In the early morning, everyone in Dormitory Seven was fast asleep. Tang San, who had been pretending to sleep for a long time, opened his eyes. He tilted his head to glance at Xiao Wu, then carefully and quietly got out of bed.
After Tang San snuck out of Dormitory Seven, Xiao Wu also opened her eyes.
As expected, something was wrong.
She had felt Tang San was acting strange that afternoon. She thought he had been fooled by the Grandmaster again, but now it seemed that wasn't the case. Instead, he had developed a killing intent towards the Grandmaster.
Putting on a show of respecting his teacher was likely just to clear himself of suspicion.
But wasn't he being too reckless? He was only at the Soul Master realm, yet he wanted to kill a Great Soul Master, and in a place like the academy at that.
Did he think the other teachers were just decorations?
After thinking about it, the worried Xiao Wu also got out of bed and followed him out of Dormitory Seven.
Yu Xiaogang's room was located in the corner of the top floor of the dormitory building. There were other teachers' dorms on the same floor. If Tang San made even the slightest noise, he would be caught.
However, Tang San wasn't worried at all.
Killing someone wasn't a sparring match where you had to announce your martial soul and soul power level before fighting. As a disciple of the Tang Sect, he wanted to kill a useless person like the Grandmaster.
He didn't even need to use his martial soul.
With the help of the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Steps, Tang San arrived outside Yu Xiaogang's door without a sound. He listened carefully, and the sound of heavy breathing reached his ears.
Tang San touched the sleeve arrow tied to his right wrist, and with a flick of his hand, two iron wires appeared in his grasp.
"Hmm?"
Tang San, who was about to open the door, suddenly changed his expression because he heard a very faint sound of footsteps, as if someone was sneaking up the stairs.
Someone followed me up?
Who?
With a guilty conscience, Tang San didn't dare to hesitate. He immediately flipped over and jumped onto the balcony, gripping the edge with his right hand. With a swing, he landed steadily on the corridor of the floor below.
Then, he rushed to the stairwell at the fastest speed.
"Xiao Wu?"
As Tang San looked up, he raised his right hand, ready to kill the person to silence them, but he paused when he saw it was Xiao Wu. This moment of hesitation caused him to miss his chance.
How sharp is a soul beast's perception of danger?
The moment Tang San raised his hand, Xiao Wu felt a fleeting sense of danger and instinctively turned her head to look in Tang San's direction.
However, Tang San had already hidden in the shadows one step ahead.
As an assassin, the biggest taboo is letting emotions get in the way. This was clearly recorded in the General Principles of the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record. Unfortunately, Tang San still made this mistake.
And he intended to continue making it, because he truly couldn't bring himself to do it.
Perhaps even Tang San himself didn't realize that although he hadn't known Xiao Wu for long, a trace of affection had already developed. This was the reason he couldn't bring himself to act.
"Eh, where did he go?"
Finding nothing unusual, Xiao Wu turned back to look at the empty corridor. She had clearly seen Tang San come up, so how did he disappear in the blink of an eye?
Suddenly, Xiao Wu remembered the sense of danger she had just mistaken for an illusion.
She rushed downstairs but found nothing. Then she hurried back to Dormitory Seven at the fastest speed and indeed found Tang San already lying in bed.
It seemed she had inadvertently scared him, making him dare not make a move anymore.
Xiao Wu shook her head helplessly and returned to her bed as if nothing had happened. She Drilling the covers and didn't have any intention of asking questions, simply feigning sleep.
Seeing this, Tang San couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
Although this opportunity was ruined by Xiao Wu, it wasn't a big problem. There were still six full years ahead. He didn't believe the Grandmaster's luck could be this good every time.
...
The next day, in the early morning.
Yu Xiaogang got up early and left Nuoding Academy. Then he hired a carriage and went straight towards the Soul Beast Forest, arriving at noon the next day.
"With a warrant, group hunting for power-type soul beasts, still need two people."
"Hunting for agile-type soul beasts, seven people are waiting for a warrant, ten gold soul coins."
...
Although it was lunchtime, the market outside the Soul Beast Forest was still bustling with activity. Various shouts rose and fell, and there were also those who just set up a stall without saying a word.
Yu Xiaogang, dressed in a black robe and wearing a mask, came to a quiet stall.
"Target is seven years old, requires a top-tier Soul Venerable, just cripple them."
"Get lost!"
The stall owner was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man, but upon hearing this, his eyes were filled with chilling coldness. His gaze made Yu Xiaogang's hair stand on end, as if he would be finished off if he was even a step slow.
He didn't dare to say more and turned to leave.
Afterward, Yu Xiaogang looked for several other stalls, but as soon as he mentioned the target was just a seven-year-old child, their attitudes were quite similar to the first stall owner.
Those with lower strength would politely say they wouldn't take the job, while those with higher strength would directly hurl abuse.
Yu Xiaogang couldn't help but feel a bit depressed.
Those stall owners were either assassins or middlemen, engaging in acts of murder and robbery, living on the edge. Yet, when business came to their door, they actually refused.
They didn't even bother to ask a few more questions.
This inexplicably gave him the illusion that he was worse than a beast, because even the most heinous assassins were unwilling to take such a job, which showed how unethical it was.
"Friend!"
At this moment, a middle-aged man with squinting eyes approached Yu Xiaogang on his own initiative.
"Something the matter?"
Yu Xiaogang became secretly vigilant because he had heard that there were quite a few people who liked to perform sting operations in the market outside the Soul Beast Forest.
These people would even dare to accept a mission to assassinate the Pope of the Spirit Hall, because they took missions just to figure out how much money you had on you.
Then...
Then there was no 'then'. They'd kill you, and your money would naturally become theirs.
The squinting man smiled and said, "I've been observing you for a long time. You've approached seven stall owners in total. Most of them showed hostility when they refused you. Is the person you want to deal with a child?"
Yu Xiaogang remained silent.
The squinting man continued, "Assassins are also people. They also have their own bottom line, and the bottom line for most assassins is children, because they might also have children."
Yu Xiaogang said coldly, "What exactly do you want to say?"
The squinting man said, "What I want to say is that my bottom line is lower. No matter who the target is, as long as your money is sufficient, I can take the job."
Yu Xiaogang looked him up and down and asked, "What's your strength?"
The squinting man said, "A level 36 agile-type Battle Soul Venerable, martial soul Shadow Owl. I probably don't need to introduce this martial soul too much, do I? It's naturally born for assassination."
Yu Xiaogang asked, "Target is seven years old, just cripple them. What's the price?"
The squinting man was taken aback. Instead of answering, he asked, "It shouldn't be that simple, right? Although I don't know your strength, I can sense the soul power fluctuations on you."
Yu Xiaogang said, "He has innate divine strength. His strength is comparable to a top-tier Great Soul Master."
"What the heck?"
The squinting man looked bewildered. 'Do you want to hear what you're saying? A seven-year-old kid, with strength comparable to a top-tier Great Soul Master? Are you not fully awake?'
Yu Xiaogang said, "Whether you believe it or not is up to you. Don't blame me if you lose your life by being careless."
The squinting man's eyes narrowed slightly. This guy didn't seem to be lying. Could there really be such an outrageous child in the world? Why was he so unconvinced?