November 28 on Earth. One day after the death of Medical Saint Fang Mo.
A figure clad in black clothes stood in front of a brick wall painted black. Only her beautiful, star-like eyes were visible, watching like a hawk a luxurious mansion under the full moon. Her clothes did nothing to hide her mesmerizing figure, or the thirty-centimeter-long knife in her hand.
Fang Mo, I'm sorry. I could do nothing to save you. Anger and sadness for her powerlessness filled her eyes, but no tears would paint her face today, only blood. Xu Yan stomped the ground with her right foot thrice. This was a ritual she performed every time before an assassination.
It was equivalent to the number of lives she would take today.
As one of the best assassins on Earth, Xu Yan rarely took more lives than needed to complete a mission. Fifteen years ago, when she was on her first mission, Fang Mo had saved her from death. She got to know him and understood what a beautiful person he was—one who could sacrifice his entire life to try to make the world a better place.
From the shadows, she had followed his life but never showed herself to him. Xu Yan was an assassin—she took lives; Fang Mo was a medic—he saved them. Both could not coexist.
If she had known this would happen, she would have taken a position by his side instead of allowing two snakes to do it. Unfortunately, time could never regress; only regrets and sorrows remained from its passage.
Xu Yan took a small device with a button in the middle from her pocket and pressed it. The lights illuminating the mansion instantly went out.
"Uh? The power went down? Why didn't the generator start working? Shen Han, go check the generator," one of the guards across the wall that separated Xu Yan from the mansion said to another.
Like a spider that didn't know gravity, Xu Yan climbed the wall and landed softly on the other side, hidden behind a veil of darkness. With silent steps, she approached the back of the first guard. Using the handle of her knife, she struck a powerful blow to his nape, making him pass out instantly.
She held the man's body before it could fall to the ground and silently pulled him close to the wall. After taking care of the guard, she moved stealthily, getting closer to the mansion with each step, avoiding most guards and taking a few out when needed.
From her current position, she already had a clear view of the adulterous couple. A thin window made of glass created a barrier between them. She moved toward a door secured by a magnetic lock and placed a card on it. The door opened without sounding the alarm, and she entered the room, shortening the distance between her and the couple.
The couple was chatting inside a living room, their bodies glued together under the light of a candle. Despite the darkness, Xu Yan saw a smile adorning their faces.
"Lei Chang, your plan to kill Fang Mo went so well. That bastard wanted to give all our assets to the poor. He deserved to die!" said the woman as she caressed Lei Chang's bare chest.
Lei Chang laughed in response. "Ting'er, from today onward, we no longer need to worry about him. Let's enjoy our life together." His lips moved closer to hers. They kissed each other on the couch, their hands moving across their bodies.
Xu Yan watched the scene with bloodshot eyes. The poisonous snakes dared to speak about her beloved and spit on his grave.
With the level of security in their mansion, she could have easily killed them with a sniper gun. It would have been an easy and clean job, but Xu Yan wanted to feel the horror in their faces as she drove her knife through their hearts.
Today, they must suffer.
When their hands were intertwined, Xu Yan struck, driving her knife through their hands before they could react. If they wanted to be together, she would make sure they stayed that way… in hell.
Screams of pain filled the living room. Their first instinct was to pull apart, but that only deepened the wound. The knife pinned their hands together, and every movement widened the cut.
"Y-You know who I am?!" Lei Chang shouted, hoping the guards would hear him.
Xu Yan looked at him with disdain. "Your beloved made sure this entire house is soundproof. What's the point of yelling?"
Lei Chang panicked. Acting on instinct, he threw a punch with his free hand, but how could an amateur hope to land a hit on the world's best assassin?
Xu Yan sidestepped with ease, narrowly avoiding the blow, then drove her fist into his nose. Blood burst forth like a fountain, mixing with the pool already forming from their impaled hands.
Yao Ting yelled. The gory scene was something a pampered wife like her had never witnessed, much less felt firsthand. "P-Please, don't kill me!"
Xu Yan didn't even glance at her. Instead, she drove her knife into Lei Chang's thigh, making him scream in pain. "This is for Fang Mo."
Her words made them finally understand. She was here for vengeance.
"It was him! It was him! He forced me to do it!" Yao Ting shouted, pushing the blame onto the man she had just been whispering sweet words to. To her, nothing was more precious than her own life.
"Y-You bitch!" Lei Chang clenched his jaw, glaring at Yao Ting with bloodshot eyes.
But Xu Yan couldn't care less about their internal fight. She pulled the knife from Lei Chang's thigh. More blood spilled from the wound, and his consciousness began to fade due to blood loss. Without immediate treatment, he would soon die.
"You two deserve each other. Don't worry, you'll have eternity to love each other in hell."
Yao Ting snapped. "I can't die!" She grabbed a flower vase beside the couch and lunged at Xu Yan.
Xu Yan struck her wrist with her elbow, knocking the vase from her grip, then drove the knife directly into her heart. Yao Ting stared at her chest in disbelief, blood trickling from her lips.
"I-I…" Xu Yan pulled the blade from her chest as the light faded from Yao Ting's eyes. Her body collapsed with a thud.
While Xu Yan dealt with Yao Ting, Lei Chang dragged himself across the floor, using what little strength he had left to crawl toward the door. "H-Help!"
Xu Yan glanced at him with disdain. She stepped onto his back, pulled his head up by the hair, and whispered, "See you in hell," before plunging the knife into Lei Chang's back, piercing his heart.
Xu Yan stood in the living room, calmly looking at the dead bodies beside her. Unfortunately, this would not bring her beloved Fang Mo back.
"Two have died. Only one death remains tonight."
Fang Mo, if there is a next life, I'll make sure we're together… forever. With this thought in mind, she drove the knife directly into her heart. A thin line of blood trickled down her lips, dripping onto her knife and hand. Her final assassination had been completed.
***
"Your Highness, are you okay?" a voice laced with worry rang in Xu Yan's ears. She blinked in surprise when she saw a chubby-cheeked girl staring at her.
"Who a—" Before she could complete her question, a rush of information surged into her mind, creating an unbearable pain that made her grip her head with both hands.
"Doctor! We need a doctor!" Seeing Xu Yan in pain, Qian Fan yelled for help.
"I-I'm fine," Xu Yan said. A few seconds later, the headache had already subsided; what she felt now was mostly confusion. I'm… in another world?
Xu Yan rose from the chair she was sitting in and walked toward a mirror inside her room. There, she saw her reflection—a mesmerizing beauty with long silver hair and eyes. She had already been beautiful on Earth, but Xu Yan from the Yun Han Empire was even more so.
She looked down at her own hands. The callouses from intense training that once adorned them were no longer visible. These were soft hands that had never known pain or suffering.
"Your Highness!" A skinny man in white robes, exuding a soft fragrance of herbs, barged into the room. "Forgive me for my lateness. What are you feeling?"
Xu Yan looked behind her and forced a smile. "It's okay, Doctor Mao. I was just momentarily lost, but I'm already fine."
Doctor Mao looked at her with a serious expression. If anything were to happen to the emperor's precious daughter, it would be his head on the chopping block. "Your Highness, why don't you allow me to perform a checkup?"
Xu Yan frowned and waved her hand. "I said I'm fine. I just need to rest. Leave."
Doctor Mao sighed and bowed respectfully before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.
Right after Doctor Mao left, a knock sounded at the door. "My precious daughter, may I come in?"
Xu Yan knew it was the emperor. She adjusted herself and tried to imitate the princess. "Yes, Royal Father."