“Tseng Caihong. You called for me?”

She turned from where she sat on her sword, the half-up ponytail flapping in the wind. This high up, her hair whipped around her, caught in the winds. Her seven-colored eyes dipped below, long lashes shading their scintillating light. “Jinzhi Zhimei. I must apologize.”

“Oh? An apology? How rare.” Jinzhi Zhimei laughed lightly, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. Since the veil already covered her face, the gesture was completely unnecessary.

“Hmm.” Tseng Caihong stared into the distance, eyes locked to infinity. With effort, she tore them away, regarding the beautiful cultivator once more. “Your hostage. I killed him. You’ll have to fetch another.”

Jinzhi Zhimei’s brows furrowed beneath the veil. “No…?”

“No? You already have another?”

Gesturing below, Jinzhi Zhimei shook her head. “The hostage is still alive and well. Did you… perhaps… make a mistake? Far be it from me to suggest one such as yourself might be imperfect, yet…”

Tseng Caihong squinted at Jinzhi Zhimei. She turned, her eyes piercing through the tiers.

Silence. The furrow in Tseng Caihong’s brows grew deeper. “He’s alive? But I saw…”

“Could the eyes that pierce all have a fault?” Jinzhi Zhimei wondered aloud.

Tseng Caihong turned, narrowing her eyes at Jinzhi Zhimei.

“Not that one such as I would ever…”

“Save your breath.” Tseng Caihong put her foot on the blade and stood, planting her other foot beside it. “He was dead. I killed him. My own eyes saw the life and soul leave him.”

Jinzhi Zhimei chuckled. “Then he must be even more of a prodigy than we thought.”

“Hmph.” Seven-colored light burst out from Tseng Caihong’s form. The light swirled, bright rays growing brighter. Jinzhi Zhimei raised her arm to shield her eyes.

The light vanished. Tseng Caihong, too, disappeared, leaving nothing behind.

“A child she killed, yet who was not dead? Gui Hui… you’re more than you appear, aren’t you?” Jinzhi Zhimei tapped the side of her chin. “Tseng Caihong has eyes that see all… as long as she knows to look. If she says he was dead, then he was dead. I wonder… what kind of wondrous technique or artifact does that small body hold? After all, that much potential… a disciple sent so easily as a hostage couldn’t possibly be so wondrous.”

Under the veil, an unpleasant grin distorted her beautiful face for a moment. “If Tseng Caihong fails to harvest whatever secret that boy holds, then she can’t mind if I give a try.”

--

“Dismissed!”

Almost in sync with Zhong Zhisho’s call, Hui sneezed. He rubbed his nose and looked around. Was someone talking about me?

Tian Mo patted Hui on the back. “Catch a cold?”

Hui fixed him with a look. “Elder Brother, we’re cultivators.”

Tian Mo laughed. “That’s right. I forgot.”

“Forgot… ah, yes, it’s only been a few years, no?” Hui muttered, half to himself. After all, most of these children have only taken the very first steps on the path of cultivation. Unlike myself.

He sighed, looking up. “One day, you’ll fly in the sky… live a life so long that it seems endless. Isn’t that wondrous?”

“Mmm. We’re assassins. Those who bloody their hands don’t live long lives,” Tian Mo said with a shrug.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“That’s where I’m saying you’re wrong. Your objective shouldn’t be to kill, it should be to live long, fruitful lives!” Hui shook his head at Tian Mo.

“I get that it’s different for you, Gui Hui. You’re a hostage. But we chose this.” Tian Mo looked at Hui, his eyes unusually determined and clear. “We chose to become killers for our own reasons. Whether it’s revenge, or to pay back a favor… we all have our reasons.”

“Not me. I wanted to be a musician,” the poison needle girl interjected.

Tian Mo sighed loudly. Turning over his shoulder, he gave her a dramatic look. “Meimei, you’re fortunate they gave you the chance to become an assassin after you killed your zither teacher. That counts as a reason.”

Meimei pursed her lips. “He was a shitty teacher, anyways.”

Hui edged a little further away from Meimei. That’s the kind of protagonist-like energy I should avoid at all costs! Or if not protagonist-like, that’s at least ‘woman who raises a tyrannical Young Master’ energy. Not energy I want to spend too much time around!

“Are you prepared for poison resistance training today, Gui Hui?” Tian Mo asked. “I won’t eat your rice today. No matter how scared you are, you have to eat it!”

