Hire a Killer

In Tian Ruo Prefecture, the streets of a small town were bustling with people coming and going.

In a corner of a certain alleyway, a man and a young boy leaned against the wall, seemingly engaged in idle chat. However, their gaze was fixed on a street vendor who was loudly hawking his wares.

The young boy, dressed in black attire, had a clever appearance, with a touch of delicacy in his eyes and brows. In a few years, he might grow up to be a handsome youth.

Undoubtedly, this was Wang Xiaoer.

Wang Xiaoer patted his flat belly and glanced at the vendor on the street. He lowered his voice but couldn't conceal his excitement as he said, "Master! Master! It seems like our target this time might not possess any martial arts skills!"

Zhang San, on the other hand, responded indifferently, "How can you be so sure that he doesn't have any martial arts skills?"

"We should act quickly... Huh?!"

Wang Xiaoer thought to himself, wasn't it obvious?

After all, he had been learning from his master for quite some time now. Although his observational skills might not be on par with his master's, they were still considerable.

The vendor continued his street-side hawking for a long time, his voice resonating like a booming bell. Even the local residents passing by would greet him, showing no signs of wariness towards outsiders.

These two points were sufficient evidence that the vendor had been in this profession for a considerable amount of time and was familiar with the town.

Zhang San looked at Wang Xiaoer and said, "I saw everything you saw, and let me tell you, that vendor carried the cargo box back and forth on this street twice. As time passed, he sweated more and more, and although his voice remained loud, his footsteps gradually slowed down. These are all signs of physical exertion."

So, since this person, who was carrying a not particularly heavy cargo box and had walked a not too long distance, showed signs of physical exertion, it was only natural to assume that he didn't possess internal strength.

This is probably what a typical martial arts expert would think.

Therefore, Wang Xiaoer said, "If you've already seen all that, Master, why don't we make our move?"

Zhang San shook his head and said, "Xiaoer, haven't I taught you to be cautious? We must be cautious! Haven't you noticed the bandages all over your master's body?"

Indeed, at this moment, apart from his face and hands, Zhang San's entire body was covered in bandages that had not yet fully healed.

Zhang San solemnly continued, "What you saw was what others wanted you to see! True masters never overlook any details. In case the other party is an unparalleled expert hidden among the crowd, with your master's current condition, wouldn't we be walking into a trap?"

Wang Xiaoer instinctively looked at the exhausted vendor who had put down his cargo box and was panting while wiping his sweat.

Hmm.

An unparalleled expert, huh?

It really seemed like it.

Lately, his master had often mentioned that he had regained the caution he had at the age of seventeen.

Was his master like this when he was seventeen?

On another note, how did their master manage to complete missions with a master like this without starving to death... How did he do it!?

Shaking his head to dismiss those fantastic thoughts, Wang Xiaoer said, "Master, this is the third failed deal this month, and the sixth in the past two months. Have you considered that we haven't eaten for three days?"

Zhang San fell silent for a moment, looking at the peddler. Finally, he gritted his teeth...

Seeing the determination in his master's expression, Wang Xiaoer exclaimed with joy, "Master, you've finally made up your mind!"

Zhang San nodded and said, "Yes, I have made up my mind."

"When shall we take action then?"

Zhang San looked puzzled and asked, "Take action? What action?"

"Aren't we going to kill someone?"

Zhang San glanced at the peddler and said calmly, "When I speak of making up my mind, I'm not referring to killing someone... but rather... taking you to a free meal!"

Thud!

Wang Xiaoer fell to the ground on the spot.

Zhang San explained, "Back in the day, your master used to do this often. Don't panic, my young apprentice, I have plenty of experience."

Wang Xiaoer got up, rubbing his bottom, and weakly said, "But Master, your master was a high-level martial artist. Was he unable to afford meals?"

Zhang San replied, "It's not that he couldn't afford it. The problem was that your master had an insatiable appetite. He ate your great master into poverty. Besides, during that time, I had to learn various skills, which led to expenses exceeding my income."

"But Master, we can't keep going on like this. According to your logic, are there any people left in this world for us to kill?"

