Chapter 50: An Insider?
Xia Fei used his top speed and returned to that patch of tall gra.s.s, activating his Breath Control technique while using bushes of dried yellow weeds as cover. Slowly, he crept closer toward the seven candidates with his gaze filled with killing intent.
“Xia Fei, you mustn’t act rashly,” Phantom said in Xia Fei’s consciousness. He was quite worried about the anger that Xia Fei was showing, afraid that he would do something reckless.
“Rash? I’ve never been calmer before. Of course, I’ve never had a stronger desire to kill them either,” Xia Fei softly responded.
Phantom shook his head and returned to the Moore Stone, no longer saying another word. He was not happy about losing Xiao Yu as well.
Several flashes later, Xia Fei got near the seven candidates. While hiding inside the tall gra.s.s and quietly looking over, all he saw was them gathered around together, discussing something.
Xiao Yong had spent a lot of money hiring these six underlings. None of them were young, and their wish to rank up or become an adjudicator was no more than a pipe dream now. That was why they had followed Xiao Yong here, merely hoping they could earn a tidy sum before they could retire.
They originally had over thirty of them in their group, but after the four days of slaughter in the eastern foothills, only six left, which showed how ruthless the a.s.sessment was.
A wide-faced dark-skinned man seemed to be the leader for these mercenaries, looking to be in his fifties. He bore a very deep cut on his face, giving off a terrifying visage. His two hands were large like palmetto fans, with each hand missing his little finger, appearing to have been chopped off in an injury.
He was exchanging whispers with a man who had a goatee before turning to Xiao Yong, “Just where did you get your information from? We’ve already been continuously running northward for 500 kilometers, and we’ve yet to even catch a shadow of this person. We suspect that you’ve been tricked.”
Xia Fei heard all this very intently, ‘Information? Could this be information about me and Xiao Yu?!’
He balled up his fists tightly, though he practiced patience and continued to eavesdrop on their conversation.
Xia Yong was from a large familial clan. He was very dismissive of this big dark-skinned man who was in his lowly line of business, but he did not dare to offend the man given the situation they were in, so he had no choice but to reply, “Boss Black, the information I have been given is definitely reliable, you must believe me.”
He proceeded to point at the corpse on the ground, “Look. This person died not too long ago, most probably dying while he was being robbed. The token on him must have been stolen away, so all we need to do is continue north, and we would surely catch up to this person.”
Boss Black examined the corpse; the blood from the wound across his throat had yet to dry, which confirmed that he had died not too long ago.
The man with the goatee came around to his side once more as the two had a hushed discussion again. Boss Black repeatedly nodded as he listened; it seemed like the goateed man was the half-a.s.sed tactician for these mercenaries.
Boss Black and the goateed man ended their discussion and turned toward Xiao Yong as he growled, “It’s fine if you want us to keep heading north, but you’ll have to increase our fees accordingly.”
‘Curse you old Blackie! Foul old Blackie!’ Xiao Yong barked out a string of expletives in his mind while maintaining his pretentious smile. “Big brother Black, you’re a famed individual in Lombard, so your words are like bonds. How can you go back on your words at the last minute?”
The moment Boss Black heard Xiao Yong insinuating that he was being untrustworthy, he anxiously shouted in response, “I, Black Eight-fingers, am not the sort to go back on his word! It’s just that this time… this time..”
Boss Black was a little tongue-tied, as that goateed man quickly stood up to speak for Boss Black, “The casualties that our comrades have taken are too great. What little money we originally agreed on isn’t enough for us to cover the financial relief for their family. It is only the 5th day, yet 26 of us had already died on this d.a.m.ned planet. Just how are we going to explain everything to their wives and children when they come asking for their whereabouts?”
The other subordinates of Boss Black shouted out their dissatisfaction as well, “That’s right! We wouldn’t have picked up such a c.r.a.ppy job even if you’ve beaten us up if we had known that this would happen!”
“It’s all your fault, claiming that you have insider information, so nothing major would happen to us if we came along. But look at things now; 26 of our comrades are gone in just a blink of an eye. Just where in the world is your insider information?”
Xiao Yong saw all of them becoming agitated and immediately threw out words to a.s.suage them, “Heh, I, Xiao Yong, isn’t the sort to go back on my bond. Everyone here lives in Prancing Horse City, so how can you guys not know me? Forget it, Those who survive will earn an additional 500,000 star coins!”
Actually, Xiao Yong was already gnas.h.i.+ng his teeth hatefully. The rule that Black Eight-fingers had mentioned was nothing more than embellishments. The more of his men who end up dead, the more Black Eight-fingers would end up earning. As for those who had died, they would at most be settled with 80,000 – 100,000 star coins. Bond? That stuff could easily be sold for as much as you wanted.
But Xiao Yong had to agree to their terms. The four clan warriors who he had brought along had already died. He would not gain a thing offending these men now, so all he could do was consider it as an expenditure for peace.
The goateed man sneered, “All 32 of us came out here together. Our dead comrades shouldn’t lose out on whatever those who survive will get either.”
Xiao Yong bemoaned his fate inwardly. Giving 500,000 star coins to 32 men meant 16 million star coins; how many trips to the brothel could he afford with that!? Even buying the little peac.o.c.ks would not cost this much.
Gritting his teeth, Xiao Yong still had to agree with their terms. Ensuring he still had his life was of the utmost importance anyway. There was not a single good soul among these men, so who knew what they could end up doing if they became riled.
With their money secured, the six mercenaries no longer had any qualms and continued pursuing the north together.
Xia Fei walked out from the bushes, feeling more and more that these men ought to have no connection to Xiao Yu’s abduction. These people evidently lacked the capabilities to do so. Given that Xiao Yu’s Special Ability was Amethyst Guard, most people would definitely not be able to catch Xiao Yu easily.
