The bus was parked steadily inside the Public Works Bureau parking lot.

Master Tian checked his attire once more, ensuring no parts were exposed, and then quickly got off the bus to complete the handover procedures before heading straight home.

As a full-time employee at the Public Works Bureau, he received an apartment a long time ago. Although it was a cylindrical building, it was slightly larger than Cheng Ye's.

Later, when his daughter also joined the Public Works Bureau, coincidentally the room next door became vacant, and he was allowed to knock down the non-load-bearing wall between the two rooms to convert it into a two-room apartment.

He walked up to the main road.

Master Tian glanced up at the rolling dark clouds in the distance and unconsciously quickened his pace.

Strangely, despite the bustling crowd along the roadside, he maneuvered through the crowd as nimbly as a fish swimming, without bumping into anyone.

Occasionally, a pedestrian would turn around in realization, only to catch a glimpse of a low-bent, swift-moving shadow, without seeing the face.

Before long.

Shortly past 6:45, Master Tian slowed down and turned into the family compound of the Celestial Fortune Minerals Third-Phase.

"Old Tian, off work so early today?"

"I'm envious, your job is so relaxed and steady."

Two middle-aged men approached, greeting him, and Master Tian looked up with a cheerful nod, "It's about to rain, no one is taking the bus, so I clocked off early."

"Hey, you're having a leisurely time, I just received orders, looks like tonight's going to be a sleepless one."

"Tell me about it, I'll be busy till dawn too."

"What a coincidence, I've also received news of a restless night ahead."

The three of them sidestepped each other, very tacitly keeping a distance.

Upon reaching the entrance of the building, Master Tian couldn't help but call out, "Old Sun, Old Liu, stay alive."

"Don't worry, we're not dying yet." Old Sun left, chuckling without turning back.

Old Liu paused, waved his hand, "I'm a single man with no attachments, but you have a family, don't do anything foolish."

Foolish?

Master Tian didn't respond, watching the two figures hurriedly leave, before turning to go upstairs.

Reaching the third floor, he knocked on the door in a rhythm of three long and one short beats.

Swish.

The door opened in response, revealing a middle-aged woman with a very tense face.

"Old Tian, why are you back at this hour?"

"Let's talk inside."

Glancing at the other rooms in the hallway, Master Tian walked in, locking the door behind him.

Cough, cough.

Coughing mixed with Tian Lei's voice came from inside the room, "Dad, you're off work?"

"Yeah, I'm off work."

Master Tian replied, turning on his Defense Communication device, switching to the disaster module and handing it to the middle-aged woman.

In an instant, the woman's face turned pale, and her hand holding the Defense Communication trembled slightly.

"Shh."

Gesturing for silence, Master Tian whispered, "Jingyun, I have to go out for a while later, keep an eye on your daughter, don't let her take any risks."

"And you?"

Master Tian waved his hand and walked into the next room.

Three days had passed, even though Tian Lei's high fever had subsided, she still appeared listless.

Seeing Master Tian enter, she struggled to sit up from the bed, forcing a faint smile:

"Dad, are you going out again later?"

"Not going out."

"You're… still pretending?" Tian Lei patted the bed, signaling for Master Tian to sit beside her, "I may have been sick these past nights, but I wasn't deaf, I heard you sneaking out every night."

Master Tian fell silent for a moment, glancing down at his already atrophying calf muscles.

The once top assassin in the Unity of Heaven and Man Realm, now barely into middle age, already reduced to this state?

Even his daughter, who never practiced martial arts, could already...

"I was bluffing you."

Tian Lei chuckled, pointing to her head, "Dad, it's not your martial arts that have declined, it's this… this has declined. I've always told you to read more when waiting in the car, but you keep dodging it, now you know?"

"Uh."

Master Tian was stunned for a moment, then shook his head with an amused smile.

"My daughter works hard, dedicating her efforts to Shelter City, but there are just some pests, wanting to destroy my daughter's achievements."

His eyes suddenly turned cold, "Can I tolerate that?"

"Can't tolerate it."

Tian Lei maintained her faint smile, but her voice carried a murderous intent, "Dad, you have to kill them, kill them all, leave none, don't let the pests continue to harm our Buffer Zone after tonight, destroying Inspector Cheng's efforts, ruining… everyone's hard work!"

"Don't worry, after these few nights, I've got a clear picture."

Master Tian nodded, then got up.

He reached under the bed, retrieving a black backpack.

Unzipping it, inside were neatly arranged more than a dozen glistening daggers, a short sword about the length of a forearm, and three identical-looking Defense Communications.

The overhead light shone down, but the short sword cast no shadow, only a faint purple glimmer flickered across its blade.

"Tian Wuying."

Middle-aged woman Xu Jingyun entered, holding a stack of pitch-black clothing, eyes landing on the short sword in his hand:

"It's been 13 years, everyone else is playing with guns, can you still wield your sword?"

"The gun is for protection, the sword is for killing."

Master Tian smiled, taking the clothes, changing as he spoke, "Don't worry, I stopped brute force long ago, smart people… use verbal sparring."

"You're quite capable."

Watching her husband shed his usual thin, amiable middle-aged appearance, transforming into a tightly clad assassin's attire, Xu Jingyun's gaze grew faintly dazed, as if she suddenly fell back into a time long past.

"I'm leaving."

Picking up an unregistered Defense Communication, clipping it to his waist, Master Tian exhaled a long breath.

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