Chapter 3: Chapter 3

The following day, at noon.

Zhao Jiu woke up and took a set of clothes he had prepared in advance from his storage space. He disguised himself as a man well into his eighties, then ate a bowl of noodles.

Afterward, he sipped tea while waiting for the remaining payment.

Approximately fifteen minutes later, a pigeon flew in through the window. Zhao Jiu removed the note tied to its leg. It read:

Inside the dried-up well at the ruined temple outside the city.

…

All that effort changing his clothes had gone to waste.

Zhao Jiu spent some time putting on a new human-skin mask and changing into another outfit. In the blink of an eye, the decrepit old man became a wealthy young master heading into the countryside for a spring excursion.

He checked out of the inn, led his horse from the stable, mounted it, and rode away.

At the ruined temple outside the city, Zhao Jiu successfully collected the remaining payment. His God of Wealth Points instantly increased by two thousand, and the intoxicating feeling of having more money than he could possibly spend surged through him once again.

Calm down. Calm down, Little Jiu. We have seen the world before. Pull yourself together and see what the System can do!

Zhao Jiu was a native of Bianzhou. The target was dead, the payment had arrived, and it was time to go home and rest.

It was only work. Who would eagerly rush to slave away like an ox or a horse?

That was especially true given the nature of his profession. He was a maintenance and servicing specialist for harmony among humankind.

If he worked every day, would there be any harmony left between people?

How could such disharmony be allowed? It violated the Core Socialist Values!

Zhao Jiu spurred his horse toward Bianzhou.

“I, Zhao, have traveled far and wide, relying entirely on my personal connections. Life should not be only about eating, drinking, and amusement. There should also be wind, flowers, snow, and moonlight.”

“Horse, compose a poem! Compose a poem! It must have wind and meat, hot pot and mist, beautiful women and a donkey!”

“Neeeeigh!”

“You are uncultured and utterly lacking in ambition. Do you intend to spend your entire life as a horse?”

…

After traveling through wind and rain for three days, Zhao Jiu finally returned home.

His house stood on a mountain beside a small village outside Bianzhou City. When he first arrived in this world, he had owned several acres of farmland. Later, he lost everything while trying to run a business.

He followed a narrow path shaded by lush green trees and pushed open the wooden door. As the familiar air of home enveloped him, his heart gradually calmed.

Home was the harbor of the soul, even when it was nothing more than a nest of straw.

For the next three days, Zhao Jiu peacefully enjoyed his life. He went fishing, cooked meat over an open fire, and galloped across the plains on horseback.

When life went his way, he ought to enjoy it to the fullest!

At midnight on the fifth day, the cry of an owl pierced the dense curtain of plum rain.

Zhao Jiu opened the door and stepped outside. A pitch-black owl descended and landed on his arm.

He removed the bamboo tube tied to its leg. There was only a single note inside:

At the Hai Hour on the eighth day, Guanyin Temple outside Lin’an City.

Zhao Jiu released the owl, tossed the note into the stove, and leisurely resumed drinking his tea.

The owls were Zhao Jiu’s unique method of accepting commissions.

A client placed the relevant information inside the bamboo tube tied to an owl’s leg, and the owl would naturally find Zhao Jiu. When Zhao Jiu accepted a commission, he kept the note. Returning the note inside the bamboo tube meant that he had rejected it.

The remaining payment was handled in much the same way. Information was delivered through an owl, and the payment was placed at a designated location. Once Zhao Jiu received the money, the owl would return carrying an empty bamboo tube.

Although the process was complicated and inefficient, it was safe.

Zhao Jiu only needed to meet the employer, eliminating any contact with intermediaries and greatly reducing the risks involved.

There were many brokers in the Jianghu who handled matters for others. As long as the price was high enough, there was nothing they could not procure.

These brokers eventually began banding together for mutual protection. As time passed, they developed into a vast organization.

That was how the renowned Ghost Market of the Jianghu had come into existence.

On the seventh day of the month, the plum rains finally ceased.

Guanyin Temple was supposedly located outside Lin’an City, but it was actually quite a considerable distance from the city itself.

Zhao Jiu arrived one day early to scout the temple.

He put on the beggar version of one of his human-skin masks, dressed himself in torn and filthy clothes, and entered the temple while leaning on a bamboo staff and limping heavily.

Guanyin Temple was severely dilapidated.

The stone statue of Guanyin had a body but no head, and its surface was covered in moss. More than half of the roof tiles were missing, the yellow grass covering the ground was damp, and not a single window remained intact. Several piles of ashes lay scattered across the floor.

It appeared that people often sheltered there, but the relentless plum rains had apparently forced them to move elsewhere.

A dense, flourishing forest stood outside the temple.

Zhao Jiu silently planned several escape routes in his mind. He then changed his clothes and appearance again, transforming himself into a scholar out on a spring excursion.

