Revenge Hunt

"That depends on who the target is..." Yue Yang frowned.

"If the target were a mercenary, what would you choose?" The old man in hemp paused slightly before asking.

"I'd choose the blank sheet!" Yue Yang laughed as soon as he heard the question. This was not testing killing techniques, but the wisdom of killing. Could something like this stump him?

"How would you use a sheet of paper to kill someone?" The old man in hemp furrowed his brow slightly.

"Simple. I'd disguise it as a treasure map and give it to the target. Then I'd spread notices everywhere, telling the world he has a treasure map. I wouldn't even need to kill that mercenary myself—countless people would scramble to do it for me!" Yue Yang shrugged and answered with utter ease.

"What if the target were not a mercenary, but a merchant? What would you choose then?" The old man in hemp nodded slowly and switched to another question.

"A blank sheet... I'd disguise it as an incorrectly calculated ledger of income and expenses. When the merchant was fully focused on calculating his assets and earnings, I'd launch a surprise attack and kill him." After hearing Yue Yang's answer, the old man's aged, withered hands, which had been trembling weakly, suddenly stopped shaking. He asked, "What if the target were an official? Would you still choose a blank sheet as your weapon?"

"Why not? I'd disguise it as an imperial edict. Once the official knelt to receive it, I'd grant him a cup of poisoned wine." Yue Yang had seen plenty of this in movies and television. No matter how capable an upright official or famous general might be, they could not withstand an imperial edict, nor a cup of poison that burned through the gut.

If the ruler wished his subject dead, the subject had no choice but to die.

That saying had never been wrong, from ancient times to the present.

Forget the feudal era—even in the Harmonious Heavenly Dynasty, or on this Dragon Soaring Continent, it remained an immutable truth.

The old man in hemp raised his eyelids. A trace of surprise appeared in his dull, lifeless eyes as he studied Yue Yang for two or three seconds. His expression changed for an instant, but he recovered quickly. In the end, he nodded woodenly, acknowledging the transmigrator's shamelessly vicious killing scheme.

Yue Yang was secretly pleased. He had thought he had secured his assassin qualification.

Unexpectedly, the old man in hemp continued, "What if the target you had to kill were a woman? What would you choose then?"

At the mention of a woman, Yue Yang's lustful heart stirred, and his thoughts began to wander. "That depends on whether she's young and pretty. If she's both young and pretty, then I'd still choose the blank sheet..."

"What would you disguise it as this time?" the old man in hemp asked.

"No, not disguise it. I'd sincerely write her a love letter on that blank sheet. But if she refused, then I'd kill her and complete the mission!" Yue Yang said with a touch of regret. The old man in hemp posed a hypothetical question. "What if she agrees?" Yue Yang was immediately delighted. "If she accepts my courtship, why would I kill her? I'd take her home and make her my concubine!"

"..."

The old man in hemp was speechless.

Though he had lived for many years, he had truly never encountered anyone as shameless as Yue Yang!

Thick-skinned Yue Yang did not feel embarrassed in the slightest. He even wore a smug expression, one that made anyone who saw it feel the urge to punch him.

After pondering for a moment, the old man in hemp slowly said, "One last question. If, after accepting the mission, you discovered that the target was one of your relatives, what would you do?"

Yue Yang's smile remained unchanged, but a deeply hidden chill flashed through his eyes. "To me, there are only two kinds of people in this world: the living and the dead. My family belongs to the former. Whoever wants to harm my family, I will turn him into one of the latter..."

The old man in hemp lifted his eyelids and looked at Yue Yang. There seemed to be an odd smile in his eyes. "An assassin with feelings, love, and weaknesses is not a good assassin."

"Whether I'm a good assassin isn't important to me. As long as I can be a living assassin, that's enough!" Yue Yang raised a brow, his expression turning serious. "I've heard a few sayings: love and hatred can both make people unleash unimaginable strength; weaknesses are like double-edged swords—they can be fatal, but they can also make people stronger!"

"..."

After hearing Yue Yang's words, the old man in hemp remained silent for a long time.

When Yue Yang left the Assassin Guild, not only had he obtained recognition of his assassin qualification, he had also received a free Blood Flower Map for Revenge Hunt.

This Blood Flower Map could be integrated into the Summoning Codex, allowing it to provide intelligence on Revenge Hunt at any time.

Even without a codex, its owner could unfold the map once a day. At night, the targets of Revenge Hunt would appear as red dots scattered across the map.

If a particular target was selected, that red dot would enlarge. At the same time, a Blood Flower Dagger would appear, accurately pinning down the target's location.

As for the targets of Revenge Hunt, they were generally people who had killed with malicious intent.

After a warrior maliciously killed someone, if that person used a Revenge Scroll before dying, the killer's appearance would be recorded, and their name would appear on the Assassin Guild's Revenge Bounty Board or the Blood Flower Map. Alternatively, the murdered person's relatives could go to the Assassin Guild and place a bounty for Revenge Hunt against the killer. The period for Revenge Hunt was generally half a year. If the killer was successfully avenged, or if the victim's family no longer pursued the matter, the killer's red name would vanish from the Revenge Bounty Board and the Blood Flower Map.

Yue Yang did not have the kind heart to rid the people of evil. He simply wanted this free map, which had an extremely useful function.

Moreover, malicious killers were generally quite strong. They would make the most suitable fertilizer for cultivating Thorn Flowers.

After obtaining the Blood Flower Map, transmigrator Yue Yang began his first Revenge Hunt. He set his sights on a fellow nicknamed Rock. Although he did not know what heinous acts this man had committed, Yue Yang discovered that at least eight families had jointly placed a Revenge Hunt bounty on him, offering five gold coins.

The bounty was not much, but it was not little either. At the Mercenary Guild, five gold coins was the price for killing a mutated Lightning Leopard.

Converted into RMB, that was fifty thousand yuan.

By underworld prices back home, chopping off a hand cost two thousand, taking a leg cost five thousand, and killing someone cost thirty to fifty thousand. It was about the same price. Of course, on the Dragon Soaring Continent, this was merely the minimum amount for a Revenge Hunt bounty. The highest bounty on the Revenge Bounty Board reached over a thousand gold coins. Yue Yang simply could not accept such high-value revenge bounties yet. He was still only a novice assassin, without fame or experience.

With the mindset that even a mosquito's leg was meat, Yue Yang did not think five gold coins was too little. After all, grinding monsters and leveling up began with small mobs. Who would run off to kill a big boss right from the start? Wouldn't that be courting death?

Rock, the target of the Revenge Hunt, had not hidden himself away. He strolled down the street openly, pouring yellow wine into his mouth as he went.

Others might fear assassins coming to exact revenge.

But a mercenary like him, who had support behind him and possessed a certain degree of strength himself, was not someone ordinary assassins were willing to provoke for five gold coins. Thus, he had always lived quite comfortably. So what if he had betrayed his friends for glory and killed a few companions? What was the big deal? Before money, everyone would do the same! When he had time, he would go rape those fellows' widows, then slaughter their children and see who still dared to place a Revenge Hunt on him...

Rock was very pleased with himself. Already slightly drunk, he felt as if he had found the feeling of being a strong man.

The strong could do whatever they pleased, couldn't they?

Just as Rock was laughing smugly, he suddenly noticed a masked young thief standing in the deserted, silent middle of the street. The youth's eyes shone like stars, and his voice was as clear as Stone Forest Creek. "Are you Rock from the Revenge Bounty Board?"