Fitting In - 451

Zhu Yi spent the next few hours learning to sheath his sword intent under the guidance of Zhou Fan. Most wouldn't face this issue, but Zhu Yi's sword intent had appeared and grown so rapidly that it was hard to control it.

Once he managed to sheath his word intent, Zhu Yi left the room with the beast's body parts and returned to the main area of the Assassination guild.

Without hesitation, he went to the crystal pad and began to look for another mission. He was excited that his master was nearing a recovery threshold.

Just as Zhu Yi was about to accept a low-level mission that paid three times as much, Zhou Fan spoke.

"That's not a good idea. If it pays more, then it is very likely to be more dangerous. Last time, it was because you needed intelligence. Next time, you may not be so lucky."

Thanking Zhou Fan for his words of wisdom, Zhu Yi clicked off the mission and found one that paid normally. 

Qi gathering 3, no sect affiliation, Male.

Zhu Yi accepted it and received information. His target was a member of the rogue cultivator guild. 

There was not much information at all, save for descriptions of his appearance.

Luckily, the target had a few scars that made him findable in the city of more than ten million people.

Zhu Yi left the Assassination guild and entered the rogue cultivation guild. Instead of finding a mission, he sat at one of the many tables and watched the entrance. He had no other information on his target besides his appearance.

This was the only way.

Zhu Yi sat and watched for more than 17 hours before his target walked through the door. Zhu Yi didn't move and kept the same position that he had for the past 17 hours. Only when his target left did Zhu Yi get up and follow him.

After taking many twists and turns, his target left White Palace City. Zhu Yi followed the man, but briefly after leaving White Palace City, the man ventured off the path and into an area of dense trees. Zhu Yi was confused.

He had memorized the layout surrounding White Palace City, and there was nothing in this area at all.

"Careful." Zhou Fan said.

Zhu Yi nodded and ventured into the forested area.

Suddenly, he heard a snap from his side.

"Die Assassination Guild scum" A voice said as Zhu Yi dodged.

A blade stabbed at him, but Zhu Yi barely managed to move. He unsheathed his sword and threw it, but the attacker's blade pierced his face, going directly through his cheek.

"Ahhhh!" Zhu Yi heard a scream.

He fought through the pain and looked ahead. His sword had perfectly pierced through the center of his target's chest. 

It was a combination of luck and skill gained from practicing with Zhou Fan.

As the man fell, bleeding, Zhu Yi turned his attention away from him.

Zhou Fan spoke. "Are you okay?"

Zhu Yi didn't answer and crouched while clutching his face. Although there was not too much blood, he was in great pain. Although the target's blade had been thin and smaller than a normal blade, his cheek had a hole from right below his eye to next to his lip.

"Endure." These were Zhou Fan's last words before he went silent and allowed Zhu Yi to handle his situation. 

After a while, Zhu Yi stood up. With a rare bout of hatred and anger, he grabbed his sword and took the target's head off of his body.

He put the head in his bag and sheathed his sword before walking towards White Palace City.

"So people know about the Assassination guild." Zhu Yi said.

"It appears so. I guess no secret can be kept perfectly. Perhaps you're not the first person to try and assassinate that man." Zhou Fan said.

"That's annoying." Zhu Yi said.

His cheek had completely stopped bleeding and began to heal. He was a cultivator after all.

However, at his level, a scar would remain.

"Consider that a warning. Don't be careless." Zhou Fan commented.

Zhu Yi nodded in agreement.

It wasn't long before they returned to White Palace City.

Zhu Yi headed directly to the assassination guild. There was, after all, a head in a sack inside of his backpack.

Zhu Yi made it inside and arrived at the front desk.

The lady looked up and saw Zhu Yi.

"Hah." She chuckled.

"Everyone give it up for fresh meat. He's finally begun to fit in." She said.

Zhu Yi heard a few short claps and brief cheers. He shook his head and smiled helplessly.

Zhu Yi put the sack on the counter and the lady confirmed his mission completion.

As she did so, Zhu Yi asked her a question.

"My target knew about the Assassination guild. Is that common?"

"Of course. Not everyone, but plenty of cultivators know about our existence. How else would we gain customers?"

Zhu Yi nodded, this made sense.

As his mission was officially completed, Zhu Yi returned to the crystal pad. Night was beginning to fall, but he wanted to work again.

He accepted another mission.

Qi gathering 3, no sect affiliation, male.

Before he set off, Zhou Fan spoke.

"You need some dark clothes. After all, it blends in with the dark."

Zhu Yi realized that he had never assassinated someone during the night and praised his master's intelligence.

He made a brief stop at a clothes shop and bought black clothes before going out to scout.

This mission had more information than the last, but not much more.

Luckily, with the information, Zhu Yi confirmed that his target was outside the city on a mission.

"I can either wait for him to return or sleep." Zhu Yi said.

"It's not as if the paths are rarely used. You've been lucky so far, but if you keep killing on or near the main paths, you'll be seen eventually."

This enlightened Zhu Yi. 

After some thinking, Zhu Yi returned to his house and slept until morning.