Chapter Seventy: The Tenacious Assassin

"Are you feeling extremely hot right now, and your skin is itching as if countless ants are crawling all over you?" Chu Feng sat in his chair, legs crossed, a cigarette burning between his lips as he gazed indifferently at the assassin before him.

The assassin did not reply, for what Chu Feng described was precisely the reaction he was experiencing. Not only was his body burning with heat, but the itching was unbearable, making him want to scratch desperately. Yet, he had undergone special training, and his willpower was formidable, so he forced himself to endure the body's instinctive response. Still, his body had begun to tremble ever so slightly.

"I once conducted this experiment on another assassin. He lasted forty-five seconds. I want to see if you can surpass that." Chu Feng spoke half-truth, half-lie; he had indeed tested this technique before, but not on an assassin—rather, on a notorious crime syndicate boss who surrendered after only ten seconds.

Seconds ticked by. The assassin lay on the ground, his body trembling, his face flushed red, battling the impulses surging through him. His endurance was owed entirely to his iron will.

A minute and a half passed. Sweat had broken out on the assassin’s body, and seeing that he had lasted so long, Chu Feng’s eyes betrayed a hint of surprise. He had not expected the assassin to endure for so long.

After two minutes and fifteen seconds, the assassin was still gritting his teeth, his entire body drenched in sweat, his eyelids nearly unable to lift.

At the three-minute mark, Chu Feng swiftly pulled out all the silver needles from the assassin’s body. If he continued, there was a risk the assassin might bite his tongue and end his own life, rendering all Chu Feng had done futile.

Once the needles were removed, the assassin felt the itch and heat subside. He breathed a sigh of relief, sitting there gasping heavily.

"Impressive. You truly live up to your reputation as a specially trained assassin; your willpower is extraordinary to last three minutes." Chu Feng’s words were not mocking, but genuinely praising him.

"I hope you can withstand what comes next. I prefer hard nuts like you." Chu Feng produced four silver needles and roasted them briefly over a flame.

Once the needles were hot, Chu Feng inserted two into the soles of each of the assassin’s feet.

"This time, I bet you won't last ninety seconds. If you do, I'll let you go." Chu Feng spoke with such confidence, it was clear he had prepared a powerful dose for the assassin.

Gradually, the assassin felt an intense itching spread across his feet, growing worse with every passing second. Slowly, he reached his hand toward his soles, wanting to scratch.

But as he saw Chu Feng looking at him with a smile, he halted his hand just a few centimeters from his feet, his fingers trembling violently, caught in a fierce internal struggle.

After about forty seconds, the assassin could no longer hold back. Both hands plunged toward his feet, scratching frantically, as if only this could ease the torment.

Seeing this, Chu Feng knew his purpose had been achieved. He removed all four silver needles from the assassin’s feet.

"Answer my question, or next time it won’t be your feet—it’ll be your hands. Then let’s see what you use to scratch." Chu Feng poured a bottle of mineral water over the assassin’s face to help clear his mind.

"My code name is Mad Dog. I belong to the Scorching Sun Mercenary Organization. My mission here is to take your life. As for who hired me, I don’t know." Despite the torment, Mad Dog spoke with conviction, his eyes burning with defiance.

"How much did your employer pay for my life? And besides you, did anyone else from your organization come to China?" Chu Feng suddenly wondered what price had been placed on his head.

"Fifty million Chinese yuan. Our rule is that whoever accepts the mission carries it out alone—no one else comes along." Mad Dog’s eyes did not flicker as he spoke the sum, as if fifty million yuan was no more than five dollars to him.

"Is there any mission on your organization's list targeting an elder surnamed Chen?" Chu Feng wanted to know if the mastermind had commissioned the Scorching Sun group to kill Old Chen.

"No. Right now, your bounty is the highest at fifty million yuan. That’s the greatest mission I could take." The assassin stared at Chu Feng as he spoke, unable to fathom how the target possessed such formidable skills, or why the intelligence had been so flawed.

"Are you surprised—surprised that my skills are so strong, that I’ve dodged your crossbows time and again?" Chu Feng noticed the defiant glint in Mad Dog’s eyes fixed upon him.

"Yes. If it weren’t for our intelligence being wrong, you’d already be a corpse, and the fifty million reward would be mine." Mad Dog simmered with resentment; the bounty was almost within reach, but faulty intelligence had ruined everything.

"Tell me your headquarters’ exact location and how many guards you have there." Chu Feng had no desire to be hunted by the Scorching Sun Organization—they had to be destroyed for him to be free of worry.

"Don’t waste your effort. Even if you knew where our headquarters is, you wouldn’t have the strength to wipe it out unless you brought the most elite special forces from the Chinese military." Mad Dog looked at Chu Feng with a flash of disdain. He simply didn’t believe Chu Feng could destroy his organization.

"I don’t have the authority to mobilize the highest-level special action teams, but my own special unit is sufficient to raze your lair." Chu Feng could read Mad Dog’s expression—he was being underestimated.

For a full hour, Chu Feng interrogated the assassin in the room. When he emerged, his face was alight with satisfaction—clearly, he had gained much.

Afterward, he found Ma Han and the others sprawled on the ground, evidently exhausted after the night’s ordeal, fast asleep.

"Wake up. Once we finish our business, you can sleep for a whole day," Chu Feng roused Ma Han.

"How did your interrogation go? Why did the people from Sakura Path come to China again, and why did I have to run into them?"