22 An Assassination

Taehyung headed back towards the Jin Mansion, which was the place Jin Tai Heng and Jin Ying Hua grew up. After a few travels by himself, he had already gotten used to travelling on the Fusang River.

At the entrance, Taehyung met up with Jin Tong. Jin Tong's face broke out into a smile upon seeing Taehyung arrive.

"How was the meeting with Guan Gong? Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked.

Taehyung smiled sadly and shook his head.

Jin Tong patted him on the back.

Taehyung noticed some peculiar details about Jin Tong. He was walking slower than usual today. His face was pale and covered with a light sheen of sweat on his forehead. Taehyung wouldn't even have realised it if he wasn't an observant person; Jin Tong acted exactly the same as usual, cheerfully greeting Taehyung with a smile.

When they arrived at the courtyard, they were greeted by Xue Ya. Xue Ya still had a stoney expression on her face, carefully observing Taehyung.

Jin Tong's brows furrowed. Xue Ya reached for her daggers.

"Not good," Jin Tong muttered.

Taehyung was just about to ask what was 'not good' when three assassins dropped down from the roof of the courtyard. They were dressed head to toe in black, their faces covered by a black mask.

In each of their hands was a silver dagger.

Taehyung cursed inside his mind. Just when he had thought about it happening, it truly happened. A fight.

Not to mention, it was an assassination at that too! The question was, who was their target? Or was everyone here their target?

Xue Ya and Jin Tong exchanged a glance and nodded. Unanimously, they stood around Taehyung, protecting him from the assassins. Xue Ya faced against one while Jin Tong had two on his side.

Taehyung could only watch, unable to do anything.

Xue Ya lunged at the masked man, her black obsidian daggers already unsheathed and ready for blood. The man easily blocked her strikes, leaping backwards and throwing two darts at Xue Ya. She swatted them aside, and charged forward.

They were equally matched.

On Jin Tong's side, Jin Tong held a golden sword, blocking and attacking the two men with ease. He twisted around them, as slippery as an eel. Not a single strike of the assassin's daggers could touch his body.

Taehyung wanted to help. He reached for the sword on his back, ready to draw it out. Jin Tong saw this and glared at him.

"Stay out of this!" he yelled.

In his moment of distraction, one of the assassins took the opportunity to land a slash across Jin Tong's back. Golden blood spilled out, dying his clothes into a dark shade of gold. Jin Tong cried out in pain, but gritted his teeth and kept fighting.

Exhaustion soon caught up to Jin Tong. Sweat poured down his body as his face grew paler and paler from the blood loss.

Taehyung's hands trembled. Because of him, Jin Tong was now injured.

A voice inside his head rang out.

"Idiot, what are you doing? Fight!" it said, pounding on the back of the driver's seat where Taehyung sat.

"I can't!" Taehyung replied, almost tearfully.

"Alright then."

With that, Jin Tai Heng forcibly took control of Taehyung's body, shoving Taehyung into the backseat.

His nervous body stance now changed into a dangerous one. Jin Tai Heng drew the sword on his back and jumped into battle.

Using his power, he imbued the sword until the metal glowed and slashed down at one of the men. The assassin tried to block the sword, but Jin Tai Heng sliced through the dagger like a knife through butter.

Golden blood spilt everywhere as the assassin dropped to the floor.

Jin Tong panted, his vision swirling as he barely dodged each of the assassin's strikes. Jin Tai Heng snuck up behind the assassin and stabbed him straight through the back.

Jin Tai Heng scoffed and shook the blood off his  sword. "Not even good."

Jin Tong's eyes widened as he stared at Jin Tai Heng. Xue Ya, on the other hand had just managed to take down her opponent with a deadly strike to the neck. She herself had no injuries, due to her natural diamond body.

She quickly checked under the mask.

"People from 9th Heaven," she called out.

Jin Tai Heng nodded. He glanced at Jin Tong, who's wound was still bleeding.

"Not surprised. Xue Ya, go treat Jin Tong," he ordered.

Jin Tai Heng then promptly took the backseat and shoved Taehyung back into the driver's seat.

"This," he sneered, "is how you do things."

With that, his presence faded from Taehyung's mind.

Taehyung could only stare in awe. Learning to fight and receiving memories on fighting was one thing, actually fighting was another.

The act of killing someone was another.

The way Jin Tai Heng did it was full of grace, like he was performing a dance instead of mercilessly slaughtering people. Then again, if he didn't take over, the three of them might as well be dead.

In this world, it was kill, or be killed.

Xue Ya nodded and left, Jin Tong following behind her.

Inside a living room, Xue Ya dug out several bandages and salves.

"With the rate of healing spirits have, we shouldn't need to stitch it up. Look, it's already stopped bleeding," she said nonchalantly, applying the salves with an almost brutal hand.

Jin Tong winced but nodded, his mind on the way Jin Tai Heng killed the assassins.

Xue Ya's eyes narrowed.

"Don't hide it. Those assassins were after you. You will only drag Milord down," she warned as she bandaged Jin Tong's wounds.

Jin Tong wanted to speak out, but he knew she was right and hung his head.

Outside the room, Taehyung paused right in front of the door. He could hear Xue Ya's cold voice ringing out.

"...no matter what he owes to you. If you tell him, I will hunt you down."

Taehyung leaned closer to the door. What was Xue Ya talking about?

Jin Tong's voice, a little bit more muffled.

"...will leave then."

What? Taehyung barged into the room. Xue Ya had just finished bandaging Jin Tong's wounds.

Jin Tong smiled sadly at the sight of Taehyung entering the room. So, he was listening the whole time.

He bowed slightly towards Taehyung.

"This happened because of me. I'm deeply sorry," he apologised.

Taehyung shook his head, starting to disagree with him. This wasn't his fault, it was the fault of whoever ordered those assassins to come after them in the first place. Obviously, it seemed like this person wanted everyone, not just Jin Tong, dead.

Jin Tong carried on. "I will leave now, so that there is less unwanted attention onto you."

"Please don't leave," Taehyung protested, walking towards Jin Tong, who shook his head lightly.

Jin Tong let out a small chuckle. "I'll be fine."

He carefully put his clothes back on and left.

Taehyung could not force Jin Tong to stay.