At the top of a hill beside the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in Shandong Jining, two men were overlooking the crowded canal below.
One of them was about eighteen or nineteen years old. He was dressed in a plain white robe, had an elegant demeanor and handsome features, and stood a foot above the ground on a flying sword.
The other man was around thirty years old, tall and imposing like a tower, with a weathered face that seemed to have been chiseled from rock. A heavy iron sword hung on his back, making him seem tough and stoic. He looked impatient: "Can you tell me now, what exactly do you want me to do?"
"Kill someone," the teenager standing on the sword pointed down: "Earl Jingan, Li Xuan, in less than half a day, their ship will pass by here, and I want you to cooperate with the people below to kill him!"
