A group of Chang clan members ran up, grabbing me as I pretended to fall weakly.
"Brother, what happened?!" One of the members caught me and asked. I coughed faintly in response
"The…swarm…caught…..tortured…ye…" I croaked out words dramatically.
"You were one of the 50 sent to the Ye tribe? Very few made it back from that. Hold on, we'll take you to our nurse."
Two of them carried me through the clan, the front gate, some alchemy stations, barracks, all the usuals. Finally, I was in the medical ward. There were quite a few people in here, both patients and doctors.
"Another one?" A doctor shouted, with anxiety and annoyance.
"No, Maam, this one was injured and tortured by the Ye clan. He just needs some health elixir." One of the men carrying me said.
"Phew, that's good. Hey, you!" she called out to a random nurse, "get this one fixed up quick, take a few elixirs of regeneration and bathe them."
The nurse agreed and helped me as we went into a storage room, the nurse took a few potions, and led me to a small wooden room with a large empty bath.
"Could you close the door, I get a little embarrassed, heh…" then I pretended to cough blood.
The nurse rolled his eyes and agreed. Now we were out of sight.
"What's your…name?" I asked.
The nurse responded blandly "Alex". Huh, weird name.
He poured the elixir into the tub with me, when I suddenly grabbed his head with both arms, one covering his mouth. I then quickly snapped his neck with pure inhuman strength. He died instantly
I then took off his clothes, which I'd rather not talk about, and put them on. I changed my face and structure to that of his. My wounds healed themselves as I willed my regeneration, and I threw him into the elixir filled tub, the bones in his neck now healing.
I had plenty of random beast corpses in my inner dimension, and I took out some random beetle's corpse I found in the desert a long time ago. I used my hands to smash his head apart, and put the beetle in his now smashed watermelon head. I also gently ripped apart the beetle, and put its core in the center, which I ground into crystal shards and spread them along the head
"AHHHHH," I screamed and ran out. Covered in bits of blood and smashed brains, I stumbled on the floor. My finger shaking and pointing, "His head…". The lead doctor ran over, and inspected the scene.
"What happened?" She asked.
"I..I don't know. His head, that beetle..it just exploded all of the sudden." I had fear and shock on my face.
"His head exploded, with a beetle in it?" she asked to no one in particular. Beasts can explode their cores if they are trapped for a long enough time, but they almost always fight to the death. Cultivators are the same.
I meekly nodded. The doctor still questioned, "Since when did the Ye clan have these methods?".
I shrugged and looked around, pretending to be just as confused as everyone else. A silence ensued, and I waited it out.
"Ah, I remember, the members that made it back reported some sort of outside party was working with the Ye clan." someone suddenly said. Thank the gods. All suspicion alleviated, the doctor examined me. After determining I was fine, she sent me home.
I was in.
I walked around, listening to chatter, and having Au-ha replay past sounds. The whispers were of an illness spreading across the village, and that the leader, Azeu, had contracted the illness. I looked for a guard, and saw a couple standing around the main hall. I put on my acting face again.
"Come…quick…dead…body." I gasped out the words after pretending to run here. The guards saw my blood soaked scrubs and instantly asked where. I led them to a place where no one was, near the clan's storage units, and quickly cut them both down. I threw their bodies in the storage shacks, and donned one's armor. I cut off the finger of one.
Things were sort of going out of control, this was all improv. I walked back to the main hall, and hesitantly entered. The inner guards immediately asked what was going on.
"He's gone…" I said, with a terror and sorrow. They then asked who. I ignored the question, with an expression of shock on my face.
"all I found was this…" I produced his finger, and the guards all shot up.
"What's the meaning of this?"
"It must be an attack by another clan, when was the last time you saw him?" one asked me.
"5 minutes ago, he went to take a piss…"
They all nodded at the most likely explanation.
