Undercurrents Stirring

"Alright, I'll accept your request. However, I must warn you, I haven't received any professional bodyguard training, so I can't guarantee the effectiveness. It would be best to hire an experienced bodyguard for escort."

"It's alright. Hongdou isn't like those people who are constantly on the assassination list. Professional protection techniques might not be suitable for her. Unorthodox methods might be more effective. Besides, your external martial arts skills are so strong; your natural advantages surpass most bodyguards."

It's as if bodyguards are only there to take the fall for someone... That's not entirely wrong. Bodyguards who take advantage of others to pick up girls are something only protagonists in urban novels would do. A real bodyguard must first draw a clear line and not develop a close relationship with their employer. Then, what they need to do is stand up and take bullets for their employer when danger strikes.

"Is Hongdou Bean in danger? I'd like to lend a hand."

Murong Qing appeared behind Si Ming at some point, seemingly having overheard their conversation. She introduced herself to Auntie Liu, saying, "My name is Murong Qing. I'm Si Ming's classmate and Hongdou's friend. Please let me help with this as well."

Auntie Liu sized him up for a while, her experienced eyes putting her to good use. "Tange No. 1 Middle School really is full of experts. Your strength is definitely above He Qichang's. Wangfu Middle School's defeat is not surprising... It seems like there are a lot of geniuses in your class this year. Is it just my imagination? This is not a good sign. Only when the world is in chaos do a large number of heroes and outstanding people emerge."

Murong Qing paused for a moment, then said modestly, "Thank you for your praise, but I think that just one school like Tange Middle School can't represent the whole world; at most, it can only represent Tange City. Getting back to the main topic, regarding Hongdou's safety, I have an idea. Why don't we have her move directly to the Mohist Knight Guard base? I think there's probably no safer place in Tange City."

"The Mohist Knight Guard base doesn't seem like a bad idea. We can just pay more rent. Anyway, as long as the studio moves there, we don't have to worry about Hongdou not getting used to it." Auntie Liu thought about the suggestion and felt it was very feasible.

Murong Qing continued, "For the time being, let Hongdou focus on her painting. Anyway, even if she goes to school, she'll be doing the same thing. Besides, she doesn't go out much anyway, so it's a good opportunity for her to test her patience with the assassin."

Once an assassin has identified their target and discovers they are hiding, they often say, "You can hide forever, but can you hide forever?" Then they test their patience, waiting for the target to make a mistake before striking.

But Hongdou is clearly the kind of person who can hide forever. When it comes to patience, she's not afraid of anyone. Staying in her room for two months is perfectly normal for her.

While assassins may be patient, they also value efficiency. If it takes two or three years to assassinate Hongdou, not only will they not kill many people in their lifetime, but the money they earn will not even cover the expenses of daily surveillance, making it a complete loss.

"In addition, we can send Hongdou out once every two weeks, with a skilled bodyguard protecting her each time. Even if the other party knows it's a trap, they will still have no choice but to obediently jump into it."

It's unrealistic to expect a master to protect you for life, but it's not too difficult to get a master to intervene every two weeks. Although there's a saying that "you can only be a thief for a thousand days, but you can't guard against a thief for a thousand days," Murong Qing's idea is to take the initiative. The key is whether the person being protected can stay at home.

It must be admitted that when it comes to a contest of patience, homebodies have a natural advantage. Auntie Liu seemed to realize this as well, and agreed, "Your method is feasible."

Si Ming, on the other hand, felt a sense of unfinished business, but since he couldn't think of any better solutions, he could only agree.

Si Ming is not lacking in combat intelligence, but he lacks strategic planning before battle. This made him realize once again that his team might need to find a strategist. Although Murong Qing is also very smart, she belongs to the category of generals of intelligence, rather than professional strategists. To use data similar to that in Three Kingdoms games, she is a character with an intelligence of 80. She is not inferior to those second-rate strategists, but there is still a certain gap between her and the geniuses who truly rely on their brains.

Qingyan felt that taking on this job must be the most foolish decision he had made this year. This was the first time he had encountered such an assassination target, who could stay in his room for half a month without going out, and did not seem to be forced to do so. On the contrary, he was enjoying it and seemed likely to continue for four or five years without getting annoyed.

In the past, he had encountered many difficult targets, such as wealthy businessmen with tens of millions in assets who could hire a large number of experts to protect them, and underworld experts who possessed great strength and were very vigilant about danger. However, they still had to maintain social relationships with others. Perhaps they would hide away to avoid the limelight at first, but as time went on, they had to step into the public eye and return to their daily lives. They could not stay away from their social circles for too long.

But after meeting Hongdou, he realized that "homebodies" are the most difficult type of people to assassinate. These people don't need to socialize, they don't worry about being disconnected from society, and they can happily hide in their rooms for a lifetime.

