Hidden Assassin 175

Whenever his whole body tensed up, his thoughts would fly about in a chaotic mess, conjuring up all sorts of nonexistent things. Yet, every reaction around him was still imprinted on his mind in the minutest detail. It felt as if he had been split into two, one part fighting, the other simply observing from behind as a soul, a perfect blend of ease and tension. His heart pounded, pumping blood out to his limbs, and he could even distinctly sense the red fluid rushing through his flexible veins. The assassin’s soul began to thrill…

The bullet slammed into the chamber. Darkness engulfed him. The chaotic sounds grew louder, drawing closer. Like the Da Nei Chang Du’s usual assassination methods, he too enjoyed the sense of security that the pitch black brought. If possible, this might be the third Pei Luo Jia instructor he would kill.

If everything ran its course, Da Nei Chang Du would be killed in a mission five years later. Shortly after, he, who excelled in disguise and stealth, would become Yuan Lai Chao Chuang’s new partner, until Yuan Lai Chao Chuang died… His thoughts drifted as he pushed open the door in front of him and shut it behind him. There was the smell of blood in the darkness. A black object flew over from the side and slammed against the wall with a thud. The Da Nei Chang Du’s figure instantly dashed forward, his body accelerating. He threw a punch!

Jia Ming braced himself, but his body was sent flying backwards. The Da Nei Chang Du closed in, drawing his sword, preparing to strike!

There was a clang as the blade pierced the carpet. In that instant, Jia Ming used his right hand, which was touching the ground, as a support. His entire body rotated 360 degrees in mid-air, unleashing a powerful knee strike towards the Da Nei Chang Du’s side. In the blink of an eye, the Da Nei Chang Du was sent flying sideways, as if hit by a spiked ball. Jia Ming then planted his right foot on the ground, leaping into the air before the impact, and rained down a barrage of attacks on the Da Nei Chang Du.

It was almost the same tactic as the Da Nei Chang Du had used earlier, but the difference was that Jia Ming was deliberately knocked off balance to use the force, while the Da Nei Chang Du was caught off guard. As he retreated, he managed to block three straight punches, parried an elbow strike aimed at his ribs, and dodged another straight punch, but as Jia Ming’s five fingers swept out, he left a shallow mark on his forehead. Then came a whirlwind of knee strikes and sweeps.

The spacious bedroom, measuring more than ten meters in width, was reduced to a chaotic mess in just two seconds. A chair was smashed to pieces. The ten-centimeter thick metal bedpost in the center was kicked off. The Simmons mattress, which the Da Nei Chang Du had used to shield himself, was almost ripped apart in the middle, flying out with cotton, springs, and other stuffing scattering everywhere. The large wardrobe on the wall was kicked in half. There was a loud bang and the wall caved in. For a time, the attacks seemed to be like a tank, crushing everything in their path. No matter what the Da Nei Chang Du did, Jia Ming remained like a leech, clinging to him.

After countless battles, this was the first time the Da Nei Chang Du had seen a woman who looked so refined use such violent fighting techniques.

If it had been a male assassin, such a pure focus on violence and destruction wouldn’t have been unusual. In the world-class underground black market boxing scene, fighters could easily break 20-inch iron bars and tear apart polar bears. Each kick had a force of up to 700-800 kilograms. Such pure pursuit of destructive power required an extremely high level of training, enough to consume someone’s entire life. And for an assassin of the Da Nei Chang Du’s caliber, peak skill could also make up for a lack of strength. Even in hand-to-hand combat against the strongest black market boxers, they might not be inferior. There weren’t many male assassins who focused solely on this type of training, let alone women.

But here, this woman was attacking him in a bombastic way, pushing speed and adaptability to their limits while maintaining strength, pinning him down, giving him no chance to draw his gun, no chance to draw his sword, no chance to escape. He could only block, parry, and defend… The sounds outside grew louder. After more than ten seconds, he finally launched a counterattack…

****************************************

Flames crackled and popped in the living room. A group of people were cleaning up the mess. James’s injuries were the worst. The Da Nei Chang Du had slashed his legs, almost severing his leg bones. Blood was pouring out, and they had only done simple first aid. Dongfang Linghai asked his daughter, “That’s the Jian Suyan you saw, right?” Dongfang Wan, stunned, simply nodded. Fang Zitian was giving orders to everyone.

“The Da Nei Chang Du is on the first floor, towards the dining room. There’s a woman wearing black casual clothes who is our ally. Be careful not to hurt her…”

“We found her, we found her… They’re fighting their way out of the master bedroom. Oh my God…”

The noise, explosions, gasps, and the sound of furniture and walls crashing created a cacophony. Clearly, the two were fighting while also firing guns and throwing grenades at close range as a finishing touch. Yan Huang Jue Xing’s people occasionally caught glimpses of the two but didn’t dare fire recklessly. There were constant warnings from outside about Yuan Lai Chao Chuang’s approach. After a while, Ye Lian arrived in the living room, his right side covered in blood.

