pjbooks Chapter 25 The Mysterious Assassin Organization
Chapter 25 The Mysterious Assassin Organization
Meanwhile, in the capital, at the Wang family's villa.
In a quiet tea room, a woman in her forties was sitting by the window.
She wore an elegant cheongsam, her hair was tied in a low bun, and her appearance was seven parts similar to Liu Mingxuan's—Liu Mingxia, the last bloodline of the Liu family.
In front of her lay a piece of intelligence, on which were written a few words:
"The Blackscale Wolf is dead. Jiang Chen is unharmed."
Liu Mingxia's fingers tightened slightly, crumpling the paper into a ball.
"Completely unharmed?"
She repeated it in a low voice, her tone filled with suppressed hatred.
The Liu family, consisting of 269 people—her brother, her sister-in-law, and her niece—all died at the hands of a powerless person.
And she couldn't even get revenge.
On his first attempt, he killed a C-rank monster.
What about the second attempt?
She didn't know. All she knew was that the boy named Jiang Chen was far more terrifying than the intelligence reports described.
"Madam," came the maid's voice from outside the door, "the eldest son of the Wang family has arrived."
Liu Mingxia took a deep breath, stuffed the crumpled pieces of paper into her sleeve, and stood up.
"Please let him in."
The door was pushed open, and a man in his early thirties walked in. He was dressed in a well-tailored suit, and his brows carried the arrogance typical of scions of prominent families—Wang Chongwen, the eldest son of the Wang family, and Liu Mingxia's nominal stepson.
"Mother," Wang Chongwen nodded slightly, "Father sent me to ask you, should we continue with the matter of the Liu family?"
Liu Mingxia's fingers clenched tightly inside her sleeve, but her face remained expressionless.
"Chongwen, what does your father mean?"
Wang Chongwen looked at her, his tone calm: "Father said that once a daughter is married, she doesn't need to worry too much about her maternal family's affairs. The Wang family has already helped you once, which is enough. It wouldn't be worth continuing."
Liu Mingxia's face turned slightly pale.
She understood.
The Wang family was unwilling to offend an unfathomable enemy for the sake of a "married-out daughter."
"I understand," she said softly.
"Please thank the master for me."
Wang Chongwen nodded and turned to leave.
The moment the door closed, the calm on Liu Mingxia's face shattered instantly.
She clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug into her palms, drawing blood.
"Jiang Chen!!!"
She gritted her teeth and pronounced the name slowly and deliberately.
If the Wang family won't help her, she'll do it herself.
Even if she dies, Liu Mingxia will drag that murderer down to hell with her!
Late at night, Liu Mingxia, fully armed and wearing a baseball cap, and whose identity was unknown to anyone, cautiously arrived at a long-abandoned building in the capital.
Pushing open the door, one is greeted by a thick layer of dust, but deep within this place, a seemingly dilapidated elevator is still in operation.
She entered the elevator and pressed the button for the 18th basement level.
It wasn't a secret place, but it wasn't a legal place either; it just existed for a reason.
The Dark Night Organization, the most powerful assassin organization in the Dragon Kingdom.
In this place, as long as you offer enough incentives, there's no one they wouldn't dare to kill!
The moment the elevator doors closed, Liu Mingxia felt the whole world go silent.
It wasn't just ordinary quiet; it was an almost eerie stillness. The elevator descended without a sound—no mechanical hum, no creaking of cables, not even the sound of air flowing.
It was as if this wasn't an elevator at all, but a coffin that was falling.
Liu Mingxia clutched her suitcase tightly. Inside were all her savings from the past twenty years—property deeds, land titles, bonds, jewelry, and some antique paintings and calligraphy she had brought back from the Liu family. She sold everything she could, exchanging it for cash and crystals.
The numbers inside the elevator scrolled up and down. B1, B2, B3...
With each floor descended, the air grew heavier. By the time she reached B10, Liu Mingxia could feel a faint sense of oppression, as if something was watching her from the darkness.
