Fang Bie held the dagger steadily against Xue Ling'er's fair neck, watching the blade edge press down slightly, observing the marks left on the girl's throat, and noting the tiny goosebumps rising on her pale skin.
That was the cold shiver of approaching death.
This dagger was not sharp, so it could press against her skin without cutting, but with just a little more force, or a slight slide, it could cut Xue Ling's throat and end her life on the spot.
Fang Bie watched the girl before him calmly. She had black hair, fair skin, and a face that was both resolute and beautiful. The look she gave him held a hint of fear, but also a trace of curiosity.
Fang Bie, a transmigrator, had transmigrated during a flood at seven years old and was rescued and raised by the Beehive assassin He Ping. Now seventeen, he was waiting for his Bee Wing.
And clearly—the person before him was his Bee Wing.
Or rather, she claimed to be his Bee Wing.
"If you don't answer, I will count to three, and you will die," Fang Bie said.
He broke the silence, startling Xue Ling'er into wakefulness: "Yes, I am your partner."
"Partner?" Fang Bie asked in return.
Within the Beehive, generally speaking, assassinations were performed in pairs. The person responsible for the assassination was called a Bee Sting, while the person responsible for coordinating routes and providing support was a Bee Wing.
Fang Bie was currently a Bee Sting. According to the rules of the Beehive, one could not find their own Bee Wing; they had to be assigned by the organization. The woman before him was the Bee Wing assigned to him by the organization, which was a reflection of the organization's control.
Xue Ling'er hurriedly corrected him: "Bee Wing, it's Bee Wing!"
Fang Bie nodded. He chose to restrain this Miss Lin Xue not because he had any real suspicions about her, or rather, her performance thus far had been impeccable.
She had recited all the secret codes correctly and had a deep understanding of the Beehive. The reason he treated her this way was simply out of an instinctive sense of caution.
"Name," Fang Bie continued to ask.
"Lin Xue."
"Gender," Fang Bie looked at Lin Xue's face and said expressionlessly.
It was not because Lin Xue was unattractive, nor was it because her face was so ambiguous that one could not tell if it was a male or female rabbit.
It was just a routine interrogation.
"Female," she replied. She appeared to be wearing a chest binder, but her appearance and voice were not disguised.
Fang Bie could tell at such close range whether or not she was using a disguise.
For some reason, Beehive assassin pairs were always one man and one woman, so it was within Fang Bie's expectations that he would receive a female Bee Wing.
And this female Bee Wing did not seem that stupid either.
"Age," Fang Bie continued to ask.
He had actually already received the information about this female Bee Wing in advance. Even though there were no discrepancies with the file so far, checking item by item was never a mistake.
Fang Bie did not dislike trouble.
Fang Bie clearly saw the impatience on Lin Xue's face, but out of respect for the dagger at her throat, she answered obediently.
"Seventeen. Born in the first lunar month, I just had my birthday recently," Lin Xue replied.
The youth's hand holding the dagger remained motionless.
"Nominal age?" Fang Bie continued to ask.
"My nominal age is also seventeen. I was born in the first lunar month of the fifteenth year of Tian Lu, so I am older in the birth month," Lin Xue said.
Fang Bie nodded: "Birthday?"
At this moment, Fang Bie was just an emotionless questioning machine.
After all, this was someone who would be by his side; one could never be too cautious.
Lin Xue bit her lips slightly, but Fang Bie remained indifferent.
He waited for her answer; if she answered incorrectly, he would kill her.
"The twenty-second of the first lunar month." For a split second, Lin Xue's eyes were sharp, then she deflated, seemingly weighing the strength difference between the two of them.
Hmm, Fang Bie nodded calmly. This matched the information, but the questioning was far from over: "Father's name."
Lin Xue was not defeated by this continuous stream of questions; her answers remained without hesitation.
"Lin Yuanqing. I was a Juren Scholar, but I didn't have a post. When I was nine, my home was robbed, and my whole family perished. I drifted into the Jianghu. At first, I was taken in by my Master, but later my Master was killed, and I underwent training in the Beehive and became a member."
