The roaring from Hua Bim and company was loud enough to alert Hua Yan of their actions. He had still not left the guards' immediate search radius, so he couldn't yet make any elaborate movements from where he was now.
He needed to somehow pass through around 5 or more courtyards to reach the western part of the manor. From there, he needed to inquire from the locals about what exactly the party Hua Chin had mentioned was and where it was being held.
After that, he needed to think of a way to somehow infiltrate the party and find a method to leave the manor disguised in the robes of an outsider.
Before he could even think about accomplishing all of this though, he needed to first do something about the guards that were still hot on his tail.
Because there were so many of them, and since more would most likely be joining into the fray to replace the dead ones in a matter of moments, Hua Yan needed to be quick about the planning and the execution of his escape.
If the guards closed off the courtyard by quarantining it and got the clansmen to help look for him once they had a portrait of him ready, he would truly be trapped in here like a sitting duck.
If he couldn't leave the courtyard and missed the party, he didn't know when and where his next opportunity to escape would come.
He could just bide his time and wait while hiding, evading the public eye until everyone forgot about him, but he was too worried about how his sister was faring. So, leaving the manor immediately was of utmost importance.
There were around 100 or so separate rooms in this courtyard for the Side Branch members to reside in. The rooms were all cluttered into 5 or 6 conjoined buildings that made up the courtyard as a whole. In addition to this, there were a few pavilions spread across the courtyard near the middle area, and there were even some clansmen that had set up stalls to sell things along the road.
Though the amount of traffic inside couldn't be considered anything major if the entirety of Gin Town was considered, in this small area, it gave the illusion that the whole courtyard was filled with a lot of people.
The truth was that the place was lived in. That was why it appeared like it was so buzzing and eventful all the time.
This kind of environment would be ideal for Hua Yan to lose his pursuers. He could make use of the terrain and the surrounding people to blend in and quickly make his escape.
One thing that would not help him though were his clothes.
Ever since his previous clashes with the guards and the four fatties, he had gotten a lot of blood spilled onto his person. As a result, he looked very odd to look at drenched in all of that red.
Furthermore, even if any person walking by were blind, he or she would still be able to smell the strong scent of gore on him.
So, he needed to think of a way to get out of his clothes and find some apparel for replacement.
Stealing a few articles of clothing in this kind of area would not be too hard for, since there were so many people mulling about, so Hua Yan thought that he could easily get his hands on some new clothes.
Since he did not want to travel on the ground level and attract the eyes of the various pedestrians, Hua Yan headed to a secluded corner where no one was looking, and immediately began to climb to the rooftop.
Unbeknown to him, his actions did not go unnoticed. A figure idling somewhere below had caught sight of him, but other than having an interested expression, it did not make any move to chase after him or call out to the guards. It just watched without a word as Hua Yan scanned the perimeter.
When Hua Yan was doing this, his expression immediately turned sour.
The guards really were efficient in their closing off of the area. They had managed to bring in over 30 extra guards, and some of these guards were definitely not from the Eastern Gate.
It looked like the Guard Colonel had really bowed his head down today to those of the Southern Gate to have them lend him their men to assist in the capture of Hua Yan.
This kind of dedication to capturing him was scary.
Hua Yan cursed his luck for having such a persistent opponent.
It appeared that he would need to make use of another diversion to escape.
As he was looking for hanging clothes to grab, his eyes caught sight of a familiar figure. It was Hua Gwan!
Seeing him, Hua Yan grit his teeth. He really wanted to bury this Hua Gwan in the dirt for all the trouble that he had caused today.
Though it was Hua Yan's own fault for not properly controlling his temper and massacring the fatties, he still blamed Hua Gwan for everything.
Hua Gwan was after all the root cause.
Hua Gwan was currently walking around with the courtyard with some guards. Since he was familiar with Hua Yan's face, as he had bumped into him not too long ago, he was playing an active role in helping the clan law enforcement officers capture Hua Yan.
Of course, he also had some ulterior motives as well, but the guards didn't care. As long as Hua Gwan could help them out in some way, they were more than willing to allow him to accompany them on their search.
Hua Yan forced his body to follow them.
He was very tired and his body felt like it was on the verge of falling apart, but he would not let his fatigue get in the way of his revenge.
There were five guards that were accompanying Hua Gwan. One of the five was a guard captain and the rest of the group were all regular guards. To Hua Yan, they were easy game, especially with the sword in his hands.
Because of how alert they were though, Hua Yan did not think that he could sneak up on them. Furthermore, the sword that he had snatched from Hua Chin was not in a good state either.
By drawing out the white light from before, he had greatly whittled away at its durability.
Moreover, even if the sword was in its peak condition, Hua Yan himself was not. His arms were greatly injured and he could barely make a fist with his sword hand.
Nevertheless, with determination alone, he performed his next subsequent maneuvers.
He waited for the group of six to walk near a stall before jumping off the rooftop and stabbing his sword right into the skull of the guard captain.