Upon hearing Xu Mu's words, Jiu Zhi immediately lowered his voice and said, "I guarantee the mission will be completed."
With that, he pulled out the pinhole camera hidden on his body, yanked the wires loose, and tossed it to the ground.
Xu Mu was the kind of wealthy, high-profile target worth squeezing for a hefty sum—enough to keep him living lavishly for a long time.
And after extorting the money, killing him wouldn’t be too late.
"Heh heh heh! Kid, I admire your guts. I’ll help you—just give me 200 million."
Jiu Zhi raised two fingers, flashing a peace sign.
"Fine. But first, help me rescue someone."
Xu Mu hadn’t expected the man to be wearing a camera.
If he had actually pulled out the Desert Eagle and taken down Jiu Zhi right then, Lin Yang might have used the footage to stir up trouble.
He needed to find a safer spot.
"You’re in no position to bargain. Pay up first," Jiu Zhi said coldly.
"Pay your mother!"
Xu Mu turned and bolted, spotting a secure location—a narrow gap between two buildings, just two meters wide. One end was blocked by a wall, forming a dead end.
A place like that wouldn’t have surveillance cameras.
Jiu Zhi gave chase but slowed when he saw Xu Mu dart into the dead-end alley.
"Idiot! How can anyone be this stupid?"
A concealed weapon appeared in Jiu Zhi’s hand. "Since you won’t pay, I’ll just send you off—"
Before he could finish, his eyes behind the mask widened in shock.
Xu Mu, now holding a Desert Eagle, aimed it squarely at him. "So… who’s the real idiot here?"
"Heh heh heh…"
Instead of panicking, Jiu Zhi laughed, exuding an air of superiority. "Kid, ever heard of ancient martial artists?"
In one swift motion, he punched the adjacent wall.
BOOM!
A deafening crash echoed as the wall shattered from the force of his strike, leaving a gaping hole.
Jiu Zhi clasped his hands behind his back and said coolly, "No technique is invincible—only speed is absolute. Beyond seven paces, a gun is faster. But you’re within seven steps of me—"
Mid-sentence, he suddenly twisted into a crouch, preparing to hurl his concealed weapon.
BANG! BANG!
Before he could even release it, two bullets struck his head in rapid succession, blood spraying violently.
"Guess this thing’s faster…"
Jiu Zhi collapsed with a thud, dead on the spot.
"Seven steps? At this range, it’s both fast and precise."
Xu Mu holstered the Desert Eagle.
He was about to leave when he realized something wasn’t right.
Jiu Zhi’s crouching stance had been angled toward the hole he’d punched in the wall.
In an ideal scenario, he would’ve dodged the gunfire, thrown his weapon, then rolled into the hole to avoid any reflexive spray from Xu Mu.
No denying it—the man had been highly skilled in combat.
Too bad Xu Mu was also an ancient martial artist, with reflexes sharp enough to track rapid movements.
And on top of that, he was a marksman.
"Phew…"
Xu Mu exhaled.
Everyone had a first time. Though uneasy staring at the corpse, he steeled himself.
Suddenly, he sensed someone approaching. Recognizing the figure, he realized it was Meng Wanyue.
Her slender silhouette flashed past the alley entrance, her gaze scanning the scene inside.
Only after confirming Xu Mu was unharmed did she relax.
"Mr. Xu, are you alright?" Meng Wanyue hurried over.
"Do I look like I’m not?" Xu Mu grinned, hands tucked casually in his pockets.
Meng Wanyue crouched beside the body and removed the Ultraman mask.
The moment she saw his face, she checked his fingers.
Noticing her reaction, Xu Mu asked, "You know him? He’s not one of ours, is he?"
"No. This is Jiu Zhi—ranked 18th on the Death List. A deceitful, ruthless killer with no honor. The kind who’d even betray his employers."
Meng Wanyue had once been an assassin too, but she operated with principles: payment meant fulfilling the contract.
This man had none of that.
"So, a Death List assassin."
