Young Master Zhao had just noticed the thin wire and hurriedly pulled the reins.

By his ear, a servant's panicked shout reached him:

"Master Zhao, Master Zhao! Someone has killed the old master!"

Someone killed the old master?

Who?

Who dares to kill my father?!

Young Master Zhao was still reeling from shock when, in the next instant, the thin wire closed in.

The flash of a sword flickered and vanished. His head flew high into the air, blood trailing as it fell—just like the head of a chicken cleaved with a single stroke during slaughter.

Cries of terror erupted instantly upon witnessing the death. The street and alley fell into chaos. The servants screamed and staggered back in fright, only to surge forward again toward Young Master Zhao's corpse.

Kneeling in homage, Liu Zheng abruptly stopped. He raised his head in stunned disbelief,

and saw a pile of bright red lanterns blown to the ground by a fierce wind.

......…

That evening, Liu Zheng returned home in an absent-minded daze, recounting everything that had happened during the day.

His elderly father leaned against the doorway. The deep furrows in his brow, etched from who knows how long, seemed to ease for the first time that day.

Liu Zheng sat stupefied for a long while. Noticing that there was someone missing in the household, he finally snapped out of his daze and exclaimed:

"It was him?!"

Old Liu mumbled: "Yes, it was him. He even came back once."

"What did he ask for? Silver? Father, how much did you give him?"

Liu Zheng asked, his face full of doubt:

"Twenty taels?"

Old Liu shook his head.

"Ten taels?"

Still, he shook his head.

"Five taels? It can't possibly be less than five taels..."

Yet the old man shook his head again.

Liu Zheng asked in complete disbelief: "He... he wanted nothing at all?"

"He did want something..."

Old Liu strained to recall,

"Before he left, that young man asked for a bowl of porridge."

He still remembered the scene when the young man departed.

The young man wore black, carrying both sword and blade. Waving his hand, he walked through the narrow alleys of the neighborhood...

...…

Two decades later,

that small Liu family courtyard still stood. Old Liu had long since passed, buried in a cheap coffin. After the earth covered him, who knows when worms began hollowing out the grave.

During that time, Liu Zheng had finally saved enough silver to marry a good wife and father three healthy, plump children.

Sharpening wooden carving tools and teaching his children the craft, the old carpenter often reminisced. Ever since then, he had never seen that man again, nor had he ever learned his name.

The only thing he knew was this:

A bowl of porridge,

for a hero.

.........

.........

"The Bai family girl didn't die?"

In a study within Western Jin, the air was filled with an exquisite fusion of sandalwood and myrrh. The fragrance soothed the spirit, and smoke coiled amidst the room, where a middle-aged man surnamed Cao sat.

Not far from him stood a scholar, whose name was Zhang Xia, styled Changxiao. He served as an advisor for the Cao family after failing three imperial examinations and achieving nothing. Thus, he had come to the Cao household.

Zhang Xia cupped his hands and replied: "Master Cao, we made many arrangements along the journey. Even after they changed routes multiple times, we predicted them well. However, every single assassin we deployed failed. That man surnamed Qiao is dead, and so is Yang Zuye, known as the West Wind Swordsman."

Cao Wendo's expression darkened, but he eventually sighed, "If we can't take down the Bai family, then my reinstatement will remain an impossible dream."

Cao Wendo was once a deputy to the Chief of Staff in the Ministry of Personnel of the Great Jin court, second only to the Chief himself. He had reached his position thanks to the backing of the Chen Family from Western Jin but had been dismissed due to factional struggles in the court.

Hearing this demoralizing statement, Zhang Xia immediately interjected, "The Bai family can be taken down. Their current position relies heavily on leveraging both the Wanyan and Chen families. Now that the Wanyan clan—those coarse barbarians—has grown weaker, signs of the Bai family's decline are already evident. As long as we manage to help the Chen family reclaim the Bai family's assets, your reinstatement, Master Cao, is a certainty."

The Bai family had deeply entrenched roots along the frontier, rising to prominence through border trade—a fact well known. Historically, collusion between officials and merchants has always been hard to disentangle. The Bai family's foothold on the frontier was inseparable from the support of the Western Jin's Chen Family. Yet now, the Bai family sought to court both sides and aimed to stand independently, which inevitably drew the ire of many within the Chen faction. Thus, the Cao family, likewise rooted in the frontier, aimed to crush the Bai family and reclaim their assets for the Chen family, thereby securing Cao Wendo's reinstatement.

After a moment of contemplation, Cao Wendo asked:

"Who was the one who saved the Bai family girl? What's his name?"

"He's said to be called Min Ning," Zhang Xia responded.

"Where is he from?"

Zhang Xia shook his head, "We haven't found out yet, but he's not from our Great Jin."

After some thought, Cao Wendo said, "The Bai family has a stronghold in the frontier and even connections in Dongyu. It's likely that Min Ning is a top operative they invited. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to save the Bai family girl. Issue a kill order. Have him assassinated—it'll cripple the Bai family further."

To ensure the Bai family girl's death, the Cao family had exhausted countless schemes along the way.

Yet Bai Shangxi still returned to the Bai family, rendering all their efforts in vain.

At this point, directly assassinating Bai Shangxi was nearly impossible. The Bai family, having been alarmed by the recent events, would heighten its defenses significantly, making any future action against them even more difficult. Furthermore, years of painstakingly planted spies within the Bai family now faced inevitable exposure and destruction.

By issuing the kill order, there was some measure of intimidating the Bai family and saving face for the Cao family. Zhang Xia, who had long served as an advisor, clearly understood that this was also a way for Cao Wendo to vent his anger and frustration.

"I will head to Lifeng Pavilion for the kill order right away," said Zhang Xia.

"Lifeng Pavilion?" Cao Wendo stroked his beard and nodded, "Good! The foremost assassin organization."

Lifeng Pavilion was located on the border between Jin Yu and Dongyu. It was an assassin guild renowned across Jianghu, its fame transcending even the two nations, with tales of it reaching the North Di territory.

The leader of Lifeng Pavilion, known as the Fengzhu, possessed the title of the King of Assassins. This legacy had been passed down for thirteen generations. The current Fengzhu was known only by his surname, Gu. As secrecy was paramount for any assassin, even his full name remained a mystery.

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