Chapter 865 - 865: Kai Kai

"Good. Your individual assignments are there, sealed in jade slips, personalized for each of you based on what we observed during your time in the trials and the library."

Supervisor Gui's smile became sharper, clearly enjoying their suspicious gaze.

"You have one month," Supervisor Gui announced.

"One month to complete your assigned task and return here to report your success. Those who return will get to leave the cave and complete the trials of the cult, officially becoming a disciple. Those who don't..." He shrugged. "Well, I suppose they will be devoured by the cave."

He gestured toward the passage leading back to the hut area.

"Now then, follow me. Let's see what fate has in store for each of you."

…

The journey back through the cave passages was silent except for the sound of footsteps and the occasional nervous breath.

Unlike the passage Noah recalled taking, this one was different. It was clear that the supervisor had a higher opinion of him and Yuan Ming.

He went so far ahead as to invite them to his mansion and take them in through a secret passage.

When they finally reached the hut area, Supervisor Gui gestured broadly at the scattered dwellings.

"You know where to go," he said simply. "Read your assignments. Prepare yourselves. And remember—you have one month."

With that, he walked toward his own dwelling at the far end of the area, leaving the participants to disperse toward their former huts.

Neither Noah nor Yuan Ming looked at each other as if they had made some kind of prior arrangements with each other. Instead, they walked in the direction of their own huts.

Noah moved with his characteristic silence, his footsteps making no sound as he approached the isolated hut he'd claimed three years ago.

The cloth door hung exactly as he'd left it, slightly open, letting in a sliver of torchlight from outside.

He pushed the cloth aside and walked in.

Noah ignored everything else inside the hut and walked directly towards the single wooden bed in the corner, where he could see the jade slip lying.

Noah approached and picked it up.

It was cheap, the kind anyone could buy at the most basic cultivation supply store for a handful of broken spirit stones. It had no special function; it could not record or play a message or pass on secret information.

It was just as it looked, a simple piece of jade meant to be carved into shape or to write something on it.

He turned it over in his hands, examining it.

As he had expected, there was no explanation or details of their next task. Just a simple name.

It was like they were telling him that the person whose name was carved on it was their mission.

Noah merely glanced at the slip once and stored it in his robes.

The task was assassination.

That much was clear from the way he found the slip; it was a classic move assassins used.

The meaning of the task was clear to Noah as well.

Kill the person whose name was on the jade slip. Prove your willingness to eliminate targets without question or hesitation.

Baptize yourself in blood and demonstrate that you could follow orders. The cult did not fail to show off its barbaric methods to demand loyalty from its members.

Noah strapped the broken sword he had been using for a while now to his waist, the familiar weight settling against his hip.

All he had to do now was find the person whose name he was given and kill them.

Noah walked back to the door and stepped outside.

He noticed that he was not alone there; many other participants were standing out of their huts with different expressions. Some looked determined, some cold, and others conflicted.

Many were simply pale with horror, their faces drained of color.

A few were crying silently.

Noah observed them all with detached interest as he walked, noting who seemed capable of completing their task and who would likely fail.

As he walked toward his destination, a commotion erupted before him.

"TO HELL WITH THIS DEMONIC CULT!"

Noah paused and turned, watching with interest.

A young man was charging toward Supervisor Gui's dwelling. His face was twisted with rage and desperation, a sword clutched in his trembling hands.

"I WON'T DO IT! DO YOU THINK I WOULD KILL SOMEONE JUST BECAUSE YOU ASKED ME—"

Supervisor Gui stood on the balcony of his mansion with his back to the charging man, apparently unconcerned. He didn't even turn around.

He simply snapped his fingers.

SNAP.

The sound was crisp and clear, cutting through the young man's shouts.

The participant's body seized mid-charge. His legs locked. His arms went rigid. The sword clattered from his nerveless fingers.

Then he dropped like a puppet with cut strings, hitting the ground hard enough to crack bone.

But he didn't die immediately.

His body began to twitch and spasm, convulsing as if experiencing a seizure. Blood poured from his nose, his ears, his eyes, and his mouth—from every hole and orifice simultaneously, pooling beneath him in an expanding crimson stain.

His mouth opened and closed soundlessly, like a dying fish. He was trying to scream but could only produce wet, gurgling sounds.

The whole process took perhaps thirty seconds. By the end, the young man lay in a pool of his own blood, his eyes staring sightlessly at the cave ceiling, his body finally still.

Supervisor Gui finally turned around, looking down at the corpse with mild disappointment.

"Don't you know the basics of assassination?" he said conversationally, as if lecturing a student who had failed a simple test. "Don't make your presence known. Don't announce your intentions. Don't give your target time to react."

He shook his head, those filed teeth visible in a mocking smile.

"Idiot."

With that, he turned and walked into his dwelling, disappearing behind a heavy curtain and leaving the body in the middle of the street for everyone to watch.

While no one else moved, Noah continued walking towards his destination.

The other participants stood frozen, staring at the corpse in horror. They either had hands on their mouths, trying their best to suppress the urge to vomit. Their bodies were trembling in despair because the reality of their situation was finally sinking in completely.

Refuse the task, and you died.

It did not take long for Noah to arrive where he wanted to be.

"What a demon."

"As expected of the black-haired demon."

"He did not even flinch seeing what happened."

Many noticed Noah's lack of reaction and whispered behind his back. But the man in question ignored them and stopped before a certain hut.

He raised his hand and knocked on the doorframe. After three sharp, deliberate knocks, someone opened the door.

The cloth door behind in the front was pulled aside, and Yuan Ming peeled out, looking alert. His hand was already on his weapon, a reflex he developed over years of survival in the demonic cave where anyone could be an enemy.

When he saw who it was, his expression shifted to surprise.

"It's you? What are you—"

Noah didn't wait for permission. He stepped into the hut, moving past Yuan Ming with the same unhurried motion.

Confused, Yuan Ming turned to watch him. "What's going on? Did you get your—"

Before he could even ask his question, Noah reached into his robe and pulled out his jade slip.

He tossed it onto Yuan Ming's bed.

It landed face-up, the carved name clearly visible in the torchlight filtering through the window.

KAI KAI