The moment Wuming saw that gold coin, a powerful sense of danger surged through him!
Although Lu Muzhe hadn’t said it outright, the instant he laid eyes on the coin, Wuming immediately connected him to the Scarlet organization.
While it looked noticeably different from the Scarlet tokens he had taken from the black household members earlier, when combined with what Crosti had told him last night, Wuming quickly reached a conclusion.
The Lu Muzhe standing before him was very likely an assassin—just not one from Scarlet!
It was highly possible they had already formed an “alliance”!
And the reason he had come here was clearly not as simple as his relationship with Bo Qinyue.
The real conversation was only just beginning!
“It looks like you already know what this represents, Doctor Wuming.”
Lu Muzhe looked into his eyes.
From the wariness and alarm in that gaze, he could tell at a glance that Wuming had figured out his identity.
“You—”
Wuming sat frozen in place. He desperately wanted to jump up, run upstairs, and warn Serena that there was danger below, but doing so would be suicidal—he had no idea what kind of abilities Lu Muzhe might possess!
Shouting a warning upstairs was also immediately ruled out by Wuming.
Right now, all he could do was wait and see what Lu Muzhe would do next.
“You should also know by now that I came here for the girl upstairs, right? That Serena who is wanted by Scarlet—she’s staying with you.”
“…What do you want?”
Wuming asked warily. He had already decided that if Lu Muzhe really tried to take Serena away, he would risk his own life to let her escape!
But Lu Muzhe remained standing where he was, looking at Wuming without making any further moves.
“What do you think? Did I come to take her and claim the bounty, or did I come here just to chat with you?”
“…”
At this moment, Wuming desperately hoped it was the latter—that he had only come to talk.
But from the look of things, this visitor clearly did not come with good intentions.
“I can act at any time, Doctor Wuming. Even back at the scene that day, if I had wanted to, I could have easily taken that girl away.”
His confidence came mainly from his ability: 【Silent Presence】.
It allowed him to become like air, making those around him completely overlook his actions.
That was the backing that let him take Serena if he chose.
“Since I didn’t choose to take her at that time, you should understand my attitude toward you and toward that girl.”
Lu Muzhe unbuttoned his suit jacket to show he wasn’t carrying any offensive items.
His attitude was already very clear.
“…So you’re not going to do anything to us?”
Wuming asked cautiously. The reply he received was—
“No, I won’t.”
Lu Muzhe buttoned his jacket again.
The reason he had come today was simply to meet this Doctor Wuming—and the Serena who was still upstairs.
“Why? Isn’t Serena’s bounty very tempting? Why would you choose to let her go instead of taking her?”
Although Wuming would never actually let him take Serena, he still asked the question.
In his impression, assassins were cold-blooded killers who would stop at nothing to complete their missions—just like that bald assassin from the movies.
So why had he chosen to spare Serena?
“Do you want me to take her, Doctor Wuming?”
“No… I’m just curious.”
Of course Wuming didn’t want that. He was simply too curious about why this assassin had acted this way.
Lu Muzhe’s reason was actually quite simple.
“Although her bounty is indeed tempting, Doctor Wuming—a full one million. It’s enough to drive any assassin to take action.”
One million…
Wuming silently noted the number in his heart.
“But I’m not like them,” Lu Muzhe continued. “You saved my brother, Doctor Wuming. Even though I’m an assassin, I’m not a cold-blooded bastard.”
Although Lu Muzhe had been the one to kill the criminal, without Wuming stepping forward to buy time, he wouldn’t have had the chance.
“Thank you again, Doctor Wuming.”
“If you hadn’t bought me that time, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to shoot that man. Thank you for giving me the chance, Wuming.”
With that, Lu Muzhe bent at the waist and gave a deep bow, then straightened up and looked at Wuming again.
“So… you were the one who killed that guy?!”
Wuming stared at him in shock.
Only now did he realize that the criminal hadn’t been shot by the police that day—it had been Lu Muzhe!
Wasn’t he afraid the police would come knocking?!
“That’s right, I killed him.”
