14. A Scapegoat

(A few days later, Slums outside of Golden Prosperity City)

A boy sat in the dim light of the window, his fingers tapping lightly against the wooden table as his mind raced through every possibility. His eyes, sharp and calculating, flickered with the glow of the candle as he weighed risks against rewards, searching for the perfect path forward. With a slow inhale, he leaned back, a faint smirk forming. Suddenly, the door was knocked on.

*BANG BANG BANG*

There were not many people who knew this was his home. There were only the old woman and the beggar he had beat up. To be safe, Mo Tian picked his Saber and hung it on his back.

After he was ready, he said with a loud voice but childish "Coming!"

When Mo Tian pushed open the door, a small, ragged figure stood just beyond the threshold. The familiar beggar child, dirt-streaked and barefoot, peered up at him with wide, cautious eyes, his chapped lips curled into a nervous grin. A faint gust of wind rustled his threadbare clothes as he hesitated, as if unsure whether to step forward or run.

"What are you doing here?" asked Mo Tian after dragging the beggar in the house and closing the door.

"Ugh… I'm not sure. Since yesterday something has changed in the city. I can feel it, but I don't know what has changed. You always know this kind of stuff so I came for information." Said the beggar nervously.

Mo Tian looked coldly at the beggar and ordered "Explain."

Seeing Mo Tian not dismissing him like usual surprised him, but he quickly explained "Well under normal circumstances all the merchants leaving and arriving would ask us questions, so we could earn some coins. However since yesterday, this seemed to have slowed down. Most merchants just ignore us and enter the city. And… And some merchants have way more guards than normal. They also don't feel like normal guards."

Mo Tian immediately got chills down his spines. He knew what this meant. Something has gone wrong with his plan. To confirm his guess, he asked the beggar "Do you know which merchants are unusual?" and immediately handed him a piece of paper while saying "Write the names or draw the logo's".

The beggar was shocked by Mo Tian's firm glare. He did not hesitate and drew all the logo's as best as he could, since he could not write. Mo Tian looked over the beggar's shoulder at the logo's. His guess was right. These logo's belonged to merchants allied with both the Jian Family and the Zheng family, but there was another Family who has meddled in the situation. It was the Jing Family. He knew this due to his position as a sect leader of the demonic cult. Other people would not be able to recognize the logo's.

"Heh" Mo Tian smirked. It seems that both families have made a ceasefire through the Jing Family. However, he would definitely not make it so easy for the families to stop the war.

The beggar next to Mo Tian looked at him as if he was a terrifying monster. Seeing this, Mo Tian tossed him a coin and said "Scram!"

The beggar smiled as he saw the coins, but quickly scrambled on his feet when he heard Mo Tian's order. He left the house not even five seconds later.

After the beggar left, Mo Tian went back to planning. Since there was a new player on the chess board, he needed to be extra careful. After hours of thinking and adjusting the plan, it was already sundown. "Time to start" thought Mo Tian as he saw the last rays of sunshine fade into the darkness.

Mo Tian quickly walked towards the well with a big bucket on his shoulders. After he arrived at the well, he saw two figures lingering near the old well, their presence an ill-fitting piece in the puzzle of the black market's hidden entrance. Their robes were too clean, their posture too rigid.

"merchants or scholars, perhaps, but not the usual desperate souls or shadowed figures that frequented such places." Thought Mo Tian.

One of them kept glancing around with forced nonchalance, while the other was idly tracing the well's walls with his eyes, as if searching for something unseen, their unease betraying that they did not belong.

When Mo Tian got closer, he realized that they had not noticed him yet. After he was close enough to hear the duo, Mo Tian hid the bucket behind a tree and jumped into the tree without making a sound.

"Hey Jing Dun, lower the bucket. There should definitely be something in this well. I heard from cousin Jing Tu that you could always find treasures and secrets in old things like ruins. Maybe this old well also has something in it." Said the fat figure in white robes.

"Jing Ciao, we are here to guard this well not go inside." said the lanky figure named Jing Dun

Jing Ciao quickly replied "But that's boring, don't you see that this well is in the middle of nowhere. The Zheng family definitely hides something in this well, don't you want to know?"

Jing Dun hesitates slightly and before he could give his answer, Jing Ciao interrupted him by saying "I know you do, so we are going to look into this well. Lower the bucket. I'm going in."

After saying that Jing Ciao jumped in the bucket. Seeing Jing Ciao's insistence Jing Dun caved in. He lowered the bucket. Suddenly Jing Dun heard Jing Ciao's scream "HEY! THERE IS A PATH HERE! I TOLD YOU! I'M GOING IN!"

Jing Dun immediately stopped lowering the bucket and tied it in a knot on the side. Then he screamed "WAIT FOR ME! I'M COMING TOO" before jumping into the well.

Seeing that both men from the Jing Family left, Mo Tian jumped down the tree and went to the bucket. In the bucket was a bag with familiar set of clothing. He quickly changed his dress again to the black robes he used during his raids. Afterwards, He jumped into the well. Cold air rushed past him as the stone walls blurred, his descent swift and precise. He landed on the bucket and kicked off to the side of the well. With these practiced moves, he slipped through a narrow crevice hidden within the well's depths, following the duo into the secret passage.

