Li Yan drove very fast, but because he found out relatively late, naturally, Yurong and Yue Yao arrived first. As they arrived, Yue Yao had already secretly sent a message to Li Yan, updating him on the latest situation.

Throughout the journey, Li Yan’s thoughts never stopped. At this moment, in S City, it was just the two of them, with no support staff, and they were inadequately armed. He had been living a normal life for the past few years, and as a top-tier assassin, he naturally didn’t need to carry a gun with him. Although Yue Yao had hidden weapons, including the gun Xie Xuanji had given to deal with the Rocana Rose last year, which was hidden with her, the incident tonight happened suddenly. Now that they were out, they didn’t have firearms or weapons.

This put them at a disadvantage for tonight’s confrontation!

The assessment of an assassin’s strength mainly depends on completing tasks. And the success of a task does not solely depend on individual skills or the use of firearms and weapons; it’s a comprehensive result. Some might find it easier to kill with a gun, some kill better through close combat, some use bombs, some create accidents, some plot conspiracies, and some even commit suicide...

Top-tier assassins like Li Yan, Rose, Swordfish, Menz are all extremely strong overall and can utilize everything effectively, but they aren’t necessarily stronger than A-level assassins in terms of force, weapons, intellect, or resources! For instance, some A-level assassins, or even B-level and C-level ones, might be better than Li Yan in hand-to-hand combat, driving, or shooting, which is entirely possible.

Li Yan is the King of Assassins, a legendary assassin, but he is not a god! The heights he reached in his career were all achieved by actively completing tasks assigned to him. It doesn’t mean he is supreme in defense.

However, now, with insufficient preparation, no weapons, facing unknown adversaries alone, and having to worry about the safety of family and friends... all these factors greatly diminish his strength!

What to do?

Li Yan pondered this question.

The unfavorable factors were all listed in his mind. However, not all factors were unfavorable!

For example, the hitmen mission funded by Liu Chen and arranged by Fang William targeted Li Yan, Zhang Yurong, Zhang Tianyi primarily, with multiple tasks, but it might not be undertaken by the same assassin or organization! If multiple parties were involved, it would not be a coordinated operation, unable to plan collectively and would overlap with each other’s tasks, possibly causing concerns over "black on black" when they discover each other’s presence.

Moreover, none of them knew that one of the targets, Li Yan, was not only an ordinary person but a master of assassination procedures and killing techniques, which was a great advantage!

Initially, they were in the open while the assassins were hidden, but because no one knew his capabilities and could not track his movements, the only ones in the open now were the Zhang Family. Although the assassins were in hiding, Li Yan was also in hiding, and moreover, he was like the "mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind"!

Almost at the Zhang Family residence... Li Yan made a decision!

Since it’s unavoidable, defense is not a strategy; then attack as a form of defense! Last year, before Si Country subjected Julian Assange to open oppression, they used agents for an assassination attempt. At that time, the "leakers" supporters understood that defense and hiding had reached their limits, so they hired assassins: fighting killings with killings!

...

With a decision in mind, Li Yan no longer hesitated. Like before, he didn’t go directly there; he parked the car and walked to the Zhang Family residence.

Through Yue Yao’s message, he knew that she and Yurong had already entered the Zhang Family residence, and for now, there seemed to be no issues. That is to say, the assassins hadn’t fully acted yet, but at this moment, assassins could be hidden around the Zhang Family residence, even near their home!

At this point, he didn’t think he could hide his relationship with Zhang Yurong any longer.

Since Liu Chen intended to kill him and Zhang Yurong, could they not thoroughly investigate his whereabouts? Originally, they might not have known, but the Zhang Family was certainly clear about it. As long as they arranged surveillance around the Zhang Family and Paradise Group for several days, they’d find that Zhang Yurong hadn’t been living at home. And while tracking Li Yan might be difficult, following Zhang Yurong wouldn’t be as hard. Knowing their residence wouldn’t be surprising, though Liu Chen might think it was just Zhang Yurong who kept a love haven for Li Yan.

To take a step back, even if Liu Chen couldn’t do all this, only providing the Zhang Family and Paradise Group addresses would let the arriving assassins trace their residence through tracking and investigation. Of course, they wouldn’t care about Li Yan and Zhang Yurong’s relationship.

Are assassins gathering near the Zhang Family?

As Li Yan walked under the streetlights, not in a hurry, his senses and vigilance were exceptionally sharp! Deep within his heart, waves of bloodlust were almost impossible to suppress.

Bloodlust!

The backlash of the Heart Demon!

Every time he used the Heart Demon before, there was backlash. Its intensity varied, based on the degree and duration of Heart Demon usage. Specific details were unclear since he was the only one experiencing it, with no references, and his mind often wasn’t as clear as usual then. It was hard to describe in detail, but years of reflection and research let him understand most symptoms, like becoming irritable, violent, laden with murderous intent, bloodthirsty, uncontrollable rampages that disregard life.

The backlash from the Heart Demon wasn’t like the inner deviance type’s damage to one’s body, but this triggered Li Yan’s own Heart Demon! His biggest Heart Demon stemmed from the unbearable memories of being trained under duress those years. Those were years filled with being made stronger, more ruthless, with thoughts eliminating humanity, brainwashed with "kill or be killed"—such as "kill, kill, kill"...

Although, over the years Li Yan’s mindset has significantly matured, having experienced more and becoming much numb, the shadows of humanity aren’t so easily soothed or brightened. Once triggered, it changes a person entirely. In the past, he always arranged a romantic encounter, a sexual partner before using it, and afterward, through an intense, frenzied physical release, he reached extreme relaxation and exhaustion to dispel the backlash from Heart Demon.

Li Yan now is different. Years of research didn’t yield an effective method, but the recent three years’ efforts weren’t completely fruitless either. Living an ordinary life, unlike that of assassins, itself was a way to introduce sunlight; adhering to exercise, reading, calming oneself, even occasionally meditating yielded some results over years, bringing certain tranquility to his mind.

And from last year, getting to know Zhang Yurong, Yu Xiaodi, Wen Qianyi, etc., Li Yan began to reap not only a way of life but also gave and received love!

It may sound cliché, but for the shadow of the soul, love is indeed the best medication!

However, even with higher mental cultivation, better restraint, and quicker peace revival... tonight, different methods using Liu Chen’s body, especially not directly controlling to immediate suicide, but completing a series of actions first before suicide, made this backlash far more intense than usual!

As Li Yan restrained the bloodlust stirring within, he sensed from the left a path of killing intent directly towards the Zhang Family!

S-level assassin!

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