Xu Mu knew the lore—the Dragon Kingdom did have such a ranking. But the lower-tier names were just cannon fodder.
The real players were the top-ranked killers.
He hadn’t expected Lin Yang to go this far, hiring someone from the Death List just to eliminate him.
"Mr. Xu, you…"
Meng Wanyue’s eyes lingered on the bullet wounds in Jiu Zhi’s skull before looking up.
Xu Mu didn’t hide it. Reaching behind his back, he opened his storage space and retrieved the Desert Eagle.
He waved it lightly at her. "Cost me a fortune to get this."
Meng Wanyue nodded in understanding—though she was still stunned.
Even armed, an ordinary person would’ve struggled to kill a seasoned fighter like Jiu Zhi.
Xu Mu stashed the gun away and searched the body, finding only a phone, a hotel keycard, and a small pouch filled with concealed weapons.
Using Jiu Zhi’s fingerprint, he unlocked the phone—only to find it practically brand new, not even a custom wallpaper set.
Xu Mu opened his contacts list and found numerous entries, among which he spotted Lin Yang.
Using his own phone, he took pictures of all the contact details—they might prove useful later.
He tapped on the messages and saw Lin Yang’s name at the top of the list.
Lin Yang had sent a photo showing Feng Yue tied to a metal frame.
Accompanying it was a line of text: "Interested? Then call me."
Checking the call logs, Xu Mu noticed that Jiu Zhi and Lin Yang had exchanged several calls over the past few days.
“Strange, there’s barely any software installed, so why is there a ‘storage full’ warning?”
Xu Mu opened the gallery and found it filled with videos. He randomly selected one to play.
The unmistakable sounds of a woman’s moans immediately filled the air.
“Disgusting!” Meng Wanyue muttered under her breath after glimpsing the phone’s contents.
Xu Mu stayed silent—his own phone held similar material.
A system search revealed that, apart from the videos in the gallery, the browser cache contained nearly 100GB of files.
No explanation was needed for what those were.
“This old man’s still got quite the stamina,” Xu Mu remarked dryly.
Slipping the keycard into his pocket, he turned to Meng Wanyue. “What about the body? Should we dig a hole and bury it?”
“Leave it. Jiu Zhi’s a wanted man. Once someone finds him, they’ll report it. The cleaners will handle it after confirming his identity,” Meng Wanyue replied softly.
Xu Mu nodded. “There must be surveillance cameras around here.”
“Let me check.”
Meng Wanyue pulled a device from her backpack and scanned the area, detecting two cameras—one at the fertilizer plant’s entrance and another inside the compound.
“President Xu, let me see his phone,” she said, extending her hand.
“Sure.”
Xu Mu handed over Jiu Zhi’s phone.
After inspecting it, Meng Wanyue said, “As expected, both cameras are linked to this device.”
She logged in, deleted all stored footage, and shut the cameras down.
Another sweep with her device confirmed the two blinking red dots had vanished.
reezy rom-com) Good news: Jiang Liu is quite the ladies' man. Bad news: He’s lost his memory. Lying in a hospital bed, Jiang Liu listens to a parade of goddesses spouting "absurd claims," feeling like the world is one giant game of Werewolf. "Jiang Liu, I’m your first love." "Jiang Liu, you’re my boyfriend—she’s your ex." "Jiang Liu, we’re close friends who’ve shared a bed, remember?" "Jiang Liu, I want to have your baby." The now-lucid Jiang Liu is convinced this must be some elaborate scam... until someone drops the bombshell: "The day before you lost your memory, you confessed your feelings—and got into a relationship." Jiang Liu is utterly baffled. So... who the hell is his actual girlfriend?! ... Before recovering his memories, Jiang Liu must navigate this minefield of lies and sincerity, fighting to protect himself from these women’s schemes. But things spiral even further out of control as more people show up at his doorstep—each with increasingly unhinged antics. On the bright side, the memories he lost due to overwhelming trauma seem to be resurfacing. Great news, right? So why are they all panicking now?
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
