The room wasn't very large, no more than twenty square meters in total, and the furnishings were extremely simple: a tatami mat, a coffee table, a cushion... everything was covered in dust. Masao Mita noticed that with each step he took forward, he would leave a clear footprint on the ground, but apart from the footprint he had just left, there was no indication that anyone else had been there.
"Sit down!" A voice, still faint and intermittent, seemingly far away yet also right next to his ear, suddenly rang out, startling Masao Mita. He instinctively turned his head to look around, but still couldn't see the person. Only then did Masao Mita finally give up.
Seeing the dust covering the small cushion in front of him, Masao Mita frowned slightly, but he did not dare to disobey the will of the voice. After a slight hesitation, he suppressed his disgust and knelt down on the cushion.
"Have some tea! There's tea on the table, do you need me to pour it for you?"
Upon hearing that eerie sound, Masao Mita looked up at the coffee table in front of him and saw a teacup and a small teapot on it.
This discovery sent a chill down Masao Mita's spine...
He had just checked and the coffee table was completely empty, but... right in front of him, two items had suddenly appeared on it without him noticing at all. The teacups and teapot were covered in dust, looking as if they had been there for over a decade without being touched, not at all like they had just been placed there.
Was I just imagining things?
Masao Mita muttered to himself for a moment, but immediately dismissed the hypothesis. Although he was not young, he was not yet old and his eyesight was failing. Although he did not dare to look around the room after entering, he had only glanced around briefly, but he had looked at every corner very carefully. He did not think that he could miss two things in such a sparsely furnished place.
This means that the teapot and tea table in front of him were indeed secretly placed there without his knowledge, right under his nose.
Masao Mita was secretly astonished, and his admiration for that person rose to a new level. At the same time, he became more certain about the purpose of his trip.
"What? Why won't you drink tea? Are you worried that my tea ceremony is not good, or that I might poison your tea?"
The voice, which sounded half-dead and intermittent, rang out again, startling Masao Mita. He quickly said, "No, no... Masao was thinking about something and lost his composure. Please forgive me, sir."
As he spoke, Masao Mita hurriedly grabbed the teapot and poured more than half a cup of tea into it. Then, not caring how much dust was in the cup, he quickly tilted his head back and gulped down the entire cup of tea...
"Ah—" Masao Mita couldn't help but cry out in surprise after drinking a cup of tea. It turned out that the tea was scalding hot, and he had drunk it too quickly. As soon as the tea went down, several blisters appeared in his mouth, and his stomach and intestines felt like they were on fire.
Masao Mita jumped up as if he had seen a ghost. He never expected that the tea in that broken teapot, which looked like it hadn't been touched for at least ten years, would be so hot. He was speechless at this loss.
"The Mita family is getting worse with each generation."
The intermittent voice snorted coldly and said, "You get burned like this from drinking a cup of tea? You're really fragile... I feel sorry for your family. Could it be that... the Yamato people have almost completely forgotten our traditional Bushido spirit?"
Hearing the displeasure in the man's voice, Masao Mita quickly lowered his head and repeatedly apologized, saying, "I'm sorry, sir... it was Masao's incompetence, please forgive me."
"Hmph... Speak! What do you want from me?"
The voice paused slightly before coldly snorting, "I owe the Mita family a favor. I promised to do three things for you back then, and I've already done so twice. If you make any more demands... then my relationship with your family will be severed from now on. Have you thought it through?"
Upon hearing this, Masao Mita hesitated slightly, but then, remembering the terrible experience he had had that day, he hardened his heart and nodded heavily, saying, "Yes... Sir, I have thought it through. Please show yourself so that I may pay my respects... I have always admired your name, but I regret that I have never been able to see your true face in my life. It is truly a regret of my life!"
"Hmph... You want to see me... but what's there to see me for?" The voice paused slightly, then continued, "I've been here for a while now, you just couldn't see me..."
Masao Mita paused slightly, looking up at the opposite wall. He saw a figure slowly, very slowly, appear on the opposite wall… Yes, it was just a figure, a blurry projection. But… Masao Mita swore that the figure wasn't his shadow. Yet… there was clearly no one else in the entire room besides him. So… how did that shadow get projected onto the opposite wall? A deep chill suddenly rose from Masao Mita's heart, rushing to his mind. He then bent down, daring not to let his mind wander any further.
"Let's get down to business! I don't want to waste time; you've already interrupted my cultivation. Just tell me what you want me to do for your Mita family! After this is done, we'll be even..."
Hearing the voice urging him, Masao Mita didn't dare to say anything more and quickly coughed lightly before saying, "I would like to ask you, sir, to help me kill someone..."
