A Sudden Task

Xu An suddenly had a thought as he asked, "but why me though, of all people?"

He did understand Xu Yang's army had no time to handle it.

From Xu Yang's description. The mission seemed to have hidden dangers despite the fact that he said that Xu An could succeed.

In consideration of this mission lies the reason why the Xu clan was going to face annihilation. It practically increased the danger.

Shouldn't Xu Yang ask other people who were stronger than him?

Speaking of powerful cultivators. There were a lot of them in the city and by simply saying that he needed help, they would come to him like hungry wolves.

"The task I gave you is related to the future of the Xu clan. Although you're no longer part of it. I trust you."

After a long pause, Xu An finally said, "Fine, I'll do this. Though, can I get the money as an advance payment? Speaking of which, how much money are we talking about?"

"10,000 Yakhu. I'll pay you 3,000 first."

Xu Yang opened the drawer and pulled out a brown envelope, which was bulging. 

Xu An's eyes lit up. That's a lot of money! Suppress his agitation and excitement, he cleared his throat, "Ehem, you don't have to worry. I'll bring everything I got to you."

Xu An seized the envelope, put it beneath his robe and got up off his seat, and approached Arza who observed the whole situation warily.

But when everything appeared to be fine, Arza was bewildered. Earlier, Xu Yang aimed his gun at Xu An's forehead but now he gave him money?

Before he could say anything, Xu An whispered, "come on, let's go."

Arza nodded without a sound and followed Xu An.

Out of the blue, a solemn voice came from behind. It was rather solemn as it said, "Brother, don't die."

Xu An stunned for a moment before turning his body around and smiled as he nodded, "Un, you don't have to worry."

With Arza behind him, Xu An left the study room.

As soon as he did that, Xu Yang exuded a sigh. This was the first time in many years since they've met, Xu Yang thought Xu An would be angry that he got everything that was supposed to be his but against the odds.

Xu An didn't care at all. As a matter of fact, he seemed to have a good life, better than in the main house to be precise.

He was relieved that their relationship didn't turn for the worse, as that would make him question the meaning of life.

Although I prepare that he's going to kill me on the spot, or at least try to. It's nerve-wracking, Xu Yang said to himself.

"Future has changed." Clair's ethereal voice spread out into the study room.

"Already? For the better or worse?" Xu Yang's eyes were in shock. He didn't expect it would be that fast.

Xu An had yet to do the mission!

"Both."

.

.

.

As they walked in the luxurious corridor which had carpet covering the floor. Xu An and Arza engaged in small talk.

"Uncle Xu, that person just now. Who is he?" Arza asked.

"He's my little brother."

"Aren't brothers supposed to fight and hate each other? Isn't that how they show their love?" Arza voiced out his doubt.

Xu An chuckled as he rubbed Arza's head, "you can say we're different. We've been through hard times after all."

After a short pause, Arza pondered, "what have you guys been through?"

"A lot of things," said Xu An with a low voice and a bitter smile.

Seeing that Xu An didn't want to talk about it. Arza didn't probe any further and remained silent.

To the exit, they walked in silence and after arriving at the gate. Arza bowed politely as a sign of gratitude.

Lifting his body, he waved his hand with a smile, "Thank you, uncle Xu!"

And turned around, walked away as his figure became smaller in Xu An's vision.

Xu An walked away too and after a few minutes, he arrived at a place where the carriage usually gathered but probably because it was late, there was no one around.

"It seems there are no overtime carriages," he muttered to himself as he looked around.

Seeing no purpose in staying here, he took his pace as he walked to the nearby inn. His hut was quite far and to reach the city's gate required two hours by walking alone.

As he was a cultivator, he could react there half an hour by running but that would drain his energy and qi dry.

He would be vulnerable like a thin stick.

After finding an Inn, he settled down in a room and lay down.

He then exuded a long sigh. Being someone else an entire day, probably for his entire life, was quite taxing for one's mind.

He didn't think that he's losing his identity but it was simply tiring him.

Staring at the ceiling, he pondered about his next move.

First of all, to conquer the Great Tower. He needed allies, a great amount of money, and strength.

He already had one ally albeit a candidate. She was promising and quite strong. If he wanted to lead a Guild, he had to be stronger than most of his members.

In the end, it all led to strength. Xu An was somewhat tired of hearing that word.

"I'll think about it tomorrow." Xu An slowly closed his eyelids.

The sun ascended and shine bright the city.

As he slept peacefully, he heard a loud, echoing roar coming from the sky. It was a majestic roar that trembled the heavens and earth.

Xu An woke up as he frowned. He was confused as to what was going on. He opened the window and realized it was pitch dark.

Or more precisely, the sunlight was blocked by something humongous.

Xu An lifted his head after he peeked out the window and his eyes dilated.

Something was floating in the sky and it slowly advanced. The crowds let out a cheerful scream, a stark contrast to Xu An's expectation.

He wore a puzzled expression. It seemed something had happened without him knowing.

However, thanks to his sharp ears, he could hear others' conversations from a distance.

"It's the Empire's official explorer Guild! They came back from the Dark Continent!"

Xu An nimbly came to the roof to get a better view. He finally could determine whatever was floating above him.

"A giant mount," he softly muttered.

It was a creature that explorers used to travel when they were in the Dark Continent. 

This giant mount was a humongous turtle with four legs slowly swaying in the air as if swimming.

Information regarding the Dark Continent was limited to the public but Xu An knew some of it.

The environment in the Dark Continent was entirely different. It was said one couldn't see anything as thick, black fog limited one's vision and one could only see one meter ahead.

So traveling between places was a headache and required extreme caution. Giant mount was something humans accidentally discovered.

Apparently, a giant mount gave humans a special ability to see through the black fog considerably. Of course, this only happened if you rode on its back and were able to tame it.

As the giant mount above him advanced to the huge castle in the middle of the capital, Xu An saw structures on the back of the giant turtle. It was the size of a small city.

Xu An was amazed and shocked.

Isn't this basically a Turtle Island? He said to himself and couldn't believe he could see something coming out of fantasy novels.

Then, the turtle emitted a deep loud roar akin to a whale. It was both majestic and intimidating. The ground was trembling and the air reverberating!

If that thing fell, the entire capital would cease to exist in an instant!

With the giant mount distance away, Xu An went back to his room and opened the brown envelope.

Apart from the stacked money, there were three sheets of A4 paper containing information about his mission. Xu An put the money and the envelope to the desk and read the documents.

It told him who did this, what organization it was, how dangerous they were, their list of members and many other things which could have helped him a lot when he was in action.

The information was complete and thorough. Xu An felt it was quite weird. They could get this much information yet still want him to gather intelligence?

What intelligence should he gather though?

It seems Xu Yang wants me to discover their purpose in doing this.

Just as he was in the middle of his thoughts. He felt something approaching him at a terrifying speed.

His eyes narrowed in danger as he threw the documents and leaped to the side.

Where he was earlier, the ground had bullet holes and cracks around it. Xu An looked at where this came from as he shifted his line of sight to the window.

But he didn't someone targeting him, it was either they quickly hid themselves or run away as their assassination had failed.

Xu An could feel his scalp go numb.

Not long after, however.