Chapter 82: Repayment in Flesh

This woman can even hide razor blades in her mouth; how could her clothes possibly be free of dangerous items?

Lu Feng pressed his dagger against her throat and ordered her to take off her clothes.

Xia Yubing had no choice but to comply. She kicked off her shoes, standing on the floor in only her socks, then shrugged off her jacket and tossed it aside, her gaze fixed unwaveringly on Lu Feng’s eyes.

After removing the jacket, Xia Yubing was left wearing just a sleeveless vest, the skin at her waist exposed. Years of training had given her defined abs, taut and powerful.

On her belt, two small thin-blade knives were tucked.

Lu Feng reached out, pulled one free, examined it, and asked, “Has this knife ever killed anyone?”

“No,” Xia Yubing replied.

Lu Feng seemed doubtful.

Xia Yubing added, “Every time I take a job, I use a new set of tools.”

Lu Feng detached both thin-blade knives and continued, “You don’t look very old, but you’re decisive when you kill. Clearly you’ve been in the business a long time. Hard to imagine—how old were you when you started?”

“Fourteen. The first person I killed,” Xia Yubing said, without trying to hide anything.

“Take off your pants too!” Lu Feng suddenly noticed she seemed to have blades hidden in her trousers as well.

With the dagger at her throat, Xia Yubing was powerless to resist. She took a deep breath, slowly unfastened her belt, and slipped off her trousers, leaving only a pair of boxer briefs.

Now, stripped of both top and bottom, Xia Yubing stood nearly half-naked before Lu Feng. Her long legs, shaped and toned by training, appeared especially taut and elastic. Her chest rose and fell with her breathing, making the atmosphere strange and charged.

“Starting at fourteen, you’ve killed people. Didn’t you ever fear?” Lu Feng, having captured a live assassin, pressed on.

“I was afraid. For the first two years, when I was alone, I couldn’t sleep,” Xia Yubing replied briskly.

Just then, the sound of boiling water bubbled up from the kitchen.

“My medicine’s boiling,” Xia Yubing pointed toward the kitchen door.

Lu Feng suddenly gestured with his dagger to the innermost room. “That’s not your medicine; someone else lives here.”

Xia Yubing grew tense at once. “He can barely see, needs to steady himself against the walls just to walk. He’s no threat to you. Please don’t hurt him!”

Lu Feng believed her. Whoever was taking that herbal medicine must have severe cataracts, seeing only vague shapes.

“That’s acceptable. As long as he doesn’t attack, I won’t harm him,” Lu Feng agreed.

The kitchen was filled with the scent of medicinal herbs, the boiling water grew louder, and the lid clattered against the ceramic pot.

“I need to go in and turn off the flame,” Xia Yubing pointed at the kitchen once more.

“Go ahead,” Lu Feng stepped aside, allowing her to enter.

Xia Yubing walked to the gas stove and switched off the fire.

Lu Feng, now alert, asked, “This medicine should be boiled on high heat, then simmered for half an hour. Why are you in such a hurry to turn it off?”

At that moment, Xia Yubing suddenly seized the pot and swung it at Lu Feng, scalding liquid splashing everywhere.

Lu Feng had no intention of being burned; he darted out of the kitchen.

Crash! Clatter!

The pot smashed against the wall, shattering.

Xia Yubing snatched a fruit knife from the kitchen rack and charged after Lu Feng, aiming for his throat.

Lu Feng raised his dagger to block her, and simultaneously delivered a swift kick toward her knee.

Xia Yubing withdrew her leg, dodging his kick, then spun and launched a roundhouse kick at Lu Feng’s head.

Seeing her long leg swing toward him, Lu Feng didn’t retreat; he advanced, catching her ankle in his right hand and pushing her forcefully against the wall.

Xia Yubing slammed into the wall, gritting her teeth against the pain, stabbing the fruit knife at Lu Feng’s abdomen.

Lu Feng slashed her hand with his dagger, knocking the knife away, then, with a shout, stabbed his blade into the wall beside her neck.

At that moment, a child’s voice piped up behind them: “Sis, is that guy here for money again?”

Lu Feng turned in astonishment. There, in pajamas, stood a boy about six or seven, his big eyes staring toward them, though his pupils were clouded.

Lu Feng had always assumed the person with cataracts was an elderly man, since the illness usually afflicts the old. He never expected it to be a young boy.

Strictly speaking, congenital cataracts do exist—they’re also called developmental cataracts, often present before or right after birth, usually static.

The boy steadied himself against the wall, trying to walk over, staring vaguely ahead. When his call was unanswered, he called again, “Sis…”

“I’m here!” Xia Yubing glanced at Lu Feng, hastily replying, “It’s not that guy, just a rat in the kitchen. I’m getting rid of it. Go back to your room, close the door, and no matter what you hear, don’t come out.”

The boy seemed terrified of rats; upon hearing her explanation, he shrank back, turned, and, feeling his way, returned to his room. Before shutting the door, he called out loudly, “Sis, I’m not afraid alone, you don’t need to worry!”

…

Once the innermost door closed, Lu Feng seized Xia Yubing’s face and pressed her against the wall, lowering his voice, “I’m no rat.”

Xia Yubing’s posture was humiliating: clad only in boxer briefs, one leg raised above her head, pinned to the wall, her legs spread in a vertical split, her most shameful place exposed directly to Lu Feng.

“What will it take for you to let me go?” Xia Yubing, now certain she wasn’t his match, could only lower herself and ask.

“Tell me who wants me dead,” Lu Feng demanded.

“I don’t know, and I never will. The handler just transfers money to my account and sends the target’s details by email,” Xia Yubing replied.

“Then there’s nothing I can do. Including just now, you’ve tried to attack me three times. Do you think I’ll let you off without making you pay a price?” Lu Feng’s expression was cold.

“I’ll give you money, all my savings. We’ll settle things between us,” Xia Yubing offered.

“Do you think I’m desperate for money?” Lu Feng retorted.

Xia Yubing glanced down at her position, took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, and said, “I’ll pay with my body. You can sleep with me.”

Lu Feng was momentarily stunned, then shook his head, “I’m not that kind of person.”

Xia Yubing, suppressing her anger, said, “Neither am I! I’ve killed, but I’ve never let a man touch me. If I offer my first time as payment, that should be enough, right?”

“Let’s forget it. I’m afraid you’d stab me during the act,” Lu Feng said, shaking his head with a smile.

“So what do you want?” Xia Yubing asked, her voice trembling with frustration.

“Since you’re an assassin, kill someone for me,” Lu Feng replied.

“Who?” Xia Yubing agreed at once. In truth, she hadn’t even finished middle school; apart from killing, she could do nothing else. Settling the debt by killing was exactly what she wanted.

“The person who hired you to kill me,” Lu Feng said.

“I told you, I don’t know who hired me.”

“Then you owe me. When I find out who it is, you’ll do it,” Lu Feng said.

“Deal!” Xia Yubing answered immediately.