Jordan had every possible reason to decline the job.
Yes, he already knew there was no way a job worth three hundred thousand Veil Crystals would ever be easy. He had prepared his mind for difficulty. He had expected danger. He had expected blood. He had expected the kind of task that would make normal people run in fear.
But he did not expect the job description to sound like pure suicide.
The person they were planning to rob was a Bloodthorn Guild elder.
Not just any cultivator.
A high-level cultivator who stood near the top of the hierarchy.
Someone powerful enough to crush people like them without needing to lift more than a finger.
Someone who had gathered enough wealth through years of killing beasts in the Dead Zones and crushing human enemies foolish enough to stand in his path.
Someone with influence.
Someone feared.
Someone protected.
And worst of all—
his residence was located in the middle of the inner city.
That place alone was enough to make the plan sound ridiculous.
The inner city was heavily guarded by countless powerful cultivators. It was practically a fortress. A safe haven protected by wealth, status, and strength—the complete opposite of the slums Jordan lived in.
The slums were where people fought to survive.
The inner city was where monsters lived comfortably.
Jordan knew how impossible this plan was because his aunt worked there.
She had worked in that residence for years.
He knew the security.
He knew the patrols.
He knew the kind of people who guarded that place.
The only way Jordan could imagine this group of four idiots successfully robbing the Bloodthorn Guild elder's home was if they somehow defeated the elder himself and every security force protecting the estate.
But one good look at the crew standing in front of him told him that such a possibility was laughable.
Because if these men had the strength to defeat a Bloodthorn Guild elder, they would not be standing in some filthy alley talking about theft.
They would be out in the wilds.
They would be hunting beasts.
They would be entering the Dead Zones and earning fortunes through blood and skill instead of dreaming about stealing someone else's crystals.
Nine times out of ten, those who chose theft over hunting were people who lacked the courage to face beasts in the wild.
The job of a hunter was not easy.
People trained for years just to become cultivators strong enough to survive outside the walls, and even then, many still died during hunts.
Becoming a cultivator was never a guarantee of safety.
It simply meant your death might take a little longer.
That was why many low-level cultivators focused on stealing from others rather than risking their lives hunting beasts for themselves.
And Jordan could tell this group belonged to that exact category.
What he found truly absurd was that they were planning to rob someone who was no less a monster himself.
Now he understood why they needed him.
They wanted access to the residence.
And because his aunt worked there, he was the key.
Either way, knowing how impossible this was, Jordan had no intention of being part of it.
"I think this is absolutely ridiculous," Jordan said flatly.
Had it not been for the fact that he was still trying to show Marcus some respect as an elder, he would have walked away that very second.
"Kid, calm down, will you? Let me explain," Marcus said after noticing Jordan's reaction.
Jordan frowned.
'What exactly is there to explain that would make this not sound like a suicide mission?'
Still, he decided to exercise patience.
He folded his arms and remained silent, signaling for Marcus to continue.
Marcus nodded.
"I understand what you're thinking. It is basically impossible for us to rob the Bloodthorn Guild elder's home," he admitted.
At least he was honest.
"But our chances increase dramatically if he's not around. What I'm saying is—we are planning to rob his home when he isn't there."
Those words instantly made Jordan pause.
That… was different.
His attention sharpened.
Marcus noticed and continued.
"Three nights from now, the elder leaves for a council gathering. Most of his strongest guards will accompany him. The ones left behind will be operating on rotating shifts. Their movements will be predictable. They won't see us coming."
Jordan's eyes narrowed slightly.
Marcus leaned forward.
"And inside the Bloodthorn Guild elder's residence, there are treasures he keeps hidden. Treasures worth far more than three hundred thousand Veil Crystals."
There was silence for a moment.
Then Marcus added quietly,
"And we need you to get to it."
Jordan didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he carefully pondered Marcus's words.
If the elder truly left for a meeting and most of the strongest guards went with him, then yes—the residence would be vulnerable.
Still dangerous.
Still insane.
But no longer completely impossible.
If they played their cards right…
they might actually gain access to the elder's wealth.
But Jordan still had questions.
