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In the darkness of night, a desolate wind blew through the forest, resembling the wailings of a resentful woman. Located near the outskirts of Fran City, an orphanage gradually vanished into a tide of darkness, as the moon’s light cast the shadows of willow trees onto its wooden walls, like a demonic creature brandishing its fangs. Under the silence of the night, a few shadows descended upon its roof.

“That brat’s room is right below us. Don’t alert the other residents; do it cleanly,” the leader of the assassins gestured to his subordinates as he lowered himself with a rope. A crude orphanage like this one didn’t even have locks on their windows, and they could be easily opened with a light push. Getting in was simply too easy. Jumping in through the windows of the second floor, the assassins silently arrived next to a bed with bulging sheets, daggers appearing from their sleeves. The mission would be over the moment his knife came down; it was even easier than the leader of the assassins had imagined.

‘Hmph, as an assassin, he doesn’t even have a shred of vigilance; this brat deserves to die.’ However, when his knife pierced the blanket, he immediately realized something was wrong. ‘This feeling, it’s like I didn’t pierce any flesh but a bundle of straw instead… No, it is just a bundle of straw!’

“Tsk, damn, we’ve been played!” Lifting the linen quilt, the assassin leader looked at the scarecrow lying in the middle of the bed, his face livid. “Damn it, we let that brat escape!” The assassin leader furiously exclaimed.

“Who escaped?” At this moment, a boyish voice slowly drifted over. Everyone hurriedly turned towards the voice. It was also at this time that a shriek rang out, indicating the minus one of the cannon fodder on this trip.

“You brat, you’re actually sneak attacking us?!” Seeing Mo Li, the assassin leader’s fury exploded. He had been played by this brat, who had only been an assassin for a few years! For an old coin like him who relied on duping others, this was a great humiliation.

“If an assassin doesn’t use sneak attacks, are they supposed to use an invincible attack from the front?” Mo Li, who was leaning on top of the window, joked while fiddling with the dagger in his hands. “What, only you guys are allowed to assassinate me, and I’m not allowed to launch a sneak attack in return? Speaking of which, what took you guys so long? I’d already drunk three cups of tea before even seeing your shadows. I was about to die of boredom waiting.” Mo Li absentmindedly scratched his ear while talking. “Instead of quickly taking care of the loose tongue after failing to assassinate a noble, you guys are still dawdling around. If it weren’t for the fact that I’m a patient person, with your turtle-speed pursuit, anyone else would have been long gone.”

“You stinky brat, when I cut off your four limbs, then you’ll regret not urgently escaping but directly provoking me!”

“Really?” Mo Li put away his dagger. “There are too many people here; after all, you guys don’t want to alert others, right? If you’ve got the guts, then follow me.” As he spoke, Mo Li turned, jumping out of the window.

“A newborn calf that doesn’t know to fear tigers…” The moonlight illuminated the sharp expression on the assassin leader’s face.

“Leader, we should probably be a bit more cautious.”

“Why bother? He’s just a half-grown little fart, that’s all.”

“But look.” His subordinate pointed to the corpse of their dead companion. A dagger was vertically inserted into the middle of its throat, resulting in the assassin’s death and the destruction of his vocal cords at the same time, perfectly. Mo Li didn’t let this unfortunate assassin utter a word, a very smooth killing. “That brat has to be a veteran; such a precise and decisive strike isn’t something I can do.” As the saying goes, laymen could only watch the show, but those knowledgeable judged skill. Everyone present was an assassin, so, of course, they knew how hard it was to kill someone with a flying dagger at the moment they had all turned. That kid is no ordinary assassin.

“So what? I’ve seen plenty of kids his age; they’re all chess pieces that nobles raised to be assassins. Saying that they were half-assed in skill would be praising them! If I didn’t have the guts to accept the provocation of this little fart, there would be no need for me, One-Eyed Buck, to stay in the business anymore; I might as well go home and farm!”

“But since he dared to provoke us head-on, he must be well-prepared and have other trump cards.” Buck’s subordinates were still uneasy.

