Chapter 71: Capture

The man in black was sent flying, slamming into the wall with a thunderous crash that echoed through the room.

Lin Xiao had held back just enough to keep the assassin alive for questioning, but even that restrained strike carried the full weight of a peak-level fighter’s power.

The assassin, a veteran killer from the Dark Night Order, felt his insides twist in agony. Blood burst from his lips in a violent spray as pain wracked his body, his organs crushed from the force of the blow.

The deafening noise jolted Wan Caixuan from sleep. She sat bolt upright, disoriented. In the pale wash of moonlight, her gaze fell on the figure slumped against the wall—his body twitching, face contorted in agony, blood pouring from his mouth.

In an instant, Wan Caixuan grasped the situation. The man in black—clearly an assassin—had come for her. Yet she remained calm, her gaze locked on him with cold clarity.

She knew one thing for certain: as long as Lin Xiao was here, no one could lay a finger on her.

Her voice was steady, composed. “Lin Xiao, don’t kill him yet. I want to know who sent him.”

Gone was the girl who bantered and bickered with Lin Xiao. In her place stood the poised, calculating CEO of a billion-yuan enterprise—cool, controlled, and unshakably regal.

Lin Xiao merely nodded, emerging from the darkness and flipping on the room’s lights.

The moment the lights illuminated the room, the man lying on the floor got a clear look at Lin Xiao’s face. His body stiffened, and a look of utter disbelief flashed in his eyes. He could hardly credit what he was seeing.

“This… this… How is this possible? How can it be?! How… how could you be here?”

The man in black felt as if he was caught in a dream, sinking into an abyss of despair.

As a senior member of the Dark Night Order, he recognized Lin Xiao. He was a figure etched in his memory, one he would never be able to forget.

He would always remember that day, when the Order was in its prime, boasting dozens of core-level assassins, hundreds at the senior level, and countless more serving as official assassins. The peripheral assassins were not even considered members of the organization.

However, everything shifted with Lin Xiao’s arrival.

That day, Lin Xiao stormed the Dark Night Order’s stronghold alone, unleashing a massacre. By the time he was done, the organization was in ruins—its roots all but severed.

In the end, it was only the sheer number of operatives at the peak of the Dark Night Order that spared it from total annihilation. Scattered and on the run, they fled from Lin Xiao’s onslaught. Perhaps he had grown weary of the slaughter or simply chose not to pursue, allowing a handful to slip away.

A few others survived purely by chance—on missions abroad when the bloodbath began—escaping the fate that befell their comrades.

How ironic. An internationally feared assassin organization had its heart pierced by a lone man. Its survival owed not to strength but to numbers—and the exhaustion of the one who brought it to its knees.

After that legendary night, the Order was left crippled. No—“crippled” was generous. It hovered on the edge of extinction.

Only one core-level assassin remained, backed by a mere ten senior assassins and a scattered handful of official members. With its foundation shattered, the Dark Night Order was forced to recruit from its ranks of peripheral assassins just to survive.

The man in black was among the lucky few. A senior assassin who had evaded death only because he wasn’t at the heart of that massacre—he had been stationed on the outskirts. That narrow escape had spared his life, but it hadn’t spared his memory.

He would never forget Lin Xiao’s face.

“Oh, you recognize me?” Lin Xiao noticed the man’s shifting emotions and probed with curiosity.

The man in black found it difficult to suppress the fear swelling within him.

After his miraculous survival, he presumed he had developed an indifference toward life and death. He believed he would face Lin Xiao nonchalantly if they ever crossed paths again. But now, he realized that once a mouse, always a mouse—its fear of cats was an unalterable instinct.

Though Lin Xiao exuded no killing intent and appeared calm, the man knew all too well—this was no ordinary human. A cold dread crept over him, chilling him to the bone.

“Night… Night Emperor… You are the Night Emperor.”

With a pallid face, the man in black managed to squeeze these words out of his throat in a hoarse, parched voice.

“Since you’re aware of my reputation, you must know that any resistance is futile. Tell me everything you know, and I will allow you to live out the remainder of your days in prison.”

The assassin, previously sprawled on the ground, abruptly rose and bolted toward the window in a desperate attempt to escape.

The moment he locked eyes with Lin Xiao, he understood it was all over.

Abandoning the mission was one thing, but his life was now on the line. His only thought was to flee, regardless of the slim chances of success. He aimed to relay this information to the organization and prompt the cancellation of the mission.

For if he were to die here, the unimaginable consequences if the organization had yet to abort the mission filled him with dread. The Dark Night Order might be utterly obliterated.

However, just as the man in black prepared to act, Lin Xiao was already a step ahead.

In a flash, he closed the three-meter gap, appearing behind the assassin like a phantom. His hand shot out, clamping onto the man’s neck and slamming him hard against the wall.

Though he knew resistance was futile, the assassin fought back with desperation.

In a flash of silver, a needle appeared in his left hand, striking out like a venomous snake toward Lin Xiao’s arm.

It was coated with a deadly, custom-formulated poison—once it pierced flesh, death would follow within five minutes. No cure, no second chances. The assassin was certain—not even Lin Xiao could escape this fate.

The man in black’s retaliation was meaningless against Lin Xiao.

With a cold glint in his eyes, Lin Xiao caught the assassin’s left hand and, with a sudden twist, snapped his wrist.

Without pause, he dislocated the man’s limbs one by one. Each crack echoed in the quiet room, leaving the assassin limp and utterly defenseless.

Only after confirming the man could no longer resist did Lin Xiao drag him into the living room. Wan Caixuan followed, her expression frosted over with calm detachment.

Lin Xiao dropped the assassin to the floor, then reached down and ripped off his hood, revealing a pale, strained face contorted with pain.

Lin Xiao’s voice was cold, almost devoid of emotion. “Who hired you?”

The man in black let out a faint, bitter chuckle. “Night Emperor… I’m with the Dark Night Order. Do you really think I’d talk?”

His tone had shifted—resigned, even calm, as if he’d already accepted death.

Lin Xiao’s eyes narrowed. “You’d better reconsider. You know who I am. You know exactly what I’m capable of. If I start using my methods…” He let the threat hang in the air like a blade. “You won’t last long.”