Chapter 2: Hijacking?
The steam train raced along the iron tracks, hot steam mixed with sparks spewing from above the locomotive's chimney, quickly evaporating into the air. The scenery on both sides of the tracks was pleasant—green mountains and clear waters. Due to the train's high speed, the wind pressure tore apart a small white flower.
The view outside the window flashed by, a few white petals fleeting past. Inside the carriage, a man in a black formal suit with a silver earring on his right ear stood in the aisle. He appeared gentlemanly, but his beast-like aura made him resemble a starving wolf dressed in human clothing—a gentleman both brutal and bloodthirsty.
"Mr. White Night, I am Kalyu. Lord Moonlight wishes to see you. Your trip to the Council Hall will be delayed. Rest assured, we will not harm you—this is Lord Moonlight's order."
The man calling himself Kalyu was courteous, paying no mind to the dozen or so gazes around him. He had come to hijack an alchemy master, so he was naturally prepared.
Inside the carriage, over a dozen secret arts practitioners stared at Kalyu. A few of them looked tense, their palms slick with sweat, occasionally swallowing to moisten their dry throats from nervousness.
Su Xiao was not yet familiar with the situation in this world. He didn't know how famous Kalyu was, but he was certain that these secret arts practitioners assigned to escort him were novices.
The moment the enemy appeared, all dozen or so practitioners had exposed themselves. Though their gazes carried killing intent, it was mostly panic born from inexperience.
Alchemists were highly sought after by both the Four Kingdoms and the Council Hall, let alone Su Xiao's current identity as an alchemy master. It was impossible that only these newly promoted practitioners would escort him—there had to be hidden circumstances.
As for Kalyu with the silver earring, judging by his aura, Su Xiao sensed he was a hyena wolf—a creature capable of shifting between human and monster forms.
Hyena wolves weren't man-eating monsters. Except for a few that preyed on commoners, most targeted only the high-ranking members of the Four Kingdoms and the Council Hall.
The Four Kingdoms each had their own king. These four colossal entities were independent nations on the continent. The map of the entire continent was divided by a curved cross, with East, South, West, and North each having a kingdom, and the center being the Council Hall.
The Council Hall's decisions could restrain the four kings, while the eight councilors governing it came from the Four Kingdoms. Individually, their power was less than a king's, but collectively, it surpassed them.
Ordinarily, the Council Hall did not interfere with the internal affairs of the Four Kingdoms. The four kings governed their own realms, each with a complete power structure—from military commanders down to local clerks. Even villages had one or two constables.
Since the Council Hall's establishment, conflicts among the Four Kingdoms had subsided, but the hyena wolf clan remained an unresolved enemy. This nocturnal race was not only united but could also intermarry with humans, producing pure-blooded offspring.
The kingdoms and the Council Hall were bound by power, while the hyena wolf clan was bound by family. Each family branch had dozens or even hundreds of lineages.
Before gathering, they might be laborers, fishermen, or even kingdom officials. But once the hyena wolves convened a family meeting, they became nocturnal hunters.
Su Xiao didn't know why the hyena wolf clan sought him out, nor had he heard of the "Lord Moonlight" the man mentioned.
With a *shuffle*, the door at the rear of the carriage slid open. The first thing to enter was a meter-high dining cart.
*Squeak, squeak~*
The cart's wheel bearings were stiff. A maid in a maid's uniform pushed the cart forward. She seemed a bit dazed, completely unaware of the tense atmosphere in the carriage. When she reached the hyena wolf Kalyu, she looked troubled.
"Sir, could you please move aside?"
Hearing this timid voice, Kalyu was momentarily stunned and, as if possessed, stepped aside.
"Mr. White Night, here is your meal."
The dazed maid placed several plates on the table in front of Su Xiao, finally setting down a cup of black tea. She bowed respectfully and pushed the cart toward the next carriage.
Just as the carriage door closed, a secret arts practitioner suddenly stood up. Cyan-black patterns appeared on his right hand, and almost simultaneously, a cyan-black phantom emerged behind Kalyu. The phantom wielded a strange weapon, slashing at Kalyu's nape.
Hyena wolf Kalyu didn't even look at the practitioner. Instead, he raised his hand to unbutton his collar.
*Pfft.*
Blood splattered. The practitioner with cyan-black patterns on his right hand widened his eyes. Four slender metal claws pierced from under his chin, driving straight through the top of his skull.
The practitioner was lifted off the ground, his head slightly tilted back, making gurgling sounds as blood entered his trachea. He strained to turn his gaze, and the last thing he saw was a beautiful woman—a woman with short, light-golden hair and silver studs adorning her face.
The first practitioner's death sparked the battle. The dozen or so practitioners in the carriage realized that their neighbors or those behind them were hyena wolves in human form.
Trapped inside the carriage, a few practitioners were clearly at a disadvantage. Secret arts practitioners could be divided into two major branches: one was the Secret Pattern Branch, where practitioners had their own families with inherited secret patterns. These patterns grew stronger with each generation's refinement and development.
The second was the Engraving Branch, where practitioners carved secret patterns onto their bodies. These could not be passed down to the next generation and were unstable and variable.
Neither branch was inherently stronger, but the practitioners in the carriage were all from the Engraving Branch, with bizarre and varied abilities.
*Bang!* A corpse torn in two fell beside Su Xiao's seat. He picked up the napkin on the table, wiped the bloodstains from the back of his hand, and began enjoying his lunch. Judging by the weather outside, it was probably noon.
The carriage was in chaos—low growls and screams filled the air. Passengers in the front and rear carriages clearly sensed something was wrong, and a commotion began.
While blood splattered around him, Su Xiao calmly ate his lunch. He was pondering one thing: who had he offended in this identity, and why were the escorting practitioners so weak?
The battle ended half a minute later. Hyena wolf Kalyu wiped the blood from his hands as he walked toward Su Xiao. The gray-black fur on his body gradually retracted. This clan was called hyena wolves for a reason—their battle form resembled wolves, especially their eyes and the fur that sprouted from their bodies.
"Mr. White Night, I don't want this to get ugly between us. So, please come with me. Rest assured, Lord Moonlight's residence will surely satisfy you more than the Council Hall."
Kalyu made a gesture of invitation. Su Xiao set down his black tea and met Kalyu's gaze.
*Not good!* The thought instinctively flashed through Kalyu's mind, and he immediately tried to step back.
*Shuffle~*
A flash of cold light. Half of Kalyu's skull flew off. His body thudded to the ground the next moment, blood spreading beneath him.
Blood dripped from the short blade [Whisper of the Soul]. Su Xiao remained seated, scanning the dozen or so hyena wolves in human form inside the carriage.
As it turned out, Su Xiao was not the kind of alchemist weak in close combat that Kalyu had imagined.