Chapter 19: Parting ways.
Xue Ling, wearing a bathrobe, stood barefoot on the slightly cool ground and bowed slightly to the old man with his back to her.
"How was the mission?" Mr. Zou asked without turning his head, his aged voice echoing in the room.
"Xue Ling is incompetent," Xue Ling said with her head down. "The hive is well organized. My subordinates have been undercover for several months, but they have only come into contact with two bee stingers and have never seen a third hive member."
"It's too difficult to use this to break into the hive and coordinate internal and external forces,"
Xue Ling defended herself.
Although she had initially gained the trust of Fang Bie and He Ping as a bee wing, or at least a tacit understanding, it was still too difficult to use her as a fulcrum to pry open the beehive, a behemoth like this.
She currently had no access to any crucial intelligence that could potentially lead to the downfall of the Beehive. The Beehive's structure was so tightly controlled that if Xue Ling wanted to learn more about it, her only recourse was to report He Ping to the Imperial Guards. This would allow her to capture and torture this veteran Beehive assassin, and only then would she be able to obtain any valid intelligence.
However, regardless of whether Xue Ling wanted to betray the gentle proprietress who always spoke to her with a smile, her fear of He Ping's own strength alone prevented her from taking the risk.
Mr. Zou laughed dryly twice: "Xue Ling, you don't like this kind of Jianghu life, do you?"
Xue Ling simply refused: "How is it possible?"
"That's good." Mr. Zou nodded and said, without further investigation: "Did you help your bee sting to kill Ning Huaiyuan?"
Xue Ling nodded: "Yes."
"And how was he killed?" Mr. Zou said: "News came from Yue Pingshan that Ning Huaiyuan was killed in the mountain temple that night, but no one could find the whereabouts of Ning Huaiyuan's body. Was he really dead? Or did he fake his death and escape?"
"I saw it with my own eyes." Xue Ling said: "Ning Huaiyuan is dead."
"Then how did he die? How was he killed?" Mr. Zou asked.
Xue Ling was prepared for this: "He was killed by Fang Bie with a sword."
"Ning Huaiyuan was a third-rank master." Mr. Zou said.
Xue Ling nodded, "Yes."
"Ning Huaiyuan possesses a wealth of martial arts experience and is no ordinary disciple of a prestigious family." Mr. Zou continued, "As far as I know, your partner, Fang Bie, is only seventeen. How is he already a third-rank master? He's able to defeat Ning Huaiyuan head-on?"
"Tell me the truth,"
Xue Ling said calmly.
She quietly described to Mr. Zou how Fang Bie drew his sword, how he dodged, and how he exploited Ning Huaiyuan's weaknesses to defeat him. This was a scenario Xue Ling had rehearsed long ago. After all, only she and Fang Bie knew what happened that day. Not even He Ping knew the details of the assassination. Furthermore, Ning Huaiyuan's body had dissolved into smoke before her eyes, making an autopsy impossible.
Xue Ling certainly didn't consider the Jinyiwei her only lifeline. On the contrary, she was a thorn in the Jinyiwei's side. Perhaps the Jinyiwei hadn't taken her seriously before, but now, with Fang Bie and herself having just teamed up to kill Ning Huaiyuan, a third-rank master, they were forced to take her and Fang Bie seriously.
The more they valued her, the safer Xue Ling would be.
Unless returning to the Jinyiwei could effectively counter Lü Yuan's schemes and traps, Xue Ling wasn't in a hurry to return.
Just like the Feiyu robe she'd buried under a tree in her hometown, it wasn't something she could easily dig up.
The day Xue Ling left Yanjing City, it was like the vast sea, free for fish to leap, the sky, free for birds to soar.
They parted ways, each happy.
"So you believe Fang Bie is also a third-rank master capable of killing a third-rank master?" Mr. Zou continued.
Xue Ling nodded, "Yes."
Mr. Zou nodded, "You can go back."
Xue Ling said goodbye, turned, and left, closing the door behind her.
Her footsteps faded away.
Mr. Zou sneered.
…
…
Xue Ling returned to the steaming bathroom, removed her bathrobe, and continued to immerse herself in the warm spring water, gazing up at the sky.
Everything was essentially as she'd expected.
The Imperial Guards had something to ask of her, so as long as she didn't openly disobey their orders, she would remain their undercover agent within the Hive. They wouldn't abandon her simply because she couldn't provide the intelligence needed to destroy the Hive as planned. Of course, asking
Xue Ling, a low-ranking Beehive wing, to provide such intelligence was a stretch. The most Xue Ling could do was to reveal the Hive's base, the Soul-Stirring Inn. But knowing a base was useless. In recent months, the Imperial Guards had destroyed at least eight of the Hive's bases, if not ten, but all were deserted. Without capturing the key individuals, they had no way of rooting out this underworld organization that dared to attack high-ranking officials.
Xue Ling's value as an undercover Beehive wing, operating alongside a promising Beehive assassin, would become increasingly apparent.
The girl stretched her legs in the bath.
Well—just soaking like this made her feel very safe.
She and Mr. Zou were only in one line of communication. He was her only superior, and she reported all her intelligence to him, leaving no written records.
She was a lonely kite, with only this string to lead her back home.
Sometimes she even had the illusion of cutting the kite string.
But—was she going to be an assassin for life? Or like He Ping, after being an assassin for a long time, would there be a day to retire?
Xue Ling didn't know.
…
…
When Xue Ling put her clothes back on and walked out of the gate of Changqing Bathhouse, she saw Fang Bie sitting on the stone steps opposite, waiting for her.
To be honest, seeing the young man in green, Xue Ling was really surprised and a little scared. She even felt like she had been caught and had something dirty taken away.
"Fang Bie," Xue Ling called out. She couldn't pretend she didn't see it. That would be too fake.
"Are you done soaking?" Fang Bie stood up and walked in front of Xue Ling. The girl could not see any extra emotions from this man.
Xue Ling could only nod: "I'm done soaking."
"Is there anything you need? If not, I'll go back to the inn." Xue Ling said.
"Of course I have something to do." Fang Bie said: "Is it convenient for you to go with me?"
Go? Dip in a pig cage?
Xue Ling asked: "What for?"
Fang Bie smiled: "I'll take you shopping, do you like it?"
As he said this, Fang Bie reached out and grabbed Xue Ling's wrist, and walked towards the crowd in the distance.
"Let's go to the black market in Luocheng, and I'll buy you some treasures and skills to improve you."
The young man's voice fell into Xue Ling's ears inaudibly.
Xue Ling's face was barely noticeable.
Slightly red.
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(End of this chapter)