Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
It was June 8th on the seventh Wednesday of the semester.
Today, Old Antique started to gossip as usual during his theory of history class, but this time, the content was a little different. In the past, most of the light gossip he had shared had been related to the knowledge in their textbook. This time, however, Old Antique started with the Shadow Stream incident, and began to talk about some of the famous killers on the current international list of killers.
“The buzz around the incident with Shadow Stream in the past few months caught the attention of a number of the city leaders. Today’s lesson will be something like safety education for all of you.” Old Antique leaned his elbow partly on the lectern next to him as he said slowly, “Is there anyone who knows anything about those killers on the international list of killers?”
There was utter silence below the dais.
“The three Shadow Stream killers who died in our school previously were all in the top twenty on the international ranking list of killers. The person with the highest rank was thirteenth.” When he said this, Old Antique smiled. “But this group of people were all FISH!”
“FISH?” Some people were confused.
Old Antique shrugged: “FISH as in trash 1 .”
Everyone: “…”
“If I may say so… in the international ranking list of killers, those below the top ten are, in my view, all trash!” Old Antique smiled slightly.
Although what he said made the students below the dais burst into laughter, Wang Ling could sensed a trace of confidence in Old Antique’s words. He had witnessed Old Antique’s strength for himself, and had always believed that this theory of history teacher’s real identity wasn’t an ordinary one.
To Wang Ling, Old Antique had always been a mysterious man with stories to tell… in fact, ever since he had encountered Third Saint and learned about Killer Taoist, Wang Ling had actually become a little suspicious about Old Antique’s identity.
Could he be that number one expert on the international ranking list of killers?
“Today, I want to talk about these top ten killers on the ranking list.”
Upon saying this, an enigmatic expression flitted across Old Antique’s face. “On the international ranking list of killers, the Master of Shadow Stream, Jiang Liuyue, is ranked sixth. She hasn’t made an appearance since Shadow Stream’s headquarters was destroyed. But I have a feeling that this Master of Shadow Stream isn’t really dead. Next, let us go through the ranking in reverse order. The killer ranked tenth is codenamed Night Rain Kidney Menace.”
“Night Rain… Kidney Menace?”
“That’s right; speaking of this Night Rain Kidney Menace’s origin, they say that this killer’s family was exceptionally poor when he was young, so he didn’t have any cultivation resources. That was why he set foot on a path of no return — he harvests kidneys and sells them for money. The specific price of the kidney is based on the cultivator’s realm. The higher the realm, the more expensive the kidney… this person once caused carnage across the country by cutting out the kidneys of countless cultivators. That’s why he was also given the nickname Kidney Hunter.”
Hearing this, the students in class couldn’t help quivering. This killer was only ranked tenth, but he was already so abnormal… then how evil were the ones ranked above him?
Old Antique carried on with his introduction. “The ninth killer is codenamed Little Cold Hands. This person was born with a unique condition — innately cold hands. Each time this killer carries out a mission, he adopts a harmless appearance, then looks for an opportunity to pretend to fall down.”
“Why pretend to fall down?” Everyone was bewildered.
“Of course it’s to look for a chance to hold hands with the target. Faking a pengci fall, then seizing the chance to grasp hands with the target looks more natural,” Old Antique said with a profound air. “Once you hold hands with this person, the special cold qi inside his body will instantly invade your internal organs and cause a freezing numbness in the short term. Of course, this condition only lasts for a very short while, but for a professional killer, that’s more than enough time to kill a person. Back then, the cultivators who suffered from this person’s poisonous hand had been completely unable to react right up to their final moments.”
“…”
“The eighth killer is codenamed Steamed Bun Invader. This killer is a little special; before every assassination assignment, he’ll leave a bloody meat bun as notice. Compared with the previous two killers, the most impressive thing about this person is his ability to come and go as he pleases. His mastery of the aura-concealment skill is formidable and terrifying.”
“…”
The seventh killer is codenamed One-Inch Gray 2 … this killer is also a little special. His assassination weapon of choice is an inch of gray hair. Rumor is that he refined his own hair into a magic weapon. Once he attacks, he will definitely kill his opponent. Until now, he has never missed his mark.”
Refined his hair into a magic weapon?
When Wang Ling heard this, he couldn’t help knitting his eyebrows together. This seemed a little similar to the technique that had been demonstrated by Ah Zuo and Ah You from Immortal Mansion.
“I don’t have to say much about the sixth one, the Master of Shadow Stream. Next I’ll focus on the top five killers on the list.” Old Antique sneaked out a latiao from his pocket and stuck one in his mouth. “I believe that while you have heard so much about the Shadow Stream incident in the last few days, you would have also heard a little about the fourth and fifth killers. They’re a famous couple in the international circle of killers nicknamed Elders Gold and Silver. One is Elder Gold and the other is Elder Silver, and both are experts at using poison.”
“Is this poison of any use on cultivators?”
“Of course it is!”
Old Antique nodded his head. “All of you are taking the pharmacology course, so you know that cultivators aren’t affected by general poisons. Whether it’s snake venom or the toxic sap of a plant, just a little is more than enough to kill an ordinary person. But no matter how much poison cultivators ingest, they can use their spirit energy to force them out of their pores… but Elders Gold and Silver use a myriad of poisons that are far more complex. What’s more, they are the only ones who have the antidotes. As far as I know, they’ve even developed a new poison.”
Someone couldn’t help asking, “What kind of poison is it?”
Old Antique replied, “It’s an extremely potent kind that can cause you to become deranged. The poisoned person swiftly turns effeminate in a very short span of time and becomes wickedly coquettish. Elders Gold and Silver once poisoned the former fourth killer on the ranking list, whose code name was The Nation’s Fifth Flirt 3 .”
Someone asked, “And then?”
Old Antique shrugged his shoulders. “This Nation’s Fifth Flirt went insane in one night, breaking into the homes of other killers and shouting at anyone he saw: ‘I don’t care, I’m the most handsome, I’m your cutie 4 …’”
“…” Everyone in Grade One, Class Three felt their scalps grow numb.
“In the end, when they found this killer… he was already dead. His kidneys were gone, there were traces of ice on his body, and there were signs that hair had been wrapped around his neck. Moreover, a bloody meat bun had been left next to his corpse.”
Everyone: “…”
“That’s right. This former killer ranked fourth on the list had been beaten to death by his peers. After that, Elders Gold and Silver moved up in the ranks; in this way, one became ranked fourth and the other fifth…”
Hearing this story, Wang Ling already had no strength left to mock it. “…”
