Chapter 33: Lenore’s Temptation

“Ahh…!” Despite everything, the female assassin let out a soft, sensual moan after her delicate body crashed heavily against the floor.

However, her alluring groan had absolutely no effect on Zhang Wen, who had narrowly escaped death moments ago. Noticing that the assassin had sustained little damage despite his strike, Zhang Wen grew even more cautious. He firmly pinned her beneath him and yanked off the silk scarf covering her face.

“Linoar?” Zhang Wen couldn’t help but smile when he saw the seductive face beneath the scarf. The attacker was actually Linoar—this outcome was both unexpected and yet somehow made sense.

Ever since he had secretly witnessed Linoar’s ambiguous dealings with Oude in the library, Zhang Wen had anticipated that one day she would discover he was the one who had been watching and attempt to silence him permanently. Still, he hadn’t expected her to strike at such a delicate moment, and in person no less!

“Hmm.” Hearing Zhang Wen call her name, Linoar, still pinned beneath him on the floor, let out a nasal sound that was neither clearly a groan nor a response.

Seeing that Linoar, now captured, showed no sign of panic on her beautiful face, Zhang Wen grew even more cautious. He had no idea what other tricks she might have up her sleeve that allowed her to remain so confident.

“Teacher Linoar, would you care to explain why you’re in my room holding this weapon and trying to kill me?” Zhang Wen said casually, while binding her legs tightly to prevent any sudden movements.

“Ahh…” Linoar furrowed her brow again, letting out a moan that made one’s heart melt. Then she lifted her seductive face and softly retorted, “What do you think?”

“Now it’s my turn to ask the questions,” Zhang Wen said coldly, pressing the short blade she had used to attack him against the beautiful teacher’s neck.

“Oh? Are you going to kill me? Fine then! Go ahead, do it!” Zhang Wen’s action didn’t cause Linoar the slightest bit of panic; she simply laughed as if it were nothing. On the other hand, Zhang Wen was visibly annoyed and frowned.

In fact, at this moment, it was actually Zhang Wen who felt more troubled than Linoar, who had been captured after failing in her assassination attempt. After all, Zhang Wen had no real evidence proving that Linoar was a spy, and no one at the academy would believe that the beautiful, promising teacher Linoar would randomly try to kill an insignificant nobody like him.

If something were to happen to Linoar while she was in his hands, at least ninety percent of the academy would probably believe that Zhang Wen had lured her to his room out of lust, attempted to rape her, and then killed her to cover it up. Worse still, someone might even link Zhang Wen to the recent terrorists. In that case, he’d likely end up being executed alongside her.

Of course, Zhang Wen wasn’t someone who was used to being manipulated by his enemies, especially not by someone who had already fallen into his hands yet still dared to mock him openly. This only made Zhang Wen even angrier.

“That’s right, I don’t want to kill you,” Zhang Wen suddenly smiled, lowering his head toward Linoar’s seductive face. “But, Teacher Linoar, you came to my room as an assassin. I’m guessing you wouldn’t want the academy to know about this, right?”

“What do you want?” Linoar’s expression changed abruptly under Zhang Wen’s malicious smile, her tone suddenly tense.

“What do I want? Ha! Of course I wouldn’t dare do anything. But it’s such a shame and tragedy that the flower of Almestis Academy, the beautiful Teacher Linoar, was raped by a terrorist who infiltrated the academy, and then was murdered and dumped naked into the artificial lake. It’s truly heartbreaking. Don’t you agree, Teacher Linoar?” Zhang Wen smiled as he looked at Linoar, deliberately letting his gaze slowly travel down from her delicate face, along her long neck, and finally settle on her full chest.

Linoar felt as though Zhang Wen’s gaze were a sharp dagger slowly peeling her away, exposing everything she had. This sensation made her body involuntarily stiffen, and her face paled slightly.

However, Linoar’s tension came quickly and faded just as fast. She stared at Zhang Wen for a moment, then suddenly smiled, her body completely relaxing as if she had accepted her fate and was willing to let Zhang Wen do as he pleased.

“What? Figured it out, did you?” Zhang Wen, still on top of her, couldn’t help but notice the change in the woman beneath him.

“Hehe! Naturally. Losing to a former Mithril Hunter, I can only admit defeat gracefully,” Linoar smiled, her eyes locked directly onto Zhang Wen’s.

“Mithril Hunter?” Zhang Wen frowned. Linoar’s behavior had already made him realize that she seemed to have mistaken his identity greatly.

