Chapter 11: Night of Murder (Third Update)

Chapter 11: Night of Murder (Third Update)

"...We didn't expect you to visit so suddenly—we weren't prepared for a proper welcome. What should we call you, mister?"

Xie Chi glanced at the building where a single guard stood watch, quietly palming a gun.

Someone inside had been staring at him.

Had he been exposed already?

A dozen different plans flashed through Xie Chi's mind, but his smile didn't waver as he addressed the groveling Ye Laoda: "My surname is Xie."

"Yes, yes, Mr. Xie." Ye Laoda rubbed his hands together.

He didn't think it was weird that Xie Chi was wearing a mask.

After all, this was the only mole among the three hundred Qin Wei that Yan Wanqiu had brought—all the local moles they'd painstakingly planted had been rounded up. In such a dangerous period, it made sense for a high-value mole like this to keep his identity under wraps.

Ye Laoda beamed: "Has the Third Prince sent you with any orders? Anything the Night Owl Syndicate can do, we'd do it even if it killed us."

Xie Chi didn't answer right away. Instead, he glanced at the SOS and location Shi Peijue had just pinged on his holo-screen.

Xie Chi: "..."

So that stare had been Shi Peijue.

He quietly stashed the gun back in his spatial ring: "The Third Prince does have orders. Can we talk somewhere private?"

"Yes, yes, we should." Ye Laoda, totally missing Xie Chi's sneaky move, smacked his forehead and subtly led Xie Chi toward the building farthest from Shi Peijue. "Just come to my quarters, Mr. Xie."

The people around them smartly cleared out as Xie Chi and Ye Laoda walked off together.

Since Xie Chi was a mole endorsed by Yan Baiyue, Ye Laoda didn't bother with much caution, directly bringing Xie Chi to his own room.

Xie Chi's eyes glinted as he eyed Ye Laoda's place.

When he'd scouted the area two days ago, he'd scoured every building in Wind Cliff Village except Ye Laoda's place—and come up empty except for the armory.

With an organization as large as the Night Owl Syndicate, how could their headquarters in Wind Cliff Village not have anything worth stealing?

He'd have to clean out Ye Laoda's place before he left.

With no clue that Xie Chi had already figured out what to do with his corpse, Ye Laoda shut the door without suspicion, led Xie Chi to a seat at the table, and helpfully poured him some tea.

"Mr. Xie." Ye Laoda rubbed his hands together with a fawning smile. "What exactly does the Third Prince need us to assist with?"

Holding the tea, Xie Chi laid out Yan Baiyue's plan: "The Prince intends to set up a mining accident and bury Yan Wanqiu alive. Before that, he'll fake evidence that Yan Wanqiu's illegal digging killed a bunch of people, so he can legally take over the thermal ore mining rights."

"Weapons are heavily controlled at the camp. I need you to provide me with sufficient explosives. I'll plant them in the new mine built on the old Night Owl Syndicate casino site, then work with the Third Prince to lure Yan Wanqiu there, pretending it's an official inspection from the main star."

"I'll handle keeping the Third Prince safe during the blast and making sure Yan Wanqiu is dead. Your Night Owl Syndicate needs to cook up witnesses and fake evidence of Yan Wanqiu's illegal mining beforehand, and on the day of the blast, split into two teams—one surrounds the mine and links up with me and the Third Prince, the other hits Yan Wanqiu's camp and wipes out all his men."

Ye Laoda looked hesitant: "Mr. Xie, the whole North Star sector goes into deep freeze in two weeks. Faking evidence is no problem for us, but wiping out Yan Wanqiu's men..."

Xie Chi looked up, genuinely confused: "Yan Wanqiu only brought three hundred Qin Wei into exile here. You can't even take on that many?"

Ye Laoda felt his pride sting, but since the guy was one of Yan Baiyue's people, he couldn't afford to get offended. He could only force a smile and explain: "Mr. Xie, you came from the main star and have been undercover in Yan Wanqiu's camp, so you probably don't know how things work in Blizzard City."

"The power in Blizzard City is mainly split between two factions: one is our Night Owl Syndicate, and the other is the black market in the eastern port district. That place is a cesspool of exiled criminals and black-market dealers—a bunch of scumbags who've always had it out for us. They've only held off because the Night Owl Syndicate answers to Frostbite City, and Frostbite City has connections to the main star."

