## Chapter 7: Young Miss Arrives – Part Two
Before I start this chapter, I have something to say. Readers who have followed “The Dangerous Woman” thus far will know that it’s a first-person novel. I’ve written from the first-person perspective for both the male protagonist, Juncheng An, and the female characters.
The advantage of first-person is obvious: it’s more immersive, allows for richer psychological descriptions, and is easier for emotional expression and plot twists. This is because the “I” in first-person doesn’t know everything, allowing for unexpected turns in the story, which I believe you’ve experienced before.
I really enjoy writing “Ye Gui” in the first-person, for both the male and female protagonists.
When I started writing “The Dangerous Woman,” I decided to stick with first-person for the entire novel, using it for all perspective shifts.
And I’ve indeed written over two million words this way.
But now, I’ve decided to make a change.
Because I feel that first-person alone isn’t enough.
It seems like many things can’t be fully addressed, and scenes and other characters can’t be fully developed. Of course, this is purely due to my lack of skill.
After all, there’s another novel, “Zhi Bei You,” which also uses first-person and achieves incredible results that make people want to worship it. As a minor figure like myself, I’m certainly not a formidable individual.
As we enter this final arc, to say I’m going to write in the third person might be counterproductive or even backfire. But I want to try something new.
I haven’t been writing novels for too long, just over three years. I’m not a prolific updater, and my energy is limited, so I update once a day.
I don’t know if I’ve improved compared to when I first started writing novels, but I probably have.
I have written in the third person before, but I’m not skilled at it. I might be worse than most people. In terms of accumulated experience, it’s nowhere near as good as my first-person writing.
Yet, even so, I want to try.
For my own growth, and for my next book.
Whether it’s good or bad, I’ll leave that to you, my dear readers, to judge. I’ll be responsible for writing, and you’ll be responsible for reading.
Alright, let’s move on to the main story.
At six past five in the evening, Lu Haoyu was feeling a bit uneasy.
He had been waiting at this intersection for fifteen minutes. If the person he was supposed to meet didn’t arrive in another five minutes, he would have to change locations.
If he stayed too long, he might be reported by concerned neighbors as a suspicious person. If he were just waiting for someone, there would be no need to worry. But the reason he was so anxious was precisely because he *was* a suspicious person.
Although his task was only to wait and provide backup, he was waiting for a professional assassin. He needed to discreetly receive the other party and bring the target back.
But, an assassin…
Lu Haoyu found it a bit amusing. He took out a cigarette from his jacket pocket and lit it.
It was a profession that only appeared in movies, and he never expected to encounter it in real life. Lu Haoyu found life to be full of bizarre things.
As one of Long Zhenhua’s trusted confidantes, he naturally knew what kind of person his boss was. Long Zhenhua was born into wealth, studied abroad, and after returning to China, he started his own successful business independently. He achieved success at a young age and would eventually inherit his father’s business, becoming the CEO of a colossal commercial empire. His boss was destined to be a big shot. What girl wouldn’t see him as a prize catch, dreaming of sleeping with him? A typical domineering CEO. If she were to catch his eye, wouldn’t it be a Cinderella story?
Well, that woman wasn’t like that.
Young Miss Ji, Ji Lianbing, was eighteen years old and still a high school student. However, her family background was comparable to their young master’s, perhaps even superior.
Lu Haoyu had met her once with his boss, and he was stunned. She was probably the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, possessing beauty, figure, and charisma.
They were a perfect match, a golden couple from equally noble families. Their young master thought so too.
But unexpectedly, the first time the woman met Long Zhenhua, she said something Lu Haoyu still remembered to this day.
“Heh heh heh, you say you like me? Then can you die for me? Hmm, sorry, I take that question back. Even if you truly died for me, I wouldn’t remember who you are.”
Long Zhenhua’s first attempt at wooing a girl failed instantly, but he didn’t get discouraged. He was determined to have Ji Lianbing, perhaps because what one cannot have is the best.
“Terrifying.”
