Chapter 180: Enjoying the Bitterness of Love
By the time Zhou Fan's group reached the mountain road, the sky was already beginning to lighten. To be walking on an exposed road at this hour, rather than through the dense forest, was undoubtedly extremely dangerous.
But Zhou Fan had a habit of acting in ways that defied conventional logic, so no one questioned his decision.
"If... if we make it back to Jiang Province in one piece this time, the two of us will follow you for good," Fan said quietly to Zhou Fan as they walked, his tone somewhat heavy.
"Then you two won't get the chance. The fact that Bai Zhi would risk exposing herself just to warn me proves that the assassins Lorne has sent are staggering, both in number and in skill. Even with her power, she must not have any real influence among them. I'll be lucky if I can even make it back to Jiang Province alive by myself."
Zhou Fan glanced at Fan and the nearby He Yi, his words merciless. His expression made it clear he wasn't joking in the slightest.
The effects of the Recovery Pill were indeed incredible, but Zhou Fan's injuries from his battle with Vermilion Bird had been far too severe. Even with the pill, he had only recovered about seventy or eighty percent of his strength.
"That doesn't matter. Everyone has to die sooner or later. I only hope I die on the path of the Martial Dao." He Yi gave a serene smile, as if he had transcended life and death. He slowly raised his longsword and began gently polishing the blade with his sleeve, his focus so intense it was as if he were caressing his most beloved woman, not a sword.
Even though Zhou Fan could mentally understand He Yi's devotion to the Martial Dao, seeing him act this way still made his skin crawl.
"Holy crap, easy for you to say, but I care! I haven't even had a girlfriend yet! My old master wouldn't let me date when he was alive. Now that he's gone, I want to find a girl and experience the sweet sorrow of love for myself!" Fan, clearly getting fed up with He Yi, retorted in annoyance.
"Don't be so pessimistic. If we can just hold out for an hour, we might get help. After all, their ambush point is less than a hundred kilometers from Jiang Province. If we can just push on a little further, news of the fight should get back."
Seeing their pathetic state, Zhou Fan offered both comfort and contempt. "Get a grip, you two. Look at these two girls—see how calm they are?"
"Boss, we're not afraid to die!" As if to prove his point, Li Xing and Li Yue looked up in unison, their gazes fixed firmly on Zhou Fan.
About two hours later, a truck approached from behind. Zhou Fan flagged it down, and after stuffing a thousand yuan into the driver's hand, the man reluctantly agreed to let them ride, but told them to keep quiet.
"Holy shit, what is this truck hauling? A bunch of chickens? No wonder it stinks so bad!" Fan complained, exasperated, as they climbed into the back. After the truck started moving, he stared at the dozens of cages filled with poultry.
"You talk too much. Get down. The ambush point is less than three kilometers away!" Zhou Fan gave Fan a light kick. He then ignored the others, closing his eyes to regulate his breathing and conserve his energy.
Two kilometers.
One kilometer.
As they reached the ambush location Bai Zhi had mentioned, Zhou Fan sat in the back of the truck, his eyes flashing with a scarlet light. He peered into the mountain forests flanking the road, and even with his immense self-control, he barely managed to bite back a curse.
Once the truck had driven past the spot, Zhou Fan let out a long sigh and turned to the others, his expression grave. "There are at least sixty or seventy of them. Every single one is on par with a top-100 assassin from your rankings. And there are several whose strength far surpasses yours. There's even one... that even I'm not confident I can defeat."
Metheus, the number one assassin under Lorne's Dark Night, had already become Weizhen International years ago. Zhou Fan had never fought him, but he knew that this was the man who had once gravely wounded Blake with a single punch, forcing Blake to abandon his mission—a mission to assassinate Lorne.
"Damn it, where the hell did Ye Fei get that kind of money? To hire this many masters!" Fan couldn't help but swear. He vividly remembered the last time Blake had brought a few dozen top-100 assassins and had nearly wiped out their entire Double Squad.
"Dark Night has this many masters? Why don't they try to get on the assassin leaderboards?" He Yi asked, puzzled.
"The assassin leaderboards are an indicator of personal strength, but only to a point. It's just indirect proof," Zhou Fan slowly explained to He Yi. "From what I know and who I've personally met, I can name more than five people whose strength rivals or even surpasses the third-ranked Mabulike. They just can't be bothered to compete for a ranking."
"And one more thing. For years, the rankings from second place on down have been in constant flux. But the number one spot has never changed. Anyone who tried to challenge for it was either killed or recruited. That's because the number one rank... *is* Lorne's Dark Night."
For the first time, the group was getting a clearer picture of what Dark Night truly was.
But just then, a murderous glint flashed in Zhou Fan's eyes as the truck screeched to a halt.