"The whole North Star sector is starving for resources. Every year during the freeze period when we're cut off from the outside, big-ass fights break out over resources. And while Yan Wanqiu only brought three hundred Qin Wei, they're super organized and loaded with cash. The second they set up camp in the middle of Blizzard City, they started hiring locals from nearby towns to build stuff. And once they found the thermal ore, they started hiring even more locals on the spot. By now, they've basically scooped up all the able-bodied young men in the towns around Yan Wanqiu's camp."

"You know how it is—folks in a broke place like this don't think ahead. They follow whoever pays the most. The towns around Yan Wanqiu's camp might as well be his own turf. To kill all his men, we'd lose a lot of our own people fighting through those towns."

Ye Laoda paused, scared Xie Chi might think they were useless, and added with a suck-up smile: "Though with the weapons the Third Prince gave us, we could take them down if we had the time. But it would wreck us. Once the freeze hits and the weather turns brutal and the distances get long, Frostbite City won't be able to send help easily. Even if Frostbite City doesn't invade Blizzard City, the Night Owl Syndicate would have a hard time fighting off the black market's raids—and we wouldn't be able to keep serving the Third Prince through the freeze."

Ye Laoda went on and on, and Xie Chi finally got the gist: "You want the Third Prince to pony up more?"

Ye Laoda hadn't expected him to be so blunt and frantically waved his hands: "Of course, it's not about the money. We're totally loyal to the Third Prince, but you can't make bricks without straw..."

"Fine, we'll pay more. Name your price." Xie Chi cut Ye Laoda off mid-ramble.

Ye Laoda froze for a second, then tested the waters cautiously: "Thirty electromagnetic guns, and the mining rights to one thermal ore mine?"

Xie Chi agreed without hesitation: "Fine. I'll request it from the Prince."

He wasn't planning on leaving anyone alive anyway—so he was just blowing smoke.

Ye Laoda couldn't believe it was that easy. All his prepared speeches went to waste as he stood there stunned by the sudden windfall.

Xie Chi, meanwhile, looked down at the smart device on his wrist, pretending to text Yan Baiyue, and asked offhandedly: "Got any snacks to go with the tea?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course." Ye Laoda snapped out of it and hurriedly got up to order some snacks.

He hadn't been all that suspicious of Xie Chi to begin with, and now, buzzing from the huge win, he turned his back to Xie Chi without a second thought.

Xie Chi seized the moment—moving fast and quiet behind Ye Laoda, pulling a gun from his spatial ring.

"Thud!"

With a dull thud, Ye Laoda felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck, then everything went black.

Xie Chi had knocked him out with the butt of the gun.

The whole thing happened in under a second.

Xie Chi's smile vanished. He caught Ye Laoda expressionlessly, stripped off the guy's heavy coat, and pulled timed explosives from his spatial ring to strap onto him.

Ye Laoda had a smart device on him that tracked his vitals. The second he died, footage from twenty minutes before and after his death would be sent straight to the lord of Frostbite City—and blow up the entire Wind Cliff Village.

Xie Chi had already confirmed this yesterday by subtly grilling Yan Baiyue.

So he couldn't off Ye Laoda yet.

Xie Chi set the explosives to go off in thirty minutes, dressed Ye Laoda again, and tied him tight to the chair.

When he was done, he quickly cleaned out Ye Laoda's place.

Sure enough, Ye Laoda had stashed away plenty of good stuff.

A hidden compartment in the study had three electromagnetic guns. A safe under the ashes in the fireplace held a big chest of gold and valuables, and a few crates of energy stones were stashed behind the wine rack.

Sure, energy stones were a relic of the old era and were about to be replaced by thermal ore, but the broke-as-hell Xie Chi wasn't picky. He took everything, wiping out Ye Laoda's private stash in just five minutes.

He didn't even leave the wine on the rack.

Looking at the mountain of loot piled in his spatial ring, Xie Chi felt damn satisfied.

Yan Wanqiu had no clue he had a spatial ring—so whatever he took was his to keep.

"Too bad I can't transfer the balance from Boss Ye's account as well..."

Xie Chi muttered under his breath, shooting a wistful glance at the unconscious Boss Ye.

Even though this era felt pretty primitive to him, it was already the brink of the Stellar Calendar Year—basically the interstellar age—paper money had been obsolete for ages.

The worst part about electronic transactions was that they always left a trail.

Xie Chi sighed, and once he was sure he'd stripped the place clean, he didn't stick around and headed out of Boss Ye's place.

The guard at the door saw Xie Chi walk out alone and did a double take: "Mr. Xie, do you have any orders?"

