“Well, well! Mr. Ansari, back again?” The city hall clerk, who was sorting through some documents, spotted a familiar face and greeted him warmly.

“That’s right. Register this for me—the fresh catch from tonight.” Ansari greeted the policemen he’d gotten to know along the way. He’d been here so many times, the place almost felt like home.

“Who is it this time?” The clerk pulled up the records with practiced ease.

“Leng Qianfeng, the Twin Ming Swordsman. The one who gave you all a headache last time.” Ansari held up the severed head as he spoke.

“Another big fish… This is the fifteenth B-rank-or-higher target you’ve taken out this month. Thanks to you, crime in our city is down three percentage points.” The clerk got to work on the files with practiced ease. Whenever Ansari showed up, it was never for something small. At first, he’d even alarmed the higher-ups at city hall. But everyone had gotten used to it by now. Seeing Ansari was like seeing family.

“That mysterious expert still doesn’t want to show his face?” After settling the bounty and the paperwork, the clerk handed them over to Ansari and asked casually.

“That’s right, so I’ll keep filling in for him~.” Ansari grinned as he took the money and weighed it in his hand. Satisfied that the amount was right, he didn’t linger. He turned and left.

After leaving city hall, Ansari cut through an alley with the money pouch in hand. It held thirteen gold coins—enough to cover two months’ expenses, with meat on the table every day. It was quite a fortune. But in Yixing’s hands, money like this usually didn’t last past the following week.

He left the bright central district and returned to the slums, where chaos ran rampant.

Yixing had chosen this place because it was a melting pot. Mages who’d spent every last coin chasing impossible dreams wandered its streets, alongside penniless warriors—and, more commonly, lunatics. Countless people here were willing to risk their lives for their next meal. It was the perfect place to hide.

As for why they had to hide, Ansari had no idea. The boss gave an order, and he followed it. Yixing had done more than enough to earn his respect.

Ansari carefully pushed the door open and stepped into the little house. Seeing no one around, he called out, “Boss? Yixing?”

“Shh. Keep your voice down. You’ll scare her.” Yixing came out and pointed to the bed. Perhaps from sheer fright and exhaustion, the girl had already fallen asleep.

“Huh? Why’d you bring her back? Don’t tell me you’re planning to raise her.” Ansari was a little confused. The little girl had been through a miserable ordeal, but there were plenty of miserable people in the world. They couldn’t help everyone. They weren’t gods.

“I couldn’t just leave her somewhere, could I? Watch her get sold off by that good-for-nothing mother when she wakes up?” Yixing shrugged.

“Sigh… Fine. You’re the boss. It’s your call.” Ansari set the money pouch on the table. “Thirteen coins in all. Count them.”

“All right.” Yixing sat down and counted out seven coins, then held them out to Ansari. But Ansari pushed them back.

“You should keep these. There’s something I need to tell you, boss. I have to leave for a while. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.” Ansari looked troubled, letting out a weary sigh as he pushed the money back.

“Are you in trouble? Tell me about it. I’ll take care of it for you.” Yixing tilted his head. He’d worked with Ansari for years, but this was the first time he’d seen him look like that.

“No. I have to go home for a matchmaking meeting.” Ansari looked even more troubled.

“Pfft!”

Yixing patted Ansari on the shoulder with a sympathetic look. “Brother Ansari, my condolences.”

“My dad’s been hounding me about it. I’m leaving first thing tomorrow morning. Boss, are you still planning to keep doing this?”

Yixing didn’t answer right away. He folded his arms and fell into thought.

Ansari had always handled the intelligence, paperwork, and all the other tedious odds and ends. Without him, Yixing would be completely lost. And… there was also the risk of exposing his identity. As a super-criminal the police were still hunting, he had no intention of dealing with them…

Reading Yixing’s expression, Ansari nodded in understanding. “I can’t work with you for a while, but I know you, boss. There’s no way you can bring yourself to leave that little girl behind, is there?”

Yixing gave a bitter smile. “What else could I do? Leave her to fend for herself? Could you do that?”

“You can’t help everyone.”

“Then I’ll help one person at a time. Just like last time—we’ll let her go once she can look after herself.”

“…Fine. You’re the boss. It’s your call.”

While Yixing and the others discussed what to do, two people stood by Leng Qianfeng’s corpse, their faces grim.

The woman who’d fallen into a drug-induced hallucination earlier had come to her senses by now. She was trembling on the ground, gazing hopefully after the group as they walked away.

“Leng Qianfeng is dead. The wound is clean… Whoever did this is skilled.” One of them examined the body. He was a middle-aged man with an unremarkable face and a piercing gaze.

“Do you know who did it?” The other person, a woman whose face was hidden, turned to question the woman. She took a small bottle from her hand. “They didn’t kill you, so you must’ve seen who they were, right?”

At the sight of the medicine bottle, the woman’s breathing quickened. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t remember. By the time Yixing had appeared, she’d already been lost in a drugged stupor.

“I… I’d taken something then. I… I didn’t notice.” She stammered, filled with regret that she’d missed the chance to get free medicine.

“You didn’t notice?” The woman questioning her frowned, then put the bottle away.

“No! Please, I’m begging you!” Sweat broke out across her forehead. She had no money to buy more medicine, but without it… she’d rather be dead!

In her desperation, a thought suddenly struck her. Wasn’t her daughter missing?

At the thought, she immediately looked up, delighted. “My lady, my lady! I don’t know where that person went, but I do know one thing—he took my daughter! I have a portrait of her. If you follow the trail, you’re sure to find him!” She hurriedly rummaged through the house and dug out a treasured portrait. It showed a beautiful young woman, smiling blissfully. Back then… their family hadn’t fallen apart yet.

With a fawning smile, the woman presented the portrait to the other woman as if it were a treasure.

“You peasants actually had enough money to hire a portrait artist?” the middle-aged man asked with an amused look.

“Back then, I thought my daughter was the most important thing in the world. But now… heh.” The woman smiled ingratiatingly, her eyes repeatedly darting to the bottle in the other woman’s hand.

“Very good.” The woman took the portrait, then bent down with a gentle smile and patted the woman’s cheek. “Now you can die.”

Before the words had even left her mouth, the woman’s head suddenly burst apart. Not a drop of blood splattered, though. Her headless body fell to the ground, and only then did blood begin to trickle from her severed neck.

The woman straightened and waved the portrait at the man. “Find this girl. She should lead us to the one who killed Leng Qianfeng. Then we’ll… behead them in front of everyone.”

“Understood. I’ll make sure every bounty hunter knows that anyone who lays a hand on the Non-God Society is choosing death.” The man spoke calmly, then took the portrait.