Blades of Secrets: The Endless Night

CHAPTER 11

"You've done well. We'll bury Qiu Lin with the others,"

Cheng Xing doesn't say anything.

"Your assassination list is here. All these on the list get as much information from them as possible before killing them. The more information the better."

Cheng Xing bowed and took the envelope as he walked out the office.

Thunder crackled as Cheng Xing stood under the trees where thousands of graves lay. Rain started pouring heavily on him. He stood in front of Qiu Lin's grave, Cheng Xing's memory flashed to the night of her death.Her body fell to the floor, the spark in her eyes dimming like a dying flame. 

The memory passed through his head as another appeared when he was a kid. He was talking with Qiu Lin when they were younger under a tree when they had basically first met. He was sitting under a tree eating a purple grape. She nicknamed him grape tree boy ever since.

Cheng Xing gave a sad smile. Cheng Xing heard steps behind him and quickly wiped his tears.

"You don't have to hide your tears, it's just me."

Fen Yuhang held the umbrella above Cheng Xing, who was already soaked. Cheng Xing sniffed.

"She's gone," he murmured. Fen Yuhang stood next to Cheng Xing. Cheng Xing turned to Fen Yuhang tears streaming down his face.

"QIU LIN NEVER WANTED THIS! AND NOW, SHE'S DEAD. We don't even say goodbye. How many more must die?"

"Cheng-"

"I WATCHED HER DIE. SHE WAS SHOT IN FRONT OF ME AND I DID NOTHING!"

"Cheng Xing calm down, what could you have done? Blown your cover? She-"

"NO, WHAT IF IT'S YOU NEXT! What if you fail a mission, and never come back? What am I supposed to do? Watch them bury you?"

"DO YOU THINK YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO'S LOST SOMETHING!? MY BEST FRIENDS WERE THE DA BROTHERS AND NOW LOOK AT THEM," Fen Yuhang shouted back. Fen Yuhang took a deep breath in and sighed.

"If I could go back, I would have stopped them from meeting Ping Heng in the first place, that way they wouldn't have been misled," Fen Yuhang said. Fen Yuhang's eyes slightly teared up.

"We all have regrets and mistakes, but Qiu Lin was destined to end up here."

Fen Yuhang looked at him as a tear dropped from Cheng Xing's eyes.

"If I could understand what my dreams were constantly trying to tell me, maybe she wouldn't have died."

Cheng Xing takes one quick last look, then stumbles off in the rain, leaving Fen Yuhang standing there.

Cheng Xing stood in the shower, leaning his right hand on the wall, staring at the floor. The hot water ran down his back. He stepped out, a blue towel was wrapped around him, and he was staring at himself in the slightly fogged mirror. 

He looked at his assassins' tattoo on his ankle and looked at his back, the scars reaching from his neck to his tailbone. He stared at the small tattoo on his neck which looked a lot like a barcode. He cleared his thoughts and went to put on a shirt. He flopped onto the bed, hearing some assassins talking outside his door.

What would my life be like if I wasn't an assassin? Cheng Xing's thoughts started flooding in. He blocked them all out and looked at his desk, looking at the envelope of Master's new assassination list. He hopped up and opened it. There were 2 names he didn't know out of the 3. He stared at the third, his heart dropping. 

The name "Li Ming" glared back from where it was etched in the paper.