Chapter 54 - Crafty Approach
Unsurprisingly, the word ‘missing’ appeared behind Xiao Yu’s full name, bolded out in bright red color.
Xia Fei’s heart sank as he hesitated for a moment before clicking on her name. Almost instantly, the information regarding Xiao Yu was displayed right before his eyes.
Name: Su Ruoyu
Gender: Female
Age: 11
Place of birth: Pan Human Alliance, Endaro Star Region, Earth Federation.
Special Ability: Amethyst Guard
Rank: Primary Star Base
The first round of assessment had already finished, so many candidates were carrying their bags and preparing to leave. All of them had a heart full of excitement and hope on arrival, yet all they were left with now was just disappointment and a body in pain.
Xia Fei waved goodbye to a big and tall candidate, possessing a height that could easily qualify for a basketball player and a physique that could do weightlifting. This man was presently carrying a heavy backpack, wordless as he got ready to board a spaceship that would take him home.
His left arm was heavily bandaged, and tears ran down his cheeks. His torso was bent over like he was a huge shrimp, and the big and fat head of his was drooping, almost as if he were about to kneel over to the ground.
“Look, this is what a loser looks like. I admit that I would have a very tough time beating that battle maniac Chen Dong, but I do not wish to leave so crest-fallen. Even if I’m beaten, I’ll make sure to return home with my back straight and head held high!”
Xia Fei’s eyes glowed as he spoke, like he had fired a ray of light right at that burly man’s back.
That man felt an intensity build behind him, but he was not in the mood to pay any attention to it. With a sigh, he trudged along and took the escalator up to get on the spaceship.
With that, Xia Fei somewhat embarrassingly used his hand to scratch the back of his head, laughing, “I forgot, I’m still staying in a hotel right now. How can that even be called a home?!”
“Then, I’ll just raise my head and head back to the hotel!” Xia Fei cracked a joke to Phantom.
Phantom was completely moved by Xia Fei’s seemingly calm yet absolutely stirring speech. He gritted his teeth and very gravely said, “I believe there’s a way to help you, perhaps. Though winning is still improbable, you would at least not lose too badly in the fight.”
“What method is this? Trickery? I’ve already thought about that. Against an opponent who possesses true strength that far outstripped my own, deception is of no use,” Xia Fei remarked.
Phantom shook his head as if he had already made some sort of decision, “Do you know why the Crafty Thrust technique isn’t called Assassination technique, and why there’s that word ‘crafty’ added to it? 1”
Xia Fei shrugged, “How would I know. Isn’t it just because it sounds cool?”
Phantom chuckled, “It’s because Crafty Thrust isn’t just a thrust technique. There’s another approach to the technique that focuses on craftiness!”
Xia Fei was slightly surprised, “Do you mean to say that I’ve actually only learned half of Crafty Thrust and that there’s still another half to the technique that I’ve not touched yet?”
Phantom nodded with a measure of delight, “That’s right! You’ve only grasped Thrust, and not Crafty!”
Xia Fei’s expression turned somber as the smile disappeared from his face. “Why have I never heard you mention this? Then why did you impart me with just half of it?”
The moment Xia Fei said this, he already understood the part of the reason behind it. “I got it. Every time you speak of your master, you turn into a different person. I suppose this must be your master’s rules, making it impossible for you to teach the true Crafty Thrust to me?”
Phantom was a little helpless as he replied, “I’m greatly indebted to my master, so how could I break the rules that he had set in place.”
Xia Fei was even more puzzled, “Since you don’t plan to impart Crafty Thrust to me, why are you telling me about it? Are you just deliberately teasing me? Man, you’re really quite unbearable if you’re doing such distasteful things.”
“I didn’t say I’m not teaching you,” Phantom hastily corrected him, “But you need to agree to a few conditions.”
Xia Fei was elated, “As long as I can learn the Crafty approach, I’d agree to any of your conditions.”
Phantom assumed a very serious pose and used his hands to rub his chin for a while before saying, “If there’s ever a day in the future where my master is in trouble, you will need to take my place and help him, not refusing this responsibility even if it means certain death.”
Xia Fei nodded, gravely replying, “That is only appropriate. Learning the extinct technique of your master, I could be considered an external disciple, and it only makes sense for a disciple to aid his or her master when they are in trouble.”
“Second. If my master dies one day, you’ll have to take my place to send him off, and you’ll have to guard his grave for three years.”
“Third….”
Phantom gave a wordy recitation of 13 conditions, each one all relating to his master. It could be seen that even though Phantom had failed as an assassin, his respect toward his master and his own discipleship ran deep, and could be considered a sentimental and righteous assassin.
Xia Fei very readily agreed to everything Phantom had stated, and as for whether he was willing to do everything asked of him, that was something only Xia Fei and the heavens knew.
“Any other requests?” Xia Fei asked. “I’ll agree to everything if there’s still more.”
Phantom lowered his head and thought for a good long while, “That should be it. If you’re able to adhere to these 13 conditions, I wouldn’t be considered betraying my master if I impart the full Crafty Thrust technique to you.”
“After all your talking, I still have no clue about the name of your master. What is it?” Xia Fei asked.
“That… Wel…” Phantom was a little hesitant. “Let’s leave that to another day. I’ll tell you when the time is right.”
…
It was already late in the night before Xia Fei returned back to his bunk completely exhausted.
Phantom’s Crafty approach had truly lived up to its name; it was something that would add a myriad of variations and adaptations to the act of assassination, making it that much more difficult for enemies to guard against and was absolutely unpredictable.
Unfortunately, Xia Fei had been unable to demonstrate the full potential of the approach with his current strength. Variations were not a simple matter. It required him to have powerful bodily mobility to work in tandem with the approach, given how there would be a greater strain on the body as the variations in the approach increased.
He made very slow progress with today’s training, which was very likely due to the fact that Xia Fei’s body had yet to recover back to its peak state. After seven consecutive days of forgoing sleep, just getting several hours of sleep the night before was far from enough.
That was why Xia Fei was not in any rush to succeed but was sensibly taking the time for rest.
Without even taking off his suit, Xia Fei collapsed headfirst into his bed to get some sleep.
The instant his body touched the bed, Xia Fei instantly felt something underneath him and he panicked.
Reaching his hand out, Xia Fei felt several rings under him. Xia Fei had not just obtained two tokens during the first round of assessment, but he had also collected three other spatial rings and a spatial bracelet. Among this lot was also that emerald-stone ring that Xiao Yong had handed over. Xia Fei had yet to inspect its content.
Xia Fei took these items in hand as his eyes rested on the ring that he had not yet checked, “I’ve yet to find the time to examine the contents within this ring, could there be something good inside?”
With that thought in mind, he placed the ring by his bedside table, “Forget it. I’ll wait until tomorrow before I take a look.”
Footnotes:
<h5>Ch 54 Footnote 1</h5>
A little wordplay that is lost in translation.
What Phantom is talking about is how assassination is formed with the chinese characters 刺杀, while Crafty Thrust was named 诡刺.
Basically, Assassination and Crafty Thrust share the same chinese character 刺, which means pierce/thrust, and Phantom is trying to say there’s more to the name than merely just what it appears.