Chapter 101
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: Step by Step Slowly (1)
There had never been a case of the Heavenly Annihilation Division attacking its own members.
The Heavenly Annihilation Division only used those it could thoroughly control as assassination squad operatives. Anyone with even the slightest chance of slipping from control was excluded from the start.
In that sense, utilizing Four Thousand Four as an assassination squad operative had been a failure.
How had this happened?
Zhuge Soso focused on the "thousand" character in Four Thousand Four's prisoner number.
'Prisoners from the Nineteen Hells have numbers starting with one, ten, or hundred. At most, it's a hundred. They can't exceed that. There's no Thunder Prison big enough to hold that many people.'
Four Thousand Four used "thousand."
It should have been Four-One-Four, Forty-Four, or Four-Hundred-Four. But it was Four Thousand Four.
This meant the "thousand" in Four Thousand Four's number hid a special background that couldn't be explained by standard classifications. It was a special prisoner number, not a regular one.
Since they'd caught Four Thousand Four and locked him in the Nineteen Hells, they must have intended to use him as an assassin. But unable to use him right away, they'd assigned him a special number and deliberated.
In the end, Four Thousand Four had rebelled.
Regular assassination squad operatives lived with their lifelines in the hands of the Heavenly Annihilation Division.
When the Heavenly Annihilation Division wanted to eliminate an operative, all it took was a single word. Die!
No operative ever defied the Heavenly Annihilation Division's orders.
As I said, assassination squad operatives entrusted their lifelines to the Heavenly Annihilation Division.
Yet Four Thousand Four had defied even that order. It meant the lifeline the Heavenly Annihilation Division held over him was weak.
No, that wasn't the right way to see it.
Even after the elimination order came down, Four Thousand Four had followed the Heavenly Annihilation Division's command and assassinated the chief of the Dangha Escort Bureau.
He'd obeyed the order knowing they were trying to kill him.
But he didn't accept death meekly. It was astonishing that they'd mobilized two assassination squads just to kill one man like Four Thousand Four, and even more so that he'd resisted and thrashed against them.
Four Thousand Four was an extremely unusual case.
Zhuge Myeong said admiringly,
"That guy's one tough bastard to kill."
"It's not about being tough to kill. It's the result of thorough calculations."
"Calculations?"
"He calculated everything. Do you think he ran into that cliff without knowing it was there?"
Zhuge Soso pointed at the cliff.
"He knew and went anyway? Ha! Makes him even more ridiculous. I've never seen a guy like this before."
"We can't catch that man."
"You saying we should kill him while we have the chance?"
"No. There's too much to learn, so we should watch him for a while. Besides, isn't this exciting? A battle between a Heavenly Annihilation Division assassin and the Heavenly Annihilation Division itself. Ho ho ho! Who'd have thought we'd get to see a show like this."
Zhuge Soso laughed.
But she wasn't laughing genuinely. It was just a formal laugh; her face was filled with worry.
"What about the thing I mentioned before?"
"I'm looking into it."
"We might need to hurry. We have to decide our move before Four Thousand Four dies."
"Got it. I'll speed things up."
Zhuge Myeong said, furrowing his brow.
They were digging up every scrap of information on Four Thousand Four. Whom he'd killed and how, how he'd ended up in the Nineteen Hells, what charges hung over him.
But nearly all that information was held by the Heavenly Annihilation Division.
It was a grueling task to extract internal secrets from the Heavenly Annihilation Division itself.
One misstep, and an insider could be exposed... But if they wanted to use Four Thousand Four, they had to act before he died. If it was just internal cleansing, it wouldn't matter.
Zhuge Soso seemed to be weighing whether to exploit him.
Zhuge Myeong said,
"My thought is this. The board right now is pretty straightforward, isn't it? I can even predict how the pieces might move. But if we move that guy, it'll get messy fast. The board will tangle up. Isn't leaving it as is the better play?"
"Ho ho ho ho! You think I can't control just that one man..."
Zhuge Soso trailed off.
The Heavenly Annihilation Division had made this blunder. They'd believed they could control him fully and ended up shooting themselves in the foot.
No one could control Four Thousand Four.
Four Thousand Four had easily taken out nine assassination squad operatives.
Something even her brother or the dead merchant traveler could manage... The man had incredibly strong martial arts. But the funny thing was, Four Thousand Four's martial arts weren't all that impressive. Despite not being top-tier, he pulled off feats only a master could.
Her brother might be right. It might be better to kill him now while they had the chance.
But curiosity about Four Thousand Four was blooming.
A man the Heavenly Annihilation Division tried to eliminate using two assassination squads... And yet he'd still followed orders to assassinate the Dangha Escort Bureau chief... Wasn't that intriguing?
Zhuge Soso stared piercingly at the cliff where Four Thousand Four was trapped.
Down below, the twenty-fifth squad was on the move. Only three out of six survivors were still active.
'No need to worry. If he's calculated that far, he must have planned for survival too.'
'Going down the cliff shouldn't be too hard...'
Fox looked down from the base of the cliff, frowning.
Arrowroot vines were everywhere at a glance. If he wanted rope, he could prepare it easily. No, he could probably descend this cliff barehanded with just caution.
The problem was the watchers.
First, the twenty-fifth squad was watching.
