Hidden Assassin 211

“To be honest, I’ve always envied Lingjing…”

“…” Glancing at her, Xun carefully hung a simple bomb on the door.

“Last year, Jia Ming and Lingjing were trapped on a ship, adrift at sea for days. It was just the two of them.” Slightly hunched over, Sha Sha cautiously followed behind Xun, whispering. The two girls appeared dishevelled, their clothes torn in several places, stained with blood, and covered in dust. They were crawling through the building, moving from one place to another, dodging the occasional bursts of gunfire. A stray bullet shattered a window on one side of the room, causing the two of them to crouch down behind the wall for a while before slipping out of the back door.

“… I’ve always been envious of what they went through then.” Sha Sha pursed her lips, bent down, and dashed out the door. At that moment, a bullet whizzed past the wall from the side, kicking up a cloud of dust that rained down upon her head and body. Xun, who was ahead of her, abruptly turned around and grabbed her, sprinting through the hallway. They stopped at a slightly safer corner up ahead.

Gently brushing the dust off her head, Sha Sha’s body trembled slightly. A moment later, she clutched the pendant Jia Ming had given her – the only piece of jewelry she wore. With a vigilant look in her eyes, she spoke: “Xun, do you think…he will come? If the signal is blocked…”

Holding Sha Sha’s hand, Xun continued to crouch forward. In the darkness, she gently nodded, her voice a whisper. Sha Sha could only faintly hear the short syllable: “Yes.”

Although her voice was quiet, there was no hesitation or doubt in it.

…

…

“We can confirm that the people we’re looking for, Yuechi Xun and Liu Huaisha, are within these few buildings. They’ve joined forces with Chen Gu Xia’s people…”

A sudden blaze of fire erupted from the darkness nearby. Amidst the gunfire, a bullet ripped through the wall on the side, kicking up dust. The mercenary holding the assault rifle abruptly turned to the side. Brushing away a cut on his face, he finished speaking and, raising his gun, dashed out from behind the wall, roaring as he fired a volley at the other side before disappearing back into the shadows. He looked at the large man standing in the darkness on the side.

“Those two girls are extremely cunning. They’ve given us the slip several times. Now, with these people interfering, if we have to capture them alive…”

“We must capture them alive.” Before he could finish, the man nicknamed “Tank” interrupted him, “Otherwise, this battle will be meaningless.”

“That’s just for you guys…” The mercenary, as he changed out his magazine, wore a displeased expression on his face, “On the battlefield, staying alive is the most important thing. I have to be responsible for my team. Taking over the school, all we need to do is hold the hostages to achieve our goal. From the beginning until now, I think we’ve done too many pointless things…we’ve lost at least a quarter of our men and haven’t achieved anything…”

Ultimately, this incursion into Sacred Heart Academy had different objectives for the mercenaries and assassins. For the assassins, they’d already betrayed the decision of the higher-ups in the Pei Luo Jia. Tank and the others were trying to wash away past shame, while the leader, Wunian the God, sought to push his own limits, which was undoubtedly crazy. But most of the mercenaries maintained their own sense of reason. They had come out to risk their lives for the money, and if they could escape after this job, the money they’d earn would be enough for them to wash their hands of the whole affair and spend their remaining years in luxury.

Achieving this wasn’t difficult. As it had been with the *Xingmeng Hao*, Jiang Hai City was one of the most developed cities in China. Sacred Heart Academy was a gathering place for the children of wealthy families, and with its massive size, it was nearly impossible to control the entire area with a force of forty to fifty people. Neither did they need to do so. By holding a couple hundred hostages, they could achieve their goal of extorting a ransom. Therefore, if not for the demands of Wunian the God and the others, they wouldn’t have had to spread out their forces and engage in combat, leading to the losses they were currently experiencing.

Everyone had their own ledger, and it was necessary to pay a price and show some sincerity for their powerful comrades. However, things had reached a point where they still couldn’t capture their ideal target. Yuechi Xun had shown her skills, which was why this mercenary leader began complaining. Tank merely glanced at him, listening to the sounds coming from the building, and drew the two pistols at his waist.

“I don’t want to talk about whether this situation is down to luck or someone’s incompetence.” He tightened the headset on his right ear – these communication devices had specially adjusted frequencies, precisely outside of their signal-blocking range. Tank coldly glanced at him, “All I know is that we’ve done all this preparation, travelled this far, and we’re not here to commit suicide, so we have to capture them alive. If you can’t, I will.”