“Yuan Lai Chao Chuang is approaching from the front. It’s unbelievable that more than ten people couldn’t stop him alone. As for that… It seems Miss Yujinxiang has the upper hand, but… I’ve never seen a girl fight like that before. Before this, I always thought only those with supernatural abilities and those black market boxers could dismantle houses with their bare hands…”

“Yuan Lai Chao Chuang has a track record of taking on a hundred men by himself,” Fang Zitian said as he tended to his wounds. “As for that… dismantling houses with bare hands?”

“The master bedroom connects to two relatively thin walls on the sides, which were directly kicked through. This fighting style doesn’t match the Da Nei Chang Du’s, which means that Miss Yujinxiang is fighting him using his own methods and… has the upper hand…”

“My God… What kind of monster is she?”

Amidst everyone’s exclamations, Dongfang Wan, who didn’t know much about these matters, understood the meaning behind their words. She widened her eyes, “Kick… kicked through the wall? How is that possible? Jian… Miss Jian, she looks so… so…” Jian Suyan’s body didn’t have the curves of foreign women. Her chest was only average, but overall, she gave off the impression of a mature and independent urban woman. Seeing her effortlessly beat up several black society members on the street for the first time had already been incredibly shocking. But now, she was hearing that she could actually kick through a wall made of cement. Was she even human?

However, Ye Lian gave her a definite answer a moment later.

“Some people can indeed do that. Those walls were only half the thickness of the outer walls. Someone who focuses purely on destructive power could even kick through the outer walls of a house. I… I can barely do that, but this is the first time I’ve seen a woman with that kind of destructive power, especially one who looks so… well, she also has such beautiful collarbones…”

He too couldn’t find the right words to describe Jian Suyan. He had just caught a glimpse of her figure and made a little joke. It was unclear what kind of chills he would feel if he knew her true identity. A few seconds later, an urgent voice came through his headset. He exchanged a look with Fang Zitian and the others.

“Yuan Lai Chao Chuang is coming. There’s no need to fight him head-on. We’re getting out of here. Let’s go to the garage…”

On the battlefield, no matter how skilled someone was, they wouldn’t be able to dodge bullets raining down from the sky. But this was at night, in a large villa with complex terrain. Yuan Lai Chao Chuang’s suppressing firepower could become a nightmare for anyone. Even with more than ten people guarding Fang Zitian’s side, if Yuan Lai Chao Chuang was willing to sacrifice himself, his deadly accurate marksmanship would be enough to kill anyone before they died.

After informing Lei Xiaoyuan, who was in another part of the villa, Ye Lian, with his wounds bandaged, walked ahead to protect Fang Zitian and the others as they made their way to the garage from the side. By this time, dozens of people had been killed or injured in the villa. They were already short-staffed, with some people still searching for Yuan Lai Chao Chuang, who had disappeared after entering the villa. In the passageway leading to the garage, Jian Suyan and the Da Nei Chang Du were locked in a fierce battle. More than ten people walked cautiously, with occasional sounds coming through their headsets.

“Yujinxiang and the Da Nei Chang Du are on your side. We couldn’t catch up. Be careful…”

“Spotting Yuan Lai Chao Chuang… at… Bang—Beep—”

At the beginning of the battle, some people had felt relieved that there were only one or two of them. However, the pressure was mounting. Ye Lian walked cautiously in front. The whole villa had gone from bustling to quiet. As they turned into a nearby room, Dongfang Wan, who was supporting her father, whispered, “We’re going the wrong way. If we go to the garage…”

“No need to take the long way around. Let’s break through these two walls. We’ll be there directly.”

He reached out and pressed his hand against the wall in front of him. After a moment, an incredible vibration spread outward in a wave-like pattern. With a bang, dust from the wall fell down, revealing an opening big enough for two people to pass through. Dongfang Wan and Lei Qing looked like they had seen a ghost. The things they had experienced tonight were truly beyond their imagination.

Coughing up a mouthful of blood, Ye Lian motioned for everyone to enter the next room. He pressed his hand against the wall in front of him again, but before he could exert any force, there was a loud bang from the side of the room. Stones flew out, and a figure was sent flying through the opening. In an instant, Dongfang Wan, who was in the way, was pushed away by her father. Then, Dongfang Linghai was knocked back by the figure. At the same time, another figure charged in like lightning from the opening.

The room had lost power, and it was still dim even with the fire caused by the fighting and the flashlights on the machine guns. Having been pushed back two meters and slammed against the wall, Dongfang Wan, worried about her father, didn’t have time to feel the pain. She struggled to look forward and saw Dongfang Linghai struggling to get up. In front of him, Jian Suyan was gripping the collar of the assassin who was still disguised as the housekeeper, Liang Bo. The blade entered through his upper abdomen and pierced out his back.