Xie Chi's eyes crinkled into a smile, and while the guard was still gaping, whipped out a gun and put a bullet right between his eyes.

The suppressed pistol gave a soft "pfft."

The guard didn't even have time to react—he just crumpled into the snow, eyes bugging out in disbelief.

It all happened so fast that even the Night Owl Syndicate guys lurking in the shadows couldn't wrap their heads around how the ever-grinning Mr. Xie had just snapped and opened fire.

It wasn't until a light dusting of snow had settled on the guard's body and Xie Chi had melted into the dark that the hidden watchers finally snapped out of it.

"We're under attack!!"

A shrill, piercing alarm blared, echoing through the empty valley, and the Night Owl Syndicate members in Wind Cliff Village went into a frenzy.

"What the hell's going on? Where's the boss? Who's attacking??"

"Looks like Mr. Xie made his move—hit the searchlights, now!"

"I don't have the clearance! Only the Second Master does!"

"Where's the Second Master?"

"The boss just took care of him."

With Boss Ye gone and the new Second Master Shouhou dead just moments ago, the whole village was leaderless and in total chaos.

The guys guarding Shi Peijue were clearly panicking too, ditching their post without a second thought and booking it toward Boss Ye's place.

Shi Peijue was shivering in his room, watching the chaos outside and debating whether to go find Xie Chi, when a message from him popped up.

"AAA Murder Private Chat Quote: Stay put. I'll come get you once I've wiped out the Night Owl Syndicate."

Shi Peijue quickly replied "Got it," then curled back into the corner, relieved.

Wuwuwuwu, this is terrifying—Xie Chi actually dared to come in guns blazing, not giving a damn about Ice City's retaliation.

Good thing he'd surrendered early; with his lack of skills, he'd be a corpse by now.

Meanwhile.

Because of all the chaos, it took the Night Owl Syndicate a solid five minutes after the gunshot to get the searchlights on.

By then, Xie Chi had already snuck up to the armory. He used the moment the searchlights flared to life to drop the guards at the armory door and slip inside before the whole village lit up like daytime.

Xie Chi blew out the security camera with a single shot and stripped the armory clean.

The commotion at the armory quickly drew the Night Owl Syndicate's attention, and by the time Xie Chi was ready to leave, a handful of people were already converging on the spot.

From a distance, he spotted Boss Ye being rushed into the infirmary. Because of Boss Ye's heavy padded coat, nobody in the panic noticed the extra timed bomb strapped to him.

Thirteen minutes were already up.

Xie Chi still had to go get Shi Peijue and couldn't afford to waste time. With more and more people closing in, he just pulled out the electromagnetic gun he'd just swiped.

The Night Owl Syndicate guys were inching toward the armory, guns up, when a deafening "BOOM" split the air—a blue-white arc of electricity tore through the armory door and slammed straight into them.

Under the scorching current, the guys at the door didn't even get a chance to scream before they were turned to ash.

Then another "BOOM"—a second blue-white current blasted through the wall, heading straight for the infirmary.

Maybe because of the distance and the wall blocking the line of sight, this shot only tore off half the infirmary's roof—but it was still enough to stun every Night Owl Syndicate member there.

"What the hell? Don't electromagnetic guns need at least thirty seconds to cool down? How the hell is it firing back-to-back?!"

Through the dust kicked up by the blasts, a tall figure slowly emerged from the wreckage under the crowd's stunned stares.

The guy wore a black half-mask and dragged an electromagnetic gun in each hand as he walked, carving three long furrows in the snow.

Just tanking the recoil of an electromagnetic gun with his bare body was insane—even the beefy previous Second Master could barely handle it.

Yet this kid, who was practically skinny, had just fired two shots back-to-back?!?

Was this dude's body made of steel??

As if he could feel the shock radiating from the crowd, the kid's thin lips curled into an easy grin under the mask, and he raised the electromagnetic gun to point at the infirmary.

Ballsy as hell.

"Protect the boss!!"

Someone finally snapped out of it and yelled. The turrets on the cliff opened fire at Xie Chi's position too.

Xie Chi dodged fast, using the dust and snow kicked up by the gunfire to stash his electromagnetic guns, and while everyone was focused on Boss Ye, he made a beeline for Shi Peijue's room.

Twenty minutes in.

"BAM!"

Xie Chi kicked open the door to Shi Peijue's room. Without a word, he lashed the trembling man in the corner to his back in a few quick moves and jumped straight off the cliff.

