Chapter 180
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 180
Chapter Title: Lawless Spectacle (Unbelievable) (5)
The Beggars' Sect's network was connected as densely as nerves.
Whether it was a fingernail or a toenail, the moment even the tiniest scratch appeared anywhere on the body, they noticed it immediately. Just like how you instantly feel a thorn lodged under your nail, there was no way they wouldn't know.
Thud! Thud thud! Thud thud!
Yi-Gyeol's subordinate was getting beaten black and blue.
A thorn had lodged under their fingernail. And this thorn was digging deeper with every passing moment.
It had to be pulled out right away.
Yet the Beggars' Sect was watching without pulling it out.
Thud thud! Thud thud thud!
Yi-Gyeol's subordinate was pummeled until his face was unrecognizable. Finally, he lost consciousness and passed out.
"Remember this well! I'm the Fox!"
The Fox, who had beaten Yi-Gyeol's subordinate senseless, spat out his nameless—no, his nickname—once more to the entire world.
It was a blatant challenge to the Beggars' Sect.
The Fox seemed to have already spotted the Beggars' Sect members lurking nearby. That's why he was boldly proclaiming his nickname to the world, in a cold tone.
"Hahaha! Hahahaha!"
The Fox burst into mad laughter as he slipped out of the alleyway.
Still, the Beggars' Sect didn't move. They just watched quietly, as if no one was there at all.
Whoosh!
A chill wind blew through the now-empty alley.
Yi-Gyeol's subordinate hadn't woken from his stupor. His face was buried in the filthy ground, deep in slumber.
"Wasn't that beating a bit too discreet?"
Hanbi said, glancing around.
By now, the beggars should have been swarming like something major had happened, but it was too quiet. They still didn't seem to know Yi-Gyeol's subordinate had been beaten.
"No, they've taken the bait."
The Fox said confidently.
"Really? It doesn't match the Beggars' Sect movements I know at all."
Hanbi trailed off.
"This is where the Beggars' Sect headquarters is. Even breathing carefully is a must here, more than anywhere else. Does it make sense that they wouldn't know a sect disciple got beaten in a place like this?"
"No, it doesn't. I'm just saying that because there's nothing visible. Hey, what about you? Find anything?"
Hanbi asked Four Thousand Four.
Four Thousand Four shook his head side to side.
As Hanbi said, nothing was visible to the eye. Nothing snagged at his senses. He hadn't caught the feeling of anyone tailing them either. In a situation like this, he could confidently say no one was following.
"Heh heh! I told you, they've bitten. Trust me."
The Fox said assuredly.
The Beggars' Sect's eyes were tied to the beggars' movements. And also to their numbers.
Where there were beggars, there was information.
The misconception lay in the beggars' garb. They might not look like the filthy rags everyone knew.
A scholar, a merchant, a farmer... any of them could be a beggar.
Right now, every conspicuous person had to be considered a beggar. Otherwise, every glance thrown their way became part of the surveillance net.
It was the surveillance net of beggars not deploying beggars.
Four Thousand Four stopped in front of a stable.
"We should take a carriage to Mount Song. Might as well travel comfortably while we're at it."
Assassins riding carriages in comfort.
If they were Heavenly Annihilation Division assassins, anyone would have laughed in disbelief—but it was actually happening.
Four Thousand Four rented a four-horse carriage.
Even when renting, people usually got two-horse ones, but a four-horse carriage was for high officials...
This was practically a declaration: "We know you're watching us here, so keep at it."
A four-horse carriage couldn't stray from the main roads due to its size.
It could only gallop along wide, open official paths.
"Hanbi. Have you ever drawn your sword without killing?"
Four Thousand Four, eyes closed as if resting, suddenly asked.
"Never."
Hanbi answered immediately.
Swords were only drawn to kill. Once drawn, a life had to be taken. If there was no need to take a life, the sword must never be unsheathed.
A sword was a lethal weapon.
The world spoke of killing swords, benevolent swords, life-giving swords, and so on.
Were killing swords and life-giving swords different?
No matter the reason or excuse, a sword was a lethal weapon.
Swordsmanship was the art of wielding a sword well to kill people.
Nothing more.
If there was a vast gap in martial prowess, it might be possible to disarm without killing, or strike with the flat of the blade instead of the edge.
But if martial skills were evenly matched, there was no room for mercy. If you didn't kill the enemy, you'd be killed, so you had to go all out.
The opponent died.
A sword was a lethal weapon, and swordsmanship was the method to kill with it.
The assassins of the Heavenly Annihilation Division understood this principle perfectly. That's why they always killed when they drew their swords.
Drawing a sword just to defend oneself? No such assassin existed.
Four Thousand Four, still with eyes closed, spoke.
"This time, I'd like you to use your sword without killing. Think you can?"
"Use the sword without killing. That's incomprehensible. Be more specific."
"We'll cross a bridge soon."
Hanbi's eyes gleamed.
A bridge a four-horse carriage could cross had to be massive. And beneath such bridges, beggars lay in ambush.
"There are twenty-four sub-branches here, and this is one of them."
"Target's the sub-branch leader? Capture him alive?"
