The Truth Behind

"I'm fine, brother, I understand that I have made you and the others worried, is Teacher also angry, because I'm not coming home for days?"

A Ning massaged Yuen's palm which he had squeezed hard from getting angry. He shook his head.

"Uncle Teacher is aware that you are at my house. We had already informed him in advance that we would be staying at home for a while. However, Mei Lan probably already informed him that you were taken away by that man. Therefore, we must return to the valley immediately."

Yuen pursed his mouth, feeling guilty.

"It's my fault, not Brother Yang's, when he was about to take me home I suddenly felt unwell, so he waited until I felt better to come back."

Hearing that, A Ning widened his eyes. He held Yuen's cheek, checking him from his face up to his forehead.

"What happened, are you okay, where does it hurt, are you still not feeling well?"

Yuen smiled, he held A Ning's hand and lowered it from his cheek.

"I'm doing well, Brother. I'm just a little short of breath, perhaps because Brother Yang's house is located on a plateau, and I'm not used to it. However, everything is alright now. Brother Yang has been kind enough to provide me with all the delicious and healthy food. Look at my stomach; it's round like this."

A Ning's heart would burn every time he saw Yuen's face now. He would smile broadly and his eyes would shine every time he mentioned the man's name. However, A Ning would not let go of Yuen's hand. He held onto Yuen's soft fingers tightly."

"Um, thank goodness, if that's the case, it's better for us to go home immediately so that you can rest soon, okay?"

Yuen nodded.

"Yeah Brother"

A Ning took Yuen's hand, helping him up. Grabbed his horse's reins and led him.

"The road ahead is a bit downhill, we'd better walk on foot. Come here and hold my hand tightly, okay?" said A Ning, putting Yuen's arm around his. Yuen smiled and nodded.

"Yeah brother"

A Ning couldn't contain his joy. He wanted to prolong his walk with the young man and savor the moment. He occasionally looked at Yuen with a beaming face.

"Hey, if you're tired, just say it, I will carry you."

Yuen smiled, patting A Ning's arm.

"Brother, I'm heavy, you'll be tired later."

A Ning chuckled.

"Hey, how could I, just carrying you give me so much energy?"

A Ning's sweet and sweet words are always pleasant to hear.

"Hehe this brother"

A Ning pointed at the dense trees around them.

"Look at that, there is a big bird there, the color is very beautiful"

Yuen looked at where A Ning was pointing, of course, he liked all the cute and beautiful animals.

"Where is it? I don't see anything"

"There, it's on the trunk of the second tree, covered in leaves."

Yuen widened his eyes at the birds A Ning was referring to.

"Yes, it's so big, the color is beautiful, what kind of bird is that?"

A Ning shrugged his shoulders. She often saw various types of birds in Lotus Valley, but she rarely saw some types that lived in the forest.

"Maybe it's a type of macaw, its voice is so nice to hear, didn't they?"

Yuen Er nodded.

"Yeah, they're really beautiful," and it turned out there wasn't just one, there was a pair of birds perched on a tree branch as they walked forward. A Ning tightened his grip, it was probably a pair of love birds, and he was lucky to meet them there, while he held Yuen's hand. Did this mean that he and Yuen would always be together? A Ning looked at Yuen's bright face, pulled him closer, and lowered his head, kissing Yuen's lips.

"Chup"

Yuen was stunned, his steps stopped. Seeing A Ning smiling broadly after he suddenly kissed him, he didn't expect it.

"Brother"

A Ning smiled, touched Yuen's cheek which was starting to get cold, then held his hand again.

"Come on, let's go home immediately, the air is getting cold, we better hurry"

Without giving any explanation for the kiss, which he didn't know what the meaning was, A Ning pulled Yuen's hand and walked forward.

"Come on Yuen, don't stay here too long"

And inevitably, although still a bit surprised, Yuen followed his clanmate.

"Yeah Brother"

"When we get back to the hut, I will massage your feet, you must be tired after walking all day."

Yuen patted A Ning's shoulder, who nudged him as if teasing him.

"No need for that, Brother, I'm used to it, this is nothing"

A Ning smiled. He held Yuen's hand tightly and continued their steps towards the sunset. The sky will soon be dark, and the journey to Elder Oei's hut is still halfway, they will arrive quite late to get there.

A Ning examined the secret document, plaque, and letter his father handed him. They belonged to his uncle, Bei Cang Yo, also known as Black Crow in certain circles. From the symbol of the plaque that A Ning was holding at the moment, was the symbol of the Black Heaven assassin organization. Which is known as a large organization that carries out murders without leaving a trace.

A Ning found out about this organization when he accompanied his Master, He Tao, to a resident's house that was attacked by bandits at the foot of the mountain. The residents said, one family was killed by people from this black organization. It is known that the characteristic is that the killer leaves a black sticky note in front of the door, and everyone around it will know that the family has been targeted by the organization. They will pretend not to see anything, or join in as the next victims. The organization kills for hire, and no one knows for sure who their leader is. Many suspect that the leadership of the organization comes from the palace or high-ranking officials who have excessive power and can move the masses with a single order.

A Ning looked at his uncle's name plaque, Black Crow, with a blue stone. As he knew from his teacher, the blue stone color was a member with more than a hundred men below him. Can command many people at once to carry out the mission. But, how could his uncle get involved in something like this? A Ning looked at his father, who also didn't understand what was going on. The stocky man shrugged his shoulders.

"Your uncle has lived far away since he was a teenager, traveling everywhere all this time and still being able to give your grandmother lots of nice gifts. Father thought he might be doing an escort business and something like that because some of his men had come home with him, if you remember he went home a few times. Only, this time I'm a little suspicious, about why he suddenly wanted to stay at home for a while, even though he didn't want to live here at all before."

A Ning widened his eyes, looking at his father with big eyes.

"Wh-what do you mean, uncle, has duties here?" he asked, a little uncertainly.

Bei Cang Ku nodded and handed a small burnt piece of paper to A Ning. The paper was thick and brown, similar to the one used for pigeon letters. Only two small letters were left on the paper, resembling the name character of Yuen at the end and "Killed it" at the top. Despite half of the paper being burnt, A Ning could guess that it was the letter he was looking for. He widened his eyes in surprise at the sight of the paper.

"This, where did you get this?" asked A Ning.

Bei Cang Ku pulled his lips.

"Father suspected your uncle and followed him all day to find out what he was doing. Coincidentally, the Dove villa was undergoing renovation at that time so I had to visit it to check annually. Father didn't expect to see your uncle receive the letter. He read it and threw it into the fire to burn. I thought it was his business, but then it suddenly started raining heavily and the fire that was burning the paper went out before all of it burned. Out of curiosity, I thought your uncle might be going on another business trip or something, so I looked at it. Who knows he might need my help to grow his business. At first, I didn't understand what was written. Our family or anyone we know doesn't have a letter with a name like that, until, Father remembered something when I saw Yuen last night."

A Ning swallowed his saliva roundly. Kill, Yuen, this means, Yuen is the assassination organization target? But, how could that happen? Yuen is just a young boy who is so sick because of the poison in his body, even if Yuen isn't killed, he won't necessarily be able to survive past the age of seventeen. Why bother sending the number one assassin organization to take his life?