Chapter 17

From ancient times to the present, assassins have been a profession shrouded in mystery. Jing Ke and Yi Qian have been celebrated in countless songs and poems, while Zhuan Zhu and Nie Zheng have been praised for their bold and decisive actions. They have always been depicted by literati and scholars, either as cold and resolute or as robust and valiant. However, few assassins are like Feng San.

Fat!

If Feng San could cut off two hundred pounds of fat from his body, he might still be considered handsome and elegant, with his rosy lips, white teeth, and peach-blossom-like face. But his charming face combined with his ball-like figure left no room for any thoughts.

Despite his appearance, he was proudly the most formidable assassin in Halfside Town.

At the moment, under the cover of night, Feng San was slowly approaching the City God Temple. Despite the rugged and difficult mountain path, he moved without making a single sound, his eyes and movements as fierce and agile as a hunting wolf!

Even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit—this was Feng San’s way of being an assassin!

Feng San stealthily made his way to the corner of the temple, and as he looked inside, a chill ran down his spine. The stone training ground and the surrounding shops were bathed in a bluish-green light, appearing bright but blurry upon closer inspection. The shopkeepers were either talking to the air, gesturing wildly with objects, or setting up food and drinks on empty tables, changing the utensils...

As he was pondering, a cold wind suddenly blew, sending a chill through his bones, and a cold sweat trickled down his forehead!

“Uncle!”

A sudden child’s voice startled him. As he turned abruptly, he scraped his fat body against a sharp corner, causing his flesh to tremble as if electrocuted. Wiping his nose and tears, he looked over to see two chubby children!

The boy with a topknot tilted his head and asked, “Uncle, what are you doing? Why don’t you come over?”

The girl, clearly shy, hid behind him, tugging at his clothes, “Brother, brother, let’s go. Mom will scold us for talking to strangers...”

Faced with these harmless children, Feng San immediately felt at ease. He squatted down, rubbing his fat and smiled, “Oh, don’t be afraid. Uncle isn’t a bad person... Little boy, tell Uncle, what are you doing over there?”

The boy tilted his head even more, “We’re going to eat, Uncle. Uncle, aren’t you eating?”

“Eating?” Feng San was confused, “Why are you eating in the middle of the night—uh, little boy, what are you eating?”

The boy giggled and pointed, “This!”

Following his finger, Feng San saw three incense sticks stuck in the mud, with wisps of blue smoke rising higher and higher into the night sky...

The boy suddenly sniffed, and the smoke coiled like a snake, being sucked into his nose—then he laughed, “Hehe, Uncle, like this...”

“You! You! You!” As the three “yous” left his mouth, Feng San swallowed hard, pointing at the children in terror, “Are you... are you human or...?” His throat was so dry that his voice didn’t even sound like his own.

Thump!

The boy’s head, tilted too far, fell off and rolled on the ground, still speaking, “Oops, it fell off.”

The girl ran over, picked up the boy’s head, and patted it, scolding him in a babyish voice, “Look what you did, Mom will scold you!” Then, she wobbled back and handed the head to the boy.

Did he need to wait for their answer?

Without another word, Feng San scampered away like a rabbit, his face pale, his lips white, and his teeth chattering. He rushed toward the crowded training ground—somehow, there were suddenly many more people there, chatting in groups. Feng San didn’t care; he just dove into the crowd.

He turned back to look at where the children had been, but there was no sign of them, only the three incense sticks still burning slowly.

Feng San took a deep breath, feeling a bit more at ease—

“...Yes, yes, this style,” a voice from the crowd reached his ears, “the edges should be wider, and the bottom larger... Yes, yes, just like that...” A woman added, “Done? Are you sure you don’t want to change anything? Then I’ll give it to you!”

Feng San focused and saw the woman in the crowd lighting an object in her hand...

Paper clothes!

His heart, which had just settled, leaped to his throat again. A tingling sensation ran from his back to the top of his head, and his body trembled as if he had fallen into icy water!

Dare he look any longer? Feng San quietly retreated.

“Clang!”

Just as he lifted his foot, he felt he had bumped into something. Before he could think, everyone was looking at him. The woman smiled, “Oh, can’t wait? I’ll cut it for you first. What style do you want?”

