Yao Ying wasn't a hired a.s.sa.s.sin who thought only of finis.h.i.+ng his a.s.signment, he had a mind of his own and there was already a seed of doubt planted inside his mind. So, he didn't attack the man directly. Instead, he chose to calmly talk to him with a cool head.

"Yes..." Yao Ying answered. "However, before that... I need to make sure about something with you."

"Oh?" Hei Yue looked at Yao Ying, feeling interested all of a sudden. "What do you want to know?" He asked curiously. This was the first time an a.s.sa.s.sin doing this interesting thing. Hei Yue felt that the man in front of him wasn't an ordinary person, thus he became interested.

"Before that... Can we stop the fighting outside first?" Yao Ying asked.

"What a bold suggestion. You barged in here and still demanded something from me. What if you decide to kill my men after they stop fighting?" Hei Yue asked, feeling that this whole thing was incredibly funny. He was the one who attacked first and he was the one who wanted to cease the fighting. He also admitted that he wanted to make sure something first before he attacked him again. Hei Yue really wanted to laugh out loud.

"I won't," Yao Ying said resolutely. "I don't want for both parties to lose people unnecessarily. I just need to talk to you, before thinking about what I should do next. It won't be too late to start fighting again after that."

Hei Yue finally really laughed. His guess seemed to be correct. "You are sure a weird one..."

Yao Ying also knew that he was being ridiculous, but he couldn't help it. He was just too curious!

Hei Yue laughed. "This is the first time that I meet such a funny a.s.sa.s.sin. Fine... But we should do it at the same time."

Yao Ying nodded. Both of them used their own method to stop the fighting outside. Hei Yue whistled a special code that only he and his own people knew what the meaning was, while Yao Ying used his inner qi to convey the message. Yao Ying already discussed this with his own people, so they were able to catch Yao Ying's meaning.

The sound of fighting from the outside ceased in a flash. Everyone had stopped fighting.

"They already stop fighting, so what do you want to know?" Hei Yue asked.

Before Yao Ying could open his mouth, Lin Jian and the man who they fought with them before barged into the room.

"Master... why did you stop our fight?!" The young man asked Hei Yue while he looked at Yao Ying in contempt. But after knowing that he didn't hurt Hei Yue, his expression became a little bit better. He was surprised because of the sudden order from his master to cease the fight.

Lin Jian didn't talk much because he understood the reason why Yao Ying did that. He only looked at them, feeling interested in knowing what had happened between Yao Ying and Hei Yue.

"Yu Wen, don't be rude! I need to talk to this young man first, so step aside," Hei Yue ordered in a serious voice. He knew how temperamental Yu Wen was...

Yu Wen wanted to say something but with just one glare from Hei Yue, he quickly shut his mouth and stood at Hei Yue's back while pouting like a little kid. He was glaring at Yao Ying and Lin Jian as if to warn them, he would kill them if they did something to Hei Yue.

Lin Jian only rolled her eyes at Yu Wen's childish behavior but didn't really put it into his heart. After all, the man only felt protective because they attacked them first.

"I want to know... what's your real ident.i.ty?" Yao Ying asked. He somehow didn't believe that this man was the leader of A Thousand Swords. The old man must have been lying to them. This man didn't seem to emanate a leader's aura.

Hei Yue raised one of his eyebrows and asked, "You are here to kill me and yet you are asking about my real ident.i.ty? Don't you think that it sounds so ridiculous?"

Yao Ying knew that he sounded so ridiculous himself, but he had no choice. He didn't want to be used as a p.a.w.n and killed the wrong person because of their greediness for information. Who knew? It would probably land him into more trouble.

"Yes... I feel like that you are not like what the other person told me about. I don't want to taint my hands with the blood of the wrong person," Yao Ying answered honestly.

Yu Wen snorted. "Then why you attacked before confirming first?" He really wanted to punch these two people!!

Hei Yue waved his right hand, telling Yu Wen to stop talking. He quite admired this youngster's firm belief in his own view. He sighed and asked, "Is the man who told you to kill me... the teahouse owner?" Hei Yue wasn't sure what indent.i.ty the old man would use, but when they were in Lin Zhou, he usually used the ident.i.ty as the teahouse owner. So, he made a guess.

Yao Ying nodded. He didn't feel surprised when Hei Yue knew about that man, after all, he heard that Hei Yue sent men to spy on him. "How do you know?"

Hei Yue sighed while shaking his head. "Who else? Only that man... would be cruel enough to do that!"

"Don't tell me! It's that old man again!! Qing Hui..." Yu Wen said angrily. Yu Wen had a little bit of temper but he was actually a nice and loyal man. His anger would be directed only to enemies.

"That old fox never lets you go, Master!! Why don't you let us teach him a lesson!!" Yu Wen said angrily. He didn't know why his master always so kind!

"Yu Wen!" Hei Yue warned him once again. After knowing that Yu Wen wouldn't cut their conversation off once again, Hei Yue said politely, "I apologize on Yu Wen's behalf. This youngster doesn't have a good temper, but he's actually a kind soul."

Yao Ying smiled and nodded in understanding. "Don't worry! It's fine..."

Hei Yue sighed and asked, "What kind of nonsense that Qing Hui told you about me?"

Yao Ying shook his head. "I can't tell you. I need you to tell me your part --- hence I can make a decision with a clear judgment which one of you who told me the truth..."

Hei Yue asked, "What will I gain if you think that I'm the one who tells the truth?" He wanted to know what's on this youngster's mind.

Yao Ying merely said, "I'm not going to kill you, and also... I will help you." Yao Ying hesitantly added the last part.

"Help me?" Hei Yue asked.

Yao Ying nodded. "If my guess isn't wrong, there will be someone who will continue our job if we fail. For the time being, I will suggest all of our people to pretend to be fighting. At least, make the sound of fighting. We can talk when they are doing that. It's safer that way --- we can stall for more time."

Hei Yue was quite surprised, but he readily agreed. This young man's idea wasn't that bad. "Sure... we can do that," Hei Yue answered.

Yao Ying and Hei Yue gave a silent signal through their eyes to Lin Jian and Yu Wen. The latter was clever enough to understand their meaning.

Lin Jian quickly pa.s.sed the order to Xiu who waited in front of the room all along, while Hei Yue ordered Yu Wen. Lin Jian planned to stay behind but Yu Wen didn't trust them enough to let two men stay inside the room. What if they both wanted to kill Hei Yue? There wouldn't be enough time for him to save his master. Lin Jian had no choice but to follow Yu Wen out. He didn't want to waste time bickering with this bad-tempered Yu Wen.

They went out and started to prepare themselves. They pulled out the swords that had been put away before and started to find random partners. Because they didn't really know each other... they chose their partners based on the previous fight. Lin Jian automatically pretended to be sparring with Yu Wen.