"Oh... what kind of person is it that even your Mita family can't handle, yet you're wasting this only chance and making me take action?"
The voice was greatly surprised upon hearing this. Before this, he had already done two things for the Mita family, both of which were earth-shattering and established the Mita family's unshakable position in the island nation. He had originally thought that the request made by Mita Masao this time would be even more difficult than the previous two times, but he did not expect... this time he was only asked to kill one person... How much power can one person have? The Mita family has thousands of henchmen, yet they cannot even deal with one person. This made the man suddenly a little interested in this matter.
“This person… he is…” Masao Mita opened his mouth and then gave a bitter laugh for no apparent reason, saying, “I… I know nothing about what this person looks like or what his name is. I only know that he is incredibly strong and that even bullets cannot hurt him. Perhaps only you, sir, can subdue him.”
"Someone who can't even be hurt by bullets?" The voice became even more interested upon hearing this. The shadow cast on the wall nodded slightly, then shook its head gently, saying with a hint of displeasure, "But since you don't even know his name or what he looks like, how am I supposed to deal with him?"
Sensing the anger in the man's tone, Masao Mita hurriedly said in a panic, "This man is skilled in disguise. So far, we still cannot determine what his true face looks like, nor do we know his identity. However... he just had a conflict with our Mita family and is still under the surveillance of our family's informants. He has not left Donggang City. If you... take action tonight, I believe he will not be able to escape. But... if he plans to leave tomorrow... I'm afraid he can easily change his appearance and we will never be able to find him again."
"Immune to bullets, adept at changing appearance... Hmm, not bad... Seems like a worthy opponent for me to contend with." The shadow on the opposite wall nodded slightly again, then said, "Then go immediately and prepare a detailed report for Granny Wu! In the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, I will take care of this matter for you... Hehe... The favor owed to the Mita family can be settled here..."
“Yes… sir, then… Masao takes his leave…” As he spoke, Masao respectfully bowed three times to the shadow on the wall, then stood up, backed away to the door, opened the wooden door, and left.
After handing over all the limited materials he had to the hunched-over, emaciated old woman in front of him, Masao Mita bowed respectfully once more before leaving the desolate little courtyard on the outskirts of Donggang.
Back in his car, Masao Mita clenched his fist, a glint of excitement in his eyes.
Originally, Masao Mita believed that after this incident, Zhou Ziwei would likely not cause trouble for the Mita family again. However... that was only a possibility. With the threat of such an unknown and terrifying person looming over him, Masao Mita realized that he might suffer from insomnia every night from now on. Therefore, he resolutely decided to use the only opportunity he could have to ask the world's eighth-ranked assassin, Blood Shadow, for help in order to eliminate the mysterious enemy who had just humiliated the entire Mita family.
Volume 2 The Assassin's Nightmare Chapter 274 Challenge
Because the flight to the Philippines wouldn't arrive until the next morning, Zhou Ziwei had no choice but to stay in Donggang for another night.
The identity of Yokomichi Keiji that he had previously borrowed was too conspicuous, and Zhou Ziwei felt overwhelmed. So he refused to use that passport again. However, apart from that identity, Zhou Ziwei did not have any other legal identity as a citizen of the island nation to stay in the hotel. And Zhou Ziwei really did not want to cause trouble over such a small matter as staying in a hotel.
Although in his mind, islanders generally look like they deserve to be punched, he couldn't just kill people indiscriminately over such a trivial matter, could he?
Fortunately, there are still some places in the world where you can check in without showing any documents. Of course, such places are mostly not pure hotels, but often come with other services, such as bathing, massage, etc. Anyway, in Zhou Ziwei's opinion, as long as the place has rooms and beds, it's pretty much the same.
Zhou Ziwei took a taxi to some hot spring bathhouse in the suburbs and booked a room. The rooms here are charged by the hour, and if he were to book for a full 24 hours, the cost would probably be much more expensive than staying in a five-star hotel.
However, Zhou Ziwei, being a nouveau riche, naturally didn't care about such a small amount of money. He had originally planned to book the most luxurious suite with its own hot spring with double eyes, but unfortunately, all the luxury suites had already been booked, so Zhou Ziwei could only casually book a mid-range room.
Because this place is mainly a hot spring bathing business, the rooms for guests to rest are quite expensive, but the furnishings are so simple that they are almost shabby. Apart from a double bed, a dressing table, and a chair, there is nothing else in them.
Although he felt the money was a bit wasted, Zhou Ziwei was only there to sleep, so he didn't care too much.
