The sun had completely set, and under the twilight, only one car was speeding forward on the roads of Dresden.
It was quiet inside the car, neither of them speaking.
After a long while, Zhang Jie finally asked, "Who is it?"
John didn't speak, he just looked at the scenery constantly approaching and then rapidly disappearing behind them, lost in thought.
After a long time, John said calmly, "Mountbatten, Europe's largest underground arms dealer."
Before Zhang Jie could speak, John continued, "He was the one who put a bounty on my head. The KH Alliance is almost entirely made up of local European forces; the High Table's influence in Europe is even less than theirs."
"I never wanted to get involved with them, but some things eventually need a resolution." John paused here. "Do you know why the suit I left in the hotel fit you so well?"
Regarding this, Zhang Jie had his own guess. "It can't be because you were thinner before. I think perhaps you once had a partner?"
Speaking of this, Zhang Jie inexplicably recalled the photo frame that Hades had somehow dug out.
"I once said that you resemble someone, an old friend. He, like you, had a very high talent for firearms and could master Shooting skills in a very short time." John's eyes seemed a little dazed; he seemed to be lost in some memory.
"He, like you, was Chinese, and he particularly loved to cook. I met him through my wife, Helen. He was Helen's student, learning piano from her."
"He, like me, was a tragic person. His girlfriend was killed by a stray bullet in a gang shootout, and he needed revenge."
The scenery outside the window constantly receded, rapidly moving backward, just like John's thoughts at that moment, slowly extending forward along this road.
A slight smile seemed to appear at the corner of his mouth; he remembered his beautiful times with Helen.
"He discovered my identity and came to me to learn gunmanship; he wanted revenge."
John's voice gradually lengthened, as if he was back on that rainy night, with the rain pouring down, and the young man kneeling before him, begging him to teach him how to become an assassin, because he wanted revenge.
In a trance, he was back at that funeral, and the crying man before him and the silent man gradually overlapped.
"Alright!"
This was John's answer to him. In the days that followed, this young man learned piano from Helen while also taking advantage of his free time to learn Shooting from John.
His talent was so high that John himself was astonished.
He found it hard to imagine how a Chinese person could pick up firearms so quickly, as if it was in his blood.
Until he met another Chinese person, yes, it was Zhang Jie, who was currently driving.
He shortened several years into three months; this was John's proudest achievement: becoming a professional assassin in three months.
Also on that rainy day, something very significant happened in Brooklyn: two local gangs were wiped out overnight, leaving no one alive.
"After he got his revenge, did he retire from the assassin world?" Zhang Jie asked curiously.
"No, after that, he seemed to become infatuated with being an assassin, taking on missions frantically, as if to numb himself. But his extraordinary talent made him wildly arrogant, although he continued to show me and Helen the same respect as always."
John's vision seemed to regain focus. "This rising star in the assassin world finally met his end three years ago at Blackthorn Castle."
Only at this moment did Zhang Jie realize why John's reaction was so strong when he received the Blackthorn Castle mission.
"So what happened then?"
Through some information Veronica had told him, he knew that Oriska from Blackthorn Castle was not a simple person.
"Six years ago, I went to Blackthorn Castle to carry out an assassination mission..." John said slowly.
As John recounted, Zhang Jie understood that the person who should have died six years ago was alive again three years later, and the person who issued the mission at Blackthorn Castle three years ago was still so abnormal and insane.
Not only did he issue a bounty hunt for them to kill him, but he also hired many bodyguards to protect himself, and a brutal, bloody battle unfolded at Blackthorn Castle.
The story ended with John's apprentice dying in Blackthorn Castle.
"What was his name?"
Zhang Jie couldn't help but ask.
"Ling Feng."
After speaking that name, John seemed to become a little haggard, indicating that Ling Feng and John indeed had a good relationship.
"His build was the same as yours, so you can wear his suits, but the only difference between you and him is that you don't have his arrogant personality. You are very cautious, although at first, you indeed seemed like a little fool."
When speaking of Zhang Jie, John's expression seemed to regain some vitality. His first apprentice was indeed gone, but didn't he still have another apprentice?
And he seemed to be doing even better than him, though there was still a gap in strength.
The sky had completely darkened; they were still driving towards Berlin.
"So, the young man in the photo of you and him, that was Ling Feng, right?" Zhang Jie asked.
Feeling John's gaze, Zhang Jie quickly added, "Hades somehow brought a photo frame, and I happened to see it."
"Yes, that was him."
What John didn't tell Zhang Jie was how heartbroken his wife, Helen, cried when she learned of Ling Feng's death, because Helen treated Ling Feng like her own younger brother.
The music Ling Feng and Helen composed together was ultimately left unfinished, until Helen also passed away.
However, all that is in the past, isn't it?
One should look forward, just as he often told Zhang Jie, living is the best reward.
"Whew~"
Zhang Jie let out a soft breath; everything was clear now.
No wonder Winston said John hadn't brought a new person to the hotel in four years and six months. No wonder the hotel clothes fit him so well. No wonder the suit in the Surrey safe house was a bit worn but surprisingly fit perfectly. It turned out these were all Ling Feng's legacy to him.
"I never thought I actually had an elder martial brother, even though he's already dead." Zhang Jie's hands on the steering wheel tightened slightly. "Don't worry, Master, I will avenge my elder martial brother."
John looked at Zhang Jie's focused driving expression and suddenly smiled.
"How can you be enough alone? As your master, I should also be involved, shouldn't I?"
They looked at each other and shared a knowing smile.
John reached out and fiddled with the car's player; a song came on the car radio.
When you try your best, but you don't succeed
When you get what you want, but not what you need
When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse
...As the music played, both of them seemed to change slightly. The car continued to drive forward, but some things had quietly changed.
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