When he occasionally went out, he could tell at a glance that there were several skilled Mohist Knight Guard protecting him in the shadows. It was an obvious trap, and if he made a move, it would be like walking into a snare.

In the history of assassinations, there are examples of people who, in order to find an opportunity, disguised themselves as ordinary people and patiently waited for two or three years until the target relaxed their guard before launching a fatal attack.

But those assassinations were all for important figures, and the jobs were huge. The reward for just one mission was enough for a decade of luxurious living. The reward for assassinating Hongdou was obviously not at that level, and it would be a loss if it took more than half a year.

A person only lives for a hundred years or so. If he wastes two years on one person, he can't kill fifty people in his lifetime, and he can't make it in the assassin profession.

"... Let's give up. Sigh, I thought she was just a little girl with no martial arts skills, easy to get my hands on, but it turns out she's a big turtle shell. Once she shrinks in, there's nowhere to bite her."

Just as Qingyan was about to return to the organization to apply for abandonment of the mission, he saw a familiar mark on a street corner.

"What does this symbol mean...? How did the Captain end up in Tange City?"

Chapter 134 Undercurrents

A Suzhou-style snack shop that can be found everywhere.

Following the coded message he had noticed, Qingyan arrived at the unassuming restaurant and ordered a chicken leg rice and a bowl of black chicken soup.

He didn't look around, but ate his lunch like an ordinary guest. However, halfway through his meal, he seemed to have something stuck between his teeth, so he took out a toothpick to pick at it. But because he used too much force, he broke the tip of the toothpick and helplessly threw it to the corner of the table.

Then, a portly man who looked like a construction foreman sat down opposite him, ordered a bowl of beef noodles, asked the restaurant to add more cilantro and less scallions, and also ordered a bottle of wine.

Qingyan didn't look up and continued eating his lunch, but secretly asked via Secret Voice Transmission, "Captain, is there some important news to announce, given that you specifically left a signal to assemble?"

The foreman didn't answer, but instead asked, "How's your task going? What's the progress?"

It would have been better if she hadn't brought it up, because once it was, Qingyan was filled with anger. She recounted her situation with resentment, concluding, "This is the first time I've encountered such a cowardly target. She's hiding in the Mohist Knight Guard base, not needing to come out for anything, not even to eat, drink, or use the restroom. I didn't even have a chance to pretend to be a delivery person. I asked around, and apparently, that's just her personality. Besides painting, she has no hobbies whatsoever. She doesn't buy clothes, accessories, or cosmetics, and she doesn't even follow celebrities! I really don't know what to do with her. Are all artists this reclusive?"

"It's not entirely true, but they generally all have eccentricities. It seems some research has shown that the brain sulci of artists are different from those of normal people."

The foreman joked, then continued, "Actually, nobody likes taking jobs from artists. They generally have limited self-defense capabilities, lack security awareness when traveling, making them easy targets. The pay isn't high, but they have a lot of social fame and are more respected than well-known wealthy businessmen. Therefore, if they are murdered, many self-proclaimed righteous people will come to avenge them. Nobody will take these jobs unless they're prepared to retire after this one. Only a newbie like you would be so reckless as to take such a job."

Qingyan asked suspiciously, "Where is she easy to hit? How come I didn't notice?"

"The premise for making it easy is that the target is unaware of the assassination. Once they know, it becomes a very difficult battle of patience. No one is more patient than an artist. Actually, Painting School are relatively better off, as their average painting time is only about a week. The most troublesome are sculptors. They sculpt a stone statue in months, and it's common for it to take two or three years. There was once an old member of the Crimson Eye Society who disguised himself as a neighbor and lay in wait for ten years to assassinate an extremely famous sculptor."

"And then, he succeeded?"

"In a sense, yes. That master sculptor eventually died, but at a peaceful old age. As a neighbor, this old member even attended the sculptor's memorial service, and then retired from the sculpting world."

"... Did you come here specifically to tell me lame jokes?"

Qingyan could easily tell that the other person was clearly mocking him.

"Ha, I just noticed you seemed a bit anxious, so I wanted to cheer you up. Don't take it too seriously. A good assassin knows how to release stress. Don't always be on edge; it's easy for others to notice something's wrong. The more normal you act, the less likely you are to be detected."

The foreman picked up a large bowl, tilted his head back, and drank all the soup down. His rough manner perfectly matched the image of someone making a living on a construction site.

But Qingyan knew very well that the Captain was a person who valued quality of life, so he was very impressed when he saw this scene.

Most members of the Crimson Eye do this for money and pleasure. They believe that if they kill someone, they should be prepared to be killed themselves. Under the pressure of not knowing when the victim's relatives and friends will seek revenge, no one will hide their money. A life of debauchery and extravagance is what they yearn for.

Killing for a noble cause? The Crimson Eye Society not such a lofty organization. Money talks, and no money means you're out.

Ultimately, a person with lofty ideals wouldn't take on a mission to kill for a little money.