It was now deep night.
Most people in Heyang City were already asleep, and even those who weren't had mostly grown sleepy.
Shen Yao wasn't particularly tired, just purely a bit bored, and disappointed. There was still no movement outside. Did this mean Mu Qinglan's fishing plan had failed?
So she could make mistakes too.
While this made Shen Yao feel somewhat disappointed, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Previously, this child had been so formidable that it seemed somewhat unreal. Now that she had made a small error, it was for the best—after all, who doesn't make mistakes?
But just at this moment, a voice suddenly rang out.
"Miss Shen, it's your turn."
Shen Yao was startled for a moment, then remembered this was the code they had agreed upon. The assassins had come? Before she even had time to think, her body had already moved.
Her figure instantly flashed to the outside of the courtyard.
Then.
Boom—
Terrifying force struck that patch of shadow, completely shattering the courtyard wall.
Stones and branches flew in all directions.
The aftershock spread throughout the entire mansion. In the darkness, several pairs of eyes opened simultaneously, all turning their gazes toward the battlefield in the courtyard.
These were preparations Mu Qinglan had made in advance.
But what she hadn't expected was that despite her being so provocative, practically pointing at the Crown Prince's face and calling him useless, Skyreach Tower had only sent two assassins.
Who did they think they were looking down on!
"What a pity."
Mu Qinglan withdrew her gaze from the courtyard.
But tonight's fishing activity wasn't too unprofitable. Although it couldn't be called a complete victory, at least a big fish had been hooked.
"Dessert Candle..."
Mu Qinglan's gaze was playful, her mind stirring with thoughts.
When the system had popped up that status screen, Mu Qinglan had a familiar feeling, as if she had seen this effect on some boss before.
After thinking for a while, she remembered. Wasn't this the signature mechanism of that fierce person who would wipe out the Crown Prince's mansion in the future, the main boss of version 3.0?
—Dessert Candle.
In the dungeon, at regular intervals, she would apply an untransferable targeting effect on a player, with a five-second countdown.
After the countdown ended, the player would be instantly killed.
This annoying and unsolvable mechanism had infuriated players at the time, especially since the target was usually the farthest one, which was the healer. Without the healer, the boss fight couldn't continue. So, for a time, the forums were filled with verbal attacks on the difficulty of this dungeon.
However, players didn't have much hostility toward the boss.
On the contrary, she had extremely high popularity.
Because in the game, there was a very realistic thing—
Players are appearance-biased.
Compared to the traditional villain who wrapped their entire body in a black robe, only showing their eyes, speaking with "kekeke" and inhaling sharply while threatening to kill one's entire family, an introverted, gray-haired, expressionless girl was more likely to arouse players' interest.
Yes, that boss had such a character design.
That was the one in the courtyard.
"Miss, do you need me to give the Crown Prince's side a warning tomorrow?" the just-returned Steward Yuan asked, a hint of sharpness flashing in his eyes.
The white-haired girl shook her head.
Just a stray dog. After she had established herself firmly, that person wouldn't even be a threat.
If anything, she should thank him, thank him for sending her over while [Dessert Candle] hadn't yet grown into the super assassin of the future, sending her a handy good knife.
Yes, a good knife.
As the owner of an innate destiny trait, [Dessert Candle] was a natural top-tier assassin. Even without walking the transcendent path, she had the ability to kill invisibly.
Coincidentally, she didn't have an object of absolute loyalty.
—Slaughtering the entire Crown Prince's mansion couldn't be called loyalty.
So, she could be subdued.
And she was worth subduing.
Based on Mu Qinglan's understanding of this villain boss from the plot, she wasn't the ambitious type. The reason why the Crown Prince's mansion was slaughtered by an enraged [Dessert Candle] was thought-provoking.
Mu Qinglan had a premonition.
As long as she found this reason, she could bring this genius assassin under her command.
And with her abilities and intelligence, Mu Qinglan was confident she could strangle any risk of betrayal in the cradle. Of course, if her personality was such that she liked to switch sides, then she would have to use heavy-handed methods.
Liu Bu, though strong, required caution.
While she was thinking, the battle in the courtyard grew increasingly intense.
The shadow was completely outmatched by the frost.
But due to Mu Qinglan's "capture alive" order, Shen Yao only forced the opponent into a corner, then gradually consumed their survival space.
"Why are you here?!" The assassin was in uncertain fury.
"What exactly is your relationship with her?"
She knew that the daytime events were Shen Yao's doing, but she hadn't expected that Shen Yao would also stay at Prince Qi's mansion at night! Wasn't she a constable of the Six Bureaus?
You two didn't know each other before, right?!
What exactly did she do to make you so loyal?
"..."
Shen Yao pursed her lips, her movements becoming increasingly fierce.
"Miss Shen is my little doggy~" The white-haired girl's innocent and unrestrained voice came from behind, almost making Shen Yao stumble.
The assassin was also stunned for a moment, completely not expecting that the princess would have such wild words!
But immediately after, she understood everything.
So that's what kind of relationship they had! No wonder Shen Yao was willing to risk offending the Crown Prince's forces and desperately stand up for Mu Qinglan.
But why was Shen Yao a little dog?
The expressionless loli's eyes couldn't help but focus a bit, her gaze wandering between the two. This kind of relationship, she was seeing for the first time.
"Little dog, go for it!"
Mu Qinglan clenched her fists to cheer her on.
"If you win, there's a surprise for you!"
As the words fell, Shen Yao's offensive visibly became several degrees more fierce. If her previous attack was like a gentle, continuous rain, then her current attack was a torrential downpour, pouring down with nowhere to hide.
The assassin was dumbfounded.
"What's going on with you two?! How can you use me as a means of flirtation?!"
But only the person concerned, Miss Shen Yao, knew that her fierce attack was not at all because of Mu Qinglan's reward, but simply because she felt that if she dragged it out any longer, the other might say more strange things.
The subsequent battle quickly ended after Shen Yao used her full strength, without any surprises.
The two people, one large and one small, were unceremoniously thrown in front of the wheelchair-bound girl.
The larger one had all four limbs broken.
After all, she was a fifth-rank assassin.
The smaller one didn't receive this treatment. Because Shen Yao was surprised to discover that this little assassin was only ninth rank. After consulting with Mu Qinglan, she merely covered the little girl's eyes with a black cloth to prevent accidents.
Lying on the cold ground.
Feeling the pain of her broken limbs, this fifth-rank assassin felt not only humiliation but even more confusion.
"What's going on here?!"
Shen Yao's feelings were even more complex.
At first, she had thought Mu Qinglan's prediction was wrong, thinking she had finally made a mistake.
But reality quickly gave her a harsh slap: How dare you doubt her. Has she made a single mistake these past few days?
Shen Yao was speechless.
Looking at the two assassins lying like corpses before her, Mu Qinglan had originally prepared to go over and interrogate them, but at this moment, she was suddenly held by her finger.
"?"
Mu Qinglan turned back in confusion, only to see Shen Yao pursing her lips, her gaze burning as she stared at her.
"Is something wrong?"
"That..."
After stammering a few times, she seemed to finally make up her mind. She turned her head to the side, avoiding the white-haired girl's clear blood-red eyes, and said very softly:
"Miss Mu, I'm not a little dog..."
Mu Qinglan was stunned for a moment, then smiled faintly: "Miss Shen is certainly not my little dog now."
As the words fell, she added in her heart:
'But in the future, who knows.'