Hidden Assassin 210

## Chapter 210: Blood-Red Carnival (Part 3)

Bright lights, shadows like dark clouds abruptly descending, the dazzling brilliance flashing in Li Yunxiu’s vision. Two streaks of blood, spurting in opposite directions, drew a terrifying arc in the air, landing two meters away. As the two mercenaries fell to the ground, a figure in a gray-white cloak appeared in front of her, facing Ya Han. They sheathed their dagger at their waist. On the other side, seeing the person clearly, Ya Han seemed to have choked back a cry, opening her mouth but unable to make any sound. Tears, however, streamed down her cheeks.

Jian Suyan…

This was the name that echoed through Li Yunxiu’s mind. Although she was still an “outside” member of Yan Huang Jue Xing, not having received any official missions, as a capable individual, she always held a relatively independent position, and thus had connections with many of the official members. From what Ye Lian and others had said, this woman before her had almost a god-like aura in Jiang Hai these past few years. If one were to use a word to describe her achievements, it would be: Perfect.

Since she appeared on the scene a year and a half ago, using the code name “Yu Jin Xiang” (“Flower-Picking Great Thief Yujinxia”), she had saved the entire Xingmeng Hao cruise ship from being hijacked. In the face of hundreds of mercenaries, she had repelled Pei Luo Jia’s “King of Killers”, Yuan Lai Chao Chuang (“Yuan Lai Chao Chuang”), for the first time, taking over their ship and sending out a distress signal. Later, on a small island in the midst of a storm, she fought against hundreds of fully armed mercenaries, rescued the Dongfang siblings, and eliminated dozens of the enemy, emerging unscathed.

She could move freely in a hail of bullets, remain calm under the threat of the strongest enemy, and even vanquish the “Da Nei Chang Du” (“Grand Internal Supervisor”) in a second encounter with Yuan Lai Chao Chuang, easily forcing back the “King of Killers.” Most importantly, she could maintain an aura of elegance and composure at all times. In Ye Lian’s words, this almost perfect woman possessed all the qualities that made one’s heart flutter – strength, beauty, grace. While she had never seen her before, after hearing so many people talk about her, Li Yunxiu couldn’t help but imagine what this woman looked like in her mind, conjuring up a perfect image.

Now, she finally saw this woman who possessed the name of perfection.

She descended from the sky in a flash, effortlessly taking down two mercenaries. With Ya Han unable to contain her tears, “Jian Suyan” gently embraced the weakened Ya Han, opening the handcuffs behind her. As their bodies touched, a hoarse cry escaped Ya Han’s throat. The cry was filled with fear, anxiety, grievance, and sorrow, momentarily causing Li Yunxiu’s eyes to well up.

It was a rather peculiar feeling. In Li Yunxiu’s eyes, her usual teacher, Ya Han, was mature and independent. At school, she had an undeniable background and status, but she also possessed remarkable abilities. Combining the two, mentioning the name Zhang Yahán often evoked a deep sense of awe and admiration. Not only was she strict and outstanding in handling various matters, her character and moral integrity were also beyond reproach. Raised with excellent education from the Zhang family, she maintained appropriate manners with everyone, treating people with grace and propriety. While she had many admirers in her personal life, she always rejected any advances she didn’t want to accept with a clear attitude. She never had unnecessary rumors or flirtations with anyone. For a beautiful woman in her early twenties, this was truly rare, even perfect.

During their escape just now, despite her physical discomfort and worsened condition causing her body to be exhausted and weak to the extreme, Ya Han never complained about the pain, weakness, or fear. As a patient, she always gritted her teeth and held on, not letting her companions down. This unwavering spirit was truly admirable.

