4. Searching for the Demon

(In the afternoon, Slums District)

*BANG! BANG!*

A loud knock is heard on the door of the shed. Mo Tian who was peacefully sleeping was wide awake due to the knock.

One had to know… Nobody comes to the house of a beggar, unless the beggar is either a criminal or demon that is to be arrested.

According to his memories, there are two instances where someone would know who he is. The people who identified him as a demon in the market or the cultivator who saw him stealing food from the restaurant.

Mo Tian quickly looks around for an escape route, but there are no open windows.

*BANG! BANG!*

The knocking became louder. It seems that the people outside are trying to break into his house.

"It is not safe here anymore… Shit" thinks Mo Tian and quickly manage to find a hole in the ceiling to the attic of this broken shed. He quickly jumps on his bed and uses the wall to hang onto the ledge of the hole.

*BANG! BANG! CRACK!*

The door flung open. There were two cultivators standing outside. They looked in the shed, but there was no-one there. Mo Tian was able to climb into the hole just before the door broke.

"Where is that thief?!?" screams one of the cultivators to someone standing outside.

"I swear he lives here!" says the voice loudly. Mo Tian immediately knew the voice. It was Liu Gou.

"I did not ask you where he lives! I asked you where he is!" screams the cultivator and smacks Liu Gou with the sheath of his sword.

"AHHH! I saw him come home yesterday night! He cannot be far!" screams Liu Gou hoping that the cultivator stops attacking him with the sheath of his sword.

"Get him fast! Search the area!" screams the other cultivator as he rushes out of the house.

While they were arguing, Mo Tian was silently staying in the attic not daring to make a sound. Based on what he heard down below, they were searching for him in a big group. Additionally, they were cultivators and rather higher level too. Based on his experience, Mo Tian could infer that these cultivators were at least First-Rate Martial Artists. This was not something he could defeat with his current cultivation realm.

After quickly calming down, he started to make a plan. Currently, he has neither food or water since the cultivators took the bag he had in the house. There were martial artists he could not defeat outside. They knew what he looked like. So the only option was to leave the city. While he was thinking about an escape plan, footsteps came from outside.

*Step step step*

The cultivator looked around without making much noise. If it wasn't for Mo Tian's sharpened senses he would have missed this.

"He is really not in the house… That demon spawn escaped, but how? Nobody was informed of this mission. His parents were extremely talented. If that demon grows up, he will definitely seek revenge on the Jian Family. If that bitch didn't elope, we would not have to deal with this annoying search."

Mo Tian could feel his own blood boil as he heard the sentences the cultivator. His parents were murdered during the war, but Mo Tian did not know who did it. He only knew he had to hide. Now it seems that he needs to hide even better. Based on the memories of his previous life, he knew that the Jian Family Clan was one of 12 Noble Families of the Justice League on this planet.

Although Mo Tian was Apathic, hearing about the death of his parents made even him mad. However he quickly suppressed his anger as the cultivator could possibly feel his killing aura. In his previous life he was a seasoned killer trained by the demonic cult to become the next sect leader. Holding back his killing aura was nothing new and being hunted down by righteous cultivators was a daily occurrence.

After a short moment, the cultivator stepped out of the shed Mo Tian called his home. When it turned dark, Mo Tian climbed out of the attic. He immediately left in case those cultivators left behind a trap. The door was broken down, so he could look outside. From the door he could see people walking around with lanterns. For reference, Beggars don't own lanterns.

Mo Tian quickly moved out of the house towards the back. At the back of his house was a ladder to climb onto the roofs. He climbed the ladder to look if there were people patrolling the roofs. He saw a few cultivators walking on the roofs, but the roofs were slanted so they could not see anyone that was crawling on the roof. The downside Mo Tian notices is that he would be incredibly slow, which would allow them to spot him if they made a turn in his direction from certain angles.

Gritting his teeth, Mo Tian decides to take the risk. He slowly moves across the roof to the street behind his house. From here, Mo Tian had 3 different escape routes planned. He could use the sewers to escape the city, He could disguise himself and pay a black merchant caravan to escape or dig a tunnel in the old part of the city. After carefully weighting the different pro's and con's, Mo Tian decides to takes the sewers. He does not trust black merchants and digging a tunnel would take to long, but now he risks getting captured by the guards.

Mo Tian moved quickly and avoided every street where there were lanterns burning, regardless of whether there were truly cultivators patrolling there. When he arrived at the sewers, he saw more guards than normal. It seems the Jian Noble Family really wanted to remove the weeds from the roots. It seemed that it would be difficult to take the sewers. He slowly proceeded to sneak around the entrance of the sewers trying to find a map and a way in. After 10 minutes of searching, Mo Tian found the house of the sewer management officer. However, there were 2 people in the house and the lights were on.

Mo Tian sneaked towards the house. He quickly found out that only the sewer manager and his wife where home. Mo Tian sighed with relieve. Sewer managers were generally only at third rate martial artists. He quickly looked for a way to sneak into the house. Shortly after, he found a window open on the second floor. Using his movement art, Mo Tian quietly entered the house. The room he entered was a laundry room.

