First Blood

After taking the paper with the rich merchant's profile, Shui left the guild and immediately started thinking about how he would complete this task. Before thinking of a specific plan, he wondered what type of assassin he should become.

'Should I be flashy, or mysterious?'

It might not seem very important, but based on how he carried out his tasks, he could earn a name for himself in the underworld, which would make it easier for him to get a higher status in the underground guild.

'Considering my skillset, I should focus on not revealing myself. I'll have to try to handle this as cleanly as possible.'

Once he decided how this would work, Shui quickly came up with a course of action and went straight towards the building which the rich merchant owned. He took off his mask and as he walked through the crowd he transformed into a tall, stern-looking man with wide shoulders with Mutation Control. He faced no problem entering the four-story building where his target was and went straight towards the stairs without a hint of hesitation.

He had disguised himself just in case, but no one on the first floor was sensitive enough to detect his presence. There was no difficulty getting all the way up to the fourth floor, but then he spotted a group of men guarding the door that his target was behind. There were all at the peak of Earth Realm so unless he could phase through them like a ghost, he had no chance of getting past them peacefully. Therefore, he decided to choose a more direct method.

Shui then transformed into a stunning woman with a curvy figure wearing tight-fitting clothes and walked towards them with confident steps and a devious smirk.

"Stop right there. This is a restricted area."

"I've been sent to take care of the master's, personal needs."

According to the file, this rich merchant would regularly have courtesans sent to his office despite the fact that he had three wives at home.

It was a just a disguise however, if Lilia or Kate ever heard that he used his abilities in this way, they would surely be reminded of old times that Shui wasn't as bothered about but wouldn't want to relive.

"Hmm, I wasn't informed that you would be coming."

"Oh, are you sure?"

It would defeat the purpose if he allowed him to check with his boss, so now that their guards were down Shui looked into their eyes and truly made them submit to his charm.

"Uh, go ahead."

With dull eyes, the guards got out of the way and opened the door for him.

"Thank you."

After getting past them and closing the door behind him, Shui stood before a plump middle-aged man handling paperwork behind a desk. When he heard the sound of the door closing, the man lifted his head and opened his eyes wide-open at the sight of Shui. He didn't remember requesting any services at this time, but there was no reason to turn away this beauty.

"How may I help you?"

The man cleared his throat and stood up while blatantly looking at Shui in a sensual light. His gaze felt a caterpillar slowly crawling up his body, but Shui dismissed that feeling with a smile as he approached.

In a attractive, whispering tone, he said, "I'm here, to give you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

"Hoho, those are quite some bold words. I'm interested in how you plan on backing them up."

The man came out from behind his desk with a sleazy expression that laid his intentions bare. His palms felt sweaty as he thought of what he would find beneath this beauty's dress, and his face went red as he imagined how much pleasure he would be drowned in. However, three steps after moving from behind his desk, the man suddenly dropped face-first to the floor with the same vulgar expression.

It wasn't poison or the sudden acting up of an illness. Shui had simply cut the connection between his soul and his body, and since the merchant was in the Earth Realm, this meant that Shui had destroyed his phantom palace via a mental attack. This sort of damage would be impossible for another Earth Realm cultivator since one would need an overwhelmingly powerful soul, but it was the method that was most suitable for Shui.

As he looked down at the deceased target, Shui internally reviewed how he did this time.

'I don't think I handled anything particularly bad, but I'll try to think of a way other than transforming to a woman next time, that gaze almost made me smash his face on reflex.'

Shui shook his head to forget that discomforting feeling before collecting proof of the mission's completion and leaving as boldly as he entered.

"I've completed it. Here's the proof."

Shui went back to the bar and showed a silver ring to the bartender. This ring was a very expensive piece of accessory which the rich merchant would almost never take off. Shui thought that they might need more time to verify whether or not the merchant was dead, but after checking the ring the bartender nodded his head and gave Shui a grey card the same size as his worker's ID.

On the grey card, he saw this:

[Shin

Rank: C

Title:

Success Rate: 100% (1)]

"The ranks start at E but considering your skills, I've allowed you to skip two ranks. As for the rules, as long as you don't do anything to disadvantage the guild we don't care if you want to go on a killing spree. Any questions?"

The bartender wore an expression that made it obvious that he didn't want to answer any other questions but Shui still had to ask.

"Mhmm, I want information on the movements of all major forces of the five cities since the appearance of the chimera lord. How much?"

"...Considering your rank, 50 high quality spirit gems."

It was a price that would make even Fatty, who had the background of the Riot clan, hesitate, but Shui flung out a hefty bag with the required amount.

"Here."

After a quick check, the bartender took the bag and then replied, "Come back in two days."

Once he settled this, Shui went back to the Riot clan estate to check up on Serina. It was starting to get dark so Shui wondered if he would face trouble being allowed through the gates, but the moment the guards spotted him they immediately welcomed him. Shui double-checked to make sure that his eyes were still closed, but since they were he assumed that they were informed that he would return.

This time, Shui took his time making his way to the main mansion and observed the gardens and outdoor decorations along the way. Little did he know that this would be the calmest time of his day.

When he entered through the front door, he was immediately brought to the living room where almost the entire family had gathered.

"Boss!"

The moment he saw him, Fatty lunged towards Shui and wrapped his arms around him while looking back at his family like a scared animal.

Surprised by his black and blue face, Shui asked, " What happened to you?"

"You have to protect me Boss, they're trying to kill me!"

"Hmph, if we were trying to kill you, you would be dead by now." replied Rebecca.

It was scary enough when Sheila used such lines, but coming from the expressionless Rebecca it was ten times worse.

Looking between Fatty and his siblings as well as the two slightly older looking pair who were his parents, Shui quickly read the situation and understood what he had to do.

"Anyways, is Serina out yet?"

"Boss?!"

"Get off me, it's just punishment for failing to protect Serina. Don't drag me into your family matters."

As Shui pulled Fatty off of him, Fatty looked at this cruel man while biting his lower lip like a discarded mistress.