Chapter 71: A Moment of Grace Before the Prelude to Assassination

After a full day of preparation, Han Shuo and Phoebe took a carriage at dusk to the Boozt Merchant Guild in the southern part of the city.

Han Shuo and Phoebe sat shoulder to shoulder in the carriage. In front of them were two primitive, simple crossbows decorated with intricate carvings. Next to them was a dagger glittering with cold light.

"This crossbow and dagger are of much better quality than those you received from the orc wolf riders last time. I'm giving them to you for free." Phoebe held a clean piece of silk in her hands and carefully wiped the longsword in her hands as she spoke coldly to Han Shuo.

Han Shuo played with the crossbow and dagger in his hands, so pleased with them that he could hardly bear to put them down. Satisfied with Phoebe's generosity, he said with a light laugh, "Don't count on me too much for this operation, I'm not as strong as you think. My main role will be to keep a lookout and act as your supportive assistant. You'll still be the one who has to take action.

"I know, just listen to my orders later. I'll tell you what to do then." Phoebe rolled her eyes at Han Shuo and said with some anger.

Han Shuo took a small bottle out of his space ring and carefully poured some powder onto his fingertip, carefully coating the tips of both the dagger and the crossbow bolts. He hastily and repeatedly cleaned the fingertip that had been covered by the powder.

Phoebe was a bit curious about Han Shuo's actions and moved her body slightly closer to where he was sitting and continued to stare at and observe his actions for quite some time. She finally asked, seemingly perplexed, "What are you doing?"

A wisp of scent, similar to the scent of orchids, wafted into Han Shuo's mouth and nose as Phoebe moved closer to him. He involuntarily glanced at her as his heart suddenly skipped a beat. Phoebe was like Han Shuo today, dressed in tight fitting black nightwalker clothing. The tight nightwalker outfit undoubtedly showed off Phoebe's magnificent body. She had a pair of exquisitely chiseled cheeks and a breathtaking beauty that blossomed from the movement of her clear eyes. All of this caused Han Shuo to have a heart like a capering monkey and a mind like a galloping horse.

I already have Fanny... although this Phoebe is pretty, her personality is too cold and she comes with too much dangerous baggage. Han Shuo said silently to himself and then turned his head away, continuing to concentrate on coating the dagger and crossbow bolts. He replied shyly, "Nothing much, just some poison powder on my weapons."

"Despicable! Shameless! This is against the rules of the Empire. If anyone knew of your actions, you would be in big trouble!" Phoebe's face was full of contempt as she spoke coldly.

"Doesn't matter... what we're going to do today isn't the most honourable task anyway.

Besides, no one will find out. Heh heh, you're my accomplice and even I don't think you're stupid enough to betray yourself." Han Shuo cackled a low, evil laugh as he spoke with a trace of pride.

Phoebe's anger choked her up a bit when she heard Han Shuo's words, but since she had come to him for help, she couldn't say much more than a cold snort.

After Han Shuo had applied poison powder to all the crossbow bolts and his dagger, he thought for a moment and pulled some iron needles from his thigh. He spared no effort and was extremely patient as he applied the same poison powder to the iron needles. Phoebe snorted again, seeming to despise Han Shuo's methods.

When he had settled everything properly, Han Shuo put all his weapons away and looked at Phoebe, asking, "Right, why don't you attack Grover directly and try to kill his two ineffectual lackeys instead?"

"Grover has some critical items belonging to the Guild in his possession, he placed these items with a trusted mistress. If Grover dies, his mistress will surely reveal these items to the public. This would be devastating for us. So before I kill Grover, I need to find his mistress and regain control of those items. Phoebe glanced sideways at Han Shuo and explained with some reluctance.

The bigger a merchant guild was, the more likely it was that shady deals would be made. Take the resources Han Shuo had taken from the Orc Wolf Riders for example. These items had originally belonged to the shops of the city of Drol. The Empire had long had an official policy that if citizens came into possession of such resources, they had to turn them in.

Fabian and Han Shuo's transaction had already violated the Empire's regulations. If the Empire found out about the Boozt Merchant Guild's methods, it would be difficult for the guild to escape the inevitable punishment. For a guild like the Boozt Merchant Guild, there must have been other similarly illegal transactions. It looked like this critical matter was being handled by Grover. No wonder Phoebe didn't dare to act rashly against Grover.

The two of them discussed some of the details in low voices until the carriage suddenly stopped without anyone noticing. The groom at the front said quietly, "Miss, we've arrived at the back door of the Guild."

"Let's go!" Phoebe glanced at Han Shuo and took the lead in getting out. Han Shuo stuck his head out to look around and then jumped off as well.

"Miss, hurry inside. Be careful. Grover just took some strong men and left the guild. I don't know where they went. They always come back at the end of the night." An old man from the Boozt Merchant Guild was guarding the back door and hastily turned his body aside to allow Phoebe and Han Shuo to enter when he saw them arrive.

"We've put you through a lot of trouble!" Phoebe said to the old man. She glanced at Han Shuo as they hurried into the guild. Han Shuo followed closely behind Phoebe as he also moved quickly forward.