"AAAAHHH!!!"

Shi Peijue's face went white with terror as he screamed.

Xie Chi slowly climbed down the cliff face, his ears ringing from the noise: "Shut up."

Shi Peijue immediately shut up, but he kept shaking.

Strapped to Xie Chi's back, dangling over the cliff, all he had to do was look down to see a bottomless black abyss, with loose rocks occasionally tumbling past—it was pure instinctive terror.

Luckily, he was scrawny and light, so he wasn't too much of a burden, and Xie Chi just let him be.

"Once we're back on the aircraft, give me all the electromagnetic guns. I'm taking you back to camp. Yan Wanqiu's paranoid. You're someone I brought back—if he starts suspecting me, you're dead too. Think long and hard about what you can and can't say."

Xie Chi said, breathing hard, half explaining and half threatening Shi Peijue.

Shi Peijue was first stunned to learn Xie Chi worked for Yan Wanqiu, then felt like he'd been dunked in an ice bath, his hands and feet going cold.

"B-B-Boss." Shi Peijue stammered, his voice trembling, "I didn't bring the electromagnetic gun."

Xie Chi froze.

Shi Peijue was about to cry: "Boss, don't kill me. I-I-I was just grabbed by Boss Ye tonight when you showed up. Then Wind Cliff Village went to hell, and I f-f-forgot..."

"Where is it?" Xie Chi asked.

Shi Peijue answered without thinking: "In the hidden compartment of my room's wardrobe."

It was the twenty-second minute—still enough time.

Xie Chi kept his cool, made a snap decision, climbed onto the nearest jutting rock ledge, and untied Shi Peijue from his back.

Shi Peijue thought he was about to be killed, and tears were already streaming down his face from sheer fright.

Xie Chi tied the rope around a nearby jutting rock, turned on the narrow ledge that barely fit half a foot, grabbed Shi Peijue's hand, and made him grip the rock wall tight.

"Hold tight, don't move, wait five minutes for me."

Shi Peijue stared in shock at the blood spreading from Xie Chi's shoulder blades. He didn't even have time to ask how Xie Chi got hurt, or to refuse, as he watched the man climb back up.

Without the extra weight, Xie Chi moved much faster, and he was back on the cliff in no time.

Shi Peijue finally realized, a beat too late—he'd been left alone on the cliff face.

!!!

His scalp prickled, and his first thought was that he was definitely going to fall to his death. His whole body went stiff with sheer terror, and he couldn't even manage a scream.

Three seconds passed.

Ten seconds passed.

Thirty seconds passed.

Nothing happened.

The expected feeling of falling never came. Shi Peijue was still standing solid on the rock wall, with no sign of slipping.

His scattered thoughts slowly came back, and he realized Xie Chi had found him a safe enough ledge.

As long as he didn't deliberately jump, he'd probably be fine even if he stood here all night.

Looking at the rope around his waist, Shi Peijue thought to himself that even if he did jump, he'd probably just dangle on the cliff face all night.

He could only last one night because of the cold—staying out in minus thirty degrees would freeze him to death.

Even though most of his suffering was Xie Chi's fault, at this moment, Shi Peijue couldn't help but feel grateful to him.

To be fair, if he'd run into a teammate as troublesome as himself, he would've either killed them on the spot or at least been pissed enough to curse.

Xie Chi not only didn't ditch him, but he didn't even say a single word of complaint.

Shi Peijue sniffled the snot from his earlier crying jag, touched by the gesture, and once again cemented his resolve to follow Xie Chi.

Even though Xie Chi's methods were ruthless, the guy was genuinely a good person!

Back on the cliff.

Xie Chi, who'd just been handed a "good person" card, didn't feel much of anything.

He was here for a job. Running into obstacles was part of the deal, and instead of bitching about it, the better move was to solve the problem fast, wrap up the work, and get home to have dinner with his wife.

Especially since Shi Peijue was useful and wasn't a total dead weight.

At least the guy had told him about the mistake right away, instead of hiding bad intentions and deliberately screwing him over.

Even the StarNet AI that used to hand him missions was more of a pain in the ass than this.

Xie Chi slipped quietly through the chaotic crowd to Shi Peijue's place.

Since the Night Owl Syndicate members thought he was after Boss Ye, almost everyone had gathered near the medical room, leaving Shi Peijue's place completely empty.

Xie Chi didn't bother digging around—he just shoved the whole wardrobe into his space and slipped out of Shi Peijue's room.

Minute twenty-eight.

