Shortly after leaving the building where he met Fatty Zain and saved Serina, Shui entered the estate belonging to the Stucho clan. Since he didn't want to cause too much trouble for the Riot clan, he didn't provoke the Stucho clan by strutting through the front door and instead headed straight for Marco. Through the memories he obtained from the men who had kidnapped Serina, Marco wanted to get back at Kane and Fatty by killing Serina and then removing all traces of his involvement. The Riot clan would certainly suspect him and the Stucho clan, but with no evidence, they would have to rein in their anger. Even with evidence it would be difficult to send Marco to his death given his high status inside the Burning Stampede Sect and lack of direct involvement; at most they would have the heads of some scapegoats.
Shui cared little for the grudges between the Riot clan and the Stucho clan, and if Fatty Zain had been bruised and battered, he would have simply given him some training, but Marco had crossed a line he shouldn't have by involving Serina.
Once he reached the mansion belonging to Marco, Shui calmly stepped inside as if it was only natural that he was here. Given his handsome face and noble bearing, the mortal servants didn't question his appearance, but those more closely related to the Stucho clan were different.
"Halt! Who dares enter the mansion of the third young master of the Stucho clan without permission?"
The guard who confronted Shui spoke with a harsh tone, but he refrained from making any rash moves until he understood the identity of this intruder. Even though he could clearly see him, it was as if he would vanish the moment he closed his eyes. Now that Shui had achieved Soul Perfection, when combined with his soul cultivation, even a Master specialised in spiritual arts would find it difficult to pinpoint him with their spiritual sense if Shui wanted to hide. He could have made himself invisible to the guard if he wanted to, but Shui wanted to leave some impression of himself so that Marco's murder wasn't blindly pinned on the Riot clan.
"I'm here to see your master. Lead the way."
"...Yes, follow me."
With a few words from Shui, the guard's eyes glazed over, and he accepted Shui's words as the absolute truth. If Shui said that white was black and the sun was the moon, he would believe it. With Shui's current mastery of the spiritual arts, making every person in the mansion commit suicide would barely make him break a sweat, but he wanted to prioritise his recovery, so he was reluctant to engage in reckless killing lest it ignite any lingering effects of the demonic refining method he used.
As the guard led him closer to Marco, more servants tried to stop them. Those that spoke first were hypnotised, while those who let their weapons do the talking were swiftly dispatched by their former allies. And so, with not even the scent of blood on his outfit, Shui advanced.
After waiting for an hour for news from Serina's kidnappers, Marco could no longer keep his patience and was about to send someone to check on the situation, but no one responded to his call.
"Ren! Pablo! Guards! Damn it, where is everyone?!"
To avoid disturbing the hidden powers inside the clan, it was ill-advised to use spiritual sense extensively within the estate, but Marco figured it would be fine as long as he limited it to his personal residence. He spread his spiritual sense and found the majority of his servants approaching his room.
"Are they finally responding to my summons, but why are there so many of them grouped together?"
A closer analysis soon revealed that some of these subordinates were stained with blood and had left corpses in their path. Marco immediately suspected a rebellion, but none within the mansion surpassed him in strength, and though fighting all of them by himself would be difficult, he could easily escape. He had many questions, and there was no reason to wait for the servants' arrival, so Marco left his room and confronted them of his own volition.
"Halt! What is the meaning of this?!"
When he appeared before the horde, the group stopped and then made way for the young master's guest. Marco was immediately wary upon seeing an unfamiliar face, but his spiritual sense couldn't recognise him.
"An illusion?"
"That's incorrect. Though from your perspective, perhaps I am a ghost. Honestly, I'm not interested in wiping out your clan, so I've chosen to keep a low profile. Once I've dealt with you, I'll be on my way."
"You certainly like to boast. You must be a soul cultivator. Do you really think your pesky spiritual arts will work against me?"
Despite his bravado, Marco discreetly reached for a token inside his sleeve. Given his apparent mind control ability, Marco guessed that Shui practised soul cultivation. Though the soul was difficult to cultivate for humans, those who attained success in this area were known to be very difficult to fight, and judging by the fact that this ghostly young man had managed to control all of his servants, his chance of victory in direct combat was low. Still, given that the young man didn't dare alert the clan of his presence, Marco was confident he could survive as long as he received help from his elders.
However, right as he was about to crush the token, Marco's hand froze in place.
"You seem to have a misconception. I'm not hiding my presence out of fear; it's simply a matter of convenience. And it would be convenient for me if you committed suicide. A list of crimes that you and your clan are involved in would be a nice gift as well."
The moment he heard those words, Marco's hand moved from the token, and he used a piece of jade to store the information Shui asked for.
"No! No! This can't be!"
Realising that he had lost control of his body, Marco despaired. A soul cultivator powerful enough to control him with such ease wouldn't need to be afraid of his clan, but he couldn't believe he would be targeted by such a threat. He howled with greater intensity as his hands reached for his neck. However, even these screams were only possible because they were being allowed. As his hands tightened around his throat, screaming became impossible. Fear filled his eyes right up to the moment his neck bent with a snap.
Once he confirmed Marco's death, Shui left the Riot clan estate and dispelled the hypnosis on the servants and guards. Their memories during the hypnosis were vague, but the sight of their young master's corpse was enough to tell them that something seriously wrong had occurred. Some fled to avoid responsibility, but most were truly loyal to the clan and told the elders everything they knew. At first, the elders suspected a skilled assassin had killed Marco, but even elders in the Sky Realm could not find evidence to refute the reality that Marco had committed suicide. Some of the servants mentioned that someone had visited the mansion right before Marco's death, but none of them could provide a clear description.
In the end, it was better for the clan's image to say that he had been assassinated and put the blame on one of their enemies, so the elders executed the servants who knew the truth and suppressed news of the incident. However, this would become a futile move, as many of their secrets would mysteriously make it into the hands of the Riot clan.