Monarch of Darkness

A redtailed hawk spread it's wings on the cloud top of the blue sky. There was an old man, a teen aged boy and a little girl was on the back of the redtailed hawk. This was the group of Evan and others who were on their way to Clear wind city.

"Grandpa, please don't use your soul consciousness to search around. We can't alert the enemies", Evan looked at the shadow commander.

"Don't worry. I am not a rash person. As long as you don't approach the enemies, I will not do anything", the shadow commander replied.

"Alice, you also. Don't leave my side today", Evan looked at the little girl who was enjoying the trip on the flying beast.

"I will listen to big brother", she spoke with a sweet smile on her face. Evan massaged his head as he knew how much serious she actually was!

It took them almost eight hours to reach near the Clear wind city. Evan spread his soul consciousness and found many powerful souls near the city gate. "Grandpa, let's get down first. We will walk from here to city gate", he looked at the Shadow commander.

Shadow commander nodded and patted the back of the redtailed hawk. It quickly descended and landed in a desolate looking forest. "The Clear wind city is more than ten miles from here. Why did you stop at such a distant place", the shadow commander looked at Evan.

"We need to be more cautious towards the hidden scouts of enemies", Evan replied. He couldn't tell the shadow commander that he had soul sense which was more powerful than him. So, he only provided a random explanation.

Shadow commander nodded as it was always good to be cautious. Evan took the hand of Alice and they moved towards the city gate of Clear wind city. A soul consciousness swept past them when they were four miles away from the city. The shadow commander became more alert. He commended Evan for his foresight inside his mind.

"There are Nascent soul stage experts nearby. We need to be more alert", a serious look appeared on the face of shadow commander as he reminded Evan and Alice. Evan could also feel the soul consciousness which just swept past him. 

"It seems like enemies are surely plotting something. Nascent soul stage experts are the top experts in our Thousand swords kingdom but now one of those experts is keeping watch near gate", Evan thought inside his mind.

A tall gate came to their mind as they approached the city gate of Clear wind city. A large amount of people were coming and going outside. It was expected as Clear wind city was one of the biggest cities of Thousand swords kingdom. City population was around one million and it described the bustling atmosphere of the city.

Evan observed the city walls. There were archers placed on the city walls. He nodded his head as the city seemed well fortified. The height of the city walls were lesser compared to the walls of Sword city but it was expected as Sword city was the capital of Thousand swords kingdom.

There were some sturdy looking guards standing at the entrance of the city gate. They were collecting the entry fee from the visitors. Evan didn't use his soul consciousness as he knew that their group would be found as long as someone could follow his soul consciousness.

The fee was ten silver coin for each person. Shadow commander paid thirty silver coins and entered while holding the hand of Evan and Alice. Together they were looking like a family of an elderly and two young children.

Evan observed his surrounding with a completely calm look. Although he had a relaxed appearance, he was completely alert at this moment. Compared to him and the shadow commander, the real relaxed person was Alice. She was curiously looking at everything with her two big eyes.

They didn't stop for a moment and walked towards the inner city. "We need to find a place to sit down. We can't acheive anything by walking here and there", Evan said to the shadow commander. The shadow commander nodded his head.

They walked towards a simple looking restaurant and sat down. "Alice you can order anything you want", Evan smiled at Alice.

Food got served and group of three started eating leisurely. A butterfly appeared on the top of the restaurant and it was completely unconspicuous in the fading light of evening.

Evan kept eating but he was searching for the place where the meeting was being held. The Clear wind city was stretched across twenty to thirty miles and it was a challenge for Evan to search an exact location among the vast stretch of buildings.

They sat in the restaurant for one and half hours but Evan couldn't find anything in the meantime. Evan felt anxious as it was already past evening. They paid the bill of restaurant and walked outside. 

"Little prince, it doesn't matter even if you can't find the location of enemies. We already know something is amiss. So, we will prepare accordingly when we return to the palace", shadow commander spoke softly. Evan knew he was feeling concerned for him but he wouldn't go back so easily. He knew they couldn't ensure their safety without knowing the full power of their enemies.

They roamed for another hour but Evan couldn't discover anything. Evan was growing more frustrated with each passing minutes. When he was thinking to give up, his eyes lit up. 

A lean looking old man entered the city gate and he was directly escorted to a plain looking house. The house was located in the southern corner of the city and it was looking so plain that no one would gaze at it for second time. 

Evan decided to keep an eye on the old man because the old man seemed like a formidable expert to him. A middle aged man came out to welcome the old man. The old man silently nodded at the middle aged man and the middle aged man led him inside.

Evan tried to look inside but the butterflies couldn't enter the house. He thought for a while and made up his mind. "Grandpa, keep yourself ready. If anything goes wrong, I need you to take us out of the city", Zhan Chen spoke to the shadow commander.

"Have you managed to locate the enemies?", he asked in return. "I have only guessed a location but we need to verify it", Evan replied.

They hired a horse cart and it took them to the southern part of the Clear wind city. Evan led the shadow guard and Alice to a nearby location. They entered a small restaurant and Evan spread his soul consciousness.

His previous location was too far from the southern part of the city. So, he moved to the southern part. So that, he could eavesdrop on the enemies. His soul consciousness could cover a vast area but to clearly listen to everything, he had to move nearby. 

His soul conscious entered the plain looking house but before he could do anything, a soul consciousness swept towards him. "Shit", Evan yelled inside his mind. He didn't give up and pushed his soul consciousness towards inside. He saw a vast hall inside the house where twelve experts had gathered and what surprised him the fact that everyone was a Nascent soul realm expert. He quickly retracted his soul consciousness and yelled, "Grandpa, quickly fly outside".