At that moment, Dongfang Wan suddenly remembered what had happened on the island after the Xingmeng Hao incident. When a typhoon hit, she went out to use the bathroom and rolled down the slope. When the wounded mercenary tried to attack her, a figure dashed in like lightning, and the blade plunged into the man’s throat. She had always thought it was Yujinxiang’s killing scene. The power and speed were perfectly executed. But later, Gu Jiaming said that he had only pushed the mercenary away, and Yujinxiang had not been involved. But now, seeing this perfectly executed strike, she knew she could finally confirm it. It wasn’t a hallucination at the time, it was this Suyan sister who saved her.

Releasing her grip on the collar, Fang Zitian and the others watched as the nightmare-like Da Nei Chang Du fell backwards. As the blade pulled out of his chest, blood sputtered out like a fountain. The woman stood there, the blade in her hand. Her clothes were stained with dust and blood, clearly injured, but to everyone present, she looked incredibly cool. Looking down at the Da Nei Chang Du’s body, she took a deep breath, used her left hand to push aside the messy black hair on her forehead, and swept a cold gaze over everyone. After confirming that Fang Zitian, James Cook, and the others were still alive, she spoke in a soft voice.

“Not leaving yet?”

Fang Zitian forced a smile. “We were just about to…”

Before he could finish, Jian Suyan’s face changed. She looked towards the passageway that Ye Lian had broken through. “Yuan Lai Chao Chuang is coming!” As soon as she said that, everyone dispersed, pointing their guns at the doorway. A dark figure flew through the air for several meters and landed in the passageway outside. Jian Suyan had casually thrown the Da Nei Chang Du’s body, and then two Desert Eagles appeared in her hands, aimed not at the doorway of the room next door, but at a nearby wall. As one of the most powerful handguns in the world, if she pulled the trigger, the bullets would have enough power to pierce through that concrete wall and deal a fatal blow to the enemy behind it. Of course, the premise was that she could be sure of the enemy’s position behind the wall.

And in fact, she could.

In the messy and dark passageway, a middle-aged man in his thirties silently took a step back. It was right against the wall of the room inside, the thickest part of the wall, where even the Desert Eagle couldn’t penetrate. He furrowed his brow, his gaze fixed on the corpse in front of him. He sighed.

Yuan Lai Chao Chuang felt a deep sense of defeat.

This assassination was the most important step in Pei Luo Jia’s assassination plan for today. Fang Zitian, Lei Xiaoyuan, and the others had come to Jiang Hai, and the elite members of Yan Huang Jue Xing were basically gone. Only Ye Lian was not enough. However, considering the failure of the last mission, he had chosen to team up with the Da Nei Chang Du because Jiang Hai was the territory of that mysterious Yujinxiang. But the reason for the failure of the mission was not here.

Although one was inside and the other was outside, they had a way to communicate secretly throughout the whole thing. How did Fang Zitian and the others know about the Da Nei Chang Du’s plan when he entered the room? His sniper shot was supposed to be a sure thing, but why did that girl sense the danger and pull Fang Zitian away? Obviously, this seemingly frail girl was the super expert they hadn’t accounted for…

The once noisy villa had become completely silent, with only the sound of flames crackling, the soft rustling of footsteps on the floor, and everyone’s breaths. The headset made meaningless noises when the signal was interrupted. After a long pause, a low, slightly hoarse voice in Chinese came out, “Yujinxiang? Or Jian Suyan?”

The barrel of the gun shifted slightly. In the crowd, Jia Ming spoke softly, “You have one chance… Assassins only get one chance. Want to try it? Just like last time.”

“This time, we lost again,” Yuan Lai Chao Chuang replied after a moment. “But from today onwards, you’ve officially declared war on Pei Luo Jia. You can protect Fang Zitian and James this time, but can you protect everyone? Like those three children, like that female teacher, and…”

“And that noodle girl in Hokkaido?” Jia Ming interrupted, his voice tinged with faint anger and a hint of sarcasm. “She’s twenty-five years old this year. She’s old enough to get married. The day you met her, you killed two people, but the mission wasn’t completed. You told her you were a fisherman and liked sailing out to sea when the waves were highest. She asked you to take her to eat the most authentic sashimi… You met her again at Mount Fuji. You said you lived in Tokyo, and she really wanted to see the cherry blossoms. When she got there, the blossoms had already faded. She waited for you under the cherry blossom tree for a whole day. Unfortunately, you were in Yokohama at the time and didn’t happen to receive the phone message. That day, her wallet was stolen, and she slept on the street overnight. When you arrived, she had a bad cold and almost developed tuberculosis. She’s such a gentle and fragile girl, Yuan Lai-kun. Do I need to tell you her name?”