When she said this, her eyes were slightly red, as if she had touched upon a painful memory.
She had answered more than what was asked, but Fang Bie was not particularly surprised.
After all, he had asked her until she was very impatient.
There were no problems for now; everything matched the information.
"Then what is your father's birthday?" Fang Bie asked suddenly.
He did not know the correct answer to this question because it was not in the Bee Wing file given to him, but just because it wasn't there didn't mean he couldn't ask.
Fang Bie watched as Lin Xue opened her mouth, but she could not say a single word.
She finally closed her eyes: "Just kill me."
She requested this, but Fang Bie smiled and withdrew the dagger from her throat.
He sheathed the dagger.
Lin Xue opened her eyes in surprise, her nostrils flaring: "Why?"
The woman breathed like an orchid. Fang Bie looked at her from behind his black mask: "Because your file doesn't have your father's birthday at all. Besides, you were only nine when your whole family perished; perhaps by now, you can't remember your father's birthday."
Fang Bie watched her speechless and slightly annoyed expression, feeling a subtle sense of happiness.
"Alright, the first stage of the test is passed."
"Next is the second stage of questions."
"Please go ahead."
"Was the Nine Solitary Swords created by Feng Qingyang?"
Fang Bie asked, his expression unchanged, but deep down he felt a trace of tension.
This was Fang Bie's most profound question. The answer itself was not important; what was important was that this was a secret code that only belonged to transmigrators.
Unless the other person had never heard of Jin Yong's novels.
Because in this world, there was also a Mount Hua, and on Mount Hua, there were also the Nine Solitary Swords, but there were no people like Feng Qingyang, Yue Buqun, or even Linghu Chong.
There were only the Shaolin, Wudang, Mount Hua, and Kunlun, famous sects that occupied and flourished on famous mountains and rivers.
This world was somewhat similar to our ancient times. What was even more magical was the existence of various types of Martial Arts. These were not the ordinary Martial Arts used by charlatans in the Jianghu to sell snake oil, but real Martial Arts that allowed one to use Lightness Skill to walk on water and split stones with a palm. Fang Bie did not know if there were any experts who had reached the pinnacle of Martial Arts to move mountains and drain seas, but at least, Fang Bie knew of more than ten types of Martial Arts that could kill someone from ten paces away without leaving a trace.
After determining that there was no hope of returning to his original world, Fang Bie's first priority in life was to survive.
Before he transmigrated, he was a diligent and well-behaved college student of the new century, but he died suddenly from a heart attack. Being able to live a second life, Fang Bie was determined to be cautious and meticulous, first ensuring his own safety and life before considering anything else.
And this world was so dangerous. Apart from the relatively orthodox famous sects, there were the Demonic Sect and the Three Religions running rampant in the world, and in the middle, there was the Beehive, which colluded with all parties.
Above the Jianghu was the Imperial Court, with the Six Doors, the Imperial Guard, and the Eastern Depot listed above, which were the most powerful secular forces in this world.
Although Fang Bie had accidentally joined the Beehive due to his apprenticeship, the Beehive operated in the shadows, a super assassin organization specifically responsible for intelligence, assassination, and other tasks. If one were to choose the most dangerous profession, then an assassin would be the undisputed first.
If one asked Fang Bie why he chose to become a Bee Sting assassin.
Then the answer was simple—I had no choice.
Therefore, working hard to learn peerless Martial Arts, striving to not be killed by others, and incidentally completing assassin missions to strengthen himself was also an important goal.
"The Nine Solitary Swords is a secret of Mount Hua that is not passed on. I have only heard the name, but rarely heard of anyone performing it. Only the Purple Cloud Divine Skill is famous," Lin Xue answered honestly. "As for whether the Nine Solitary Swords was created by that Feng something, I don't know."
Fang Bie sighed slightly.
Not a transmigrator.
✦✦✦