Chapter One Hundred and Two: The Assassins Gather, Part One

The sheriff held Mo Lan and An Feng in very high regard. The matter that the Little Seven and the others had been working on for two or three days still had not been resolved, yet the moment those two stepped in, they brought the people back under arrest at once. As expected, every person had his own proper calling.

Mo Lan and An Feng began handling the minor cases that had recently come up. Lately, there had also been a few especially trivial incidents. The suspicious-vehicle case was ultimately left to Little Seven and Liu Fei to deal with.

Lately, Cold Blood and Thousand Sounds had been keeping Immortal Elder company while he gathered all kinds of medicinal herbs, and from time to time they would also go up the mountain for a stroll. One day, when they logged into the assassin realm on their phones, they found a unified notice posted there: in three days, a meeting was to be held in West Gate City, and all registered assassins were to assemble.

Cold Blood and Thousand Sounds felt there was something odd about it. In all the years they had been in the assassin realm, they had never even known who had founded it. Why call everyone together so suddenly? Could it have something to do with the recent closure of the assassin realm?

They were members as well, so they had to attend. But West Gate City was far away.

There was probably no need to discuss it with everyone. After all, they were planning to leave the assassin realm eventually, and it was not exactly a good place to begin with. Some of the people there were also rather strange. If the police were dragged into it, it might turn into a full-scale war.

When Immortal Elder saw that Cold Blood was holding a handful of weeds, his temper began to burn, but seeing that Cold Blood himself had no idea, he asked, “Do you two have something on your minds? Pay attention.”

Cold Blood came to himself, looked down at the weeds in his hand, and saw that the carefully gathered herbs had actually been dropped to the ground. Embarrassed, he quickly discarded the weeds and picked the herbs up again.

Thousand Sounds had not done anything quite so foolish, but she had stepped on many precious medicinal plants. Immortal Elder winced at the sight, yet there was nothing he could do to the two of them. After all, these young people had kindly come along to help him gather herbs.

The four youngsters from the east, south, west, and north had taken the day off to go out and have some fun. A little relaxation was in order. Even Old Master Mo had gone to a meeting with Mo Fan and the others that day. It had been a long time since he had interfered in affairs of state.

“We’ve got some matters in the assassin realm, so I’m afraid we’ll have to leave for a while,” Cold Blood said in reply, his eyes still fixed on Thousand Sounds. What about those four little ones? If they all left, would someone come after Old Master Mo and Immortal Elder?

“Will those four little ones be leaving with you too?” Immortal Elder asked, that being the first thing that came to mind. The Mo family was safe now because those four had been guarding it. If even they left, would the Mo family not be plunged back into danger?

Thousand Sounds shook her head. That depended on what the four of them wanted; she could not decide for them, nor did she have the right to. Whether they would continue down the path of the assassin realm was their own choice, and had nothing to do with her.

Immortal Elder understood what she meant and asked no further. He went on picking his way through the herbs, step by step. Everyone had their own difficulties, and one could not always think only of others. After all, not everyone was willing to consider the needs of another. How many people were selfish, and how many were truly selfless?

The four youngsters out enjoying themselves also learned of the matter, and each had his or her own thoughts. In truth, they all intended to listen to Thousand Sounds. They only wanted her to be happy. In this life, they had no other family. Beyond making her happy, they did not even know what use there was in earning so much money.

After spending half a day gathering herbs, Thousand Sounds was almost sunburned. At first she had not noticed, but when she saw that her usually slender, pale hands had turned somewhat yellow and were glowing red, she realized they had been scorched by the sun.

Cold Blood’s heart ached for her. He hurried over, took her hand, and blew gently on it. Seeing this, Immortal Elder felt a pang of sourness. The two of them were openly showing their affection right in front of him. Did they not fear that this old man would choke on the display and grow so full from it he would no longer need to eat?

But the sun really was fierce. If they kept at it, even he, an old man, would probably not be able to bear it. So they had no choice but to head back.

By the time they were coming down the mountain, the sun was still merciless. Thousand Sounds was exhausted, and Cold Blood simply crouched down, signaling for her to climb on his back so he could carry her home. Thousand Sounds looked at him. His back was broad and sturdy, and without a second thought she walked over and climbed up, letting him carry her down the mountain.

Immortal Elder endured the entire journey while swallowing his bitterness at the couple’s affection. Carrying the herbs, he walked straight ahead and simply ignored the two behind him, so that he might feel a little better.

The mountain path was steep and strewn with rocks, yet Cold Blood’s steps remained steady and sure. He never let Thousand Sounds be startled in the slightest, and they reached the foot of the mountain safely. Then Cold Blood drove them both back to the Mo residence.

Once back home, Immortal Elder first drank a large pot of water, then happily tipped out the herbs. He slowly sorted them on the table, selecting the finest pieces and setting aside the ordinary ones to sell.

It had been a long while since he had gone up the mountain to gather herbs himself. Usually the four youngsters did the work for him. Only then had he understood just how tiring it truly was. No wonder they had all turned so dark from the sun.

Thousand Sounds and Cold Blood sat quietly nearby, watching with seriousness. Since they planned to live with Immortal Elder in the future, they had to become familiar with these things. Otherwise, if they learned only later, he might no longer have time to teach them. In the future, many matters would have to be handled by Immortal Elder himself; he would not be able to remain as leisurely as he was now.

After Old Master Mo finished with the company’s affairs, he hurried back as well. Seeing Immortal Elder selecting the herbs as though he were choosing treasures, he had wanted to reach out and take a few to play with, but one glare from Immortal Elder sent him obediently to sit at the side.

Thousand Sounds also helped organize things from time to time. She found the herbs truly beautiful, carrying a faint and soothing fragrance that calmed the heart. Cold Blood sat beside her, carefully applying hand cream and whitening lotion to her hands.

Soon, the four youngsters returned too, carrying two huge fish. These silly little fellows had not taken the fish straight to the kitchen; instead, they brought them into Immortal Elder’s courtyard, and the fishy smell snapped him back to attention.

“You four fools, why did you bring the fish over here? What if they get into my herbs?” Immortal Elder was both angry and amused as he spoke, his expression somewhat awkward.

East nodded and smilingly carried the fish to the kitchen. The other three sat down beside him and joined in watching Immortal Elder sort the medicinal herbs.

“Big sister, you went to gather herbs too? You’ve only been out one day and you’ve already tanned. When you go next time, you must be careful and protect yourself properly, or your skin will get sunburned.” Little North could tell at a glance from the whitening lotion Cold Blood was applying that this was exactly what had happened, and he immediately began pouring out his own bitter experience of gathering herbs before.

Thousand Sounds listened and only smiled without speaking. The matter in the assassin realm had not yet been discussed, and whether they would go or not, it was still up to them. Even if she wanted someone to protect the Mo family, she could not force the four of them.

“You four little ones should also take good care of your skin. You’ve all been tanned into this state already. In the future, when you go out, where will you find any young ladies looking at you?” Old Master Mo felt he ought to say something to them. When he had first met them, their skin had been quite fair. Now they were almost charcoal.

The remaining three stood there awkwardly, unsure what to say. It had to be fine for boys to be a little darker, they could only comfort themselves with that thought.