"I want to ask something," he said. "How do you know the Bloodthorn Guild elder won't be around?"
"We have an insider who works inside the residence," Marcus answered.
That answer only made Jordan frown deeper.
"Then if you already have someone inside, why are you approaching me?" Jordan asked. "Because I don't see any other reason I'm important to this plan except for the fact that my aunt works there and I can help you get access inside. So why not use your insider?"
Marcus nodded like he expected that question.
"We can't use our insider because he's one of the people chosen to accompany the elder to the council gathering. He'll be leaving too, so he won't be available. That's why we came to you. You're our second option."
Jordan clicked his tongue.
"And what exactly do you expect me to do? Yes, I can enter the building, but I don't know how I'm supposed to sneak all of you into the residence. It's heavily guarded. And by the way, this whole plan is still extremely risky. If we get caught, we die. I'm not ready to die yet."
Marcus smiled.
"Kid, we may be thieves, but we're still cultivators. You don't need to do the sneaking for us. We'll handle that part ourselves. All we need is your help getting the opportunity."
He leaned back.
"How about I explain the full plan?"
And so he did.
Jordan stood there as Marcus carefully explained every step of the heist.
The entry.
The timing.
The blind spots.
The servant routes.
The patrol patterns.
The escape plan.
The hidden storage room.
The insider's information.
The more Jordan listened, the more the impossible slowly started to sound… possible.
Dangerous.
Very dangerous.
But possible.
And that made it worse.
Because if something sounded impossible, rejecting it was easy.
But if success was possible…
temptation followed.
By the time Marcus finished speaking, Jordan was silent.
There was a huge risk.
His life was on the line.
One mistake and he would die.
But he had to be honest with himself.
The reward was too high.
Three hundred thousand Veil Crystals.
That amount could save Elena. It was more than enough to save Elena.
His little sister needed treatment.
Without the medicine, her sickness would only get worse.
Without money, she would die.
And if he let this opportunity pass, there was no guarantee another one would come.
He could not afford pride.
He could not afford fear.
He could not afford morality.
Not when Elena's life stood at the other end.
And so—
Jordan made his decision.
Just like that, he and Marcus concluded the deal.
In three days, they were going to rob the Bloodthorn Guild elder's home.
And Jordan was going to help them get inside.
That same evening, Jordan returned home.
Elena, lying weakly on her bed, asked if he had gotten the job he went looking for.
He smiled and told her no.
But he also told her he would keep trying.
She smiled weakly and told him not to worry.
That only made his chest feel heavier.
Later that night, Clarissa, his aunt returned home.
She brought a little medicine for Elena's fever and immediately began taking care of both of them like she always did.
Clarissa was twenty-seven years old.
Beautiful.
Black-haired.
Strong in the quiet kind of way.
She was their mother's younger sister, and ever since Jordan and Elena lost their parents, she had been the one carrying the burden of raising them.
She worked as a cleaner at the Bloodthorn Guild elder's residence and had done so for years.
She was trusted there.
Well-known enough that sometimes, when she was sick or too exhausted to work, Jordan would go in her place.
That trust was exactly what he needed.
And because of the heist planned for the next three days, Jordan knew what had to happen.
He needed to be the one inside that residence.
There was only one way.
So, as the days passed, Jordan prepared himself.
And on the night before the heist—
he did something that made him hate himself.
He slipped a concoction Marcus had given him into Clarissa's food.
A harmless mixture, Marcus had said.
Just enough to make her too sick to work the next day.
Nothing permanent.
Nothing deadly.
But still—
Jordan felt like a criminal the moment he did it.
He sat there all night, unable to sleep.
And when morning came—
it worked.
Clarissa woke up sick.
Too weak to go to work.
With a tired voice, she asked Jordan to take her place for the day.
And just like that—
he got exactly what he wanted.
That morning, Jordan left the house.
He looked back once.
At Elena.
At Clarissa.
At the home he was trying so desperately to protect.
Then he walked away.
Along the road, he met Marcus and the others.
They were already waiting.
Already dressed.
Already prepared.
No more jokes.
No more persuasion.
Only silence.
The kind of silence men carried before doing something that might get them killed.
They were ready for the heist.