(Sorry, I was reinstalling my computer this morning. Since I don't do it often, it took quite a while, delaying my writing. Apologies, apologies!)

Every morning during breakfast, typically everyone comes down around the same time. On workdays, Zhang Yurong's and Li Yan's schedules are about the same, while on weekends one might be earlier or later.

This morning, when she came down for breakfast, Li Yan hadn't come down yet. Remembering what Yue Yao said last night, Zhang Yurong went up to his bedroom to knock on the door and call him to breakfast.

For ordinary couples, this is a common occurrence, but for Zhang Yurong, it's unprecedented. This made her feel slightly embarrassed. Her mother always reminded her to be more virtuous, but with Aunt Liu taking care of things like chores and meals, she felt there wasn't much for her to do. Now she realized there were many details to attend to, and she really hasn't been doing enough.

After a somewhat awkward moment, she felt a sense of novelty as she knocked on the door. It was quite bold to openly knock on his door. Hopefully, she could wake Li Yan from a sweet dream.

But after knocking for a while, there was no response from inside, which made her frown slightly. Was he doing this on purpose?

Thinking he might be teasing her inside, Zhang Yurong mustered her courage, turned the door handle, and walked in.

Having seen Li Yan naked yesterday opened her heart a lot. If he sleeps naked, it's no big deal—it's not like she hasn't seen it!

However, Li Yan wasn't teasing her, nor was he sleeping too soundly; there was simply no one in the room.

This left her feeling a bit frustrated. Her rare proactive attempt turned out to be for nothing since he wasn't even there!

When she dejectedly went downstairs to the dining room, Yue Yao had already set the table and served porridge for her.

"Sister Rong, did you go to wake up Brother-in-law Li Yan?"

Upon hearing Yue Yao's words, Zhang Yurong felt a bit embarrassed, but since Yue Yao knew her situation well, the awkwardness had already passed, so she nodded and admitted it. "Who knows where he went early in the morning. Maybe he sneaked out again last night."

With a smile, Yue Yao comforted her: "I just heard from Aunt Liu that he went out early. He probably had something to do!"

"Whatever, it's better when he's not here. Out of sight, out of mind," Zhang Yurong said, slightly in a huff.

...

Li Yan indeed left early. Since it was a private matter, it wasn't convenient to tell Zhang Yurong, so he just left without saying anything.

He had already arrived at Cloud Island. Yue Yao had arranged for "them" to meet there. Except for the new trainees at the training base, the qualified assassins are scattered all over, taking action directly upon receiving task notifications. They don't live together regularly. Bringing everyone together promptly, Cloud Island certainly has geographical advantages, with convenient transportation and speedy passport processes for entry and exit.

With yesterday's experience, this time Li Yan didn't flake. He remembered to send a message to Yu Xiaodi before leaving, telling her he wouldn't have time to visit today, promising to make it up next time. Yu Xiaodi, of course, felt both annoyed and resentful, but she obediently didn't complain.

Now, Li Yan was on a bus heading to his destination. His "heart" was very calm, keeping himself in peak condition. Yet, he never allowed himself to become overconfident. The old saying "timing, geography, and harmony," which stands through time, never fails. Thus, he wouldn't wait until the last critical moment but would arrive early to familiarize himself with the surroundings.

As he sat on the bus, his phone rang, displaying an unfamiliar number.

"Li... Yan?"

Before he could speak, he heard imperfect Yun Country language over the line.

"Future?" The voice was Shinohara Mirai's.

"Yes, it's me..."

Another voice chimed in: "And Kumi."

They had all been together recently, Matsushima Kumi and Shinohara Mirai had gotten used to Li Yan's company. Going the whole day without seeing him, in their perception, seemed like a long time, and hearing his voice felt like a long-awaited reunion.

"How are you guys doing? Staying in S City for fun, or heading somewhere else?" Li Yan asked in a low voice.

These words brought both into silence.

Li Yan frowned slightly. Although he could sense that Kui and Mirai had special feelings for him, it shouldn't be too difficult to part, right?

"We... have to go..." Shinohara Mirai said somewhat dejectedly.

Matsushima Kui, who spoke the Yun Country language a bit better, explained, "President Shinohara asked us to return, Kawada is coming to pick us up, and our flight is in a while..."

So this departure meant returning to Beihai Country!

Li Yan also felt a slight regret. Although in terms of distance, with today's developed transportation, going to Beihai Country wouldn't take long, and it's not much farther than going to the eastern extension of Yun Country. But those are two different countries, making the psychological distance much greater. This psychological distance is not just about different countries; it's more about the distance in culture, ideology, and habits. For instance, the vast mainland stretches from south to north, but psychologically, Cloud Island and Lan Island are still considered farther.