‘Insider information? Just what sort of insider information was this?’
Pondering on this, Xia Fei kept a low profile and stalked after those men. He was not about to let go of any clue behind the mystery of Xiao Yu’s disappearance.
…
Into the night, Xiao Yong and the six mercenaries found a ditch to rest, as Xia Fei was hidden a short distance away, silently waiting and keeping watch.
The ditch covered an area of almost 1,000 square meters and was not even one meter deep. Several jujube trees grew crookedly over there, with a puddle of muddy water in the middle that would most likely form into a shallow pool during the raining season.
Boss Black made his way to one of the jujube trees and sat under it, a.s.signing the rest of his four men to patrol the area while he, Xiao Yong and the goateed man stayed.
Boss Black reached out and took off his combat boots, as that stink made Xiao Yong, who had always led a pampered lifestyle, frown.
“This is it for today. We’ll wake up at dawn tomorrow to continue northward.” Boss Black laid his head down and slept without saying another word, the sound of his snoring thundered out not long after.
Xiao Yong might be anxious, but he did not dare to rebut. Though he was the employer, he was actually not the one calling the shots.
Xiao Yong sighed helplessly and retrieved a bottle of water from his spatial ring to wash his face before taking out a blanket and wrapped it all around himself. Soon, he wandered off to dreamland.
For these people to have made it out alive from the northern foothills, they ought to be fairly capable themselves. Xia Fei was not in a rush to make his move, so he patiently waited until the moment when all of them were asleep.
Time pa.s.sed, and in a blink of an eye, it was around 3:00 AM in the wee hours of the morning. People were asleep at this time, and it was precisely the best time to strike.
There was nothing that could be used for cover in the rain shadow, so Xia Fei needed to quickly and effectively eliminate as many enemies as possible. However, the moment someone got startled and woke up, Xia Fei would immediately be discovered.
Xia Fei stooped low and kept his footsteps slow and balanced. Going for speed at this time was hardly the smart move here. Effectiveness was what was important now.
He neared the back of the first mercenary swiftly. This person leaned against a dirt mound, sleeping soundly while still holding onto some strange weapon in his arms.
Xia Fei reached out with one hand to cover the man’s mouth from behind as a cyan light flashed. That mercenary’s throat gained a new yet inconspicuous scar, a cut that directly severed his trachea and arteries, cleanly executed.
The mercenary gurgled in Xia Fei’s arms a little then stopped making sound a few moments later.
Setting the corpse down, Xia Fei continued to circle around to the second mercenary while keeping an even pace.
Xia Fei’s a.s.sa.s.sination technique was ingenious. The tip of the blade brushed over the throat of this man at high speed, not only was he able to kill this person with precision, but he was also to do so without making any sound.
There were too many arteries around the neck, so any mistake made would cause copious amounts of blood to spurt out like a fountain, making it difficult to avoid making any sound.
But because Xia Fei was swift and proficiently skilled with the blade, the blood did not spurt out from the arteries he sliced. Instead, they very slowly seeped along with the blade’s edge, managing to kill without any trace.
Phantom was nodding approvingly with a look of admiration on his face. Though he had once a.s.sa.s.sinated some unknown VIP, when talking about being talented in the art of a.s.sa.s.sination, Phantom was hardly Xia Fei’s match.
In just a handful of months, Xia Fei had internalized the two major techniques Phantom had taught, Crafty Thrust and Breath Control, to the point he could proficiently execute them. Such a speed was essentially unheard of.
a.s.sa.s.sination skills might not seem complex, looking like they were all comprised of simple and even unrefined moves. They were all nothing flashy, yet it was precisely these ordinary-looking moves that demanded the most out of the users’ skills for them to be fatal.
Aside from proficiency, the a.s.sa.s.sin also needed the right psychological state of mind. Someone who could not remain calm even if required to kill a thousand men in a night would surely fail in becoming an outstanding a.s.sa.s.sin.
When Xia Fei had first killed that man on that plane, Phantom had already realized that even though Xia Fei was unsettled and afraid, he knew how to keep his emotions in check and not let it affect his judgment or actions.
Today, losing Xiao Yu had proved that Xia Fei was able to adjust his mentality in a short time, patiently stalking these men and waiting tirelessly till he found the best opportunity to strike. Maintaining such level-headedness was not something any average person could accomplish.
Four mercenaries had died to Xia Fei’s Chasing Light very quickly, and with a nimble leap, he jumped down into the ditch, not making any sound while doing so.
Xia Fei continued unhurriedly, taking small but sure steps.
First, he neared where Black Eight-fingers was. As the leader of these men, he must definitely be better than the rest in some regard. From the way he spoke to the actions he had taken, Xia Fei could tell that Black Eight-fingers was not smarter than the others, so he must be mightier.
A mightier opponent must be eliminated first!
Xia Fei arrived at the jujube tree where he was leaning against, his left hand reaching out, ready to use his arm to cover his mouth.
Suddenly!
Black Eight-fingers mumbled something in his sleep and turned his body around before continuing his thunderous snore.
Xia Fei felt his heart seize, but his arm remained stationary, suspended in the air, still un.o.bstructed by this unexpected accident.
After a brief moment, Xia Fei’s arm lightly closed his arm around Black Eight-fingers’ mouth, his movement was slow but purposeful.
*s.h.i.+ng!*
Xia Fei’s left hand hugged Black Eight-fingers’ head tightly while he promptly exerted his right hand. Chasing Light drew a beautiful cyan flash that arced as it went right at the man’s throat. The entire execution was done in one go, not even hesitating for a millisecond!