Meng Xiaxia was a first-rank assassin who had been practicing her trade since she was eight years old. By now, she had ten years of experience in the assassin world, and her reputation was quite good.
She worked cautiously, and had never failed a mission.
Hidden deep within the bamboo forest, a young man's voice echoed through the air with the wind.
Walking deeper and deeper through the intertwined bamboo stalks, a simple house, enveloped by the forest, came into view.
In the pavilion in the courtyard, the man, resting his brush on the inkstone, tilted his head and asked the woman beside him:
“Senior Sister Meng, is what I’ve written acceptable?”
Meng Xiaxia glanced over the paper A Hu had written. Feeling very satisfied, she nodded.
A Hu was older than her, but having joined later, he was her junior brother. Yet, he felt his senior sister was no match for him; both her martial arts and her intelligence were inferior to his. Seeing her smug expression, he sighed inwardly.
This senior sister of his was utterly useless, only good at bragging. What "number one assassin"? She wasn't even as good as number ten! On top of that, she made him falsify her age. Luckily, she was the Master's daughter; with her abilities, who would dare recruit her as an assassin?
She was truly a disgrace to their Dongji Assassin Organization.
The Dongji Organization was a renowned assassin group in the Great Han nation. Their fees were very high, and they were mainly hired to assassinate court officials.
A Hu was an orphan, picked up and raised by their Master. Since childhood, he had been oppressed and bullied by this Senior Sister, who was younger than him.
But what could he do? She was the only woman in the entire organization. All the senior and junior brothers doted on her, and he, too, always indulged her.
“Senior Sister, are you planning to make flyers?” A Hu asked curiously.
Meng Xiaxia gave a sly smile and said, “No! I need to earn some money, so I’m making these to distribute in a few places to find clients.”
A Hu stared at her, wide-eyed.
“Distribute them?”
“That’s right, distribute them.” Meng Xiaxia nodded, confirming.
A Hu exclaimed, “Oh, Senior Sister, if Master finds out, he’ll lock you in the storeroom again!”
Meng Xiaxia placed a hand on A Hu’s shoulder, coaxing him, “That’s why I’m going to ask you to keep this a secret. If I earn money, I’ll treat you to some really delicious food.”
As she spoke, she suddenly paused. Her gentle gaze shifted, turning resentful and threatening:
“All the senior brothers are out. Besides you, who else would know? If my father finds out, I’ll beat you up.”
“Hmph… I’m just afraid Senior Sister will disgrace our esteemed sect. This reputation, built over so many years, will be utterly ruined in your hands.” A Hu scoffed, leaning away to avoid the hand on his shoulder.
Meng Xiaxia hated nothing more than having her abilities underestimated. Upon hearing this, her face darkened, and she glared at A Hu: “What did you say? Say that again, I dare you.”
As soon as A Hu finished speaking, he quickly scurried away.
Meng Xiaxia, seething with anger, shouted loudly, “Hmph… How dare you underestimate me! I’ll go earn money and show you all!”
With that, she climbed over the wall and left the house. She walked through the bamboo forest, heading straight for the Xiangsi Teahouse in the capital city. She had heard that many people from the jianghu world often gathered there, lying low. It was a place for transactions between assassins and clients.
Clients only needed to leave the name of the target, and assassins would compete to set out.
Whoever killed the target first and brought a personal item or the severed head to the rendezvous point would receive the payment.
She had never killed anyone before, so this would be her first kill. She wanted to choose a truly significant target for her debut. Only then could she make a name for herself. Killing a dozen ordinary nobodies would be too tiresome.
Thinking this, Mạnh Hạ Hạ walked into the teahouse and sat down. What bad luck for her, at a table on the other side, she saw her Eldest Senior Brother A Nhất and Fourth Senior Brother A Tứ. Her father must have been too lazy to think, so everyone in the organization was just named by numbers. It was truly fortunate that her mother named her, otherwise, if her name were A Lục, it would be truly ridiculous.
She didn't know if Eldest Brother and Fourth Brother had seen her, but their eyes kept glancing this way. Why was her luck so bad? The first time she ever went out, and she already ran into family.
She hunched down, trying to hide from Eldest Brother's sight. Then, just as she was about to crawl away, someone stepped on her skirt. She tugged at her skirt with her hand.
“Brother, please pay a little attention. You’ve stepped in the wrong place.”
The person still didn't move, so she continued.
“Before I lose my temper, I invite you, brother, to remove your foot.”
“Junior Sister… you’ve got some guts, don’t you? Fourth Senior Brother here is truly impressed.”
After Fourth Senior Brother finished speaking, she saw Eldest Senior Brother look at her sternly, then turn and walk out. Before leaving, he dropped a single word.
“Home.”
It sent a chill down her spine.
In this organization, the person she feared most was her Eldest Senior Brother A Nhất. He was always strict with her, even making her practice martial arts all afternoon, which truly terrified her.
She knew she would definitely be reprimanded by her senior brother when she got back, so she obediently walked behind him. The entire way, even when Fourth Senior Brother teased her, she remained silent, head bowed, and kept walking.
As soon as they entered the martial arts hall, Eldest Senior Brother told Third Senior Brother to watch her practice her stance.
The first time she went out on an assignment, she already ran into bad luck.
Which foot did she step out of bed with this morning? And today the sun was shining so brightly; heaven was truly cruel to her. Mạnh Hạ Hạ silently lamented, "Why is my fate so bleak?"