“What? You’re not going to admit it even in front of me?” Linoar asked with a half-smile.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“Is that so? I know exactly what I’m saying, Teacher Zhang,” Linoar said, elegantly lifting the corner of her lips, emphasizing the words “Teacher Zhang.” “To qualify as a Mithril Hunter, one must master a unique martial art completely different from all current techniques. Teacher Zhang, surely you won’t tell me that the martial arts you taught Zack and Cloud, and the one you guided Amyris in yesterday, are all imperial martial arts?”

“Hmph. If you’re so sure, why aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you to silence you?” Zhang Wen said with a half-smile. He was now certain that Linoar had mistaken his identity.

“Giggles, you certainly won’t!” Linoar confidently laughed, her tone carrying a mysterious undertone. “We’re both cautious about each other right now. Of course, I wouldn’t be foolish enough to reveal your identity to others. If you still kill me after that, wouldn’t you be asking for trouble? Besides, don’t you want to know why I risked being silenced to come find you?”

“Yes, why exactly did you come? Teacher Linoar, didn’t you already reach an agreement with Director Oude? What could possibly involve me, an insignificant little nobody?”

“Hmph, I knew it was you the moment I saw you peeking,” Linoar gave him a seductive glare before turning serious again. “Alright, since you’ve brought it up, I won’t beat around the bush anymore. Yes, I came to find you, the former Mithril Hunter, for help.”

“Hmph! I’m still very curious—what makes you so sure I’m the former Mithril Hunter you’re looking for?” Seeing Linoar turn serious, Zhang Wen also adopted a colder expression.

“Ha! Teacher Zhang, you’re being overly cautious, aren’t you? Although the members of the Mithril Council don’t know each other’s true identities, you’re quite a well-known figure within our organization. I know a bit about your background. A year ago, you led the ‘Ruby Scepter’ in a battle against the Syndicate, and after being completely wiped out by them, you disappeared. Although the Syndicate claimed that your group was entirely eliminated, we know you managed to escape. It’s just that no one knows where you’ve been hiding.”

“Oh?” Zhang Wen drew out the sound, outwardly calm but his mind racing.

Mithril? Zhang Wen was certain he had never joined such an organization. In fact, he didn’t even recall ever hearing that name before! Linoar had clearly mistaken him for someone else. However, Linoar had already revealed too much information to him. If he continued to deny being the so-called “Mithril Hunter” she was looking for, he might have to confront her directly right now.

The threat of raping and then killing her was merely a bluff on Zhang Wen’s part. He could indulge in a bit of verbal bravado, but if he actually did it, he would likely be discovered as the murderer and end up being executed alongside Linoar. Unless absolutely necessary, Zhang Wen had no intention of doing something so self-defeating.

“What makes you so sure I’m the one who escaped from the Mithril Hunters?” At this point, he could only feign interest and continue questioning her.

“Hehe. Teacher Zhang, you don’t plan to keep pressing me like this forever, do you?” Linoar lifted her head and gently twisted her body.

Perhaps Linoar’s intention in twisting her body was simply to remind Zhang Wen to let her shift into a more comfortable position. However, she seemed to have overlooked their current close proximity! As Linoar writhed like a serpent, Zhang Wen could distinctly feel the intense heat radiating from her delicate body beneath him. Particularly noticeable were the legs entwined together and the chests pressed tightly against each other, which, with Linoar’s movements, rubbed heavily a few times!

Recalling how Linoar had once worn a half-unbuttoned qipao, letting out enticing moans, slowly extending her long legs from beneath her skirt while gently caressing them with her hands, Zhang Wen now felt the soft yet firm sensation of her body, causing the Spring Water Technique within him to surge wildly once more.

Of course, Zhang Wen wasn’t the only one recalling those moments in the library. Linoar was well aware that all her private little actions from back then had been seen by this very man. The physical friction between their bodies caused a charming blush to involuntarily rise on Linoar’s seductive face. She shot Zhang Wen an embarrassed glare, her body stiffening as she stopped struggling altogether.

“Alright then,” Zhang Wen leisurely savored the previous intoxicating sensation for a while before slowly shifting off Linoar’s alluring body. This woman was truly an enchantress capable of driving a man wild. Zhang Wen smirked, not bothering to hide the appreciative gaze he cast over Linoar’s beautiful curves.

