When the group of men who are supposed to go into the tunnel gathered, no one was interested in Yibo. No one seemed to have even noticed that he was not one of those who had already arrived here yesterday. This confirmed Yibo's assumption that none of these men were interested in the others.

Which at the same time meant that it would be all the easier for Yibo to kill one by one. When you don't know who all is with you, you don't notice if there is one or two less.

At 7 o'clock in the morning, everyone gathered at the entrance of the tunnel, which had been closed with an iron door. The commander of the military, who had previously been standing there with his back turned to them and talking to a soldier, turned to look at the men, all of whom had been assembled from different units and who were considered the best in their units.

"All right, then. Now I'll explain why you're here. A few days ago, 8 hikers happened to find this tunnel. Four of them went into the tunnel and didn't come out. The remaining four informed the police, who went into the tunnel with search dogs. None of the police officers came out again. Only one dog managed to drag itself outside, badly injured, and then died. It is now up to us to investigate this tunnel and find out where the bodies are and where exactly this tunnel leads to." Said the commander.

A man in a black suit, who introduced himself as museum curator Yang, explained: "It is known that there was a castle here. But to this day, no one knows who the lord of the castle was. We hope to find some clues and maybe some relics from that time. So if you find something, mark the spot with a special marker. This is a small and very accurate tracker that shows us the location. Avoid touching the relics themselves because it could destroy them."

Yibo knew this man very well. He was not only a museum curator, but also an archaeologist. And he is also an assassin! One who is also one of the best at this job. Already a few times the two ran into each other when they were after the same thing. If he saw and recognized Yibo now, his job could be over before it started.

When he works, Yibo usually wears a black mask and a black long coat, the hood of which he always pulls wide over his face. He doesn't think Yang ever saw his face. Nevertheless, he reminded himself to be careful.

After everything had been explained, the commander said that in half an hour, after breakfast and after everyone had received their pre-packed backpacks with trackers, flashlights, batteries, water bottles, one-man rations and a few changes of clothes, the men would be sent into the tunnel.

Yibo retreated, careful not to be seen and perhaps recognized by Yang after all. But the more experienced Assassin had long since noticed Yibo and snuck up to him. "Hey Assassin. I think I know why you're here. I'm not supposed to care. As long as you leave me some more artifacts. At least enough for me to find out who the castle lord was." He said to Yibo.

"So you're just going to let me get away with it?" Asked Yibo.

"Just like that? No! Personally, I couldn't care less. But my supervisor is hoping for some great finds."

"Well, there might not be any. What then?"

"Then that's just the way it is. But if there are, leave some for me."

"And what do I get out of it?"

"I pay well, don't worry."

"You're an assassin yourself. Why don't you go in and get your own finds?"

"I haven't been an Assassin for almost two years. Didn't you know that?"

"No. How would I know that? Why did you stop?"

"I met a woman I fell in love with. I want to live a quiet and decent life with her. I failed to do that with my first wife and always regretted it. Now that love has given me a second chance, I want to use it properly."

"Giving up everything for love? I don't understand that."

"You're still young, and maybe you've never been in love before. Because if you had, I think you'd understand. But don't worry. You too will be struck by love one day and then you'll understand."

"Thank you, but I'll pass on that."

"No one escapes love. No matter how hard you try to resist it. Eventually it will hit you and no matter how strong you are, you won't be able to fight it."

"I don't fight against it. There was even a time when I tried to understand love. Whenever I had a little free time, I tried to pursue the question of what love is. But I never found an answer. Neither by reading books or watching movies and series."

"Hahaha, my young assassin. You'll never find an answer to your question that way. But believe me, sooner or later love will strike and one thing is for sure. You won't be prepared for it. But enough of that. Do we have a deal?"

"All right. I'll let you have some finds. If there are any. We'll talk about payment later."

"Very well. I'll be off, then. And hey, try not to die."

"I won't."

"Good." Replied Yang, and disappeared as quietly as he had come.

Yibo, who hadn't looked at him once, spun around, shook his head, and muttered, "Stupid asshole!" Then he set about walking to the iron door where the men were slowly gathering.

It was a mystery to Yibo why 28 soldiers had been pulled from their units and instead being issued as civilians. Did the commander, who himself will go with them into the tunnel, have any information that Yibo and the others did not yet have? And why did they need so many men?

The, with Yibo, now 30 men, stood ready outside the iron door, watching as two soldiers struggled to open the heavy door. At first, Yibo assumed the smell of the dead would await him once the door was open. After all, their corpses were still in the tunnel. But instead of the smell of corpses, he was met by the scent of fresh flowers. Which confused Yibo a lot.

One by one, the men entered the tunnel. Yibo was one of the last. Once inside, he looked around and immediately realized several things. First, this is not a tunnel, but a cave. Second, there are 6 different cave passages starting from this cave where Yibo and the men are. Third, the commander actually seems to know more than he has admitted so far.

As soon as everyone was inside, the iron door was closed again. The commander stood in front of the group and addressed them once again. "As you can see, this is not an ordinary tunnel. We have six cave passages here. Now it should be clear to you why there are so many of us. Five men will go into each cave passage. Each group has a leader. The leader wears a blue ribbon around his arm and has already received precise instructions from me. The instructions are to be followed. Every find is marked with a tracker. No one takes anything. If danger threatens, the respective team leader will inform me! The iron door will not open again for three days. At the moment we assume that it will take us that long. Due to the size of the mountain and the different passages, we assume that this is built like a labyrinth. Therefore, you should mark your paths as well. That's it from my side. The team leaders will now choose who will go with them."

Damn. This is going to be harder than expected. Five courses of five men each. That's a lot of work coming my way. Yibo thought grumpily.

The commander had quickly made his selection of men. Yibo assumed that he had already informed himself in advance about their qualities and therefore chose them. The second team leader had also quickly chosen 4 men. The third chose Yibo by tapping him and three other men. Then the rest followed.

Team leader Mao Wan turned to his team and said, "Okay, we're going to the middle cave passage. I want no more than 2 flashlights used the whole time. One in the very front, the other in the back. That way we should save batteries. We also each have two torches with us. But hopefully we won't have to use them, because the smoke they produce is hardly bearable. And divide up the water! That's all you have and that's all we'll get here. Next to the entrance to the cave are sleeping bags, get a sleeping bag each. After that, we're off."

The team around Yibo, introduced themselves to each other. Yibo, however, didn't even bother to remember their names. Anyway, he would soon slit their throats. So why memorize their names?

As each group gathered in front of their cave passage, the synthetic light in the cave turned off and the men stood in complete darkness for a few seconds. Well, well. So this is what awaits us when we run out of batteries and torches? Well, good thing I have my night vision and a few more packs of batteries with me. At least I won't be in complete darkness. Here we go.