Zhang San said, "I didn't say we won't kill, but we need to observe cautiously, test discreetly, and strike when the time is right."

Wang Xiaoer asked in confusion, "I understand observation, but how do we test... what should we do to test?"

At this moment, Zhang San smiled slightly as if recalling something, and said:

"When it comes to testing, I do miss the method I frequently used when I was seventeen. Although I had just entered the intermediate level of martial arts at that time, I must say, being seventeen was the most stable period in my life."

Wang Xiaoer was curious, "Master at seventeen? What method are you talking about?"

Zhang San smiled confidently and said, "It's quite simple. We hire an assassin to kill that peddler, then we'll know if he is a formidable opponent or not."

"..."

Wang Xiaoer was stunned for a second.

"???"

Immediately after, Wang Xiaoer was dumbfounded for another second.

"Do you want to listen to what you're saying?"

Zhang San frowned slightly and said, "Xiaoer, why do you find your master's gaze a bit strange?"

Wang Xiaoer jumped up, first touching his master's forehead, then his own, thinking to himself, "Isn't he just not having a fever?"

Without hesitation, Zhang San punched Wang Xiaoer, causing him to cry out in pain. Despite the injuries, Wang Xiaoer's internal strength remained intact. The punch made him wince repeatedly.

To avoid attracting attention, Zhang San had no choice but to take Wang Xiaoer to a secluded alley.

In the depths of the alley, Zhang San said, "I know what you're thinking. But this method really worked in the south more than a decade ago."

Wang Xiaoer exclaimed in surprise, "Are you sure, Master? It sounds absurd to me."

Zhang San smiled mysteriously and explained the intricacies of his method from back in the day.

Several years ago in the southern region, due to being far away from the three powerful forces of the dark underworld - Black Heaven Gate, Dark Building, and JinWan Pavilion - there were numerous small and medium-sized underworld factions, leading to a state of great chaos.

The assassin profession, which was part of the underworld industry, was no exception.

It was the year seventeen.

At that time, Zhang San greatly envied the personnel involved in the assassin profession, especially those who worked as intermediaries, like the old man Huang in Xiaoyun County.

They didn't have to do much themselves. Relying on extensive connections, they would receive tasks from the organization and assign them to non-professional assassins. Once the task was completed, they would take a cut.

Although the money earned was definitely less than what a direct assassin would make, it was stable!

With this goal in mind, Zhang San painstakingly traveled throughout the entire Nan Commandery, finally creating a carefully crafted list called the "Bounty List of Assassination Tasks for Various Levels of the Nan Commandery Underworld!"

From this list, Zhang San discovered a business opportunity!

That was because in the southern region, without the dominance of the three powerful forces of the northern underworld, there were numerous underworld factions with varying sizes and inconsistent quality of their assassins.

In such a situation, occasionally outsourcing tasks to non-professional assassins was common in the south. Even if the income from these outsourced tasks had to be shared with the non-professional assassins, they were still willing to do it.

There were two main reasons for this.

First, although the money was less, it was still better than nothing.

Second, the reputation of the assassin profession relied on never saying no to the customer!

When a customer wanted someone killed and came for business, regardless of whether you told them that your manpower was currently insufficient or that the strength of your assassins was inadequate, it would damage your reputation.

What Zhang San saw as a business opportunity was that even for ordinary tasks, there was a difference in price of ten to twenty taels of silver among the various underworld factions due to factors such as their size and strength.

And the price for outsourcing tasks to non-professional assassins of the same level usually ranged from fifty to one hundred taels of silver. For example, for a fifty-tael task, the employer would pay the organization, and upon completion of the task, the organization would take a cut of ten taels as an introduction fee.

That is twenty percent.

It was a similar process for Huang, the old man in Xiaoyun County, and Zhang San.

If it was a task of the Earth-level rank, the price difference could even reach over a hundred taels.

And this, in Zhang San's eyes, was the business opportunity and the chance to become the ultimate and steady assassin.

So, how does an assassin go about completing a task to be considered the ultimate and steady one?

The answer, of course, is... not to make a move!