We offered you a summer job, but you went and became a mercenary?

2:30 p.m.

Deep in the misty mountains of Jiangnan Province.

Inside the main hall of the reclusive ancient martial arts sect, "Blood Slaughter Sect," the atmosphere was extremely oppressive.

Nie Wushuang, the leader of the Blood Slaughter Sect, sat on a tiger-skin chair, holding a crumpled piece of paper in his hand.

The letter was a plea for help sent by Yang Dejian, the head of the Yang family in the provincial capital, at the risk of his life.

"Bang!"

Nie Wushuang slapped the bluestone tea table next to her.

The coffee table shattered into pieces on the spot, scattering shards all over the floor.

"What a fine National Security Bureau! What a fine freshman!" Nie Wushuang suddenly stood up, his voice echoing in the hall. "The Yang family pays our Blood Slaughter Sect a tribute of three billion every year! They are an important ancient martial arts family under our sect!"

Dozens of core elders of the Blood Slaughter Sect stood below the stage, all with their heads bowed, not daring to even breathe loudly.

The Blood Slaughter Sect is a reclusive sect that doesn't conduct business openly and relies entirely on these aristocratic families for support.

Cutting off someone's livelihood is like killing their parents.

Nie Wushuang paced back and forth on the steps, unable to suppress her anger.

"The Yang family has been wiped out, and our tribute for next year has been cut off by more than half!" Nie Wushuang pointed at the elders below the stage and cursed, "The National Security Bureau is using this kid named Lin Ye to sow discord in the ancient martial arts world! They want to warn us!"

"If we swallow this insult, who will pay us protection money in the future? Are we all going to starve?"

Nie Wushuang waved her sleeve.

"Go and summon the poisonous snake!"

A few minutes later.

A man dressed in tight black clothes and wearing a pure black mask walked into the hall.

He walked without making a sound, his entire body pressed against the shadows at the edge of the hall.

"Sect Master." Viper knelt on one knee, his voice hoarse.

Nie Wushuang took a blood-red token engraved with the character "kill" from her waist and threw it directly at the feet of the poisonous snake.

"You and the Third Elder, along with two peak-stage Dark Force cultivators, head to Jiangcheng Liberal Arts Academy tonight," Nie Wushuang said, pointing towards the gate. "Use the most ruthless methods to bring back the head of that Lin Ye. I want to make an example of him, to show the National Security Bureau the methods of our Blood Slaughter Sect!"

The venomous snake picked up the token without even looking up.

"Sect Master, is it really necessary for me to personally go and kill just one student?"

Viper is the number one gold-medal assassin of the Blood Killing Sect, with the cultivation level of an early Grandmaster.

Three years ago overseas, he infiltrated a heavily guarded warlord base alone, used a specially made poison to incapacitate hundreds of fully armed mercenaries, and cut off the warlord's head.

Sending him to assassinate a prospective college student is like using a cannon to kill a mosquito.

"Don't underestimate him," Nie Wushuang cautioned. "Since the National Security Bureau dares to protect him, they must have arranged for experts to protect him secretly."

"The National Security Bureau's incompetence can't stop me." Viper stood up, tucked the token into his pocket, and said, "Before dawn, I'll have his head on your desk."

······

Two o'clock in the morning.

Jiangcheng College of Arts and Sciences, Building 3, male dormitory.

The room 302 was filled with snoring.

Fatty Wang lay sprawled on the bed, snoring loudly, while his two other roommates slept soundly.

Lin Ye lay on the lower bunk by the window, covered with a thin blanket.

In his dream, he was holding a large stainless steel basin, standing at the very front of the food window in the third canteen, about to get the last serving of sweet and sour pork ribs.

Buzz—Buzz—

The spare folding phone tucked under my pillow suddenly started vibrating wildly.

Lin Ye frowned and turned over.

My phone is still vibrating.

Lin Ye pulled out his phone in extreme frustration. The screen lit up, and the glaring light made it hard for him to open his eyes.

Caller ID: Lao Zhao.

Lin Ye pressed the hang-up button, then put his phone on silent and tossed it back under his pillow.

Making phone calls in the middle of the night? That's crazy.

The first batch of meat buns will be steamed on the second floor of the cafeteria at 6:30 tomorrow morning. If you go too late, only steamed buns will be left.

Anyone who dares to disturb his sleep is an irreconcilable enemy.

I had just closed my eyes when my phone screen lit up again. This time it was a text message.

Lin Ye sighed, resisting the urge to crush his phone, and opened the message.

"Mr. Lin, it's extremely urgent! The Blood Killing Sect, the backer of the Yang family in the provincial capital, is making unusual moves. Intelligence indicates that they have dispatched their top assassin, 'Viper,' to infiltrate Jiangcheng tonight."

"The Viper is a powerful expert at the early stage of the Grandmaster level, skilled in stealth and the use of poison! He once assassinated a major warlord amidst a vast army overseas, making him extremely dangerous!"

"Our people are searching the area outside. Please do not leave your dormitory! Lock your doors and windows!"

Lin Ye yawned as he looked at the few lines of text.

Early stage of Grandmaster?

Poison?

Assassination amidst a vast army?

It's none of his business.

Lin Ye tapped a few times on the screen and sent a message back.

"Sending these kinds of spam text messages in the middle of the night, does that count as overtime? Are you paid for it?"

After sending the message, I immediately locked the screen and shoved the phone into the crack by the bedside.

Lin Ye pulled the blanket over his head.

"I don't care if it's a poisonous snake or a water snake, if it dares to disturb my sleep, I'll kill it every time."

He rolled over, adjusted to a comfortable position, and two seconds later, his breathing became steady.

Three o'clock in the morning.

The campus of Jiangcheng College of Arts and Sciences was deserted, with most of the streetlights turned off.

Several dark figures darted along the edge of the green belt at an extremely fast pace.

They avoided all blind spots of the surveillance cameras, moving with extreme agility.

Downstairs in Building 3, the boys' dormitory.

The venomous snake made a gesture.

The three people behind him immediately split up and guarded the three exits of the dormitory building.

The venomous snake raised its head, its gaze fixed on the east-facing window on the third floor.

Intelligence indicates that the target lives in dormitory 302.

The venomous snake took out an extremely thin bamboo tube from the cloth bag at its waist.

This is his proud "Sleep Death" poisonous smoke.

Just one breath of it can cause even a master of internal energy to die of cardiac arrest in their sleep, and the forensic doctor won't even be able to detect the toxins.

He lightly tapped the air conditioner unit at the base of the wall with his toe.

He covered himself with the rough exterior bricks and quickly climbed upwards.

There was no sound.

The venomous snake quickly reached the third-floor window.