PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

To which Desmond responded with some sarcasm and helplessness: “Don’t worry, just a little exhausted, unlike the sect’s number one disciple, my true strength barely reaches the standards of an inner disciple; so you will understand that all this is a bit strenuous for me ”

“Wait, that cannot be true, even when the gap between our forces is quite wide there is no way you can be so weak, otherwise it will be impossible for you to do the things I have seen you do” Xiauyue replied with a clear negative but one could still see genuine confusion on her face.

Desmond could understand Xiauyue’s confusion, after all, she was not wrong when she said that the strength showed by himself so far didn′t match his words.

Unfortunately, Desmond was forced to share his current situation with Xiauyue to avoid unforeseen events, so he replied: “You can put it this way, in exchange for a superior performance in combat I need to expend my energy at a much faster rate than the most people and after my little duel this morning my energy reserves are starting to run out. ”

“Do you want us to stop? Even without evidence we already see enough to know that the Bai family has been the one who has been looking for trouble with me and Mei; there is no need to take unnecessary risks “Xiauyue exclaimed surprisingly more concerned for Desmond than he would expect.

But as much as Desmond wanted to take Xiauyue’s suggestion, he knew that she was only being nice to him, with the evidence they had so far it was unlikely if not impossible that the Miao family would use it against the Bai family; So quitting now would be the same as leaving empty-handed.

Suddenly Desmond’s expression changed, that little idea, that little discomfort in the back of his head that constantly told him something was wrong; it finally made sense.

“Damn it, how could we be so stupid?” Desmond muttered, unable to keep his thoughts to himself.

.....

Xiauyue heard him but beyond feeling offended, she was genuinely taken aback by the change in Desmond’s expression and said, “What are you talking about?”

“Assassins,” Desmond replied.

“Assassins?” Xiauyue repeated thoughtfully.

“That’s right, have you already forgotten? It was not people from the Bai family who tried to assassinate you or Mei, if it had been, the Miao family would have discovered it by now, no, they were assassins all belonging to the same organization; purple crows, “Desmond explained as concern began to show on his face.

“Wait, you are not saying what I think you are saying, or you are?” Xiauyue replied gravely.

To which Desmond replied, “What if the Bai family didn’t just pay for the services of some random killers? rather, they used a force with which they are very familiar, a force with which they have an intimate relationship or even worse... a force that belongs to them ”

“That’s impossible, there’s no way they could hide that from the other two families, right? ... wait, if what you’re saying is true, doesn’t that mean we’re standing on top of the secret headquarters of an organization of assassins? ” Xiauyue said with a pale face and a voice that already showed signs of fear.

Desmond saw Xiauyue’s expression and felt quite frustrated, he believed that this girl was scared and angry too easily, from his point of view the girl lacked life experience.

Helplessly Desmond could only try to calm his partner before she completely lost her temper: “Don’t be alarmed so soon, from what I heard from you and Mei, these assassins already lost their best agents to you two a couple of months ago and the attacks that have occurred since then have not only been few, but the force of the assassins sent also seemed to diminish; We have also not encountered anyone particularly strong since we entered the building.

If my deductions are correct, this assassin organization is already in its last stages, they probably didn’t have many powerful members in the first place; after all, if someone were that strong he would rather be worshiped by the weak than live lurking in the shadows.

And after you and your little girlfriend ”

“She is not my girlfriend” Xiauyue replied almost immediately with a cry full of shame and anger.

Desmond just looked at her for a second and proceeded to ignore this insincere woman: “As I was saying... after you and Mei murdered the people they sent, this organization ran out of high-level assassins so they tried to use the advantages on numbers which didn’t work either; Due to this, their already weakened forces were almost totally depleted.

The reason we haven’t encountered much resistance since we entered this place is that they have neither the strength nor the numbers to face us head-on.

That is why now they are waiting for us down there in some kind of trap or ambush that allows them to take us off guard and murder us ”

Xiauyue found Desmond’s deduction quite reasonable but there was still something bothering her: “Wait, if you know it’s a trap why do you insist on going?”

“I have something I have to do within the sect and now that I got into the affairs of the Bai family there is little chance that I can complete my objectives without having them trying to interfere or directly trying to kill me; so I might as well take the initiative and deliver a brutal blow to them.

Maybe that way they’ll be more concerned with stopping the bleeding than dealing with a harmless little puppy like me. ” Desmond explained.

Xiauyue raised an eyebrow when she heard Desmond call himself harmless but she was in no mood to argue with him so she made no sarcastic comment about it.

In the end, they both agreed to continue despite what they had discovered, it was just as Desmond had said; it was too late to return empty-handed.

They both quickly searched the first floor and soon found a secret passage that led to the subway, Desmond and Xiauyue proceeded cautiously at each step but to their surprise, they had already descended about thirty meters and still did not reach the bottom of the stairs.

Due to the lack of light, it was a bit difficult to calculate the distance, but by the time Desmond and Xiauyue finally felt that they were stepping on solid ground at the bottom of the stairs they had already descended about fifty meters.

Unfortunately due to the construction of the tunnel and the possible risks involved, Desmond was unable to leave any more countermeasures on their way down; Not to mention that Desmond had used almost everything he had filling the first and second floors of the taverns with explosives.

Collecting the minuscule amounts of mana in the air Desmond created a small mana torch in his hand as he surveyed his surroundings.

As he and Xiauyue advanced, they noticed what looked like a wall and a doorway at the end of the tunnel in which they were.

As more details became visible, a solid stone wall probably carved from the rock itself under the city, in the middle of the wall was a large set of wooden doors with a very familiar symbol carved in the center; a big purple raven.

At this point Desmond’s words were no longer simple assumptions, they were both now sure what kind of people they were up against and it also made them realize that things were about to get complicated.

Until now they hadn’t entered the enemy base, the brothel on the upper floors could be considered nothing more than a front and the guards they had faced up to now were certainly not the elites of this assassin association; they were watchdogs at best.

Now Desmond and Xiauyue would face the true members of the purple ravens and as much as Desmond had made them look harmless just moments ago, both he and Xiauyue knew that no one who had trained as an assassin was harmless.

All it took was an oversight, an opportunity, a split second was all they needed to give these people to be a threat to their lives, Desmond knew it well after all; the way he operated was quite similar.

Regardless of the similarities between hunters and assassins, now Desmond and Xiauyue would be entering enemy territory and having lost the element of surprise; the circumstances were not favorable.

Or they wouldn’t be for a normal person, but for someone as paranoid and obsessed with preparations as Desmond, there was no way he would have come on a mission like this without at least a couple of aces up his sleeve; that just wasn’t his style.

The poor assassins on the other side of the wooden door would never expect that the person they faced was not only a countermeasures freak but also someone who came from a world of technology with all kinds of useful gadgets.

And now they were about to fall victim to Desmond’s unscrupulous warlike attitude without honor.

Now that he didn’t have to worry about stealth Desmond was no different from a walking arsenal with a thousand diabolical plans to eradicate his enemies.

The people in the room didn’t even know how grateful they must be that Desmond wanted one of them alive; otherwise, Desmond would have gone straight to demolish the entire underground level of this place turning the base of the purple crows into their graves without even giving them a chance to fight.