Xue Ling asked herself—even someone as dumb as herself.
Pah, how could she be so dumb?
Even an undercover Jinyiwei agent like herself, after receiving the intelligence from the Jinyiwei, had spent two weeks memorizing and reviewing under her fake identity, striving for perfection. From her attire to her martial arts, she was completely different from the original Jinyiwei Xue Ling. Now, working as a cook at the Xiaohun Inn, if the Jinyiwei ever really wanted to promote her as an unsung hero, she would definitely endure humiliation.
Xue Ling was definitely not stupid enough to still wear her Jinyiwei Feiyu robe and come to the Xiaohun Inn to apply for Fang Bie's Feng Chi position.
But why would this scheming Ning Huaiyuan come to the Xiaohun Inn so brazenly? Couldn't he have known that his identity was on the Hive's assassination list, and that this commission was issued by the Huashan Sect?
"Could it be an empty city plan?" Xue Ling asked.
After all, she still remembered the Empty City Strategy she'd witnessed in Yanjing. Prime Minister Zhuge Liang sat high on the city wall, burning incense and playing the lute, a feather fan and a long scarf on his head, while he frightened the young Sima boy into fleeing in panic, not daring to enter the city walls. If Ning Huaiyuan were to use the same Empty City Strategy now, Fang Bie would be deceived and suffer a great loss.
Fang Bie looked at Xue Ling: "Do you think it's the Empty City Strategy?"
Xue Ling bit her lip lightly.
If it were him, he would definitely not dare to use the Empty City Strategy. After all, coming in so brazenly would be like slapping the words "Who dares to kill me?" on his forehead. Even Wei Yan couldn't withstand such a flag. After three shouts, Ma Dai attacked from behind with a sword, decapitating him.
Unless Ning Huaiyuan knew that the assassin who came to kill him was the pathologically cautious Fang Bie.
But Fang Bie was completely hidden away, unknown to anyone. It took a sheer determination to fight the air to play the Empty City Strategy against Fang Bie.
Xue Ling shook her head: "I don't think so."
"That's right." Fang Bie smiled: "Look, even you think this is not an empty city plan. Ning Huaiyuan didn't dare to come here in person. Instead, he used some means to send a carefully disguised substitute to die."
"You say? Should I kill him?"
Fang Bie's words really left Xue Ling speechless.
"But the intelligence said that he would come to Xiaohun Inn at noon today, and asked us to be ready by then." Xue Ling said unwillingly.
Fang Bie looked at Xue Ling and smiled: "The intelligence also said that you would come to Xiaohun Inn that day to take the position of Fengchi. Didn't I also not believe it completely?" Xue Ling couldn't help but curl her lips. The experience that day almost left her with a lifelong psychological shadow. Almost at that moment, Xue Ling felt that her life was hopeless.
"The intelligence from the hive is not as reliable as you think. In other words, the hive's intelligence network is really powerful, but intelligence is also graded. We are not qualified to obtain the highest level of confidential intelligence, only some well-known low-level intelligence."
"For example, the hive intelligence said that someone who looks like Ning Huaiyuan will arrive at our inn at noon today. Then this Ning Huaiyuan did come at noon today, so the intelligence is not wrong."
"The intelligence does not care whether this person is Ning Huaiyuan."
"But whether or not to complete the mission depends on our own eyes and ears to confirm."
"All bees are individual individuals, not tools that obey the orders of the hive. There are thousands of flowers in this world, and the decision of collecting flowers and making honey is ultimately made by the bees, not the hive."
"But what?" Although Fang Bie's words made perfect sense, Xue Ling still had to resist: "I know you are very cautious, but what's the point of being cautious? Ning Huaiyuan is gone. We didn't kill Ning Huaiyuan and didn't get his head or token. So it means the mission has failed, right?"
After all, the assassin's mission is to kill the target. Now, regardless of whether that person is Ning Huaiyuan or not, the target has escaped. The mission has failed. What's the point of being cautious?
"Who told you that our mission failed?" Fang Bie smiled and said, "Didn't I say that we have only one mission, and that is to kill Ning Huaiyuan."
"Now that Ning Huaiyuan's still alive, how did our mission fail?"
Xue Ling felt completely bewildered by Fang Bie's brainstorming.
He even felt that he shouldn't be an assassin, but rather should take the imperial examination or become a constable in the Six Gates, where his meticulous thinking could be put to the best use.
Being an assassin was like overkill.
No—Xue Ling had a feeling Fang Bie was just a rhetorical assassin.
Maybe he just saw Ning Huaiyuan's formidable martial arts skills at the inn and didn't dare to attack, so he's frantically making excuses for his actions afterward?
At least that's logical, right?
"Our mission was to kill Ning Huaiyuan, and since he's still alive, the mission hasn't failed," Fang Bie repeated. "For example—if we kill Ning Huaiyuan tonight, then wouldn't the mission be accomplished?"
As he spoke, Fang Bie lowered his head and took a long sip of his egg drop soup.
Yes, he was talking about it like he was drinking soup.
"Where can we find Ning Huaiyuan?" Xue Ling exclaimed frantically.
For this man already wanted for assassination, there's essentially no peace in this world. Originally, Hive intelligence said he'd come to the Xiaohun Inn today, but now that he's here, Fang Bie claims it's fake.
So where could the real Ning Huaiyuan be?
"The real Ning Huaiyuan," Fang Bie said, looking up at Xue Ling. "The Sanlishan Temple outside the city."
He spoke confidently, without a moment's hesitation. "Eat first, then move around for half an hour afterward. You can't move. Plan a round-trip route and a plan for us. Once that's done, we'll set off."
Xue Ling asked, his face trembling. "What?"
He Ping, quietly eating her food and drinking her soup, finally spoke, softly saying, "Okay."
Xue Ling could only nod, "Yes."
...
...
Under the soybean oil lamp, Xue Ling spread out a map of Luo City and carefully mapped out their route.
This was also the mission of the Bee Wings. Whenever they arrived at a place, they had to walk through the streets and alleys, thoroughly understanding every route. Only then would they avoid getting lost during execution or retreat.
Don't laugh—an assassin who never gets lost is truly important.
Because there are so many assassins in this world who love getting lost.
Outside the city, Xue Ling quickly found the address Fang Bie had mentioned, at the Sanli Mountain Temple. It was a lonely mountain temple on a small hill. It wasn't very popular and was a bit run-down. It was usually a gathering place for beggars, and there didn't seem to be anything unusual.
Could this be the place? Xue Ling held the brush and licked the tip of it unconsciously.
He waited for the tip to spread before dipping it fully in ink.
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(End of this chapter)