Xie Chi rushed back to the cliff without stopping, no longer caring about hiding his tracks, drawing gasps left and right along the way.

Seeing the trail of pursuers growing longer, Xie Chi had no choice but to pull out the electromagnetic gun again and fire a current at the crowd behind him.

"Boom—"

With the violent explosion, a dull ache shot through Xie Chi's chest.

He swallowed the metallic taste rising in his throat without changing his expression, and reached the cliff edge in the final ten seconds.

The moment he leaped off the cliff, a massive explosion went off in the distance.

The timed bomb had detonated.

Right after, the entire Wind Cliff Village shook, with earth-shattering explosions going off one after another. Even clinging to the cliff face, Xie Chi could feel the heat wave above him.

Boss Ye was dead, and the whole Wind Cliff Village had been blown to bits.

Xie Chi looked up at the towering flames, confirmed there was no way Boss Ye survived, and left without a second look.

In no time, he was back beside Shi Peijue, who was hanging on the cliff wall.

To Xie Chi's slight surprise, the cowardly guy was actually standing there obediently.

He'd expected to see Shi Peijue dangling in mid-air.

When Shi Peijue saw Xie Chi, he was first startled by the blood spreading across his entire upper body, then looked at the empty-handed Xie Chi with immense gratitude and guilt.

"Brother Xie, I'm so sorry, this is all my fault. It's fine if you didn't find the electromagnetic gun—I've basically figured it out. Once I get back, I'll bust my ass to handcraft one for you. I absolutely won't let Yan Wanqiu blame you!"

Xie Chi: "...?"

Weird. What was up with Shi Peijue's expression?

Xie Chi didn't want to explain the space storage thing to him, so he just nodded, gave a forced smile, and tied Shi Peijue back onto his back.

Shi Peijue couldn't help but shudder at Xie Chi's smile.

Xie Chi had a good-looking face—even with half of it covered by the mask, his refined features were hard to hide, and the dimples on his cheeks when he smiled were pure and clean.

And that was precisely the problem.

A man who had just slaughtered the entire Wind Cliff Village, half his body drenched in blood, smiled with such pure radiance that it was so incongruous it felt terrifying.

This Brother Xie was like an alien rigidly imitating human behavior.

That thought suddenly crossed Shi Peijue's mind.

Xie Chi paid no attention to Shi Peijue's thoughts, bringing him down safely, then blindfolding him and bundling him into the aircraft.

Once inside the aircraft, Xie Chi quickly grabbed a bottle of hemostatic and drank it, then dumped all the weapons from his space ring onto the floor before removing the cloth blindfolding Shi Peijue.

Shi Peijue was now completely convinced by Xie Chi and cooperated fully throughout, but still his jaw dropped in astonishment at the sight before him.

The aircraft was filled with weapons.

And there was a wardrobe that looked incredibly familiar.

How on earth had Xie Chi managed all this?

Xie Chi didn't fully relax—his mission wasn't complete yet.

After settling Shi Peijue, Xie Chi piloted the aircraft to a spot far from the Wind Cliff Village exit and lay in wait.

Blizzard City was cold and dry, with fine snow falling over thick, accumulated drifts, yet the fire still raged fiercely. Xie Chi watched the distant flames quietly, a handgun clutched in his grip.

Just in case.

What if Boss Ye had some kind of resurrection armor? He had to make sure Boss Ye was good and dead.

Shi Peijue watched the vigilant Xie Chi, wanting to remind him to patch himself up, but hesitated, his mouth opening and closing, never daring to speak. He could only sit with Xie Chi, both keeping their eyes fixed on the Wind Cliff Village exit.

Maybe the explosion had been too sudden; they waited a full hour until the flames died out, yet not a single living person emerged from Wind Cliff Village.

Xie Chi glanced at the pale light of dawn, stood up, and headed out of the aircraft.

Shi Peijue quickly rose to follow: "Brother Xie, where are you going?"

Xie Chi replied tersely: "Hunting down the leftover electromagnetic guns, and I'll chop off Boss Ye's head and take it with me. You wait here."

Yan Wanqiu had told him to chop off Boss Ye's head, and he would definitely do it and bring it back.

Who knows if that petty Tyrant would nitpick like the Star Network AI? In any case, with Ji Chou's safety at stake, Xie Chi wouldn't allow even the slightest imperfection in his mission.

Shi Peijue stared dumbfounded at Xie Chi walking away.

Chopping off a head too? Just how deep was this grudge?