Smile

Up in the heavens above, the sun had completely retreated to the other side and the moon was left to hang silently in the starry skies. It was midnight, a time of peace. A time for dreams. A time for rest to heal the hardships of the long day.

But of course, like every other facet of life, a rather dreadful reality awaited on the flip side of the coin...

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

"We're here. Did everyone make it?" A rather tall and muscular young man queried his companions upon reaching the tall walls of a relatively small mansion. He was clad in jet-black robes, and strapped to his back was a mighty-looking blade.

Behind him were four other similarly dressed individuals—two males and two females— who all silently nodded in response. It seemed the blade user was the leader of this slick mercenary squad.

"Good. You two split and guard the two main entrances. Don't let the target escape. The rest of you are coming with me." The man turned away from his companions and looked up at the large walls.

At a glance, it was well over ten meters in height, but to the Captain, it was a worthless obstacle.

"Follow me. Don't fall behind." He said without looking back and seemingly fizzled out of existence, only to appear at the top of the tall cement wall in the next second. Most likely the work of a skill. Soon afterwards, he jumped down, landing within the confines of the Cian residence.

His landing was smooth, noiseless, and devoid of even the slightest signs of struggle. Then as soon as the others arrived behind him, he led a fierce dash towards the main residence.

Whoosh!!

Captain, as well as all the other members of the group, showcased remarkable skill as they moved.

Swiftly and lethally, their bodies cut through the wind and wove through the scrubby trees, not making so much as a single sound, despite the woody terrain.

With their speed, it took less than a minute to reach the actual mansion, "Captain, someone's up ahead. Should we ignore him, or…"

One of the followers, a large male, asked. His eyes trained on the figure of an individual in the distance.

"I see him, don't engage," Captain instructed, leading his team to a halt before the persona.

The individual appeared to be dressed in a steward's robe, his aged eyes not giving off any signs of trepidation. The flame of his lamp flickered listlessly, perfectly complimenting his expression.

Upon the black-clad troupe's arrival, the 'individual' spoke, totally skipping the unnecessary formalities.

Well, he did seem to be a lot older than the farmers, so there was that....

"You didn't have to come here. We could have delivered the boy to you ourselves; the only better alternative would have been for Zhao Mo Chuan to come retrieve it himself." Qing Lo said, his tone dreary.

Hearing his words, the three mercenaries exchanged equally disdainful expressions. But in the end, Captain was the one who spoke up.

"To call the great Patriarch by his name.... have you grown mad, old man, or is it senility?" Captain spoke, his words condescending, "Have you forgotten that this family is a member of the clan.... HIS clan, too? Granted, your master once held the title, but that time has long since passed."

Captain paused, allowing his words to sink in, then continued.

"His Lordship sent us because he wasn't sure if he would be able to control his rage. Well, I doubt he would too.... seeing that smug look on your face. He might have even pulverized this entire family. Despite having lost his heir, the great patriarch still shows such wisdom and benevolence, YOU should be bowing your head right now in gratitude."

Captain concluded, locking his fierce gaze with Qing Lo's indifferent look.

A strong breeze blew by, howling lowly as it did. Robes fluttered lightly, but neither Qing Lo nor the mercenaries relented in their sharp glares.

Eventually, the former folded.

Lowering his head with dullened exuberance, "I see now, please forgive my ignorance... I have already retired all staff to their rooms and issued an order, so nobody will be coming to disturb your business. Get the job done, and get out, please."

He grinned.

"Also, if you can, of course, extend my gratitude to His Lordship."

Seeing his apologetic façade, Captain scoffed in distaste, "Tsk... the dog can growl all it wants. In the end, it'll still have no choice but to heel to its master. I am but his Lordship's blade, not a mouthpiece, so I cannot grant that last request."

Although young, it would seem that Captain possessed a certain wisdom when it came to matters of the tongue, as he'd been able to subtly but deftly ascertain dominance over the uncaring housekeeper.

Qing Lo didn't show any signs of response to the provocation, but Captain had already made his point.

"Second Floor, first room to the left from the second stairwell. As per our agreement, the boy has already been dosed with poison. All that's left is the retrieval." Qing Lo described.

Captain and his troupe took in this new information without a word and then, with inexplicable dexterity, raided the building.

As expected, the bunch didn't come across a single soul, allowing them free passage through the hallways and up the staircase. It wasn't long before they reached their destination.