“Trump cards? He’s just an immature child; what are you guys so scared of?” Buck completely ignored the suggestions of his subordinates. Pushing aside the one blocking his path, he leaped out of the window, giving chase.

“Leader!” With their boss already giving chase, even if they felt something was off, the subordinates had no choice but to follow. Several shadows moved like lightning under the night sky, arriving at the coniferous forest on the outskirts of the city.

“Brat, have you decided on your burial place?” Seeing the figure in front of him stop, Buck asked, an unsettling smile resting across his face.

“If you want to fight, we can, but pay me first.”

“Pay you? Why should I pay a brat like you?”

“I only take care of the killing, not burials; burying is an extra charge.” Mo Li spread his hands in helplessness.

“I’m afraid you won’t live to receive your payment!” Once Mo Li’s words left his mouth, all the assassins present became enraged and charged up furiously. They had to make this arrogant little rascal pay.

“Don’t rush, let me count the numbers first.” Mo Li counted heads while leisurely dodging backward. Although the deadly blades rained upon him like a storm, he was unfazed and treated it all like child’s play. “There are ten of you here in total, plus the corpse in my room, which equals eleven. I’ll give you guys a deal and only account for ten people, which will amount to ten silver coins. Quite the deal, right? Alright, it’s settled; we’ll go with this happy agreement.”

“Quite the deal, my ***!” Seeing Mo Li, who was like a roach, and not being able to hit him with a single attack, no matter what they did, the assassins became anxious. Going with the flow, each of them used their strongest techniques.

“Prepare to die, you rascal!”

“When you feel like attacking someone, don’t speak.” Mo Li tilted his head, dodging the incoming blade while also removing the assassin’s neck at the same time, his speed, precision, and ruthlessness displayed to the extreme. Afterwards, Mo Li parried aside two short swords coming from different directions, before immediately placing his palm in front of the two assassins’ necks.

“Shik.” Slim, sharp hidden blades sprang out from Mo Li’s sleeves, painting the two assassin’s necks red. Pushing the two corpses aside, Mo Li quickly crouched down, dodging the incoming hidden weapons, which instead struck some of the other assassins. Taking advantage of the daze the assassin behind him was in, Mo Li grabbed his arm and flung the assassin over his shoulder to the ground, before quickly finishing him with his hidden blade.

“Sure enough, this brat does know a few tricks.” Buck narrowed his eyes as he unsheathed his saber, his hands were starting to itch only watching from the sidelines. “All of you step aside, I’ll take care of this brat!” Buck spoke with his canines exposed and pounced forward like a hungry wolf. “Today I’ll show you the strength of One-Eyed Buck!”

“Three, two….” Mo Li ignored the one-eyed man rushing towards him and quickly muttered to himself. “One.” As Mo Li curled his last finger, his face revealed a smile of victory. As Mo Li’s words rang out, all of the assassins present suddenly fell flat to the ground with a plop. Buck, who was rushing towards Mo Li, was the worst off, directly becoming a plowing machine.

“W-what happened?”

“What happened? Can you believe I know blood arts?… Just kidding.” Mo Li wore a bright smile as he walked over, kicking Buck in the face. “Of course it’s poison. Before you guys even came, I had already released an odorless paralysis gas within my room. I was just waiting for you guys to take the bait.”

“Then why aren’t you affected at all?!”

“I have the antidote in my mouth, duh.” Mo Li stuck out his tongue, and a small white candy-like ball smoothly spun around in his mouth.

“Damn it…”

“If you want to blame someone, you can only blame yourselves for being too stupid. After becoming the prey of an assassin who already knew about your movements, the only thing you should have been considering is whether you were going to heaven or hell after death.” Mo Li kicked Buck’s face as he spoke. “We’re all assassins, yet you guys didn’t even think about the possibility of this fact. You’re so stupid it’s cute. Also… As an assassin, you guys actually had no precautions against poison. I’ll have you know that this is the simplest paralysis poison you can get. With just this? With just this and you guys still dare to call yourselves assassins??”