Chapter Thirty-Four: Four Spheres

Fenghua Town was thrown into an uproar over the death of Zhang Fa from the Hongyuan Escort Agency. Two men, one fat and one thin, were hurrying toward the largest assassin organization branch in town—the Shuntian Assassin Organization.

“Are you here to receive a mission or to post one?” asked an elderly man in plain clothes within the Shuntian Assassin Organization.

The two men each produced a token from their robes—one gold, one silver—both inscribed with the character “Liao.” The tall, slender man holding the golden token spoke: “I assume you’ve heard about the incident at the Hongyuan Escort Agency. Help me find out who took this job in the past few days!”

“Liao Jin and Liao Yin!” The old man immediately recognized the tokens. They were used by the two main hall masters of the Liao family in Qingzhou, and only Liao Jin and Liao Yin matched the build and appearance of the men before him.

The Liao family wielded considerable influence in Qingzhou, controlling one of the prominent clans. After a brief pause, the old man quickly continued, “In these past days, only one assassin with the codename Lei, from Jiulipu, accepted the mission to kill Zhang Fa. But we have no information on this assassin here yet! The records at Jiulipu might contain details about him!”

Ordinarily, the death of a minor figure who hadn’t even reached the Xiantian level wouldn’t have caused such a stir. Yet Lei Yan’s methods had drawn the attention of the assassin organizations, prompting them to investigate where the assassin called Lei had received his commission.

“Let’s go to Jiulipu!” Liao Jin turned to leave, Liao Yin following close behind. Jiulipu was not far from Fenghua Town; with superior Red-Green horses, the journey could be completed in a single day. Therefore, he decided to investigate Lei’s background there.

Watching their departing figures, the old man from Shuntian Assassin Organization muttered to himself, “Since when did the Liao family become involved with the Hongyuan Escort Agency? Unless…” As if struck by a sudden thought, he turned and headed back into the compound.

The weather was changeable; moments ago the sky was clear, but now a fine rain began to fall, soaking the ground in silken threads.

Outside Fenghua Town, two Red-Green horses galloped northward at full speed. Liao Jin and Liao Yin rode atop them, unfazed by the weather. Under the urging of their whips, the horses ran even faster.

Jiulipu lay north of Fenghua Town. The fastest route was a direct ride north, though one could also circle east around Green Wolf Mountain to reach Jiulipu. Liao Jin and Liao Yin, eager for speed, naturally chose the direct route. There was another reason they avoided the longer path: Green Wolf Mountain was notorious for its bandits. Lei Yan, however, thought differently. He knew word of the incident would spread quickly, and riding straight north risked discovery. Thus, he chose to skirt east around Green Wolf Mountain before returning to the Ghost Venom Sect.

“Kill with a single, fatal blow—no unnecessary moves! To be fatal, the force must be properly transferred…” As Lei Yan ran, his mind churned with thoughts. Rain soaked his face, washing the blood from the ornate box and his clothes until it faded.

“Huff… huff…” Lei Yan panted, finally coming to a halt. After running at full speed for an hour, he needed time to process the techniques he’d been reviewing in his mind.

“Twenty-nine cranial bones, fifty-one bones in the trunk, one hundred and twenty-six in the limbs… the transmission through bone, the transmission through muscle…” Placing the ornate box into his robe, Lei Yan closed his eyes and imagined an opponent before him. With each imagined punch, he adjusted, searching for the point of force transmission and the most lethal strike. After a time, he shook his head. “Imagination alone cannot compare to reality.”

Exhausted, Lei Yan sat down to rest, leaning against a large tree.

“What exactly is inside these ornate boxes that requires such caution?” Now with a moment to spare, he examined the three boxes in his hands.

Each was identical—about twenty centimeters long, the surface patterns faint and ordinary. Lei Yan smiled. “A one-in-three chance, let’s see.”

“Poof—” A plume of blood-red smoke issued from the box as he opened it.

“Blood Spider Smoke!” Lei Yan’s brow furrowed. Blood Spider Smoke was a rare poison, crafted from a blood spider—specifically, a female in the midst of laying eggs. The blood spider was highly venomous, and during egg-laying, its toxicity increased. To protect its offspring from its own poison, the spider would concentrate all toxins in its outer shell; after being killed, those toxins remained on the surface. This was why only egg-laying blood spiders were used.

Lei Yan shook his head helplessly; his luck was poor. He took out a medicinal pill from his belt. “Let’s hope the pill’s effect hasn’t been altered by blood or rain.”

Although Lei Yan could easily neutralize Blood Spider Smoke’s poison, he didn’t have the necessary herbs to concoct an antidote at the moment, and the medicine he carried couldn’t fully purge the toxin. All he could do for now was suppress it, but fortunately, he had plenty of antidote pills for that purpose.

“Now it’s a fifty-fifty chance. Surely my luck won’t be that bad!” Lei Yan reached for another box and opened it.

“Boom—” The same result: another rush of blood-red smoke poured out.

Lei Yan couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, at least Zhang Fa didn’t know much about poisons. If he’d used a different kind this time, even with antidotes to suppress toxins, mixing two poisons would have been disastrous!”

“This has to be it! I can’t be wrong this time!” Lei Yan slowly opened the third ornate box. The moment it opened, a blinding light shot forth, forcing him to shut his eyes. Only after some time did the light gradually subside.

Inside the box lay four spheres, each about the size of a ping-pong ball, each a different color: one golden yellow, one deep purple-black, one silver-white, and one blue. Within each sphere seemed to float a black character. Looking closely, Lei Yan saw that the golden yellow corresponded to the character “Qian,” the purple-black to “Kan,” the silver-white to “Dui,” and the blue to “Xun.”

“What on earth are these?” Lei Yan could sense a peculiar energy within each sphere, but couldn’t identify its nature. After pondering in vain for some time, he could only place the box back inside his robe.

(Haha, the good stuff has finally appeared! Take a guess—what are these four spheres? Perhaps you’ll recognize them at a glance, but what exactly do they do? Feel free to make your guesses!)