Peiluojia's Elite Assassin

"Wh... why did you have to ram him to death...?"

As the Jeep drove on, Chen Junbin could not stop trembling at the thought of that pile of junk worth millions lying at the bottom of the ravine. The person beside him was absolutely a demon who killed without batting an eye!

He had once been a lawless figure himself, but the greater his wealth became, the more timid he had grown. Anyone who could drive that kind of sports car was bound to have a powerful background. Even if that man did not die this time, there would surely be endless trouble because of what had happened today. Amid his turmoil, he heard the assassin say calmly, "Peiluojia has an excellent cleanup system. I imagine they notified you that someone would be sent over no later than this afternoon?"

"Huh?" The sudden question left him confused. Only after a moment did he abruptly understand, his eyes widening.

"Peiluojia's assassination procedure begins with investigating the target. After an assessment, they assign an assassin according to the target's strength. Once an attempt fails, the assassin's rank is raised by one level. The mission is completed, and the reason for the previous failure is analyzed. Aqi was only a B-rank assassin in Peiluojia. Now that he's dead, Peiluojia will definitely send someone else."

"An A-rank assassin from the Asian division, code name Blue. He excels at wilderness survival, close-quarters combat, and operating all kinds of machinery and vehicles. But assassins are like eunuchs—they're both incomplete types of people. Living amid killing and destruction for so long makes one aspect of their personality exceptionally sharp. He pursues speed: racing cars, speedboats, aerial stunts. So he could never become an elite assassin, because he has a fatal weakness."

Listening to him list everything so clearly, Chen Junbin sucked in a cold breath. "You know him so well... Could it be that you're also..."

"I used to belong to Peiluojia." The dwarf turned his head, the scar on his face curving into a cold smile. "Elite."

When they could see the cement factory in the distance, the Jeep switched off its lights and drove into a small grove by the roadside before stopping. By his old habits, these two would have been killed directly. But now, he did not want to do that. Perhaps it was because of the child in that woman's belly.

If they were smart enough, they would leave far away after this...

After knocking the two of them unconscious and tying them up in the back seat, he walked out of the grove. He looked back into the darkness. The assassin named Blue had once been one of his teachers. Now that Blue had been dealt with so easily, he felt relieved, though there was also a faint sense of melancholy in his heart. When he looked toward the abandoned factory again, his gaze had become utterly indifferent.

From the day he learned that his opponent was called Tang Jingyao, he had begun making preparations. Over several nights, without Tang Jingyao's knowledge, he had practically gone through the man's underwear several times over. He had figured out the places Tang Jingyao frequented, where his men were stationed, and the routes through which goods moved in and out. He had even scouted this abandoned cement factory once. Though he was not intimately familiar with it, he had more than enough knowledge to deal with what lay ahead. This was the ability of Peiluojia's highest-ranking assassins. Otherwise, he would never have escaped Peiluojia's base in the first place.

At that moment, although there were quite a few people in the factory buildings, they still did not dare light the place up like a military base. From afar, patches of light and darkness alternated, and Jiaming smiled inwardly.

"The danger level is low, but... for my first move, I should make it look good, little rookie."

At that moment, in a room on the third floor of the abandoned factory, Tang Jingyao sat on a sofa in a suit and tie, smiling. Two fierce-looking foreign men stood beside him. Across the coffee table from him sat Marilyn and Heidi. Marilyn held her daughter tightly, her gaze sharp and hostile.

"How many times do I have to tell you before you believe me? I really didn't send that assassin that night. If I truly wanted to kill you, would I need to hire an assassin? And then stupidly send only one... My God, you're my wife and daughter. How could I possibly harm you?"

Having spent many years in politics and climbed step by step from the lowest position, Tang Jingyao's tone was now utterly sincere, his performance flawless. Heidi softly called, "Daddy..." from her mother's arms. But the blonde woman shook her head decisively. Just as she had every time before, she sneered coldly, "A very convincing act, Tang. If you'd possessed this kind of composure ten years ago, perhaps not only would I have been fooled by you, but my daddy might have come to like you too. Then maybe things would not have developed into this."

