Hidden Shadow – CH 150

Chapter One-Hundred-Fifty: An Impossible Mission

An Jiu thought that her failed assassination attempt on Li Ting must have attracted the Madman’s attention. Since Li Ting was Prince Jing’s man, and Prince Jing, like the Piaomiao Mountain mansion, had ties to the Liao Kingdom, it was not impossible that they sent the Madman to protect Li Ting.

In fact, An Jiu was right this time.

Prince Jing and important Liao officials planted in Bianjing had assassination attempts one after another within a few days, so the Piaomiao Mountain mansion stationed more people in Bianjing. An Jiu’s failed first assassination attempt on Li Ting alarmed Prince Jing.

After her failed attempt, An Jiu did not immediately finish him off, giving Prince Jing time to request reinforcements from the Piaomiao Mountain mansion overnight. However, by the time they arrived, An Jiu’s second assassination attempt had already succeeded, and Cui Yichen tricked the Madman into pursuing the culprit. He just had not expected that the perpetrator was indeed An Jiu! And he was even taken hostage by An Jiu for the second time.

“With such a large-scale purge of officials, the Konghe Academy is likely to suffer more casualties,” Chu Dingjiang said, opening his eyes.

“What do you mean?” An Jiu asked.

Chu Dingjiang stretched his limbs, feeling his inner energy return by half before relaxing. “With high-ranking officials being assassinated without cause, and more than one at that, the Emperor will inevitably set an example for the world. This case will not only be investigated but thoroughly investigated. Of course, he will not implicate the Konghe Army, and this matter will not have anything to do with the Konghe Academy. He simply needs to find a few scapegoats.”

Chu Dingjiang chuckled a few times, a hint of schadenfreude in his expression. Seeing An Jiu’s cold gaze, he cleared his throat and explained seriously, “Scapegoats are those who failed the Konghe Academy’s trials. This has always been the rule. Ha, if you keep having this bad luck, you might really have to pay with your life in the end.”

An Jiu currently had the lowest score among this batch of trial participants; she had already lost four points.

“Completing this task will earn me two points,” An Jiu said.

“You are really content.” Chu Dingjiang looked at her unambitious expression, both amused and exasperated. “Lou Mingyue already has six points; completing this mission will give her eight. Only by exceeding twenty points before the trial period ends will she be truly safe. If everyone passes the trial and a few scapegoats must be chosen, then we will look at their usual performance…”

They would select the person with the highest error rate as the scapegoat. Strictly speaking, An Jiu had already made three mistakes: the first was randomly releasing all the signals, the second was failing to assassinate Master Fan, and the third was failing to assassinate Li Ting… Although she ultimately completed the mission, she did not hit the target on the first strike, which counts as half a mistake.

This mission went through so much trouble. She probably would not even get two points. If things went well and the Academy officials were lenient, she might even get one point.

An Jiu currently had the most mistakes. If she wanted to reduce her error rate, she must complete more missions, and each one must be completed excellently to close the gap with the others.

Chu Dingjiang’s explanation finally made An Jiu feel a little threatened.

“Xuan Ren! The Xuan Instructor requests your presence.” Someone called from outside.

An Jiu went out and followed the person.

The guide led her to the Xuan Instructor’s training room.

The four instructors’ training rooms were not far apart. As An Jiu approached, she saw the Earth Instructor leaning against a pillar.

“Is this not little Xuan Ren? I heard you failed again. What a pity,” the Earth Instructor had recently discovered that with An Jiu’s reckless behavior, he did not need to lift a finger. Watching her struggle step by step into the abyss of death was more exciting and entertaining than doing it himself. Thinking about how An Jiu always went along with him, he suddenly found her somewhat more agreeable..” The

An Jiu stood in front of the door, waiting for the guide to announce her arrival, not bothering to look at the Earth Instructor.

“Please come in,” the guide said upon returning.

An Jiu pushed open the door and went straight in. Each instructor’s training room was half the size of the martial arts hall. Besides the training area, the walls were piled high with various weapons and books.

“Come here.” The Xuan Instructor emerged from behind a bookshelf, gesturing for An Jiu to sit down.

Once seated, the Xuan Instructor asked, “Did you really capture the Second Master of Piaomiao Mountain Mansion?”

An Jiu hesitated for a moment, then replied, “Yes.”

“On what grounds?” The Xuan Instructor asked, simultaneously throwing a swift punch at her face.

An Jiu did not block, not even blinking, because her mental strength was several levels higher than the Xuan Instructor’s, so she could sense that the punch was being held back, not actually aimed at her.

“Wei Yuzhi is extremely cunning,” the Xuan Instructor explained, withdrawing his hand. “We suspect he deliberately entered the Konghe Academy to scout the terrain, so we need to know if you truly have the ability to capture him.”

“Even if I do, it is possible he planned this all along,” An Jiu said.

The head instructor nodded, not dwelling on the question, but instead delivered extremely bad news: “Wei Yuzhi has escaped.”

Before An Jiu could accept it, he added even worse news: “The Academy Heads have decided that your next target is Wei Yuzhi, with a deadline of eight months.”

An Jiu suppressed her agitation and asked, “Why did he escape? Is the Konghe Academy not heavily guarded?”

Even if Wei Yuzhi’s mental strength was high enough to easily evade the guards, he could not possibly abandon his body and escape with his soul if he had been imprisoned in such a formidable defense from the beginning!

“Ahem, that’s a long story,” the head instructor said, glossing over the Konghe Academy’s faults and emphasizing the benefits. “However, if you can complete this mission, you can smoothly enter the Konghe Army and immediately become a sixth-rank official. The rule is, bring back the target; life or death does not matter.”

“What if he hides in the Piaomiao Mountain mansion for eight months? You want me to go in and kill him?”

This was intolerable! What kind of place was the Piaomiao Mountain mansion? A den of assassins! There were hundreds, if not thousands, of experienced assassins there. Even a first-rank official would not dare do this, let alone a sixth-rank one!

In her previous organization, An Jiu would have accepted without hesitation, but not now! Because she was starting to find some meaning in life.

This was a life-or-death mission, an impossible task for her now.

She had not only begun to cherish life but also felt a pang of reluctance. Although she had found a plausible excuse to force herself to kill Li Ting, this did not negate her change.

“Originally, it was decided on six months, but I, the instructor, argued a way out and secured eight months.” The Xuan Instructor’s attitude turned serious, clearly telling her that this was an order she could not refuse. “Of course, such a dangerous mission will not be assigned to you alone. Chief Instructor Chu will accompany you.”

Chu Dingjiang was assigned to the Konghe Academy as a nominal chief instructor, on par with the Divine Martial Commander of the Konghe Army, but it was just a prestigious title; in reality, he had no real authority.

An Jiu asked, “What’s in it for him?”

“If he succeeds, he will be reinstated,” the Xuan Instructor advised her. “A master of the Transcendent Realm can slaughter an entire city with a flick of his wrist. Even Chief Instructor Chu can easily enter and leave the Piaomiao Mountain mansion alone. You’ve come out ahead this time.”

Come ahead, my foot!

There probably were not many people who knew that Chu Dingjiang’s power was restricted. It was clear someone was deliberately trying to kill him, and she was being dragged into it too!

However, An Jiu thought about how Chu Dingjiang seemed so cunning and calculating; he should not be someone who could be schemed against to this extent…