She waved a piece of white paper at him, “My goodness!” Feng San didn’t hesitate and fled from the crowd, running as fast as he could... His mind was set on one thing:

“I have to leave here! They’re all crazy, all ghosts! I have to go! I have to go! Faster, even faster...”

No one stopped him as he ran out of the crowd, but he could hear laughter behind him. He only wanted to find a place with fewer people to escape!

His feet moved frantically, and as he ran, he saw countless vague figures, with twisted heads, slanted shoulders, and elongated tongues, surrounding him in the middle of the training ground.

Feng San, who had a slight reputation in the underworld, felt a surge of determination. He suddenly flipped his hand, revealing a dagger as long as a palm, and threw it at the nearest person with all his might!

The dagger, like a meteor, flew straight to the person’s face!

But the dagger didn’t stop; it passed right through his body, then the next, and the next... until it finally landed with a thud on the ground!

“Ghosts! Real ghosts!”

Feng San howled like a madman, not daring to charge forward anymore. He immediately fled toward the sparsely populated area behind him—the City God Temple was the least crowded place!

Suddenly, the door of the City God Temple opened a crack, and a head poked out.

The person looked at the ghosts in the training ground with urgency, waved at Feng San, winked, and pointed to the side wall, saying anxiously, “Go that way, that’s the only way to escape!”

In a panic, Feng San followed the direction—taking three steps as one, he grabbed a brick, pushed off with his feet, and leaped over the wall...

But his feet suddenly felt soft, and he smelled an extremely disgusting odor!

“Oh no!”

***

Some say the greatest pain in the world is being chased by ghosts at midnight; others say the greatest pain is falling into a cesspool at midnight. But for Feng San, this was the worst!

Surrounded by a crowd of ghosts in the cesspool—could there be a more painful experience?

***

Suddenly, a torch appeared at the edge of the cesspool, and a lecherous old man squatted down, laughing wickedly. Beside him was a seven- or eight-year-old child: “Come, Bao’er, let’s take a dump first!”

This old man was the one who had directed Feng San earlier. If it weren’t for the situation, he would have pounced and beaten him up. But before he could think of what to say, he heard the old man say, “No! Sir, please don’t, don’t do this, please?”

Thinking about it, if someone really did a dump on his head, he might as well die!

Unfortunately, his plea was ignored. The child, Bao’er, pulled down his pants, bared his white buttocks, and started to strain, while the old man, Liu, also laughed wickedly and unbuttoned his pants, reaching into his crotch...

With the situation reaching a critical point, Feng San had no choice but to surrender:

“Sir, my dear sir! Please, stop your grandson! I’ll do anything you ask if you let me go! Anything, really... Oh, I’ll tell you who hired me to kill!”

At that moment, he realized that while the killing was supposed to be a secret, it had already been seen through by others. The only one who didn’t know was himself. Since he was in this situation, he might as well spill everything, hoping to gain a chance at survival!

He mentally cursed the young man’s family, especially the women, in a way that suggested a close, even intimate, relationship, and theoretically elevated his own status, completely avoiding any hints of impotence or erectile dysfunction!

His words had some effect. The old man, Liu, stopped the child, “Wait, let’s see what he has to say, and then we’ll continue.” He turned and showed his large, yellow teeth, “Really, anything? Swear, and I’ll pull you out!”

“This... Okay! Okay! I swear!” Just as he hesitated, a black shadow passed over his head, and he saw the faces of the figures around the pit. He immediately shouted, “I swear, I will follow the orders of this Daoist, and do anything, even if it means being a cow or a horse. If I break this vow, may I be struck by lightning!”

As soon as he finished, a faint crackling sound came from above. He looked up to see a burning talisman floating down. The light on the paper flashed and disappeared, as if something had been resolved.

He was confused, “This, this...?”

“This is a curse talisman, used for swearing,” a figure emerged from the darkness, hunched and laughing wickedly, “Once you swear, you can’t change it. If you do, it will come true within three days! Shoo shoo!”

One by one, many people appeared beside him, of various heights and builds. They were the people from the shops that the young man had asked him to kill. They all smiled, some happily, some lecherously, and even some honestly—though their smiles seemed strangely sinister.

The surrounding ghosts also laughed wickedly!

A thought flashed through his mind:

“Oh no! I’ve really fallen into a trap!”

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