"Tai Chi Chuan?"
Hearing Xu Long introduce himself, Blood Wolf couldn't help freezing for a moment.
As a native-born Chinese, he had naturally heard of the famous Tai Chi Chuan.
But this kung fu, the most widely practiced in the country, had hardly any record of actual combat and was often treated as a joke.
Yet when he got a clear look at Xu Long's opening stance, Blood Wolf's expression immediately grew serious.
Smooth and perfectly balanced, without a single opening.
Internal martial arts excelled at close-range fighting, making them a particular counter to sweeping, wide-ranging moves.
He had thought Tai Chi Chuan was nothing more than something old men practiced for exercise in parks, but judging by Xu Long's stance, he clearly had the real thing.
"Heh, that old men's stuff? Let me..."
Blood Wolf sneered. His words were dismissive, but inwardly, he was extremely cautious.
Before he could finish, however, a terrifying sense of danger suddenly surged into his heart.
"How..."
Puchi!
Puchi!
Puchi!
Flesh split open, and blood sprayed everywhere.
Only then did Blood Wolf see what had attacked him.
Plum-blossom darts, each the size of a palm.
"You specialize in mental power..."
Blood Wolf's face was filled with horror. Then he saw a black dot rapidly grow larger.
[Hidden mission: 4, kill Blood Wolf! Complete! 500 points awarded!]
"This is the strongest E-rank? Pretty average!"
Xu Long snorted disdainfully. After putting away the spiral needle and plum-blossom darts, he leaped away toward the Landlord.
Having stayed out of jianghu conflicts for so long, they had long since lost that ruthless killing drive.
The two killers had been beaten half to death, but unlike Blood Wolf, they had not lost their lives.
"Coolie, I was just about to come check on you!"
The Landlord spoke, only to see Xu Long pull a gun from his coat and fire two shots, bang, bang, killing the assassins lying on the ground.
[Hidden mission: 5, kill Yellow Goat! Complete! 300 points awarded!] [Hidden mission: 6, kill White Ox! Complete! 300 points awarded!]
With six hundred points in hand, Xu Long glanced toward the tailor and Coolie. A constant clamor came from that direction; the fighting was intense.
"..."
Looking at the assassins Xu Long had shot dead, the Landlord did not ask why.
The enemy had already come to their door to kill them. Fussing over it would only make them look weak.
"I'll go check on those two."
Xu Long nodded to the Landlord and headed off first toward Coolie.
The assassins over there were much weaker, but they were still putting up a spirited fight against Coolie and the tailor.
He had to admit that the judgment and experience of assassins in this era were far more than a notch or two below those of his previous life.
As assassins, instead of choosing simple, efficient methods like ambushes or poison, they came straight to the door and fought head-on. They had to be sick in the head.
If it were Xu Long, he wouldn't even meet these people. He would simply poison them all, or hide in the shadows and shoot them.
He would be safe, and they would die without pain. How nice!
While the assassins were fighting Coolie and the tailor, Xu Long took them out with a few shots.
"Another twelve hundred points in the bag!"
Xu Long put away his Type 54 pistol with unlimited ammunition, feeling delighted.
Knowing the plot was a tremendous advantage. His classmates had worked for ten days in a sweatshop in Spider-Man's world for only three hundred points, while he could earn twelve hundred just by firing a few shots.
Six hundred of those were for killing the two assassins, and the other six hundred were for saving Coolie and the tailor.
Of course, his own considerable strength was also part of the reason he could pull it off.
Someone else might not have been able to do it.
"Are you all right?"
Xu Long helped the nearly exhausted tailor up and asked him with concern.
"I won't die just yet!"
The tailor drew a heavy breath, his gaze full of gratitude as he looked at Xu Long.
Half of the ten great assassins had now fallen, and Xu Long had also received seventeen hundred points.
So far, Xu Long had earned a total of forty-six hundred points from uncovering the plot. If nothing went wrong, the rewards he received at the end of this mission should be no less than last time.
Coolie and the tailor had suffered some injuries and would be unable to continue fighting for a while.
Xu Long hadn't been counting on them anyway. Now that he had received the reward for saving them, the two were no longer much use to him.
To Xu Long, everyone in this world was a tool for farming points. He felt no anger, pity, or other such emotions toward them.
The dawn moon was silent, and all was still. Xu Long, lying in bed, suddenly sat up.
He had received a message from Red Queen: the remaining assassins had arrived.
"That was quick!"
Xu Long sneered and leaped out the window.
At the Axe Gang headquarters, two men and a woman sat on one side, while Red Queen, disguised as Brother Sum, sat opposite them.
The three were all more than two meters apart, keeping their guard up against one another.
"Three of the ten great assassins, summoned all at once. Boss, are you looking down on us?"
Poison Scorpion, sitting on the side, took a drag of her cigarette, a hint of displeasure on her seductive face.
"That's right. Aside from the legendary Condor Heroes, The Beast, ranked first among the ten great assassins, and Heaven and Earth, ranked second, who else is worth the three of us taking on?"
The man in the middle chuckled, his face full of disdain.
"The Beast suffered a cultivation deviation while training and was locked up in an asylum. Otherwise, I wouldn't have called you here."
Red Queen smiled and continued, "As long as you kill them, money is no object."
"What do you mean by that?"
At Red Queen's words, Poison Scorpion, on the left, narrowed her eyes, and killing intent suddenly burst forth from her.
Though she was indeed inferior to The Beast, she was still the fourth-ranked assassin in the world, not someone just anyone could insult.
"Wait... You only mentioned The Beast just now. Could it be..."
A thought suddenly sprang into Poison Scorpion's mind.
"You're right. Apart from The Beast, all ten great assassins have come. The ones we're dealing with this time are none other than the legendary Condor Heroes."
Red Queen was neither warm nor cold, neither arrogant nor impatient.
She was stalling for time, waiting for Xu Long to arrive.
Liquid-metal robots were best at infiltration and assassination; their head-on combat ability was only average.
Red Queen didn't mind fighting the three assassins head-on, but it would be troublesome if one or two escaped.
The internet was poorly developed in this era, making it very difficult to find someone.
"The Condor Heroes?"
Hearing Red Queen's words, Poison Scorpion couldn't help shuddering.
Although she was conceited, she still knew her own limits.
Experts like the Condor Heroes were far beyond her ability to handle.
Or rather, of the ten great assassins, only The Beast could stand against them. Even Heaven and Earth, ranked second on the assassin rankings, were no match for those two.
"What is the meaning of this? You clearly said before that it was Hung Gar Iron Wire Fist and Eighteen-Routine Tam Tui. How did they suddenly become the Condor Heroes?"
Poison Scorpion glared at Red Queen. It looked as though, if she didn't get a satisfactory answer, she would turn on her employer and kill her.
"The Condor Heroes will be dealt with by someone else. You..."
At that point, a smile suddenly appeared on Red Queen's face. "All right, time's up..."