Summer nights are always annoying. Besides the chorus of cicadas, there are also pesky mosquitoes and flies.
The Zhou Family Mansion was once the residence of a bankrupt landlord.
After the Zhou family left, the building sat empty, a cold monument to what was once there.
The more glorious it once was, the more wretched it is now.
And in this long-unvisited Zhou Family Mansion, two figures, one tall and one short, were hiding furtively, occasionally exchanging whispers from a corner.
“Big Brother, don’t you think it’s too, too, too dark here?”
“Nonsense! For top-tier assassins like us, this fits the atmosphere!”
Niu Xingwang irritably raised a hand and thumped his talkative idiot brother, then casually grabbed a broken chair from a dark corner and sat down, complaining directly.
“Damn it, this damn place smells musty every time. I really don’t understand why that guy wants us to come here…”
“Exactly! Especially these, these pieces of furniture are all, all worm-eaten. It’s disgusting to look at.”
Niu Xingfa pinched his nose, grabbed a broken chair without a backrest, casually patted off the wood shavings, and sat down with a thud.
“Hey! Big Brother, do you think the boss called, called, called us here to take, take us to task? Just, just because last time we didn’t, didn’t kill that Wang fellow, is he going to, to give us the…”
The fat killer Niu Xingfa’s voice gradually lowered, and he made a throat-slitting gesture with his hand.
The thin killer Niu Xingwang glared at Niu Xingfa, signaling him to shut up, but his furrowed brows revealed his inner anxiety.
“Sigh, how would I know… Xingfa, don’t you think since we joined this damn Jie sect and followed this boss, we’re not as carefree as before?”
“Back when we were in the Shu Region, we were much more formidable. In the Four Shus, who didn’t know us as the ‘Twin Heroes of Sichuan’?”
“Back then, whoever saw us would obediently pay protection money. They were truly terrified at the mere mention of us.”
Getting excited, Niu Xingwang hooked his arm around Niu Xingfa’s thick, stump-like neck and gestured enthusiastically, a gleam in his eyes.
“Who would have thought that back then, to show off, we joined this Jie sect… Ah, let’s not talk about it!”
After releasing Niu Xingfa, the tall, thin Niu Xingwang waved his hand, his face full of dejection.
“Big Brother, look on the bright side. At least we’ve been moving up step by step in the sect, right?”
Niu Xingfa, in a halting Mandarin, patted his good big brother on the back.
Perhaps the comfort worked. Niu Xingwang’s somewhat despondent expression gradually improved. He looked at his silly brother.
“Big Brother…”
“…Can’t you just stop stuttering? Every time you talk, it’s so hard for me to understand.”
“So you, you just wanted to say th-this?”
The originally desolate atmosphere gained a bit of life from the two brothers’ banter.
Tension mixed with a bit of boredom. The summer wind of the night blew through a hole in the house, sending a chill down Niu Xingfa’s spine.
Niu Xingfa tightened his coat, shrunk his neck, and looked around.
“Big Brother, about us secretly hiding one of the pills that were meant for the boss… we won’t get f-found out, will we?”
“Shh!”
Niu Xingwang raised his index finger, twisted his mouth, and fiercely gestured for Niu Xingfa to keep his voice down. Then he glanced around. After confirming no one had arrived yet, he whispered:
“You idiot! I already told you, this matter stays between us. And you still bring it up?!”
He smacked Niu Xingfa’s head hard. A dull thud sounded.
“You remember that!” Niu Xingwang stared at his brother, lowering his voice. “The pill we got from the Central Sect is only one. We just disposed of an extra batch of expired ingredients. Got it?!”
“H-heard it…”
Niu Xingfa, holding his aching head, nodded vigorously like a chick pecking at rice.
“Heard what?”
Just as the two brothers were still bent over whispering, a cold voice came from behind them.
“Eep! Holy crap!”
“B-Boss! When did you get here?”
In a dark corner, a half-burned candle fixed on a dusty wooden table was lit. A faint glow illuminated everything nearby.
A young man was sitting cross-legged on a chair next to the wooden table, leisurely blowing on a cup of hot tea in his hand, his expression indifferent.
He looked at the two brothers a short distance away and spoke:
“I’ve been here all along, watching the two of you put on a monkey show.”
“As reinforcements sent by the Central Sect, you couldn’t even notice that?”
Zhou Hongfang set down his teacup. The bottom of the cup collided with the wooden table, splashing droplets of water.
Without moving his eyes, the young man simply flicked his right hand. The water droplets that had just splashed shot out, flying straight toward Niu Xingwang and the other.
Neither of them reacted in time. The shooting water droplets grazed their faces. Only the trickles of blood sliding down their cheeks told them this was no illusion.
“Ping, ping—” A few crisp sounds came from the stone wall behind them.
Niu Xingwang turned his head shakily and was horrified to find several small holes in the stone wall behind him. Although shallow, they were clearly caused by the water droplets just now.
