The message was spoken in a faint, sickly voice. Yet, its owner was recognizable to Aiden immediately, making his expression and mood immediately sour and his eyes turn colder by the second.
Vast killing intent boiled within him that was ready to explode at a moment's notice.
"Y-young M-master, I've failed in assigned task, and have failed to protect little Tolliah and stay safe in the end. During my last session, something unexpected happened that CA-used my power to go wild, *KHO-* and now I am injured. The injuries I am sorry to report but are extremely severe and I am not sure how long I can hold on.
I know you are busy with important matters, and I regret to ask you of this but could you please come here… I do not know how long I can hold on…"
The voice, in the end trailed off, growing weaker and weaker, as though she couldn't muster her strength.
Aiden's expression returned to a calmer one after he finished listening to the message and there wasn't a single bit of emotion in his eyes.
In fact this outlook of his was even scarier than before.
Out of curiosity, Nora Zell could not help but inch forward to take a look.
"'What is it? Did you receive bad news?"
She asked, catching sight of the initial sudden outburst and than this lack of response later on.
She did not know what the message entailed but to make this Young Man, this young master to react so intensely and then focus on reigning all that anger back down was a telltale sign that something dire happened.
As their savior, Nora Zell wanted nothing more than to be able to help him, to be able to repay at least some of that blessing Aiden has given them during their time of need.
Nora Zell hence said, sensing something between the lines with her keen intuition. "Young Master, could this message be forged? It might be a trap!"
"No. The voice was definitely hers."
Aiden said before sneering. "However, there's definitely a trap there."
It was stupidly obvious. For Dana to rely on such an old fashioned method instead of the mental connection, was a warning in of itself. Someone had to be ordering her to do this, clearly unaware of the fact that they could just use a much more convenient and faster method.
The fact her voice was so faint have already made Aiden be wary and angered, but the fact that his little Tolliah, that innocent little angel be in such grave danger, made him be barely be able to contain his rationality and not just burst out all his secrets and destroy everything.
Yet he knew that the perpetrator, that was also cleverly hidden in that message, Cain Khoren, that old vicious man during the battle, would became more and more afraid.
Therefore, Aiden predicted that Mighty Cain Khoren would definitely make his move!
However, there was no chance for Mighty Cain Khoren to do anything if Aiden remained in Azure Myst Sect.
Therefore, no matter what kind of message it was, whether it was at Ping Yang Town or anywhere else, Mighty Cain Khoren only had a single motive. to lure him away from Azure Myst Sect!
When Nora Zell saw that Aiden was calm and did not lose his cool, she felt relieved.
However, immediately after, Aiden's next sentence alarmed Nora Zell.
"I'm going to leave the sect for a while."
"Ah?
Nora Zell frowned and asked, "Young Master, you're going to continue despite knowing that it's a trap?"
"That's right."
Aiden smiled and gazed into the distance.
A breeze blew over and his black hair swayed gently. As if he was reminiscing, Aiden looked a little emotional and murmured, "It's just nice that they're all around. It's time to make a clean break and settle all the grievances in one go."
"However, the other party is prepared and must have set up an impenetrable trap for you, young master!"
Nora Zell had a worried expression as she analyzed calmly, "You're not at the Martial Master realm yet, young master. There's truly no need for you to take the risk."
"Don't worry. If the situation doesn't seem right, I'll retreat first."
Aiden smiled slightly. "Furthermore, I haven't been getting much progress recently in my attempts in core formation. Continuing that way isn't going to be helpful and I've been meaning to head out as well."
Before Nora Zell could persuade him further, Aiden had already vanished in a golden blur and turned into a streak of light, tearing through the void.
…
A couple of days later… In a distant place.
At the dead of the night.
It was dead quiet on the streets without anyone around.
Within a room in a mansion not far away from the Village Head's, everything was pitch-black.
All of a sudden!
In the darkness, a pair of eyes lit up and a skinny figure appeared faintly.
The person's ears twitched before whispering, "Someone's here!"
Immediately after, a hushed voice sounded from the side, "Brother Lian Hen, you're indeed impressively strong. We didn't even detect anyone at all."
As he spoke, another few pairs of eyes lit up in the room as a couple more figures appeared one after another – it was Mighty Cain Khoren's group of five.
Before long, the sound of clothes fluttering through the air arrived at an extremely fast speed.
The sound of it definitely indicated that the person was headed for this small village!
The five of them exchanged glances and their killing intents surfaced.
Mighty Cain Khoren went to a window and peered outside through a slit.
Before long, a gray-robed figure arrived above the residence. His robes were fluttering as he stepped on thin air, standing upright in the air with a calm expression.
Mighty Cain Khoren could not help but smirk when he saw that.
"He took the bait!"
Turning around, he nodded to Lian Hen and the other three.
"Are we going to make a move now?"
Gao Hu rubbed his palms with a murderous look. He was raring to go.
"Let's wait a little more, there's no hurry."
Mighty Cain Khoren was extremely calm and whispered, "Let's observe further to see if the kid has any expert on his heels. Otherwise, we might be the ones falling into a trap!"
"That's right."
Sezud Nida nodded.
"Expert? What expert?"
Lian Hen sneered, "If they are Martial Masters, it doesn't matter how many of them come because I'll be able to take them down singlehandedly! As for Martial Grandmasters…"
"Ha, do you guys think that any Martial Grandmasters would be so free as to accompany this lad for such a long distance just so he could meet his little girls?"
Gao Hu nodded in agreement.
"Still… There's nothing wrong with being a little more careful."
Mighty Cain Khoren added with a slight frown.
Although Aiden had already fallen into the trap and everything was proceeding as planned, for some reason, he felt uneasy as though something was amiss.
"Isn't everything going too smoothly?"
A moment later, Mighty Cain Khoren suddenly asked.
"Fu!"
Lian Hen could not help but stifle a chuckle and shake his head. "Cain Khoren, you're truly overly suspicious. We've planned this for so long with so many backups, what are you still worried about?"
"I have no idea as well."
Mighty Cain Khoren shook his head.
He could not help but have this sense of dreadful feeling, this sensation deep inside that did not let his mind be at ease… As if something was strange…
As he thought about it, he thought about how Aiden played him like a fiddle in front of everyone back at the battle… How his elder brother destroyed his disciples below the Ancient One's Temple, he couldn't help but be nervous.
"This kid is so difficult to deal with. How is he falling for this so easily?"
Mighty Cain Khoren was still worried.
With a cold expression, Tom Horl asked with a hushed voice, "When you saw him earlier on, what was his martial realm?"
"He should be at the peak Martial Knight realm."
Mighty Cain Khoren was the first to freeze after replying.
The other four could not help but laugh as well.
"Perhaps I'm overthinking it."
Mighty Cain Khoren chuckled. "Since he's at the Martial Knight realm only, there's truly nothing to worry about."
"Even without everything we've prepared, if the five of us rush up, it'll be nothing much for us to take down a Martial Knight martial artist!" Gao Hu grinned.
…
The sky above the lonesome looking mansion.
Aiden stood upright in the air with ridicule in his eyes.
If Aiden wanted to, with his heightened senses he could even listen to the sounds of ants crawling underground and mosquitoes buzzing within a thousand feet loud and clear, let alone the whispers of Mighty Cain Khoren and the others.
Initially, Aiden had the intention of rushing over to kill Mighty Cain Khoren and the other four instantly.