Chapter 225: The a.s.sa.s.sin Sect
Xia Fei did not like the term ‘fair’. Everyone had different perspectives, so the conclusion they drew would of course be different as well. The notion of fairness did not exist in this universe, unless there was an actual G.o.d out there in the darkness of s.p.a.ce. This was why Xia Fei did not make any comment when Darkshadow said that he would receive a fair treatment.
After wolfing down his dinner, Xia Fei lit himself a cigarette and took a drag. He was wondering how he could escape his present predicament. Though he was interested in learning more about these a.s.sa.s.sins, he did not enjoy being forced to do so and in this way.
Darkshadow was very affected by Xia Fei’s composure. The biggest concern he had was still those two unique techniques: Crafty Thrust and Breath Control. Xia Fei appeared indifferent to the fact that the truth was about to be revealed, and Darkshadow could not help but begin to have doubts based on how the young man was acting after hearing his words.
‘Could he actually be telling the truth? Are Breath Control and Crafty Thrust his family’s martial arts?’ Darkshadow thought of himself.
Shaking his head, Darkshadow quickly dismissed such an outrageous idea. He could never accept that the a.s.sa.s.sin Sect had actually stolen some family’s techniques.
Aside from this short interaction they shared, Darkshadow did not visit Xia Fei in his cabin again. The Cormorant-cla.s.s destroyer rapidly traveled toward its a.s.signed destination, entering a star system that Xia Fei was completely unfamiliar with.
Xia Fei spent his day as per usual, training and cultivating his techniques and skills aside from eating and sleeping as necessary. It was just that his microcomputer had been taken away, so there was no way for him to connect to the interplanetary internet, nor could he read and study the super-radar’s blueprint.
Xia Fei could only rely on his memory to recreate the blueprint in his mind, then he proceeded to make adjustments and redesign the radar accordingly, and though he was barely able to make progress without the actual blueprint for reference, Xia Fei still enjoyed this and even often found himself falling into a state where he would lose track of time, missing meals as a result.
Darkshadow was of course aware of all the going-ons through the surveillance camera installed inside the room as he was keeping the young man under strict observation. As more time pa.s.sed, the more he felt that Xia Fei did not seem to have any issues. Only a man with a clear conscience could remain calm in his present situation, so if Xia Fei had been lying, he ought to be very worried over his circ.u.mstance right now and not continue with his life of regimentation and peace.
It was as the saying went: ‘Only a gentleman acts with liberty, while a villain acts with anxiety.’
“Increase our speed; let’s head back as quickly as possible,” uttered Darkshadow in a commanding voice. With his doubts digging sharply on his back, he had difficulty sleeping. Even eating was like chewing on wax, the food extremely bland and tasteless.
In the blink of an eye, they had been flying for six days. Today, as usual, Xia Fei was cultivating his Beast Spirit Codex on his bed, cross-legged when Phantom suddenly said, “We’re here, Xia Fei.”
Xia Fei got up and made his way to the porthole in his cabin. An azure planet came into view. It was not too large in size, about one fifth of Earth’s ma.s.s. Its blue sea covered a vast surface, with barely much land in sight. There were even two white ice belts on its two poles.
“This planet’s called Nameless. It is the base of our a.s.sa.s.sin Sect,” Phantom said. His voice was a bit excited, being able to return to the place he had once lived and stayed.
“Killing without making their names known, nameless a.s.sa.s.sins,” Xia Fei muttered to himself. “Phantom, your ancestors are far more poetic than you. The a.s.sa.s.sins are part of a secret hitman organization. It’s fitting that their main base will be on a planet called Nameless.”
There was only one continent on Nameless, and it was not too large. It looked like a long and narrow island from a high alt.i.tude, surrounded by the azure sea, with patches of green here and there, like seaweed floating on the salty waters.
The destroyer slowly made its landing on a landing ap.r.o.n at the heart of a jungle. In the backdrop was a mountain covered by dense trees.
The flora and fauna in the surroundings were spa.r.s.e, but the mountain was quite majestic, reaching to the clouds as it stood aloof in a prominent position. Verdant greenery covered the foot of this mountain; its snow-capped peak looked even better than the Himalayas.
After the wars.h.i.+p landed, Darkshadow led Xia Fei off the s.h.i.+p. Xia Fei took a deep breath and looked into the distance, spotting the well-maintained small wars.h.i.+ps parked around. Most were well-equipped frigates despite their small sizes.
The cost of maintaining and retrofitting a wars.h.i.+p far outstripped its purchase price. As an expert in that particular field, he could tell at a glance from the cost of the equipment, including the expensive black-crystal alloy used for the landing ap.r.o.n, that the a.s.sa.s.sins were fairly well-to-do.
A wars.h.i.+p abruptly arrived, and it was Xia Fei’s Vampire. The a.s.sa.s.sins had men separately piloting this s.h.i.+p over and did not just leave it on the trial grounds.
Six Deathguards surrounded Xia Fei, maintaining their distance the entire time. Darkshadow walked shoulder to shoulder with Xia Fei as he brought him to the top of the mountain.
Along the way, Xia Fei came across plenty of disciples from the a.s.sa.s.sin Sect. They were mostly very young, with some not even past the age of five or six, clearly still children. All of them wore the same outfits, not making any sound with every step they took, which evidently demonstrated their good training.
Perhaps it was because they rarely saw any outsiders, but they all gazed at Xia Fei strangely as if he were a precious panda bear. Xia Fei was unperturbed, smiling at them as he gave each a friendly greeting.
Darkshadow secretly nodded, thinking that Xia Fei was showing respect to his disciples.h.i.+p, somewhat happy that they were being given face.