Were they idiots? They weren't staying up top because they couldn't climb down. They lacked manpower just to search the base, and descending risked ambush—that was why they hadn't tried.
The moment someone started down the cliff, eyes would dart everywhere.
The Zhuge family was watching too.
They were hidden out of sight, but she was certain they were there.
Why would the Zhuge family take interest in lowly assassination squad fodder?
Right now, the Zhuge family was pursuing Four Thousand Four with full force. Every warrior at their disposal, every method in their arsenal—they were tracking and watching.
It felt like chasing a long-time archenemy.
All these people were threats to Four Thousand Four. Better to hide from them than get spotted.
'They're watching, huh. Hmph!'
Fox consciously moved slowly, gathering arrowroot vines under the gaze of watchful eyes.
She wove them tightly into a rope.
Long enough to reach the cliff base.
'Just wait a bit. Let's see what kind of state you're in.'
Fox grinned, thinking of the Four Thousand Four she'd soon meet.
The heavens didn't aid Fox.
She waited until nightfall, hoping darkness would blanket everything once the sun set. But the sky stayed bright. Even after night came, moonlight illuminated the mountains brilliantly.
'They say the unlucky even break their nose falling backward.'
Fox lowered the arrowroot vine rope.
There was no escaping the watchers. Vanguard had told her to find a way down, meaning to shake the eyes off—but that was impossible now.
With eyes watching, her descent wouldn't be as Fox alone, but as one of Vanguard's crew.
She'd have to kill Four Thousand Four if she saw him.
Descending the cliff with moonlight at her back.
Eyes watched from the opposite cliff. Eyes looked up from below.
'How do I shake these bastards?'
That was all Fox thought as she descended. She couldn't wait any longer, so down she went—but she couldn't meet Four Thousand Four like this.
She needed to meet him as a friend.
Not descending to kill, but to help.
That was the opposite of what every watcher expected.
She'd gone down about twenty zhang? No, maybe fifteen... Anyway, quite a ways down... That's when she spotted him.
Strictly speaking, she didn't find Four Thousand Four first—she found the swarm of termites.
'Found him!'
Fox felt her heart pounding.
A mass of termites clung thickly to the cliff, making the whole area look white.
She'd only just learned they could be targets for a termite swarm. Not just her—the others, Vanguard, Hanbi, Jaja, seemed shocked too, clearly unaware.
If not for Four Thousand Four, they'd still be clueless.
'What now?'
Fox couldn't slow her descent. She wanted to go slowly, but the watchers would grow suspicious. To avoid any doubt, she couldn't slacken.
Swish! Plant! Swish! Plant!
The closer she got, the nearer to Four Thousand Four.
Finally, she saw him.
Four Thousand Four had carved out a spot to lie on the cliff. The dug-up earth around it screamed his hard work.
He'd made his own bed and was lying there, looking quite comfortable.
Swish! Plant! Swish! Plant!
Fox kept descending.
Four Thousand Four was right in front of her.
He'd taken off his upper garments. His wounds were fully visible.
The wounds were severe. Not just bad—fatal enough to assume instant death.
Yet golden wound salve was meticulously applied to them.
He'd done it himself. Made his bed, treated his wounds.
"You still thrashed to avoid dying, huh. Hmph!"
Fox snorted deliberately. A sign in place of a warm welcome.
Even so, Four Thousand Four didn't twitch. Not a speck of movement, like a corpse.
'Is he dead?'
Doubt surged in Fox.
It wouldn't be strange to think Four Thousand Four dead. Deep wounds, unconscious, no breathing apparent.
Swish! Plant! Swish! Plant!
Bit by bit, lower she went, until Four Thousand Four was eye level.
She was still descending; he was out cold.
She reached out quickly, touching under his jaw.
A pulse throbbed. No breath seemed to stir, but he was alive.
Fox hurriedly rummaged in her bosom, pulling out all her golden wound salve. She set out the elixir too.
Didn't know if Four Thousand Four could swallow it, but it might help.
She left two vials of Hwarin.
Those two vials were all she had left. Unless she made more, the last in the world.
Hwarin was hard to make.
If one pill cost as much as building a castle, you can imagine.
She set down such treasures without hesitation.
She undid her sword too.
She'd seen Four Thousand Four wield a blade. He'd snatched a dead operative's sword and used it... Not the skill of a novice. Couldn't identify the style, but he knew swords.
Thinking it'd help, she left the sword.
Swish! Plant! Swish! Plant!
She descended further.
Couldn't slow down. Even a pause would draw suspicion from the watchers.
Now her eyes aligned with Four Thousand Four's.
She was dropping; he was unconscious.
"Even passing out like this must be part of your calculations... But I'm still worried. You have to live."
She gently touched his cheek.
The skin was rough. Like loofah or cucumber peel.
The toll of wind and exposure. The price of moving in harsh winds. And the Heavenly Annihilation Division had shoved a sword in his face. Now ordering him to just die.
"You have to live."
Fox felt her heart tear.
She liked Four Thousand Four. Started as curiosity, but now real affection had sprouted. She wanted him unhurt, unharmed, alive.
Swish! Plant! Swish! Plant!
She kept going down.
Leaving Four Thousand Four on the cliff. Abandoning him to the biting night air.
But she had to descend. Any hesitation, and killing blades would come flying.
Swish! Plant! Swish! Plant!
She descended on.