Mission Cancelled

The Li Family.

Li Rufeng sat on a rosewood chair in the main hall, his face sullen.

His disciples gathered around whispering to each other.

"What's going on today? We were badly wounded for the Xiao family, yet Xiao Jian spoke to us like that!"

"Yeah, the money we got today is really infuriating!"

"Master was the hero of this incident, but look at how the Xiao family and those ancient martial arts fellows treated Gu Chenan as the benefactor!"

"This Gu Chenan not only injured Brother Bu Fan but also stole our credit. How vicious!"

Li Rufeng heard the discussions around him and felt even more agitated in his already foul mood. He slammed his palm on the tea table.

"Quiet, all of you!"

The disciples immediately fell silent.

Li Rufeng surveyed them and said, "The grudge against Bu Fan and today's matter cannot end like this!"

"For the next few days, don't act rashly. Once Gu Chenan lets his guard down, we'll strike, and make sure Gu Chenan pays the price!"

He then changed the topic, "When I received the payment from Xiao Jian today, I felt utterly humiliated. I, Li Rufeng, have never been treated like this before!"

The disciples exchanged glances, thinking to themselves: But Master, you were overjoyed when you received the money. How can you say you felt humiliated now?

If you felt humiliated, you shouldn't have accepted it in the first place!

Sensing their doubts, Li Rufeng explained awkwardly, "Originally, I didn't want the Xiao family's dirty money, but even if I don't take it, you all still need it!"

"You were all injured today. If I didn't take the money, wouldn't that be unfair to you?"

He tossed the bank card on the table. "Split the money in this card among yourselves!"

The disciples were stunned. Their Master, who was usually stingy, was being so generous this time?

Could it be...

He was testing them?

Realizing this, they hurriedly spoke up.

"Master, no, you also deserve a share of this money. Without you today, we would have been in grave danger!"

"That's right, if not for you, Master, we wouldn't have made it!"

Li Rufeng slowly stood up, clasped his hands behind his back, and gazed out the window. With a melancholic expression, he sighed, "You don't understand your Master. How could I be someone who covets money?"

He waved his hand, "Go on, take the money from the card and split it."

The disciples looked at Li Rufeng's back, all teary-eyed.

So we had been misunderstanding our Master all this time?

"Master..."

Li Rufeng waved his hand again. "No need to say more, just go."

The disciples exchanged glances, then bowed respectfully. "Yes, Master."

They took the bank card and left the Li residence, standing on the bustling street, pondering.

"We were mistaken about Master all this time!"

"That's right, no matter what, Master is from a prestigious family. How could he care so much about money?"

"Let's go, let's go. First, withdraw the money, then hurry back. Xiao Jian said there's one million in this card, and there are fifteen of us, so each person can get about seventy thousand on average!"

The group hurried through the traffic lights and arrived at the bank counter.

"Hello, withdrawal."

One disciple sat down and handed the bank card to the teller.

The female clerk swiped the card and asked, "How much would you like to withdraw?"

"All of it."

"One moment, please."

After some processing, the clerk flashed a professional smile. "There's a total of seventy-five thousand in the account. You want to withdraw all of it?"

Huh?

The disciples were stunned, quickly asking, "How much is in the card?"

"Seventy-five thousand."

Hearing this, the disciples blinked in disbelief and looked at each other bewildered.

"Seventy-five thousand? Wasn't it supposed to be one million?"

The disciples were dumbfounded, but then immediately realized what had happened.

"Damn, we've been tricked!"

"Master must have transferred all the money out beforehand!"

"Damn it, I knew there was a reason he was being so generous. That old bastard was playing us!"

"Seventy-five thousand in total, each of us can only get five thousand!"

In the main hall of the Li residence, Li Rufeng wore a cunning smile as he looked at the several-digit sum in his mobile banking app.

"Me, your Master? I love money the most."

...

The suburbs of Suhang City.

In a villa halfway up the mountain.

Old Dao led a group of five or six Black Falcon assassins back to the villa.

Today, as instructed by Gong Fei, he had been guarding the back gate of the Xiao family's mansion.

But even after half an hour past the planned time, there were no orders from Gong Fei.

So Old Dao went to take a look at the front gate of the mansion, only to find a bloody mess but no sign of Gong Fei or the others.

He searched around the Xiao residence for half a day but couldn't find them, so he could only return to the villa first.

Inside the villa, Lin Yu hobbled out of his room, leaning on a crutch.

Seeing only Old Dao return, he asked in confusion, "Where's Mr. Gong?"

Old Dao shook his head. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Lin Yu frowned. "Then was the mission completed?"

Again, Old Dao shook his head. "I don't know."

Lin Yu was dumbfounded. Big brother, did you leave your brain at home today? You don't know anything!

"What's the situation? How can you not know anything?"

Old Dao sighed and recounted the day's events to Lin Yu.

Lin Yu listened, completely stumped. Gong Fei and more than a dozen elite assassins had vanished?

How could more than a dozen people, led by one of the Twelve Falcons, Gong Fei himself, just disappear like that?

As Lin Yu racked his brain but still couldn't figure it out, Old Dao's phone suddenly rang.

Old Dao took out his phone and his expression immediately turned grave upon seeing the number.

"Is this Old Dao?" A cold female voice came through as soon as he answered.

"Yes, it's me."

"Where is Mr. Gong?" the woman asked.

Old Dao recounted the day's events once more to the woman on the phone. After listening, she paused for a long while.

"Okay, I understand." Then she said, "Inform them that the commission to assassinate the head of the Xiao family in Suhang has been canceled by the client."

Hearing this, Old Dao was stunned, confused. "What... what does that mean?"

"It means the mission is over," the woman said coldly before hanging up.

Old Dao blinked, still not out of his daze.

"What is it, Old Dao?" Lin Yu asked.

Old Dao swallowed and put his phone away. "The organization said the client canceled the commission. Our mission is over."

"What?!"

Lin Yu was shocked. He had planned to rely on the Black Falcons' power to eliminate Gu Chenan. But if the Black Falcons canceled the assassination of Xiao Jian, how could he make them eliminate Gu Chenan?

"Why would that client suddenly cancel the commission? What's going on here?"

Lin Yu was utterly bewildered. First, Gong Fei mysteriously disappeared, and now the client abruptly canceled the commission. It was as if an invisible hand was controlling everything!

Who was behind all this?

Gu Chenan?

The first person Lin Yu thought of was Gu Chenan, but he immediately shook his head. Impossible, completely impossible!

No matter how skilled Gu Chenan was, he couldn't have made Gong Fei disappear like that!

No matter how powerful Gu Chenan's background was, he couldn't have made the organization cancel the mission!

So who... who was behind this?!