After putting down my backpack and changing into a loose bathrobe, I took a shower in the bathroom in my room. Then, after hesitating for a moment, I realized that since I was staying at a hot spring resort, it would be a real waste not to have even soaked in the hot spring. So, I put on my bathrobe and walked in the direction the staff had pointed out earlier.
Here, only the luxury suites have their own private hot springs; otherwise, you have to go to the public bathhouse to soak in the hot springs.
Of course... public bathhouses aren't really places for people to bathe. Soaking in hot springs and taking a bath are two completely different things. Generally, you have to take a shower in your own room before you can soak in the hot springs.
If anyone were to spoil the fun by scrubbing themselves in the hot spring pool and getting covered in mud, the security guards would definitely throw them out immediately.
Following the waiter's directions to the hot spring pool, Zhou Ziwei was immediately startled... He saw a large space similar to a swimming pool, with seven or eight smaller hot spring pools separated from each other, and in the middle, a large hot spring pool of about two hundred square meters.
Bubbling bubbles kept rising from the bottom of the pool, steaming out wisps of white mist, making the place look like a fairyland at first glance.
Upon closer inspection, one can see that all the hot spring pools, large and small, are mixed-gender pools, with men and women crammed together in a chaotic manner.
As far as the eye could see, all that could be seen was a sea of white, fleshy bodies.
Men usually just tie a towel around their waist, or something that looks like a diaper, while women, if they're shy, will wear... a type of underwear while soaking in the water, if they're more outgoing, they'll take off their bras, and if they're even more outgoing... they might not wear anything at all.
Zhou Ziwei had only thought about relaxing in the hot springs, but he forgot that this was not his own country, but an island nation famous for its highly developed A-grade entertainment industry. It seemed that mixed bathing was nothing unusual here.
Zhou Ziwei glanced around and saw several couples entwined tightly in the water, their hands submerged, seemingly doing nothing. Upon seeing this, Zhou Ziwei's interest vanished instantly, and he turned and left…
It wasn't that Zhou Ziwei was particularly high-minded or playing the gentleman, but rather... the hot springs here were for everyone to use, and countless couples were behaving intimately in them. Zhou Ziwei suspected that the hot springs might be mixed with... fluids secreted from certain parts of the human body... Just thinking about it sent chills down his spine, and he certainly didn't have the courage to go into the water and mingle with those flirtatious men and women.
Zhou Ziwei returned to his room somewhat disheveled. Just as he was about to open the door, he suddenly felt a chill rise from the bottom of his heart...
There's a murderous aura about him!
Zhou Ziwei's powerful soul force allowed him to keenly perceive a strange aura that was indescribable yet undeniably present.
This killing intent came extremely suddenly, yet it was incredibly powerful. It was the first time Zhou Ziwei had ever sensed such a powerful killing intent. The strength of the killing intent felt to him as if it had solidified into a tangible substance, piercing his heart and causing it to pound wildly involuntarily.
With a jolt in his heart, Zhou Ziwei endured the almost unbearable discomfort. Suddenly, his ears, which were always several times sharper than the average person's, caught a faint, almost imperceptible sound of something cutting through the air. He was immediately terrified and quickly twisted his body, forcibly moving himself ten centimeters to the side in an instant...
With a "thud," a very antique-looking throwing knife flew past Zhou Ziwei's skin and landed heavily on the carved wooden door.
The strike was powerful, with half of the blade completely embedded in the wooden door, leaving a small portion protruding outside. It emitted a low humming sound amidst violent tremors, causing Zhou Ziwei's mind to tremble slightly.
Just as Zhou Ziwei was about to release his soul power to detect who was plotting against him, he suddenly saw the hilt of the throwing knife stuck in the wooden door explode with a "crack".
Zhou Ziwei was startled again and couldn't help but take a few steps back quickly. He then noticed that the shattered hilt of the knife did not launch any more deadly hidden weapons, but instead a small white strip of cloth hung down with the explosion.
The small strip of cloth was pure white, with no words or patterns on it. Zhou Ziwei was wondering what the other party meant by going to such lengths to make the hilt of the throwing knife explode, only to reveal such a white strip of cloth, when he suddenly noticed that bright red marks had appeared out of nowhere on the pure white cloth.
Zhou Ziwei was slightly startled. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the red marks on the cloth strip were becoming more numerous and darker, just like a bandage tied to a wound being constantly soaked by the blood flowing from the wound.
What on earth is this guy up to... whatever... don't be surprised, the strangeness will disappear on its own.