"Nothing has happened in the first place, do you hear me? Heidi is calling me. She's my daughter, and you're my wife! I've never lied to either of you. Believe me!" After talking nonstop for over an hour, Tang Jingyao was growing impatient. This was not like giving a report, where people below listened attentively and took notes, and even if they were merely going through the motions, they would applaud together at the end. This woman truly knew what he had been doing. How to patch up this enormous lie without resorting to violence was an impossibly difficult test.

No matter what, he was still a Chinese man raised on traditional values. The mother and daughter before him were, in every real sense, his wife and daughter. Unless it came to the very end, he did not want to tear things apart completely.

This woman had waited for him in the United States for ten years, which proved that she loved him deeply. He might still be able to persuade her. It was possible. Damn it, it was all because of those Italians... He glanced at the two foreign men who stood like bodyguards. He had not originally intended to kill them, but who could have expected them to hire an assassin on their own initiative? Now the situation in the United States had gone wrong, and they wanted him to find a way to smooth things over and get the intelligence out of her. Hell, he could not get it out of her before—what was he supposed to do now?

Undoing his suit jacket and loosening his tie, he paced back and forth across the room with his hands on his hips. After calming down a little, he made one last attempt. "Believe me, okay?"

Deep down, he knew she could no longer possibly believe him. Yet he still held onto a sliver of hope. Since she loved him so much, even if she knew what he was doing, might she forgive him because of that love? At least pretend to believe him, and tell him the intelligence he wanted? She was a clever woman. By now, she should know that there was no way back. If she told him what he wanted, then of course he would treat mother and daughter well afterward.

"All right, I believe you." After a long while, a charming smile blossomed on Marilyn's face. "But I have nothing to tell you. After you left the United States, I never participated in any of the family business again. It was precisely because I knew you would return to China to become an official that I did not want to leave any bad influence on you. I've said this several times already, and my answer is still the same. If you really hadn't done anything, you wouldn't need information about the Mafia now, would you?"

Tang Jingyao took two steps back and finally gave up.

"Fine! I'll tell you everything! I didn't hire the assassin—they acted on their own!" He suddenly roared, pointing at the two men beside him. "Do you think I'm really the one in charge here? They're the ones in charge! I'm only a pawn carrying out orders! They're the ones who need your intelligence! They're the ones who sent the assassin to kill you! I didn't want this, but what could I do? You refuse to talk. You still fucking refuse to talk even now. Do you know that whether your family comes for us or they send more people, we'll be the first ones to die! The three of us are doomed!"

He shook his head, his eyes reddening. "I want to protect you. This is the only way I can do it. You're the people I love most in this world..."

"Are you finally done pretending?" Marilyn smiled faintly. "You love us? Then what about your other wife?"

"She's a political bargaining chip. What matters is her family. Without her family's support, I couldn't have gotten where I am today. The one I love..."

"Then I'm one too? Maybe I wasn't before, but I am now. Tang, you've changed. You're no longer the Tang from ten years ago. To you now, everything is a bargaining chip. What you love is only money and power."

Tang Jingyao froze. One of the foreign men beside him had already pointed a pistol at him. "Sorry, Tang. You've had enough time. I don't want to watch you flirt and quarrel here any longer. From now on, she is ours to handle."

"Marilyn, please, tell them."

Marilyn shook her head. "I don't know anything. But if you still have even a little humanity left, let Heidi go. She is your daughter, after all. I remember that Chinese people value their biological children very highly, don't they?"

"You only need to..." Tang Jingyao was about to continue persuading her when the walkie-talkie on a nearby table suddenly crackled. Someone inside rapidly reported something in Chinese. The speech was too fast for the two foreign men to understand, and Marilyn and Heidi had even less idea what was happening. But Tang Jingyao's expression turned grave. After issuing several orders, he suddenly opened a drawer and took out a pistol, then reported to the two foreign men, "Six men downstairs are already dead. They were patrolling in pairs around the perimeter. Every one of them had their throat cut with a single fatal slash. They did not even have a chance to resist. We don't know who has come. Mr. Ramos, I think your people should get moving too."

The two immediately understood. After glancing at Marilyn and Heidi, they walked one after the other into an inner room. Naturally, these Italian Mafia men would not go out on patrol. There were six of them in total, and four were currently playing cards in the inner room. After Ramos entered, Tang Jingyao turned back and asked, "Who has come to rescue you? Your father's people?"

"I don't know." A strange light flashed through Marilyn's eyes. Then she smiled faintly and shook her head. "I don't know."