In the darkness, there was no answer from Yuan Lai Chao Chuang. But at that moment, almost everyone could feel the shock. Assassins’ biggest weakness was having weaknesses. But who was this Miss Jian Suyan, and how could she know so much about Yuan Lai Chao Chuang’s weakness? Two seconds later, Jian Suyan’s eyes narrowed, “We’re all the same kind of people. Don’t push me.”

“… From today onwards, I won’t get involved in your business. But if anything happens to her…”

No one expected Yuan Lai Chao Chuang to say that. But Jian Suyan’s voice seemed to soften slightly, “Don’t worry, I like to eat her noodles too. But if you really don’t want her to get hurt, propose to her as soon as possible, then tell her the truth. Send her to the safest place you can think of… She’s just an ordinary woman. She can’t possibly wait for you forever. If she marries a bad man and gets hurt, you won’t be able to cry it back…”

It should have been two strangers who were enemies, but the sense of familiarity wasn’t out of place at this time. There was no reply from Yuan Lai Chao Chuang. After a moment, Jia Ming lowered his gun. In his previous life, he had focused on cold-blooded killing, and there were few things that warmed his heart. After he was accepted as a companion by Yuan Lai Chao Chuang, they went to a noodle shop on a mission. The bowl of noodles served by the woman who was already married had given him a sense of warmth and also a sense of sadness in Yuan Lai Chao Chuang’s heart.

“Assassins don’t deserve families. We’re dirty people like this…” Yuan Lai Chao Chuang had said this to him with a hint of melancholy when he was at the peak of his fame as the top assassin. Jia Ming had just listened at the time but didn’t understand. He never felt noble, nor did he feel dirty. But he knew that it was because of the blow that woman had dealt to him when she got married that Yuan Lai Chao Chuang had become the truly strongest assassin.

But the woman’s life after marriage wasn’t happy. She was constantly abused by her husband. The world’s strongest assassin was completely afraid to do anything about it. He just hoped that in her eyes, he would always be that naive and somewhat cowardly fisherman. And fishermen don’t kill people.

Later, Jia Ming went to that noodle shop a few times and chatted with the woman about Yuan Lai Chao Chuang’s situation. Of course, he was making things up. After Yuan Lai Chao Chuang died, he took his ashes and all of his belongings to the shop. He shot the woman’s drunken husband and told her everything. He never went back to Hokkaido after that. An assassin’s life might seem full of variety, but it’s actually cold and unwelcoming. Only those few bowls of noodles in Hokkaido still seemed to have a faint warmth and a touch of worldly color.

He’d said what he needed to say. I hope you’re happy, old friend… Once you’re happy, there won’t be another stronger assassin king to worry me…

He curled his lip and was about to leave when a voice came from behind him. “That… Miss Jian Suyan, can we talk?” Fang Zitian turned around, his expression sincere. “On behalf of Yan Huang Jue Xing, I want to thank you for your help today. There are also some other things we would like to get Miss Jian’s opinion and guidance on. Would you…”

“Heh…” Jian Suyan looked at Fang Zitian. A charming smile appeared on her bloodstained and dusty face. The firelight outlined a brilliant golden edge on her profile. “Are you married? Handsome guy?”

“Uh…” Hearing her words, Fang Zitian was slightly taken aback. Compared to Dongfang Linghai and Lei Xiaoyuan, who were both in their forties, Fang Zitian, who was thirty-nine years old, was the youngest. In some situations, he was indeed called a handsome guy, but it sounded strange when she said it at this time.

“If you’re married, don’t bother me. I have a boyfriend.” She spun the Desert Eagle in her hand a few times and put it back in her pocket. Jian Suyan’s eyes narrowed again. “I’m a law-abiding citizen. Helping to catch a thief occasionally doesn’t mean I want to be a cop. As long as you do your part, keep Pei Luo Jia overseas, we little people will be happy. I have a date. Bye…”

She waved her hand casually and walked out the door. The darkness disappeared into the darkness, just like Yuan Lai Chao Chuang who had left earlier. No one could find her trail…

On May 10, 1998, Pei Luo Jia launched a large-scale assassination attempt against the upper echelon of Yan Huang Jue Xing. Two attacks were successful. Lin Sheng Huang, a member of the Lin family, and Lai Fuxing, a member of the Lai family, who were both high-ranking members of Yan Huang Jue Xing, were killed. In Jiang Hai, Yuan Lai Chao Chuang faced off against Jian Suyan, code name Yujinxiang, and was defeated again. Pei Luo Jia’s top assassin, the Da Nei Chang Du, was killed.

The conflict in the dark world of East Asia, which had been confined to mutual threats and probes, finally escalated to armed conflict. Pei Luo Jia and Yan Huang Jue Xing were engaged in a gunfight.

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