Myths Begin From Boys' Gong

Upon hearing this, Boss Xu's expression changed slightly. It turned out that despite such a background, he was still not afraid of the complex relationships involved with Hong Minghui, and even left a witness to deliver a message.

The way things turned out was somewhat unexpected, and even more troublesome for him.

If someone has a powerful background and is from a prominent family in Kaiyan County, things can be done. Whether it's Boss Xu or Uncle An, they can use methods like exchanging benefits to make things go in the direction they want.

However, this path is now basically blocked, because the other party has no connection with any of the major or minor forces in Kaiyan County and is a country bumpkin.

That would be one thing, but the real problem is that there's a family behind them with unknown origins and backgrounds, which makes Boss Xu and Uncle An hesitant to act rashly.

Taking a step back, what does it mean that this young man is so domineering and confident, yet he has no powerful connections in the county to back him up?
This shows that the young man named Li Zheng is very confident, has a full understanding of his own martial arts skills, and is not concerned about the forces and people involved behind Hong Minghui. He believes that he can easily resolve everything.

What's truly frightening is someone with unparalleled martial arts skills, yet free from all attachments, weaknesses, and flaws, making them a formidable opponent.

Mr. Xu thought for a moment and said,
"How much silver would it cost to assassinate this person?"

The person behind the iron gate remained silent for a long time before speaking.
"This person is highly skilled in martial arts. Offending him rashly would be a losing proposition, and success is not guaranteed."

This isn't about money. If we're going to offer something, it has to be something of value beyond monetary worth. Do you have that?

Money, to some extent, is indeed the most precious and indispensable thing in the world. The fame and fortune that everyone pursues, in a sense, are represented by money.

However, there are still many things of extraordinary value beyond money, things that cannot even be measured by money.

For example, when it comes to martial arts, even a thousand, ten thousand, or even a million pieces of gold might not be enough to buy a martial arts manual that truly satisfies you.

But by mastering martial arts and gaining power, one can earn thousands, tens of thousands, even millions of gold coins, and so on...

Therefore, the value of the two is naturally incomparable.

For pawnshops, they pursue all kinds of rare items, especially those involving extraordinary powers, which are extremely valuable.

Or rather, the existence of this pawnshop was solely for the purpose of pursuing power on the martial arts and extraordinary levels. It was created to serve as a platform for building influence, recruiting assassins, and making money, which were merely incidental gains.

Mr. Xu thought for a moment and said,
"I possess a manual called 'The Righteous Qi Manual,' a supreme secret martial art of internal martial arts. Unfortunately, it is difficult to learn and the secret ingredients are hard to find. I wonder if it would be enough?"

The person behind the iron gate seemed to be very knowledgeable, and quickly said,
"The Ode to Righteousness, originally named the Song of Righteousness, was created by a great Confucian scholar of the Tianyuan Dynasty 130 years ago. He became famous at a young age, came from a family of martial arts masters, entered the court, and later joined the cabinet. He founded the School of Mind and his martial arts reached the pinnacle of his time, earning him the title of the Confucian Master."

However, this skill is the most profound classic of the philosophy of mind, and one must cultivate both Confucianism and martial arts, and practice the way of rectifying the mind, intention, and spirit before one can cultivate this skill.

The core of its secret medicine is a strange insect called the Hao Ri Insect, which is born in spring and dies in autumn, yet contains a vast and profound power. Without using this insect as medicine, it is difficult to cultivate a vast, authentic, incomparably masculine, and overwhelming righteous energy.

While this skill is valuable, its true worth is limited; it's insufficient to hire an assassin to kill the boy named Li Zheng.

Boss Xu nodded. This Righteous Qi Mantra was the root of his misfortune. Over the years, he had been unable to cultivate it successfully and had long since given up. Therefore, he was willing to offer a copy as payment for hiring Li Zheng to assassinate him. It was just a pity that the other party knew so much about the Righteous Qi Mantra.

He paused, then continued,
"Add a luminous lotus root from Snow Lotus Mountain, and this item will be of extraordinary value. That should be enough!"

"The Radiant Lotus Root is a rare treasure unique to the Snow Lotus Mountain within the Tianyuan region. During the day, its radiance blends with the light of heaven and earth, remaining invisible. Only when the moonlight shines down at night does the radiance emit its brilliance, shining brightly and becoming known to all."