She took a deep breath, suppressing the unease in her heart.
B18.
The elevator has stopped.
The door slowly opened, and a chilling aura rushed out. It wasn't just ordinary cold; it was something more primal—like life force being slowly drained away by something.
The corridor was long, with a dim wall lamp embedded every ten meters on both sides, its light as faint as a candle flame that might go out at any moment. The floor was made of some kind of black stone, making no sound when stepped on. Liu Mingxia looked down and found that her shadow was distorted and deformed under the light, like a pool of melting asphalt.
She walked for about three minutes.
At the end of the corridor was a huge iron door with no markings on it, only a small recess the size of a palm.
Liu Mingxia took a deep breath and pressed her palm on it.
A cold touch came from her palm, like being licked by a snake. The next second, a drop of blood seeped from her fingertip and was sucked into the groove.
The iron gate slid open silently.
Behind the door was a spacious hall, about half the size of a basketball court. There were no windows in the hall, only a pale white chandelier hanging in the center of the ceiling, illuminating the entire space without any shadows.
Directly opposite the door stood a long conference table. The table was crafted from a single piece of obsidian, its surface smooth as a mirror, reflecting people's images. But Liu Mingxia noticed that her face was blurred in the reflection—her features were distorted and deformed, like a portrait soaked in water.
At the other end of the conference table sat a person.
No, to be precise, it's the outline of a human figure.
He wore a long black robe, the hood covering most of his face, revealing only his chin. The skin on his chin was so white it was almost transparent, and you could see the blue veins beneath. He sat there, yet he gave Liu Mingxia the illusion that he wasn't actually there, or rather, that he existed in every corner of this space.
"Guest," the man spoke, his voice low and resonant, like an echo from the earth, "What brings you here so late at night?"
Liu Mingxia's palms were sweating.
She had met many important figures: heads of powerful families in the capital, generals in the military, and high-ranking officials in the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs. But none of them had ever given her this sense of oppression.
This person… no, this being, sitting there, was like a mountain. Not a majestic, towering mountain, but a bottomless abyss—you never knew how deep it was, or what lay hidden within.
"I want to buy someone's life," Liu Mingxia said, her voice calmer than she had expected.
"Who?"
"Jiang Chen. A native of Jiangzhou, seventeen years old, a senior high school student at Jiangzhou College."
The man in black robes remained silent for a moment.
"Jiang Chen..." He repeated the name softly, as if recalling something, "The world's first person without superpowers?"
"Yes." Liu Mingxia gritted her teeth. "It's him."
The man in black did not respond immediately. He extended his right hand, his fingers long and slender, his nails neatly trimmed. He tapped the table lightly, producing three crisp sounds.
From the shadows on one side of the hall, a figure emerged silently. This person was also dressed in a black robe, but much shorter and moved with the agility of a cat. He walked to the side of the man in the black robe, leaned down to listen to something, and then disappeared into the shadows.
Less than a minute later, the person reappeared, this time with a thin folder in his hand.
The man in the black robe took the folder and opened it.
"Jiang Chen, male, seventeen years old, a student in Class 5, Grade 12 at Jiangzhou Academy. He was determined to be powerless on the day of awakening, the first case of its kind in the world." He read the contents of the document, his voice unhurried. "Three days later, his ex-girlfriend Liu Ruyan broke up with him. Later that day, an explosion occurred at Liu Ruyan's celebration party, killing seventeen people and injuring two. Among the dead was Liu Ruyan's new boyfriend, Lin Feng, who was later determined to have permanently damaged his S-level lightning-type talent."
He turned a page.
"Three days later, the entire Liu family was wiped out. Liu Mingxuan, Liu Ruyan, and 269 members of the Liu family all died overnight. There was no residual spiritual energy at the scene, and no signs of battle. The official cause of death was determined to be an accidental fire."
He closed the folder.
"interesting."
Liu Mingxia stared at him: "Your intelligence is very detailed."
"Things done in the dark are always meticulous." The man in black placed the folder on the table.
