For those who have forgotten, allow me to remind you. Miss Caidie was the young girl, who tested my skills under orders from Meng Jiangnan (Fu Xiang), when I entered the League of Assassins' branch. It had been over a month since then; the League of Assassins had completely vanished; Fu Xiang's whereabouts were unknown. As for why Miss Caidie was here, I had no idea.
"You're Caidie, correct?"
As soon as I exposed her, Miss Caidie straightened up her torso and drew a cold short sword, which she hid in her dressed, using her right hand.
"Take th-"
Before she could say, "this," or even draw her blade from its sheath, I had already touched her lower back several times and sealed her meridians. As an assassin, she relied on surprise attacks. Consequently, trying to escape or retaliate when she had been exposed was already too late.
As I injected my internal energy into her meridians, she wasn't going to be able to move for the next five hours, instead, she'd feel weak all over. I supported her lower back with my hand and continued hugging her lean physique.
"Miss Caidie, it's been a long time. Are you still doing well?"
"My name is not Caidie!" She fumed, "My name is Sisi. Caidie is a fake name."
"Is it? Sisi is quite a unique name. But I was wondering if it was your idea to come here to assassinate me today or if it was someone else's idea."
Sisi didn't show any fear. She harshly exclaimed, "Despicable scoundrel! I never wishfully thought for a second that I'd live to see another day after you captured me. Go ahead and kill me."
"It doesn't seem as though you became an assassin for money."
I apparently read her mind, and thus, she couldn't hold it in and gritted her teeth, "You killed my foster father!"
"Fu Xiang is your foster father?"
Now it made sense. Fu Xiang had no shortage of skilled assassins from the League of Assassins around him. Sisi's swordplay and hand techniques were decent, but she was too young. If she wasn't related to Fu Xiang, they most likely wouldn't have kept her.
'But then, given how perverted that Fu Xiang is, did he adopt her purely out of good will? I wouldn't have erased all of his martial arts skills had he not harboured crooked ideas for Boss Shen.'
"I didn't kill him. Didn't you people rescue that pervert?"
Sisi raged, "If we had rescued him, would I need to come here and fight you to the death?! Foster Father saved my entire family. When my family encountered bandits back then, we were fortunate enough to be rescued by him."
I took a careful look at Sisi's appearance.
'You can say she's a beauty.'
"That fellow didn't do all of that out of good will. You were definitely tricked, girl!"
"Don't you baselessly malign him! He promised to give me my freedom after I served him until I was sixteen years old!"
"That's because he was waiting for you to be a little older before laying his hands on you! He even set the date for it! I assure you, what was waiting for you that day wasn't freedom! I don't know what it was, but I'll bet anything it wasn't freedom!!"
"H-How can you insult my foster father that way?! You're the pervert; why would you have followed me here, otherwise?"
"Hey, you posed as a girl at a brothel, yet you're patronising me? I have yet to ask you why you're here."
"Look at yourself; we figured out places you frequent long ago. Besides Eight Deities Tavern and Dong Po Restaurant, this is the place you frequent most. You're the master of Night Fortress, yet… yet… you pervert!"
'Hey! I'm here for work today, okay?!'
'Previous visits were for… umm, were just to search for those beautiful times in the past. What do you know, Brat?!'
Sisi snickered, "You pervert; you have no idea that you've fallen into my trap already. I may not be able to kill you, but since you've followed me here, you can forget about leaving this place alive."
"No, I know that this is your trap; else, why did you think I asked you so many questions? Get this into your head: those who are best at keeping secrets are always those lurking in the dark, because they rely on secrets to live."
Just when Sisi was wondering what I meant by that, the doors to the rooms in the corridor flung open in unison. Six to seven individuals dressed in black clothing exited from each of the rooms. All of were armed with long swords. Their murderous intent gave off their intentions a while ago. In the span of a few sentences, the corridor was packed with assassins.
Judging from their clothing and the way they held their swords, they didn't appear to be from the League of Assassins.
"Your boss is Jin Wangsun, isn't it?"
The individuals in black froze. One of them said, "D-Don't make things up. We won't admit it."
'It seems that I was right. You people aren't from the League of Assassins, since you're also professional assassins, but can I bother you to not expose your boss so soon?'
