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Tha assassination mission was scheduled at midnight. The apprentices started to prepare for it early: putting on their night suits, wiping their sabers, and testing the use of their knockout powder drugs.

The killer leader Shangguan Yushi simply treated Slave Huan as a humble handyman and ordered him to do all sorts of drudgery. For example, she made him clean the snow in the yard, and wash the utensils in all the rooms. She would take every opportunity to mock at his unfruitful return.

Gu Shenwei did not say anything about his suspicions, because his suggestion would only bring about an adverse effect in front of Shangguan Yushi. He was wiping a closet in one of the rooms at around noon when Maid Lotus finally found a chance to come inside alone.

“Listen, tonight’s assassination is a trap.”

Since time was pressing, Gu Shenwei came straight to the point on seeing Maid Lotus. She did not seem surprised at all. As she did during the slaughter of apprentices, she was willing to be the leader’s assistant and adviser. She nodded, implying she knew what Slave Huan meant.

“The Ten-Dragon Gang will send out not only seven leaders and twelve guardsmen, but also a large group of archers who’ll hide in the empty wine jars outside the house and crawl out as soon as you go inside. The house’s very simple and crude with thatched roofs. I guess they will set fire to the house first and then shoot from the outside.”

“Is there a mole in the castle?” Although Maid Lotus always stayed calm and collected, she could not help feeling surprised. Golden Roc Fort was the biggest killer organization in the Western Region or possibly even the world. Who would risk working as a mole for a small gang?

“If you all die there, I’ll be condemned as the mole.” Gu Shenwei had figured out the whole thing except the last bit. “By then, someone will prove I have talked to Elderly Dragon. Moreover, there’ll be a sum of money under my name in some place unknown to everyone. The trap’s perfect.”

“Is it Mister Guo? He still wants to kill you even at the expense of twenty killer apprentices and Master Yu?” Maid Lotus asked.

“It’s him, but you’re not the expense, I am. Look at the survivors in the Tattooed Arm Gang. Most of them are servants belonging to the Second Young Master, the Sixth Young Master, and the Eighth Young Master. Since Mister Guo is the First Young Master’s trusted follower, he must believe that we deliberately eradicated apprentices on his side and want to take revenge.”

“That makes sense. It was said that Wildhorse intended to pledge allegiance to the Second Young Master, and Liuhua also seems to have been drawn to the Sixth Young Master’s side.”

Someone walked by the room, so Gu Shenwei waited until there was no sound outside before he added, “Try to remind Master Yu and don’t tell her it’s my guess.”

Gu Shenwei breathed a sigh of relief as Maid Lotus left, who was hoping Shangguan Yushi would not be too stupid. Gu Shenwei could not help exclaiming over the unpredictability of life. He had long wished that he could get rid of the little devil, but now he was trying to save her life when a great opportunity was lying ahead.

The man who walked out of the Xu’s must be a guard of Golden Roc Fort. He would prove that Slave Huan had secretly talked with Elderly Dragon. The fact that Elderly Dragon’s son spent the night with Xu Yanwei was merely a show. Even if Slave Huan had not interfered, he would still find an excuse to fight with Slave Huan before leaving. Thus, Elderly Dragon would have a reason to come for Slave Huan.

They, the siblings of the Xu family, Elderly Dragon, and Dragon Tooth were all pretending.

Gu Shenwei had already wiped the cabinet surface and made it as smooth as a mirror, but he still subconsciously kept cleaning it as he was thinking over the matter.

As the night fell, Shangguan Yushi summoned everyone. With a rag in hand, Gu Shenwei watched her earnestly checking every apprentice’s outfit. He also noticed Liuhua who stayed in the corner. With his night suit on, the marksman appeared to be thinner and smaller than anyone else. The shortbow he held in his hand seemed to be a harmless toy.

Liuhua had once attempted to assassinate Maid Lotus but had failed. Gu Shenwei then looked at Maid Lotus, who happened to look back. Judging from her calm expression, Gu Shenwei knew she had already instilled the necessary information into Shangguan Yushi since that was her strength. She would make those thoughts appear to be Master Yu’s.

The assassination team set off, leaving Gu Shenwei alone in the yard. He had to clear the remaining weapons and all the sundries away, wait for the 21 people to return in triumph, and then go back to the castle together.

After finishing the work, Gu Shenwei stepped into the yard. It was a quiet winter night, cold enough to freeze the most excited and boiling blood, and also quiet enough to hear your own heartbeat.

Suddenly, an idea appeared in his mind. His heart thumped violently making his chest almost pump blood out of his body.

Holy crap!

Gu Shenwei regretfully threw the frozen rag onto the ground, dashed back into the room to grab a saber, and ran frantically out of the yard, hoping to catch up with the assassination team.

South City was full of winding streets and alleys. Gu Shenwei, who was worried, became increasingly annoyed as he chased the assassination team. He walked briskly with his back against the wall to avoid those guests who came for wine and women.

Looking into the distance, he could see there was no light at the gathering point of the Ten-Dragon Gang yet, so he still had time to correct his mistake.

Gu Shenwei did not head for the destination directly, which was a killer’s instinct trained by East Castle. No matter how urgent the situation was, he had to take a detour to check the surroundings.

Located on the fringes of the city, the yard of the Ten-Dragon Gang was far from the city wall; with the wilds in the back and the nearest house about 100 steps away. It was a good place for an arson murder indeed.

