Nine Nights Owl Song

August of the sixteenth year of Yong'an.

In the first month after becoming a top assassin, Ah Jiu's injuries had not fully healed. The knife wound on her left shoulder was so deep that the bone was visible. Although she used the best wound medicine from the Dark Pavilion, it would take time for the bone to heal.

Her left arm couldn't be fully raised yet, and her knife-wielding speed was three-tenths slower than usual.

She did not rest.

Every day before dawn, he would get up and practice his swordsmanship in the open space outside the stone house. When his right arm got tired, he would switch to his left arm. When he couldn't lift his left arm, he would practice footwork. After finishing the footwork, he would sit cross-legged and meditate to heal his injuries.

Her life was like a wound-up machine, precise, repetitive, and tireless.

August 12th, evening.

When Ajiu returned from practicing martial arts on the mountain, she saw a person standing at the entrance of the stone house in the distance.

The man was dressed in a moon-white long robe, tall and handsome, looking to be in his early twenties. He held a folding fan in his hand and stood in the twilight of Cangwu Mountain, like a painting.

He had no followers or weapons; he stood alone at the entrance of the Dark Pavilion's top assassin's stone house, looking as relaxed as if he were strolling in his own backyard.

Ah Jiu paused for a moment, then continued walking forward.

She walked past the man, pushed open the door, and went into the stone house without looking at him once.

"Night Owl Girl?"

The voice came from behind, gentle and polite, with just the right amount of doubt.

"Aren't you going to ask who I am?"

Ah Jiu untied the straight knife from his waist, placed it on the table, and then started boiling water.

"The assassins of the Dark Pavilion don't drink tea."

The man stood in the doorway, smiled, and said, "But I can wait."

Ajiu ignored him.

The water boiled, she poured a bowl of water, took a sip, then sat cross-legged on the bed and began to practice her internal energy to heal her injuries.

The wound on my left shoulder is still throbbing, and when my Qi reaches my shoulder, it feels like it's hitting a wall and can't get through.

The man stood at the door, watching Ah Jiu practice her internal energy as if no one else was around. His smile remained unchanged, but a hint of seriousness appeared in his eyes.

"I am Bai Yu of the Thousand Machine Pavilion," he said.

"I have long admired Miss Night Owl's name and have come to pay her a visit."

Ah Jiu closed her eyes, her breath coming in long, drawn-out gasps, as if she hadn't heard anything.

Bai Yu wasn't in a hurry. He took out a letter from his sleeve, placed it on the threshold, and then took two steps back.

"Qianji Tower would like to invite Miss Night Owl to join us," he said.

"The conditions are written in the letter; you can take your time to consider them. I will come back in three days."

He turned around, took a few steps, and then stopped.

"By the way, the Dark Pavilion gives you five percent of the reward for a gold-medal mission, right?" He didn't turn around.

"Qianjilou will give 70%."

Ajiu opened her eyes.

Bai Yu's figure had already disappeared around the bend in the mountain road.

Ah Jiu stared at the letter on the threshold for a long time, then got up and picked it up.

The envelope was white, without any markings, and the paper was fine and smooth, made of the finest Chengxintang paper.

Ajiu opened the envelope, took out the letter inside, and read in neat small characters:

"To Miss Night Owl:"

The Thousand Machine Pavilion wishes to hire you as a guest retainer, with an annual salary of 50,000 taels of silver. Mission rewards will be calculated separately, with you receiving 70% and the pavilion 30%. You are free to accept or refuse missions without any restrictions. The Thousand Machine Pavilion will provide all necessary intelligence, weapons, connections, and protection. The Thousand Machine Pavilion can also handle any grudges you may have with the Dark Pavilion.

If you agree, please bring this letter to "Tingyuxuan" in Luojing East City before the first day of the eighth lunar month, where someone will guide you.

Bai Yu from Qianji Tower respectfully presents this.

Ah Jiu turned the letter over; the back was blank.

A two-year salary of 50,000, 70% of the task revenue, free choice of tasks, no restrictions, protection provided, and handling of the Dark Pavilion's grudges on their behalf.

The Dark Pavilion only gave her a 5% commission on the gold medal missions, with no annual salary, no freedom, and death for not accepting missions.

