Chapter 36: Dark Star Guild

“Whizz! Whizz!”

As if sensing a companion had been shot—or hearing the gunshots—two arrows flew in from above the Ferris wheel, piercing through the dense lattice of spokes and hurtling toward Lin Qing.

“Hmph.”

Lin Qing casually swung his stun baton, knocking the two arrows aside, then sped toward the location of the shooter who had just been hit.

With his agility and balance, he didn’t need his hands to move freely across the Ferris wheel.

His free hands held a pistol in one and a stun baton in the other; even with limited room to dodge, he had no fear of being struck by arrows! Soon, Lin Qing passed through layer after layer of spoke railings and found the killer hiding behind several bars and spokes.

The killer wore a camouflage suit that blended almost perfectly with the surroundings—unless examined closely, he was nearly invisible in the darkness!

Even the compound bow in his hand seemed coated with similar optical paint, allowing for excellent concealment during assassinations in the dark.

But now, the killer’s left arm was nearly severed by the previous shot, with only a fragment of sleeve still barely attached.

He couldn’t even draw his bow—had it not been for the climbing suction devices still suspended by ropes, he would have already fallen.

At this moment, he stared fixedly at Lin Qing, and within his right pupil, a faint red glow flickered.

“Mechanical ocular implant?”

Lin Qing instantly understood why the killer had been able to fire precise arrows in the dark without night-vision gear!

Such mechanical ocular implants almost certainly had night-vision and long-range vision capabilities.

Suddenly—

Black blood trickled from the killer’s lips as his head slumped sideways, motionless.

Lin Qing also heard the killer’s breathing rapidly weaken.

Clearly, his life was draining away at an alarming speed.

“Suicide by poison?”

Lin Qing frowned, didn’t bother checking further, and continued scanning along the wheel’s spokes and railings for other killers.

His intuition—or subconscious—continued to whisper, granting him an almost supernatural sense of the other two killers’ positions.

“Bang!”

Just over ten seconds later, Lin Qing located another killer. Before the man could fire another arrow, Lin Qing shot him in the chest—he died instantly.

The man’s attire, gear, and compound bow were nearly identical to the previous killer’s.

Even… he had the same mechanical ocular implant!

“Another mechanical ocular implant?”

Lin Qing couldn’t help but be startled.

Could it really be a coincidence that both men had lost one eye and both happened to replace it with mechanical implants?

“We’ll know when we see the third…”

…

Nearly two hundred meters from the Ferris wheel stood a viewing tower nearly a hundred meters tall.

On the bungee platform extending from its highest observation deck stood a tall, slender figure.

He wore a black tactical jacket and a baseball cap, with night-vision and long-range goggles covering his eyes.

In his hands was a compound bow half his height; he adjusted its pulley system while gazing toward the distant Ferris wheel.

“Terrifying…”

The archer muttered to himself, “Lin Qing’s only been active for a short while, yet he’s already this strong? My three trained hunters couldn’t threaten him… Could he be captain-level?”

“But this guy’s strange—how did he pinpoint all three hidden assassins so precisely?”

“Too bad I didn’t bring my phone—I could’ve asked Yuhong Society…”

“How ridiculous. I wonder which idiot in the Patrol Bureau Yuhong Society recruited—some fool actually thought Lin Qing wasn’t a threat? This absurd intel cost my Dark Star Guild three assassins…”

“Good thing I came—I can still fix this…”

As his thoughts shifted, the archer nocked an arrow, slowly drew the string, and the bow’s pulleys spun, increasing tension and stability.

He had only come as a mission supervisor to confirm the outcome of his three hunters’ assignment—but he never expected they’d failed?

As a supervisor, he was permitted to intervene if the mission failed.

“But Lin Qing’s too alert—at this distance, even ‘Death Hunter’ can’t kill him…”

“Forget it. Yuhong Society’s main target is Teng Feiyu anyway. This angle lets me kill two with one shot. Too bad about such a beautiful female inspector…”

At that moment, the archer’s entire skin took on a stony texture and hue, as if he’d turned into a heavy stone statue—while his arms slowly pulled the ‘Death Hunter,’ whose draw weight far exceeded human strength, nearly to full draw. Then, with a flick of his fingers, he released the string.

In an instant, the black arrow became a terrifying phantom, piercing the sound barrier and hurtling forward at an appalling speed!