"Come, we need to report this to the commander, and he'll want your firsthand account. All you guys, stay on guard!" This man must have been the leader of this squad. He led me to the 'commanders' room, which was outside the main hall, near the barracks. There were a shit ton of guards here. The commander had a tent with a very open flap. He was a large, blue man with a long white beard.
"Jimms, Rex. What's the matter?" he inquired while still signing something.
"Commander, we have a problem…there is likely an assassin in the clan as we speak." the guard who led me here spoke.
The commander's head immediately turned up, a deep frown forming. "What?"
The other guard looked at me, and I simply produced his finger while saying, "he just went to piss…" in a dazed voice. He looked at the finger, and frowned even deeper. He then stood up.
"I'll report this to the leader, you two, go back to post."
We both saluted and left. I saw the commander go walking to a fairly hidden path on the side of the mountain. We finally got back to the main hall, the guard told me to be careful, and went back inside.
I left instantly, crouching in the shadows as I followed the path the commander took. It led to a cave on the mountainside. Inside the cave was a staircase going down, where a stone door was. The commander was slowly pushing the door open.
Luckily, I had moved fast enough. I quickly struck down the commander from behind, piercing him straight in the head. I took his form and armor, and tossed his body off the mountainside. I went back down to open the gate, wherein lay a woman. Damn.
She was very fancily dressed, middle aged, with a few servants fanning her while she lay on a large cushion. I took a guess and bent the knee.
She laughed. "You know you don't have to do that."
I got up, this woman must be the leader's wife. I took out a finger and solemnly said
"We must report this to the leader, an assassin is currently within the gates."
She looked relatively calm, "Another one? Can't you fend them off yourself?
I took a pause, momentarily unsure. "Of course, but…this one is different. The men claim it is from the Shi clan, and can turn invisible at will."
"Shi clan?" Her face paled. It was then she realized something. "Ah! They must finally be here to kill father. Damn!" She then quickly stood up and started walking, "How did they figure it out? Ah, it doesn't matter, they would have come to kill all the diseased anyway."
As she went walking, I followed her. After a while, she turned around with a confused expression and said "Why aren't you going back?"
I paused.
"It's important that I speak with him." I tried to feign an excuse. She waved her hand, dismissing me. "Now's not the time, go."
I just stood there, she got even more confused, and even suspicious. Time for plan B. I went up and put her in a neck hold.
"They've promised me more than you can imagine. I'm sorry, but lead the way, now." I said threateningly.
"You damn traitor! What of your wife and kids?" she was furious, wiggling around. I pressed on the neck harder and she stopped still.
"Don't talk about them. Cooperate and I'll let you live, I promise."
She grimaced and led the way, slowly. Eventually putting her hand in a small indent in the tunnel of the cave, it opened up a hidden passage further down. Man, this guy was hard to kill.
Finally, in a very small, deep underground chamber, lay a very sickly old man, and a young man sitting on a stone bench in the wall right beside him. The kid stood up immediately upon seeing us, the old man slowly turned.
"Simenos, Mom?! What's this?!" He stared at me furiously. The old man simply waved his hand.
"Stand down son…" his voice sounded truly weak, a faint, husky whisper. "I've always known they would come, but to think they turned you…how?"
"It doesn't matter" I responded with a fake pained tone, to increase the authenticity. The Lord of Stars couldn't help but laugh, he was very entertained with all of this.
"Ha…I guess not…" the old man, Azeu, responded weakly. "Well…might as well get it over with."
He closed his eyes and resigned himself to fate. In that last moment, he remembered playing by the stream as a child.
"FATHER!" The boy rushed at me in a rage, and I held up my hand, easily stopping his blade. I thought for a moment, and decided to let him live. I opened my third eye, and a magnetic push sent him flying into the stone, unconscious. The mother screamed the son's name, and I knocked her out with a judo chop to the back of the neck.
I then slowly walked out of the cave, put back on the generic guard armor and changed my face.
I walked out of the clan, barely leaving a trace.
I walked into the heart, and took it apart.
That is the way of passion.
Yes, I am the world's greatest assassin.