Chapter 217: Escape Plan

(Did you think Old Lai wasn’t updating today? Ha, that’s not it. It’s just that today I could only write one Chapter, and this one was really hard to write, a bit slow and seemingly dull, but it’s extremely important. It’s a revelation of a vital subplot, bridging past and future, so I hope readers who are serious about the book will read it even if it’s tedious. Of course, this is a transition; tomorrow the happy story continues. pS: Year-end review is here. Below the book title, above the introduction, there’s an option to "Support this book to become the 2010 Book" and "Support this book’s author to become the 2010 Author." I hope you all log in and support it with a click, even though Mixed definitely won’t make it to the front, there are only a few dozen now which looks quite bad. Please.)

——An additional pS: Sorry! Old Lai hadn’t logged in before, thinking the review just needed logging in. Now I’ve found out it requires Qidian Coins to vote, so I won’t ask anymore. Anyway, Mixed can’t make it to the top. If you have some spare change, just support a bit, no need to deliberately waste Qidian Coins——Old Lai—

To "him," Li Yan cannot refuse because it was "he" who selected him, made him leave home, and participate in assassin death training. And "his" purpose in training super assassins was also to have him execute tasks for him. In other words, that is Li Yan’s true job, task, or responsibility!

Yes, Li Yan was not a professional assassin at first, but merely a super assassin specifically trained and eliminated through strict methods by "him." Later, he roamed the professional assassin circle under a codename and eventually earned the title of KING—the king among assassins. However, he didn’t consider it this way and simply used ’KING’ as a fixed codename, much like being called "GOD," it was just a codename. Later on, he gradually formed his own assassin organization using the name from ’them,’ whose origin also came from "him"!

Over the years, Li Yan and his assassin organization have gained fame in the professional assassin realm. Although ’they’ are only considered an A-level assassin organization, KING is definitely a first-rate S-level assassin and is among the most famous, consistently ranked number one, completing S-level tasks miraculously, becoming a legend, and a pinnacle that many newcomers see as a goal. However, the outside world, even including Yue Yao, doesn’t know that this is the result of Li Yan’s toying around. They also don’t know that many unrecorded assassinations were completed by him.

Initially, "he" allowed Li Yan to enter the professional assassin realm mainly to let him undergo professional baptism and tests to reach and maintain the best state.

To "him," whether it’s Li Yan as the seventh elder or Yu Mocheng, who mingles among mercenaries as the eighth elder, Guan Ziyi as the ninth elder, or the third elder Zheng Yixuan, who has even older qualifications, or even the tenth elder Wang Jiaqi with the least qualifications. Everyone, in their hearts, should have a complex emotion, with gratitude, resentment, and even more so, shadows!

Gratitude is because "he" made them all top figures in their fields. Apart from Zheng Yixuan, who has a publicly illustrious reputation, others also enjoy high fame in their own professional fields. This is undeniable, as "he" cultivated and made them what they are.

Resentment is because "his" method of cultivation followed the model of "one will succeed over countless withered bodies." Hell-like, death-like training was nothing compared to the elimination method of internecine strife. While honing their heartlessness and cold-blooded side, it also made them shiver. They survived merely by luck; a slight misstep, and they might have perished long ago. And once dead, their parents and relatives would never know, just disappear without a trace. (Zheng Yixuan, Guan Ziyi, being the intellectual type, although they didn’t personally kill competitors, every round of failed eliminations also ended the lives of those without the qualifications to proceed!)

The shadow is due to "his" control. "He" doesn’t need to brainwash them; perhaps "he" doesn’t even want brainwashed puppets. Controlling them is too easy because they were all chosen, and each of their family relationships is within "his" grasp. Unless achieving complete ruthlessness, never caring about the life or death of their parents and relatives, can they resist "him" without worries.

But even someone like Li Yan, who directly survived bloody ordeals, can only be cold-blooded to strangers. On the contrary, precisely because the chance to live was so small and precious, it makes him cherish his parents and relatives even more.

And this is the shadow in their hearts!

This is also why everytime Li Yan thinks of retiring, there’s a haze in his heart. That time, Yue Yao took a bullet for him, and when she was out the hospital, she was still worrying about the organization. And because of such experiences, she became more worried about him. At that time, Li Yan started to think about the recurring thought of leaving the assassin realm, becoming a normal person. Given his past couple of years of loose connections between breaks, becoming an ordinary person should be no problem. The money earned is enough. Even for the ’them’ organization, it would be beneficial. Without King, without Queen, though there might be a period of adjustment, through survival of the fittest, more people would progress faster. However... there are still disturbances, constraints, and even restrictions preventing him from retiring—"him"! (See Chapter 2 of this volume for details.)