Chapter 194: Celestial Mandate!

Chapter 194: Chapter 194: Celestial Mandate!

The man holding the gun to cover the rear, Old Qi, had been knocked out by Qi Luo—who had been waiting in the wings to ambush him. He hadn’t even made a formal appearance in front of Zhang Yun before being ruthlessly stabbed, over and over again!

Seeing Zhang Yun’s completely unfazed expression, Qi Luo secretly gulped. She decided she had better not offend this guy casually in the future.

"Are you hurt? I won’t be paying any compensation for work-related injuries!" Zhang Yun looked Qi Luo up and down.

As an assassin, her tracking and anti-tracking abilities, as well as her stealth and concealment skills, were top-notch. Even after being lured to a deserted park in the middle of the night, she had managed to stay safe from five enemies. That was no small feat.

Qi Luo felt a bit helpless. "I wasn’t asking for compensation, it’s just that you..."

"You wanted to play around?"

Play around!

Qi Luo thought this guy was a complete psychopath. Silencing them was one thing, but he did it just to play around? Then again, it made sense. A single strike was enough to silence someone, so why did he keep stabbing them repeatedly? Her profession prioritized efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Assassins killed for money and never did extra work for free. Perhaps he really did it just for fun? That was just twisted.

"Well... what I mean is, you’ve already taken them all out. But how are we going to deal with this scene? There are five bodies; we can’t hide them!"

Zhang Yun hadn’t given it much thought. Hearing her question, he decided to call Ouyang Kunpeng and have him arrange for someone to clean it up.

"We actually have a complementary industry called Cleaner Fish, which handles the aftermath for assassins. They possess extraordinary professional standards, rich Experience, and rapid response times. Depending on the situation, they can stage accidental death scenes or completely dispose of the bodies..."

Zhang Yun interrupted her explanation. "Just tell me how much it costs!"

Qi Luo was on his side now, so she wouldn’t make up these Cleaner Fish just to trick him. Zhang Yun had a bit of money, and if a problem could be solved with cash, he didn’t want to owe anyone a favor.

"One hundred thousand."

"No problem. Contact them, and I’ll transfer the money to you."

Perhaps Zhang Yun had agreed a little too readily, because Qi Luo paused in surprise before adding another sentence. "One hundred thousand per body."

Zhang Yun grew suspicious. "You aren’t scamming me, are you? Whether it’s one body or two, they only have to make one trip!"

"Whether it’s one passenger or a hundred, it’s still one trip. Do trains and planes charge per trip? Even buses charge per person!"

"Shouldn’t your Cleaner Fish be considered taxis?"

Five hundred thousand made Zhang Yun’s wallet ache. Although selling a single ginseng root would earn him far more than that with almost no cost, he had never spent so much money at once. It completely exceeded his spending habits.

"This is my regular customer price, and I’m not making any middleman markup here. You could also just leave them..." Qi Luo put on an expression that clearly said she wasn’t the one who killed them anyway.

Zhang Yun realized the commotion was indeed a bit too big. Moreover, he had stabbed them all into a bloody pulp to "feed" the Blood Demon Blade. No one would believe it if they tried to pass it off as an accident.

"Five hundred thousand for the whole package, then! You work for me now, so you can’t bite the hand that feeds you and extort my money."

Seeing his pained expression, Qi Luo couldn’t help but smile.

"Of course. They have professional ethics, and so do I. You transfer the money, and I’ll call the guys!"

Zhang Yun asked for her account number and transferred five hundred thousand over. Qi Luo immediately sent a message, calling people over to do the job.

"Wait! From what you’re saying, they’re already in the park? Are you sure it’s not your own team scamming me out of my money?" Zhang Yun looked at her suspiciously.

Qi Luo rolled her eyes at him. "This was originally my mission, so I had to arrange it in advance. Otherwise, how would they make it in time? Even if they set off the moment they receive the call, traveling takes time, and there might be traffic jams."

Zhang Yun felt that made some sense, but something still felt off. "But I did this to save you!"

