“Spare me, hero!” the black shadow stammered.
“Be careful. Don’t let your hand shake.”
If he hadn’t been afraid that moving recklessly would cause a misunderstanding, he would actually have knelt down and begged for mercy.
It was true that a man’s knees were worth gold, but what could he do when a sword was pressed against a vital spot?
Jiang Chen had never seen an assassin with this sort of style. Keeping his face cold, he said, “You’re the one who should be careful. Don’t give me a reason to kill you.”
“I definitely won’t. Definitely not. Rest assured!”
“...” Jiang Chen was silent for a moment. “Who are you?”
“My surname is Su, and my name is Xiuxing. I’m from Jiaoheng Commandery in the State of Wei—not that Wei, the one whose military cultivators are famous throughout the world, but Wei as in guards. I was born in the first year of the Dao Calendar...”
Before the man could report his entire birth date and time, Jiang Chen hurriedly cut him off. “Which organization are you with? Who sent you?”
No lamp had been lit in the room. In the darkness, Su Xiuxing suddenly assumed an air of righteous heroism.
“An assassin of our World-Pervading Tower would never betray the organization!”
The World-Pervading Tower...
Jiang Chen searched his memory, but found no trace of that name. “What about the employer?”
“Even the assassin’s trade has principles. Old Li from Li’s Stuffed-Pastry Shop in the western district of Jia City came to our organization and asked us to take care of something. That was his trust in our organization. We absolutely won’t reveal anything about him!”
By now, Jiang Chen understood. Although this man surnamed Su was fairly capable, this so-called World-Pervading Tower was probably just a small, obscure organization.
As an assassin organization, it certainly possessed methods such as blood oaths and heart-demon curses. But they were clearly rather crude. Su Xiuxing’s bizarre way of answering wasn’t meant to clown around; it was a way of revealing the truth while skirting the curse’s restrictions.
For an organization hidden in the darkness, the means it used to keep secrets said a great deal about its strength.
The fact that its restrictions could be broken so easily was enough to show that this so-called World-Pervading Tower merely had an imposing name.
“How did an assassin at the Heaven-Piercing realm ever think of assassinating me?”
The Jiang Chen of today naturally had the right to say that.
Before attempting the assassination, the other side had made quite a few targeted preparations. In Jiang Chen’s view, if they had investigated him, they shouldn’t have sent only someone at the Heaven-Piercing realm.
“You’re at the Heaven-Piercing realm, and so am I. Isn’t it perfectly normal for me to assassinate you?” Su Xiuxing said indignantly. Then, remembering his current situation, his bravado deflated. “I’m sorry.”
“Suppose someone suddenly jumped out and tried to kill you in the middle of the night for no reason. If he said he was sorry, would you accept it?”
“I would.”
Jiang Chen glanced up.
He immediately changed course. “No, no, I wouldn’t.”
“Then what do you think I need in order to accept your apology?” Jiang Chen drawled.
Su Xiuxing understood completely.
“I have five Dao Essence Stones on me...”
“That’s all?”
“And some talismans.”
“What else?”
“Hero, I really don’t have anything good left.” Su Xiuxing’s voice turned tearful. “If I had that much wealth, would I need to work as an assassin?”
“Think carefully,” Jiang Chen said leisurely.
“My cultivation arts! Everything I’ve learned, except for the things bound by my sect’s blood curse and forbidden from being passed on, can be given to you.”
Jiang Chen reached out and took his dagger. Then he casually flicked out a Flamebloom, which hovered in the air and illuminated the room.
By now, he had completely mastered every change of the Flamebloom and could wield it with perfect ease.
He sheathed his long sword. He wasn’t worried that Su Xiuxing would run away. Nodding toward the desk, he said, “Go write it down.”
Without a word, Su Xiuxing efficiently emptied everything from his robes and handed it to Jiang Chen. Then he sat down beside the desk, spread out paper, ground the ink, and began transcribing from memory. He certainly had the bearing of an assassin.