Quickly Mo Tian traced the steps of the duo before slowly trailing them at a distance they would not be able to hear. They arrived at the black market, but contrary to the previously lively market it was abandoned and no trace of it was left. The Duo looked at each other and Jing Dun said "Which path should we take, Jing Ciao?"

"Hmmm… I don't know Jing Dun. There are 4 paths we could take. What do you think would be good method to decide?" said Jing Ciao

"I think we should go South. My Uncle always said that south brings fortune." Said Jing Dun.

When Mo Tian saw the two men walk into a direction he did not know, he got intrigued. He has been to the market many times, but there was never the possibility to go South. You could only get into the city through the north or west exit. So Mo Tian kept following them through the narrow pathways.

They quickly came to the end of the tunnel. Jing Dun saw a wall and said "Jing Ciao, it is a dead-end."

Jing Ciao quickly replied with confidence "No numbskull. It is definitely not!" and started feeling the wall. Unexpectedly, there was a lever hidden in one of the crevices. "Told you! My gramps always said that not everything is always as it seems." said Jing Ciao as he opened the lever revealing the exit.

The Duo came through the exit. What they saw made them excited. However Mo Tian only saw moonlight shining on the two silhouettes. When he came to the exit he saw the dim moonlight filtered through the cracked gaps in the roof of the old warehouse, casting pale silver beams onto the dusty floor below. The beams slanted and shifted as the night breeze rustled through the openings, causing the light to flicker and dance over the forgotten crates and barrels. The faint glow illuminated the shadows, giving the otherwise dark space a haunting, ethereal quality as if the warehouse itself was holding secrets whispered by the night.

The duo quickly started looking around and found many sealed crates. They fumbled eagerly with the crates, their hands trembling as they pried open the wooden lids. As the first crate creaked open, the gleaming gold inside caught the dim light, and they both gasped in astonishment, their eyes wide with greed. They scrambled to scoop up the gold coins, laughing like fools, their voices echoing through the quiet room as they marveled at their unexpected fortune, oblivious to the dangers that awaited them.

Seeing them getting excited about the gold coins, Mo Tian knew it was time to move. He slipped past them by hiding behind the crates. When he came towards the exit, he saw many guards and mercenaries. To avoid the guards, Mo Tian quickly climbed onto the crates and escaped through a hole in the roof. Quickly leaving the roof after. He silently landed on the ground surrounded by carts and crates.

Mo Tian crouched low in the shadows, his eyes scanning the dimly lit warehouse district. He sneaked around and memorized the layout, noting every alley, every guard post, every creaky floorboard. A soft wind rustled through the streets, carrying the faint scent of oil and dust, as he patiently waited for one of the guards to move. The guards patrolled in predictable patterns, unaware of the silent presence watching them from the darkness. Slowly a plan formed in Mo Tian's mind. So, he quickly moved.

A guard appeared a few meters from Mo Tian, rounding the corner with his sword casually resting at his side. Mo Tian's fingers tightened around the hilt of his own blade, eyes narrowing as he assessed the perfect angle. Without a sound, he emerged from the shadows, his blade slashing across the guard's throat in a swift, decisive motion. The man barely had time to gasp before he crumpled to the ground and was dragged into the alley, blood pouring from the wound, pooling at his feet.

No one heard the strike. Mo Tian melted back into the darkness, blending with the shadows, his next target already in his mind. Two mercenaries stood by a stack of crates, chatting and unaware of the danger lurking nearby. Mo Tian moved with the precision of a predator, his steps quiet on the cobblestone ground. He slid between the mercenaries, his hands working quickly as he silenced them both with a single slash of his blade to each man's throat. They fell without a sound, their bodies slumping against the crates, lifeless.

He continued his slow, methodical path through the warehouse district, taking out guard after guard, mercenary after mercenary, all without a trace. He did not know the layout precisely as he normally would, but he has done it many times already. He knew that in the chaos of their deaths, no one would connect the dots. No one would see the invisible hand behind it all. The silence of the night was his ally, and as he reached the final group of mercenaries, he could already hear them arguing, unaware of their impending fate.

With a single, fluid movement, he struck. One after another, they fell, their bodies collapsing into the shadows as if they had never existed. His first task was complete, he had an escape route. No one had noticed the storm passing through, but that needed to change.

Mo Tian moved like a shadow, silent and swift as he crept through the dimly lit warehouse. His blade gleamed with deadly intent as he struck, cutting down a guard without a sound, his body crumpling to the ground before his comrades even realized he was there. In quick succession, Mo Tian dispatched two more, their throats slashed in fluid motions, their lifeless forms left sprawled across the dusty floor.

As the remaining guards began to stir, alerted by the soft thuds of falling bodies, Mo Tian had dragged the corpses into a hidden corner, but letting the blood guide the guards, carefully positioning them near the crates where the two idiots were still celebrating their newfound treasure. He wiped his blade clean, then slipped back into the shadows, his breath steady and calm as he used the moment before the chaos began to unfold to rob the warehouse clean of valuable books, scrolls and manuals.

Moments later, the first guard to discover the bodies staggered back in horror, his shout echoing through the warehouse. "Intruders!" he bellowed, pointing a trembling finger at the two clumsy fools still surrounded by crates of gold. "They're in the warehouse!"

The guards, now in a frenzy, quickly turned on the two, believing they were the ones responsible for the brutal slaughter. In the ensuing chaos, Mo Tian slipped silently through the secret tunnel and broke the mechanism, his escape a mere whisper in the night.