In fact, she was barely hanging onto herst breath as she stood before everyone else.


    Wilbur''sst blow was something she would never forget.


    "I really underestimated you," said thedy, shaking her head with a bitter smile.


    Wilbur stood with his hands behind his back. "Well, there''s a price to pay for making such a mistake."


    "And I have paid that price. However, traitors must be punished too." Thedy''s gaze turned to Gertridge.


    Wilbur snorted. "You''re only finding out about this now, but Gertridge told me everything that night. Including the fact that you held her brother hostage and used it to ckmail her to betray us and kidnap Faye."


    Thedy stared numbly at Gertridge. "Do you really not care about your brother''s life? He''s all you''ve got left."


    "I called the Department of Paranormal Research and Defense as soon as Gertridge told me what happened. I reckon her brother''s probably asleep at home by now," said Wilbur.


    Thedy was dumbfounded. "You''re from the Department of Paranormal Research and Defense?"


    "Bingo." Wilbur smiled.


    Thedy shook her head with a bitter chuckle. "I would''ve abandoned those rules from the start had I known that."


    "Well, you''re still an assassin. Best to uphold your values to some extent, you know? You did the right thing," said Wilbur.


    Thedy spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, falling backward slowly and sinking into theke.


    "Haul her up to see if she''s dead." Despite the fact that this leader of the Riverbank Blossoms had definitely drawn herst breath, Wilbur still felt the need


    to make sure she had no secret skills that he had glossed over.


    Chester and Zeke jumped into theke, fishing thedy''s body out of the water and tossing her in front of Wilbur.


    Wilbur took a closer look. Yes, she was dead with no chance of revival anymore. "Handle the body. You''ve worked hard today."


    Wilbur smiled, before looking at Faye.


    Faye said at once, "Like hell I''m sticking around to watch that. You guys have fun."


    She scampered off the next second.


    Wilbur chuckled. Meanwhile, Chester and Zeke started dealing with the corpse.


    Eileen said then, "The Riverbank Blossoms are Dasha''s top-tier assassin group. They''re within the global top ten, too."


    "Well, this justes with a battle, doesn''t it? They wanted to protect their pride and reputation as assassins, but I wasn''t so thrilled about dying. Someone''s going down either way," said Wilbur.


    Eileen shrugged wordlessly.


    Just then, Ryder took a step forward. "Sir, we received a call from headquarters. An unknown force was discovered while digging up an ancient tomb in Gertown, Emerald Province. You''ve been summoned to handle it."


    "Are you kidding me? When will this ever end?"


    Ryder scowled. "They are direct orders, sir."


    "Well, have them stop the digging while they wait for me. I have a wedding to attend first."


    He left without saying another word, leaving Ryder to stare after him nkly.


    How could this guy just go against direct orders from headquarters?


    Just as Wilbur had returned to his room, the phone rang.


    It was an unknown number.


    Wilbur nced at it, before picking it up.


    "Hello?"


    "Hi. Is this Mister Wilbur Penn?" a girl''s voice sounded through the phone. "Speaking, who is this?"


    "I''m Celine, Celine Price. Something''s happened to Shelby."


    "What happened?" Wilbur got nervous at once. Shelby was the sister of Wilbur''s friend whom he considered a brother. Wilbur would not know what to say to his brother if something were to happen to Shelby within his territory.


    "Can youe to the school? I''m worried I won''t be able to exin well enough over the phone."


    "I''ll head there now. Give me a location to meet up at."


    "The east school entrance? There''s a stationery shop outside. I''ll wait for you there." Celine''s voice was riddled with panic.


    Wilbur said at once, "Got it. Wait right there. I''ming."


    He hung up the phone and left his room at once, nearly bumping heads with Eileen.


    "What''s going on? It''s the middle of the night," said Eileen.


    "Something urgent that I need to take care of." Wilbur left without saying another word.


    Eileen shook her head with a frown, staring after him. "Should I tell him or not?"