Chapter 116: The World Outside

Shui Hanmeng had not expected that her very first mission would be successful so quickly. However, there is a significant difference between a successful strike and the completion of a mission.

The mission demanded that she kill Lin Zhan on the spot, at any cost. Therefore, she had first attempted a sneak attack with three of her signature Shadowless Flying Swords. Unexpectedly, she failed to reach her goal; just as the blades were about to pierce his body, Lin Zhan managed to block them. As an assassin, she naturally had more than one trick up her sleeve. She teleported to his side, intending to deliver a fatal blow while he was caught in the chaos. This time, she used her namesake soft sword, the Hanmeng Sword, truly aiming to decapitate him. However, Lin Zhan—that greedy fellow who couldn't resist a treasure—actually stopped to pick up her Shadowless Flying Swords at that very moment, causing her lethal strike to miss its mark, grazing only his shoulder.

Assassins have their own codes. If one strike fails, one may attempt a follow-up, but if that too proves ineffective, retreat is the only option. She should have withdrawn to wait for a more suitable opportunity, but Shui Hanmeng had developed a profound curiosity about Lin Zhan. Furthermore, her stubborn nature made her temporarily forget the warnings of her master and senior brother. She thought to herself: since there is still an opportunity to take down the target, why wait for another time?

Judging by his cultivation level, he was only at the second grade of the Yellow Realm. However, now that he was on high alert and protected by a white tower, she feared she would not be able to harm him if she approached him again. But an assassin of the Shadowless Studio does not rely solely on a sword. Shui Hanmeng possessed a special weapon—a technique she had been trained in since childhood based on her unique constitution, known as the Soul-Devouring Command. The scent Lin Zhan had caught earlier was the result of the Soul-Devouring Command, which she had cast from a distance, finally succeeding in drugging him.

Shui Hanmeng dragged the unconscious Lin Zhan out of Donglai City and into the nearby mountain forests, where there was a cave hidden within the rock face. This cave was one of the many hideouts the senior brother and sister of the Shadowless Studio had prepared in advance. A cunning rabbit has three burrows, and an assassin is no different.

The man was captured, yet Shui Hanmeng felt a sense of bewilderment. As she laid Lin Zhan on the floor of the cave and bound him with a specially crafted rope, inevitable physical contact occurred, making her heart beat wildly. He was the first man she had ever encountered from outside the secret realm of the Shadowless Studio, and he was the very target she was meant to kill. Why wasn't she killing him now? She couldn't quite figure it out. *Ah, right,* she reasoned, *I want to retrieve those three Shadowless Flying Swords.* That excuse seemed plausible enough.

Sitting beside Lin Zhan, Shui Hanmeng observed his face at close range. Feeling the cave was too dim, she took out a Star Bead, instantly illuminating the space.

"So this is a transmigrator, yet he looks no different from anyone else."
"He comes from the outside world. What exactly does that world look like?"

Questions began to arise in her mind before she even realized it.

"The Shadowless Studio and my master—why are we so determined to kill transmigrators who enter from the outside? What would be the consequences for the Blue Ice World if we didn't kill them?"

In the end, these doubts took root in her heart like a seed sprouting. Such questions began to undermine the deep-seated doctrine that transmigrators must be killed. Of course, for now, it was only an influence. Shui Hanmeng told herself that once the interrogation was over and she had retrieved her swords, she would certainly kill him.

She suppressed the effects of the Soul-Devouring Command, stepped back a few paces, and tucked the Star Bead back into her spatial storage. The cave plunged back into dim, faint light. Now, dressed in black with her face masked, she looked the part of a professional assassin. She was a female assassin with a stunning, alluring figure, hidden within the darkness—and she was only twenty years old. Beneath her black veil, the expression of this beautiful killer was filled with profound unease.

Lin Zhan’s stiff body moved. The splitting headache and the pulling sensation from the wound on his shoulder caused him to grimace and groan the moment he regained consciousness.

"Which enemy is this?" After taking in the situation in the cave and his own predicament, Lin Zhan stopped struggling and asked calmly. Even if he were to die, he wanted to be a well-informed ghost.

In the few months since his arrival, Lin Zhan had made no shortage of enemies. Aside from Fan Ning, there was Wei Qinglong of the Menial Tasks Plum Blossom Hall, whose relative was reportedly a powerful figure on a certain peak. Then there were those implicated by Yun Yin; although she was currently in seclusion at the Scarlet Refining Palace with Ning Wanqing, there was no guarantee her enemies wouldn't come looking for trouble with him.

Later, on the journey to Wangxi Peak, he had dealt blows to quite a few people—Young Master Xiao, Wei, Zhang, Li, and the others. Although he had suppressed some of them, their families might have sent people for revenge. During the Grand Tournament qualifiers, he had swept aside elite disciples from several major peaks, inevitably drawing envy, jealousy, and hatred. He had no idea which of these grudges had brought this powerful female assassin to his door.

"What is your name?" Shui Hanmeng asked in an icy tone, maintaining the persona she was required to project.

"Uh, Lin Zhan." There was no harm in telling her his name. What confused him, however, was that the woman didn't seem to recognize him. If she didn't recognize him, why would she be so intent on killing him? If it weren't a personal grudge and she had been hired, she should have known his name from the start.

"Lin Zhan, you are about to die. Before you go, why don't you tell me about the outside world?" A flicker of something imperceptible entered Shui Hanmeng's tone. She was dissatisfied with herself for this and frowned slightly after speaking.

However, Lin Zhan could not detect this. The effects of the Soul-Devouring Command prevented him from expanding his spiritual sense, and the circulation of spiritual power within him was stagnant; he was completely a lamb waiting for slaughter. Furthermore, he was bound tightly with a rope etched with sealing formations that shimmered with faint light.

"The outside world..." Lin Zhan murmured these words and fell into silence. His heart was trembling violently. So, the enemy knew he was a transmigrator! This was the most impactful revelation for him. *Heh,* he thought, *it seems that being a transmigrator isn't just my own private matter after all; it involves something much greater.*

Shui Hanmeng urged him, "Tell me, and I will make your death less painful."

"Sure, but you have to answer my questions as well. How about this: one question each? After all, I am bound to die anyway, and I could always choose not to answer, heh." Lin Zhan was currently attempting to communicate with his Nine-Star Space, hoping to find a way out of this desperate situation. He could see that the assassin felt insecure about her methods of restraint; otherwise, she wouldn't have gone to the extra trouble of binding him with rope. This was his only hope. If he could connect to the Nine-Star Space, there might be something inside he could utilize. Thus, his goal was to stall for time.

"Fine. But I will ask two questions, and only after you answer them can you ask one," Shui Hanmeng said. Although she was curious about the outside world, she was by no means a fool.