20: The family's last act of madness: Hire an assassin!

The night was deep, dark clouds obscured the moonlight, seemingly foretelling the tragic fate awaiting the Gu Family.

In the study of the Gu Family Manor, smoke swirled in the air.

Gu Zhan sat behind the wide mahogany desk, holding a cigar burned down to the filter between his fingers, his hand trembling slightly.

Before him lay a freshly compiled financial report, its numbers all glaring red deficits.

Company accounts frozen, stocks hitting limit-down, penalty payments... The once infinitely glorious Gu Group now resembled a tattered ship riddled with holes, ready to sink at any moment.

"It's over... it's all over..."

Gu Zhan's voice was hoarse and strained.

Madam Li sat on the sofa nearby, her face wrapped in thick bandages, with only two nostrils exposed for breathing. She clutched tightly to the phone with the shattered screen, her only remaining tool for contacting the outside world.

"It's all that little bastard's fault!"

Madam Li venomously squeezed these words through gritted teeth, "He destroyed everything! He's the one who brought us to this state!"

"He must die! Only with him dead will this bad luck disperse!"

In the corner, Gu Yu, with his broken leg, sat in a wheelchair. The layer of black soot on his face was still as dark as charcoal, but the lingering red patches remained a shocking sight.

"Dad, Mom is right."

Gu Yu said coldly, "Since overt methods don't work, then we play dirty. That Senior Simp is a waste, and Lin Mengyao is just a pretty face, but in this world, there are plenty of people who will do anything for money."

"How much money do we have left?" Gu Zhan lifted his bloodshot eyes.

"Liquid funds... only five million left."

Gu Yu glanced at the account, "The rest are all locked by the bank. This is from the private account Mom secretly stashed away."

"Five million..."

Gu Zhan let out a bitter laugh, "In the past, this was just the cost of a single meal for me. Now it's actually become our last lifeline."

He took a deep breath and made up his mind.

"Buy his life!"

Gu Zhan forcefully crushed the cigar in the ashtray, "Contact the 'Heaven's Punishment' organization! Even if it means losing everything, I want that rebellious son to never see tomorrow's sun!"

...The dark web, the Heaven's Punishment organization order placement interface.

Gu Yu expertly logged in using a virtual IP address. As an external member of Eden, he was no stranger to these dark corners.

But when he saw the exorbitant price list, he fell silent.

[Gold Rank Assassin (Grandmaster Level): Starting price 100 million federation coins (99% success rate)]

[Silver Rank Assassin (Transformation Realm Peak): Starting price 50 million federation coins (85% success rate)]

[Bronze Rank Assassin (Hidden Force Expert): Starting price 5 million federation coins (60% success rate)]

"This is too expensive..."

Gu Yu gritted his teeth. In the past, he would spend tens of millions even on a pet, but now he was haggling over the price of a murder.

"Just five million."

Gu Zhan urged from the side, "As long as it gets the job done! That vile spawn might be weird now, but he essentially has no cultivation! I refuse to believe a professional assassin can't handle a waste!"

"Alright!"

Gu Yu pressed the confirmation key.

[Order confirmed.]

[Acceptor: Night Owl (Bronze Rank Assassin).]

[Evaluation: Proficient in nighttime stealth, silent assassination, prefers using poisoned daggers, never failed a job (Note: Refers to targeting ordinary people).]

"Order placed."

Gu Yu's eyes were filled with madness, "Tonight will be his death day!"

...2 AM.

The time when people sleep the deepest.

A ghostly black shadow silently scaled the Gu Family Manor's three-meter-high wall.

Night Owl.

True to his name, he wore a black, tight-fitting night suit, special silent shoes, and an infrared night vision goggle on his face.

He climbed the villa's outer wall quickly, like a gecko.

As a veteran who had been in the assassin world for ten years, he actually looked down on this mission.

"Five million? To kill a rich second generation?"

Night Owl snorted inwardly, "It's practically an insult to my craft. I could crush ten of these pampered young masters with one hand."

But he was short on cash recently, and having lost a lot on that gambling app called 'Ping Du Du,' he took on this measly task.

According to the employer's intel, the target lived in the master bedroom on the second floor.

Which was formerly Gu Yu's collection room.

Night Owl skillfully pried open the window at the end of the second-floor corridor.

His movements were fluid and natural, not making a single sound.

"Professional. This is professionalism."

Night Owl was quite satisfied with his lock-picking skills just now.

He crept stealthily into the room.

By the faint light from the window, he saw the figure sleeping soundly on the bed.

Gu Fan was sleeping soundly, even snoring lightly.