In any case, Lu Haoyu didn’t want to approach that woman a second time. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and also the most terrifying.
Lu Haoyu, who had been a mercenary before, had seen eyes like that on the battlefield, eyes that looked at the dead.
He didn’t know why a girl younger than twenty could see living people as mere bones, nor was he interested in finding out.
But Long Zhenhua was still full of enthusiasm, which led to the current situation.
Lu Haoyu felt unlucky to be caught up in something like this. In fact, a while ago, a clumsy monk had told him, “Donor, you’re facing a calamity of bloodshed recently.” He was so angry that he kicked over the incense burner on the spot. Thinking back now, although he didn’t encounter bloodshed, he was indeed very unlucky.
He heard that at the banquet the day before yesterday, Long Zhenhua had planned to use the opportunity to make a move on Ji Lianbing again. But this time, not only did they not meet, but now rumors were spreading that the Young Miss of the Ji family had eloped.
But Lu Haoyu knew that it wasn’t a rumor; she had truly run off with someone, and she had also taken the Second Young Miss of the Ji family with her.
Because this news came from his boss, Lu Haoyu knew it was likely true when he saw Long Zhenhua’s angry command to go and provide backup.
The woman he fancied ran off with another man? How could he tolerate that? He simply didn’t believe Ji Lianbing would be attracted to some commoner, what was his name… An.
It didn’t matter. That person was just a nobody. The most important thing was to rescue the Young Miss and Second Young Miss of the Ji family from the “bad guys.”
Lu Haoyu wouldn’t be responsible for the actual rescue. Although he had been in the military before, he wasn’t a professional.
It was better to leave professional matters to professionals.
Long Zhenhua had already found someone. Lu Haoyu just needed to pick them up and bring them back.
But the first attempt failed, and the people they hired were all wiped out, causing Long Zhenhua to curse extensively. This led to the second attempt today.
He hoped this time would be successful, Lu Haoyu prayed, otherwise, if they failed again, he would also be scolded.
Being scolded was a minor issue; losing salary was a major one.
It was said that the hired assassin this time was much more advanced than the last one, so hopefully, they would be reliable.
At six twenty, it was time to move.
Awakened from his daze, Lu Haoyu noticed that the cigarette he had lit had long since burned out, and the ash had fallen onto his coat.
He frowned and brushed the ash off his coat. After cleaning it, he got into the car.
“Drive.”
“Cough!”
He hadn’t expected someone to already be in the car – a tall, thin man with sharp eyes.
“Wh-when did you get in?”
The tall, thin man replied in slightly broken Chinese.
“While you were zoning out. Drive quickly.”
“Uh, where is she?”
“In the back seat. I made her sleep and secured her with a seatbelt.”
Lu Haoyu glanced at the back seat. A cute little girl was sleeping soundly there.
“Uh, but the main target was the other young lady…”
Lu Haoyu felt a bit conflicted. The person in the back seat was the Second Young Miss of the Ji family, but his boss wasn’t a lolicon. If he only brought back the Second Young Miss, Long Zhenhua might scold him.
“Drive first, we’ll talk as we go. If we’re late, you and I will die here.”
Lu Haoyu was a little slow to react, but when he saw the tall, thin assassin pull out a black handgun and point it at him, he had no choice but to get into the car and start the jeep.
As they drove, the tall, thin man spoke first.
“I’m losing out.”
“Huh?”
“I said, I’m losing out by taking this mission.”
SF Light Novel.
Lu Haoyu was a bit bewildered that the assassin would strike up a conversation. He had expected assassins to be cold and indifferent like in the movies, but this one seemed a bit different.
“If I make it back alive this time, your boss better pay me triple, no, five times the commission.”
“…Is it that serious?”
It had escalated to the point of whether he would return alive, and Lu Haoyu still couldn’t quite grasp it.
“We assassins take missions through the Black Street. On the Black Street, in addition to the client’s requirements, there are specialized appraisers who assess the difficulty of the mission and then impose restrictions on the assassin’s rank based on that difficulty.”