This substance possesses powerful detoxifying properties, abundant vital energy, and a small amount of life-prolonging ability.

Many powerful martial arts remedies require this radiant lotus root as an ingredient; however, just one is not enough.

Mr. Xu's expression was somewhat strange, and his face was unfriendly as he said,
"Isn't that enough? I'll give you an extra five hundred taels of gold. Take it or leave it!"

Although Li Zheng's martial arts skills were beyond the reach of ordinary people, such a powerful figure was someone that ordinary forces were unwilling to provoke.

However, powerful platforms like pawnshops are unlikely to care much.

Firstly, since they are in the business of killing, they wouldn't care about offending people. If they were really afraid of offending people, they wouldn't be in this line of work.

Secondly, Li Zheng's martial arts skills are indeed formidable. Based on the survivor's account and the information we just learned, we can tell that this person may not only be exceptionally talented, but also possess extremely powerful and high-level martial arts skills.

However, being an assassin is never a profession that involves facing enemies head-on. What he has to do is kill his target in the simplest and most concise way.

The art of assassination often involves using any means necessary, including any method, to achieve one's goal.

It's not uncommon for people with weak martial arts skills, or even no martial arts skills, to assassinate powerful figures.

Despite the pawnshop's repeated exorbitant demands, Mr. Xu raised the price once more, but that was his bottom line.

If the other party's appetite were greater, he would rather find a way himself than rely on the pawnshop as a platform for assassination.

The person behind the iron gate hesitated for a long time. Perhaps it wasn't just hesitation, but also observation of Boss Xu. Seeing that he had no intention of raising the price, they understood that this should be his limit.

"Alright, in that case, we'll take on this task. We'll send people to do it in three days to a week."

However, it should be noted beforehand that if the first attempt fails, we will conduct a certain assessment and carry out a second assassination attempt free of charge.

But that's all. If it fails a second time, we'll abandon this project completely, and we'll only refund a portion of your commission. Do you agree?

Mr. Xu's expression was not good; this was practically rubbing salt into his wounds.

What if the pawnshop deliberately fails the first time and then deliberately fails the second time? Wouldn't that be like getting something for nothing from them?

As for what constitutes a skilled killer or an elite assassin, isn't that all up to them to decide?
Even a seven-year-old child can be a formidable assassin, and a disabled person who cannot move can also serve as an elite assassin.

However, the strength of this killer platform actually lies in the platform itself and the use of its reputation as a guarantee.

If he doesn't believe it, he can refuse; it's all up to him.

After thinking it over, Mr. Xu figured that this pawnshop should have some credibility and be quite reputable, so he agreed to the arrangement.

As for what happens next, that's up to the pawnshop.

After Boss Xu left, the two whispered to each other behind the iron gate.

"Are we really going to deal with this Li Zheng? I think it's a bit risky. Although he's young, judging from his character and actions, he's definitely not a naive young upstart. He might not be easy to handle!" The other person, the one who had just met with Boss Xu, had a completely different opinion.
“I don’t think so. Li Zheng has a secret, a big secret. What is his background? Why did his family abandon him in Xiaohan Village?”
Even if they later found him and taught him martial arts, how could he, at such a young age, have mastered such skills to such a high level?
Is it simply that he has exceptional talent and aptitude, or is it that the martial arts he practices are particularly powerful and unique?

Moreover, with this scapegoat as our scapegoat, even if there is trouble afterward, we can just sell him off.

Besides, even if we fail, we'll still make a profit, won't we?

As a platform for assassins, this pawnshop takes a commission when it introduces business to assassins. If two assassins fail one after another, they can still take a commission. As for the assassins' outcome, that's not what they care about.

Don't even think about expecting them to take revenge.

"Then who should we choose? If we lose a skilled assassin, I'm afraid the boss will punish us!"

Assassins are like martial artists; some are really low-level, while others are really high-level.

Especially for skilled assassins, each one is extremely unique, possessing their own distinctive advantages and irreplaceable qualities.

Such assassins are a scarce resource for any power.

Of course, an assassin's goal is to kill. An assassin who cannot kill, or who can only bully the weak and fear the strong, is like a sword or a knife that will eventually rust and become so dull that it can no longer even kill.

Swords need to be sharpened; the more they are sharpened, the sharper they become—this principle is irrefutable.