The mountainous road was long, and a platform could be seen after a certain distance. This platform was akin to a series of white links built around the mountain, with several houses constructed on both sides of the road. From an architectural standpoint, the residences and training facilities of these a.s.sa.s.sins could be called practical, a little too spartan yet decent.
The nearer he got to the top of the mountain, the older the people around them appeared; it was as if the arrangement for where people should reside strictly depended on seniority.
“The new disciples live at the foot of the mountain, and as the older they get, the higher on the mountain they live. Back then, I got to level 9 from the foot of the mountain. Meanwhile, those disciples deem unqualified have no right to live on the mountain at all,” Phantom explained.
Xia Fei nodded. He gazed up and down the mountain, counting a total of thirteen levels to reach the peak. Since Phantom stayed on the ninth level, it meant that his position while in the sect was not low. Who knew what sort of people stayed on the peak?
The whole lot of them stopped at level 10, where there was an old-fas.h.i.+oned house around eight hundred square meters built right in the middle. It was the largest house on this level, and Darkshadow led Xia Fei inside.
This old house had a total of three stories, its decoration simple, with only chairs and tables for everyone to occupy. This appeared to be a place for gathering of the a.s.sa.s.sins. Darkshadow pushed open a door and brought Xia Fei into a smaller side hall on the left.
“Sit anywhere you like; I’ll be coming back in a while,” Darkshadow said.
Xia Fei nodded, picking a chair to sit on. As those masked Deathguards flanked his two sides, standing rigidly in position like statues.
Soon, Darkshadow brought two elders inside. The Deathguards immediately exited the room and shut the door behind them, leaving Xia Fei alone with the three elderly men.
They sat right across Xia Fei, and Darkshadow introduced the two elders to him.
The one taking lead was a fat, old man with a fair complexion. His eyes were squinting, and his chin sported a little goatee. This was Phantom’s great senior, Silvershadow.
The old man at the end was Phantom’s master, Moonshadow. He was skinny, with sharp eyes. He had a pair of very large ears like two palmetto fans, able to
produce cool winds on hot days and shelter on rainy days.
The a.s.sa.s.sins were all born orphans, so shadow became their namesake for the people in the disciples.h.i.+p. Silvershadow, Darkshadow and Moonshadow were presently in charge of internal affairs, all of them bearing great prestige to their name.
Xia Fei looked at Phantom’s master time and again. He had always been curious just what sort of person had taught such a freak like Phantom.
Moonshadow did not avoid Xia Fei’s gaze at all. His fingers were hovering over each other as if secretly playing a small game.
A person’s personality could be judged from their usual actions, and Moonshadow’s small movements continued even in front of his two fellow sect brothers. It could be seen that he was the sort who was quite active inside. Perhaps he even enjoyed reciting and composing poems, but fate had very unfortunately brought him to the a.s.sa.s.sin Sect, otherwise he would have been quite a suave person.
Phantom’s second sect senior, Darkshadow, was more like the serious and inflexible type. He liked the truth in everything, and it was only Xia Fei’s words that had caused the old man to lead him into this inner sanctum, doing everything possible to get to the bottom of this.
As for the eldest sect senior, Silvershadow, Xia Fei did not like him at all. This elder was completely motionless, his beady eyes prodding everywhere. He even looked quite sinister. Xia Fei speculated that he was an old fox that was extremely devious, but because he was the eldest, he pretended to look very righteous, though his cunning gaze had already betrayed his shrewd self.
Darkshadow explained the situation regarding Xia Fei to the two, and when he started to speak about the b.l.o.o.d.y ma.s.sacre that had happened in the cave, a hint of menace flashed across Silvershadow’s eyes, but this was very quickly suppressed, without anyone else noticing.
Phantom had already told Xia Fei that Greenshadow, the young adulterer Xia Fei had killed, was under this eldest sect senior. As his father was Silvershadow’s direct disciple, it was only naturally for this sect elder to stand up for his disciple’s offspring against Xia Fei who had killed Greenshadow.
Meanwhile, the cuckolded Leafshadow was under the second sect senior’s tutelage.
Darkshadow appeared to be a lot more magnanimous compared to his eldest sect brother. He was not in a hurry to pursue responsibility over the deaths but wanted to clear up the air regarding the ‘stolen techniques’ allegation. This was a much larger humiliation for their disciples.h.i.+p.
Xia Fei only felt his head get bigger than a bucket. The men of the a.s.sa.s.sin Sect had such complex relations.h.i.+ps among them, and even their names were similar to one another. Most people who ended up in this disciples.h.i.+p for many years might mistake their fellow members’ names.
With the introductions at an end, Darkshadow sat back on his seat. Silvershadow harrumphed, asking in a deep and emotionless tone, “What’s your name?”
Darkshadow had clearly already introduced him to everyone, yet Silvershadow simply wanted him to repeat his name. Xia Fei was very disgruntled by this, but he continued to answer with that same smile, “I’m Xia Fei.”
“Where are you from?”
“Earth.”
“Where’s Earth?”
“It’s on the outskirts of the Endaro Star Region, a recent addition to the Pan-Human Alliance.”
The questions that Silvershadow raised sounded quite official, and Moonshadow furtively covered his face to mask his yawn as if he was bored just listening to this.
“Did you kill Greenshadow?” After asking all the minutiae, Silvershadow finally got to the crux of the matter.
Xia Fei answered with a smile, “Yes, back then—”
Before Xia Fei could explain the situation, Silvershadow had already slapped the table angrily, violently interrupting him mid-speech. “I didn’t ask for the situation. I’m only interested in knowing if you’re the one who killed Greenshadow.”