"I get it now." I leaned in close to Sisi and in a quiet voice, said, "You hate me for getting rid of Fu Xiang, which is why you excitedly came running here when you heard that someone put a big bounty on my head. Jin Wangsun is the one who hired you, am I right?'
Sisi stuttered, "H-H-How do you know everything?"
"Do you even need to ask? What else does he have up his sleeve? It's either trying to sending beauties to seduce me or assassins. That's the extent of his brain capacity."
"Don't look down on us! They're all skilled fighters from Flying Eagle Sect. They'll skin you!"
The group in black watched me to find the right time to attack. The situation made it seem as though Sisi summoned them. Ten of them decided to themselves: "First come first serve!"
I took Sisi's short sword from her dress and swiped my closest opponent without thinking about it too much. Some sparks flew when our blades made contact.
My short sword made contact with his long sword for a mere second, yet he suddenly flew up high, crashing into the roof and landing on the ground similarly to withered grass. He resembled a still object, but I launched him away by using a blunt weapon similar to a rod.
The assassins were left stunned. However, being professional assassins, they couldn't retreat without completing their mission.
During their moments of hesitation, I advanced on them with the short sword in hand. I aimed for their swords and slashed at them. Each slash was enough to knock one unconscious. I sped through them, yet looked as though I was casually strolling through a garden. I didn't stop swinging the short sword in my hand. Not one person offered anything remotely considered a challenge.
The sound of metal clashing with metal in the corridor didn't pause for a moment until I reached the entrance of the corridor. By then, I had left a trail of individuals in black on the ground behind my wake.
It took me less than the time it'd take to say three sentences to put them all away. I then asked Sisi, "What did you just say before? Something about a turkey something or rather? Is it tasty?"
"…" After a moment of silence, Caidie finally responded with shock, "Y-You monster!!"
I ignored her exclamation and knocked her out before carrying her out.
As I thought, Jin Wangsun had targeted me.
'I must've been followed for the entirety of today.'
They contacted Sisi to strike inside the building when they saw me enter Heavenly Fragrance Garden. Jin Wangsun's plans aren't amazing by any means, but they're seriously a pain in the neck.
'Big Pants Jin, you twerp, you started this, so don't blame me for retaliating!'
I unknowingly stepped into the main hall while lost in my own world, thinking about things. Lots of people saw me carrying Sisi on my back, not to mention the fact that they saw her unconscious, thereby looking at her with sympathy.
"Geez, he's ruthless. Miss Sisi is still so young. Look at the size of him; he's going to hurt her so much."
'That's so rich coming from you people here looking for prostitutes! The reason such young girls work in brothels is because of your special fetishes, you bastards! Also, no showing her sympathy! She's an assassin! I'm the victim here.'
Before I knew it, a maiden fearfully walked up to me. She probably thought that I was Jin Wangsun's servant. With her knowledge of Jin Wangsun's background, she didn't dare to aggravate me. Once she came close, she quietly said, "Sir, Miss Sisi is still young. I am afraid that she cannot withstand your grace. How about you let me take her back?"
I couldn't spare her, so I had no choice, "… I haven't enjoyed myself enough yet. I'm getting another room, and then continuing."
I then immediately turned and went back the way I came. I heard boos from the crowd, but I had no complaints or regrets!
I returned to the corridor that I just came from. Because they had prepared to assassinate me in the corridor, it was unlikely for someone else to come.
I found a room and shoved Sisi into the bed. I then lay down on the bed, too, to wait for Shiyi to come find me.
I hadn't slept on a bed in days. Actually, to be precise, I hadn't slept for days. The soft bed caused my brain to melt and gradually feel as though I was drifting on clouds.
I reaffirmed things in my mind again. Since the day Boss left, I hadn't slept a wink, which was why I felt all of the accumulated fatigue the moment I relaxed.
So accordingly, I did the stupidest thing I ever did in my life. Had I known the consequences that I'd have to bear, I wouldn't have done it even if I had a blade on my throat.
I… accidentally fell asleep! Oh, that's not all. I slept as if I was dead!
I never ever imagined that the entire situation spiralled out of control and into the worse direction imaginable due to my absence. That day henceforth, Jin Wangsun would come to see me as his mortal enemy. Unless I was dead, he was never going to get off my case.
Glossary
*Ming Feizhen's reference to turkey is him messing with Sisi/Caidie when she mentioned that they were the Flying Eagle Sect.
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