“Oh, so, brother, cough, boss, what rank are you?”
“I’m an A-rank. My assassin codename is Cold Hand.”
Cold Hand. Lu Haoyu glanced at the other man’s hand, wondering if his hands were really cold—a stupid question.
His mind hadn’t fully caught up yet.
“The mission this time is to take away the Young Miss and Second Young Miss of the Ji family. Since these two ran away without permission, it’s a perfect opportunity. The appraiser seemed to think there wasn’t much difficulty, classifying it as an E-rank mission. Later, a bunch of amateur killers took this mission and failed, so it was only upgraded to D-rank.”
“But you’re an A-rank assassin, aren’t you? Even if it’s D-rank, this kind of mission should be very easy for you.”
“Yes, it’s very easy. Assessments are usually accurate, so I thought so too. Originally, an A-rank assassin like me shouldn’t be doing such a low-level mission, but I was traveling here recently, so I took one along the way. But the actual difficulty should be S-rank or above, possibly even higher.”
“How did it become S-rank difficulty?”
Lu Haoyu didn’t think the other person was exaggerating; there was no need for him to scare a minor character like him.
“Guess what I saw just now?”
Cold Hand had a slightly playful smile. Lu Haoyu swallowed. He suddenly smelled a faint scent of rust, or rather, blood.
An ominous premonition rose in Lu Haoyu’s heart, and his scalp tingled. But he still dared to ask.
“Wh-what…”
“First, the cameras. That small house was filled with miniature ones, and there were them all around. There were no blind spots. I had no choice but to block the signal, which gave me a minute of time. But it was only a minute. The other party’s technical skill is superb; they’ve probably discovered something is wrong here by now.”
“Why were there so many cameras?”
“It means the person living inside is very important. Then, I hurried to bring the person out, and this is what happened.”
Cold Hand opened his coat. Lu Haoyu then saw bandages wrapped around his abdomen, but blood was still seeping through. The smell of blood came from him.
“That little girl has a superpower, and it’s quite a powerful one. The unleashed superpower turned the room into chaos. If I hadn’t reacted quickly, my stomach would have been pierced.”
Lu Haoyu felt like cursing. Is this a novel? Why are superpowers even involved?
“Is your boss involved with the Paradise? Since it’s related to superpowers?”
What the hell is this now?
“If you don’t know, then forget it.”
Cold Hand stopped asking and leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes.
This seemingly resigned attitude made Lu Haoyu even more uneasy.
“Boss, don’t scare me. I want to live. What exactly is going on?”
Cold Hand said with his eyes still closed.
“Now, we can only pray that your boss is part of Paradise. If he is, there’s hope. If not…”
“If not?”
“Then we might die here. Getting caught in a dispute between two major factions, ten lives wouldn’t be enough.”
“Th-then let’s just return them now…”
“It’s too late.”
Cold Hand simply shook his head. In the assassin’s line of work, one could die any day. He had long been mentally prepared for death.
But Lu Haoyu hadn’t. He was just an ordinary person. He didn’t want to get involved in inexplicable matters and die inexplicably.
Now, he wanted to turn the car back, return the little girl, and pretend nothing had happened.
But just as he was about to step on the brake—
A gunshot rang out. His thigh was pierced. The intense pain almost made him lose consciousness. The steering wheel went out of control, and he was about to crash into a car.
Cold Hand reached out and turned the steering wheel back. The jeep narrowly grazed the car, scraping off a layer of paint.
“Don’t stop.”
Lu Haoyu didn’t even have the strength to curse and could only continue driving.
Cold Hand pressed the power window button and leaned out of the window. Several more gunshots were fired.
A series of impact sounds came from behind, followed by a violent jolt. Looking in the rearview mirror, flames erupted.
Cold Hand returned to the car and began reloading his magazine, saying,
“If we stop, we die.”
Lu Haoyu thought, if I can make it back alive this time, I’ll definitely go to Baen Temple and apologize to that monk who told me about the bloodshed calamity.
Then I’ll burn incense and pray.