But right now, within a few seconds of seeing the newcomer, Li Yunxiu noticed that the usually resolute, mature, and independent Zhang Yahán was gone. Her cries were choked and hoarse, her face covered in tears, her body trembling. She looked like a simple girl who had found her mother or lover, all the hard shells she had used to armor herself shattered in an instant. In this state of mind, she heard “Jian Suyan” say softly, “It’s okay now… Let’s find a safe place…”

The voice seemed a bit strange… a neutral tone? Li Yunxiu recalled Ye Lian’s descriptions, but felt a slight dissonance with her imagination. At that moment, the person turned around, their eyes gazing at her calmly for a moment. Finally, they shrugged helplessly and extended their hand towards her back.

Li Yunxiu’s mouth hung open, instantly petrified.

…

…

“Okay, Li laoshi, relax…”

Picking up the surgical scalpel she was clutching tightly, Jia Ming pulled it gently. He couldn’t pull it out. After saying those words, Li Yunxiu finally let go of the scalpel as if waking from a dream, but her emotions seemed to be in turmoil.

“That… you… you… how…”

“Quiet now, Li laoshi, I hope you understand, don’t ask why, don’t ask how, what happened just now, I don’t want anyone else to know it happened. I don’t want anyone to know I killed anyone, okay?”

Reaching behind Li Yunxiu, he fiddled with something, and with a click, the handcuffs opened. She took a deep breath, trying to digest the reality before her, looking at Jia Ming’s eyes. The first thing she said was, “Uh, is this… a threat?”

“No, just a request filled with gratitude and appreciation. Of course, if necessary…” Jia Ming shrugged regretfully.

“Please…” In front of Li Yunxiu, Ya Han, her face still streaked with tears, clasped her hands together, her tear-filled eyes pleading, “Li laoshi, please help him keep this secret, okay?”

“Uh… heh…” At that moment, Li Yunxiu suddenly realized that his request was probably just because she had been running away with Zhang Yahán. If necessary, he would probably not hesitate to kill her. She nodded slightly, before she could speak, Jia Ming had already stood up smiling, his surgical scalpel slashing out.

The reflected light flashed. A mercenary had just burst out from the hallway, but was instantly stabbed in the arm with the scalpel. In the next instant, with Jia Ming raising his right hand, a gunshot echoed through the hall, and a spray of blood erupted from the man’s chest. The man’s entire body flew backward. In Jia Ming’s hand was the Desert Eagle, nicknamed “the Pocket Cannon.”

Unnoticeably standing in front of Ya Han, as if he had just done something utterly trivial, Jia Ming reached out behind him, pulling up the now powerless Ya Han. With his right hand, he fired several shots, and instantly, the corner of the hallway was filled with flying stones.

“I’m sorry about a lot of things that happened before this. Once you recover, I want to have a good chat with you, to see… if there are any ways to solve things…” His soft words fell upon Ya Han’s ears. Already weak, she went limp again, tears overflowing from her eyes. In her current state, it was difficult to rationally analyze everything. Due to her illness, she had fallen into danger, forcing Jia Ming to come to her rescue. Her heart was already filled with guilt and regret. Now, hearing Jia Ming’s words, “I’m sorry”… was this sarcasm? A good chat? Chat about what? Was he going to scold or hit her?

Jia Ming pulled her along while firing his gun forward, radiating an aura of coldness and tension. Ya Han was so sick that her head was a little muddled. For the moment, she couldn’t connect the fact that he was fighting and killing to his current actions. She just thought that Jia Ming was finally fed up with her and was going to discipline her. She followed timidly, her mind a jumble, imagining the possible harsh treatment he might give her. How would Jia Ming treat her… ?

A whip, a wooden horse, candles, punishing her by making her kneel on the ground, stripping her naked and spanking her, making her cry and say she wouldn’t dare… The warmth she had felt upon seeing Jia Ming and the slight regret and fear she felt now combined together in her sick and tired mind, devoid of its usual logic. For a moment, she could only think in a chaotic, illogical way, with some past expectations mixed with self-blame. She fantasized vividly…

Li Yunxiu followed behind them. They turned around the corner of the hallway, and there, at the end, was another body riddled with bullet holes, apparently shot dead by Jia Ming through the wall. He looked gruesome. Her profession was a doctor, she was well-versed in anatomy, and she had done an internship in the morgue in Japan. She had a strong immunity to human corpses. Ya Han was originally trying to stay conscious, but after seeing Jia Ming, her heart relaxed, and she was now mostly in a dazed state, unable to see anything but the boy pulling her along. It spared her from the trouble of getting nauseous and vomiting. After firing two shots to deter the pursuing mercenaries, Jia Ming led them into the large gymnasium.

