Chapter 48: No Choice
Ji Yueling held her phone, silently using her authority to search Alliance intelligence, looking for major events that had occurred in this city.
Soon she found what she was looking for.
All mid-level managers with Diamond code names from the Plum Blossom Club had been completely eliminated as of eight o’clock this morning, except for the Puppeteer.
When she refreshed again, she found that the Puppeteer’s information now also showed as deceased.
She looked somewhat blankly toward the window. If all of this was done by Gu Qing alone, then just how terrifying was his strength? Even S-rank couldn’t kill so many A-ranks with different abilities in one day, right?
Thinking of this, Ji Yueling suddenly couldn’t help but grit her teeth again.
That liar!

An hour later.
Gu Qing met one of the founders of the Plum Blossom Club, Q, on the thirty-second floor of a commercial center.
Q was a somewhat corpulent woman wearing a mask, with slightly curled long hair. She wore a suit that, although tailored to fit, looked quite unattractive due to her corpulent figure.
But when Gu Qing saw her, he suddenly fell silent for several seconds, then couldn’t help but laugh.
“What are you laughing at?” Q looked at him coldly.
Those slightly murky eyes were indeed very cold, quite authoritative like a middle-aged woman. Gu Qing spent quite a while trying to restrain his laughter before sitting across from Q, then looking at the men in black beside him: “I want an iced cola, with lots of ice.”
The men in black hesitated, but Q slowly spoke: “Go prepare it for him.”
So one man in black left, leaving three still beside Q.
Q waved her hand, indicating they should all go out.
So only Gu Qing and Q remained in the room. Gu Qing seemed somewhat hyperactive, constantly looking around, gradually becoming absorbed in a painting on the wall. He had learned quite a bit of art appreciation as a child—this painting seemed to be an authentic work by some master, probably worth quite a lot of money.
“What do you want?” Q finally spoke coldly.
Only then did Gu Qing finally turn back, leaning lazily and relaxedly against the sofa, crossing his legs, his gaze arrogant: “First, cancel the assassination mission against Lu Qianqian. Second, give me all the information about the mission’s employer.”
“The first can be discussed, the second is absolutely impossible.” Q replied coldly.
Gu Qing didn’t rush to speak, just slightly narrowed his eyes.
He knew why the second was impossible. This was also a rule in the assassin industry—under no circumstances could employer information be betrayed. If they violated this rule once, all previous clients who had used the Plum Blossom Club would become anxious, not knowing whether the Plum Blossom Club would also sell their information. Once there was a first time, there would be a second. Those big shots hiding behind the scenes would unite without hesitation to eliminate the entire Plum Blossom Club.
Gu Qing naturally knew this, but he still made the second condition.
Because this was also his bottom line.
“So there are only two paths in front of you.” Gu Qing thought for a moment. “Be killed by me now, or tell me the employer’s information and then start hiding and living in fear for the rest of your life?”
“Are you so certain you can kill me?” Q slightly narrowed her eyes, and irregular things were already quietly surging under her skin.
“You’re too fragile.” Gu Qing shook his head. “You’re neither a physical-type transcendent ability nor a mental-type transcendent ability, and you don’t belong to unknown domains. Your ability is like a joke to me. Even if you practiced it to SS-rank, I would still only need a thought to kill you, let alone that you’re only S-rank.”
Gu Qing answered very honestly.
This was what negotiation was about—putting both sides’ chips on the table and demanding as many chips as possible from the other party.
Obviously Q had some doubts about this, so she coldly pressed: “What is my ability?”
Her ability had always been a secret. Even Diting absolutely couldn’t find any intelligence about her ability, so she didn’t believe the Gu Qing in front of her could so calmly state her ability.
But in the next moment, her pupils contracted slightly.
“Summoning.”
“Some people might mistakenly think your ability is controlling demons, but that’s not the case. Your ability is summoning. At E-rank, you can summon gold-eating ants into your body. D-rank is pain wasps, C-rank is red sickle beetles, B-rank is brain-eating ants, A-rank is phantom butterflies, and S-rank gives these insects more special properties, such as changes in size and visibility, and grants you their perspective.”
“When you reach SS-rank, you can fuse your consciousness with your summons. Unfortunately, you’re only S-rank now.”
“Just like those brain-eating ants you’re controlling that are crawling around in my head right now—they’re so small they’re almost invisible.” Gu Qing calmly explained all her ability classifications, tapped his head, and a small white speck of dirt was knocked out of his ear.
“There’s a phantom butterfly hidden in that painting, but unfortunately, I can only see [truth], not illusions.”
Q’s eyes now held only shock. After a long while, she finally calmed her breathing and slowly spoke: “Then how would you kill me?”
Gu Qing just smiled and answered: “That’s a secret only the dead can know. Do you want to die?”
Clearly Q didn’t want to.
“I can cancel the assassination mission against Lu Qianqian and guarantee that we will never again accept any missions related to her. I can also ensure that all assassin organizations in Qiming City will no longer accept any missions related to Lu Qianqian—they will sell me this favor. But regarding the employer behind the scenes, I think you understand the rules. This is something that can absolutely never be revealed to you. Revealing it to you would mean the Plum Blossom Club would collapse in that instant, and everyone would face relentless pursuit. You should understand, I have no choice.”
Clearly Q’s attitude had become quite sincere.
But Gu Qing was not satisfied.
His iced cola was quickly brought over. He picked up the glass and took a big gulp, his face showing a trace of satisfaction, but it quickly disappeared as he still said seriously: “Five minutes. Die, or tell me the employer’s information. You can only choose one.”
Q’s body straightened up a bit. Now she restrained the terror in her eyes and looked at Gu Qing in front of her: “I think I have a third choice.”
“Oh?” Gu Qing looked at her uncomprehendingly.
“I think K has already reached that girl called Lu Qianqian, and his Eternal Night Theater is already ready to strike.” Q narrowed her eyes, but her body was still tense with fear.

