Wu Hei was shocked upon hearing the voice suddenly calling out to him. He was a hundred percent sure that there was no one near him just a second ago, but the voice was right behind him.

He tried to identify the voice, but couldn't do so. It was no one from his group of acquaintances, which meant that it was either a random stranger or more likely an enemy. Wu Hei quickly summoned his spirit sword and turned around for a battle.

His spirit sword shot towards the source of the voice and collided with it.

~DENG~

~clink~clink~clink~

But then his spirit sword was swatted away like a child's toy. His eyes went wide and he looked at the faintly glowing arm of the man in front of him. Now... he recognized him.

"You! From that restaurant…

" Wu Hei muttered.

He didn't know what to be shocked about more. The fact that the man had been able to approach him without him knowing and escaping his spirit sense. Or the fact that he was able to swat a full power attack of his like it was nothing.

If it was any other core condensation realm cultivator, they would have had their arm severed or worse, their head decapitated.

"So you really were paying attention to me back at the restaurant.

" Lin Mu said.

"Who are you?

" Wu Hei asked as he recalled his spirit sword to his side.

"I thought you would have recognized me by now. After all, you saw me eat at the restaurant,

" Lin Mu chuckled.

Wu Hei's eyes narrowed and he became apprehensive.

"I know you are not under the control of Gu Yao, so you don't need to act in front of me. It is I, Lin Mu.

" He revealed.

Wu Hei's eyes went wide and he couldn't help but take another look at Lin Mu. His appearance was much different than the teen he had seen two years ago. This man was much taller and well built than him, plus his voice was also quite different.

But now that he looked closely, he couldn't help but match some of the facial features of Lin Mu to this man. The one thing that was telling him that this was likely to be was his appetite, that he had demonstrated in the restaurant. Still, he couldn't confirm just from this as there were many more people that could do the same and he could just be someone pretending to be Lin Mu.

~Sigh~

"Seems like you still doubt me. I think this should help…

" Lin M said before some faint chants started to come out of his mouth.

A short sword appeared in front of him, that Wu Hei instantly recognized. But what confirmed the fact that this was indeed Lin Mu was what he saw next.

In the very next second, it was as if he had disappeared from the world and appeared in an empty place. There he saw a tall mountain made out of swords appeared and at the very top of it was sitting no one but Lin Mu.

'There is no doubt… this sword intent… it cannot be faked…' Wu Hei confirmed.

A second later, the illusion faded and Wu Hei found himself back in the real world. He felt sweat covering his face and back and was now absolutely sure.

"How did you…

" Wu Hei muttered.

"Survive? Escape? Hide?

" Lin Mu prompted.

"Yes… all that.

" Wu Hei replied.

"I call tell you everything… but for now I think it would be better if we find a more private space. Even if this area is rather desolate, I don't think it would be appropriate.

" Lin Mu said.

Wu Hei nodded as he saw the merit in his words. He had been dealing with Gu Yao and the people he controlled for the past two years, all the while disguising himself. He knew better than to be careless and to err on the side of caution.

"Hmm… follow me from afar, I'll take you to a place. Be careful, there are many eyes in this place that are always watching.

" Wu Hei spoke.

"I have my ways. Don't worry, no one will see me.

" Lin Mu said before disappearing into thin air, right in front of Wu Hei's eyes.

Wu Hei did a double take and even scanned with his spirit sense, only to be unsuccessful. Pushing this to the back of his mind for now, he decided to continue on as they had discussed.

Wu Hei weaved through the city, moving from one street to the next. Lin Mu was observing him closely and was actually right below him. When he had disappeared, what he had actually done was to use phase and Blink at the same time.

He saw how Wu Hei avoided certain areas and noted them down to ask about them later. He knew there must be a lot of spies that Gu Yao must have in the area. Lin Mu wanted to investigate on his own as well, and this information would greatly help him.

About an hour later, Wu Hei arrived at the southern part of the city. This street was populated by some shops that sold expensive and luxurious items, as well as some pleasure pavilions. Wu Hei halted at the side of a pleasure pavilion for a bit and scanned the area.

He then sent to the back area of the pleasure pavilion, which was usually used for the servants to enter and opened a hidden door that was disguised as a wall. Lin Mu on the other hand, simply phased through the ground and appeared back on the ground.

"Here I am,

" Lin Mu announced, shocking Wu Hei again, who was waiting for Lin Mu at the door instead.

~phew~

Wu Hei took a breath of relief and wiped the sweat on his forehead away.

"Now then… can you tell me what exactly happened after you escaped? I was quite restrained and thus could find literally no information about you… which now that I think was good.

" Wu Hei spoke.