Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

"From now on, Yang Shuoxuan is one of your chiefs. When I'm not around, you're all to take his orders," Wang Yanqiu instructed them.

"Chief, we all admire you beyond measure, but this Yang Ce—we've never crossed blades with him. If he's to be our deputy chief, he ought to show the brothers a thing or two," Golden Ox spoke up again, unconvinced.

In skill, Golden Ox was no match for Wang Yanqiu, but he ranked among the best in the Black Widow Assassins, a cut above Wu Ming and Black Rat and the rest, so naturally he was not about to yield.

"Golden Ox!" Wang Yanqiu was clearly displeased at his repeated challenges. If Yang Yongjin were at her side, it would be one thing, but with Yang Ce present, Wang Yanqiu suddenly felt she had lost face, and that Yang Ce was laughing at her.

"No harm, no harm." Yang Hengye rose with a chuckle and waved a hand at Wang Yanqiu, then said to Golden Ox: "Brother Golden Ox, is it? Go on—what would you call showing a thing or two?"

"If you can best me, then all of us brothers will be won over, heart and soul," Golden Ox said.

"'All of us brothers'—can you speak for the others?" Yang Hengye asked, though he had already guessed the gist of it: this Golden Ox was likely the most skilled of them all.

Golden Ox hesitated, looked around at the others, and seeing them all nodding, said, "No one has any objections."

"Fine, then. Tell me, how do we compete?" Yang Shuyu said. These people were far more capable than ordinary folk, so a certain arrogance was inevitable. He was new here; if he didn't put on a display, they might obey him on the surface out of pressure from Wang Yanqiu, but in their hearts they'd never accept him. Better to win them over now and save himself the trouble later.

"No rules. We go until one of us beats the other down," Golden Ox said.

"That's not quite fair, is it? This kind of drawn-out fight is nonsense for an assassin—who's going to give you a clean kill? If you don't kill them in one blow, they'll just keep coming at you." Yang Ce shook his head. "How about this: you attack me ten times. If even once you land a hit on a vital spot, I lose. Otherwise, you lose."

"Ten times?" The crowd was startled. Ten tries, and not one of them could land?

Golden Ox was thinking the same thing. "That's not fair," he said.

To be continued.

979. Intensive Training

"Not fair?" Yang Xutang was taken aback. This kid's a greedy one, he thought—I gave him ten chances and he still thinks it's not enough. Fine, then I'll give him a few more. So he said, "All right, then. Twenty times."

Golden Ox's face flushed bright red. It was a good while before he managed: "That's not the kind of unfair I meant."

"Then what do you mean?" Yang Ce was baffled by the man's expression.

"I mean ten times is too many for me—it's unfair to you," Golden Ox explained with a wry smile. This fellow in front of him really was full of himself.

"Oh. I see." Yang Ce broke out in a sweat. Seems this kid isn't so greedy and petty after all. He waved a hand: "Forget it, ten times it is. Come at me."

Seeing Yang Yanzhou's resolve, Jinniu stopped being so dead set himself. A killer dealt in tricks, not fairness—talking about fairness in front of a killer was nonsense.

Wang Yanqiu, however, was unimpressed. She had crossed blades with Yan herself just yesterday, and he had done nothing to Yang Ce through all those exchanges; Yang Puqi had handled her as if playing, and this Jinniu was not even her equal—how could he possibly be a match for Yang Juehuan?

Seeing Wang Yanqiu standing to one side, expressionless, Jinniu felt a sudden chill. Perhaps he had been a little rash. True enough, anyone the leader recommended was bound to be no ordinary man.

Jinniu tested the waters with a small shift of his leg, wanting to see how Yang Juehuan would react, but Yang Jiyan did not stir in the slightest. Jinniu could not tell whether Yang Ce had seen through his intent or simply disdained to respond.

Of course, there was one other possibility: that Yang Ce was no killer at all but an ordinary man who simply did not know how to react. Only that possibility was out of the question.

Seeing no movement from Yang Ce, Jinniu stopped probing and simply attacked straight on. His hand flipped over and slashed toward Yang Juehuan's throat. The neck is among the most vulnerable parts of the human body—dense with nerves and pressure points, and the cervical vertebrae take blows poorly, fracturing easily.

Yang Ce gave a faint shake of his head. Jinniu had courage enough, but this kind of brute-force approach was no way to kill. It might do for small fry—a fatal blow dealt while the other man was caught off guard—but to go after men who kept bodyguards about them, that was another matter entirely, hard beyond hard.

At Yang Ce's head-shake, Jinniu was baffled. But seeing Yang Yongjin neither dodge nor evade, he was elated—and just as his palm was about to cut into Yang Juehuan's neck, he abruptly could not move.

Only then did Jinniu realize that at some unknown moment Yang Yongjin had already caught his hand and held him fast.

"One move. Again," Yang Ce said mildly, releasing his grip.

Jinniu froze, then felt rather dejected—he had not even seen how Yang Juehuan's hand had come out before he was caught.

Then Jinniu understood why the leader held this man in such esteem. He knew perfectly well that if Yang Yongjin had struck at him at that speed just now instead of seizing his hand, he would never have gotten out of the way.

If they had truly been enemies, he might already be dead. Jinniu was not the sort to welch on a loss; he admired the strong from the bottom of his heart. Since he was outmatched, there was no shame in it. So he said, "No need to go again. I'm no match."

Yang Hengye smiled. So this Jinniu had some self-awareness after all. Still, to keep these people from making trouble later, he simply said, "Is there anyone else who wants to try me? Today you may do as you like. But I'll say this plainly in advance: once today is past, if you still have objections, I won't be holding back."

How could these people have any more objections? Even Jinniu had conceded—what about the rest of them? Besides, Wu Ming and Black Rat were no weaklings either, and none of them was a match for Yang Juehuan. What would they be adding to the mess for?

"Since there are none, that means you accept me." Yang Ce put away his earlier flippant air, and his face turned stern. "Starting today, the Black Butterfly Assassin Group is formally established. Our goal is to be number one in the world."

"Ah?" Everyone was startled. Yang Cenbin's goal was far too lofty, wasn't it? To become number one in the world—was that even possible?

"But you people are far too weak, so I've made a decision: I'll find a place to put you through special training, just you lot, for a time. Only when your strength improves can you become number one in the world," Yang Ce said without the slightest mercy.

The others had all thought themselves quite capable, but now, measured against Yang Ce, they were suddenly hopelessly weak. These men lived by the creed of worshipping the strong, so they felt no embarrassment at Yang Cenbin's words; on the contrary, they were rather intrigued by his suggestion of special training.

"All right. My coming here today is just to get to know the place. I'll arrange the training as soon as I can," Yang Yanzhou said. "Since I've joined this organization, I won't allow it to be too weak. Of course, you're free to disagree—provided you can beat me."

With that, Yang Ce sat down—and instead of meeting the chair, he met a warm, soft body. Wang Yanqiu shoved him hard. "What are you doing? Have you no eyes?"

Wang Yanqiu was truly furious; otherwise she would never have flared up at Yang Ce in front of a whole room of subordinates.

"Can eyes grow on your backside?" Yang Ce chuckled and got to his feet. "How about this—I sit down, you sit on me once more, and we're even."