Lu Muzhe answered indifferently. Killing people was something he had done far too many times.
“You… aren’t you afraid the police will come knocking?!”
“That’s a matter for our world. They have their own ways of handling it. I don’t need to worry.”
As he spoke, he picked up the High Tower token from the table and showed it to Wuming.
“As long as you have the right compensation, no problem is a problem.”
“…”
Wuming naturally had no idea how the assassin world worked. He wasn’t part of it, so how could he know these things?
However, one thing Wuming could be certain of:
He… really didn’t seem to have any hostility?
Although the lack of hostility let Wuming breathe a small sigh of relief, he still remained on guard against Lu Muzhe, afraid these words were only meant to lower his defenses.
“Won’t your organization have any objections?” Wuming asked next.
“Can they object?” Lu Muzhe shrugged. “These aren’t mandatory missions. It’s more like whoever wants to take the job can take it.”
“You might not know this, but there are conflicts between factions in our organization. Especially with Scarlet—no one likes those guys.”
“That’s why even though their bounties are high, hardly anyone is willing to accept their jobs. In the end, only people from Scarlet end up accepting Scarlet’s bounties.”
“…”
Wuming didn’t know how many factions there were in total. He already knew of at least two.
He was very curious about what the situation inside was really like.
“Are you very familiar with the Scarlet organization?”
Wuming asked, hoping to learn from him what kind of strange group Scarlet actually was.
“You can’t do this line of work without knowing the various factions, Doctor Wuming. What do you want to know?”
It wasn’t hard for Lu Muzhe to see that Wuming wanted to ask about the Scarlet organization.
“…What exactly is Scarlet Night?”
He really wanted to understand. After hearing about it from Crosti, he wanted to confirm whether Lu Muzhe’s explanation matched.
“Just an internal self-entertainment event for them.”
Lu Muzhe knew it well. Scarlet’s actions had caused them quite a bit of trouble as well.
“A night where they’re allowed to kill each other. It even forces us to stop our own ‘work’ and avoid that day. I really don’t understand what those people in Scarlet are thinking.”
“They’ve turned this profession into entertainment, as if they want everyone to know we exist. Luckily it only circulates inside their blood clan.”
“…”
It was pretty much the same as what Crosti had said…
Probably tired of standing, Lu Muzhe sat down again and continued speaking to Wuming with a serious attitude.
“Bringing a bounty target out on the street like that—I have to say I admire you, Doctor Wuming.”
“Not afraid at all that someone might spot her.”
“…”
Wuming had thought his disguise was flawless. He hadn’t expected Lu Muzhe to see through Serena’s outfit so easily.
But the good news was that the one who noticed was him.
“You got lucky running into me this time.
If it had been another blood clan assassin, your luck wouldn’t have been so good.”
“…”
“Can I trust you?”
Wuming suddenly asked, causing Lu Muzhe to raise an eyebrow.
This was the first time someone had said something like that to him.
In their line of work, trusting someone wasn’t exactly a smart choice.
“My advice is that you shouldn’t trust me, Doctor Wuming. There’s no such thing as trust in this business.”
“Not with enemies, and especially not with friends or family. We can’t tell anyone about our profession—it would only drag them into deeper trouble.”
“So even your brother… Bo Qinyue doesn’t know that you’re an assassin?”
Wuming caught the key point. Lu Muzhe nodded in acknowledgment.
“She doesn’t know yet, and I don’t plan on telling her.”
Lu Muzhe reached into the jack-o’-lantern for a piece of candy, unwrapped it, and popped it into his mouth.
“Do you know why I told you my identity?”
Lu Muzhe suddenly asked Wuming. The reason didn’t need guessing.
“Because I’m no longer an ‘outsider,’ right?”
“Correct.” Lu Muzhe nodded firmly.
“The moment you became connected to that girl, you stopped being an outsider. That’s why I chose to be honest with you about my identity.”
“You now… have some connection to our world as well.”
“…”
The assassin world, huh…
Wuming sighed inwardly.
Does that mean those two men might show up too?
