There was only one path from mountain to forest that was covering the west of the Sect. Since Ezio was aware of the disciples' plans, he was one step ahead of them. Deciding to take advantage of that, he woke up in the middle of the night and made his way to the path.
The forest behind the mountain was filled with Demonic Beasts. The only thing separating the forest from the city was the sect. The mountain and the sect were standing like a giant guardian and protecting the land behind it.
At first, Ezio had decided to pass through the entrance and the guard with the Godly Artifact. But, there was a high chance of being seen by someone in the forest. Even though he was able to turn himself invisible, and even could hide from spiritual perception, he couldn't activate the ring all the time. If he were to be seen by someone from the sect, and he were to be checked at the entrance, he would be in deep trouble.
"Oh, Little Ezio. Where are you heading?" asked the guard at the entrance. He was fatty with a big belly and a bigger smile. Ezio had a good impression of this guy because he was also fond of the art of nudity. Ezio caught him near the lake several times, but he was never caught back. But being a fellow pervert, he never exposed the guy.
"Senior Brother Fan Chang. It is good to see you." Ezio said as he approached the gate. "I accepted a quest, I am heading down."
"Oh, a quest. Hand me the voucher, please." Fan Chang asked. Every disciple would be handed a voucher when they were assigned a quest, and they had to show it to the guards at the gates, otherwise, they were not allowed to leave the premises of the Sect.
"Hmm, you accepted the quest for hunting the Third Tier Demonic Beast. I thought you just broke through to the Qi Vortex Creation Realm. Don't you think it is a little bit out of your league?" asked Fatty. Ezio knew that he was saying it because of his goodwill.
"I will meet up with some senior brothers at the foot of the mountain, no worries," Ezio said with a smile.
"Well, as long as you think it is safe." Fatty said and laughed heartily. "Right, do you mind doing me a favor?"
"What do you have in mind, Senior Brother?" Ezio asked.
"If you happen to come upon a herb, would you bring it to me? I will pay you the market price." Fatty asked. This was a common tradition in the sect. Not everyone was able to head out of the sect most of the time. Firstly, for the quest one had to deposit money. It was to prevent monopolizing the quest. For example, some high rewarding quests would sell like hotcakes. To prevent one party or person from monopolizing by asking friends or relatives to take limited vouchers, the sect would ask for a deposit. Only the person who delivered the quest would take back the deposit, and the rest of the money would go to the Management Hall.
Secondly, the quests weren't easy to finish. Those easy ones, wouldn't pay too much. Fatty here for example could also take the quest and also look for the herb, but it was dangerous in the forest, and he would make more money working as a guard. By sparing some money to pay Ezio to collect the herbs for him, he would hit two birds with one stone.
"Sure thing, Senior Brother. What herb do you need?" Ezio was guessing something.
"I need Wind Grass. As much as you can bring, I will buy it all." Fatty said with an evil smile.
Ezio could already guess what the fatty would ask. Wind Grass was a special herb that could avert the smell of the person. This Fatty was a regular of the lake and was caught a few times already. Luckily, those had detected him, never seen his face, otherwise, his eyes would be dug out.
"You see, sometimes I need to sneak on a Demonic Beast, and prevent them from detecting me, I need to use Wind Grass." Fatty tried to explain when he saw Ezio was smirking.
"Right, I am sure you would use it for a good cause," Ezio said nothing else and left the entrance.
When he arrived at the bottom of the mountain, he looked for a place to spy on people passing through the ridgeway.
The Azure Wolf King's Eternal Fang was a technique specialized in speed, dagger, and assassination. Assassination would require a person to hide his presence. Ezio had the Godly Artifact to do it for him, but he still wanted to master this art, as it was useful to save his energy. Since it was still early, Ezio started to cultivate the technique.
While Ezio was working on the new technique, a group of five arrived at the entrance. The sun was already up, and it was about the end of Fatty's shift. Fatty looked at the sun and figured he would be out in ten minutes, and he could still make it to the lake to peep at some morning bath.
When the group of five arrived at his desk, Fatty was dreaming.
"Hey, Fatty Fan, fill in our vouchers, we are heading for a quest." The strongest of the five asked rudely. Since Fatty here was just an Outer Sect disciple, the group didn't give him any face. Although Fatty was angry, he didn't dare to show it on his face. He filled the book silently and handed the vouchers back.
They were about to walk through the gate and leave the sect, Leader of the group, Tian Huang turned around and asked. "Fatty, anybody else left the Sect for this quest?" Even though Tian Huang wasn't the strongest of the group, he had the most authority. After all, the other four of them were just his grandfather's disciples.
Hearing the question made Fatty's face black, but he hid it quickly. "Not when I was on duty." He answered decisively.
"Hmph. You better be telling the truth." Tian Huang answered and walked in front. Not long later they arrived at the forest adjacent to the mountain and entered. Sadly, they all failed to notice the person following not far from them.
***
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