Every 15th day of each lunar month was a day for all the leaders to meet. No taverns were open today, therefore, there were less and less pedestrians as Gu Shenwei moved on.

Gu Shenwei detoured to a slightly roundabout alley and climbed several short walls on the way. Unfortunately, he did not find any signs of the assassination team.

He arrived at a dead end at the end of the alley and had to climb over another wall before he could return to the route leading to the gathering place of the Ten-Dragon Gang. As he was about to jump over the said wall, he was attacked.

His intuition had reminded him of hidden dangers many times, but this time it failed to do so. Gu Shenwei was unprepared for the attack, so he could only roll on the ground and escape the strike awkwardly.

Luckily, the attacker showed mercy.

“What happened?” a man in the dark asked.

“He’s from the castle,” the attacker in black said in a low voice under the short wall, a saber in his hand.

He was not a killer apprentice, but a regular killer. Gu Shenwei lay on the ground and did not dare to move. All of a sudden, he realized the last missing part of this conspiracy: How to silence people after the mission.

There were two assassination teams. A killer apprentice team was the vanguard, and a professional killer team was secretly following them. If the apprentices were trapped or wiped out, the killers would execute the backup plan and kill all the insiders of the Ten-Dragon Gang.

Killers of Golden Roc Fort never let their enemies stay alive, so Mister Guo did not even need to make any special arrangement. The killers did not know they were the tool of a conspiracy, and they thought they were just carrying out a normal task.

“Kill him,” the man in the dark said. They had received a very clear order and they did not care whether the intruder was a killer apprentice or not.

“Wait. I’m a member of the assassination team,” Gu Shenwei hastily said.

If Mister Guo had arranged someone among the killers, he would kill Slave Huan without hesitation. No one moved, including the killer under the wall. He just gripped the dagger and showed no intention to move forward.

“Why were you left behind?” Apparently, the killer hidden in the dark was the leader as he did almost all the talking.

“I… have a task. It’s part of the plan, so I can’t tell you the details. You must be backup killers, why do you come here so early? It’s your turn only when we fail.”

Gu Shenwei became more confident as he said more. In the end, he stood up and patted off the snow on his body.

There was a long silence in the dark. The killer sounded impatient when he spoke again. “Go.”

No one knew who he was ordering. The killer under the wall climbed over the wall and disappeared. Gu Shenwei also jumped over the wall and turned to the path to the gathering place of the Ten-Dragon Gang.

The yard encircled by mud walls was not far away. Gu Shenwei was able to see a bean-sized light in the yard.

He paused to calm down. Since he had organized many assassinations with small teams in East Castle and also carefully learned the skills Wildhorse used in large-scale assassinations, he assumed that Shangguan Yushi must have gained a lot of help from Wildhorse.

Therefore, he guessed most of the apprentices must be hidden in the wildness behind the gathering place and stay very close to the yard, or they could even be right under the wall. There was at least one person on each side of yard prying the guard’s condition and another one watching the road they came from.

Gu Shenwei roughly figured out Shangguan Yushi’s action plan, so he turned right, avoided small paths, and moved forward with a bent back in the snow. There was a row of suspicious footprints on the snow ground, which seemed to have been left by the killer apprentices.

A few dozens of steps away stood several dead trees. Gu Shenwei detoured to the back of the trees and observed the situation carefully. It was the 15th day of the lunar month, so the moonlight looked extremely cold and bright. There was a black object on a dead tree, which seemed to be a big nest. Gu Shenwei knew it was an apprentice on the watch.

Since the person was unimportant, Gu Shenwei did not want to disturb him. He continued to make a lengthy detour to the yard. Bending his body more and slowing down, he seemed to be a small beast searching for food in the snow ground.

He did not intend to remind the apprentices of the trap unless necessary because he would be accused of sabotaging the mission for doing so.

There was a bump in the snow ground ahead which did not show any abnormality, but one could observe the situation in the yard if staying there. Gu Shenwei crouched and watched for a while until he made sure it was an apprentice and there was no companion around.

Gu Shenwei moved closer and found the apprentice was still motionless. Maybe he was a bit nervous, so he put all his attention to the yard and ignored his back.

Gu Shenwei approached him a bit more, picked up a snowball, and threw it at the apprentice. The snow drift suddenly moved slightly.

“It’s me,” Gu Shenwei said in a low voice and briefly looked up so that the other could recognize him.

The apprentice used to be a member of the Tattooed Arm Gang, now he was one of the zealots. He was surprised to see Slave Huan.

Gu Shenwei crawled toward him and whispered something in the apprentice’s ears. The latter nodded and believed his former leader’s judgment. Meanwhile, he reminded Slave Huan in a low voice, “Watch out. Liuhua the Silencer was over there.”

It was not Liuhua that worried Gu Shenwei, but that he did not know how to explain to Shangguan Yushi.

He made a fundamental mistake. There would be no archers hidden in the wine jars. The killers would neglect the breathing in the jars only in special weather conditions, and Mister Guo would naturally think of this. A counselor of his level would never allow such uncontrollable factor to exist in his plan.

The empty wine jars of last night must have been filled with alcohol tonight. It was not going to be cheap wine like sour vinegar, but spirits that could be easily lit up with fire. They would be placed along the wall forming a circle and probably there would be some dry wood nearby. Once the 21 assassins entered the yard, the ambushers would set fire and capture them all at once.