"Although the guild is mostly controlled by Grover's men, I can mobilise some older men, and that's only because Grover doesn't know about my relationship with them. There are many guards inside, so we must be careful and cautious. Otherwise, not only will the assassination attempt fail if we're discovered, but it would be difficult to escape with our lives. Phoebe was very familiar with the Boozt Merchant's Guild, having avoided several areas with guards as she led Han Shuo at a fast pace. She didn't forget to remind Han Shuo of that.

It was now completely dark. There was no moon tonight and thick layers of dark coloured clouds completely absorbed all light. The few lights along the corridors of the Boozt Merchant Guild could not shine too far.

Phoebe had the strength of a swordmaster. Her agile body took Han Shuo by surprise. Her body flew silently and her speed was extremely fast.

His magical yuan was swirling like crazy, and when he calmed down, Han Shuo was astonished by the extraordinary nature of his senses. The black night was completely incapable of obscuring his vision. Even without the illumination of the lights, Han Shuo could clearly see the fish swimming in the ponds beneath the man-made mountains in the distance. He could also clearly hear footsteps coming from far away and the rustling of low voices in passing rooms.

Han Shuo's calm walk was also unparalleled in its agility and speed. He was like a hunting cheetah on the prowl for his prey, silently following behind Phoebe.

Suddenly, Han Shuo approached quickly and grabbed Phoebe, suddenly dragging her body and squeezing her into a crack in the surrounding man-made mountains.

The crack in the man-made mountains was extremely narrow, and their chests were pressed tightly together as they squeezed in. Han Shuo could feel the fully rounded peaks in front of Phoebe's chest. Her charming face was furious as she glared fiercely at Han Shuo, her eyes seeming to spit fire.

"Shh!" Extending a finger to make a silencing motion, Han Shuo's eyes rolled rapidly, indicating to Phoebe that there was an unexpected situation.

The anger on Phoebe's face still didn't dissipate at Han Shuo's actions. A trace of embarrassed red flooded Phoebe's slender, white neck and throat. Their thighs were slightly intertwined, rubbing against each other, and they could even feel each other's heartbeats through their joined chests. An ambiguous atmosphere began to spread between them.

Seemingly too shy to look at Han Shuo, Phoebe's cheek made its way next to Han Shuo's ear as she said in an incredibly deep voice, her breath like orchids, "I'll kill you if there's nothing going on."

Han Shuo's expression was wry as he regulated his breathing and concentrated, saying nothing. He felt the extremely light footsteps approaching. His breathing slowed and he even shook his head slightly to warn Phoebe of the danger. Who could have known that as Phoebe pursed her jade lips in a low whisper to Han Shuo, Han Shuo's head shake actually caused Phoebe's tantalising lips to press directly against Han Shuo's cheeks.

Just as Phoebe's breathing was uncomfortable and about to erupt into rage, Han Shuo turned his head with extreme difficulty and used a very determined look to tell Phoebe to be careful.

Phoebe had the training of a swordmaster after all, and the strength of her mental state was quite strong. At this critical moment, she simply took a deep breath and immediately calmed her fast beating heart. However, because of her deep breath, the full peaks in front of her chest involuntarily lifted and rose, causing Han Shuo to almost lose control and groan.

"My windshield really felt a disturbance and I came here at the fastest possible speed. Why haven't I discovered anything? Have I been too cautious lately?" The murmuring sound of a man talking to himself came from not too far away.

Extremely light footsteps were heard in the vicinity only slowly after the voice came within earshot. If Phoebe hadn't raised her concentration to its highest level, it would have been extremely difficult to detect those footsteps unless the man had been very close.

Since he was a wind mage, he could indeed use the enhancement magics of the Windmajor to greatly reduce the weight of his body. His walking speed would be faster than normal mages and warriors, and his footsteps would be even more silent. No wonder that even with Phoebe's strength as a swordmaster, she was only able to detect his movement when he came close.

This person scanned the area and finally left without a sound, leaving Han Shuo and Phoebe in suspense.

This time, however, Phoebe didn't dare do anything reckless. She was scared to death that her judgement might be wrong. Her pair of clear eyes stared straight into Han Shuo's face, as if she wanted to glean some clues from Han Shuo's face.

After a while, Han Shuo exhaled lightly and said quietly, "He's gone!"

As soon as his voice sounded, Phoebe used her hands and legs to squirm out of the crack in the artificial mountains. She lowered her head and said softly in a fierce tone, "I'll let it pass this time, but the next time something like this happens, find a more spacious place, otherwise I won't let you go."

Phoebe circled the area after she'd finished speaking and was about to head in another direction. She took two steps and realised that Han Shuo was smiling wryly because he had not yet caught up with her. She put her hands on her waist and lightly rebuked him, "You don't want the black gold ore anymore?"

"Coming!" Han Shou replied and followed with some resignation, thinking when can I find a spacious hiding place if things go wrong?

There were no more unexpected turns after that. Phoebe led Han Shuo on a longer path, dodging a few waves of guards and finally making it to Darnell and Yuna's room.

"Let's set things up, make our preparations and wait for that dog couple to come back!" Phoebe spoke through gritted teeth as soon as she entered the room, seemingly wanting to take out her frustration on the two of them.

With that, Han Shuo and Phoebe began to work diligently, preparing to assassinate Grover's loyal lackeys who were about to return.