Hui licked his lips. Dammit. You were so willing to eat the extra portion until today! What changed?

Or… is this a hint? Is today the day they usually poison the food? Hui peered at Tian Mo, investigating his expression.

“What?” Tian Mo asked innocently.

Too late. I missed it. Hui looked away. “Nothing, nothing.” As long as I assume the food is poison, I can’t go wrong. It’s a simple trial, in the end. Nullifying poison… ah, dammit. I’ve never worked on poison resistance, since I’ve rarely encountered poison… but in a sect that focuses poison, I suppose it’s something I’ll need!

But… how to gain poison resistance? Even if I start now, the low-level poisons they’d feed the disciples won’t be enough for me to gain much resistance at all. Hui bit his lip thoughtfully, brows faintly furrowed.

Leaving the secret realm, they returned to the Fourth Tier. No bullies blocked the cafeteria this time, not that I’ve seen Da Gongji or his cronies in a while. Hmm. Well, maybe he learned his lesson!

As they approached the counter, Hui took a deep breath, breathing in the rice steam. I don’t smell anything. Maybe it’s fine.

Across the room, one of the young assassins stiffened, paled, then dropped face-first into his bowl of rice.

…or maybe not! Hui eyed the rice bowl uncertainly.

The lunch lady smiled at him. “Go on.”

Can I refuse? Hui eyed her, then decided against trying. He reached for the bowl.

A seven-colored sword swooped in front of him, blocking his reach.

Hui stared. The lunch lady immediately ducked her head and saluted.

Behind Hui, Tian Mo stared, open-mouthed. “Gui Hui, what did you do?”

“I don’t know,” Hui muttered back.

Tseng Caihong walked over, her multicolored eyes half-shut and dull, the colors no longer swirling. She looked at the lunch lady. “Make it special.”

The lunch lady saluted again, vanishing into the cafeteria.

Hui cleared his throat. “Small disciple is grateful for Senior’s attention, but there’s no need to pay special attention to this small disciple. What if the other disciples feel jealous? All things must be fair in education as in raising children, Senior.”

Ignoring him, Tseng Caihong accepted a fresh bowl of rice from the lunch lady. She held it out to Hui.

Hui looked down at the rice, then back up at her. Absolutely not. I won’t be touching that.

“Take it,” Tseng Caihong ordered. Where it stood upright in the countertop, the seven-colored sword trembled, as if hungry for blood.

Snatching up the rice bowl, Hui bowed. “Thank you for the food, Senior!”

She nodded. “Come with me.”

“Ah, Senior, actually, I was going to sit with—” Hui gestured at Tian Mo.

“Gui Hui, I just remembered, I promised to sit with Meimei!” Tian Mo said, nodding.

Hui narrowed his eyes. You traitor! Saving your own hide…

Tian Mo gave Hui a jaunty wave as he scurried off.

“There’s no obstacles, then. Come with me,” Tseng Caihong declared.

Mmm… I guess not. Reluctantly, Hui followed her off.

He expected her to fly off somewhere, but Tseng Caihong walked over to one of the tables and sat down. As if the force of her sitting sent them flying, all the disciples at that table jumped up and ran away, leaving Hui alone with no backup. Grimacing internally, Hui sat opposite Tseng Caihong.

Tseng Caihong looked at Hui. Hui smiled at her. “Can I help you?”

“You aren’t going to eat?” she asked.

Are you fucking kidding me? Am I going to eat? Fuck no! I know there’s poison in this rice now, for sure! I have no wish to die. He opened his mouth.

Tseng Caihong narrowed her eyes.

“Eat, I’m going to eat!” Hui said, reaching for his chopsticks. Come to think of it, isn’t Tseng Caihong here because she’s suspicious? Since I died, after all. But then… if I eat the poison and die, like an ordinary disciple… it’ll prove all her suspicions wrong!

I’ll admit, the dismount could use some work… I have no idea how I’m going to un-suspiciously come back to life—but it’s better than sitting here and continuing to grow her suspicions by successfully surviving the poison or refusing to eat it.

…of course, I have no idea how I’m going to keep from dying to the poison, either, but… if nothing else, it probably isn’t a poison and herbicide? That only happened once. In the general case, my plant form should be a good way to avoid dying.

Reaching out with his chopsticks, Hui took a big bite of rice. It tasted delicious, the same as any ordinary rice. He went to swallow, then hesitated.

But it did happen once! It did happen. I can’t rely on my plant form! Instead… instead, I’ll do this!