Chapter 346: Assassination in the Hospital

A short while later, a clothing store delivered several large, heavy boxes. No one knew what was inside.

When Qian Laoliu had his men carry them inside, they found the contents were quite heavy, almost like blocks of plaster, but they couldn’t be certain.

What was certain, however, was that the store had also delivered many expensive dresses.

Qian Laoliu had placed numerous uniformed guards around the hospital, as well as many more in plainclothes.

But on a dark and windy night, despite the bodyguards making countless patrols, they detected no signs of danger.

All the doctors came and went, changing shifts as usual, but because of their boss’s orders, no one dared to let their guard down.

Just then, on the same floor as Shen Mingyue’s room, a female nurse in white, her face obscured by multiple masks, was seen pushing a cart of IV bottles toward Shen Mingyue’s high-security hospital suite.

This wasn’t a room money alone could buy. One’s status had to be significant enough to warrant such high-level security.

Shen Mingyue was Chen Qingdi’s wife, a fact that was on file with the War God organization. As such, even the War Gods themselves treated her with the utmost respect.

The treatment she received at the hospital was top-tier.

Anyone who wasn’t immediate family required clearance through multiple procedures to even enter her room.

Even the doctors, aides, and nurses assigned to her had to have their backgrounds checked eight generations back.

This woman’s silhouette matched that of Liu Xiaoli, the aide Shen Mingyue had hired.

Arriving at Shen Mingyue’s room, she let out a cold laugh.

‘Excellent. To think that after all the failed attempts on the Emperor’s Physician’s wife, I, a complete nobody, would be the one to succeed. Don’t blame me for being ruthless. Blame yourselves for being able to spot a flea at a hundred paces but failing to see what’s right in front of your nose.’

She stood at the door. The door to this room required an iris scan from an authorized individual. She stared into the scanner for two seconds, and the door slid open with a soft click.

The lights in the room were all off, and the “nurse” made no move to turn them on.

Instead, she gently closed the door. She closed her eyes, trying to sense any movement inside, but found only a dead silence.

She could faintly make out a raised shape on the bed in the center of the room. That had to be Shen Mingyue, here for observation.

Liu Xiaoli pulled a scalpel from underneath the cart.

‘Yes,’ she thought, ‘only something like this could be brought in without raising suspicion.’

It was precisely because scalpels were so common in a hospital that no one would pay it any mind.

She crept to the bedside. Parting the privacy curtain, her hand gently brushed against a head of fine hair.

With that touch, she confirmed the person’s general position.

She struggled to suppress her racing heart. With a flick of her wrist, she readied the scalpel. One hand clamped down over the person’s mouth.

‘Her mouth is ice-cold. Did she just take a shower?’

Her other hand darted out and swiftly slit the throat.

The neck was soft. The blade sank in, the entire edge of the Willow Leaf Blade disappearing into the flesh. She heard no scream. Certain her target could no longer move, she finally released her grip.

As a professional agent, she had expected a fierce struggle. She never imagined it would be this incredibly easy.

‘When your luck is in, nothing can stand in your way.’

Utterly satisfied, she tidied her tools, wiped the scalpel clean with a tissue, and gently pulled the door open to leave.

Suddenly, the lights flared on, revealing a crowd of menacing bodyguards who had her surrounded.

“It’s not time for medication or injections, Liu Xiaoli. What are you doing here?”

Qian Laoliu roared, furious.

He recognized this aide. They had kept her on precisely because she seemed honest, quiet, and hardworking.

He had just stepped away to patrol the emergency stairwell, and upon returning, he found this woman emerging from the Madam’s room pushing a cart of IV fluids… with a scalpel sitting underneath it.

“You’re just an aide, not even a nurse! What right do you have to be pushing a medication cart? Explain yourself, now! What were you doing in there?!”

Liu Xiaoli sneered.

“An aide is not a nurse, much less an attending physician. The reason I came at this hour, with a scalpel, was to kill someone, of course!”

Hearing this, Qian Laoliu’s heart sank. He furiously drew his pistol. It was fitted with a suppressor, so even if he fired, it wouldn’t disturb the entire floor.

Liu Xiaoli sneered. “With your pathetic skills? You think you can catch me? I’m done playing with you. I’m out of here.”

But the bodyguards had already formed a human wall. No matter how fast she was or how skilled her acrobatics, escaping would be harder than climbing to heaven.”

“What did you do to the Madam?”

Liu Xiaoli wasn’t scared in the least. She gave a cold laugh. “Not much. Just slit her trachea. If you can defeat me and get a medical team in here within half an hour, you might be able to reattach it. She might even live another six months. Otherwise, it’s time to call the coroner!”

THWIP!

Qian Laoliu fired first, the bullet striking Liu Xiaoli square in the chest. To his shock, she was completely unharmed. Instead, she swung her hand and slapped him hard across the face.

“I have an indestructible body, you fool! What are you going to do about it?”

Before she could finish her boast, Qian Laoliu fired two more shots. BANG! BANG! Both bullets tore through her knees. She let out a pained shriek and collapsed, kneeling before Qian Laoliu.

Qian Laoliu had no time to waste on her. He ordered his men to restrain her and burst into the hospital room. He called out for the Madam twice but got no reply. He saw a shape under the bed curtains and, terrified, yanked them back.

He froze, dumbfounded.

The figure lying on the bed had a head, hair, and a body… but it definitely wasn’t a real person.

Looking closer, he saw it was a plaster mannequin, the kind used to display clothes in a store. It was life-sized and could wear real clothing. It even had a wig of artificial hair on its head.

But it was most certainly not human.

In the pitch-black room, telling the difference was nearly impossible.

Staring at the scene, Qian Laoliu was stunned. “Where’s the Madam?”

Just then, Chen Qingdi walked over with a grin.

He saw Liu Xiaoli, her mouth agape as if she’d swallowed an egg, and sneered.

“I knew trash like you would come for another assassination attempt. To tell you the truth, I already had the second bodyguard team secretly move my wife to a different room. I set up this mannequin beforehand to mislead you. I can’t believe you actually fell for it.”

As Liu Xiaoli was dragged back into the room, she finally saw the truth. The “body” was just a torso. The head and shoulders were a training mannequin from a hair salon, complete with hair used for practicing different styles.

‘Alas,’ she thought. ‘To fail at the very last step!’