Shadows and Floating Light
The captured "Faceless" assassin was like a venomous snake being squeezed at its vital point under Pei Qinhu's iron grip. Although he couldn't move, his eyes remained cold and lifeless, showing no sign of begging for mercy or fear, as if he had long since disregarded life and death. The teardrop-shaped "Shadow Pavilion" mark on the inside of his collar gleamed with a dark luster under the light.
Master Lu Ban carefully examined the curved short blade and the odds and ends on the assassin's body, his brows furrowed: "'Shadow Pavilion'... when did these rats hiding in the sewers become interested in such rare and precious things as 'Source Seeds'? They've always only offered prices for gold, silver, jewels, and important heads."
"Perhaps someone paid an exorbitant price to hire them to steal the 'Searching Disc,' or... to simply silence them," Yi Xing analyzed, his gaze sweeping over the assassin. "Can you find out who the employer is?"
Pei Qinhu tightened his grip and shouted, "Speak! Who sent you!"
The assassin merely groaned, a trickle of black blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, his eyes quickly losing focus—he had already concealed a deadly poison between his teeth, and seeing no hope of escape, he immediately committed suicide by taking the poison!
"Damn it!" Pei Qinhu cursed and released his grip. The assassin's body slumped to the ground.
Yang Jian crouched down and carefully scanned the corpse with his third eye, clicking his tongue: "Tsk, the poison is very complex, a mixture of more than seven neurotoxins. Instant death, no hope. These guys are ruthless to themselves."
Gongsun Li looked at the corpse, her pretty face slightly pale: "The Shadow Pavilion... it sounds terrifying."
"The brighter the light, the deeper the shadow it casts; just as the birth of hope is often accompanied by a heavier despair. But we cannot turn our backs on the light out of fear of the shadow."
Yang Yuhuan spoke softly, smoothing the strings of her pipa, attempting to dispel the oppressive atmosphere in the room brought on by death. Her words acknowledged the existence of darkness, but emphasized even more the courage to face the light.
Master Lu Ban stood up, dusted off his hands, and said with a solemn expression, "With the Shadow Pavilion involved, things have become much more complicated. They are omnipresent, ruthless, and... extremely skilled in stealth and assassination. We are in the open, they are in the shadows, so we must be extra careful from now on."
He looked at the "Searching Disc" in Yi Xing's hand: "This item cannot be shown to others lightly again. We must enter the depths of Longshan as soon as possible to find the source seed, otherwise things may change."
After the assassination attempt, no one could sleep, and they decided to discuss the details of their journey into the mountains that very night. Master Lu Ban, based on the map, planned a relatively hidden but more rugged and difficult route, hoping to avoid most of their spies.
However, they were unaware that in another dark corner of "Welcome Town," a pair of sharp, hawk-like eyes were coldly watching the light in their room through the crack in the inn's window.
She was a tall woman dressed in dark purple, tight-fitting leather armor. A delicate silver mask covered half of her face, revealing only her beautifully sculpted jawline and a pair of emotionless purple eyes. Her fingertips toyed with a teardrop-shaped dart identical to the one found on the collar of the dead assassin.
“Mission failed… ‘Faceless One’ Number Seventy-Six is confirmed dead.” She muttered to herself, her voice cold and magnetic. “The target was accompanied by Lu Ban, the master mechanic; Pei Qinhu, the martial arts bodyguard; Yang Yuhuan, the musician; Gongsun Li, the dancer; and… that wheelchair-bound boy, Yi Xing, who seemed to be proficient in some kind of mental imprisonment technique. Oh, and Yang Jian from the Canyon Major Crimes Unit and his dog.”
She tilted her head slightly, as if listening to something, then a cold smile curved her lips: "Yes, Pavilion Master. I understand. The 'Source of Life'... we must obtain it. Since the 'Faceless Ones' have failed, then I, 'Nightmare,' will personally play with them."
Her figure flickered, and like a melting wax figure, she vanished silently into the shadows, as if she had never existed.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