“The situation isn’t good right now. The commotion here is too big, over half the people in the school will probably come over, especially Zhu Shen Wu Nian… It’s the most troublesome… I’ll find a place for you to hide first, then I’ll figure out how to draw them away. Sha Sha is still in the school. Zhu Shen Wu Nian has blocked the electronic signals. I can’t find her for the time being. I hope she’s okay. I have to go destroy that signal jammer first…”

This passage was spoken to Ya Han, but only Li Yunxiu nodded. When mentioning Sha Sha’s situation, Jia Ming’s tone was still calm, no one could tell if there was any anxiety behind that voice. But Ya Han’s body trembled unconsciously. After a moment, she stretched out her hands and gripped Jia Ming tighter…

As they entered the gymnasium, Jia Ming’s watch buzzed. He pressed a few buttons, and a red light flashed briefly on top of the watch. Even though the signals were blocked, this device could still work within a certain range. This meant… Looking back, two mercenaries had already chased after them from the other end. Without much hesitation, he retreated into the gymnasium and pulled the door shut.

With a crackle, the entire large gymnasium fell into darkness due to a short circuit. Several mercenaries who had received the signal rushed in from all sides and were soon swallowed by the darkness.

Meanwhile, Xun and Sha Sha were desperately running. Behind them, several school security guards with weapons were resisting the mercenaries’ siege. A battered Dongfang Lu quietly arrived near the school auditorium, and in a corner on the other side of the auditorium, a shivering naked fat man was crawling into a window, completely lost.

Outside the school, the police and many students’ families were discussing and preparing to pay the ransom demanded by the mercenaries: “Twenty billion US dollars and five helicopters.” At the same time, a Yan Huang Jue Xing action team led by Ye Lian quietly entered the school…

## Regarding Recent Updates and a Small Story

Recently, I decided to change my sleep schedule, becoming someone who works during the day, sleeps at night, and then… It feels like quitting a drug addiction. I’m constantly wanting to sleep, lack energy and motivation, which has resulted in no updates for the past two days. Yesterday, I was determined to update, but I ended up coding until 4 am and still couldn’t finish it. In short, my head was like a bowl of mush. Then this afternoon, the police station called and asked me to go over. What happened next is a bit complicated, so let me tell you from the beginning.

The cause of the incident dates back more than a month. At that time, there was a verbal altercation between my neighbor and me. Because of some trivial matters, my grandmother had an argument with a woman from that family. It was close to dusk, I had just gotten out of bed. When I heard the shouting downstairs, I pulled my grandma back. Firstly, because the matter was indeed minor, secondly because my grandma was nearly eighty and had brain atrophy, I had to spend five hundred yuan every month buying medicine for her. It was pointless to argue over this, so my father and mother tried to appease the situation, saying something like “let’s not argue with an elderly person,” giving them a lot of face. However, that family kept swearing outside for half an hour. We didn’t say a single curse word back. Honestly, thinking about it now, we were really too kind to those people. Maybe it would have been better to call a truckload of people to come over then. After half an hour, because the woman was still cursing, my uncle next door couldn’t stand it anymore and went out to say a few words. He used to be a school principal, a rather kind-hearted person. My parents then took their bowls of rice and went out to stop my uncle from arguing with this family. To heaven, we didn’t curse back a single word. Then, I guess my uncle’s words made her feel like she couldn’t save face. Their son, and the boyfriend of their daughter, suddenly charged at us and started beating people. Then, both sides bled. Because they actually wanted to hit my little brother. I blocked him, and then got hit on the head with a stool. The legs of the stool broke… Well, it was such a humiliating thing. Then, we called the police.

