Crossing Over: The Strongest Mage

"Not even able to monitor one person, San'er! What do you think?" When the person named San'er heard these words, his posture immediately changed from kneeling on one knee to kowtowing. He muttered repeatedly, "I deserve to die! I deserve to die! Please, Master, forgive me this time."

"Get up! I never said I would punish you. Go and find Si'er, check if he has been captured, or if he has said anything."

"Rest assured, Master. Both Si'er and I have learned our skills from you. There aren't many in the world who could capture him. Moreover, we are both very loyal. Even if we were captured by outsiders, we wouldn't divulge a single word."

"Hehe! I like hearing that. Alright, I won't make things difficult for you. Now stay by my side. Once I've dealt with this matter, we will go look for him together."

"Yes!" San'er answered, then dared to stand up. His clothes were drenched with sweat. He was terrified; if his response had been even slightly careless, his head could have fallen at any moment, with no chance to resist.

"I say, kid! You really are something! Let me chase you all the way from Jiang Province here, over a thousand miles. I've never been this exhausted. Fine, I could have had my subordinates slowly kill you and take what you have, but you know what? I'm the kind of person who likes to give others a final chance. Hand it over, and I'll make sure they put you out of your misery. What do you say?" The leader in white moved a few steps forward, always careful not to let the blood from Wang Mang splatter onto himself.

"You killed my entire family—two hundred and seventy-one people—and now you want me to surrender? Dream on! You filthy beast, half alive and half dead!" Wang Mang used the last bit of his strength to shout this, and now he had no energy left to move even a little finger. The massive blood loss caused his vision to blur. If it weren't for the hatred and willpower in his heart, he would have collapsed long ago.

Upon hearing Wang Mang's insults, the leader in white seemed enraged.

"Hmph! Five, six, seven! Stab him with one sword at a time, forty-nine strokes, do you hear me?!"

"Yes!!" Three people stepped out from the group of black-clad individuals and approached Wang Mang, swords drawn.

"Come on! Come on! It's all over. Father, your unfilial son is coming to join you now." Wang Mang thought in despair as three dark figures blocked the sunlight around him.

"Stop!" With a loud shout, a figure suddenly leaped down from above, landing beside Wang Mang. The three black-clad individuals who were about to strike reacted swiftly and retreated in all directions.

The first thing that Yan Huo did when he landed beside Wang Mang was to use needles to seal several major acupoints on Wang Mang's body, stopping the blood flow and preventing him from bleeding to death. Yan Huo's needlework was swift and precise, making it impossible to tell this was his first time using acupuncture. This was entirely due to Yan Huo's intelligence and his study of "Medical History." Of course, the needles he used were ordinary needles from Xiuning's embroidery box, as he didn't dare to use his own "spiritual needles" for such a task.

After confirming that Wang Mang's life was temporarily saved, Yan Huo stood up. Strangely, the black-clad figures surrounding them didn't make a move the entire time Yan Huo was performing the acupuncture.

"How can so many of you bully a dying man?" Yan Huo asked, not having seen the earlier battle, so he wasn't aware of the situation.

The black-clad figures remained silent, standing still, waiting for their leader's next command.

"Hehe! Bully? Kid, your choice of words is a bit off. You should be using the word 'kill' instead of 'bully,'" the leader in white said, still standing where he was, speaking casually as if Yan Huo's appearance didn't concern him in the slightest.

"Kill!? Then why do you want to kill him? What has he done wrong? Even if he made a mistake, couldn't he just change? Why kill him?" Yan Huo asked.

"Interesting kid," the leader in white smiled. "He did make a mistake, a big one, and I gave him a chance. But he still messed up, so now I have to kill him. You care about him so much, and now I'm starting to wonder if you know him already, or if you've been waiting for him."

"No! I don't know him. I just came after him." Yan Huo pointed at San'er, who was standing beside the white-clad leader.

"Oh, you came after him?" The leader in white asked with a smile, but he didn't even glance at San'er.

"I just wanted to ask him why he's been monitoring us." Yan Huo responded.

"I see! Well, I can answer your question, but before that, I have one of my own for you," the leader in white said.

"Sure, go ahead." Yan Huo was curious.

"I'm very curious. I wonder what you look like under that mask. I really want to see." The white-clad leader's eyes gleamed with interest.

"What does my appearance have to do with you?" Yan Huo said, beginning to enjoy the mask on his face. With it on, no one could see what he looked like.

"It matters a lot," the leader in white replied with a grin.

"What's the connection?" Yan Huo asked again.

"I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to see what someone looks like only after they're dead," the leader in white said casually.

"You mean I'm going to die? Why?" Yan Huo asked, his tone turning serious.

"Hehe! Why? Good question. Because I want you dead!" The white-clad leader laughed, and then turned to San'er, saying, "If you want to keep your head and have dinner tonight, you know what to do. This is your last chance."

When Yan Huo first appeared, San'er had thought about charging at him and tearing him apart, making sure the master knew that someone had been tailing him. He knew the only outcome for someone who dared to follow the master would be death. But without the master's orders, he couldn't act. There was a strict rule in the organization: acting on your own without permission was a death sentence.

Still, San'er knew that he had no choice but to gamble. He knew the master liked to give people a chance. If that opportunity came, he couldn't let it slip. He always reminded himself of this. Before drawing his blade, he had also considered that the person who had followed him all the way here wasn't some ordinary individual. However, compared to his master, even the top experts in the martial world were nothing to fear.

From the moment San'er received the order, he moved in the blink of an eye. He didn't want to give his opponent too much time to react.

He was very confident in his lightness skill. In the martial world, very few could catch up to him, and even fewer could keep up within his own organization. What was even more surprising was that his sword was faster than he was. It was so fast that it made people question whether even the fastest swordsman in the martial world—Ge Yidao—could draw his sword in time to block it. Yet, despite such speed, his first strike missed completely, and he didn't even notice how his opponent dodged.