After being poisoned by mushrooms, all the strange creatures became fascinated by me.

Tang Li sighed, clearly having a headache.

She wondered if this was the first comment Han Zhou had ever received since birth.

"If you say something like that again," Tang Li stared at the silver-haired boy, her tone calm and even, "if the person in question hears you, it'll be easier to get your mouth sewn shut."

The silver-haired boy stared intently at Tang Li with his dazzling eyes, his pupils flashing like neon lights: "Then how could anyone believe those twins?"

"I come from the same... village as them, and I know their despicable and cruel nature better than anyone else." The silver-haired boy's voice trembled with anger, his words filled with utter resentment. "Instructor Han was deceived by their appearance..."

"No," Tang Li interrupted him with two simple words, "I think you might have misunderstood something."

"Despicable and cruel qualities are positive traits for the assassins of 'Jie Bailing'," Tang Li smiled gently. "Compared to these, going to jail for standing up for a stranger who has been wronged is considered foolish within 'Jie Bailing'."

The silver-haired boy's face was so gloomy it was almost dripping with water, his eyes filled with resentment and unwillingness. Tang Li walked up to his cell and met his gaze calmly.

"—However, Manager Li is dead." Tang Li suddenly spoke, "Does this have anything to do with you?"

"I didn't kill him," the silver-haired boy replied without hesitation.

The answer was too fast. It reminded me of the English dialogues I rehearsed dozens of times in my mind before being called on to recite them in class during high school.

"Are you sure?" Tang Li asked him slowly and deliberately.

"Perhaps you don't quite understand, let me repeat it again," Tang Li said, emphasizing each word, "In 'Jie Bailing,' killing a mere supervisor will not incur any consequences."

"If you can use this opportunity to prove your abilities, you might actually be valued more."

The silver-haired boy opened his mouth, but didn't utter a single word.

Tang Li smiled, knowing that the time wasn't right yet, but the silver-haired boy was clearly wavering. So she ignored him and continued serving food to everyone.

How about letting him reflect for another night?

After finishing her work, Tang Li returned to the servants' courtyard, where she was once again taken care of by two groups of people. They prepared water and towels in advance, and provided snacks. They even managed to clear out a space for her to sleep in the large communal bed that was originally meant for seven or eight people.

Tang Li accepted the good intentions of all those who wanted to kill her without question.

I slept soundly through the night without any dreams.

The next day, Tang Li slowly rode a mule and followed the main group into the city.

The servants didn't come to the city solely for the purpose of killing for extra money.

Some members of the group went to several dark shops to sell stolen goods, since assassins inevitably have a lot of jewelry and antiques from the dead that shouldn't be exposed to the light; others actually went to sell their wares. "Jiebailing" is a mountainous area, and in spring there are plenty of mountain delicacies, as well as fresh bamboo shoots and wild vegetables.

Others were responsible for purchasing. Some of the assassins had already written notes instructing them to buy all sorts of odds and ends, even though these assassins were the ones who went into the city more frequently.

No one dared to neglect the sect's important tasks for their own "extra income." So, even Tang Li was assigned a task: to buy some disguise cosmetics for the assassins.

Accompanying her was an adult servant, whom Tang Li, like everyone else, called Sister Hong.

"What kind of powder do you want?" The shopkeeper smiled eagerly. "We have some great new products this year. Look, they even have a jasmine scent."

Without hesitation, Tang Li said, "I want one that has absolutely no fragrance."

She still remembered what the flower girl had told her: to avoid attracting attention, assassins should not wear gold or jade, nor should they have anything that smells sweet.

Hongjie was about to speak when the shopkeeper asked her a question, but the young girl answered first. Hongjie smiled kindly, "How clever! You've only been here a short time, how did you know about this?"

Tang Li stood on tiptoe watching the shopkeeper fetch the goods for them, and replied gently, "I was fortunate enough to gain Sister Ji's favor before; it was she who told me."

"Ji..." Sister Hong's expression changed. "Could it be Lord Ji Chunmu?"

The flower girl is quite famous in "Jie Bailing". Tang Li achieved the effect she wanted and smiled gently: "Yes, Sister Hong, don't you know? It was Sister Ji who introduced me to the sect."

"Ah, then you're really lucky. Lord Ji has always been considerate of us servants." Sister Hong smiled weakly, her eyes filled with uncertain emotions.

No! Those idiots only knew that Instructor Han disliked Tang Li, but they didn't know she also had a relationship with Lord Ji! If Lord Ji still remembered his past relationship with her...

"Sister Ji also told me about the lottery she drew when she killed someone for the first time," Tang Li said, looking at the cosmetics on the counter with great interest, her tone casual. "Sister Ji is amazing."

"I also want to become an assassin like her."

Hongjie's smile was completely broken: she was just a lowly servant who had only been working there for two days, yet she knew about things like drawing lots; it was impossible that she had found out on her own.

—There must have been a real assassin who told her that!

Those ignorant fools! They've brought trouble upon Sister Hong like this!

"Ah, Sister Hong," suddenly, the little girl leaned close to her again, insisting that she bend down, and whispered in her ear, "I heard... not only assassins like Sister Ji can kill, but if we menial servants kill someone, the sect won't care either, is that right?"

Those clear, black and white eyes were very close, staring at her without blinking, which made Sister Hong feel a chill run down her spine, and she broke out in a sweat in the cool early spring weather.

"Ah, ah... right? Who... who knows?" Does this girl already know something? Sister Hong smiled stiffly, "Well, you see, Sister Hong has never killed anyone..."

"Sigh," Tang Li sighed, saying regretfully, "I heard from the adults that there are many people in this city who collect human skin, eyeballs, bones, and teeth. I also heard that parts from children's bodies are expensive. We brought a lot of children with us on this trip, and I thought that this trip would allow me to make some money with my older brothers and sisters."

Hongjie felt stiffness from her neck down, and stood up abruptly, her hair standing on end: "You little brat, what are you saying? Let's not say such scary things."

Tang Li finally calmed down, only sighing as she looked at her. The two of them came out of the rouge shop, and Sister Hong almost couldn't wait to step into the sunlight.

The original plan was for her to gradually win over the little girl's heart, coax her into following her obediently, and then, at a certain moment, drug her with a cup of sleeping potion. Afterwards, someone would naturally come to her aid, take the girl to a deserted alley, and stab her to death.

But after this whole incident, Sister Hong couldn't tell whether the strange girl had seen through their thoughts or whether the events before and after were just a coincidence.

Otherwise... otherwise, forget it. It's not worth risking angering a master assassin for the sake of this girl.

Thinking about it, Sister Hong had second thoughts. Regardless of her previous plans, she gritted her teeth and took Tang Li to the place where they would meet up with the others.

It was a teahouse. Sister Hong gritted her teeth, took out a few copper coins she had painstakingly saved, ordered a pot of tea and two plates of snacks for Tang Li, and coaxed her to eat and drink there while she waited for her. She then went to a private room to meet someone.

"...What?!" came a low growl of disbelief. "You're saying this girl is connected to Lord Ji?"

The seven or eight people inside the room all looked bewildered.

"What...what should we do?" they stammered.

"We just promised the Wu family patriarch, and he's already ordered a whole suit of this girl's clothes!"