The long-haired man never expected to lose, and to lose so miserably.
From beginning to end, he didn't gain any advantage against Lin Ye; he was purely a punching bag.
He considered his martial arts skills to be top-notch, as they were honed through trials of blood and fire.
There were at least eighty, if not a hundred, people who had died by his hand, yet now, in front of Lin Ye, he was like a raw recruit, utterly powerless to retaliate.
Shock, confusion, disappointment, and other emotions filled the long-haired man's heart.
At this moment, he felt like a useless person.
Lin Ye, who was holding a wooden stick to his throat, saw his expression and knew that his taunt had worked.
To subdue someone, to make them truly submit, one must defeat them in their strongest area, in the most decisive way, and at the same time, mock them with words to make them question their life.
He had accomplished it now.
But it was clearly not quite enough, so Lin Ye put away the wooden stick and continued, "Your combat skills are indeed very refined, but that's not enough. Besides lacking speed, you lack two other things."
Hearing this, the long-haired man looked up in confusion.
"What things?"
"Unwavering courage and the determination to kill with one strike. Look into my eyes!"
Lin Ye's sudden shout made the long-haired man instinctively look into his eyes.
The next second, Lin Ye suddenly raised the wooden stick again and thrust it fiercely towards the long-haired man.
This time, it seemed as if he intended to kill the long-haired man.
Along with his movements, his eyes were filled with killing intent—the killing intent of the noble Knight from his memories who had once slain countless monsters.
His hatred for monsters made him show no mercy when fighting them.
The long-haired man, caught off guard by Lin Ye's direct gaze, was so startled that he stumbled backward repeatedly, accidentally falling to the ground, his eyes filled with fear of death.
However, when he came to his senses, he realized that Lin Ye had been standing still, not moving at all, and had already thrown the wooden stick aside.
Sweating profusely from fear, he was now more confused than afraid.
Just then, Lin Ye's voice came again.
"This is the difference between you and me. Go back and practice hard."
After saying that, Lin Ye prepared to turn and leave.
As he turned, he didn't forget to silently count in his mind.
"1, 2, 3."
As soon as he finished counting to three, the long-haired man hastily spoke:
"Please wait!"
Hearing this, Lin Ye's mouth, which had turned away, couldn't help but curve slightly upward.
"He took the bait."
Slowly turning back, he feigned confusion and said, "Is there anything else? Do you want to fight me again?"
"No, no, no, I know I can't beat you, but I hope to learn from you. I want to become stronger."
"Oh? Learn?"
"Yes." Zhou Qing nodded seriously.
"I'm not afraid to tell you, I come from Blood Eagle, one of the three major international assassin organizations."
"For some reason, I broke with Blood Eagle, and I want to go back and get revenge on them, so I must have stronger power..."
Through Zhou Qing's self-narration, Lin Ye quickly gained some understanding of his basic situation.
Zhou Qing, the long-haired man, had been an assassin and a mercenary. For some reason, he was betrayed by his organization, and severely wounded, he hid in Kyoto Sea and was rescued by Liu Hong.
"So he really is a professional killer. I didn't expect to be able to interact with someone of this level."
While feeling emotional, Lin Ye looked at Zhou Qing again.
"I can teach you, but there's a condition: you have to be my subordinate from now on and follow my arrangements."
"As long as you're willing to follow me, not only can I teach you those things I just mentioned, but I can also teach you more profound things."
Hearing Lin Ye's words, Zhou Qing's eyes immediately lit up.
Without even thinking, he agreed.
"No problem, as long as you're willing to teach me, I can follow your arrangements."
"Very good, then it's settled. I'll set aside one day a week to teach you. I'll decide the time and place. Give me your contact information."
"Okay."
As they spoke, the two exchanged contact information.
And Zhou Qing voluntarily became Lin Ye's subordinate.
The moment Lin Ye subdued him, the system announced the completion of the quest.
"Ding! You have successfully defeated the bandit leader, taught him a harsh lesson, and taken him as your Knight Retainer."
"Quest completed. You have received the following rewards: 500 magic gold coins, Knight Breathing Technique, and a Mithril Longsword."
"Rewards have been sent to the system inventory. Please check it yourself, Host."
Hearing the system prompt, Lin Ye let out a long sigh of relief.