Comparing the two, the conditions offered by Qianjilou seemed too good to be true.

Ah Jiu folded the letter and tucked it into her bosom. Then she picked up the bowl of water that had gone cold and drank it down sip by sip.

Three days later, Bai Yu arrived on time.

This time he brought a pot of wine and two cups, sat down on the stone at the entrance of the stone house, and poured himself two cups of wine.

"What's your decision, young lady?" he asked.

Ajiu stood at the door, looking at him.

"What is Qianji Tower?" she asked.

Bai Yu picked up his wine glass, took a sip, and said unhurriedly, "The world's number one intelligence organization."

"Never heard of it."

"That's to be expected." Bai Yu smiled. "Qianji Tower is in the intelligence business. The fewer people who know about it, the more valuable our information becomes. The Dark Pavilion commits murders, Qianji Tower sells the information. Within the Great Liang territory, from imperial secrets to gossip among the common people, there's nothing Qianji Tower can't find out."

"Why are you looking for me?"

Bai Yu put down his wine glass, looked at A Jiu, and suddenly a serious light appeared in his gentle eyes.

"Because you are the best assassin in the world," he said.

"I don't know where you rank among the Dark Pavilion's top assassins, but the Thousand Machine Tower's intelligence shows that your mission completion rate is 100%. You've never failed, never left anyone alive, and never had your identity exposed. There are no more than five assassins like that in the world. And those four are all getting old."

Ajiu didn't say anything.

"The Thousand Machines Pavilion doesn't need ordinary assassins," Bai Yu continued.

"We need a knife, a knife that is sharp enough, obedient enough, and smart enough. And you are the most suitable candidate."

"I'm not obedient," Ah Jiu said.

Bai Yu smiled: "So our terms are very lenient—you can choose your own mission. Qianji Tower won't force you to do anything you don't want to do."

Why?

"Because if we force you, you'll turn around and kill us," Bai Yu said frankly.

"Qianjilou does not engage in unprofitable business."

Ajiu looked at him and remained silent for a long time.

Bai Yu picked up another glass of wine and handed it to her.

Ajiu didn't answer.

"I refuse," she said.

Bai Yu's hand froze in mid-air, and the smile on his face solidified for a moment.

"Can I ask why?" he asked.

Ajiu turned around, walked into the stone house, and closed the door behind her.

Her voice came from under the door, cold and clear: "I don't need protection, I don't need anyone to settle my scores. I will avenge myself. My knife is only in my own hand."

Bai Yu stood outside the door, holding the glass of wine that had been rejected, remained silent for a moment, and then smiled.

This smile was more genuine than any of the previous ones.

"Interesting," he said softly, pouring both cups of wine onto the ground as a tribute to the mountain god of Cangwu Mountain. Then he turned around, fanning himself with a folding fan, and disappeared into the mist along the mountain path.

He never came back.

But Ajiu knew that Qianji Tower wouldn't give up so easily.

She had seen the name "Qianjilou" in the Dark Pavilion's intelligence system.

It was an organization even more mysterious than the Dark Pavilion. No one knew where its headquarters were, who its master was, or even that it truly existed. But everyone who needed intelligence knew that if you could afford the price, the Thousand Machine Pavilion could give you the information you wanted.

From the imperial court's military secrets to the grudges and feuds of the martial arts world, from the royal family's private scandals to the accounts of merchants, Qianji Tower knows everything.

Ajiu refused Qianjilou not because of her loyalty to the Dark Pavilion.

She has no loyalty to the Dark Pavilion.

She refused because she didn't want to jump from one cage to another.

The Dark Pavilion is a cage, and so is the Thousand Machine Tower.

It's just that the cage of the Thousand Machine Tower is bigger, prettier, and plated with gold.

What she needs to do is break down all the cages, not replace them with a bigger one.

The injury to my left shoulder is getting better day by day.

Every day, Ajiu practiced internal energy cultivation to heal her injuries. The Qi flowed through her meridians, washing away the blockages in her shoulders again and again. The bottleneck in her transformation of internal energy was loosening, like a door being blown open by the wind, ready to be pushed open at any moment.