'Let's get this over with quickly.' Captain thought.

He reached out his hand and swiftly opened the wooden door before him. The motion was fast. So fast that the door itself did not even have time to erupt any unwanted noises. The three stormed the chamber.

'Hmm?' But just as they did, a strange… feeling washed over them, and all three of them exchanged perplexed glances.

They didn't quite know why, but they could all feel their senses visibly dullen. Breathing also became considerably more difficult.

'What happened?'

Captain wondered as threw his gaze across the spacious room. The room was dark.

But that was a granted—considering that the only source of illumination was the moonlight, which shone in from the single closed window. Their sharp gazes swept the room.

'Now that I look at it, the air here is also quite misty, and thick..... It's probably because of the closed window, should I open it? No, we'll be leaving this place soon. Just need to find what we came here for.'

It was then that they noticed a bed situated at the far left of the room, 'Bingo.' Captain thought and moved closer to the divan with his companions.

From the looks of it, someone seemed to be in that bed. Sleeping soundly and completely unaware of the misfortune which was about to strike, like a disastrous predator in the sombre night.

…Or so they thought

Captain reached the bed.

Whoever it was seemed to have buried themselves underneath the sheets, strange, considering the sheer state of this room's ventilation. Captain was about to pull off the duvet when a thought crossed his mind.

'Isn't this mission… a little too easy?'

A bad premonition came over him, and his honed instincts roared in tense foreboding. He suddenly started sweating.

It definitely was not because he was scared, but the room was hot.

Yes, the room was definitely hot. It was too hot, and the air was weirdly viscous. It made him a little drowsy; the only window was closed after all.

'It's just the heat getting to me. I should just pull off these sheets, knock out the target, and bring him back to the mansion. Easy, he's already drugged, after all, explains how he'd be able to sleep under these conditions....'

Captain convinced himself. However, his intuition bellowed in fierce protest. But he ignored it on the premise of the space being stuffy. It was so stuffy, it was almost suffocating! He grasped the blanket all the while telling himself to hurry up and leave.

Unfortunately, his mercenary's scepticism wasn't that easy to suppress.

'What if it's a trap? What if that old man set this up to capture us all? He wants to betray the great Patriarch after all… What if Zhao Mei doesn't like me…?' Captain's thoughts strayed.

'Huh, what the hell am I thinking about right now? Ugh, I can't think straight… what am I doing here again...? Oh, that's right, I'm on a mission. FOCUS!' Captain gripped his head and closed his eyes, struggling to even think properly.

'Ok, so I entered this room and… Ugh, dammit! I entered the room and what, why can't I think clearly?! My head hurts. My body feels heavy… the others!' Captain shifted his gaze, and to his dismay, one of his companions already had hands on the bed sheet.

Captain was smart, so he could more or less deduce that he'd fallen into a trap, but his brain didn't seem to be making any progress when it came to the next course of action. Unfortunately, the other male accompanying Captain couldn't even think that far ahead.

Unsurprising as it was, seeing as the idiot male had rather bulging muscles.....

'All muscle heads are beef brains.' Ying's paradigm comes to mind.

"I can't take this anymore. This isn't the first time we've done something like this, so why are you getting cold feet now? And in this living hell of a place too! But fine, if you can't do it, I'll do it for you."

The absolute idiot yelled, his face scrunched in annoyance. Apparently, he had grossly misread the situation.

"Don't!"

Captain yelled, but it had no effect, as the fool had already pulled off the covers. Captain reeled and braced himself for what was about to come, but what he expected never came.

Instead, the groups' eyes widened as they realized.....

'Oh no...'

Underneath the sheets… Were pillows, lined perfectly to assume the shape of a sleeping figure. That much was expected, but what they didn't expect was the message which was left on said pillows. It was written in bright black ink.

[Smile]

It said simply. These unassuming words carried a profound weight, which forced the bunch into an involuntary shudder.

"Huh? What the he-uack!"

Unfortunately, the foolish young man would never finish the words, as a long silver blade had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and sheathed itself within his broad chest.

"Brother Han!!" The single female yelled with a distressed voiced and they all turned their attention to the assailant....

The killer was smiling. Bright as a baby, but as dubious as an imp. He spoke:

"Welcome one, welcome all, to this humble abode of mine. My name is Ying, and today, I'll be the one handling your execution."