Chapter 175: Chapter 154: Telescopic Short Spear

The sharp edge is the creed of an assassin, and the blade is the persistence of an assassin.

As he gradually polished it, Du Chengfeng also gradually felt the life of this short spear.

Just as he thought before, this short spear was indeed used by an assassin, but the first user wasn’t the assassin in front of him.

The original owner of the short spear was an old man, ordinary and unremarkable, the kind you wouldn’t spot in a crowd, naturally born to be an assassin — the only problem was, this old man hadn’t learned any assassin skills. It was only because his old partner at home fell ill and they needed a large sum of money that he went to work as a death warrior, engaging in deadly activities.

As the saying goes, to do a good job, one must first sharpen their tools, so after the benefactor pointed him in the right direction, the old man commissioned a blacksmith to create a dagger-like spearhead and then fitted it with a shaft himself, finally assembling this short spear.

Having not learned any assassination skills, the old man had difficulty executing stealth assassinations, and with every assassination, he would expose himself, leading those targeted to draw their swords and laugh at the old man wielding a dagger. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

It’s often said that a longer reach gives the advantage, but it’s more than just talk. How could swords lose to a dagger?

But they really lost, as the suddenly elongated handle delivered the blade directly into their chests and abdomens.

The dead naturally can’t speak, so no one knew that the old man’s dagger could extend. However, as the old man carried out more and more assignments, people came to know that there was an assassin skilled in outsmarting long weapons with a short one.

It was at this time that the old man’s benefactor sent someone to relay a message to him.

"You’ve become famous; it’ll be easier for people to recognize you when you work in the future. How about this, step back, recruit some hands, and let young people also train a bit."

Thereafter, under the unattainable benefactor’s guidance, the old man retired with honor, transitioning from a death warrior doing dirty work to a middleman leading a group of assassins.

And his retractable short spear was passed down to a young assassin he favored.

Unlike the old man from a death warrior background, the young assassin debuted during a different era. Wealthy players hiding in the shadows no longer hired death warriors to serve them one-on-one; instead, they would post jobs with assassin organizations—after all, maintaining death warriors required some amount of personal charm, but hiring assassins merely required money.

From Du Chengfeng’s perspective, this could be seen as a kind of industry downgrading.

As someone who had been through it all, the old man had also advised the young assassin that sometimes one must know when to stop and not go overboard — but the young assassin was at the age of recklessness, wanting to make his name, and didn’t have the time to heed the old man’s warnings.

Especially after having this lethal retractable spear, the young assassin was more determined to make a name for himself and carve out a niche with his assassination skills.

And the young assassin indeed achieved this.

With this elusive short spear, the young assassin accurately hunted every target; even if discovered occasionally, he wouldn’t suffer in weaponry as long as he extended the shaft—however, unlike the old man, this young assassin had no intention of concealing this short spear.

Or rather, he intended to use this unique assassination method to make a name for himself.

"Just like how Fat Yang kills pigs with a big machete."

Du Chengfeng could understand this reasoning: a good wine fears no dark alley, having skills that others can’t see is futile—thus, creating a buzz is necessary, whether or not the buzz truly helps.

Du Chengfeng could only say that when Fat Yang slaughters pigs at home, he drains the blood properly without any unnecessary show.

But evidently, this young assassin’s hype was effective; many targets, despite knowing about his retractable short spear, didn’t know how to counter it when fighting—and once retracted or extended in the young assassin’s hands, this short spear was like a flexible viper, killing with ease as if taking something out of a bag.

With this short spear and the supplementary skills he developed himself, the young assassin quickly made a name for himself. But when he wanted to return and boast to the old man who passed on the spear about his feats, he found that the old man had moved away long ago, leaving not even a letter.

And so, this young assassin simply continued with his assassinations.

A little fame was definitely not enough; he still wanted to climb higher, yearning for luxury homes and many wives and concubines. He wanted so much, how could he stop here?

Thus, rightfully, he killed even more.

Evil Qi tormented this young assassin’s spirits, and his excessive greed meant he also failed to strengthen his own will—in a failed assassination, he naturally turned into a monster, that spider-monster spat venomed tongues, creating chaos in Jiankang City.

People did try to subdue this monster, but unlike other monsters who only knew slaughter, this young assassin-turned-monster knew very well how to hide. Though he had lost his sanity, the assassin skills manifested even more seamlessly in him, so much so that even the Capturers, adept at catching thieves, couldn’t find traces of the monster.

Yet someone did find this monster in the labyrinthine underground passages of Jiankang City.

It was the old man who once gave him the short spear.

But this time, the old man brought a long spear.

The monster the young assassin became vaguely recalled some memories of this old man. Since there was some connection, it naturally wanted to show the old man the skills honed over the years—thus, twelve spider legs instantly extended and shot out an impenetrable net heading towards the old man.

With a single long spear, it wasn’t possible to fend off such an overwhelming attack, let alone counterattack... How could that long spear possibly penetrate?

But in the monster’s eyes, the long spear truly pierced in.

At the moment the old man thrust out the spearhead, the long spear suddenly turned supple like a rope, and the sharp spearhead, with a few turns, pinned the monster to the ground.

"To die under this national protector’s treasure, you should feel content."

Speaking this, the old man sighed, retrieving the short spear from the monster.

It was then that Du Chengfeng, watching from the sidelines, realized that the retractable short spear was a poor imitation of that supple long spear; the deeply-hidden wealthy player guiding the old man had intended a sort of trial, and once the old man passed, he earned the qualification to use the Soft Vine Spear.

But it was just a qualification; this spear wasn’t truly the old man’s, and as seen in this instance, he had to return it after using it.

Upon returning the Soft Vine Spear, the old man, carrying the retractable short spear, returned to his life, acting during the day like a gentle old man seen everywhere on the street, but at night, transforming back into a cold-blooded middleman for assassins, continuing to manage these deadly jobs for some deeply hidden wealthy employer.

Recently, the old man received a job, saying someone needed an assassin to take out a master from Yizhou in the north who had even killed the false emperor Jia Wen before.

The old man didn’t care who the target was or what they had done. As someone from a death warrior background, he only knew tasks were tasks.

But before dispatching the well-trained assassin, after some pondering, the old man sent out the freshly polished retractable short spear.

"It must succeed."

The old man instructed thus.

This assassin, dispatched, truly lived up to his well-trained reputation—at least, seen from Du Chengfeng’s perspective, as the adversary silently reached Haizhou, sneaking into the inn where Du and the eunuch stayed, even residing in the room next door, without either suspecting a thing.

And after night fell, this assassin, carrying that poisoned short spear, stealthily entered the room.

The entire process was soundless, and this assassin was like a ghost in absence, having even masked his scent, leaving no trace for anyone to find—yet out of safety, the assassin still pre-extended his short spear to increase attack range.

This was an infallible strike, one that wouldn’t miss no matter what.

But just at this moment of assured victory, Du Chengfeng, lying on the bed, suddenly opened his eyes.

And so, it was all over.