*Fwip Fwip*

After the secret signal was sent out, more and more people gathered in the bamboo forest. Soon, there were more than a dozen men present.

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"Elder Otter, have you gathered all of us for a mission?" Every single member of Hyacinth had their own codename. Because of Otter's seniority and his position as the father of their organization's leader, everyone was used to calling him Elder Otter.

"Otter, where is Brother Hyacinth? Isn't he participating in the mission this time?"

Old Otter tossed his broken walking staff to the side and meditated amidst the bamboo. Actually, longevity was commonplace in the Law Realm, and Otter had yet to reach the age where he needed to rely on a walking staff. He was still physically healthy in more ways than one, and the only reason why he pretended to be a frail old man was due to the skills he possessed as an impersonator.

More and more people gathered. These elite impersonators were all well-trained, and it took all of them less than ten minutes to assemble. Some squatted on the ground while others sat on treetops. Some were even trees, meaning that they disguised themselves as trees.

Seeing that Hyacinth had not shown up and that Otter was meditating, the rest could only silently wait for the mission briefing.

Sakura shuttled through the crowd, looking as cute as ever while she addressed her uncles warmly. The honest Sambo kept following her as if he wanted to say something but could not find it in him to speak up.

Seeing everyone present, Elder Otter slowly opened his eyes and heaved a long sigh. He swept his gaze across the crowd in front of him.

"Today, something did indeed happen, which led me into gathering everyone here, but it's not for the sake of a mission," Otter solemnly addressed the crowd.

"Oh? Then what is this for? Brother Hyacinth told us that it's best if we remain scattered if we're not on a mission to avoid drawing people's attention."

Otter wore a grim expression on his face as he unhappily announced, "Would I gather you all if there's nothing important happening? This time, the matter concerns the honor of the Hyacinth and dignity of the purple-blood Rockies!"

Sweeping his gaze across everyone once more, Elder Otter's pupils went a little wild. Everyone was stumped about this. Otter raised this issue to be a matter of their species' dignity, and everyone figured it must be something major, so they all felt somewhat on edge.

"Just now, Hyacinth lost. Someone has seen through his subterfuge, even giving Sakura a beating," Otter bemoaned in pain.

"What! Brother Hyacinth lost?!"

"Just who could've done this? To be so brazen and even beat Sister Sakura, too!"

"Shameful! An absolute disgrace!"

Everyone turned toward Sakura, who used this opportunity to appear aggrieved. She slightly dabbed at her fake tears when, really, she was brimming with elation deep down. This was even more so when she saw everyone reacting indignantly on her behalf and even appeared like they would stop at nothing until they dealt with Xia Fei.

Old Otter was shrewd in the ways of people, and he knew that this was the perfect opportunity when he saw that everyone had gotten riled up.

"Actually, it's not a big deal for Hyacinth and Sakura to have been seen through by someone else and, subsequently, taught a little lesson," Otter helplessly corrected. "After all, it's our skill which is inferior."

Saying this caused everyone to turn disgruntled.

"Elder Otter, Sakura is the precious child of the Rockies' leader; how could an outsider teach her a lesson just like that!"

"That's right! That person's far too preposterous, daring to strike our precious Sakura!"

"How could Brother Hyacinth have made a mistake? That person must've gotten lucky."

Otter waved his arm to get everyone to settle down. They were all belligerent and angrily fuming. Hyacinth had single-handedly established this impersonator organization, and its results spoke for itself. Everyone respected it greatly, so now that someone had come causing trouble, even beating up their leader's daughter, there was no reason for any of them to simply take this lying down.

This was what it meant to share weal and woe; Hyacinth did not just represent himself but rather a top organization, which had not experienced failure in twenty-five years!

"Hmm... That person called Ah Fei is of unknown origin, and he's ruthless with his methods. He actually dared to claim that we, Hyacinth, aren't worthy of our name and that we, Rockies, are all dependent on the good name and prestige of our predecessors. Even an outsider like him managed to see through our subterfuge, which only means that it doesn't take much skill to speak of.

