The assassin lying on the ground felt utterly weak and limp, like a slaughtered lamb. He tilted his head to the side.
Yun Li sneered coldly, "Heh, still quite stubborn, aren't you? I've already crippled your inner strength! Even if I let you go, you're nothing but a useless waste now. What do you think happens to a useless assassin? Do you really think you can go back?"
Hearing this, the assassin felt a wave of dizziness wash over his mind. Finally, gritting his teeth, he said, "The Assassin's Pavilion! Someone wants to buy your life!"
"The Assassin's Pavilion? Who wants to buy my life?"
The assassin shook his head. "I don't know! The buyer's identity is confidential information. Only the Pavilion Master knows. As an ordinary assassin, I naturally have no idea! Our superiors issue the orders, and we only carry them out. We know nothing else!"
"Then where is the Assassin's Pavilion's headquarters? And what's the Pavilion Master's name?"
To be honest, Yun Li was quite interested in this.
"It's on Fengming Mountain, northwest of the capital. I don't know the Pavilion Master's name! Ordinary assassins like me aren't qualified to meet the Pavilion Master."
"Oh? Then how do you usually prove you're an assassin from the Assassin's Pavilion?"
"We have Identity Tokens as proof. They're checked whenever we enter or leave the Assassin's Pavilion."
Yun Li glanced at his chest and, without the slightest hesitation, reached in and pulled out the token—an iron plaque the size of a playing card.
"How many assassins are in your Assassin's Pavilion?"
"One hundred and fifty!"
Yun Li asked again, "Oh! What level are you and your companions considered within the Assassin's Pavilion?"
The assassin thought for a moment, sighed, and replied, "The lowest level."
Yun Li couldn't help but roll her eyes. Who did they think they were looking down on, sending the lowest-level assassins to kill her…
"Then what kind of missions do your top-level assassins usually take on?"
The assassin shook his head. "There are only two top-level assassins. We rarely see them, and the missions they carry out are all confidential!"
"Oh, what kind of tasks does the Assassin's Pavilion usually accept?"
"The Assassin's Pavilion accepts all kinds of missions, as long as there's silver involved! Depending on the difficulty of the mission, the amount of silver charged varies, and the level of assassin dispatched is also different…"
Yun Li propped her chin on her hand and asked, "Then how much silver would it cost to kill me?"
"Killing you wouldn't cost much, but you're an official's daughter, so your status is valuable. Probably around three hundred to five hundred thousand taels of silver…"
Now Yun Li couldn't stay calm. Damn it! Her life was worth so little, bought for just three to five hundred thousand taels… To hell with that! She had to go and see who wanted to buy her life, and while she was at it, she might as well empty out the Assassin's Pavilion's headquarters!
This kind of organization wasn't exactly a good one. Listen to them—they'd accept anything as long as there was silver involved, no bottom line at all… They must have made a lot of money over the years…
Yun Li pondered how to take control of the Assassin's Pavilion's headquarters and wipe them out in one go. She had always been someone who repaid every slight, and messing with her was like kicking a steel plate.
She took a piece of paper and a pen from the table and handed them to the assassin. "Here, draw me a map of the route to your Assassin's Pavilion headquarters."
Soon, a complete route map starting from the capital was drawn.
Yun Li examined it—it was quite detailed! She made up her mind without hesitation, planning to sneak onto Fengming Mountain tonight to take a look. If there was an opportunity, she'd strike tonight; if not, she'd at least scout the way.
She pulled out a silver needle and casually tossed it toward the assassin. The needle struck the center of his forehead between the eyebrows! Giving him a quick death was her repayment for the information he provided! After all, she had no intention of sparing the life of someone sent to kill her.
Taking out the tools and potions for making a human skin mask from her space, she crafted one based on the assassin’s appearance. Time was tight, so the mask was somewhat rough, but since it was nighttime, it would suffice to deal with the assassins.
With a wave of her hand, she then stored the five corpses on the ground into her space.
She first went to the Prime Minister's Residence’s stable, took a horse into her space, and then climbed over the wall to leave.
In an alley, she released the horse, fed it some Spiritual Spring Water, and rode off into the night.
On horseback, she couldn’t help but place a hand on her belly, thinking to herself, “My darlings, you’ve suffered following your mother… Grow strong, and I’ll work hard to provide for you… Let’s strive together.”
Without stopping along the way, whenever the horse grew tired, she fed it some Spiritual Spring Water. After nearly two hours of travel, she finally reached the foot of Fengming Mountain.
Storing the horse back into her space, she changed into hiking shoes, consulted the map, and chose a relatively gentle path to begin her ascent.
Along the way, she noticed an abundance of medicinal herbs on the mountain and casually collected them into her space. She planned to plant them along the banks of the river in her space and water them with Spiritual Spring Water, which would likely enhance their medicinal properties significantly.
The forest was lush with towering trees, occasionally punctuated by the sounds of birds, beasts, and insects. A gentle breeze brushed against her face. Even though it was nighttime, Yun Li felt no fear—instead, she found it thrilling and exhilarating.
Having just consumed Spiritual Spring Water, she felt no fatigue and was in excellent spirits. After climbing for over an hour, she finally reached the mountaintop. She took out a Night Vision Telescope from her space.
Through the telescope, she saw a three-story building at the summit, with a small wooden watchtower about five meters high in front of it—likely a lookout post.
The first and second floors were brightly lit. What difference was there between these assassins hiding on this mountain and bandits?
She continued climbing nimbly until she was about a hundred meters from the summit. Using the telescope again, she observed the surroundings and the interior of the building.
Assassins were patrolling all around the building, distributed in the four directions of east, south, west, and north, with about ten people in each direction. The lookout post had only two guards.
Having assessed the situation, she swaggered onto the main path and headed inside.
At the entrance, she presented her Identity Token.
The guard at the door grinned obsequiously and said, “Back already? Mission accomplished, I assume?”
Yun Li remained silent, giving a cold, indifferent nod before walking straight in.
Behind her, she heard the guard muttering curses: “Pah! Acting all high and mighty every day, thinking you’re something special… Hope you don’t crash and burn one day…”
A faint smile touched Yun Li’s lips. In the first-floor hall, a group of people were drinking, each with a beauty in their arms… Tsk, tsk, living the good life.
“Brother, you’re back? Come relax and join us!”
A man, noticing her entrance, raised his glass and called out to her.
Yun Li walked over to the round table, found an empty seat, and sat down. She picked up a wine jar from the table, her fingers subtly brushing against its rim as she discreetly added Bewitching Drug into it.
Then, she poured herself a cup and refilled the cups of everyone at the table.
Pitching her voice lower, she said, “Come on, brothers, let’s drink! No one leaves until we’re drunk!”
“Cheers!”
“Bottoms up, brothers!”
Seeing that they had all drunk it and the drug had taken effect, Yun Li glanced around, her peripheral vision catching the token on the table. She noticed that the token was edged with gold, indicating that this assassin was likely of a high rank. She then pocketed the token, grabbed him, and started walking while asking,
"Where is the Treasury?"
The man numbly pointed in a direction: "In the Underground Vault over there!"
"Where is the Sect Master?"
The man let out a drunken burp: "In the second room on the east side of the third floor."