"This Jiang Chen is no good person. So you should know that assassinating such a target comes at a high price."
"I know." Liu Mingxia placed the suitcase on the table and opened it.
The box contained rows of neatly stacked crystals—Grade C spiritual energy crystals, each one quite valuable. Next to them were some documents, including property and land deeds for the transfer of ownership.
The man in black robes glanced at it but didn't move.
"These are worth around twenty million in total," he said calmly. "And the person you're going to kill is worth even more."
Liu Mingxia's expression changed: "More? How much?"
The man in black robes held up three fingers.
"Thirty million. And I want cash or spirit crystals, not property deeds."
"Thirty million?!" Liu Mingxia's voice shrilly. "Thirty million to kill a powerless person? Is your Dark Night gang robbing people?!"
The man in the black robe didn't speak. He simply watched her silently, the shadow beneath his hood seeming to deepen.
The temperature in the hall plummeted.
Liu Mingxia shivered, realizing she had lost her composure. She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.
"I'm sorry, I... I just..."
"I understand." The black-robed man's voice remained calm. "But guest, you are not killing an ordinary person without abilities."
He reopened the folder.
"We've assessed the Liu family massacre case. To be able to wipe out a family with an S-level Awakened being at its helm silently, without leaving a trace—in the entire Dragon Kingdom, there are no more than five people who can do that."
He paused.
"And those people are at the pinnacle of humanity. The price of killing them cannot be measured in money."
Liu Mingxia's face turned deathly pale.
"So, thirty million is already an underestimate." The man in black closed the folder. "This is still because his identity is 'powerless,' and the intelligence system's assessment of him is still highly uncertain. If his true strength is confirmed, the price will be at least ten times higher."
Liu Mingxia fell silent.
She knew the man in black was right. Jiang Chen could wipe out the Liu family and instantly kill a C-level demon; with that kind of strength, 30 million was indeed not expensive.
But she didn't have any more money.
"Can I...can I pay in installments?" she asked with difficulty, but her eyes, blinded by hatred, remained unwavering.
The man in black robes looked at her and remained silent for a few seconds.
"Can."
He took a black card from the drawer and pushed it in front of Liu Mingxia.
"A deposit of ten million is required upfront. The remaining balance will be paid upon completion of the mission. If the balance is overdue, Dark Night will pursue it on its own—and you know how."
Liu Mingxia looked at the card, her fingers trembling slightly.
She knew the rules of the night. Employers who failed to pay on time would suffer no better fate than their targets.
But she had no other choice.
She took out ten C-grade spirit crystals from her briefcase, and then a stack of bank drafts, pushing them in front of the man in black robes.
The man in black robes glanced at it and nodded.
"make a deal."
He stood up, his height reaching two meters, casting a shadow that enveloped Liu Mingxia entirely.
"Those who act in the dark never fail. Your enemies will disappear within seven days."
Liu Mingxia raised her head, her eyes filled with deep-seated hatred.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"explain."
"How...do you plan to kill him?"
The man in black robes remained silent for a moment.
"Guest, the money you paid is for the result, not the process."
Liu Mingxia bit her lip and didn't ask any more questions.
She walked out of the hall and into the corridor. Behind her, the iron gate closed silently.
The wall lamps in the corridor were still dim, casting a distorted shadow at her feet. But this time, she wasn't afraid.
Because in her heart, there was only hatred.
The elevator went up and brought her back to the ground.
The moment I stepped out of the abandoned building, the night wind brushed against my face, carrying a slight chill.
Liu Mingxia stood on the rooftop, looking at the night view of the capital, and took a deep breath.
"Seven days," she whispered. "After seven days, Jiang Chen, you will go down to join them."
A smile appeared on her lips.
That smile was ferocious and insane, filled with long-suppressed hatred and anticipation.
"Brother, Ruyan, wait seven more days. After seven days, I will make that beast go down and apologize to you."
A night breeze blew by, ruffling the hem of her dress. Then she turned and left, disappearing into the night.