Chapter 29: The Assassin Lei

Jiuli Post was a hub of intersecting roads, located about five kilometers from the Ghost Venom Sect. Lei Yan had spent the entire morning reaching Jiuli Post.

“Waiter, bring me a pot of tea!” Lei Yan called out as he entered a teahouse, then casually chose a seat and sat down.

“Right away!” came a crisp reply, and a young man dressed as a waiter walked over, placing a steaming teapot in front of Lei Yan. “Sir, would you like something to eat as well?”

Lei Yan pulled out a tael of silver and tossed it over. “Are there any assassin organizations nearby?”

Lei Yan asked so directly because assassin organizations usually publicized a few branch locations in major towns, though, of course, they never revealed the location of their headquarters.

The waiter caught the silver, his eyes flashing with excitement. Although a tael of silver wasn’t a fortune, it was enough to feed an ordinary family for several days. He grinned and replied, “Sir, you’ve come to the right person. There’s nowhere in Jiuli Post that I don’t know. The closest assassin organization is just a hundred meters down the street to the right of this teahouse. Look up and you’ll see a bright red banner with the character ‘Li’ on it—that’s the Li family’s assassin branch. But the Li family isn’t the largest in Jiuli Post. The biggest is ‘Soulchaser.’ Their branch is on East Street, and it’s impossible to miss—the grandest mansion on the street belongs to them.”

Lei Yan left the tea money on the table and headed for the door. He had come to Jiuli Post for two reasons: to test his own strength, and to find information about the bandits who had slaughtered Dong Jiu’s entire village. He already knew the bandits’ names from Dong Jiu; what he needed now was intelligence, and the best source was, without question, an assassin organization. So he decided to pay one a visit.

“He barely drank the tea before leaving... but at least he was generous,” the waiter muttered, weighing the silver in his hand before tucking it away and resuming his work.

After leaving the teahouse, Lei Yan didn’t go straight to the assassin organization. Instead, he wandered the streets, spending the rest of the money he’d gotten from Sun Ji before finally entering an inn.

Late at night, dark clouds veiled the silver moon.

Lei Yan, masked and clad in black, emerged from a second-story window of the inn. With a graceful leap, he landed lightly on the ground, his leg and arm muscles absorbing the impact so thoroughly that he touched down as softly as a wildcat. With a light push against the earth, he sprang upright.

“The ‘Soulchaser’ assassin organization is certainly easy to spot!” Following the waiter’s directions, Lei Yan arrived at East Street, where a brightly-lit mansion occupied nearly half the street. Several guards stood watch over the entrance.

Lei Yan strode straight for the mansion, and the guards merely glanced at him before looking away. With his night suit and mask, he looked every bit the assassin, and since this was the headquarters of an assassin organization, they did not stop him.

As he passed through the main entrance, Lei Yan’s psychic powers spread throughout the entire estate.

“Nine innate martial artists, and nearly a hundred postnatal martial artists!” Lei Yan couldn’t help but be astonished by the organization’s strength.

Ever since he’d been stimulated by the toxin, Lei Yan’s psychic sense had grown immensely. Within hundreds of meters, no one could escape his perception, unless their own sense was superior to his. This was the cultivator’s divine sense—their spiritual perception.

Lei Yan advanced to a small courtyard, where a beautiful woman stood at its center, surrounded by martial artists examining various lists. As Lei Yan stepped into the courtyard, the woman immediately smiled and approached him. “Sir, are you here to take a mission or to post one?”

“To take a mission,” Lei Yan replied, subtly altering his voice.

“Please show your token,” she said with a slight smile.

“It’s my first time. I’d like to start from the lowest level.” Lei Yan already knew from his family’s library that assassin organizations in this world were different from those in his previous life. In the past, missions hadn’t been categorized, but here, assassins were divided into three ranks: Heaven, Earth, and Mortal.

Mortal-level missions were intended for new assassins. Completing one would earn a Mortal token, which served as a universal credential. Holders of a Mortal token could take on Earth-level missions; successfully completing one would earn an Earth token, and so on, up to the Heaven token, which allowed free access to all missions.

“Here’s the Mortal-level mission list. Pick one and let me know,” the beautiful woman said, tossing the list beside Lei Yan before turning to another person.

Lei Yan frowned slightly. How quickly her attitude changed! He smiled wryly and slowly opened the list.

There were many Mortal-level missions—about a hundred in all. Lei Yan chose one at random: the chief escort of Hongyuan Escort Agency, Zhang Fa.

“Excuse me, could you come here for a moment?” Though Lei Yan disliked the woman, he still spoke courteously.

“Coming!” she replied impatiently, then turned to a nearby man and, with a sneer, said, “I don’t know where that country bumpkin came from—he doesn’t know his place! I’ll deal with him.” She didn’t speak loudly, but Lei Yan heard her clearly. His brows furrowed, and a cold, killing intent flashed briefly in his eyes.

“This one. Zhang Fa, chief escort of Hongyuan Escort Agency.” Lei Yan flicked the task list toward her, and a fine dust scattered into the air, entering her body with a breath. Though she was annoying, Lei Yan had no intention of killing her—just a small punishment. Within half an hour, the dust would leave her weeping uncontrollably, but she would recover within a day.

“Here are the relevant mission details and the places he’ll be visiting in the coming days,” the woman said coldly, fetching a scroll from a back room and tossing it to Lei Yan.

“Codename?” she demanded coolly.

“Lei.”

“On the twentieth of the third month, at the hour of the Ox, the assassin ‘Lei’ takes on a Mortal-level mission—kill Zhang Fa!” the woman called out, while not far behind her, a man was recording her words.