Following the plan laid out by Shuren, together with Wei and his team, we sneak our way past the various patrols and watchtowers as we proceed towards the manor of Hong Cheng. As we close in on the perimeter of the manor, we begin to go over the outline of the plan once more.
"Ideally we grab hold of Hong Cheng without coming into conflict and grab whatever we can on our way out, but we all know that the chances of this are close to none," Wei says.
"We know the plan, our group is to draw the attention of the guards and bring those three special ones out while your group sneaks in and deals with the leftovers while capturing this Hong Cheng. Sounds simple, but I doubt it will be as easy as it sounds," Aurelia says.
"Right, we'll keep a watch for the signal. Once the three problematic guards are occupied, we'll make our move," Wei says.
"Can I start hitting things now, I'm starting to get impatient," I say.
"Yeah, let's go. Just make sure not to show the signal too early," Aurelia says as we rush the compound.
As our goal is to cause a commotion and attract attention, we decide not to use any disguise like the makeup from before or the wig that Yue gave me, hoping that the guards here will spread our identity and draw out the big fish. On top of this, rather than the secretive methods that Wei plans on using to sneak in, we come banging right through the front door, knocking the guards aside as we bust down the front gate.
The dust quickly settles around us in the courtyard as we are soon surrounded by guards, but none of any importance or strength.
"Halt! You dare trespass here on the residence of the Vice-Minister of Court Finances, name yourselves!" One of the guards yells out with a spear raised towards us.
"I recognise them, look its those criminal outsiders we heard of. A Dragonoid that's unaffiliated with the Imperial Family means that it's them!" Another guard yells out.
"Well that was faster than I thought, a shame, I wanted to enjoy myself before the reveal," I say as we see a couple of the guards running back into the manor, likely to carry word of our presence.
Without responding to their provocation, I rush up to the closest guard to me, surprising him and bring my leg up, only to swing it down, yelling, "axe kick!" but as he moves to defend himself, instead of hitting him, I leap and hit the man with a roundhouse kick with my other foot, sending him flying into a pond in the courtyard.
"That was unfair! You clearly said axe kick!" One of the younger guards yells out before they get pummelled by Wanjing.
"Yeah, well lives unfair kid, besides, you guys have like almost ten times as many people as we do," I say casually while beating a few other guards with my tail.
"My, this is quite the easy fight we have here," Lia says as she freezes one guard after another.
"To be honest, I was expecting more from this. Considering how much time we spend running away from everything that comes close to us, I didn't expect to just plough through these guys," I say.
"It would be nice if you didn't attract things that are stronger than us everywhere we go," Aurelia comments as she's... I actually have no idea what she's doing but it works so whatever, but more importantly.
"Why do you assume I'm the one the brings all the trouble?" I say after dodging a spear thrust and burning my assailant.
"You should think back on your titles and you'll find the answer," Aurelia says as she chucks the various weapons on the ground towards the guards.
"My titles? What do you-, oh, right, I remember now. I forgot about that one, 'Provoking Giants'," I say while beating the already unconscious guard I'm lifting.
"Damn it! they're just messing with us! Having a conversation while treating us like insects!" I hear a guard yell out in frustration.
"Looks like you all are having a good time out here," says a deep yet feminine voice.
Looking over towards the source of the voice, we see three people coming out from the manor, two men who match the description of He Lin and Xu Kang, as well as a woman with a similar build to me, while also being almost as tall as me with medium length silver hair tied behind her.
Name: Cheng Yin
Race: Scion of the White Tiger
Tier: 10
Titles: Outcast of the Cheng Family, Silver Tiger, Mercenary
Level: 7
HP: 14,333 MP: 11,944 SP: 17,916
STR: 19,110
VIT: 16,423
DEX: 12,840
INT: 13,138
WIS: 12,541
MND: 12,690
We each take a moment to examine each other but both our eyes are quickly locked onto a particular area and after a few seconds we both nod.
"It's a shame we had to meet like this, comrade. Cordelia by the way, my name," I say.
"Yes, if not for our contract I believe we would get along nicely, comrade. Should we both leave her tonight alive, I would hope our next meeting be on friendly terms. I apologise, but it is inconvenient for me to give my name here, certain circumstances hold me back, perhaps I can introduce myself should we meet again on better terms," Yin says as she draws out her sabre.
Well, I already know her identity thanks to my inspection, but I'll play along. I get the feeling she'll get along well with Yue if that outcast title is anything to go by.
"What just happened? What was that exchange about?" Wanjing asks.
"Aha, I got it! It's because they're both flat as a bo-- bugh!" the muscular man, He Lin, says as he gets smacked behind the head by Yin.
"The hell was that for, Boss Lady? I was just sayin' the tru--," He Lin says, only to be cut off by Yin again.
"I don't mind if you want to repeat that sentence, but pick your words wisely, or you may be Shenzhou's newest eunuch," Yin says.
"I meant that the two of them are wonderful ladies with much in common, hahaha!"
"I apologise for the shameful display of comrades, I do suppose we've put this off long enough. It's about time for the dance to begin," says the scholarly looking, Xu Kang.
"I'd have to agree with you, it time to take this seriously," Aurelia says, giving us the signal.
"Time for the fun to begin," I say as Lia, Wanjing, and I all transform, revealing our true appearance.