Hearing from the sound in the living room, it seemed that the sewer manager was flirting with his wife. This gave Mo Tian a perfect opportunity to look for the map. On the second floor was the office of the sewer manager. After quietly rummaging through the papers Mo Tian found the map. He pocketed the map and wanted to leave through the window. However he heard a pair of footsteps coming his way.

*step step step Crrrk*

The door opened. The sewer manager came into his office. Mo Tian hid behind the door.

"Huh… Is this how I left the office? What a mess…" the sewer manager said.

Mo Tian quickly lunged forward and whacked the sewer manager on the back of the neck.

*Whoosh THUMP*

The Sewer manager fell on the floor, knocked out.

"Honey, Are you alright?" said the wife downstairs.

Mo Tian immediately knew the gig was up and he needed to escape fast. So he used his movement technique and escaped through the window. Then he rushed back to the sewer entrance.

When he arrived at the sewer entrance, he saw a few man arriving in black robes. They showed the guard a bit of money and were allowed to pass. Mo Tian quickly realized that the black robed figures were black merchants using the sewers as a way to do their business.

"I can use this…" thought Mo Tian immediately and waited for more black robed figures to arrive. When he saw a big caravan arrive, he knew that he could take a lift. The Carriages were empty and nobody would check them. Therefore, Mo Tian quickly sneaked into the carriage while the merchants were exchanging bribes with the guards.

After leaving the entrance behind, Mo Tian quickly jumped out at a crossroad. Those merchants never let him live if they caught him. Using the map Mo Tian navigated through the sewers, while avoiding any way where he saw people walking with torches. Slowly, but surely Mo Tian Arrived at an exit. This exit ended in a river, so the whole path was underwater. Mo Tian quickly jumped in the water and swam towards the exit.

*Splash*

A head popped up a few meters from shore. The figure quickly arrived on the shore. It was already day and finally Mo Tian managed to escape. However this was not the end, because of his mishap the guards will probably find out that he broke into the house of the sewer manager. Therefore, he needed to escape to the next city or a safe place in the wilderness to cultivate.

After a quick 15 minute rest, Mo Tian rushes towards the west. The city he is aiming for is Golden Prosperity City, a place where a lot of merchants do business. This would make it difficult for his pursuers to find him and he could possibly disguise himself as a merchant to shake them off. Additionally, it could provide him with some place to cultivate.

 ...

 (The next day, back in the city)

Two cultivators, their robes flowing with the energy of their cultivation, arrived at the unassuming house of the sewer manager. The house stood at the edge of the city, its surroundings quiet and unremarkable, but the cultivators' presence brought a sense of tension in the air. With a swift exchange of glances, they approached the door, their steps purposeful, as if they were about to uncover something hidden beneath the surface.

*BANG BANG*

"Please open up! City Guards, we are here to investigate the burglary" screams one of the city guards.

*Step step step Crrrk* Slowly the door was opened by the wife of the sewer manager.

"Thank you for arriving so quickly! There was a thief in our house. I'll guide you to my husband. He encountered the thief." Said the wife.

The guards walked into the house following the wife. They quickly arrived in the living room where the sewer manager was lying on the couch. The moment the guards arrive he sits up straight.

"Hello sir, we heard there was a burglary in your house last night. Can you explain your story." Said one of the guards to firmly deny pleasantries and get down to business.

The sewer manager smiled bitterly, but still started explaining. "Me and my wife had been in the living room the entire night and had not heard a thing. However I needed something from my office, so I went upstairs. When I opened the door to the office I saw that all my paperwork was a mess. I was confused about that and before I knew it, I felt a strong hit on my neck and fell unconscious. I was lucky that he did not want to kill me or my wife would have been a widow."

The guards listened carefully before asking "Do you know what was stolen and would it be possible to look at the office now?"

The sewer manager quickly replied. "Well… The first thing that was stolen was a map of the sewers , some jewelry and the financial records."

The sewer manager saw this as a good opportunity to sweep away his dirty money. So he told more than what was actually stolen.

The Guards saw right through him, but did not say anything about his lie. "Alright then sir. We will investigate this as fast as possible."

The Guards quickly left and arrived at the City Guards office. They proceeded directly to the captains room. When they arrived one of the guards knocked 3 times.

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

"Come in" heard the guards and quickly entered the room.

In the room sat an old man behind the desk and he said with a stern voice "What is the results?".

One of the guards answered immediately "Captain Jian Feng, there was a thief that robbed the sewer manager of the map of the sewers. Additionally, we found traces of smugglers in the sewers."

The old man quickly became angry "YOU IDIOTS! I AM ASKING ABOUT THE YOUNG DEMON! HAVE YOU FOUND HIM YET! HE CANNOT LEAVE THIS CITY!".

The guards were already used to his temper and answered shortly "Sir, we are looking all over the city, but have not found a trace of him. We only found some blood stains from him after one of our cultivators found him stealing food from a restaurant."

The old man calmed down when he heard that "Do we have any way we can track him using that bit of blood?"

The guards answered calmly "Yes, we can find him as long as he is within a kilometer around this city. We need to prepare the ritual again. We have to be fast as it won't be effective with blood that has been lost for longer than 3 days." 

The old man quickly said "Go! Don't disappoint me again."

The guards quickly left.