“You should be careful these days, Doctor Wuming,” Lu Muzhe sat up straighter. “Things have been… rather unstable in our circle lately. For your and that girl’s safety, I suggest you don’t go out much during this period.”
This was the same warning Crosti had given him last night.
It wasn’t safe right now, and they still didn’t know what moves the assassins would make.
Right now, Lu Muzhe was the only person Wuming could contact who belonged to the assassin world.
“I’ve said everything I needed to say.”
Lu Muzhe stood up once more.
This time he truly intended to leave Wuming’s clinic and return to Bo Qinyue’s side.
“Then I’ll take my leave, Doctor Wuming.”
As he spoke, Lu Muzhe pushed the High Tower gold coin toward Wuming, offering it as a “gift.”
“If you run into any difficulties, you can come find me, Doctor Wuming. Of course, I will charge a corresponding fee.”
“You can keep this gold coin.”
After saying this, Lu Muzhe left the clinic. Once he was gone, Wuming also stood up, walked to the shop entrance, and looked around several times, afraid there might be other assassins lurking nearby.
But Lu Muzhe had already disappeared into the crowd.
“…”
Wuming quickly pulled down the rolling shutter, then collapsed back into his chair and let out a long sigh of relief.
“That was too dangerous…”
He murmured to himself.
He never expected to have entertained an assassin in his clinic. Fortunately, it was one without malicious intent.
If he could notice it… then could other hidden assassins have already…
Wuming didn’t dare think about it. He feared that his home had long been targeted by multiple assassins, all waiting for the right moment to strike.
Just thinking about that possibility made his back run cold.
No… don’t think too much…
If that were really the case, they would have already made their move.
Wuming quickly pushed the thought out of his mind and turned his focus to Serena.
If Serena found out… how would she react?
Wuming wasn’t sure.
He didn’t know whether he should tell her that an assassin had already come knocking.
If he did, Serena would probably get even more worked up than he was and might even run away from home again.
So he decided it was better not to let Serena know, so she wouldn’t worry.
Then Wuming looked at the token, picked it up, and examined it carefully in his hand.
“…”
On a sudden impulse, Wuming bit down on it to confirm it was real gold.
He had also studied the blood clan tokens he had obtained earlier and concluded they weren’t real gold—just ordinary copper plated with gold.
They were vastly inferior to the one in his hand.
If he had a scale, he would even want to check its weight.
Wuming pocketed the gold coin and turned to look at the stairs leading up to the second floor.
I’ll keep it from her for now.
With that thought, Wuming stood up, adjusted his state of mind, and prepared to spend the rest of Halloween evening with Serena.
Lu Muzhe walked down the busy street.
The bustling crowd around him formed a sharp contrast with his solitary figure. He was like air—completely unnoticed by anyone.
And that was exactly what he wanted.
—Lu Muzhe—
Occupation: Assassin
Ability: 【Silent Presence】
Work History: Unknown
Romantic History: None
No one knew how he had become an assassin. Only he knew what had happened, but that was already a very, very long time ago.
A year ago, his good brother Bo Qinyue had died. He spent every day thinking about the times they had shared, unable to understand how it had happened.
But a year later, his good brother had mysteriously “come back to life” and was now living in his house, staying by his side.
He desperately wanted to figure out what was going on—why he had “returned from the dead,” and what exactly had caused that bizarre death.
But his identity as an assassin prevented him from focusing fully on the investigation.
He could only continue working as a killer while quietly looking into the matter.
As for other hobbies, he enjoyed reading novels and occasionally writing them himself as a side interest.
Just like right now.
Doctor Wuming…
A very interesting story.
And he himself—wasn’t he also part of an interesting story?
There was another reason Lu Muzhe hadn’t taken action: he had seen something in Wuming—a bizarre story just like his own.
However, this time the focus was on Wuming as the protagonist.
He could only act as a supporting character.
“This is your story, Doctor Wuming.”
Those words had been spoken to Wuming, but they also seemed to be spoken to others who weren’t present.
The story of a dead brother suddenly coming back to life.
How many people would look forward to it?