The Assassination of an Earth Expert

"Fire Ghost, I wasn't trying to provoke you."

The simple man lying on the ground stared coldly at the red-robed man who was not too far away. He spoke as if he was talking to himself.

"You've guarded the desolated cave for 10 years. I won't kill you, but leave the things behind for me."

The red-robed man did not let his guard down. He slowly got closer to the simple man.

In response to the red-robbed man's words, the simple man continued to stare at him with a pair of cold eyes. He was not prepared to answer him at all. Even though he stayed silent, the red-robed man spoke again.

"You're actually quite admirable. You dared to defy the taboo of all martial artists and found a way to enter the desolated cave's fifth level, all without your superiors knowing. Moreover, you obtained many strange treasures. If you have focused and cultivated for at least 5 years, you'll definitely become one of the Federation's representatives. No one would dare to make a move against you. Unfortunately, you're stupid. You told your good brother everything and he sold you out for a mere sixth-grade medicinal pill. Hahaha!"

The red-robed man's words seemed to have a huge impact on the simple man. The latter was suddenly agitated. He did not know where his strength came from, but he stood up and said furiously, "No! He'll never betray me! It's impossible!"

The red-robed man was baffled by the simple man's response.

"Impossible? Do you really think people value friendship in this world?"

The simple man was unconvinced. He had ten thousand reasons to believe otherwise.

Just as he was thinking to himself, a person who looked like a ghost suddenly appeared behind him without a sound. In a blink of an eye, that person got close to the simple man's ear and whispered in a flirtatious voice, "When you were in the Sacred Academy, weren't you taught to concentrate during a fight?"

After saying that, a sharp blade pierced through the simple man's hands, legs, and Dantian (TN: Refers to the region in the body where a person's Qi is concentrated). He immediately lost all his strength. 

Even though the simple man had suffered a sneak attack, he did not panic nor cry out in pain. Instead, he revealed a smile. 

Upon seeing that, Fire Ghost immediately shouted, "We've fallen into a trap! He's begging for death!"

However, it was too late. The honest man fiercely bit the poison stored in his gums. Black blood began flowing down from the corner of his mouth.

"I've done everything I could for my country. In the end, my family was still destroyed. Hahaha, I even told the general how to enter the fifth level, but it was all for nothing! You want to know what's inside the cave, right? Let me give you a hint. In less than a year, there'll be a great disaster. When you look into the Abyss, the Abyss will look back." 

Those were the simple man's final words.

His first and second sentences were purely complaints. What really caught the two assassins' attention was the last part. It was an ultimate secret that had been hidden for hundreds of years. Why was there such a huge difference between martial artists and ordinary people? Why did the Federation care so much attention to martial artists? Why was information about martial arts suppressed?

Everything was related to the desolated cave. Ordinary citizens and low-level martial artists had never heard about it. Those who did had to sign a confidentiality agreement. If any information was leaked, the punishment would be severe and inhumane.

In his last breaths, the simple man reminisced about his past. If only he had chosen to study literature. His life would have turned out great. Perhaps it would be better if he was talentless. That way, he could lead an ordinary life. Unfortunately, it was too late.

No one knew that a peerless expert wished to be a normal person before he died. This world was more complicated than one could imagine.

...

The woman who was responsible for stabbing the simple man had two daggers hanging at her waist. She spoke to Fire Ghost with a cold expression.

"We fell into his trap. He had already hidden the item and only lured us here to seek death."

The person called Fire Ghost seemed to have predicted this outcome. He lit a cigarette in his mouth and glanced at the simple man's corpse. No one knew what he was thinking. After a long time, he said, "Take his corpse away and keep the money. I don't care about the rest."

Then, he left.

…

"Where is it? Are you messing with me?"

At the bottom of the mountain, Qin Feng was sitting on a wooden log. He could not help but complain about the system.

The system ignored his complaints and said, "Just now, I detected more than a dozen experts. Each of them could kill you with one hand. Are you going to proceed?"

Qin Feng did not believe the system's words and retorted, "More than a dozen experts? This is the middle of nowhere. Where did they come from? What are they doing here?"

The system could not be bothered to argue with Qin Feng. It said to itself, "At least three of them are Spiritual Martial Artists. They have sufficient strength, Qi, and blood value. However, they haven't broken through yet."

"Spiritual Martial Artists? Do you take me for a fool? In this entire world, the number of Spiritual Martial Artists can be counted with just one hand. You're telling me three of them are here? Do you think I'll believe you?"

Qin Feng had reasons to be doubtful.

"You only have basic information. There are plenty of secrets hidden in this world. Spiritual Martial Artists are not the strongest. In fact, that level is only a threshold. Forget it. You won't understand these things yet. Anyway, those people had already left. Now just follow the path that I've told you earlier."