Fall of the Legendary Assassin

Darkness.

Damn this.

I can't see a thing.

Is this where I'm going to die?

Pain washed Lin Hua's body as though nails had found their way onto his flesh. Panting heavily, he opened his eyes and all he could foresee was a blur of trees. Moreover, the moon that had shine above appeared to be dimming the forestry, and this inflicted his eyesight to weakened.

However, Lin Hua had trained his sight for decades of practice, so he had managed to run off within the woods with great familiarity. While running, he made numerous turns as he evaded the trees, the vines, and the insects. More than a few minutes of fleeing, he found his way between a lake and bushes.

Lin Hua glanced at the open wounds on his abdomen. His left stomach had few open holes, in it, blood was flowing out. Although he seemed to be in great pain, he did not groan nor flinched.

Lin Hua swept the surrounding with his gaze. He found a relatively stagnant tree which was a perfect spot to lay down. After making his way over, he collapsed on its planks, spitting out blood.

"My injuries are too serious," Lin Hua wiped the blood on his lips. "If this goes on, even if I have a strong regeneration, I would probably die here."

Thinking up here, Lin Hua's eyes shone in flames. "Damn, I, Zero, has actually been betrayed. I'm a failure to be an assassin! I'm unworthy of master's inheritance!"

Lin Hua had inherited his assassination skills from his Master, the mysterious assassin Long Fan. After ten years in his tutelage, his master passed away. Then the secrets of Long Fan were inherited by Lin Hua, the Dragon Caching Technique.

One decade after his master died, Lin Hua had his revelation to the public. Inheriting his master's techniques, he quickly made name for himself in the underworld. With the codename of Zero, it represents his absolute guarantee of successful assassination.

Despite his achievements, many individuals had grudge against him. Crashing out the zealous, the relatives of the person he assassinated and the displeased assassins hated him to the core.

For this reason, Lin Hua had always remain secretive about his whereabouts. The only person he had contact with was his assistant and the leader of Country X, the country where he had been born.

This time, Lin Hua had accepted an assassination business. Seeing that the person he would assassinate was a scum of society, he agreed to carry the assassination after he had found strong evidence of the aforementioned person.

However, he did not expect that what awaited him was an ambush. Although he had Dragon Caching Technique and had practiced it to the Sixth Layer, ten bullets still managed to hurt him. Excluding the minor wounds, Lin Hua had received three major injuries before he was finally able to force his way out and flee.

Lin Hua groaned. Despite his strong resistance and willpower, the bullets that were ramming in his flesh had caused him to feel a burning pain. His head was spinning and the loss of blood had worsened his condition.

While he was on a verge of collapse, Lin Hua suddenly heard footsteps coming on his way. He gather his remaining strength to look at the person who had stood before him.

This man was wearing a black dress. Although his eyesight had been greatly affected, Lin Hua still managed to carve out the face of this man, and the last remaining questions that had been bothering him were finally pieced in one place.

"ZHANG MING!"

Lin Hua enunciated these two words. Behind his calm voice, an erupting volcano seemed to bolster his anger, "So it's you who betrayed me. Why?"

"Why?" The black-suited man repeated his words. Then he said, "If you had forgotten, then allow me to remind you."

"Ten years ago, some news was reported worldwide. The CEO of the XXX corporation had died. Even after five months of investigation, the authority didn't find the murderer. You had told me this many times. With your intellect, you probably guess it already."

"Ten years ago?"

Lin Hua's hands were dyed with blood. He had killed many sinners that he could hardly remember them all. However, ten years ago, the day he debuted, he would never forget his first assassination.

"The XXX corporation? That was my first assassination attempt. Don't tell me you..."

"That's right, Zero." Zhang Ming said. "I was the son of that man! Because of you, our family had fallen, and my mother followed in my dad's footsteps. Because of you, a happy family was separated for eternity!"

Lin Hua remained silent, but the guilt that was buried inside him reappeared on his heart.

Ten years ago, he had been cheated by his first client, who had manipulated him to assassinate a man surnamed San, the CEO of the XXX corporation.

Only after he had done the deed that he found the man he assassinated was innocent. Ceo San's death caused grief to the public which meant that the man had a great reputation and had not done any misdeeds. However, due to his failure, he had caused Ceo San's death unjustly.

When he had learnt of this, Lin Hua was so furious that he had killed the client who had issued the assassination. This was also one of the reasons why Zero's reputation was so terrible that many influential people were afraid to hire him.

Hearing that his assistant, Zhang Ming, was the son of Ceo San, Lin Hua laughed self-deprecatingly. He had not expected that fate would entangle them on this way. Also, he did not expect Zhang Ming to be Ceo San's son, knowing that he was surnamed Zhang and did not resemble San that well.

"What an irony indeed." Lin Hua said. "Zhang Ming, do it."

As he said that, Lin Hua closed his eyes. Now that he had gotten the answer he needed, he longer had any will to live, and he could never escape here anyway.

Although deep inside, he was sorry that he could not find a successor as per as his master instructed, he did not mind it that much.

Lin Hua was a selfish man and would never allow Zhang Ming to succeed in his inheritance even if he had felt guilty for killing Ceo San.

After all, an assassin should never be swayed to emotions. An assassin who failed to make his heart heartless is never a fledged assassin.

While Lin Hua had his eyes closed, Zhang Ming looked at the man who had been his boss for seven years. A flash of hesitation appeared in his eyes, but nevertheless, he took out a gun, pointed it, and pulled in the trigger.

Bang!

A bullet made its way into the forehead of Lin Hua.

Lin Hua felt a burning pain crawling onto his skin all the way to his brain. Taking one glance, he heard Zhang Ming's voice echoing to his ears...

"Life is a game. The winner takes all, but the losers lose all. Don't blame me for this, blame yourself for being incompetent, trusting someone that you shouldn't trust. Zero, farewell."

Hearing that, Zero did not feel any anger, only regrets. If he would be given another chance, he would have changed his way of living. He would never live like this way, he would swear not to repeat the same mistake. But alas, human is not immortal. Even if Lin Hua was a cream on the top, he was merely a mortal.

With regrets flashing in his eyes, Zero took in his last breath.

Zhang Ming sighed and buried the assassin's body. Murmuring a few words with the men in black who appeared from nowhere, they disappeared from the lake.

Zero, the legendary assassin in the underworld, perished.