Chapter 42 Why don't you hurry up and help this young master up

"Xu Mu, I was in the wrong."

Night Eleven cupped his fists toward Xu Mu with a deeply sincere attitude.

This left Xiaojin completely dumbfounded.

Could things really be resolved like this?

Just a few simple words, and he actually got the opponent to apologize?

"It was a lack of consideration on my part. I shouldn't have come to find you today," Night Eleven said.

"Since you know you were wrong—"

Before Xu Mu could finish his sentence, a fierce murderous intent suddenly surged forth.

A robust figure flashed into view.

Night Eleven leaped abruptly, twisting his body mid-air, yet he still failed to evade the attack.

He was sent flying backward, rolling seven or eight times across the ground before finally stopping right at Xu Mu's heels.

Reacting with extreme agility, he flipped up and threw a punch to meet the oncoming threat.

Xu Shuangyi lightly tapped her toes on the ground, drew the sword from her waist, and thrust it toward Night Eleven.

Ever since she switched to practicing the Heart Thunder Guide, Xu Shuangyi felt the vital energy circulate through her body much more smoothly.

In the past, whenever she executed a move, although the lethality was not weak, there was always a noticeable sense of stagnation between strikes.

Now, however, Xu Shuangyi executed and retracted her moves with absolute fluidity.

Executing the exact same sword techniques, her speed was thirty percent faster than before.

This set of Dawn-Breaking Swordsmanship had finally reached the realm of perfection.

"Catch the sword."

Xu Mu took down a longsword hanging by the bed and tossed it to Night Eleven.

Catching the sword with a backhand grip, Night Eleven surged forward, drawing the blade from its scabbard as he met Xu Shuangyi head-on.

True to his usual style, he attacked without any defense.

He had reviewed and analyzed his defeat at Xu Shuangyi's hands last time, where he hadn't even lasted ten strokes, many times over.

The Dawn-Breaking Swordsmanship was the signature technique of the Xu family. While extremely fast, it was not entirely without flaws.

He had already figured out a way to crack Xu Shuangyi's sword moves.

As long as he could increase his offensive power by another forty to fifty percent, he might not only fight Xu Shuangyi to a standstill, but even stand a chance of defeating her.

However, things were not as simple as he had imagined.

Because Xu Shuangyi's speed was even faster than last time.

The exact same sword moves that previously possessed clear vulnerabilities now seemed almost devoid of any blind spots.

It's over!

Night Eleven muttered inwardly in dismay. After seven strokes, he collapsed to the ground, bearing another dozen or so sword wounds on his body.

Clearly, he had lasted ten strokes last time, and clearly, he had figured out a counter-strategy.

So why couldn't he even get past seven strokes this time?

Night Eleven was astonished, and Xu Shuangyi was even more surprised.

This was her first actual combat encounter since switching to the Heart Thunder Guide.

Just as Xu Mu had said, no matter how she executed the Dawn-Breaking Swordsmanship, she felt no turbulence in her vital breath and blood whatsoever.

Once she retracted her moves, the surging vital energy was immediately enveloped by a gentle force and slowly guided back into her dantian.

As expected of a Heaven-tier cultivation technique; the benefits were endless and completely incomparable to Earth-tier techniques.

Furthermore, Night Eleven was far from weak.

The reason she defeated him in ten strokes last time was because he lacked practical combat experience.

With practical combat experience this time around, Xu Shuangyi had actually won even faster.

Knowing what Xu Mu had in mind, she didn't hit him as hard as she did last time.

Xu Mu walked over, stopping beside Night Eleven, and very politely pulled him to his feet.

"When you walk the pugilistic world, you must own up to your mistakes and take a beating standing up. However, I, Xu Mu, am a reasonable person. Considering that your actions today were unintentional, I will let it go," Xu Mu said with an air of breezy indifference.

Night Eleven felt a surge of profound emotion.

This Xu Mu was truly magnanimous!

He was definitely a hero among men. He certainly hadn't misjudged his character!

"Had I not been entrusted by an employer, I would very much like to become sworn brothers with you," Night Eleven said, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth before cupping his fists toward Xu Mu.

