Commission!

There was no law under heaven!

Three hundred years ago, the martial world and the imperial court had clashed.

At first, the Great Qian Dynasty held the upper hand, crushing the martial world's scattered rabble beneath its heel, nearly poised to trample the martial world under iron hooves.

But no one knew what changed afterward. Overnight, those masters stormed into the Great Qian Royal Court.

That battle shook heaven and split earth. The court crumbled, the army could not return in time, and countless imperial masters were killed or wounded. Blood flowed through the entire Great Qian Royal Court until it could float pestles.

Even the Great Qian Emperor of that time was dragged before the Meridian Gate and beheaded by those martial-world masters.

It was a case of heaven and earth turned upside down.

After that battle, the Great Qian imperial family never recovered and vanished without a trace.

Meanwhile, heroes rose side by side in the martial world, each claiming land as king and ruling a territory of his own.

Thus began a grand new chapter in three hundred years of blood-soaked martial turmoil.

Those early years were the most brutal of all. The world's power structure was reshuffled, conflicts in the martial world never ceased, and bloodshed could be seen everywhere.

Even today, it remained an age of chaos in the martial world.

In such an era, human lives were cheaper than dogs...

No one would turn back for an insignificant shop assistant, much less care about such a lowly life.

Except for his closest kin and friends.

The tea stall proprietor had perhaps cried enough. A cold severity, exceedingly rare in all his life, surfaced in his eyes.

He looked around and walked over to a corpse.

Gritting his teeth, he seized the saber from the corpse's hand, rose to his feet, and headed after the Seven Iron Horse Thieves.

But he had only taken two steps when a hoarse voice suddenly came from behind him:

"Want revenge?"

"Who!?"

The tea stall proprietor jumped at the voice. Thinking instinctively that the Seven Iron Horse Thieves had returned, he turned and slashed wildly with his saber.

Yet there was nothing behind him—not a person, not even half a shadow.

The tea stall proprietor froze, thinking he had misheard. But in the next moment, the voice entered his ears once more:

"You do not know martial arts. It would be one thing if you went and could not find them. But if you did find them, you would only be delivering yourself to death."

Every hair on the tea stall proprietor's body stood on end. He understood that the speaker was also someone from the martial world.

But the speaker definitely was not one of the Seven Iron Horse Thieves. Otherwise, he would already be dead.

So he released the saber, and it fell straight to the ground.

He had no idea where the speaker was, so with a thud, he dropped to his knees:

"Hero! Huzi died an unjust death!

"I have had no wife or children in all my life. Only this nephew, whom I have treated as my own son since childhood.

"Now... now that he is dead, his mother likely will not survive either.

"I know I am powerless. I beg you, Hero, lend me your aid!!"

Though the tea stall proprietor did not know who was speaking, since that person had opened his mouth, perhaps he was willing to involve himself in this matter.

Even if there was only a sliver of hope, he wanted his nephew to rest in peace.

But after the words left his mouth, it was as though a stone had sunk into the sea.

No answer came for a long while.

The proprietor's heart gradually sank into an abyss. Just as he thought that person had already left, the voice came again:

"You said one thing wrong."

"I... where was I wrong?"

The proprietor's heart trembled with unease as he asked.

"I am no hero. Killing costs money."

The tea stall proprietor immediately said:

"I am willing to give everything I possess. Even if I must become a servant or slave, I will not hesitate."

"Remember what you said."

The voice suddenly turned icy, making the tea stall proprietor's heart tighten. After that, there was no further sound.

Only after quite some time did he turn back and look around, but he still found nothing.

Yet after this, he had calmed down.

Turning to look at the shop assistant's body, he approached with a face full of grief and lifted the corpse into his arms:

"Huzi... did you hear that? Someone... someone is willing to avenge you.

"Wait a little longer... just wait a little longer."

Commission: Assassinate the Seven Iron Horse Thieves (3 remaining)

Chu Qing concealed his tracks as he hurried through the forest, checking his system page as he went.

The one who had spoken with the tea stall proprietor earlier was naturally him.

Having fused with all of the original owner's memories, Chu Qing also understood that human lives in this world were as worthless as grass.

It seemed hardly worth going to such lengths for a shop assistant.

But Chu Qing had his reasons for involving himself in this matter.

Since he had obtained an Assassin System, how could he grow stronger without assassinating targets?

And without growing stronger, how could he face Mirror of Sin's endless pursuit?

Though he had temporary peace for now, temporary did not mean forever.

This play would never end until he and Mirror of Sin had decided life and death between them.

Since such an opportunity had presented itself, naturally he could not let it slip away...

Besides, the grudge between Chu Fan and the Seven Iron Horse Thieves was another reason. It was not that Chu Qing held any deep feelings for this bargain-bin second brother of his.

The main point was that this man was highly skilled in martial arts. Born with divine strength and apprenticed to a renowned master, his abilities had already shown their edge in the earlier battle.

The leader of the Seven Iron Horse Thieves was being hunted by him and would most likely not survive.

That meant that without Chu Qing lifting a finger, one-third of the targets would be removed.

Taking on a task like this was simply a guaranteed profit with no loss.

There was truly no reason to leave it alone.

Tracking was a basic ability for an assassin.

After spending nearly a year among Mirror of Sin, Chu Qing naturally knew this skill as well.

Moreover, he guessed that aside from the leader of the Seven Iron Horse Thieves, the other two would not have fled very far.

Chu Fan wanted to execute the chief culprit first, so they naturally were not his main targets. Once they had left Chu Fan's field of vision, they would naturally relax their guard.

And indeed, just as Chu Qing had expected, after tracking along the road for barely three li, he heard the sound of hoofbeats.

The horse was not moving very fast and even seemed to be turning back, which somewhat surprised Chu Qing.

After discerning the horse's direction, Chu Qing took a slight detour and soon arrived at a narrow path.

When he looked up, the galloping horse was already before him, and seated atop it was one of the Seven Iron Horse Thieves.

Faced with this sudden beggar, the mounted bandit was first stunned, then bellowed angrily:

"Filthy beggar, are you courting death?"

As the words fell, not only did he fail to stop, he urged his horse forward even harder.

He intended to trample this beggar who did not know life from death beneath the horse's hooves.

Chu Qing said nothing. With a light lift of his hand, the bamboo staff in his palm flew up. He reached out and caught it, and with a crack, the bamboo staff shattered the instant he clenched it.

Ssh!

The shattered bamboo staff shot forth together with the sword sheath, and a flash of sharpness burst into view!

Seeing this, the mounted bandit naturally realized something was wrong. He drew a chain from behind his waist and was about to fling it out.

Then silver light flashed, and blood sprayed across the sky!

With a clatter, a severed hand and its chain were flung high into the air.

Before the mounted bandit could even be horrified by the speed and ruthlessness of that sword strike, a bang sounded from his chest. Accompanied by the crack of breaking bones, he was kicked from the horse by Chu Qing.

P.S. Today was the first day of the month, and monthly votes were doubled... Though this book had just begun, please give it some support~ Monthly votes and bookmarks are both welcome~~~