Chapter 131: The Person Who Crawled Out of the Coffin

Chapter 131: Chapter 131: The Person Who Crawled Out of the Coffin

"Natural Residence..."

Putting away the Communication Jade Talisman, Su Han let out a long sigh.

Such an adorably clueless assassin, hiding right in the territory of his target.

’If I don’t give him a proper welcome, I’ll feel bad about it.’

"Su Xiao’Er..."

An hour later, the shopkeeper of the Natural Residence Imperial City Store left the Emperor’s Palace, his face... full of bewilderment.

He couldn’t quite understand what his master’s instructions meant.

He was to secretly monitor a guest named Fifth Six Seven’s every move and report any action immediately.

But he was also told not to alarm the man and to treat him as their most honored guest.

’This... If he’s really an honored guest, Natural Residence doesn’t have a tradition of monitoring our guests’ every move!’

’And if he’s a suspicious person who needs monitoring... there’s no need to give him such fine treatment, is there?’

Clutching the Jade Talisman in his hand, Shopkeeper Wu gently shook his head.

"Oh, forget it. It’s not for a subordinate like me to ponder. It’s only natural that I don’t understand. If I did, I wouldn’t be the one taking orders.

Anyway, I just need to do as the master instructed."

Shopkeeper Wu muttered to himself, tucked the Jade Talisman safely against his body, patted it preciously, and strode off.

Fifteen minutes later, Fifth Six Seven stared in utter shock at the table laden with fine food and wine, supposedly provided free of charge for Natural Residence’s 10,001st most honored guest.

’Is... there really such a good deal in the world?’

He was starting to like this country and this city.

Alas... it was a pity. He was an assassin. A heartless assassin.

’But this way, after I complete my mission, I can leave openly instead of having to sneak away, right? No more dining and dashing!’

The thought that for once he could be respectfully seen off instead of scurrying away like a thief...

...made Fifth Six Seven’s fondness for this place deepen a little more.

While Fifth Six Seven devoured the delicacies on the table, wishing he could swallow his own tongue and marveling, ’Is there anything more delicious in this world?’

Back in the Emperor’s Palace, the feast laid out before Su Han was more than a cut above Fifth Six Seven’s in both flavor and sophistication.

Since he had already summoned the shopkeeper of Natural Residence, Su Han had simply asked him to have a table of fine food and wine packed up and delivered as he left.

When it came to his master, Shopkeeper Wu was naturally far more diligent and attentive than he would be for an honored guest like Fifth Six Seven.

After all, no matter how honored, a guest was just a guest. The master... he was the one who paid the wages and decided his fate.

He picked up a piece of crystal deer tail—steamed until translucent and so tender it melted in his mouth—and savored its explosive texture.

He took a sip of the vintage 1082 wine from a warm, translucent jade cup.

Su Han set down the cup, a slight frown creasing his brow.

He looked up at the sky.

"Tell me, for someone as adorable, as kind, as honest, and as handsome as I am,"

"why is there always someone out to get me?"

Drawing his gaze back from the starry sky, Su Han looked at Su Yi, who was sitting across from him.

"Sigh! Who knows who’s targeting me this time."

"Truly, when one is too outstanding, even if you don’t provoke anyone, there will always be those who can’t stand you."

Seeing Su Han’s shamelessly self-righteous act, Su Yi pursed her lips into a light smile, a thoughtful look in her eyes.

After a moment of thought, her right hand, which was resting on the table, began to tap lightly and rhythmically.

With each tap, an abstruse and unfathomable ripple spread out. A bizarre, mysterious power that permeated the world answered some sort of call, manifesting clearly on the tabletop.

The stone table seemed to transform into an LCD screen, playing a scene that piqued Su Han’s interest.

In Central State, deep within the nineteenth layer of the abyss, at the Assassin Alliance Headquarters, a slender figure shrouded in a black cloak slowly approached the main gate.

The two guards at the gate cast wary glances, opening their mouths to shout a challenge.

An aged hand emerged from the cloak, holding a Token engraved with a vertical sword.

The two guards’ expressions changed the moment they saw the Token.

When they made out a certain number on the Token, the two guards reflexively dropped to their knees with a THUD.

Their faces were filled with reverence.

The figure hidden in the cloak didn’t spare them a glance, stepping between the two kneeling Assassin Alliance Headquarters guards as if they didn’t exist.

The image followed the cloaked figure as they entered the Assassin Alliance Headquarters, passed through a long corridor, took a long and winding path, and arrived before a small wooden house marked by the passage of time.

Outside the wooden house, the power of an Array activated upon sensing someone’s approach.

The figure simply gathered their cloak tighter, covering their entire body, and walked straight through the Array’s barrier without pause, easily reaching the door of the wooden house.

Standing before the door, the figure gazed at the wooden house—a structure that seemed to have existed for countless ages, one that should have crumbled to dust eons ago, yet was bizarrely frozen in the long river of time. A long sigh escaped from within the cloak.

This was the first sound the cloaked figure in the image had made.

It was faint, but one could tell it was the voice of a woman.

An aged voice... one that carried the stench of decay.

For some reason, it reminded Su Han of a classic quote from his past life: "Even if I die, even if I’m nailed inside my coffin, I must use my decaying voice to tell the world..."

"...blah, blah, blah!"

Thus, what should have been an eerie scene inexplicably gave Su Han a comical sense of déjà vu.

After that soft sigh, the same withered, ancient, and wrinkled hand—one that seemed to be nothing but skin and bone, utterly devoid of flesh and blood—extended from the cloak once more.

The cloaked figure looked down at the Token in their hand for a long time before placing it into a slot on the side of the wooden door.

The slot seemed to have been made specifically for this Token; it fit perfectly, without a single gap.

The old, withered hand reached out again, grasped the Token, and turned it gently.

"CLICK... KAKAKA..."

The wooden door of the house emitted the sound of turning gears, as if it had been dormant for ages. Mixed in with the turning was the grating sound of rust flaking off metal that had been exposed to the wind, sun, and rain for far too long—a sound that set one’s teeth on edge.

"CLICK... KAKAKA... CREEEAK..."

After a series of teeth-grating clicks, the wooden door made a hoarse sound and slowly opened, revealing a crack.

Standing at the entrance, the cloaked figure peered through the widening gap at what lay behind the door. They remained motionless for a long time, as if lost in reminiscence, or perhaps hesitating to proceed.

After a very long while, as if they had finished reminiscing all they could, or had finally made some sort of resolution,

the cloaked figure finally lifted a foot and took a small step forward.

The scene instantly shifted to the inside of the wooden house. The cloaked figure stood before a white jade wall. They pressed the Token into the right side of the wall, and their old, withered hand began to write upon its surface.

"Supreme Bounty: Inheritor of the Emperor’s Blood..."

Watching the lines of Plum Blossom Seal Script appear on the white jade wall, Su Han knew... this was the reason for the assassination attempt against him.

But at this moment, that wasn’t Su Han’s primary concern.

It was... the sound of the cloaked figure’s voice, seething with clenched teeth as they wrote.

"I refuse to believe you’re really dead. This time... let’s see if you can resist jumping out!"