"I was originally feeling magnanimous, not planning to nitpick with that arrogant young man, but now that he's gone so far as to slander our entire tribe, how can this old man let that slide!"

This statement was met with cheers from everyone present. They were already feeling unhappy with Xia Fei for bullying Sakura; calling all Rockies useless basically incurred their wrath!

Some of the more impatient Rockies lifted their weapons, wanting to seek Xia Fei and settle the score, while those who were more composed had a hard time keeping it together, their faces turning red as they listened to Elder Otter's words.

Sakura, who was hiding in a corner, snickered, thinking to herself, 'This time, that villain will have nowhere to run!'

Sambo hesitantly patted Sakura's shoulder. "Uhm… Uncle Hyacinth is going to be mad at you for this."

Sakura was about to throw a tantrum when she suddenly changed her mind. Smiling sweetly at Sambo, she blinked her doe eyes. "Brother Sambo, you're afraid of my father getting angry… Are you perhaps unconcerned with the grievance Sakura is feeling?"

Sambo's chubby purple face turned red. The silly boy was completely helpless when it came to her, instantly changing his mind and crying that he must help avenge Sakura's honor, not caring even if he ended up getting kicked out of the organization.

"Wait!"

Elder Otter got up and everyone went silent. They waited for the old man to give the order to make their move and grind Xia Fei into pieces!

"We are impersonators, so we shall deal with this by the rules of impersonators. We can't be reckless in the least."

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

Actually, Otter still had other considerations to make. He clearly saw what Xia Fei was capable of from the few moves he had shown thus far. Anyone in his line of work would have keen observation skills. It was important for him to clearly identify just what kind of person could be dealt with head on and what sort needed trickery.

There was also the defense-type Law Emperor Seth by Xia Fei's side. Just Xia Fei alone was troublesome enough to deal with, especially given how ruthless and quick he was. Even if Otter led this troop of over hundred Rockies, they may not be the young man's match. That was why he decided to use the strength of the organization to their advantage; impersonation! Trickery!

"I personally witnessed Ah Fei using that dark red dagger and pointing it at Sakura. The tip of the blade was just shy of causing injury. We must somehow obtain his weapon or his spatial ring and teach him an unforgettable lesson! Let him know that Hyacinth is the true elite in the field. It's through our sheer talent that we've remained flawless in these twenty-five years!"

Everyone was excited. They felt that Elder Otter's idea was ingenuous.

As long as they managed to snatch away Xia Fei's most cherished weapon, even if he wanted to bow and admit his fault, they would not accept it!

A warrior losing his weapon was the greatest shame! It was no different from a slap!

This move was a lot more vicious than directly killing him!

Giving them orders one after another, members from the most outstanding subterfuge organization in Exiled Grounds quickly departed, each determined to let Xia Fei have a taste of their prowess!

...

Leaving Hyacinth's abode, Xia Fei strolled along as he mulled over his plan.

Now that Hyacinth had clearly stated that he could not help him with his matter, he had no choice but to come up with something else.

White Horse Constellation, the Yu family. These were a few of the places which Xia Fei could not get near to. After all, the bounty of one million grade 4 Origin Crystals for his head had already pushed Xia Fei to the cusp of the storm.

This was not his first time, but he had never experienced being targeted by so many super experts before. He needed to go about his business with even greater caution than ever. He needed to observe with utmost vigilance.

In order to pull open the layers of curtain behind Yu Hua, Xia Fei needed to send men over. Moon Song could do him a favor and help him keep an eye on the Yu family, but he had no intention of ever putting her at risk. He needed to find someone, or even a whole group of people, to enter White Horse Constellation and put their lives on the line for him. Even if they were unable to take out the enemy, they must at least leave his foes in a terrible fix!

An impersonator was the lynchpin to Xia Fei's whole plan, so now that Hyacinth had rejected him, did that mean he had to turn to the Shepherdians?