Regarding their departure, he had weighed things in his mind. Last time, Feng Wuqing took a job to assassinate Shinohara Mirai, and although he stopped it, there must still be further issues. It's understandable that Shinohara Mirai's father would have Kawada come back to take them home.

"It's okay, you can always come back to visit when there's time."

Hearing this comfort from Li Yan, the two became even more sorrowful. Clearly, they wanted to see Li Yan one more time before leaving. But this statement showed that he would not come, just a perfunctory reply.

Li Yan had no choice. He was currently on Cloud Island with important matters to attend to, so he obviously couldn't go to see them off.

"Li Yan... you... take care." Kui and Mirai didn't want to say more to avoid further sadness, so they bid farewell on the phone.

After hanging up the phone, Li Yan closed his eyes to rest for a while, driving this trace of emotion out of his heart to prevent it from affecting today's actions. As for Shinohara Mirai and Matsushima Kui, whether they would meet again depended on fate. If they were meant to be, they would meet again; if not, they would become memories.

...

In a certain place around Tai Mo Shan in the New Territories, there's an abandoned factory that has ceased production.

Usually, only one person lives here—a man not yet thirty years old. For this man named Liu Xi, some familiar neighbors have a "hate iron for not becoming steel" sentiment, thinking at such a young age, he should be in the prime of making a grand career, but instead, he's content guarding an old factory, which seems like a lack of ambition. However, the Cloud Island's good welfare makes it easy to breed laziness. Some people, without work, live on government assistance. Compared to them, Liu Xi at least supports himself and isn't a burden to society.

Liu Xi was a worker in this factory before. After the boss relocated it to Dongling, he became unemployed. Later, someone bought this place, and he had the chance to stay and watch over the factory. His daily life was leisurely, playing mahjong, getting massages, drinking, and bragging. Sometimes, he would lock the door and leave for a few days to indulge himself thoroughly in Shenya or Dongling. His small life was fairly comfortable without much pressure, making some envious.

—These are Liu Xi's surface identities!

This old factory, after being bought, was once a training base, and Liu Xi left here as well. Later, the rookie training base moved elsewhere, but this place remained a backup reserve for "them." He volunteered to be here as a guard, using this identity to cover his ordinary life.

Today Liu Xi didn't play mahjong or get massages; he was very excited and serious, waiting for the arrival of some people, mainly awaiting one person!

Starting in the afternoon, when no one noticed, people began arriving at the old factory, and after confirming secret codes, Liu Xi let them in one by one. By evening, at dusk, the frequency of arrivals increased slightly. Even so, everyone concealed themselves well, avoiding attention.

By 7 p.m., the long-anticipating Liu Xi began to feel disappointed. Although many people had arrived and it seemed almost everyone was present, the most important person, Queen, had not come, nor had King!

As a "Blade"-level assassin, he didn't have many opportunities to get close to King. In the meetings they had, all he could feel was King's infinitely overwhelming power. Over the years, besides taking assignments (under the guise of seeking pleasure in Shenya or Dongling), his regular indulgence was just for show. Most of his time in the old factory was spent in extensive training, hoping to stand out.

"They" appear to be facing internal issues, and King's return at this time was exciting news for Liu Xi. Today's convened meeting was happening on his turf, making him extremely excited. Unfortunately, the time set by Queen had passed, yet there were no signs of her or King appearing!

Could it be that King had already mixed into the group of people inside?

Having never seen King's true face, only relying on his powerful presence to verify, Liu Xi had no way of knowing if King had slipped in—anyone who matched the code that Queen sent, even if they came with a hood, he couldn't ask further, especially about names.

Those who started arriving in the afternoon were basically those who graduated from here back then, and they had a stronger emotional bond with this base. Now, everyone had arrived and gathered in the central workshop, waiting for King to show up.

With time up, Liu Xi resolutely locked the door, turned off the lights at the entrance, and went inside. Due to time constraints and the need for discretion, he hadn't prepared much to entertain everyone, only some beer. Of course, no one cared about food. Everyone's focus was on one thing—King!

Now that King hadn't appeared, he, as someone reluctantly considered the host, had to step in to calm everyone's mood. As he walked toward the central workshop, two people emerged, blocking his path.

(Thanks for yesterday's rewards from brothers: reader 100115200524002, Mr_Meat, I'm Urban Bookworm, Martial Arts Secret, Eagle's Wind, CP Pampas, Feng Yiren, Technique Crown, Sai Clan's Little Fish, Peak Peak Knight, Yagami Light II, GJ-007, the Nth in the world, reader 080927134945483, Ancient Dragon* Ranger, Celestial Bookworm, マスク┊Cass, Nana's March, Cold Cold Team Leader, dongmin8061, If at that time~ Snow, sliver lion, Stop. Little Ghost, jys0022, reader 090515174347051, Livestock V9) (To be continued, for more, please login to www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)

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