Timeless Assassin

(Meanwhile, the Skyshard Mansion, Su Pei's POV)

Su Pei was quite surprised to see just how warm and friendly Leo's family really was, as although it was his first day living amongst them, the family did not treat him as a stranger at all.

When he first entered the house, he was given a few dirty glares that he was used to, however, as soon as he revealed that it was Leo who sent him to check on his brother, the family's attitude towards him took a sudden 180.

Elena, Leo's mother, eagerly led him through a tour of the house, her voice brimming with warmth as she insisted on serving home-cooked dishes bursting with flavors he had never experienced, even after living for centuries.

Alia, Luke's girlfriend, arrived with freshly warmed towels, making sure he was comfortable as she helped him settle into the guest room.

Jacob offered to take him around the city whenever he wished, promising to be his guide.

While Amanda, Leo's girlfriend, leaned in with a smile, asking if there was any tool or gadget he might want crafted— anything at all that could make his life just a little more comfortable.

It was all a new sensation for Su Pei, who had forgotten what it was like to have the warmth of a loving family, ever since he lost his own half a century ago.

Here, he did not feel like a Monarch or an important Commander in charge of running a planet, as even without consuming alcohol, he felt relaxed and simply glad to be alive.

Naturally, since his main purpose for being here was to uncover what was wrong with Leo's brother Luke, once he had settled in, Su Pei wasted no time in turning his attention to that task.

He began by engaging Luke in short, casual conversations, gradually easing into topics that might reveal the root of his troubles before moving toward more specific questions to understand his circumstances in greater detail.

When Luke eventually spoke about the Red Army and how they had hunted him for over a year, Su Pei quickly noticed troubling inconsistencies in the account, since his knowledge of the Red Army clashed significantly with Luke's recount of what happened.

Still, he chose not to interrupt, allowing Luke to finish his story in full.

During this time, Su Pei observed every shift in Luke's demeanor, noting when his expression clouded over or when his hands fidgeted in uneasy silence.

With patience, he guided their talks toward the details that raised his suspicion, as he asked Luke about the skills the Red Army warriors had used while pursuing him, and the types of weapons they carried.

But to his disappointment, every answer Luke gave was incorrect.

'Someone has corrupted his memory….. someone most likely belonging to the Cult, and they have done a sloppy job.' Su Pei soon realized, as being a veteran who had seen many such cases, he immediately knew that Luke's memory had been tampered with.

The exact tell came when Luke spoke about certain events with unusual hesitation, his right hand giving a faint, involuntary jerk each time he mentioned something that Su Pei knew could not have been true. It was a subtle movement, almost imperceptible to an untrained eye, but to Su Pei, it was the hallmark of an implanted memory struggling to take root.

The inconsistencies were glaring. The Red Army was infamous for its signature curved blades, a weapon so ingrained in their identity that not carrying one would be akin to denying their allegiance. Yet Luke described them wielding straight swords as if it were the most natural detail in the world.

Equally suspicious was his failure to recall the Red Army's use of red smoke bombs, a standard tool employed to disorient targets during ambushes. There was also no mention of their hallmark skills like [Double Step] and [Quick Slash], both of which were executed by nearly every trained warrior in their ranks.

Su Pei listened without correcting him, but each omission deepened his certainty. These were not the mistakes of a man with poor memory, but of someone whose recollections had been deliberately rewritten. The hand jerk was simply the final confirmation.

By the time Luke finished, Su Pei no longer wondered whether his mind had been tampered with. The only questions now were who had done it, and for what purpose.

"I don't know why you're asking him all these questions about the Red Army, but if you want it, I have an independent audit report on what might have happened to Luke…." Jacob said once the conversation between Su Pei and Luke was complete, as Su Pei raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"I had two separate independent investigators look into Luke's past while he had trouble recalling it, and they submitted a report a month later, based on what they found out…." Jacob said, as Su Pei gestured for him to hand over that report.

*Slide*

Soon, Jacob fetched those files and slid them over for Su Pei to read, as Su Pei read every word in that file thoroughly, a faint smile passing through his lips.

"These are Cult investigators? People who live on this planet?" He asked, as Jacob nodded and pointed towards the names of the investigators who had worked on this case and signed their initials at the end.

"Is something wrong?" Jacob asked, his fatherly senses picking up the signals that there might be some trouble, but Su Pei simply shook his head and told him not to worry.

"No trouble," he replied, his voice calm but carrying an edge. "But there are a few things in here that I need to clarify with these investigators, so I'll be visiting them tomorrow… preferably alone."

The room grew quiet. No one needed to be told that Su Pei would not make such a visit unless something was very wrong, yet with him offering nothing more, all they could do was wait for whatever tomorrow would bring.