In that moment, the arrow seemed to become the embodiment of a death-bringing hunter!…

Beneath the Ferris wheel platform.

Zhao Jiayi knelt, using her carried bandages to bind Teng Feiyu’s wound, trying to staunch the bleeding.

Fortunately, official inspector uniforms always carried such portable gear—otherwise she’d have had to cut strips from Teng Feiyu’s own clothing.

“How’s the team leader?” Teng Feiyu asked weakly.

“Just sit still,” Zhao Jiayi glanced at him, muttering, “Don’t worry—even if you died ten times, the team leader wouldn’t get a scratch…” Teng Feiyu didn’t question why his female colleague’s demeanor felt so unusual today; he could only ask, “How do you know? The team leader doesn’t have tools, it’s pitch black, and the Ferris wheel’s no place to search…”

“Just stop asking. Anyway…”

Zhao Jiayi grumbled impatiently, then suddenly fell silent.

She furrowed her brow tightly, as if enduring a headache, pressing her fingertip against her forehead.

“What’s wrong?” Teng Feiyu blinked in surprise.

“Nothing…”

Zhao Jiayi’s fingertip pressed against her brow—and beneath it, her furrowed skin began to slowly ripple.

“Whoosh!”

A piercing, shrill whistle suddenly tore through the sky.

“Huh?” Teng Feiyu’s expression changed instantly.

This was clearly the sound of an arrow slicing air—far more terrifying than before, clearly moving far faster than any previous arrow!

Another hidden killer? Yet—

Teng Feiyu watched intently for a long while, but detected no further movement, no sound of the arrow striking anything.

As if the sound had been purely auditory.

At that moment, he noticed Zhao Jiayi had lowered her hand from her brow.

“Are you okay? Your face looks awful—you’re bleeding from the nose too?”

“I’m fine.”

…

“Bang!”

The gunshot echoed over the Ferris wheel.

Lin Qing holstered his sidearm, frowning slightly as he stared at the third killer, now lifeless.

The man was dead, but his mechanical ocular implant still flickered with red light.

“As expected…”

Lin Qing finally confirmed: “All three have identical mechanical ocular implants, and their gear is fully professional—they’re clearly career assassins trained by some organization…”

He suspected—

Perhaps Teng Feiyu’s actions had alerted Yuhong Society, and with his identity as the city police chief’s son, they felt threatened and sent assassins to eliminate him.

But judging from these three killers’ profiles, Lin Qing didn’t believe Yuhong Society could train such operatives.

After all, they were merely a local underground gang—unlikely to possess such capability.

Moreover—

Lin Qing glanced at his [Current Order Level].

The order level had only risen to 1.2, with no additional increase.

If these three were dangerous elements within his life circle, eliminating them should have triggered an extra order boost.

That meant they weren’t locals—certainly unrelated to his life circle—and they didn’t act unnecessarily, only lowering the order level when assassinating him.

They could only be foreign career assassins.

Perhaps… these three were hired by Yuhong Society?

…

A few minutes later.

Inspectors and the Gongan Bureau arrived at the abandoned amusement park, sealing off the scene thoroughly.

Severely wounded and weak, Teng Feiyu was immediately rushed to the hospital.

The three assassin corpses were retrieved by both inspectors and Gongan, inspected on-site, and their identities confirmed.

The inspection team that arrived was Team Two, the closest allies—Team Leader Han arrived immediately with his squad.

“Mechanical ocular implants, Dark Star tattoos, suicide poison, and this gear…”

Team Leader Han stood beside Lin Qing, staring at the three corpses laid on the ground, frowning: “Confirmed—they’re all assassins from the Dark Star Guild, specialized in bows. That’s ‘Hunter’ gear.”

“Dark Star Guild?”

Lin Qing had never heard of it before. He asked: “Do these three have warrants?”

“No.”

Team Leader Han shook his head: “The Hunters are all internally trained assassins—each is a blacklisted identity. No records exist. Only externally hired assassins from the Dark Star Guild might be wanted.”

“Alright.” Lin Qing sighed in disappointment.

"So eager for merit?"

Section Chief Han glanced at him and said, "Don't worry—both the patrol and the Gongan Bureau have regulations stating that eliminating an Assassin of the Dark Star Society counts as merit."

"Oh? How much merit?" Lin Qing's eyes lit up.

(End of Chapter)