Chapter 444: The Assassination Guild - 444
Zhu Yi returned to White Palace city and turned in the mission as usual. Besides the slightly higher pay, there was not much difference.
He soon took his tenth mission, but upon entering White Palace city after completing it and walking towards the rogue cultivator guild, he saw a man in an alley wave him over.
"That's not suspicious at all." Zhou Fan said.
Zhu Yi looked at the man, thinking deeply, before walking over.
"Are you sure you want to take that risk?" Zhou Fan asked.
"Nobody dares to kill within White Palace city. I should be fine." Zhu Yi said.
Zhou Fan sighed. "The young are truly brave."
Zhu Yi walked up to the man and the man went deeper into the alleyway, leading Zhu Yi from afar.
Zhu Yi followed while gripping on his sword. Before long, the man entered a door at the side. The door remained open and Zhu Yi entered.
Inside, there were downward stairs. A red light gave the place an eerie feeling, and while Zhu Yi considered leaving, he eventually walked down.
The stairs did not go too deep before turning, and Zhu Yi saw an Iron door.
Looking around, Zhu Yi walked up and knocked on the door. A slit in the door slid open.
Eyes looked at Zhu Yi before the slit closed and the door made a noise.
As Zhu Yi stepped back, the door opened.
What entered his eyes was what appeared to be a large tavern.
"You must be Zhu Yi. Follow me." The man who opened the door said.
The man had a scar covering his face that garnered Zhu Yi's attention. Half of his face seemed to have suffered some sort of burn mark.
Zhu Yi did not stare, and followed the man through the room.
There were many tables in the room, and a large amount of them were filled. Everyone in the tavern-like room seemed to wear dark clothes and/or have a large scar.
A few stared at him for a moment, but most ignored him and continued their conversations.
After walking across the room, Zhu Yi was led through a door and up a flight of stairs, before the man leading him knocked on a door at the end of an otherwise doorless hallway.
"Enter."
The man turned and walked away. Zhu Yi walked forward and entered the room.
Inside it was what appeared to be an office. Behind a desk was a man wearing both dark clothes and with a scar. He had a cigar in his mouth. To the side was a fireplace and strewn around the room were papers.
As he walked towards the desk, Zhu Yi also noticed a crystal pad laid down.
"A big shot." Zhou Fan said.
"You are Zhu Yi." The man said after a moment.
"I am."
"We'll get straight to it. We've been observing you for a few days and want you to join us." The man said, only pausing to take a puff of his cigar.
Zhu Yiwas confused. "Join who?"
"The dark side of the rogue cultivator guild, the Assassination guild." The man said.
Seeing Zhu Yi silent, the man continued. "The light side of the rogue cultivator guild is the rogue cultivator guild that you know. It operates by killing beasts, trading, exchanging information, or any other way to make profit."
"Then, there is the dark side, the assassination guild. We are the same, but deal with stuff that would better remain unknown to the general public, though there is no lack of people who know of us."
Zhu Yi asked a question. "What do you mean by stuff that would better remain unknown to the general public?"
"Assassination, beast slavery, though human slavery is illegal throughout the world, spying, poisons, kidnapping, essentially anything that makes a profit without going too far." The man explained.
"And why would you want me to join you?" Zhu Yi asked.
He felt that he didn't fit the character at all. Not to mention that he was not wearing dark clothes and did not have a scar.
"As I said, we've been observing you, and we have no lack of experience in recruiting. I won't say we have a 100% recruit rate, but it's in the high 90's."
"I still don't understand. Why me?" Zhu Yi asked.
The man sighed. "There is a lot of stuff that can be observed in secret. You met the "Doorman" of White Palace city, so you should know about those beasts. Since you've met him, you should have felt his arrogance. Do you remember that well?"
Zhu Yi nodded. It was still fresh in his mind.
"Not many can simply accept such treatment. They may go out and attempt to secretly spread the information of those beasts, or they may start plotting to get revenge, but they always end up dead. You have met that old man and are alive. That is the first sign." The man said.
He continued. "Next, you are faithfully working for no apparent reason. Perhaps you don't have a purpose, perhaps you have no ambition and are saving up to retire, though that seems unlikely based on your ninth mission. Maybe you owe a large sum of money. There could be any reason, but it should stand that you need something from those missions, and we, the assassination guild, can help you."
"How about that? Do you need more?" The man asked, leaning back in his chair.
"You say that you can provide me what I need?" Zhu Yi asked.
"Almost anything."
Zhu Yi paused and thought. "Even live foundation establishment beasts?"
The man looked at him calmly. "Enslaved? You don't have the ability to do anything worth that."
"Not enslaved, just alive and captured."
The man thought. "That changes things. It is possible. Do you need it to be weakened?"
"No. Just trapped and alive so that I can kill it from outside the cage without being in danger."
"Such a thing is not too much to ask. I won't ask why you need it, but you'll have to earn it. You've seen the benefits. Now, let me introduce you to the work."