“‘Twin Heroes of Sichuan’… Hah, I’d say ‘Twin Bears of Sichuan’ is more like it.”
Zhou Hongfang looked mockingly at the two brothers who were stunned by him, his tone sarcastic.
Hearing the young man’s voice, Niu Xingwang snapped back to reality. He turned around, hastily pulled his still-dazed brother, and knelt on one knee.
“Milord, your divine skill is unmatched!” Niu Xingwang, kneeling on one knee with clasped hands, lowered his head fawningly.
“We two couldn’t even detect your presence. I am utterly ashamed. How would I dare to claim the title of ‘Twin Heroes’?!”
“Big Brother is r-right! Boss, your divine skill is unmatched! We two brothers are far from able to, to reach it!” Niu Xingfa also said hurriedly.
Zhou Hongfang didn’t move. He just stared straight at the two, a hint of coldness flashing in his eyes.
For a long moment, there was no movement. Just as the two brothers were beginning to plot how to flee in separate directions, the seated young man moved.
Zhou Hongfang supported himself on the table and stood up. Then he dusted off his clothes, walked straight over to the two, and looked down at them from above.
“Do you know why I called you two here?”
The sudden movement made the thin Niu Xingwang flinch. But he braced himself, his throat bobbing, and replied:
“Th-this subordinate… does not know.”
“Does not know what business… the milord has?”
Niu Xingwang lowered his head and glanced at his fat brother who was also kneeling on one knee, inwardly complaining bitterly.
“Enough. Stop your pathetic act. It annoys me just looking at it.”
Zhou Hongfang did not answer his question immediately. Instead, he crouched down, placed his hands on the two’s shoulders, leaned slightly forward, and said softly:
“You two are lucky. I’ve been in a good mood lately. Otherwise…”
He applied slight pressure with his palms. The two brothers immediately felt a heavy pressure pressing down from their shoulders.
Just as Niu Xingwang could no longer hold on and was about to beg for mercy, that irresistible pressure instantly dissipated.
Zhou Hongfang patted the two, stood up, and spoke calmly, without any of the previous sinister aura.
“Although you two brothers always have your little schemes, I consider you both relatively clever. And I am currently short-handed. I can spare your lives.”
“You are spared the death penalty, but not the living punishment. I will give you a chance to atone for your mistakes.”
“Soon, the ‘Executioner’ will be coming from Lin’an prefecture. I want you to rendezvous with them on the way, infiltrate their group, and do not reveal yourselves until I seek you out again. Can you do it?”
Upon hearing there was still a chance to live, the Niu brothers, afraid that a moment’s hesitation would cost them their lives, nodded frantically.
“Of course, Milord! It’s our honor to serve you!”
“Y-yes! Same here!”
The two were overjoyed. They didn’t even ask about the details of the mission before hurriedly agreeing.
Seeing that the two were sensible, Zhou Hongfang nodded with satisfaction.
“In that case, I will set aside the matters of you two secretly hoarding the pill granted by the Central Sect and the failed assassination of Wang Chengle.”
“After this incident is over, not only will these offenses be forgiven, but I will also reward you extra.”
“Alright, nothing else here. Get lost!”
The two felt as if they had received a pardon. They scrambled to their feet and ran toward the courtyard gate without looking back.
“Stop.”
Zhou Hongfang spoke unhurriedly. The brothers’ steps halted. They froze in place, their backs instantly drenched in cold sweat, afraid he might change his mind.
“I said get lost, not run.”
Niu Xingwang reacted first. He tugged at his still-dazed brother, crouched down without a word, hugged his head, and rolled outward.
Niu Xingfa, though slow, was quick to learn. He immediately lay down and his round body started rolling on the ground.
Zhou Hongfang watched the two roll out of the courtyard gate. A flicker of disgust passed through his eyes. He turned back to the table, picked up the now-cold tea, and gently swirled it.
“Executioner…” he murmured to himself.
The moonlight and candlelight intertwined, illuminating only half of Zhou Hongfang’s face.
Outside the courtyard, after rolling quite a distance, Niu Xingwang confirmed that Zhou Hongfang could no longer see him, then scrambled to his feet, dusted himself off, and cursed:
“Damn it! I’ve never been so humiliated in my life!”
Niu Xingfa also got up, panting heavily.
“B-Big Brother, are we really going to rendezvous with that Executioner guy?”
“Not go?” Niu Xingwang glared at him. “You want to go back and take that hit?”
“You think your stupid skull is harder than that stone wall?!”
Niu Xingfa shrank his neck and dared not speak.
“Then… Big Brother, what do we do?”
Niu Xingwang sighed. Staring into the pitch-black night in the distance, his voice lowered. “Let’s go. Let’s get through this immediate hurdle first.”
The two brothers’ figures quickly disappeared at the alley entrance. Only the empty, broken gate of the Zhou Family Mansion remained, creaking in the night breeze.