The blanket was kicked aside, revealing his defenseless chest.

"Hah, truly lacking any vigilance."

Night Owl drew a dark blue dagger from his waist.

It was coated with the deadly poison 'Touch of Blood, Seal the Throat.' Even a scratch would kill an elephant on the spot.

He stepped closer to the bedside.

Three meters... two meters... one meter.

Night Owl raised the dagger.

His eyes held only the desire to complete the task, get the money, and recoup his losses.

"Goodbye, kid."

"Remember in your next life not to offend your own family."

Night Owl silently recited the closing line in his mind, killing intent fully revealed.

[Ding!]

In this silent night, the System notification exploded in Gu Fan's mind, but he just rolled over, not waking up at all.

System auto-management is the deadliest.

[Detected professional-level assassination malice from the professional assassin 'Night Owl.']

[Malice nature: Premeditated murder, poisoned weapon, trespassing.]

[Malice level: A+.]

[Retribution triggered! Multiplier: Sixty-five times.]

[Random effect generating... Detected current location is the former 'Gu Yu Collection Room,' with the third-floor luxury bathroom under expansion directly above.]

[Congratulations on selecting: Heavenly Justice (Super Doubled Bathtub Edition).]

[Effect description: As an excellent assassin, maintaining cleanliness is important. Here's a bath, you're welcome.]

Just as Night Owl's arm muscles tensed and the dagger was about to strike down.

Suddenly.

A grating, teeth-chilling "creak" came from above.

The sound was like some massive object crushing fragile supports.

Night Owl paused, instinctively looking up.

Through the night vision goggles, he saw a crack appear in the ceiling.

Immediately after, the crack rapidly expanded and spread.

"What the..."

Before he could finish.

"BOOM————!!!"

A tremendous crash.

The ceiling collapsed.

It turned out that Gu Yu, to show off, had insisted on installing a one-ton pure natural marble bathtub in his new room on the third floor (directly above Gu Fan's room) a while ago.

But because the family was short on money recently, the construction crew cut corners, and the load-bearing structure was already precarious.

Plus, the resonance damage to the floor slab caused by the earlier wheelchair-top incident.

At this very moment, under the effect of Karma, this shoddy construction project finally reached the end of its lifespan.

That huge, white, marble bathtub—which hadn't even been connected to water yet—along with countlessgravel and cement chunks, plummeted down like a meteor from the sky.

Target: Night Owl directly below.

"Holy shit!"

Night Owl only had time to utter this final career epitaph.

"Thud!"

The bathtub landed with pinpoint accuracy.

Like a giant lid, it sealed Night Owl completely against the floor.

And Gu Fan's bed was just one centimeter from the edge of the bathtub, completely unharmed.

Even the dust was blown away by the airwave from the impact.

But it wasn't over yet.

The poisoned dagger in Night Owl's hand flew out from the shock.

It spun three and a half times in the air, then, under gravity, plunged straight down through the bathtub's bottom drain hole.

"Squelch!"

An extremely suppressed, muffled scream came from inside.

Because it was covered by the bathtub, the sound couldn't escape, only a series of frantic banging noises could be heard, like a rat trapped in a tin can.

That dagger landed perfectly, right on Night Owl's... well, his buttocks again.

Only this time, it was poisoned.

The huge commotion finally woke Gu Fan.

He sat up, bleary-eyed.

Looking at the suddenly appeared, massive bathtub before him that had smashed a big hole in the floor and was still vibrating slightly.

And the dust filling the room.

Gu Fan froze for two seconds.

Then, he saw a section of the still-trembling dagger handle protruding from the bathtub's drain hole.

"Huh?"

Gu Fan reached out and knocked on the bathtub wall.

"Thump thump."

A weak scratching sound came from inside.

"Who's being so polite in the middle of the night?"

Gu Fan sighed and shook his head, "If you're giving a gift, why bring your own bathtub to scrub my back?"

"But this entrance is way too hardcore. I wonder if that fake young master downstairs will think it's an earthquake."

He didn't lift the bathtub.

After all, the person inside was probably already foaming at the mouth from that 'Touch of Blood, Seal the Throat' poison.

Although as a Martial Artist his Physique might not kill him, paralysis is a certainty.

Meanwhile, in the study.

Hearing the tremendous crash, Gu Zhan and Gu Yu turned pale.

"Success? Such a big commotion?" Gu Yu said excitedly.

"No... something's wrong..."

Gu Zhan trembled all over, "This doesn't sound like killing someone... more like demolishing a house..."

Ten minutes later.

When police sirens blared throughout the Gu Family Manor.