Only then did Jiang Chen get a clear look at his face. He looked quite ordinary, with plain brows and eyes, nothing like the flighty personality he had displayed.
Five Dao Essence Stones.
One Suppression Talisman, the sort of talisman that had temporarily suppressed Long Lovesickness earlier.
Two Clear-Heart, Bright-Eyes Talismans, which had the effect of dispelling illusions.
Breath-Concealing Talismans. Probably necessary for an assassin’s profession, these were the most numerous, with a full five.
One finely crafted dagger-type magical artifact, engraved with Dao runes that strengthened its sharpness.
Taken together, everything was worth nearly two hundred Dao Essence Stones. That was eleven years of income for cultivators at the Roaming Meridian realm like Zhang Hai and Xiang Qian.
The most valuable item among them was the dagger.
Jiang Chen wasn’t worried about Su Xiuxing escaping. He simply went outside and woke Xiaoxiao, telling her to bring Zhang Hai over.
Zhang Hai was a strange man. If you said he was hardworking, he had never put much effort into cultivation. If you said he was lazy, he constantly watched the heat for his pills and often forgot to eat or sleep.
In Jiang Chen’s eyes, this was the sort of evasive hard work that existed mainly to make oneself feel moved by one’s own efforts.
Xiaoxiao quickly got up and went out. Zhu Biqiong, who shared a room with her, was startled at first. Only after seeing that Jiang Chen had no intention of barging into the room did she relax. She couldn’t help growing curious again about what Jiang Chen wanted to do at this hour of the night.
Jiang Chen’s exchange with Su Xiuxing had ended quickly, and she hadn’t heard a thing.
In fact, Jiang Chen hadn’t restricted her movements. With the Mirage Pearl on her, she could have slipped away unnoticed. But she hadn’t fled, which showed that she was also a principled young woman.
At this point, only Jiang Chen and his two captives remained in the little courtyard.
Jiang Chen had no intention of making small talk with Zhu Biqiong. He returned to the doorway of his bedroom and watched over Su Xiuxing, who was writing furiously. By then, the man had already filled more than a dozen pages. He seemed to have learned a wide variety of things, which pleased Jiang Chen greatly.
Before long, Zhang Hai came rushing over with Xiaoxiao.
As the undisputed master of the Hu clan’s mine now, Jiang Chen had summoned him, and he didn’t dare delay.
The other man dared to beat members of the Chongxuan clan, and even Hu Shaomeng had no standing in front of him. A minor cultivator at the Roaming Meridian realm like Zhang Hai truly had no right to put on airs.
“Go to Jia City tonight and investigate Old Li from Li’s Stuffed-Pastry Shop in the western district,” Jiang Chen said, getting straight to the point. “This is in addition to your work guarding the mine. If you handle it well, you can work for me from now on. I’ll give you three Dao Essence Stones a month, so you can buy more alchemy materials.”
Zhang Hai said nothing and immediately set off, without even returning to his own courtyard.
He had no right to refuse. And when faced with Jiang Chen’s naked bribe, he didn’t want to refuse either.
In Zhu Biqiong’s room, however, she suddenly found her energy again and called out, “Why not ask me to work for you? I’m much stronger than he is! Just give me that Dao art.”
Jiang Chen said nothing. He was willing to trade Tiger Bind for the Mirage Pearl, but not now. He would let her stew for a while first.
Xiaoxiao had probably run too fast on the way there; her face was flushed as she timidly glanced over.
Jiang Chen waved his hand. “Nothing else for you to do. Go back and rest.”
He turned and walked into the room.
He had told Zhang Hai to investigate Jia City without hiding it from the assassin, Su Xiuxing.
The man continued writing as fast as ever, seemingly unaffected in the slightest.
A short while later, he stopped and presented the thick stack of paper to Jiang Chen for inspection.
Yue Wen