Chapter 13 — Ghost in the Alley
Night in Floating Cloud City wasn't quiet.
The daytime noise of merchants and chatter gave way to the softer sounds of creaking shutters, muffled laughter from taverns, and the occasional patrol boots clacking against cobblestones.
Perfect for what I needed to do.
The Objective
The Xiao Clan had been getting bolder.
Their patrols were thicker near the outer markets, and a few too many eyes lingered on me whenever I went out for supplies.
If I wanted to survive here, I needed to understand their routes, their shifts, their blind spots.
And tonight, I was going to learn.
Into the Shadows
I pulled my hood low, slowed my breathing, and let the flow of my profound energy settle into that same calm hum I'd mastered in the Avatar simulation.
Step.
Pause.
Step.
Breathe.
Within moments, I wasn't a boy slipping through the streets anymore.
I was just another shadow in a city full of them.
Following the Patrol
Two Xiao Clan guards walked ahead of me, their lanterns swinging lazily as they laughed about some poor shopkeeper who'd underpaid his "protection fee."
I stayed twenty paces back, far enough that even if they turned, I was nothing more than a blur in the dark.
Every corner, every pause, I moved when they moved, stopped when they stopped.
They never noticed me.
Not once.
The Close Call
Halfway through the route, one of the guards suddenly stopped, eyes narrowing.
"Did you hear that?"
I froze.
For a breathless second, I thought it was over.
But then a stray cat darted from an alley, knocking over a loose bottle.
The guard cursed, kicked the bottle aside, and kept walking.
My heart thudded painfully in my chest, but my steps stayed silent.
Lesson learned: even shadows can get sloppy.
The Payoff
By the time the patrol returned to the clan compound, I'd mapped half their route in my head:
Two-minute pauses near the east gate.
A blind corner by the riverwalk.
A thirty-second gap between shifts in the inner market.
All useful information.
Information that might save my life one day.
System Update
[Practical Integration Successful]
[Stealth Efficiency: +10%]
[Observation Skill (Basic) Unlocked]
The Realization
As I slipped back into my tiny room, the weight of what I was doing hit me.
This wasn't a game.
Every simulation, every skill, every night spent risking my neck…
It was all survival.
Two years from now, when Yun Che returned and chaos tore through this city, I wouldn't just be another face in the crowd waiting to be crushed.
I'd be ready.