The transition from the peak of internal strength to the transformation of internal strength is a watershed moment.

Dark strength is the accumulation of internal energy, while transforming strength is the perfect integration of internal energy with the body, reaching the state of "where the mind goes, the energy goes; where the energy goes, the strength goes."

Upon reaching the Transformation Stage, a martial artist's perception will be greatly enhanced, their intuition for danger will become extremely sharp, and their reaction speed will be so fast that ordinary martial artists simply cannot match it.

Zhao Tianhu was at the peak of the Transformation Realm, and Zhao Tianbao was at the middle stage. Ajiu was able to kill them not through direct confrontation, but through sneak attacks and hidden weapons.

In a direct confrontation, she couldn't even beat Zhao Tianbao, let alone Zhao Tianhu.

She needs to break through.

Late one night in late August, Ajiu was practicing his swordsmanship outside the stone house.

The moonlight, like water, shone on the open ground, casting her long shadow.

She gripped the knife in her left hand, repeating the same action over and over again—drawing the knife, slashing, and sheathing it.

The wound on her left shoulder was still painful. Every time she swung the knife, it would pull on the bone that had not yet fully healed, causing her to sweat profusely.

But she didn't stop.

She had been practicing for three hours straight.

The blade gleamed in the moonlight, like a silver snake slithering through the darkness. Her movements grew faster and smoother, and the pain in her left shoulder gradually faded, replaced by a strange warmth.

The Qi rose from the Dantian, traveled along the meridians, and when it passed the left shoulder, the feeling of blockage suddenly disappeared.

It was like a dam bursting, with floodwaters rushing down.

The energy surged through all the meridians in his shoulder, bursting forth from his fingertips, bringing with it a sharp gust of wind that cleaved a piece of bluestone in front of him in two.

Ajiu stopped and looked down at the split bluestone.

The cut on the bluestone was smooth and even, as if it had been cut by a sharp weapon. But her knife clearly hadn't touched the stone; the blade was still half a foot away from it.

It's the wind of the blade.

Internal energy permeates the blade, transforming into an invisible wind that can injure people from a distance.

This is the mark of mastering the art of neutralizing internal energy.

Ajiu stood there, the moonlight shining on her. She looked down at her hands, those hands covered in calluses and scars, which were trembling slightly.

Because she finally crossed that threshold.

Transform the force.

She looked up at the moon in the sky and suddenly wanted to tell the old drunkard.

She has already reached the level of "Transformation of Strength".

She was one step closer to revenge.

Ajiu sheathed her sword, turned and walked back to the stone house. She closed the door, sat cross-legged, and began to consolidate her newly achieved breakthrough.

Early stage of Transformation Force.

From this day forward, she is no longer just the youngest top assassin in the Dark Pavilion; she is also the youngest martial artist in the Dark Pavilion.

When this news reached Hades' ears, the old man remained silent for a long time.

Hua Jin at the age of fifteen.

In the century since its founding, the Dark Pavilion has only produced two such figures.

One was Yin Wuji, and the other was Yin Wuji's disciple.

Hades leaned back in his chair, his cloudy eyes reflecting the withered landscape painting on the wall, and murmured something only he could hear: "Senior brother, you certainly know how to pick disciples."

The night wind from Cangwu Mountain blew across the eaves of the main altar, making a whistling sound, like someone crying or laughing.

Ah Jiu circulated her internal energy and regulated her breathing in the stone house, her breath becoming long and her heartbeat slow.

Her left shoulder no longer hurt, and the wound was healing faster under the nourishment of the internal energy. The new skin was tender and delicate, like a flower that had just bloomed.

But her heart was colder, harder, and more like a stone than ever before.

She declined the invitation from Qianji Tower, but she remembered the look Bai Yu gave her as he left.

That wasn't the look of disappointment or anger after being rejected.

That was the look in a hunter's eyes when he saw his prey, a look of unwavering determination.

Ajiu opened her eyes, looked in the darkness in an unknown direction, and her lips twitched slightly, though it was hard to tell if it was a smile.

come on.

Whether it's the Dark Pavilion or the Thousand Machine Tower, whoever tries to control her, she'll cut off their hand.

This knife is for myself only.