“Hmph!” Linoar let out a soft snort, then stood up, straightened her clothes, and calmly sat down opposite Zhang Wen. “It wasn’t easy for me to finally confirm you were the Mithril Hunter. Your current identity is quite cleverly constructed. A local from Cassares who entered Almestis Academy after saving Governor Temiso’s life. Hehe, no wonder you’re a former Mithril Hunter—your cover is flawless. But…”

“I recently had the chance to look into Cassares’ immigration records for the past few years. About a year ago, just after the Mithril was crushed by the Syndicate, a man using the alias Andre arrived on Cassares from the planet Feibola. And I happen to know there’s a secret Mithril base on Feibola. I checked with them recently, and they confirmed that they had arranged for this Andre to enter Cassares. However, he vanished immediately after arriving. Not long after, Cassares experienced a major assassination attempt on the governor. Then, an unknown, seemingly talentless street thug suddenly emerged to save the governor. After entering Almestis Academy, he displayed unexpectedly impressive abilities. Teacher Zhang, if you’re going to tell me all of this is just a coincidence, you’re seriously underestimating my intelligence.”

“Of course, what ultimately convinced me to come find you was this.” Linoar finished calmly, then pulled a small piece of paper from her pocket and tossed it in front of Zhang Wen.

Opening the paper, Zhang Wen saw a simple hand-drawn portrait. The face of the person in the drawing bore a striking resemblance to Zhang Wen. Below the image, scrawled in messy handwriting, was the name “Andre.”

After hearing Linoar’s lengthy explanation, Zhang Wen didn’t need to think too hard to guess that the sketch she had shown him was likely sent from the Mithril’s secret base on Feibola. Although the portrait wasn’t an exact match for Zhang Wen, such discrepancies were normal for hand-drawn sketches. Moreover, just like on Earth, this world had plastic surgery techniques. It would be easy for a Mithril Hunter on the run to alter their appearance.

With this sketch and the series of coincidences she had already presented, it wasn’t hard to understand why Linoar was so convinced that Zhang Wen was the “Mithril Hunter” who had come from Feibola.

As Zhang Wen picked up the sketch from Linoar, he immediately fell into deep thought. Because upon seeing this sketch, Zhang Wen recalled many strange incidents during Governor Temiso’s assassination attempt—things that had puzzled him at the time but which he had never been able to figure out.

Back when Governor Temiso was attacked, the assassin had managed to break through the governor’s elite guard in just a few minutes. This alone was enough to prove that the assassin at the time was at least a warrior of power beyond the tenth tier! At that time, although Zhang Wen had already achieved some minor success in cultivating the Spring Water Technique, he was at most a mere third- or fourth-tier nobody. Against a tenth-tier expert, a single flick of their little finger would have been enough to crush him into dust!

Yet, the assassin—who clearly possessed at least tenth-tier strength—only injured Zhang Wen when he threw himself in front of the governor to take the blow, rather than killing him outright! In fact, the injuries Zhang Wen sustained were so minor that he was fully recovered within half a month, without even the slightest aftereffects.

At the time, Zhang Wen thought it was merely due to the subtlety of his Spring Water Art combined with sheer luck. But now, after hearing Linoar’s account and looking at the image in his hand, he couldn’t help but consider another possibility.

Perhaps it wasn’t luck that allowed him to escape unscathed from the assassin, but rather the assassin had no intention of killing him from the start! The entire assassination attempt might have been a carefully staged performance, designed to allow that so-called “Mithril Hunter” to gain favor with the governor. As for himself, he had simply been fortunate enough to bear a striking resemblance to the Mithril Hunter, causing the assassin to mistake him for the target.

Moreover, Zhang Wen later heard that shortly after he blocked the first assassin’s attack, the governor’s guards had discovered a second “assassin” in the crowd and engaged him in fierce combat.

Zhang Wen was also well aware of how this “second assassin” met his end. The assassin’s strength was surprisingly weak; a few sixth-tier soldiers from the governor’s guard ganged up on him and killed him on the spot—a sharp contrast to the first assassin who had attacked the governor.

It was worth noting that the first assassin, the one blocked by Zhang Wen, had calmly broken through the encirclement of several tenth-tier experts from the governor’s elite guards and escaped unscathed. Later, the furious Governor Temisso had approached the Kemal Arena, offering a huge reward before Ironface personally intervened and killed the assassin on a farm at the city’s edge.

