Chapter 578: Having Entered the Game, You Still Want to Withdraw?

"Have you heard? Twilight Flower is gone!"

At a tea stall, a few martial arts wanderers were sitting together idly, talking heatedly about the major events that had recently occurred in the martial arts world.

Spittle flew everywhere as they spoke, and at the most exciting parts, they would even slam the table and roar loudly. If one didn't know better, one would think they had personally experienced those thrilling stories.

Among them, a disheveled old man, holding a wine pot in one hand with bleary, drunken eyes, suddenly blurted out the most explosive news currently circulating in the martial arts world.

The news of Twilight Flower being wiped out had by now spread across the world; the dignified World's Number One Assassin organization, an existence that had made countless people tremble in fear, had thus become a thing of the past.

In just a few days, this matter had stirred up huge waves in the martial arts world, like a large rock thrown into a recently calm lake.

No one could have imagined that Twilight Flower would actually have the guts to challenge Shen Yu. Even less did they expect that the dignified World's Number One Assassin organization would perish so miserably.

According to rumors, Shen Yu only struck one sword, and after that one sword, Twilight Flower was gone!

However, those sitting in the tea stall were all the lowest-level martial arts wanderers; the martial arts world they knew was perhaps just the few gangs in the county.

As for things like Twilight Flower, sorry, they really didn't know them.

"Twilight Flower is gone? What is Twilight Flower? A flower?"

"You don't even know Twilight Flower? That was the World's Number One Assassin organization, claiming there was no contract they couldn't take and no person they couldn't kill."

"But now Twilight Flower took a contract they shouldn't have taken and went to assassinate someone they shouldn't have assassinated, so Twilight Flower is gone."

"The World's Number One Assassin organization, sounds impressive!"

Just a name alone instantly drew a wave of attention. All the martial arts wanderers stopped their bragging and looked toward the old man holding the wine pot.

Such explosive martial arts news was not something they, these bottom-tier wanderers, often heard, nor would anyone tell them.

Since it claimed to be the world's number one, it naturally had the ability of the number one, which made everyone inevitably suspicious. Was the World's Number One Assassin organization so easily wiped out?

"Then who did Twilight Flower go to assassinate? Who could wipe out Twilight Flower?"

"Speaking of the person Twilight Flower assassinated, that was also a big shot!" Taking a gulp of wine, the old man's eyes were unfocused, his expression seemingly carrying a bit of sighing.

"Aren't you talking nonsense? If it wasn't a big shot, could they have wiped out the self-proclaimed number one assassin organization? Hurry up and say who did it, don't be wishy-washy!"

"Alright, since everyone wants to know, then I will tell you." Seeing that everyone's attention had been attracted, the old man who spoke seemed to be floating on air.

That state was as if the person who wiped out Twilight Flower was him, making him feel deeply honored.

Picking up the wine jar beside him, he took a few large gulps, and then this person slowly spat out two words: "Shen Yu!"

"Shen Yu? That master of both zither and sword? I know him, isn't he the number one expert of the younger generation? He has this ability?"

"Where did you get your old calendar from? Still the number one expert of the younger generation. Now the martial arts world rumors say, Shen Yu, World's Number One!"

"World's Number One? Is he that powerful?"

Squinting his eyes, the old man looked at the crowd and said mysteriously, "Do you know how many moves he used to wipe out Twilight Flower?"

"How many moves?"

"One sword, he only struck one sword!"

"After one sword, Twilight Flower was razed to the ground. Dozens of the top assassins inside and out, and their unfathomable leader, known as the World's Number One Assassin, all died!"

"Hiss! One sword?" A gasp of air came, and as the cold wind entered their mouths, their molars felt a bit chilly; everyone was inevitably shocked by such news.

Although these lowest-level martial arts wanderers didn't quite understand how terrifying Twilight Flower was, the title of World's Number One Assassin organization was there.

Daring to call themselves the world's number one, they must have the ability of the world's number one, otherwise they would have been pulled off their pedestal long ago.

Such an organization, plus dozens of the top assassins, actually couldn't even block one sword.

As the lowest-level martial arts wanderers, the experts they usually saw could only leap a few meters away, and at most, could emit a few strands of Sword Qi.

It was hard for them to imagine the terror of such top experts, but it didn't hinder their fantasies. At the same time, they deeply remembered the name Shen Yu; this name now resounded throughout the martial arts world.

Holding the wine pot, the old man's figure was hazy as he muttered to himself, "The world says Shen Yu is the second Mu Zishan, but I think, perhaps he has already become Mu Zishan, no, perhaps he has even surpassed him, who knows!"