"Let's choose Yu Si. He's a natural-born killer. He's good at killing fish, and killing people is just a side thing for him. I believe he can handle it."

Meng Zhao was unaware that Boss Xu would hire an assassin to kill him. After the purchase was completed, he asked Zhou Zhihan to take Hong Minghui and her daughter and follow Zhang Kang's caravan back to Xiaohan Village.

He himself stayed in the small house, diligently cultivating the Three-Part Returning to Origin Qi, tirelessly strengthening the primordial energy within his body. His martial arts foundation increased day by day, and it could be said that there were no bottlenecks or obstacles in his martial arts. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he made rapid progress.

His realm is so high that he only needs to replenish his power to perfectly match his realm and power, without any situation where his realm is insufficient to control his power.

Meanwhile, they were secretly waiting for the people who were chasing Hong Minghui to come to their door.

They stayed there for three days.

These three days were not leisurely. Meng Zhao's senses were sharp, and he vaguely sensed that someone was following him, observing him, or even monitoring him.

This sounds incredible, but it's actually quite possible.

On the land of China, Meng Zhaoyuan has achieved spiritual enlightenment, his martial arts are extraordinary and saintly, he has the appearance of a celestial being, and he is destined to become a god or demon.

However, in this Tianyuan Kingdom, Meng Zhao's martial arts skills plummeted, and due to the impossibility of the rules of heaven and earth, it is conceivable that there is absolutely no possibility of him recovering the terrifying martial power of his previous life.

Therefore, in this place, he cannot be considered omniscient and omnipotent, having everything around him in his own hands.

Being followed and monitored, Meng Zhao confirmed the matter despite only having a slight intuition.

So, which side did it?

Meng Zhao hardly needed to think to roughly guess that it was related to the group that was chasing Hong Minghui.

Of course, compared to those he massacred in the bamboo forest that night, the person who made the move this time was clearly much more skilled.

It seems that by practicing special secret martial arts techniques, his own presence has been reduced to almost nothingness. His skill in concealing his aura is, if not top-notch, at least first-rate.

Unfortunately, Meng Zhao was almost flawless.

His life was very regular and mediocre.

Every day, he either meditates to cultivate his inner energy, reads books in the courtyard, or plays chess, living a leisurely and carefree life.

I never rely on others for my daily meals and living arrangements.

Go to the market to buy vegetables, bargain with the butcher, and buy things from the pharmacy that can be considered both medicine and spices.

For several days, the assassin, Yu Si, could hardly find any weaknesses to exploit.

Yu Si is an assassin; he used to be a fish butcher at a fish stall in the county town.

He started working at a fish stall when he was twelve years old. At sixteen, he was fortunate enough to be appreciated by someone who took him in as a disciple and trained him to be an assassin, teaching him internal martial arts and swordsmanship. Ten years have passed since then.

In ten years, he didn't kill many people. In his daily life, he also had a legitimate business. He was the owner of a fish stall. Upgrading from a fish stall apprentice to the owner of a fish stall can be considered as crossing a class.

In life, he was relatively successful. Even if he hadn't become an assassin, he would still have enough money to live on, get married, and have children.

But in secret, he had long since adapted to the life of an assassin, and regarded it as a part of his life.

He had encountered some difficult targets before, but he was always able to achieve his goals and complete his missions perfectly.

Over the past decade, there have been many unsolved headless cases in Kaiyan County, all of which were actually assassination attempts carried out by Yu Si.

However, this time, he felt he might suffer his first defeat in ten years in the profession.

Steadfastness and impeccable skill are merely the most insignificant qualities Meng Zhao displays.

After all, even the most composed person can be easily killed if they lack strength.

Yu Si is considered an elite assassin, not only because his assassination skills are extraordinary, but also because his swordsmanship is extremely powerful.

His master, who was also the benefactor who saw his potential at first glance, was an assassin who later transformed himself into a true swordsman and swordsman with extremely high swordsmanship.

Their lineage of swordsmanship requires nourishing the sword intent and sword energy with killing intent and killing aura. Later on, they must work to shed the killing intent and killing aura, transforming the intense and ferocious into the calm and composed.

It's like nurturing a dragon, letting it grow and become stronger, and ultimately, the goal is to completely tame it, rather than letting it take over.

Therefore, Yu Si's swordsmanship and swordsmanship skills are also quite superb. (End of this chapter)