Winner Takes All

Jack laughed awkwardly when he saw their astonished expressions and felt rather silly for even suggesting that. Indeed, even the mysterious man could be injured at this level of assassinations. Jack had also fought the Lord Ninja Iga and understood well the deadly skills of these killers.

Truth be told, even if he were to fight with Iga again, he may not be able to capture Iga alive. The first consideration of all killers was to determine an escape path and thereafter the assassination objective. But once the assassination attempts start, the killer would go all out to attain the objective or die trying.

Just as the case in the hospital. Did Iga even have any opportunity to escape? It was obvious that he was able to. At least at the point when he temporarily blinded Jack, he had that opportunity to escape. It was easy for these highly skilled killers to escape. It was also very easy for them to commit suicide. So it would be extremely difficult for Jack and the rest to prevent the killer from committing suicide! "Is it really impossible?" Jack persisted.

Brent shook his head while Daisy pursed her lips. The mysterious man shifted his hand from Jack's forehead to his shoulder and gently patted, "Of course it's impossible."

Jack was speechless...

Then Jack said with disappointment, "In this case, wouldn't that mean that I will never find out who is behind these assassination attempts?"

"So you want to capture the killer to find out the reason for killing you?" The mysterious man asked as he raised his eyebrows.

Jack nodded, "Among all those powers that want me dead, I can only think of the Kool and Hughes family. As for the Bloody Angel, Iga Clan, and the other shadow organizations, I can't figure out why the hell they are after me."

"Now that we are amid these assassination attempts, the only means of getting an answer was from the killer's mouth. Even if I get killed, I want to know for what reasons I am being killed." He spoke with an intense tone of resignation.

The mysterious man simply waved his hand, "You won't get an answer even if you capture one of them alive. Those who know the reason won't come to kill you and those who come to kill you wouldn't know the reason." After a pause, the mysterious man said solemnly, "Even when Arrows came to kill you or those two Ninja Lords, they were just the weapons. The masterminds are hiding in the shadows." The atmosphere of the courtyard tensed up as the mysterious man spoke. His simple words were like a formless hand that snuffed out Jack's hopes.

What the mysterious man basically said was it was no use to question those killers. The only way of finding out the truth was to get to the mastermind. But... was it possible to get to the mastermind? Jack felt hopeless just thinking about it and took a deep breath.

Jack then mumbled, "Then I can only wait for my father to use the might of the Hughes family to suppress this."

Brent and Daisy looked at each other gloomily. They had discussed this the night before. Although Brent was drunk and his memory about this was hazy, what they concluded caused them to become disillusioned.

"Even if there is no outcome, you only need to wait for another three months." The mysterious man broke the silence, "So long as you triumph over the rest and secure the position as the head of the Hughes family, all these will come to an end."From NôvelDrama.Org.

Jack, Brent, and Daisy looked towards the mysterious man. Jack's eyes lit up like a dying man grasping onto straws. He rubbed his nose and smiled helplessly, "In the end, it's all about status. Now... I'm a nobody without any status."

Brent and Daisy's expressions changed.

Brent placed his hand onto Jack's knee and comforted, "Master, don't fret, three months is a short time."

Jack nodded and smiled bitterly, "I hope that on that day, I can walk together with Amber with our heads held high into the Hughes Residence and smoothly claim the crown of the family."

"When you take over the crown from your father, those who try to kill you will have to reassess their interests." The mysterious man said as his eyes glimmered, "At that time, who they were commissioned to kil is no longer the potential heir of the Hughes family but the head and the authority of the Hughes family!"

The mysterious man paused and then said, "So now, you need to preserve yourself and ... endure."

Jack looked at the mysterious man and smiled, "Rest assured that I had mastered the art of endurance when I was growing up. I certainly can endure for three months. I had been in the darkness for more than twenty years. Now that I've come into the light, will I worry about going back into the darkness for a while?" Jack's demeanor changed as he spoke. Suddenly, he exuded a bone-chilling frostiness.

The mysterious man, Brent, and Daisy all felt this chill and inadvertently shuddered inside them.

However, Brent and Daisy were worried for Jack. It was the mysterious man who said crisply, "Have you read the 'Tao Te Ching' that I gave you?"

"I started but haven't touched it for a long while." Jack came to his senses and pursed his lips and continued, "Go ahead and do your stuff. I will take my free time now to read the 'Tao Te Ching' to kill time." The mysterious man winked at Brent and Daisy and then the three of them excused themselves and returned to their rooms.

In the past when faced with the Bloody trap and risks of assassination attempts, they would never allow Jack to remain on his own in the courtyard to read a book. But just now the chill that Jack exuded ran down each of their spines as if they should disregard the Bloody trap for the time being.

After all, according to the mysterious man's assessment, there should not be any assassination attempts in these couple of days. What Jack radiated just now felt as though Jack had gone towards the darkness!

Once the three of them had retired to their rooms, Jack lowered his gaze and then pursed his lips as he took out the 'Tao Te Ching' from his pocket and started to read.

This was a scripture that withstood thousands of years.

Jack read this scripture so many times that he could memorize it but each time he read it again, he would have new insights into its teachings.

Time ticked slowly by...

Jack became engrossed as he read until Mr. Ward came back and walked into the courtyard and greeted him. Jack was awakened from his trance-like state. "Master, Mr. and Mrs. Knight had departed safely." Mr. Ward reported as he looked around and finally fixated on the 'Tao Te Ching' which was in Jack's hands.

His pupils constricted as he thought to himself, 'Was... Master in a trance?'

"Mr. Ward, I would like you to contact my father and ask him if he could stop this bloody trap?" Jack said and then handed the 'Tao Te Ching' to Mr. Ward and continued, "I have enough of this scripture. Please help me get some Buddhist scriptures and send them to my room."