After Zhang Wen met Ironface, the two had once discussed that strange assassin. At the time, Ironface had frankly told Zhang Wen that he believed the assassin’s strength was no less than his own—perhaps even greater. However, the assassin had seemed to be injured and was fighting against multiple opponents, which likely led to his defeat.

When Zhang Wen first heard Ironface describe the battle with the mysterious assassin, he had assumed it was just modesty. After all, a full-strength attack from a warrior ranked among the Empire’s Top Ten was no small matter—its power could rival that of an ordinary cruise missile on Earth! Therefore, Zhang Wen thought that if the assassin truly possessed strength equal to Ironface’s, even ten of himself tied together wouldn’t have survived blocking that strike, and they’d all have perished alongside Governor Temisso.

But now, thinking back, it seemed Ironface’s words might have been the truth after all! That “second assassin” in the crowd was very likely the real Mithril Hunter. The first assassin who had made the initial move was probably his loyal subordinate. The plan might have been to lie in wait within the crowd, ready to “rescue” the governor at his most vulnerable moment, thereby gaining Temisso’s favor and using his power to achieve some hidden goal.

However, the Mithril Hunter probably hadn’t expected his flawless arrangement to be suddenly disrupted. As a result, shocked and thrown off balance, his actions slowed. His suspicious behavior then drew attention, ultimately leading to his tragic downfall at the hands of the governor’s guards.

In other words, the real Mithril Hunter might very well already be dead! After connecting all the information he had gathered, Zhang Wen finally reached a conclusion that left him unsure whether to feel relieved or distressed.

“Professor Zhang, what are you hesitating for? After everything, don’t you want to admit it yet?” Seeing Zhang Wen’s continued silence, Linoar couldn’t help but stare at him and ask.

“All of your so-called evidence is nothing more than baseless speculation. And this…” Zhang Wen gave a disdainful smile, tossing the image back at Linoar carelessly. “There are far too many people in this world who look somewhat similar. What can a mere portrait prove?”

His action caused Linoar’s expression to change drastically. For a moment, she almost believed that Zhang Wen would rather break ties with her than admit his identity. But then, Zhang Wen suddenly changed his tone.

“However, Professor Linoar, whether I am the Mithril Hunter or not should be of no importance to you, right? You risked so much to find me because you’re in trouble and need a partner. If I’m not the one you’re looking for, does that really mean we can’t work together?”

“Hmm? You’re right. I suppose I was mistaken.” After a long hesitation, Linoar gave Zhang Wen a meaningful look and smoothly followed his lead. “I indeed have something I’d like to discuss with Professor Zhang.”

“Is that so? Professor Linoar, aren’t you being a bit too presumptuous? Just because you say you want to work with me, I should automatically agree? What makes you think I’d want to?”

“Hehe.” Linoar seemed completely unfazed by his sarcastic interruption. She smiled lightly and said, “Professor Zhang, if I dared to come here risking my life to seek cooperation with you, I must have some confidence in my reasoning. Whether or not you are the Mithril Hunter, the fact remains that you saved Governor Temisso from an assassin. Surely you didn’t risk your life just to settle down as a teacher at Almicean Academy for the rest of your life?”

“Hmph.” Zhang Wen gave a noncommittal smile at Linoar’s suggestive gaze but did not deny her words.

“A man’s desires are usually simple—wealth, power, and beauty. Although you could obtain all three from Governor Temisso, I’m offering you a shortcut. Professor Zhang, aren’t you even a little interested?”

Her tone carried a hint of seduction, and as if by accident, she slowly crossed her legs in front of Zhang Wen, lifting her right leg slightly.

Although she wasn’t wearing that sexy qipao he had seen her in that day, her tight combat suit still accentuated the elegant curves of her long, shapely legs. The sight was undeniably alluring, stirring a wicked desire to seize those legs and indulge in the sight of their owner writhing in ecstasy.

“Haha, are you trying to seduce me?” Zhang Wen said with a grin, letting his gaze roam freely over her body. He had never been one for false propriety, and since Linoar was practically offering herself, he certainly wouldn’t miss the chance to enjoy the view.

“Oh? Professor Zhang is interested in me? If that’s the case, I wouldn’t mind giving you a chance. After all, you are one of the few men at Almicean Academy who I actually like.” Linoar smiled sweetly, meeting his gaze without flinching.

“Really? What an honor. Unfortunately, I’m not interested in anything that’s already been touched by others.” Zhang Wen gave her a cool glance and replied in a way that was almost infuriatingly dismissive.