"Hey, hey, Darling~", Hong Ye spoke in a giddy conspiratory tone of voice, as she and her twin followed Wu Long through remote tiny dark alleys of the Iron Claw City’s Western Outskirts, "Are we going to steal that treasure from the Crow King’s Nest that you talked with Sister Zhiqiu about?"

"Hahah, you’re already adapting to the thinking of a Theft Dao practitioner, I see", Wu Long chuckled.

"Hehehe~, I am quick to adapt. Besides, now that I think about it, it’s way more fun~", Hong Ye giggled, puffing out her chest hidden by a cloak with pride, "You can say I found my true calling~"

"That’s good to hear", Wu Long nodded with a smile, "I guess tonight’s excursion is just a formality then, you can start learning the process. And to answer your question, yes, we’re going to steal it. I was originally planning on just taking it by force, but stealing works as well, perhaps even better. Though, that treasure of the Crow King’s Nest is a different level of difficulty from tonight since, as you heard from Zhiqiu, we’re basically going to try and steal the core part of their protective formation"

"I always knew that Symbol Arts were complicated, but it seems I still underestimated how profound they could be", Hong Yue commented as Wu Long reminded them of the conversation with Lian Zhiqiu earlier.

"Hehe, riii~ght~? All those symbols and patterns, all those layers of complexity and natural Laws that allow it all to produce specific desired effects... I couldn’t imagine where to even begin understanding any of it~. Good thing I have nothing to do with any of it", Hong Ye giggled with amusement.

"I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Ye ’er", Wu Long replied with a bit of amusement, "Theft Dao is, after all, intricately connected with overcoming obstacles - one of the most common of which is Arrays and Formations, so dealing with them is sort of part of the whole job and therefore Cultivation Path"

"...", Hong Ye suddenly stopped moving, prompting Wu Long and her sister to stop as well, turning to look at her as a slightly fidgety and uncertain voice resounded from under the veiled bamboo hat she was wearing, "H-hehe... y-you kno~w? I was thinking, and Theft Dao is probably not for me anyway~... I mean it’s immoral, right? To just steal someone’s stuff~..."

Hong Yue was at a loss of words at this immediate capitulation from Hong Ye’s earlier attitude toward the Theft Dao, going as far as to confidently complain she found her calling.

Wu Long lightly chuckled, "Assassination Dao that you two practiced all your lives faces that same obstacle of Formations as well though?"

Hong Ye paused for a bit, and then a helpless sigh came from behind the veiled bamboo hat as she shook her head from side to side a bit, "Haa~, I guess I’ll have to switch professional direction altogether then~ to something that doesn’t involve sneaking around a formation at all..."

"Wha~...?!?!", Hong Yue’s bewilderment intensified, now struggling to reconcile the abandonment of both the old and new Cultivation Paths from her younger twin.

Meanwhile, the latter added in an upbeat and somehow even inspired tone as her head perked back up, making a pose of looking forward to the bright future, "Welp~, nothing can be done about that~, it’s time to move forward to a new path. ...! You know what? You were right Bis Sis, it’s great to keep an open mind about the future and not dwell or be fixated on the path we already walked, it suddenly feels so free and wonderful~ ah~ I can feel it..."

Wu Long’s words were now mixed with barely held back laughter,"You don’t have to learn Symbol Arts to pursue Theft Dao or Assassination Dao, Ye’er. Just understanding a few key principles of how Formations work is okay, you’ll see what I’m talking about tonight, and it’s not late to think it over after tonight"

"You’re not saying that just to calm me down, right Darling? If it does involve even a tiny bit of what you talked about earlier with Sister Zhiqiu, you know it’s going to be a total disaster if I need to understand anything from that to be good at it", Hong Ye’s completely serious tone made it even harder for Wu Long to hold back his laughter while Hong Yue was now completely stunned speechless.

"Of course, Ye’er. I pinky promise you that it’s something you’ll be able to do very well if you like to go on this path", he chuckled, holding out his pinky finger.

"Hehehe~ fweh~ and here I was worried I’d have to change Cultivation Paths forever~", Hong Ye wove her own pinky around his, and they shook their hands as she sang a pinky promise song that anyone else would’ve found chilling to listen to, but Wu Long seemed to find cute as his head in veiled bamboo hat moved in rhythm of her singing.

At the same time, Hong Yue sighed, shaking her head, not sure if her twin was joking around or completely serious just now, but preferred to just think it was all one of Hong Ye’s playful jokes without confirming.

They proceeded to move toward their destination, which was a small run-down hut perched against one of the rocky mountain ridges.

Wu Long took out a communication talisman before approaching the hut, and receiving confirmation, released talismans to secure the area a bit more thoroughly.

The three entered the hut which only had one tiny room with a table in the center and a few old chairs, some of which were broken.

Instead of his usual outfit of a wealthy arena owner, Qian Ying wore a black outfit that wasn’t so different from regular Bahshi Assassins, only instead of a silver mask he had a low-sitting hat on his head, removing the cloak that concealed a similarly dark and unremarkable outfit.

"You’ve arrived, Manor Master", Qian Ying spoke while standing up from a resting position near the far wall of the hut, his address a compromise between calling Wu Long ’Valley Master’ since this was a setting where the latter was currently not acting in his role of the Eternal Duality Valley’s leader, and ’Boss’ which he found a bit too street hooligan-like title for someone of Wu Long’s standing - Wu Long was the master of the Wu Family Manor, so Manor Master came as a natural substitute.

"Yes, I thought we would be early, but it seems we still made you wait. Thank you for accommodating my last minute request to accompany you", Wu Long nodded with a smile as he took off his bamboo hat.

"Of course, Manor Master. It’s just...", Qian Ying nodded, but slightly hesitated as he turned his gaze to the two figures to Wu Long’s sides.

"You don’t have to worry about them hindering tonight’s mission, their stealth techniques are more than enough to keep up with the needs of this job", Wu Long chuckled, while the twins took off the hats and cloaks as well, revealing the silver masks and Bahshi Assassin uniforms underneath.

Qian Ying gasped, widening his eyes under the bamboo hat, "B-Bahshi-... but..." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

His first exclamation ended abruptly as he seemingly forced himself to stop, and his puzzled second attempt at a vocal reaction also fizzled out as he seemed to restrain himself from asking too many questions.

"You’ll learn more as you work with us", Wu Long smiled, nodding in understanding to his bewilderment, "Suffice to say, they wouldn’t be a burden - we just want to watch a master of this craft do this work"

A glint of pride flashed in Qian Ying’s eyes as he smiled, "Of course, if it is Prime Demons of Bahshi Assassination Group, then I have absolutely no doubts - rather, it is my honor to demonstrate my abilities"