The beggar was terrified by the approaching threat; his pupils contracted sharply, as if he saw the benevolent smile of death.

He dared not look directly at the sharp blade any longer, and could only close his eyes tightly, pleading desperately in a trembling voice: "I'll talk! I'll talk! Don't kill me!"

Chuanliu raised an eyebrow slightly, somewhat surprised by the assassin's easy confession.

She had never encountered a situation where someone would proactively reveal the mastermind behind the scenes without any coercion or inducement.

She loosened the restraints on the beggar's arms, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Seemingly worried that the woman restraining him might strike again, he hurriedly said, "It's the Queen of Spades, the Queen of Spades from Spade City!"

Chuanliu paused for a moment, looking at Qianchuan with a hint of doubt in his eyes.

"The Queen of Spades?"

She had no grudge against "Queen of Spades," so why was she being hunted down by "Queen of Spades"?

Chuanliu tightened his grip again and said coldly to the beggar, "Explain yourself clearly."

The latter wailed, "It's true, I'm not lying to you! I am an assassin from the Dark Gate. The Dark Gate received an order yesterday, and I happened to be nearby, so I thought I'd try my luck."

"Queen of Spades", "Secret Door", Assassin...

Unfamiliar information flooded into Chuanliu's mind like a tidal wave, and she quickly pieced these fragments together in her mind, trying to uncover the truth of the matter.

"What order?" she pressed.

The assassin said, "It's an order priced at 300,000. It appeared on the bulletin board at the secret entrance yesterday. It's a kill order—whoever takes the head of 'Square 10' Chuanliu will get a share of the 300,000 bounty."

Chuanliu stared intently at the assassin, pressing further, "How did you recognize me?"

Under the intense gaze of the onlookers, the assassin appeared somewhat flustered. He stammered, "The kill order described your features and included a portrait. Moreover, the announcement specifically mentioned that you would be returning to the City of Cubes today. I've been lying in wait on this road for a long time, and I recognized you immediately when I saw you."

"Boss, I was blind to your greatness. Please, have mercy on me!" The assassin continued to beg for mercy as Chuanliu remained silent.

Chuanliu quickly turned his gaze to Qianchuan, noticing that the latter seemed to know something about the secret door, and then quickly made his next move.

When the two left, the street was already empty.

Hidden in the grass, the assassin's face still held the expression of relief at escaping death. His dilated pupils reflected the roadside weeds and the departing figures of the two men.

Then, Qian Chuan recounted the news about the "secret door" in detail.

"Queen of Spades", real name: Tang Qing, has been on the island for more than ten years and has lived in the City of Spades.

"Dark Gate" is a faction under "Queen of Spades," an assassin organization that makes a living by taking on jobs.

Those in the "Hidden Gate" are collectively referred to as "assassins" to distinguish them from lone killers like Chasing Life.

The "Secret Door" operates similarly to a bounty hunter, posting customer orders on a bulletin board so that any interested assassin can accept the job.

Furthermore, to prevent cutthroat competition, only one entity can accept an order at a time. If that entity dies, the order will be reopened in the bulletin board, and other assassins will fill the vacancy.

Because of this characteristic of "the hidden door", the quality of the assassins under this organization varies greatly. There are only a handful of assassins at the top of the pyramid. Most of them are like the assassins that Chuanliu encountered today, who are not particularly professional and mainly rely on picking up the scraps.

But the terror of the "hidden door" lies precisely in this: its assassins hide in all sorts of unexpected places, and once a target is tracked, the chance of survival is pitifully small.

The "kill order" is the most common and most forceful type of order issued by the "secret door".

It's a fight to the death.

"How do they determine that the assassin who accepted the order is dead?" Chuanliu asked.

Qian Chuan replied, "You want to ask when the next assassin will arrive, right? Because communication is inconvenient on Paradise Island, apart from the top assassins of the 'Dark Gate,' no one else will report directly to the organization."

Each assassin has a unique number, which they leave at a designated location by the "Dark Gate" before sunset each day. The liaison officer in charge of that area then reports these numbers to the "Dark Gate" headquarters for statistical purposes.

Therefore, after the assassin we encountered today dies, at the latest by tomorrow, a second assassin will set off to find you.

"Can the kill order be cancelled?" Chuanliu asked.

Qian Chuan shook his head. "No, a kill order can only be stopped in two situations: the first is the death of the target, and the second is the death of the employer."

Chuanliu rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on, and pondered who the employer might be.

She attracted the most hatred from Hou Yifan of Plum Blossom City and Li Quanyou. However, given their respective styles of doing things, hiring Zhuge Tang to launch a sneak attack last time was already a huge financial drain. Moreover, at that time, they were convinced that Xiong Ajiao knew their secret.

Now that the two sides have seemingly restored a friendly atmosphere, and the flow of people has not directly affected their interests, it is illogical for them to spend a huge sum of money to kill themselves.

Then there is another possibility: Cao He, the biggest "victim" in the recent events.

Cao He's strength has been greatly weakened this time. Whether he discovered that Chuan Liu was interfering, or he was afraid that their cooperation would threaten him, Cao He has a reason to kill Chuan Liu.

After all, among all the people who were close to Susan, Chuanliu seemed to be the easiest to control.

But these are all just guesses; she still can't be sure who the employer behind the scenes is.

The employer really went all out this time, spending 300,000 yuan to kill a young girl.

If Chuanliu hadn't been so observant, perhaps the employer would have succeeded by now.

Seeing the girl's furrowed brows, Qian Chuan suggested, "How about I send a car to take you to Brother Wu's place to avoid trouble?"

After much thought, it seems that Wu Fangming's residence is the safest place at the moment.

Chuanliu had actually considered this, but she didn't intend to do so. She laughed and said, "You said it yourself, there are only two scenarios to stop the kill order. Am I supposed to hide my whole life and wait for that employer to die unexpectedly?"

Chuanliu never forgot that her goal on Paradise Island was never to merely survive.

The girl's words made sense, so Qian Chuan didn't try to persuade her further.

Seeing the relaxed smile still on her face, the man couldn't help but sigh, a hint of helplessness in his voice: "You... have such a good attitude... so what are you planning to do next?"

Chuanliu rubbed his nose. "I'm planning to... talk to 'Queen of Spades'."

Qian Chuan looked at her with a strange expression.

The latter continued, "I'll learn from her experience in leading a team."