"Mu Zishan? Who is Mu Zishan?"

"That is another legend!" With a light smile, the old man clearly wasn't prepared to continue talking, but instead picked up the wine pot and continued to gulp it down.

After drinking the wine in the pot dry, he then swayed as he stood up and walked toward the distance.

And at the same time, after the old man left, a few figures came from afar. In a deserted mountain forest, they blocked his path.

"I don't know why you few are blocking this old man?"

"Mu Qingkuang, finding you really took us some effort!"

"What Mu Qingkuang?" A flash of sharpness flickered in his eyes, but when the old man raised his head, only confusion remained in his eyes.

"Who are you talking about? How come this old man doesn't understand? Isn't Mu Qingkuang already dead?"

"Mu Qingkuang, no need to pretend. As the dignified World's Number One Assassin, do you not even dare to admit who you are?"

Pulling down the black robe that covered his face, the leader smiled and cupped his hands at him, "Seeing an old friend, why is this expression? Shouldn't you be a little happy?"

"I don't seem to know you!"

"But I know you. You shouldn't be unfamiliar with the name Su He. I placed many orders with you at Twilight Flower; our cooperation has always been very pleasant!"

"For you to just walk away like that, it really makes us old customers so sad!"

"Su He? Don't know him!" Shaking his head, the old man seemed completely unable to understand, and swayed as he prepared to leave, but those few people immediately blocked his only path and surrounded him in the middle.

"Mu Qingkuang, how much longer do you intend to pretend? The world thinks you already died at the hands of Shen Yu, but what kind of person are you, Mu Qingkuang? How could you die so easily?"

"You want to escape, but I just won't let you!"

"I don't know what you are talking about, can you move aside?"

"You know!" Standing in front of the old man, the smile on Su He's face was the same as in the past, only with a few more strands of sharpness.

"Twilight Flower was wiped out all because your son, Mu Ping'an, took the contract to kill Shen Yu and went alone to assassinate Shen Yu, and then failed, which brought about the disaster of annihilation."

"But I know what kind of person you, Mu Qingkuang, are; how could you raise your son to be a waste! That so-called Mu Ping'an is not your son at all!"

"You really are talking more and more outrageously. The matter of Twilight Flower has spread throughout the martial arts world, how could it be fake."

His figure swaying, he seemed just like an ordinary drunkard, and the old man's bleary eyes were full of turbidity. Such a person didn't match the World's Number One Assassin at all.

But the more this was the case, the more nervous Su He became. How could the World's Number One Assassin be a hollow reputation? The moment you relax in front of him, you will surely die without a doubt.

"I am not some Mu Qingkuang; rumors in the pugilistic world say Mu Qingkuang is already dead. You have mistaken me for someone else!"

"Is that so? Mu Qingkuang, are you truly unaware of the matter of assassinating Shen Yu? You were merely going with the flow; you know what kind of person Mu Ping'an is."

"Self-righteous, with a heart higher than the heavens, but in reality, a useless glutton. He was ruined by you long ago. If he goes to assassinate Shen Yu, he will surely die!"

"You deliberately let him leave because you knew he would surely lose. You are intentionally trying to provoke a conflict between Shen Yu and Twilight Flower!"

"Your words are even more interesting. If I really were Mu Qingkuang, the leader of Twilight Flower, why would I do that?"

"Because you are tired of the life of an assassin, and you know what the fate of an assassin is. Even if you are the leader of Twilight Flower and the World's Number One Assassin, you will never be able to escape it in the end!"

"You are not afraid of death, but you are afraid that your family will be implicated. The best way, naturally, is to die completely in the eyes of everyone, and let the Twilight Flower, which the people of the pugilistic world hate to the bone, become a thing of the past and vanish from the pugilistic world."

"This way, you can live, and your family can live!"

Looking at the old man before him, Su He remained on guard as if facing a formidable enemy. It was precisely because he knew how terrifying Mu Qingkuang was that he had to be cautious.

This old man looked frail and weak, but if he were truly provoked, the few of them would probably not be enough to fill the gaps between his teeth.

"Mu Ping'an was the retreat you had planned long ago. From the moment he became your son, his ending was already destined."

"You intended to use him to provoke someone that Twilight Flower could not afford to offend, and then, after Twilight Flower was destroyed, you, the leader, could use this Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell to continue living as an ordinary person from then on."

"Your story is not funny at all!" Shaking his head, the old man endured his drunkenness and said, "I am just an ordinary old man; I still have to go home to chop firewood. Can you move aside!"

"Mu Qingkuang, since you have already entered the game, isn't it a bit too late to try and withdraw?"

"Your son, your grandson—don't you want to see them?"