Chapter 44: Transaction

Meng Yifan walked over step by step, clutching the Elm Cannon. Wang Lei's face was drained of color; he wanted to continue fleeing, but the moment he took a step, his broken ribs lacerated his internal organs, forcing him to spit out another mouthful of fresh blood.

"It's over!" Wang Lei sighed. He had been an assassin for many years, living a life of licking blood off a blade, and he had long expected a day like this would come. Yet, he truly never imagined he would die at the hands of a half-grown boy—a fellow who was also a one-in-ten-thousand martial arts prodigy.

The True Qi within Wang Lei's body could still erupt one more time to unleash the Ghost Crying Wolf Howling, but Meng Yifan was clearly on guard against this move, and even if he unleashed it, he could not take Meng Yifan down. Moreover, if Wang Lei were to use this move, the toxins in his body would fully erupt, and he would soon die from the poison.

"Can't win in a fight, can't escape either; this time, I've truly fallen." Wang Lei leaned against a large tree, clutching his chest as he sat on the ground, vomiting blood continuously. He looked weak and powerless, having already lost the ability to resist.

"Even if I die, I must drag Meng Yifan down as a cushion. To have a one-in-ten-thousand martial arts prodigy accompany me on the road to the afterlife, it's worth it even in death."

Wang Lei gathered his True Qi, longing for Meng Yifan to get closer so he could have one last chance to erupt.

Unfortunately, in his past life, Meng Yifan had been able to survive on battlefields where bullets flew like rain. Aside from his good luck, the main reason was his extreme caution. Right now, Wang Lei looked as if he were about to finish, but until he confirmed the other party was truly dead, he would never rashly approach.

Meng Yifan stopped one hundred meters away from Wang Lei and began to clean the barrel of the Elm Cannon in a leisurely manner. Once the barrel was clean and the temperature had cooled, he began to reload ammunition into it. After everything was ready, he held the Elm Cannon, aimed it at Wang Lei's head, and took out a fire starter to prepare to light the fuse.

Wang Lei was now severely wounded and completely unable to move; if he were to take another cannonball, he would undoubtedly die.

At this point, there was no need for Wang Lei to keep up the act. He raised his head and looked at Meng Yifan in bewilderment. This little fellow was clearly only ten years old; how could he be even more cautious and careful than a veteran who had walked the jianghu for years?

"Little brother, there is no deep hatred between us. I was only entrusted by someone to take your life. Now that I admit defeat, can you spare my life? I can use Silver Notes to buy my life," Wang Lei said.

Meng Yifan's heart stirred, and he asked, "Who sent you to kill me?"

"Manager Lv, who is in charge of acquisitions on the first floor of Wanxiang Tower." Wang Lei was about to die, so he didn't care about professional ethics and revealed his employer directly.

He also knew that Manager Lv was a relative of the Luolong County Magistrate and could not be offended, but Wang Lei only wanted to live now. As long as he could survive, he would leave Luolong County and fly far away; by then, Lv Dazhi would be unable to do anything to him.

"Bastard!" Meng Yifan was furious. He never expected that just because he hadn't accepted that old man's attempt to force down the price, it would bring such a lethal disaster upon him. If it weren't for the fact that he and his father were cautious and had set up traps in the room in advance, they might both have been killed by now.

To gain Meng Yifan's favor, Wang Lei said, "Little brother, that Manager Lv is a relative of the Luolong County Magistrate. If you want to seek revenge on him, it is best to do it without anyone knowing, or you will face the retaliatory strikes of Lv Dazhi."

"A relative of the Luolong County Magistrate?" Meng Yifan paused, which made him somewhat wary. However, he was not the type to take a beating without fighting back. Since that old thing had struck first, he was his enemy, and he had to find a way to take him out. It was just as Wang Lei said, though; this matter truly required a careful plan and could not be rushed.

"How much money did that old thing pay to hire you to kill me?"

"A total of three hundred taels of silver. Two hundred taels were paid as a deposit, and one hundred taels would be paid after the job was done. The deposit is here; I'll give it all to you."

Wang Lei took two one-hundred-tael Silver Notes from his bosom and threw them in Meng Yifan's direction.

Meng Yifan did not go to catch the two Silver Notes; instead, he stepped back. He appeared to have the victory in his grasp, but in his heart, he was constantly guarding against Wang Lei.

If Wang Lei had tampered with the Silver Notes, and he had rashly gone to catch them, he might have capsized in the gutter. In any case, the Silver Notes were right there; once he dealt with Wang Lei, he could come back and pick them up.

"Little brother, there is no need for this. I truly do not want to be your enemy anymore." Wang Lei's expression was somewhat awkward. The Silver Notes he had just thrown indeed hadn't been tampered with, but it was also a test of Meng Yifan. If Meng Yifan had truly caught the notes, then he still had other good things on him, and he could have tampered with those.

"How much silver are you prepared to pay to buy your life?" Meng Yifan asked.

"Five hundred taels of silver." Wang Lei was perhaps afraid that Meng Yifan would think it was too little, so he continued, "Little brother, don't look at our line of work as if we earn a lot. But the silver I earned has all been spent on cultivation resources; I really only have five hundred taels left."

Five hundred taels was not a small sum. Meng Dayong had spent a total of four hundred taels to buy their house, and inside Wanxiang Tower, a Yellow Grade High Rank cultivation manual only sold for five hundred taels of silver.

"Throw it over," Meng Yifan said.

Wang Lei took out five more Silver Notes from his bosom and said, "These five hundred taels of Silver Notes can be yours, but can you guarantee to spare my life?"

"No. I am definitely going to kill you today. What you can choose now is whether to die quickly or to die after I have subjected you to Lingchi."

Meng Yifan was cold and ruthless. His attitude toward enemies had always been to exterminate them completely. Since Wang Lei and his cohorts dared to come and kill him, they shouldn't blame him for killing them in return.

Most importantly, if Meng Yifan wanted to quickly increase his strength, he had to kill monsters to gain Experience Value. In Meng Yifan's eyes, Wang Lei was a small boss; how could he possibly let him go?

"You, you..." Wang Lei was so angry that he spat out another mouthful of blood. He hadn't expected this little fellow to be so difficult; it seemed he was determined to kill him.

"Then don't blame me for tearing up these five hundred taels of Silver Notes," Wang Lei threatened. He knew that Meng Yifan, a poor boy from a mountain village, really needed these five hundred taels. Since he couldn't live, he wouldn't let Meng Yifan have it easy either.

"You can try. I will count to three, then I will fire the cannon to break your left hand, then continue to reload the ammunition to break your right hand. Once I confirm you have completely lost the ability to resist, I will subject you to Lingchi."

"It is said that in the Great Wu Heavenly Dynasty, those who commit great crimes are sentenced to Lingchi. After the executioner cuts three thousand times, the criminal is still not dead. My skills certainly aren't that good, but I am confident that I can cut you one thousand times while you are still alive."

Meng Yifan's words made even an assassin like Wang Lei shiver. He hadn't expected Meng Yifan to be so ruthless, truly prepared to subject him to Lingchi.

"Three."

"Two."

Meng Yifan began to count. Once he finished counting to three, he would fire.

Wang Lei sighed and said, "The Silver Notes are yours; give me a quick death."

Meng Yifan smiled and said, "Very well."