He was still afraid that what just happened wouldn't count.
However, just then, the prompt that had just faded away rang out again.
"A magic contract has been automatically signed between you and your Knight Retainer. From now on, your Knight Retainer will never be able to betray you."
"Hmm?"
Under Lin Ye's surprised gaze, he suddenly noticed a small magic circle light up on Zhou Qing's forehead.
The magic circle flashed and disappeared, but he saw it clearly. As the magic circle vanished, Zhou Qing's gaze towards him visibly became much more respectful.
"The system has this function too. This way, I really do have a loyal subordinate."
"I'll let him be my assistant and bodyguard then. After all, I can't do everything myself."
After saying this, he told Zhou Qing to go back first.
As Zhou Qing was leaving, he suddenly said, "Do you want me to deal with Liu Hong, so he doesn't cause you any more trouble, sir?"
Hearing this, Lin Ye shook his head repeatedly.
On one hand, he genuinely didn't want to kill people casually. On the other hand, he was still counting on Liu Hong to complete monster-slaying quests in the future.
It was entirely possible that tomorrow's daily quest would be monster-slaying again.
After Zhou Qing left, Song Bao'er, who had been watching from the side, walked over excitedly.
"You were so amazing just now, so cool!"
"Do you know martial arts? Where did you learn these things? Aren't you a Magician?"
"What did you just say to that person? How did he suddenly become so polite to you?"
Faced with Song Bao'er's barrage of questions, Lin Ye could only give perfunctory answers.
Seeing that he couldn't keep up the pretense, he changed the subject.
"Let's go eat. We'll have a good meal, and then you'll have to go home."
As soon as this was said, Song Bao'er indeed quieted down.
"Alright then, I know a high-class restaurant that makes excellent food. Today, let me treat you, big brother."
"Okay."
Finally, the two had a luxurious meal at a five-star hotel in Jinghai City.
As soon as the lavish meal was finished, a group of people came to pick up Song Bao'er. Along with this group was a burly, broad-shouldered middle-aged man.
In front of Song Bao'er, this middle-aged man was full of flattery, to the point where groveling would not be an exaggeration.
Just before getting into a luxury car, Song Bao'er suddenly said something to the middle-aged man, then pointed in Lin Ye's direction, and the middle-aged man nodded repeatedly.
Finally, Song Bao'er waved goodbye in Lin Ye's direction.
After Song Bao'er's car drove away, Lin Ye was about to return to school for his afternoon classes, but just then, a man in a black Suit Man suddenly jogged up to him.
"Hello, sir. This is something our young lady asked me to give you."
"Hmm?"
Under Lin Ye's puzzled gaze, the Suit Man handed him two items: one was a watch, and the other was a letter.
The envelope felt stiff, and there seemed to be something else inside.
As soon as Lin Ye took the two items, the Suit Man quickly walked away.
"Why did she send me these two things?"
"This watch looks like an international brand, as for the letter..."
With a hint of curiosity, he casually opened the envelope.
Inside, there was a letter written in crooked handwriting, and also a bank card.
"Big brother, thank you for saving me so many times, and thank you for having dinner with me today. I'm going home now. This watch is my dad's, so I'll give it to you as a gift. This card has 5 million in it, the password is 071008. Although it's not much, it's my New Year's money that I've saved for many years. We'll see each other again very soon, big brother."
A cute little bear was also drawn in the bottom right corner of the letter.
Looking at the content of the letter, Lin Ye was stunned on the spot.
"How much is on this card? 5 million! And it's New Year's money saved over several years? What kind of family is this?"
"No, even if you're rich, you don't give money away like this, do you?"
Lin Ye really wanted to chase after her and return the card to Song Bao'er, but the luxury car she was in had long since disappeared.
Just then, he suddenly noticed that there seemed to be writing on the back of the letter.
"Big brother, you don't need to think about returning the money to me. I'll just ask my dad for more. Forget 5 million, he'd have to give me 50 million, otherwise I'll run away from home again!"
When Lin Ye saw this line of text, a wry smile couldn't help but appear on his face.
"It seems 5 million really isn't much to her."
After saying this, he casually hailed a taxi and headed towards his rental apartment.
Before returning to school, he still needed to check the rewards the system had given him this time and buy the items in the mysterious shop.