An Jiu thought it was likely her initial failed assassination attempt on Li Ting that had drawn the Madman's attention. Since Li Ting was Prince Jing's man, and Prince Jing, like Misty Villa, had ties to the Liao Kingdom, it wasn't impossible that they had sent the Madman to protect Li Ting.
In fact, An Jiu was right this time.
Within just a few days, several key officials planted in Bianjing by Prince Jing and the Liao Kingdom had been assassinated one after another. Misty Villa had thus dispatched more personnel to the capital. An Jiu's first failed attempt on Li Ting's life had alarmed Prince Jing.
After her initial failure with the hidden arrow, An Jiu hadn't immediately followed up with another strike, giving Prince Jing time to urgently request reinforcements from Misty Villa overnight. However, by the time they arrived, An Jiu had already succeeded in her second assassination attempt. Cui Yichen then tricked the Madman into pursuing the killer—only to be taken hostage by An Jiu a second time, never expecting the assassin to actually be her!
"With such a large-scale elimination of officials, the Crane Control Institute will likely have to sacrifice some people again," Chu Dingjiang remarked, opening his eyes.
"How so?" An Jiu asked.
Chu Dingjiang stood up and stretched, relieved to feel half of his True Energy restored. "When court-appointed officials are assassinated without cause—and not just one—the emperor will inevitably put on a show for the public. This case must not only be investigated but thoroughly so. Of course, he won't drag the Crane Control Army into it, nor will he let it be linked to the Crane Control Institute. That means he’ll need scapegoats."
He chuckled, sounding almost amused, but when An Jiu shot him a cold look, he cleared his throat and explained seriously, "The scapegoats are those who fail the Institute’s trials—it’s always been the rule. Hah, if your luck stays this bad, you might actually end up paying with your life."
Among the current batch of trainees, An Jiu had the lowest score, already docked four points.
"Completing this mission should earn me two points, right?" An Jiu said.
"You really are easily satisfied," Chu Dingjiang said, both exasperated and amused by her lack of ambition. "Lou Mingyue already has six points. Completing this mission will bring her to eight. Only by exceeding twenty points before the trial period ends can one truly be safe. If everyone passes by the trial’s end but scapegoats are still needed, they’ll look at performance records..."
They would single out those with the highest failure rates. Strictly speaking, An Jiu had already failed three times: first by carelessly releasing all the signals, second by failing to assassinate Mr. Fan, and third by initially failing to kill Li Ting. Even though she eventually succeeded, not achieving a one-hit kill still counted as half a failure.
Given how much trouble this mission had caused, she might not even get the full two points. If the Academicians were feeling generous, she might scrape by with one.
With the highest number of failures, An Jiu would need to complete more missions—and execute each one flawlessly—to close the gap with the others.
Only after Chu Dingjiang’s lengthy explanation did An Jiu feel a slight sense of urgency.
"Xuan Ren! The Profound Instructor requests your presence," someone called from outside.
An Jiu left, following the messenger.
The guide led her to the Profound Instructor’s training hall.
The four Instructors’ training halls were situated close to each other. As An Jiu approached, she spotted the Earth Instructor leaning against a corridor pillar.
"Well, if it isn’t little Xuan Ren," he drawled. "Heard you failed again. What a shame."The Earth Instructor had recently realized that given An Jiu's penchant for courting death, he didn’t even need to lift a finger. Watching her struggle step by step into the abyss of death was far more entertaining than doing it himself. The thought that she was unwittingly fulfilling his desires made him view her with a bit more favor.
An Jiu stood outside the door, waiting for the guide to announce her, not bothering to spare the Earth Instructor a glance.
“You may enter,” the guide returned and said.
An Jiu pushed the door open and walked straight in. Each instructor’s training room was half the size of the martial arts hall, filled not only with practice areas but also various weapons and books stacked along the walls.
“Come here,” the Profound Instructor emerged from behind a bookshelf and gestured for An Jiu to sit.
Once seated, the Profound Instructor asked, “Is it true that you captured the Second Master of Misty Villa?”
An Jiu paused briefly before replying, “Yes.”
“How?” As he spoke, the Profound Instructor swiftly threw a punch toward her face.
An Jiu didn’t block it—she didn’t even blink. Her mental strength was several tiers higher than his, allowing her to sense that the punch was restrained, never truly intended to hit her.
“Wei Yuzhi is extremely cunning,” the Profound Instructor withdrew his hand and explained. “We suspect he deliberately entered the Crane Control Institute to scout the terrain. So, we must verify whether you truly had the capability to capture him.”
“Even if I did, it could still have been part of his plan,” An Jiu countered.
The Profound Instructor nodded, not dwelling on the matter, and instead delivered devastating news. “Wei Yuzhi has escaped.”
Before An Jiu could process it, he followed up with something worse. “The Academicians have decided your next target is Wei Yuzhi. The deadline is eight months.”
Suppressing her irritation, An Jiu asked, “How did he escape? Isn’t the Crane Control Institute heavily guarded?”
Even if Wei Yuzhi’s mental strength was formidable enough to evade tight security, he had been imprisoned behind impenetrable walls from the start. Surely he couldn’t abandon his body and flee as a spirit!
“Ahem, it’s a long story,” the Profound Instructor glossed over the Institute’s lapse and emphasized the benefits instead. “But if you complete this mission, you’ll be directly admitted into the Crane Control Army as a sixth-rank official. The rule is simple: bring back the target, dead or alive.”
“What if he hides in Misty Villa for eight months? You expect me to go in and kill him?”
Unbelievable! Misty Villa was a den of assassins—home to at least eight hundred seasoned killers. Even a first-rank official wouldn’t dare attempt such a mission, let alone for a sixth-rank position!
In her previous organization, An Jiu would have accepted without hesitation. But not now. Because she had begun to find life somewhat interesting.
This was a life-or-death mission—one that, in her current state, was impossible to complete.
Not only had she grown attached to living, but she had also developed a reluctance to kill. Though she had forced herself to kill Li Ting under a lofty pretext, it didn’t negate the change within her.
“Originally, the deadline was six months. I argued extensively to extend it to eight,” the Profound Instructor said sternly, making it clear this was an order she couldn’t refuse. “Of course, such a dangerous mission won’t be assigned to you alone. Chief Instructor Chu will accompany you.”Chu Dingjiang was assigned to the Crane Control Institute as a nominal Chief Instructor, holding the same rank as the Divine Martial Commander of the Crane Control Army. However, it was merely a prestigious title with no real authority.
An Jiu asked, "What's in it for him?"
"If successful, he will be reinstated to his former position," the Profound Instructor persuaded her. "A Transformation Realm Master can slaughter an entire city with a flip of his hand. Even if Chief Instructor Chu were to enter Misty Villa alone, it would be no trouble. You stand to gain from this."
Gain my ass!
Probably not many knew that Chu Dingjiang's Internal Energy had been restricted. This was clearly someone determined to kill him—and dragging her along for the ride!
Still, An Jiu thought, Chu Dingjiang always seemed so shrewd and calculating. Surely he wasn’t the type to be outmaneuvered like this... (To be continued...)
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