"Right, and I thank you for that. But you’re the one who killed them all, aren’t you? You even played your twisted little game! You still have to pay for it." Qi Luo pointed at their surroundings.

Speechless, Zhang Yun gathered the knives, swords, and guns, then walked away.

As soon as he rounded a boulder, he immediately entered the Peach Blossom Spring Space and stored everything inside, especially the Blood Demon Blade!

He could sense that after absorbing the blood of eight people just now, it had developed a heavy, murderous aura!

If the Sect Leader of the Donghuang Sect also practiced related Secret Techniques, it might be even easier for him to sense its location.

Zhang Yun decided not to take it out for the time being. He would keep it isolated for a while longer and see what happened.

He was calm and composed this time, unlike during yesterday’s bloody battle. Zhang Yun had been especially careful not to get any blood on himself, but he still felt like a faint smell of blood lingered in the air.

He strolled along the top of the small hill in the park, letting the morning breeze scatter the scent of blood.

On his way back, Zhang Yun grew curious. Wondering how those Cleaner Fish operated, he turned back toward that remote corner.

However, before he could even get close, he heard the sound of hurried, chasing footsteps coming from ahead!

Zhang Yun instinctively hid behind a clump of bushes. Whether it was the Cleaner Fish or backup from the Donghuang Sect coming to assist, he didn’t want a direct confrontation with either.

"Huh?"

A few seconds later, once he got a clear look, he couldn’t help but be surprised. It was actually Qi Luo? She hadn’t left yet? She shouldn’t need to wait to hand things over to the Cleaner Fish personally, right? She was running very fast and lightly, though. Just now, that was...

The answer was immediately revealed. The source of those hurried footsteps had actually circled around to the front, blocking Qi Luo’s path. It was a giant man nearly two meters tall!

No wonder his footsteps had been so loud. But for someone with that physique to be faster than Qi Luo, he was truly extraordinary.

Qi Luo skidded to a halt and said in a low voice, "Asura, don’t force my hand!"

"You know very well that I’m not the one forcing you. You need to give Mr. Indisputable an explanation." The giant, Asura, shook his head. "Come back with me!"

Qi Luo said angrily, "Explanation my ass! How many times have I failed a mission? Am I going to be punished just for failing once?"

Asura continued to shake his head. "You know very well it’s not because of the failure. It’s because you’re alive, the target is alive, yet the employer is dead. This shouldn’t have happened. Even if the employer’s friends and family can’t demand an explanation from us, we at the Celestial Mandate must provide one."

"Provide what explanation? I didn’t take out the target, so the Celestial Mandate is going to kill me to be buried with him?" Qi Luo sneered. "Once this precedent is set, can the Celestial Mandate afford the consequences? If you guys fail in the future, are you all going to die too?"

Asura said patiently, "Being unable to win or kill the target is one thing, but according to our current intelligence, you are helping the target. This creates a misunderstanding, making people think the Celestial Mandate colluded with the target to kill the employer! If we don’t explain this properly, our reputation will be ruined."

Qi Luo felt a wave of disappointment. "I barely escaped with my life, and instead of caring about my situation, the Celestial Mandate decides I colluded with the target to kill the employer? Your reputation? Heh. Even Zhang Yun cares about my safety, while you guys... Hmph! This Celestial Destiny Alliance—I’d rather not stay in it anyway!"

"Qi Luo! Don’t talk nonsense; Mr. Indisputable will investigate this thoroughly. If you leave the Celestial Mandate, you will have no one to protect you, and it will be very difficult to get orders!" Asura rebuked her in a low voice. "If you quit at a time like this, you’ll be cementing the charges against yourself. You’re forcing us to kill you!"

"Aren’t you already here to kill me? Go back and tell Mr. Indisputable that I’m done! He can play with his damn Celestial Mandate all by himself!"

Qi Luo scoffed disdainfully. She quickly drew her gun and aimed it at the giant, Asura. "Get lost!"