He had come to assassinate him twice, and failed twice.

Yet both times, Xu Mu merely inflicted minor punishment without taking his life.

Moreover, every time, Xu Mu imparted valuable life lessons to him. Right now, he felt deeply ashamed before Xu Mu.

"Who hired you to kill me?" Xu Mu asked.

"I cannot say. I cannot break the rules of the pugilistic world," Night Eleven replied.

"Even if you don't say it, I know. It's Liang Shucheng," Xu Mu said.

Hearing Xu Mu call out the employer's name, Night Eleven still did not reveal any flaws.

The basic professionalism required of him was still intact.

The tavern keeper had told him that to become an assassin, one had to abide by the rules.

Only after completing ten contracts would the tavern keeper allow him into the tavern as a registered assassin.

"You refuse to name your employer because you adhere to the rules of the pugilistic world; that's fine. But I want to ask you: how much silver did your employer pay you to kill me? That shouldn't count as breaking the rules of the pugilistic world. You can tell me that," Xu Mu said.

"Quite a bit," Night Eleven answered.

"Just how much is 'quite a bit'?"

Night Eleven held up a single finger.

"A thousand taels?" Xu Mu guessed.

A thousand taels was no small sum; that amount was indeed enough to prompt some martial artists to kill.

Yet for Xu Mu, what was a thousand taels?

Night Eleven shook his head.

"Ten thousand taels?" Xu Mu felt slightly surprised.

For Liang Shucheng to be able to cough up a thousand taels would have already exceeded his expectations.

Could it actually be ten thousand taels?

Where would Liang Shucheng get that much money? Could it be that the person behind him was holding a grudge and therefore hired an assassin?

That didn't quite make sense.

The person behind Liang Shucheng was Zhao Mingshan. If Zhao Mingshan were behind this, he would never have hired such a simple-minded, chuunibyou-esque assassin.

Although Zhao Mingshan and his cohorts had been swindled out of twenty thousand taels of silver by Li Mu this time, they had also used the opportunity to get rid of Su Tong.

To them, that transaction probably wasn't considered a loss.

Night Eleven shook his head once more.

"One hundred thousand taels?"

That sum was utterly impossible.

With that much money, one could hire the top-tier assassins of the pugilistic world to go into the capital and assassinate truly important figures, like imperial royalty.

"No, no, no. One hundred taels."

Xu Mu: "..."

"You consider one hundred taels to be 'quite a bit'? Do you think this head of mine is only worth a hundred taels?" Xu Mu's mouth twitched violently.

Leaving everything else aside, his identity as a concubine-born son of the Xu family alone should be worth more than a hundred taels, right?

This kid was young, yet he had already stepped into the Minor Grandmaster realm.

Logically speaking, his background should be quite impressive; he shouldn't be someone who had never seen the world.

Yet Night Eleven genuinely believed one hundred taels wasn't a small amount.

Night Eleven fished out a piece of jade pendant and said, "This is my deposit. But it doesn't entirely belong to me yet, because my mission isn't finished."

Xu Mu took it, looked at it, and burst out laughing in sheer exasperation.

"Heh, hahaha!"

"What are you laughing at?"

"This piece of stone scrap is worth at most one or two hundred copper coins!"

Xu Mu returned the jade pendant to Night Eleven and patted his shoulder.

"Young man, you've been scammed."

Night Eleven blinked, stared at the pendant for a long time, and still couldn't detect anything amiss.

"This is a fake jade piece; it's worthless," Xu Mu explained.

Night Eleven seemed somewhat incredulous.

It clearly looked and felt just like jade; how could it possibly be fake?

"Do me a favor and go back to figure out how much commission they actually paid you before you decide whether or not to assassinate me."

With those words, Xu Mu stood with his hands behind his back, took a few steps forward, and nearly tripped.

"Why aren't you hurrying over to support this young master?" Xu Mu glared irritably at Xiaojin.

"Isn't this the young master's room?" Xiaojin asked, stunned.

Why had the young master suddenly gone foolish?

Xu Mu glared at her again.

"To the study room."

"Oh."