Luckily, the injury on my head was minor, and my father was also injured. We had a forensic medical examination. At that time, we were going to directly take these guys to the police station because they started the fight, they broke into our house and beat us up, but the injuries were not serious enough, so it could only be treated as a civil case. This was quite a pity. First, we naturally went to the police station. Then, the police station intervened. This family had a very arrogant attitude, constantly cursing, saying that fighting was fighting, who would mediate? Saying things like paying us three or five hundred yuan, etc. Well, I pay about that much in taxes every month…

Honestly, I am a person who is particularly obsessed with right and wrong. In this fight, I didn’t say a single word, didn’t even make a single move. They rushed into our house, behind me was my grandma and my little brother. I thought that if I had pulled out a knife and cut one or two of them, it might have been self-defense. But unfortunately, I didn’t make a move… After being injured, I didn’t think about revenge or anything. I just cared about: I was right. They were wrong, so I had to pursue this according to the law. Money didn’t matter. During the two mediations, this family kept cursing loudly. They probably had connections in various places, the policeman in the police station also said that many people had called to plead for them. But because the situation was very clear, after the mediation failed, the police station still detained the son who beat people up for eight days according to law. Then we could file a lawsuit. Heh, this happened this afternoon. And then… that guy threatened to do something to me after he gets out in eight days. His parents are quite tough, and they called people to bring weapons to my house directly at the police station. Since he called people, I naturally called people too. I thought it would be a big brawl, but it didn’t happen, because it seems like the people they called hadn’t arrived yet.

What happened next made me very angry. They didn’t come to block me, but they supposedly sent seven adults to block my little brother at his school. Heh, it was really amazing, not targeting me, but targeting my thirteen-year-old brother. Seven people went to my brother’s school. However, my brother has a lot of friends, so he called more than forty people to block them back. Apparently they didn’t fight, and those people ran away. After taking my brother back, he said that lately, the one who got detained had often called people to block him at school. Fortunately, he has a lot of friends and someone always warned him and he would run away.

In short, it’s hard to describe how I feel. I think everyone can understand. During the first mediation, the people who came from the police station were all acquaintances of this family, they either subtly or forcefully tried to make us compromise, saying that their family was very powerful, just let it go. I said at that time, “I’m right, so I will stick to my position. If necessary, I will go to court, first instance, second instance, it doesn’t matter. I can afford the money. Since they don’t admit they were wrong, let them remember this for the rest of their lives.” I don’t care about hatred, I just insist on right and wrong. I used to write in my diary, I said that fighting against violence and injustice is everyone’s obligation and responsibility in this world, this is more important than life. Since I wrote that, I have to carry it out. Before the legal process is over, I didn’t think about anything else. But I didn’t expect them to actually try to target my little brother, not just once. These bastards.

I’m going to send my little brother to study elsewhere. There’s no need to say more, and it’s not easy to say. I’ll probably stop updating for a few days, and then things will settle down.

Don’t actively harm others. I always feel that as long as you stick to this principle, the world will become a better place. I have always been trying to avoid causing any trouble, thinking that this way, nothing will come to me. Because of this thought, I wasn’t very enthusiastic since I was young. I’m a rather cold person. Some people say I have mental problems, others say I don’t look like a young man, but like an old man. But today, when that person called people on the phone in the police station and said he was going to hurt me, I suddenly had a feeling I hadn’t had for many years. I laughed for a while, then said to the couple who had been cursing, “There’s no one who’s afraid of anyone else in this world.”

Finally, I’ll add one more thing.

In the final passage of “Survival Diary in a Foreign Land,” Catherine said, “Regardless of the size of the force, when hurt, one must resist. Otherwise, evil will become worse, and those who inflict harm will become more unscrupulous in harming others. Being hurt, resisting, is a responsibility and obligation of living in this world, regardless of the size of one’s power or any external conditions…” Heh, this is an advertisement… Well, a deep pit, don’t jump in…

Previous Chapter | TOC | Next Chapter