Chapter 44: Not Yet the Time to Draw the Sword

“Breaking through the limits five times while cultivating a top-tier martial art is indeed extraordinary. Even after my relentless attacks, she merely lost consciousness,” Lu Yan mused inwardly.

If his opponent had been uninjured, at her peak, with her cunning and unpredictable techniques, he truly wasn’t confident he could have subdued her. His lack of real combat experience was evident. Lu Yan reflected on this. Though he had mastered various martial arts to the level where man and martial art became one, wielding them with formidable power and ease, actual combat was not the same as solitary training. Factors like improvisation and mental composure were crucial—especially when confronted with unfamiliar martial techniques. Such responses could only be honed through real battles.

His previous opponents followed the same path as he did: head-to-head combat, strength against strength, and he was naturally the toughest among them. Faced with a slippery adversary, Lu Yan was initially caught off guard and suffered several cuts from her dagger, but thanks to his indomitable Diamond Body, he endured.

He seized the woman, brought her to his bedroom, found a hemp rope, and bound her tightly like a rice dumpling. He then examined each room. No one should have noticed their earlier scuffle. The Crimson Guards were all out, leaving only the servants behind. Those servants, frightened by the sounds of fighting, dared not light a lamp to investigate; each huddled in a corner, and with the cover of night, his strength was unlikely to have been exposed.

He fetched a basin of water and splashed it on the ‘maid’s’ face, then rubbed her cheeks a few times. As expected, the birthmark on her face was wiped away, revealing a strikingly beautiful and alluring visage. The cold water roused her from her stupor.

“I’ll ask, you answer,” Lu Yan said coldly. “You’re the assassin who tried to kill Zhou Hezhen, aren’t you?” He hadn’t killed her outright because he wanted to confirm her identity.

The woman shot him a cold glance and remained silent.

“You think that by keeping quiet, I can’t confirm it?” Lu Yan stepped forward, grasped her shoulder, and tore away a large piece of her clothing, exposing a savage wound on her shoulder—and, incidentally, revealing a fair, supple expanse of skin.

His gaze was first drawn to her… generous curves, lingering for a moment, before settling on the wound. It was a claw mark, with the edges singed and some muscle charred.

“It’s said Zhou Hezhen’s fingers were bloody, that he scratched his killer in a final struggle. Do you have anything to say?” Lu Yan asked calmly.

“How did you spot my flaw?” the female assassin replied.

“Because of the scent of blood,” Lu Yan said.

“Scent of blood? I already masked it by claiming I cut my finger while slaughtering a chicken. What was wrong?” she pressed.

“Zhou clan’s top martial art, the Scarlet Eagle’s Blazing Claw, produces qi and bone force as hot as fire. That’s why your blood carried a faint burnt odor. A chicken cut wouldn’t have that smell,” Lu Yan explained.

“Your nose is keener than a hound’s.”

The assassin gritted her teeth, unwilling to accept her fate. If she could survive tonight, she could force out her bone force to heal, and then the Zhou clan would never find her.

“Thank you,” Lu Yan replied indifferently. He’d learned tracking and hunting from Lu Qingshan, and his sense of smell was naturally sharper after years of identifying scents in the wild.

“You judged me as the killer based solely on that?” she asked, unwilling to concede.

“So I tested you further—said your birthmark had changed position. If you truly had a birthmark, you’d have been puzzled or surprised by my words, not instinctively reached to touch it. That reflex exposed you. In truth, I’d never paid attention to the birthmark’s location,” Lu Yan said.

“That alone?”

“Isn’t it enough?” Lu Yan countered.

The assassin was stunned. Yes, with so many suspicious points, wasn’t it enough?

She fell silent for a moment, then suddenly said, “I must admit, your mind is meticulous. But this matter is far more significant than you realize. If you want to live, you’d better let me go.”

“Oh? Tell me, how significant is it? Perhaps I’ll consider it,” Lu Yan replied.

“Because I come from the assassin organization ‘Dark Moon,’” she said.

“Dark Moon?” Lu Yan was puzzled.

“You haven’t heard of it? ‘Dark Moon’ is one of the largest assassin organizations in Lian An County—no, in all of Xuan Province. If you hand me over or kill me, the Dark Moon will never let you go. The rest of your life will be plagued by endless pursuit from their assassins,” she explained, though her words carried a veiled threat.

But Lu Yan laughed, and his laughter unsettled her, sending chills through her heart.

“What are you laughing at?” she finally asked.

“The most terrifying thing about assassins is their ability to hide—their skills and reputation concealed, striking once and vanishing at failure. Assassins’ organizations are equally mysterious; their greatest strength lies in secrecy. No one can find their lair. If every failed assassin invoked their organization to threaten their captors—and if the organization retaliated for each—such a group wouldn’t survive. It would be eradicated to the root,” Lu Yan reasoned. “So you can’t be one of ‘Dark Moon’s’ people.”

The assassin’s face turned ashen. She couldn’t understand how a youth of sixteen or seventeen could possess such a meticulous mind and such formidable strength.

“What will it take for you to spare me?” she asked.

“Your head is worth thirty thousand taels of silver now. How about this—if you can pay thirty thousand taels to buy your life, I’ll let you go,” Lu Yan said.

“If I had thirty thousand taels, I wouldn’t have taken this assassination job,” she replied helplessly.

“Then there’s nothing I can do,” Lu Yan shook his head.

“I don’t have that much silver, but anything else you want—you can take. Anything at all…I’ll give it to you,” she said, wriggling suggestively, her intentions clear in her words.

Truth be told, her figure was exquisite, and after being drenched by the basin of water, her clothes clung tightly to her skin, bound by the rope. Combined with her obvious hints, the effect on any man would be fatal. No wonder Zhou Hezhen fell for her.

Lu Yan was a normal man, and a young one at that. He felt the temptation, but forced himself to resist, only allowing his eyes a few extra glances.

The woman looked puzzled. Was her allure insufficient?

“You’re an assassin, and even a martial lord like Zhou Hezhen died at your hands. I don’t want to die,” Lu Yan said, taking deep breaths to steady himself.

“My hands are broken, and I’m tied up—how could I possibly do anything? There’s nothing to fear, little brother,” she said, trying to make her voice gentle and seductive.

“I’m afraid you’re hiding poison there,” Lu Yan’s gaze swept between her legs.

“You…” The assassin’s face flushed crimson.

Lu Yan took several deep breaths again, forcing a certain part of his body to calm down. The sword was not yet ready to leave its sheath—at least, not now.

He stood, picked up the Crimson Guard’s saber, and walked toward her. “I’ll trade you for the reward, but you know too much.”

Clang!

The blade left its sheath, slicing through the darkness of the bedroom—and across the assassin’s throat.

Her eyes widened in disbelief, never expecting Lu Yan to suddenly kill her, without even giving her a chance to speak again.

“Now that you know my true strength, you cannot be allowed to live,” Lu Yan sheathed the blade, his face cold and resolute.

Truth be told, this assassin was clever, meticulously orchestrating the assassination of Zhou Hezhen. Before any of the major clans arrived, she had disguised herself as a hired servant, so wherever she was employed, she had a place to hide. Perhaps even the Zhou clan’s lavish bounty was part of her plan, letting the major clans hunt for her citywide while she remained hidden right under their noses.

Unfortunately for her, she was unlucky enough to encounter Lu Yan.