The founders of the Plum Blossom Club were J, Q, and K.
J had washed his hands of it years ago and retired from the martial world.
Q still held power but retreated behind the scenes, no longer taking action personally.
K remained active on the front lines. This wasn’t because he still lacked money or power, but because he found assassination interesting. He liked to announce publicly that he had accepted a certain bounty, enjoying the target’s despair, torment, pain, and fear, then personally coming before them to torture and kill them.
He had created his own art of killing, enjoying posting videos of torturing and killing targets on the Plum Blossom Club’s official website.
This was also the Plum Blossom Club’s signature. K accepted any mission. Occasionally when he was in a good mood, he would accept killing A-rank ability users. When his hands were itchy, he would even accept ordinary people.
K had wanted to properly enjoy this mission, because it had been too long since he had a reason to take action. He no longer had that previous tension of being on the front lines with life and death hanging in the balance. Recently he had even considered washing his hands of it and retiring, until yesterday when he heard that all the mid-level managers of the Plum Blossom Club had died at the hands of a young man.
He had wanted to directly kill that young man, but Q had him go control that girl called Lu Qianqian first. Among the former trio of JQK, Q was the smartest person, so he followed Q’s instructions.
Last night he had gone to the residential area where Lu Qianqian was staying, looking at those demons sitting on the lawn playing cards and listening to music. When he sensed their true auras, K slightly narrowed his eyes, his mouth curving up.
It had been a long time since it was this interesting.

In Ji Yueling’s living room.
Lu Qianqian was now carefully peeling an orange. She wore a warm, loose sweater and loose pants, her cheeks still slightly pale. Ji Yueling sat beside her, carefully observing everything through the perspective of the little spiders she had released.
Suddenly, her head shook.
All the little spiders, in an instant, could only see darkness, lost in the dark.
She almost instantly stood up, shielding Lu Qianqian behind her, her eyes looking toward the door, but suddenly realized that the sky outside the window, which had just brightened, was now plunged into dark eternal night.
The doorway was also filled with dark mist. Suddenly, countless thick fog enveloped the entire living