Chapter 445: Assassination - 445
The man seemed to sit up slightly as he spoke. "At your level, the only thing that can be reasonably done is assassination. This makes the question, have you ever killed someone?"
"No." Zhu Yi responded.
"Are you willing to kill someone?"
Zhu Yi did not speak immediately but thought.
"All cultivators kill. Even if you try to be a saint, it is almost impossible. You need to choose how you'll live right now. Are you willing to kill, or not willing at all?" Zhou Fan spoke.
Over his many years of life, he had observed much more than anyone could comprehend. He had seen countless people, no lack of which had tried to cultivate without harming anyone else.
These people usually ended up dead or killing someone. Very few could happily live their lives without ever killing someone. Out of all the gods and true gods that Zhou Fan knew, none had never killed. A few had tried, but none had succeeded, especially with the destruction race present.
Zhu Yi continued to think, and the man across from him waited patiently.
After a while, the man spoke. "In case you're curious, there will be no distinction between good and evil people. You may get a mission to kill a murder, or a mission to kill a saint. Regardless, it is expected that you carry it out."
Zhu Yi nodded. "If it's someone who truly lives selflessly, I don't believe that I'd be willing to kill him."
"You don't need to worry too much. We don't accept missions to simply kill anyone. The people we kill need to go through a checklist. For example, if someone hired us to kill a very talented cultivator, like another Chen Jie, who would be able to help all of humanity, we would not do it. We do not kill mortals. We do not kill people who live honestly unless the pay is very high. If you ever get a mission to kill a saint, you can be assured that they have a dark side to them."
Zhu Yi continued thinking.
"I believe I'd be willing for the most part." Zhu Yi finally said.
The man nodded. "In that case, we naturally need proof. Here is your first mission. It will pay triple what such a mission would normally pay due to it being your first time."
The man slid a piece of paper to Zhu Yi. "Good luck, and welcome to the assassination guild."
Before long, Zhu Yi was once again walking the streets of the White Palace City. Looking at the paper, his target was someone around the age of 20. He was a 3rd level Qi gathering realm cultivator. The information about him was not very large, but it said that when returning from a mission, he would stay in the city for two days before leaving once again.
It also gave his home address. As the sky dimmed, Zhu Yi wandered to the house and looked inside from the street. Inside, the man was sitting at a dinner table with what appeared to be his family. A wife, a daughter, and a son.
Zhu Yi stared for a while before leaving. As he walked towards his inn, he spoke to Zhou Fan.
"Master. Is it wrong to kill those with a family?"
"Only if you believe it to be wrong. I don't have an opinion, disciple. Long ago, I helped an evil person gain talent and strength. He brought harm to many, and I knew that he would when I did it, yet I still did it. Perhaps I too am evil."
Zhu Yi did not know how to respond.
Zhou Fan had indirectly killed a lot of people, and he had done so without caring.
He had known that Yao Mun was evil, and it was why he had given him power and talent. He had known that the destruction race would destroy and kill, and that was why he had created them.
"I am above good and evil. I am supreme."
Perhaps, if the theorized karma truly existed in an undetectable form, someone would eventually kill Zhou Fan.
"What?" Zhu Yi asked.
"Nothing." Zhou Fan shook his head.
Zhu Yi rubbed his ears and returned to the inn. The next morning, he did not go to the rogue cultivator guild, but sat in a tea shop, drinking. Across from the tea shop was the house of his target.
Zhu Yi sat in the tea shop for three hours before his target left the house. Zhu Yi paid for his overpriced tea and followed the man from afar. The man entered the rogue cultivator guild, and Zhu Yi waited outside. When the man came out, Zhu Yi followed him.
The man soon left the city, and the assassination was a go.
Zhu Yi stayed hidden behind trees and gripped his sword. When the man eventually entered a heavily forested area, Zhu Yi ran parallel to the path hidden behind many plants.
He eventually got ahead of the man, and on top of a tree branch, he waited.
"Isn't there an easier way to do this?" Zhou Fan said.
Zhu Yi was confused. "What way would that be?"
"Alright. Listen up…"
A few minutes later, Zhu Yi entered the man's line of sight. The man looked at him. Zhu Yi was sitting on the ground, one of his arms covered in blood as he held it.
After a moment, the man realized that Zhu Yi was just a child, though mature looking for his age, and ran up to him.
"Hey kid. Do you need medical assistance?"
Zhu Yi looked up at the man. His eyes seemed so kind. Why did such a good person need to die? A man with a family?
"You seem like a truly good man. I'm sorry." The man looked at Zhu Yi confused, before a sword pierced his throat.
As the man understood his situation, the way he looked at Zhu Yi changed. His face crumpled up and he roared in anger.
Killing intent could be felt from him, and it was not light either.
"Perhaps he's not as good as you thought." Zhou Fan said as Zhu Yi backed away from the man.
The man fell, but even as he bled out, his killing intent was focused on Zhu Yi.
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200+ Power
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