Seeing the strip of cloth dripping and turning red, Zhou Ziwei frowned slightly. He immediately ignored the unsettling throwing knife and instead quickly released more than a dozen strands of soul power, scanning his surroundings in all directions.
At the same time, the Kun pets that he had left in the room to guard the luggage were all summoned by him and began to search in all directions.
But as it turned out... Zhou Ziwei didn't find a single suspicious-looking person within twenty meters of him.
As for the search of the ladybug and other Kun pets, it also yielded no results. It seems that the person who just threw the knife has either already escaped far away, or the person's ability to disguise himself is so terrifying that even Zhou Ziwei could not distinguish him from the crowd.
I never imagined there were such terrifying masters in this world!
Since gaining his superpowers and enhancing his body, Zhou Ziwei had never encountered an opponent who made him feel so dangerous... What's even more terrifying is that... he hasn't even seen a shadow of his opponent yet, and doesn't even know whether the person who ambushed him is male or female, old or young. The person's throwing technique was clearly quite skillful; the speed of the throwing knife was definitely no less than that of a bullet fired from an ordinary pistol. However... the sound of the throwing knife cutting through the air was so faint that even with Zhou Ziwei's hearing heightened several times over, he could only faintly hear a tiny sound. Based on that barely perceptible sound, he couldn't even determine from which direction the throwing knife was thrown.
Nothing was certain. From beginning to end, Zhou Ziwei was at a complete disadvantage. If that person had launched another attack, Zhou Ziwei might very well have been defeated.
It seems the only clues we can find are in this throwing knife.
Several Kun pets flew hundreds of meters away in one breath, thoroughly searching an area of about one kilometer, but they found no useful clues. Helpless, Zhou Ziwei had no choice but to recall all the Kun pets.
However, when Zhou Ziwei looked up again and noticed the throwing knife stuck in the door, he was startled once more.
In just a short while, the originally pure white cloth strip was covered with a continuous flow of bright red color, forming one after another Japanese characters that looked like cursive script: Fifty miles to the east, on the top of Dongshan Mountain, I will meet you there. Do you dare to come?
This is actually a challenge!
When Zhou Ziwei saw the blood-red writing on the strip of cloth, he couldn't help but gasp.
That silent throwing knife from that person was just a challenge... does that mean... that wasn't their true strength at all? Then... if that person had unleashed their true power, would I still have a chance to escape?
The words on the cloth strip were as red as blood, and even faintly exuded a bloody smell.
But in the blink of an eye, the smell of blood suddenly turned into a strange fragrance, and the words on the cloth strip became fainter and fainter in this faint fragrance. After a moment, the line of blood-red words completely disappeared, and the entire cloth strip turned into a snow-white color again.
Playing tricks!
When the words on the cloth strip disappeared again, Zhou Ziwei was not frightened by this unexpected change; instead, he burst into laughter.
He didn't believe that the sudden appearance and disappearance of the words on the cloth strip could be due to any magic; it was probably just a chemical reaction.
Beforehand, a special potion is used to write words on this strip of cloth. After treatment, the words will temporarily become invisible. Then, this strip of cloth is sealed inside the handle of the throwing knife.
Once the hilt explodes and the cloth strips are exposed to the air, a certain chemical reaction will occur, and the text on the cloth strips will naturally appear. After the medicine on the cloth strips has completely evaporated, the text on them will disappear on its own...
This method can fool the ignorant or have a deterrent effect, making people suspicious and unconsciously instilling awe in them towards the instigator.
However, Zhou Ziwei was clearly no ordinary person. He had merged with the soul of a genius applied chemistry expert, so he wouldn't find such tricks strange. If he wanted to do something like that, he would definitely do it more professionally and more terrifyingly than this person.
Therefore, this method of psychological intimidation was naturally ineffective against Zhou Ziwei.
More accurately, this method did not frighten Zhou Ziwei; instead, it made him feel more disdainful of the mysterious expert who appeared and disappeared without a trace.
Clearly, the enemy was not as powerful as Zhou Ziwei had initially imagined. If the opponent were really that terrifying and could easily kill him, Zhou Ziwei, why would they need to pull off so many mysterious tricks?
Zhou Ziwei summoned a mosquito, sniffed the throwing knife stuck in the door, and after confirming that the knife was not coated with any poison, he took it down.
It has to be said that the opponent's strength was quite considerable. Even with Zhou Ziwei's strength, it took him a bit of effort to pull out the throwing knife. Of course, the main reason was that the handle of the throwing knife had been destroyed, leaving Zhou Ziwei with a bit of a problem.
After throwing the throwing knife into the trash can, Zhou Ziwei opened the door and went back to his room.