Chapter 1

"Huff... huff..."

Heavy breathing filled the study. Several burly men leaned against the far wall, their chests rising and falling rapidly. Their eyes were fixed on the spot behind the desk, their eyes filled with terror.

Another man sat in the swivel chair. He wasn't very young, probably in his early thirties, dressed plainly, but a pair of deep blue eyes gave him a somewhat dreamy air. A black-covered book lay open on the desk.

If Snake Woman were alive to see it, she would be shocked to discover that Captain Zhou, who had been drained of his blood by the sand ghost before her eyes, was now standing alive by the wall, his eyes wide with fear.

Luo He raised his head and looked towards the door, where three people lay sprawled.

A voluptuous, beautiful woman, a middle-aged man with a dark expression carrying a black hiking bag, and finally, a balding old man in pajamas.

He was also the target he was tasked with protecting, the head of the Huang family of Lincheng, Old Mr. Huang.

But now, all three were lying on the ground. Apart from the slight rise and fall of Old Mr. Huang's chest, the other two were already dead.

Even more bizarre, there were no visible wounds on their bodies, and their faces were as peaceful as if they were asleep.

"Mr. Luo." A woman's voice sounded from behind Luo He, a delicate-featured woman, her tone full of worry. "How is Grandpa? Why..."

Luo He slowly closed the book, not even looking at the woman behind him. "Please rest assured, Old Mr. Huang is just asleep, having a dream. He will wake up soon." His voice was always cold and detached, seemingly unconcerned about anything.

"Asleep..."

Captain Zhou and the others gathered by the wall seemed uneasy and immediately went over to check. Fortunately, as the man had said, Old Mr. Huang woke up soon.

Captain Zhou arranged for someone to help Old Mr. Huang sit on the sofa, helping him regulate his breathing. After waking up, Old Mr. Huang was very agitated. He stared in astonishment at his intact right hand, as if he had witnessed something incomprehensible.

They had been sent by their superiors to protect Old Mr. Huang, but they never expected... Captain Zhou stared at the two corpses in front of the door, swallowing hard.

They had actually witnessed such a bizarre scene. These two, obviously assassins, had done nothing after sneaking into the study. Their bodies twitched, and then they collapsed to the ground with a "plop," as if they had fallen asleep.

But as they slept, they died!

Although he didn't know the reason, he knew one thing very clearly: all of this... all of this was done by the man sitting behind the desk!

They all called him Mr. Luo.

It was said that he was also sent by their superiors, and even higher up, beyond the scope of their authority.

Captain Zhou had come up through the ranks by himself. His intuition told him that the two assassins who died before him were no ordinary people either. If this Mr. Luo hadn't been here today, they would have been in for a fierce battle.

"This Mr. Luo must also be a mentu (disciple), and... he's probably at least an A-level." Captain Zhou thought to himself.

The woman squatted on the ground, her eyes red, comforting her grandfather. Although Old Mr. Huang wasn't injured, his mental state wasn't good, as if he had been traumatized.

Once his emotions had stabilized somewhat, Old Mr. Huang took a deep breath, stood up, and suppressing his slightly trembling voice, said sincerely to Luo He, who was looking down at his book behind the desk, "Mr. Luo, thank you so much this time. Thank you... thank you for saving me."

"There's no need to thank me. This was all Mr. Xian's decision." Luo He looked up, his tone also perfunctory, without any personal emotion.

Captain Zhou also spoke in an admiring tone, "With a master like Mr. Luo guarding us, it will be as difficult as ascending to heaven for the Night Watchers to make a move against the Huang family."

Luo He didn't stand on ceremony with them. He stood up and walked towards the two corpses.

He pulled out the dagger from Snake Woman's waist. The dagger had a strange shape, with blood grooves on both sides and a cold light flashing on the blade.

With a gentle swipe of the dagger, he cut open the hiking bag behind the sand ghost. The scene that followed stunned Old Mr. Huang and Captain Zhou, and the delicate woman covered her mouth, almost crying out.

Inside were several bloody heads.

"Wu Feng, Jiang Biehe..." Old Mr. Huang couldn't help but exclaim, "How... how could this be?!"

The heads inside were baring their teeth, obviously having suffered cruel torture before their deaths. The two whose names he called were acquaintances of Old Mr. Huang. He had seen the one named Jiang Biehe not long ago.

Captain Zhou and the others looked grim. It was clear that the Night Watchers' purge plan was more brutal and swift than they had thought, and that these people should have been protected, but the teams protecting them had probably been wiped out.

There was nothing to be done. The power that the Night Watchers had secretly accumulated over the years was too great, and how could ordinary people resist the strangeness of the mentu (disciples)? How many people like Mr. Luo did they have on their side?

But... someone had to stay behind after all. It would be good if they could share some of the burden on Mr. Luo.

"Lin En, Zhi Zhong, you two are on watch tonight," Captain Zhou ordered. "Don't limit yourselves to the courtyard. Extend the perimeter of the cordon. In case of emergency, don't report, just open fire. Even if you can't kill those guys, buy time for Mr. Luo!"

"Understood!"

"Understood!"

Luo He waited for them to finish speaking before turning his head and saying, "There's no need. You stay in the building, protect Old Mr. Huang and his family, that's all you need to do."

Captain Zhou shook his head, his tone resolute. "How can we do that? We can't let Mr. Luo bear such great pressure alone. Please let us share some of the burden for you."

"This is not only your battlefield, but ours as well!"

Luo He turned his head and looked directly at the man for the first time. After a moment, he nodded. "Alright, then please have Captain Zhou deploy your men around the house, but don't leave the courtyard. My domain can cover this area."

A touch of emotion appeared in Captain Zhou's eyes. He clasped his fist and said, "I am at your disposal, Mr. Luo."

The night grew late. Old Mr. Huang had originally intended to chat with Luo He, but after realizing that the other party had no intention of doing so, he had to stand up awkwardly and return to his room to rest.

The large study was quiet again, leaving only Luo He, looking at the book in his hand that he never tired of reading.

After a long while, he seemed to sense something and frowned slightly.

Half a minute later...

"Knock."

"Knock knock."

Very light knocking sounded, on the door of the study.

Luo He closed the book, looked towards the door, and a trace of impatience flashed in his eyes. "Come in."

The door opened, and a slender figure came into view.