"Killing? I have a bad feeling about this," Yong thought, a strange unease settling in.
"You must be surprised to hear the job. Listen, from now on you are a mercenary, and the job I'm about to give you, Yong, is this."
Zhuge smiled again, handing over the painting and waiting for a response from a bewildered Yong.
"You're asking me to kill someone I don't even know?"
"If you want to find a way to get your human body and lost knowledge back, then you must do it," Zhuge said, placing his hands on Yong's shoulders. His words sounded like a command.
There was nothing wrong with being a mercenary in the post-war era. Becoming a mercenary didn't necessarily mean you had to kill enemies or the like, there were a variety of jobs that could be considered voluntary work.
However, Yong never expected his first job with the group would be to kill someone. He was instantly shocked, hoping he wouldn't have to do it, and regretting that he had joined without knowing what the group was all about.
"I was too naive, just joining you guys like that. We might have the same goal to get everything we had back, but do we have to kill someone in an era as peaceful as this?"
Yong glared and sharply pushed Zhuge's hands away.
"Don't say that. Do you think this era is peaceful enough? Isn't the caste divide still quite clear?" Zhuge responded, his words cunning.
"The caste divide... of course I know. But that doesn't mean—"
"That's why I'm asking you, do you think this era is peaceful? Because not all the rich or poor can be said to be good or evil."
Yong fell silent, his hands clenched into fists. He didn't look away from Zhuge, who was still staring at him with passion and a hidden meaning. Yong couldn't deny what he was saying.
"Why are you so quiet?" Zhuge asked. "You feel that my words are true," he added, shaking his head with a smile.
"Let's go. We'll meet up with my friends first to discuss this," he said, then led Yong to the barren region near the Golden City.
The barren area was still within the Golden City's boundaries. It was a quiet spot, perfect for discussing jobs. Zhuge brought Yong along even though he knew there was a refusal, because Yong himself couldn't just stand by after having already joined the mercenary group.
"I want Yong to work with me."
"You're insane. Asking a kid to do that?"
"Hey, he's one of us, and he's matured a little. A moody teenager, you could say."
"Leader, please reconsider. We can't disappoint the client."
"I understand."
The painting he was carrying was the clue to their target. A man with thin hair and no eyebrows—those were his traits. Hue Li. A 38-year-old man, a big businessman who was a rival to their client.
His residence was in the same city. Aside from the fierce business competition, who knew what other reason the client had for wanting him killed? Yong, despite his refusal, followed along because he wanted to know what Zhuge was really trying to show him.
"Look at that."
They arrived at Hue Li's house. Yong and Zhuge sat on a high tree branch, monitoring the inside of the house from there. It was very clear, especially since the tree they climbed was behind the man's bedroom.
"Zhuge, are you sure you're going to do this?"
"Yes, but no rush. And call me 'Leader' when we're working," Zhuge said.
"Alright."
Zhuge had been looking at the room through the window. It wasn't completely neat and clean, but there were a few books that had fallen from a small shelf. For a moment, Yong felt like Zhuge was examining everything inside the room.
"Why are you looking at his room? Hue Li isn't there."
"Yes, you're right. Hue Li isn't in the room..."
His sentence trailed off, and he extended an arm in front of Yong. Zhuge realized someone was coming and entering the room.
Click!
The door unlocked, and a man with the same features appeared, carrying several scrolls and forcefully dragging a servant from his house. Hue Li was furious about something; he even roughly threw the female servant onto the floor.
"Argh! Have mercy, sir!"
"No mercy for you, who secretly looked at all those records!" he shrieked, then went to the small shelf to search for something.
After rummaging through everything on the small shelf, Hue Li asked in a stern voice, "Where is it?"
"Si-sir... I swear, it wasn't me who—"
CRASH!
Hue Li boldly threw all the scrolls he had been carrying toward the servant. The scrolls were quite large and had hard edges, so they scratched the servant's hands and face, leaving cuts.
"That record disappeared the moment you came to this house. You useless servant, everything will be exposed if it isn't found immediately!"
"Forgive me, sir! I didn't mean anything. Yesterday I didn't see anything on the work desk either."
"Didn't see? You must be blind."
As he watched the argument, Zhuge seemed pleased; he even smiled with satisfaction, as if he were enjoying the show. Yong stayed silent, remaining there until Hue Li and his servant came out again.
"Over a record. He's desperately searching for it, even bringing a servant he's accusing so she can't run away," Zhuge muttered.
"Hue Li has a hidden record. Is it that important?"
"Think about it, what kind of record is it that a person wouldn't want others to know about? I'm sure you already know," Zhuge said, staring at him.
"Something bad?"
"Exactly. That's right. We'll look for that record first."
"You're not going to kill him right away?"
"If we did, our lives would be in danger. It would be written in a newspaper: 'A foreign group is targeting businessmen.' To prevent that, we need to know all of Hue Li's secrets and weaknesses so we can determine how he will die," Zhuge said, full of calculations.
That was truly unexpected. Yong initially thought they would kill him as soon as they found him, but they didn't. This mercenary group was nothing but a group of cunning people.
"Come on, Yong. We're going to sneak in. I already know where the paper is, so let's go!" Zhuge exclaimed.
In a different location, the other members of the group were gathered.
"I feel so bad for that kid," said Rin, the fox woman.
"Why do you feel sorry for him?" asked the short man.
"Because he's going to be working with the leader. You all must remember how the leader acts when dealing with new recruits," she replied.
The short man smirked, then said, "You're right."
That day, Yong was still unaware of Zhuge's true intentions. The ever-smiling Zhuge was actually hiding many things. But the worst part was that Zhuge had deliberately provoked Yong's emotions by bringing him to this place.