Chapter 66: So It Was You (Fourth Update)

Smack! With a soft sound, Nangong Moth could never have imagined that she would end up being taken advantage of by her target while attempting an assassination!

In all her years, no one had ever touched her like that before! How was she supposed to face anyone after this?

Her eyes reddened with fury. Kill him—Qin Tian must die!

She summoned all her strength, breaking free from Qin Tian’s grip, and pulled a third dagger from her waist, stabbing viciously at his arm.

Nangong Moth had come fully armed, daggers hidden all over her body.

Qin Tian caught her arm, trying to restrain her again, but Nangong Moth ruthlessly kicked at his groin.

Shocked, Qin Tian recoiled in horror. He hadn’t expected her to be so ruthless—she was aiming to cripple him!

He instantly let go and hurriedly retreated, narrowly avoiding her attack.

Nangong Moth pressed her advantage, closing in for another savage stab with her dagger.

Qin Tian realized she was no amateur; her movements marked her as a professional assassin. He couldn’t fathom who would want him dead enough to hire someone like her.

In the blink of an eye, they had exchanged dozens of blows. At this rate, dawn would break before the fight ended!

Nangong Moth’s eyes turned cold. She would have to risk everything. Suddenly, she arched her right leg back.

Qin Tian found the move oddly alluring, but quickly reminded himself that the more enticing something appeared, the deadlier it often was.

She drew a miniature pistol from her right boot.

He went pale with fright. She had a gun!

“Aren’t you afraid of exposing yourself?” Qin Tian searched for an opportunity to escape. Now that she had a gun, he was unarmed and stood no chance.

If he were at the second stage of the Golden Core, he might be able to rely on his reflexes to dodge a bullet or two.

“If I kill you, there will be no exposure. And if anyone tries to stop me, they die too.” Nangong Moth’s voice was icy.

“Madwoman!” Qin Tian cursed, then suddenly grabbed the quilt and flung it at her.

Caught off guard, Nangong Moth frantically tried to push the flying quilt aside.

When she finally saw the scene before her, she was momentarily stunned. Qin Tian was crouched on the floor, clutching his head in pain.

He had tried to seize the moment to hurl himself through the window and escape. It was only the second floor—nothing he couldn’t handle.

But he had underestimated the glass—it was reinforced, almost bulletproof! Instead of freedom, he ended up dazed with a massive lump on his head.

“Hahaha! Honk honk honk… you’re killing me! How can anyone be so stupid?” Nangong Moth doubled over with laughter, tears streaming down her face, nearly forgetting she was here to kill him.

“Hmm?” Suddenly, Qin Tian was struck by a sense of déjà vu. That laugh sounded so familiar.

A laugh like a goose? He remembered a little girl who used to laugh just like that.

Back at the orphanage, a tiny shadow had always followed him around. He was five; she was four.

She had always been a crybaby. It had taken all his effort to coax her out of her tears, and every time she laughed, it came out in goose-like honks.

Later, Old Man Kong took him away. He traveled far and wide, never returning to the orphanage, and lost contact with that little girl.

“Such memories,” Qin Tian sighed with nostalgia.

“What are you reminiscing about? Your last moments alive? Well, you won’t have long now,” Nangong Moth sneered.

Almost against his will, Qin Tian blurted out a question, clinging to a thread of hope: “On your upper left chest, do you have a birthmark shaped like a moth?”

“You pervert! Bastard! I’ll gouge out your eyes!” Nangong Moth exploded with rage, assuming he had taken liberties with her during the fight.

“It really is you? Nangong Moth?” Qin Tian was stunned.

She too was taken aback to hear her name from his lips. How did her target know who she was?

“Who are you? How do you know my name?” Her eyes were sharp, but confusion flickered within them.

Very few people knew about her moth-shaped birthmark—Song Wan was one, and the old orphanage director another. No one else should have known.

“There’s a silly little moth in the sky, flying among the flowers, flying—so pretty! Rock, paper, scissors!” Qin Tian recited with a smile.

“You! You! You!” Nangong Moth could only stammer in astonishment, lost for words.

“Impossible! How do you know that code phrase? Are you from the assassin world too?” she demanded.

“Code phrase? Assassin world?” Qin Tian’s head spun. What was she talking about?

“If you’re not one of us, how could you possibly know the secret phrase of our Moth Assassin Organization?” She was convinced he was feigning ignorance.

“That’s a nursery rhyme I made up for you. When did it become a secret code for some assassin group?” Qin Tian was exasperated.

Boom!

Nangong Moth felt as if her mind had exploded.

A nursery rhyme! It really was the one her most cherished childhood friend invented just to make her smile, always letting her win at rock, paper, scissors.

“You’re Brother Qin Lei?” She stared at him in disbelief, hardly daring to hope.

“It’s me. You finally recognize me?” Qin Tian smiled and nodded.

“Qin Lei? Qin Tian? You changed your name?” Nangong Moth was shocked.

“What, am I not allowed to change my name?” He stood up and approached her.

But, ever the cautious assassin, Nangong Moth retreated a few steps, keeping her distance.

“Are you really Brother Qin Lei?” she asked again.

“A hundred percent! Don’t you remember? When you were little, you fell and hurt your chest. I was the one who put medicated oil on the bruise. That’s how I knew about your moth-shaped birthmark,” Qin Tian recalled.

Nangong Moth took a deep breath, memories flooding back. She remembered now—it was Qin Tian who had found her crying after she’d taken that fall, who had comforted her and applied the healing oil.

“You really are Brother Qin Lei!” she finally accepted the truth.

“You little moth! How did you… end up as an assassin?” Qin Tian marveled at the oddities of fate.

Her face flushed bright red. She had almost killed the person she cared about most—she could have died from embarrassment.

“Brother Qin Lei, where have you been all these years? You promised you’d come back for me, but you never did!” Nangong Moth changed the subject, pouting like a little girl.

“That’s… a long story,” Qin Tian sighed.