and quickly decided on a plan of action. He would return to the ambush spot and try to track the attackers, trying to find some proof to pressure Flowing Leaves City or at least find the method that they used to bypass the city walls.