Dajian stepped outside, his chin covered in an unkempt, messy beard that seemed to simply refuse to grow into an actual one, and was simply content on remaining a mesh of short, rough hair.
The outside's cold air hit his face, thankfully, the snow had already melted here, and the winds weren't so strong, so whilst a bit chilly, it was nothing to be worried about, dressed in weathered, white robes bearing the symbol of a golden sword on the back, he took a seat in one of the chairs under the covered patio and sighed.
"Mister Dajian, it's rare for you to leave the boss's side" one of the grunts employed by Tao addressed him, one of the smarter ones, and thus, the one assigned to guarding the entrance as he wouldn't just fall asleep whilst standing up like some would.
In fact, the other subordinates present right now were all asleep like rocks at the bottom of a lake, somehow managing to slumber deeply despite the cold, all of them were rather big guys, young men from the nearby farms who had taken up the job because it paid better than working the land like their families had for generations.
Dajian placed his sheathed sword on his legs.
"I am not by his side because the boss is currently busy fucking his own sister, and I probably won't be allowed in for several more hours, he hasn't seen her in a little while, probably planning on rearranging her guts until after nightfall… We're definitely gonna have to stay in the dark"
"Huh… Don't say it like that…"
"What? Everybody knows she's his sister, he literally lets her call him brother and is all lovey-dovey with her in public, he doesn't give a damn"
"Well yes, but he wouldn't like hearing us speak about it…"
"You're right, but he isn't here to hear us-"
"H-Ahhh~! Please faster!"
"...That's louder than usual"
"How long has it been since they last saw one another?"
"A week maybe? He bought her some vacations to somewhere, definitely does not warrant that shit"
Dajian rubbed his nape, and looked around the open field that surrounded this place, Tao's dwelling was rather different from what one would expect from a gang leader, as he had just built a house in a random field a bit further away from the village, in fact, it was a flower field that was beautiful when in full bloom, no had asked, but he had probably built here solely because his sister thought the flowers looked nice.
Though, the house was built out of solid, thick stone, so it was durable and kept heat in very well, an underground had been dug beneath, and that was where some of the subordinates, including Dajian, actually lived all year round, those who lived in the village were already gone by now.
"I wonder what his old man would think if he knew what his children were doing together"
"You really are going to say everything that shouldn't be said today, huh? Well, I guess you can, you are the most valuable out of us all" the underling stepped forward, short, fragile grass breaking under his steps.
Dajian did not respond to that and fished something out.
"Is that one of those paper cigars?"
"Yeah, no idea what it's stuffed with but it's pretty good, cheaper than cigars and no need to buy a pipe"
"Smoking pipes aren't expensive though"
"You wouldn't get it… Ah shit, got any matches? I ran out"
"Sure" the burly man threw a small box over, which Dajian caught without even looking at it, soon lighting the paper cigar and relaxing in his seat.
"Mhngh~!"
Dajian frowned.
"Seriously, aren't the walls like- Super thick? How in the hell can this girl be so freaking loud?"
"You weren't there when they were apart for a whole month, it was so loud, even when covering my ears I could hear it, they even broke the damned bed that time, it was quality wood too, hurts my carpenter's heart to see such fine material so thoroughly mistreated…" the man shook his head.
"...But anyways, what do you think of our current situation? I don't even remember the last time we actually had to deal with a murder, in fact, none of us have even been punched for more than a year at this point, I wonder who could have done this" he wondered, an arrow immediately entering his left ear, causing the man to fall over like a sack of bricks.
With his paper cigar still in his mouth, Dajian jumped up to his feet, running behind a nearby pillar that was barely wide enough to completely conceal him, more arrows were rapidly fired, striking the still sleeping underlings, either in the neck, or in between the ribs, Dajian saw one drowning in his own blood whilst foaming at mouth, dying from having a lung punctured.
'Good thing I locked the door' the man waited for a few moments, half expecting arrows to come flying from other directions as well, but none came.
'Is it only one attacker? A skilled archer and nothing more?' he could not quite tell if a cultivation technique was involved in the archery, to him, it had only seemed like competent marksmanship to him, which could have very well just been done by regularly shooting a bow.
Dajian went through a headcount, adding up the corpses and underlings that had already gone back to their homes, he realised that he truly was the only one around to defend the boss and his sister, he could still hear them both going at it, much too loud and ferocious to actually hear any of what was going on.
He doubted they would even hear him if he shouted, his capacity for producing loud noises was definitely inferior to that of Yaling.
He heard the sound of grass being crushed, and rapidly peeked out from his hiding spot, raised his eyebrows, and then stepped out completely, no arrows came for him, and a dark-clad figure was approaching not wielding any bow at all.
"Alone?" he asked.
"Yes, but most importantly, I am feeling lonely, mind helping me with that?" the voice that replied to him was very strange, but coupled with the large build of the attacker…
"I don't think non-human assassins are very common around here, what are you, a half-orc? A demon?"
"Does it matter what we are? If it does matter, then explain why a man working for a petty criminal wears robes from the Bright Sword Peak, isn't that supposed to be a righteous sect of justice?"
"Were you expelled perhaps?"
"A vulgar assassin does not get to look down upon me, I am a cultivator of the sword, my blade is a weapon serving a purpose, I'll cut down a wretch of your kind, you do not live to see the sun rise again"
"So serious!" the shadow laughed.
"Is that guy really worth it? Must pay well, does he keep his money inside- Bah, why do I ask? I'll just question him directly after I am done with you" following these words, he pulled out a sword at his waist, a rapier that was beyond huge, as it was actually of a fitting size for the wielder, and regular rapiers could already get up to one meter and thirty centimeters long just for the blade.
"Show me what your sword is worth"
Dajian unsheathed his blade as well, paling in reach, but soon, a sort of energy manifested around the blade, the very thing Bright Sword Peak was known for, sword intent.
"A sword's worth is calculated only by the amount of lives it has reaped, and I have the feeling that its value will soon increase"
Dajian made the first move.