After thoroughly surveying the forest, he placed numerous traps along his planned routes.

Only after everything had been properly arranged did he return to the ruined temple, gather some dry branches, light a fire, and prepare a meal.

This entire process had been summarized and perfected through a year of practical experience.

The Jianghu was treacherous. One could never be too wary of others.

How could Zhao Jiu know whether the person seeking him was a customer or an enemy?

What was the most important quality for an assassin?

Caution, caution, and still more damned caution!

The day passed swiftly.

On the eighth day, at the Hai Hour, Zhao Jiu extinguished the fire and sat silently in the darkness.

Only a few minutes later, a tall, burly man entered Guanyin Temple.

The man’s face was concealed by a black cloth. He wore a bamboo hat and was dressed entirely in black. When he saw Zhao Jiu sitting on the floor, he frowned.

“Sir…”

“Ghost Market.”

“Kill someone for me,” the man said.

“Two hundred taels.”

The man pulled a bag of silver from inside his robes and tossed it directly in front of Zhao Jiu.

“These one hundred taels are the deposit.”

“Whom do you wish dead, my lord?” Zhao Jiu asked in a hoarse voice.

“The Imperial Envoy, Jiang Ruhai.”

Zhao Jiu took out an abacus and slowly asked, “Who? Surely you know that Jiang Ruhai is an Imperial Envoy and a court-appointed official?”

“Would people like you truly care that he is a scholar?” the man asked with a laugh.

Zhao Jiu slowly moved the beads of his abacus.

“My point is that it will cost extra!”

“Killing an imperial official is no simple matter. Two thousand taels, and the price is nonnegotiable.”

He moved several more beads across the abacus.

“There is also my hazard bonus. Do you need the corpse destroyed and the attendants silenced? Those services will cost extra. Then there are my travel expenses, transportation costs, equipment losses, and other expenditures. Including the original two thousand taels, this commission will cost you two thousand three hundred taels.”

“Now that you have hired me, you will have to pay whether I accept the job or not. Otherwise…” Zhao Jiu added.

The man fell silent for a moment before slowly replying, “I will give you one thousand three hundred taels as the deposit. There is no need to destroy the corpse or silence his attendants. Fifteen days from now, Jiang Ruhai will enter Jianzhou. I do not want him to reach Huzhou alive.”

As the man finished speaking, two banknotes landed in front of Zhao Jiu.

Zhao Jiu placed the banknotes and the bag of silver into his storage space. In an instant, they disappeared before the man’s eyes.

“My lord, you may rest assured and prepare to collect the Imperial Envoy’s corpse.”

Killing an Imperial Envoy?

Damn, this man had courage.

Never mind a Provincial Governor; even the Grand Secretariat might not be able to contain the consequences of this affair.

Had those people in Lin’an hidden the Crown Prince of the Former Dynasty in Jianzhou?

Damn it, I charged too little.

I am still too young. Next time, the starting price will be ten thousand taels.

You have to understand how these wealthy people think. If he is willing to spend one thousand taels, he will be willing to add another nine thousand!

Zhao Jiu circulated hisInternal Qi and ran for a full fifteen minutes before finally stopping.

A deposit of one thousand three hundred taels was more than enough reason to remain cautious.

He focused his consciousness on the System and exchanged the silver for thirteen thousand God of Wealth Points.

Grand Purity Jade Void Scripture—raise it by two layers!

On second thought, why stop there? Raise it by another layer. I can afford to be capricious!

Tang Sect Secret Art: Techniques—buy it!

Essence-Nourishing Pills—buy ten bottles!

Heavenly Origin Saber Art—buy it!

Hundred-Tempered Tang Saber—buy it!

Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation—look at it…

I cannot afford it!

After a frenzied shopping spree, thirteen thousand seven hundred God of Wealth Points smoothly became two hundred.

Fortunately, the Tang Sect Secret Art: Techniques and the Heavenly Origin Saber Art had both been discounted. Otherwise, this shopping spree might have driven his balance into the negative.

The three Tang Sect Secret Arts combined into a new secret art:

Tang Sect Mystical Art: Thousand Flowers, Myriad Blooms.

As Zhao Jiu carefully absorbed the new knowledge, he discovered that the Tang Sect Mystical Art was incomparably more profound and wondrous than the Tang Sect Secret Arts.

Two thousand God of Wealth Points had been well spent!

“So the Tang Sect Secret Arts were only the foundation. Ah, capitalism. At least I finally have a close-combat technique. I cannot keep relying on hidden weapons forever. As long as I have enough Essence-Nourishing Pills, reaching the Fourth Rank will only be a matter of time,” Zhao Jiu murmured.

He swallowed two Essence-Nourishing Pills, activated Chasing Stars and Moon, and headed toward Lin’an.

The road ahead was winding, but the future was bright!