“You…”

“You know about Yu Jin Xiang, although you never directly confronted her during the *Xingmeng Hao* incident…that was just your luck.”

“Wunian the God will take care of her…”

“Is that your opinion?”

A cold smile spread across Tank’s lips, and he suddenly darted forward, disappearing into the darkness in the blink of an eye. The mercenary leader opened his mouth. He had interacted with Tank a lot, and he was familiar with Pei Luo Jia. As soon as he spoke, he realized he had said something foolish. The first assassin of Pei Luo Jia was Yuan Lai Chao Chuang. While, due to their rarity, unusual treatment was given to ability-users, regardless of the nature of their abilities, their reputation could only be second to this normal human being. Although the skills of assassins at this level were often very similar, Yu Jin Xiang had managed to drive Yuan Lai Chao Chuang back twice. Whether Wunian the God, that madman, could win was highly questionable. After a moment of hesitation, he picked up his walkie-talkie again.

“Squad Three…target locked on Yuechi Xun and Liu Huaisha. You can choose to avoid engaging other people. Report their location immediately upon discovery. Capture them alive…at all costs!”

Moments after this message was sent, the mechanical voice of Du She Nakka, who was sitting in the central command post, came through the earpiece: “Headquarters calling to the entire world, Zhang Yahan’s location discovered, school gymnasium lower level, west side storage room, control successful, no…grey pigeon silent, nearby personnel, provide immediate reinforcement…”

Instantly, all the mercenaries instinctively looked toward the gymnasium. They had set five targets this time to deal with Yu Jin Xiang, and none of them had been successfully secured. They’d caught this one, only to have her escape. Considering all the strange events that had occurred since they arrived in Jiang Hai, it was clear they were having exceptionally bad luck. Fortunately, the news arrived a few minutes later.

“Zhang Yahan and another, likely Yan Huang Jue Xing’s Li Yunxiu, have been successfully captured. Abil and Lei Ying are at the side door of the gymnasium…”

Upon hearing this, the mercenaries breathed a sigh of relief. On the other side of the campus, in a heavily damaged courtyard, in a strange sandstorm that obscured the view, Wunian the God adjusted his headset, a smile spreading across his face.

Opposite him, the old man, his mouth covered with cloth, staggered back out of range of the swirling sand and dust. His entire body was covered in sand and dust, mixed with streaks of blood. A wound on his forehead, combined with the sand and dust, impaired his vision. At this point, he understood that the strange wind that was raising the sand and dust was likely Wunian the God’s ability. It was basically impossible for ordinary people to fight in an environment where their vision and sense of touch were completely compromised. Even if they had a gun, it would be difficult to even determine their opponent’s location. This old life, it seemed, would have to be sacrificed…

The next voice that appeared in the communication device saved him.

“Unexpected…Abil, Lei Ying silent…Zhang Yahan, Li Yunxiu out of control…”

—

The unexpected events seemed to be happening one after another. At this moment, it seemed like they had reached a peak. Amidst the scattered bloodstains and constant bursts of gunfire in the school, Nakka’s mechanical voice travelled to every mercenary’s earpiece through radio waves. It seemed to announce something every few seconds.

“… Black God silent…Heig…silent…War Tiger silent…Red Antelope injured…in front of the gymnasium, the enemy…only one…wearing a grey cloak, covering his head, face, and entire body, estimated height about five feet three inches, matching the number one target, entering the gymnasium…Red Antelope, Du, Lan Kong, pursuing…wait…Red Antelope silent…lost target…”

Since they took over the school, the mercenaries had lost about a dozen men. And in the span of a few minutes, seven warriors who had experienced the brutality of the battlefield had gone silent, one after another, as Nakka’s words, sounding like a live broadcast, echoed through their ears. This was practically an announcement of death. Especially when those words, “wait”, were uttered, the once brightly lit gymnasium was plunged into darkness in an instant. From far and near, the view had an undeniably chilling effect, as if your heart had suddenly sunk.

Half a minute later, Nakka’s voice returned.

“C2 case, retreating lines, ensure the control of hostages and central area. Everyone, it is now December 2nd, 1998, 9:06 PM…”

“… Yu Jin Xiang appeared.”

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