Xia Fei shook his head. Shepherdians had not left a good impression on him. If he was simply looking to destroy his enemies, the Shepherdians would indeed be a good choice because of how merciless their methods were, hardly giving any regard to the rules in the least. However, what Xia Fei was trying to do was to unveil the mastermind pulling the strings from behind the scenes; the blind reckless devastation that Shepherdians brought to the table would not fulfill his requirement.

Lionheart Emperor Oro pursed his lips, expressing his slight dissatisfaction, "Why don't you go and deal with Quinn first before coming back to search for an impersonator? You'll just end up losing up more if Quinn ends up fleeing while you dawdle."

Xia Fei smiled. "Relax. It's not like I'm just staying for a single day here in Exiled Grounds. He's not going to get away. The fact that you're so anxiously hurrying me to get to it, do you perhaps have another purpose in mind?"

Oro felt a rush of dejection as he helplessly answered, "Quinn has a copy of the Law of Life, so we must exterminate him as soon as possible. If it ever ends up in the hands of my foes, then all that torture I went through while refusing to hand over the Law of Life will have been for naught.

"Besides, Quinn has taken several other things aside from the Law of Life. We must get them back as fast as we can."

Xia Fei was puzzled. "The fact that you're so hung up on it, the items you're talking about must be something else."

The old demon lord did not reply, which was as good as a silent admission. Xia Fei could not help but secretly wonder just what could be the items that Oro so anxiously wanted to get back. Aside from Quinn's life, there was probably some secret which should not be divulged!

"Master, where are we off to now?" Seth asked glumly. He was the one who had brought Xia Fei to Hyacinth, and now that the latter had rejected the job offer, Seth was feeling rather embarrassed at the moment.

"Let's head to the city and look around the mercenary guild. I still need a few more men."

Seth perked up. "There are plenty of large mercenary groups. The Flying Dragon Society, Joint Doors, Fierce Bull, Tower of Stars and Moon are some of them, and they are all very amazing. Too bad I don't really have any connections with these top mercenary groups, so there's no way for me to introduce you to them. After all, the work I used to do isn't exactly well regarded by the mercenaries, so most won't really care to pay us any attention."

Xia Fei knew very well what he meant. Seth could only lower his head and admit defeat when he encountered a powerful enemy, unable to find anyone to help him at all. It was all ultimately due to his use of too insidious methods in the past, drawing the ire of the people. Though Hyacinth had been polite when they were speaking, it was clear that he despised Seth. His popularity and relations with people were truly terrible, but that was to be expected. The man was someone who made a living out of preying on civilians at the end of the day. No one would bat an eyelid to what happened to him.

"It's fine. I'm not looking for a mercenary group, anyway," Xia Fei casually answered. Seth still lacked the qualifications for Xia Fei to share his thoughts yet.

Xia Fei was contemplating his plan as he walked, arriving at a wooden bridge after leaving the bamboo forest. The bridge was no more than two meters wide, with a clear stream running below.

He saw people struggling up on the bridge, where seven or eight men were surrounding an older gentleman. They were all dressed like warriors decked out in armor, brandishing different weapons in hand.

"Looks like a passing mercenary group. Look at their armor; though they are all different, they all have the same red bandana with a horse pattern imprinted on them. This is a method mercenaries often use to prevent them from mistakenly injuring their own," Seth told Xia Fei. Unable to convince Hyacinth, Seth was very eager to prove himself in front of Xia Fei.

With how keen Xia Fei's eyes were, he had already seen through this group of men before him.

What he was most interested in was the big lizard which was sitting next to the elderly gentleman!

There were nine vertical scales growing on its back, which were as red as the setting sun. It was staring at the mercenaries with a pair of small golden eyes, occasionally extending out its pink whip-like tongue.

'Is that an Undead Beast King, the Nine-armored Land Drake?' Xia Fei's eyes sparkled as he muttered to himself.