# Chapter 12: Asaka
Clang.
The blade rang crisp as a cold gleam flashed across the wall, a few severed hairs drifting down.
Su Xiao stood in the room that looked like it had been swept by a violent wind, while Lilith stood outside the door, unable to intervene for now.
The room Su Xiao was in measured about a hundred square meters, spacious and empty, with a ceiling height of around 6 to 7 meters. It was unclear what this place was originally used for.
Countless nearly invisible threads crisscrossed the room, growing denser toward the top. The black-robed masked man was walking barefoot on the threads high above. Stranger still, his body flickered in and out like a signal interference—this was some kind of advanced movement technique, not a spatial ability.
"Impressive swordsmanship. No, exquisite."
The black-robed masked man didn't stop moving. He had to keep traversing the web of threads above, or Su Xiao would lock onto him. Su Xiao's blade technique and perception were both too sharp.
Su Xiao's eyes swept left and right as an iron-black coin appeared in his hand.
Ding~
The coin was flicked into the air, striking one of the threads. Su Xiao closed his eyes, using his Instinct ability to perceive the vibrations of sound waves.
Objects transmit sound through vibration, and those metal threads were no different. By sensing the subtle differences in vibration, Su Xiao could determine which thread the black-robed masked man was standing on.
Clang.
A blade aura flashed. By the time Su Xiao struck, he was already about ten meters above the ground, having appeared there out of nowhere.
With a tearing sound, Dragon-Slaying Flash scraped across the edges of two short blades. Su Xiao's figure slowly descended, finally landing on several intersecting threads.
Several silver slash marks cut through, and Su Xiao began to free-fall. The masked man's threads couldn't be stood on for long—nearly getting his neck entangled minutes ago had been a lesson.
"You're still holding back. But so am I. In a deathmatch, you might be stronger."
The black-robed masked man's sinister laughter echoed. He flipped his hands, and the two short blades disappeared back into his sleeves.
"I'm Xiao, the seventeenth seat in Asaka."
The black-robed masked man, Xiao, stepped toward the door. He had appeared too suddenly, and Su Xiao had remained wary of him. But upon hearing that he ranked seventeenth in Asaka, Su Xiao was visibly taken aback.
"You... rank seventeenth in Asaka?"
Hearing the doubt in Su Xiao's tone, Xiao nearly choked on his own blood. If not for maintaining the killer's mystique as a Black Abyss assassin, he would have turned around and roared, "Just because you're a bit stronger than your old man doesn't mean you can be this arrogant!"
"Is there a problem?"
Xiao's eyes narrowed, his gaze unfriendly.
"Nothing important. I just always thought... my combat power in the Black Abyss would be on the lower end."
Lilith: "??"
"..."
Xiao's mouth opened and closed, then he waved his hand.
"You're not weak. That's just your misconception. Speaking of which, which backwater are you from?"
"Rotanlan."
Su Xiao answered almost without thinking. When someone asks where you're from, hesitating would obviously mean you're making it up on the spot.
"What?"
Xiao was slightly stunned.
"Rotanlan Continent."
"Never heard of it. But anyway, you might be the strongest outsider I've ever met. If you're not afraid to die, follow me. As for her, let her wait in the hyena territory. Those hyenas wouldn't dare provoke a demon clan, especially a big trouble like her."
Lilith nodded to Su Xiao, indicating she wasn't afraid of those people in the Black Swamp. Not just the Black Swamp—she wasn't even afraid of Asaka itself. That was the benefit of having backing. Who knew how many old demons would be provoked if someone touched a demon with such pure bloodline? Cyan-green eyes, goat hooves—these represented too much. Unless it was an irreconcilable feud, neither the Black Swamp nor Asaka would actively provoke Lilith.
Lilith walked toward the outer area. She seemed to have some kind of shadow regarding something in the central area, though she herself didn't know what it was.
Su Xiao and Xiao walked along the desolate streets. Xiao appeared to have the killer's mystique, but he was actually quite talkative and enjoyed communicating with others. However, due to his identity as an assassin, he rarely had the chance to speak. He couldn't exactly chat with his targets, so this talkative man was nearly going stir-crazy.
"We've known each other for a full 17 minutes and 25 seconds. What should I call you?"
"Bai Ye."
"Hmm, a fitting name for a killer. What's your purpose in the Black Abyss?"
"Looking for something."
"Specific details?"
"Sorry, can't disclose."
"Is that so? So you want to join Asaka with a fake name and a purpose of unknown authenticity?"
Xiao's tone carried a hint of amusement.
"Pretty much. Any suggestions?"
"Nothing for now. But... I can recommend you."
"..."
Su Xiao stopped walking, locking eyes with the masked Xiao. He still didn't understand the other's intentions—whether it was his sudden appearance or his almost invitation-like offer to join Asaka.
In truth, Su Xiao had overlooked a crucial point: his strength in the shallow layers of the Black Abyss wasn't weak. Not top-tier, but definitely in the upper echelons. What truly gave him a sense of crisis was the promotion quest with a difficulty of Fifth Rank. According to Sha, Su Xiao could already survive in the middle layers of the Black Abyss, let alone the shallow ones.
A traveler like Su Xiao—without obvious background, covered in blood aura, clearly not a good person—was exactly the kind of target Asaka liked to recruit. As for bringing suspicious people into Asaka and creating hidden dangers, that wasn't a problem. Even if the Penitent's Heights were flattened, Asaka would still exist. A killer organization as ancient as this couldn't be destroyed so easily.
After Xiao led Su Xiao through the central area in several circles, they arrived at a half-collapsed building. As Xiao approached, a 3D holographic scan emerged around them.
Click, click, click...
The mechanisms on the ground sprang open, revealing a metal staircase leading downward. Xiao strode into the underground room as if entering his own home—because it actually was his home.
The underground room wasn't as oppressive as one might imagine. It was lavishly decorated, at least several hundred square meters in size. The left side was Xiao's living area, while the right side was filled with all kinds of weapons—thousands of them, densely packed. These were Xiao's trophies: one kill, one trophy.
Thump, thump.
Xiao tossed two bundles, one large and one small, in front of Su Xiao.
"Welcome to Asaka."
"..."
The initiation ceremony lasted about two seconds. Su Xiao finally understood why Asaka wasn't afraid of spies. With such a simple and crude recruitment method and organizational integration approach, even if there were spies, what could they do? Perhaps even Xiao himself didn't know where Asaka's headquarters was. Or rather, this killer organization simply didn't have a headquarters—that kind of obvious target.
Heard but unseen, unfindable. When you need it, it will find you. That was what a true killer organization was like.
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Thank you to all the readers for your concern
The cold hasn't fully recovered yet, but the fever has mostly subsided. As long as my mind is clear, writing shouldn't be a problem.
I'll try to maintain three chapters a day for now. Once I'm better, that goes without saying. Originally, it was my father who caught the cold first. A few days later, he recovered, and my mother got sick. A few more days, she recovered, and I got sick. Just when I thought it was because of my weak constitution, I went to the clinic today for an IV drip because the fever was too uncomfortable, and I found so many patients there. I waited from 10 AM to almost 11 AM before I could get the drip (it wasn't a very big clinic).
The coughing in that room—if you heard it, you'd die laughing. Out of breath, the kind where you're coughing and suddenly go silent, then feel like throwing up. Yes, that's how I was coughing too. After asking the doctor, the old man told me, "This cold is like this. Just take some cough medicine and it'll be fine."