"No, the target is the sub-branch itself. Destroy it. But don't kill anyone. Just a show of force."
"..."
Hanbi couldn't answer right away.
A Beggars' Sect sub-branch leader couldn't be thought of like those in other sects.
Many sub-branch leaders had skills rivaling elders. They just preferred a freewheeling life and lived leisurely apart from headquarters.
The sub-branch Four Thousand Four ordered destroyed... What sect was it? Who was the leader? What was their martial art? Without knowing these, he couldn't respond.
"The bridge below is the Riverside Sub-branch. Its leader is the Drunk Dreamer, Fifth Gyeol."
The Fox said calmly.
But Hanbi's face twisted in dismay upon hearing it.
As expected, one of the masters.
Beggars' Sect sub-branch leaders were usually handled by Third Gyeol disciples. But Fifth Gyeol... that was division head level even at headquarters. For such a man to still be a sub-branch leader... he had to be one of a kind.
The real problem was Four Thousand Four's order. Destroy without killing.
Demolish the Riverside Sub-branch. Without fatalities.
'One blast of Fire Lin...'
Hanbi unconsciously reached for his chest.
"Touching the Drunk Dreamer won't be easy. Especially alone. You owe me at least some reason."
Vanguard said steadily.
"No reason. The Fox did his part, now it's Hanbi's turn. Next, I'll go. Then Vanguard, you'll handle it. One by one, taking turns."
"That's why I'm asking why destroy without killing."
"Killing means all-out war with the Beggars' Sect. And that fight would just be meaningless deaths."
"Destroying isn't war?"
"They'll endure that much."
"The Beggars' Sect endures humiliation? That's some confidence."
Four Thousand Four smirked, twisting his lips.
"I don't know. They'll handle it somehow... So, what about you? Will you do it or not?"
Vanguard asked Hanbi.
"Have to, right? But demolish means... breaking some limbs?"
"As long as no one dies."
"When?"
"Watch the underside of the bridge carefully as we pass. That's your only chance to scout the Riverside Sub-branch. Move out alone tonight, back by dawn tomorrow."
"Thanks. At least you're asking me to come back."
Hanbi chuckled too.
Clop clop clop!
The four-horse carriage slowly crossed the bridge.
Hanbi and Vanguard were glued to peering under the bridge. With assassins' eyes, they scanned for ambush routes. They even searched for where the wanderer called Drunk Dreamer resided.
The situation under the bridge was straightforward.
Not many beggars. Meaning few followed the Drunk Dreamer. Conversely, those who did were diehards.
Gulp!
Hanbi swallowed dryly.
He gauged their martial arts from the beggars' movements. From theirs, he inferred the Drunk Dreamer's. He factored in the Beggars' Sect Fifth Gyeol disciples' level as best he could.
A surprise attack alone wouldn't work.
He'd need... a mind-confusing drug, like迷魂藥.
Hanbi glanced at Vanguard.
Vanguard caught his meaning.
"We'll have to stop at an apothecary on the way."
"Can we even find it here?"
"We will. If one person buys it all, it'll raise suspicion. You get half the ingredients, I'll get the other."
"You can refine it?"
"What do you take me for?"
"Hahaha! Vanguard, of course. Hahaha!"
Gratitude flickered in Hanbi's laughing eyes.
While the two kept their eyes fixed under the bridge, the Fox glanced at Four Thousand Four.
Four Thousand Four had his eyes closed.
He looked utterly at ease. So relaxed his whole body was full of openings. In this state, even a child could kill him easily.
A smile spread across the Fox's lips as he watched Four Thousand Four.
When told to beat the Beggars' Sect disciple, he hadn't grasped the meaning. He couldn't have imagined it would lure out Abbot Jigong as bait.
When Four Thousand Four ordered Hanbi to attack the Drunk Dreamer... it suddenly clicked.
The Fox had beaten Yi-Gyeol's subordinate.
That deed was now in the past. Irreversible.
And with it, the Fox's martial arts were exposed to the world.
A sharp-eyed Beggars' Sect member would have read Cheongyeom's style in the Fox's moves. She'd been cautious, but while beating freely, unconscious habits slipped out.
That's why the Beggars' Sect couldn't move easily.
They couldn't touch someone linked to Cheongyeom carelessly.
In other words... annoyingly, Four Thousand Four knew the Fox was connected to Cheongyeom.
He knew—or at least suspected to some degree. Yet he didn't ask what the connection was. Must be curious. He'd answer immediately if asked.
His confidence that no war would erupt without killing came from that.
Now Hanbi attacks the Drunk Dreamer.
Hanbi was thinking of mind-confusing drugs, but it wouldn't go as planned. The Drunk Dreamer would resist them, forcing Hanbi to fight at full strength. Especially since he couldn't kill, he'd have to go all out.
Hanbi's martial arts were Heavenly Annihilation Division assassin style.
Pure Martial Camp techniques.
The Heavenly Annihilation Division's movements would shine through Hanbi's.
Cheongyeom allied with the Heavenly Annihilation Division.
Next, Four Thousand Four said he'd go. He'd reveal his own arts, the Green Serpent's Secret Technique. Show the world the Shadowless Steps known as such.
They'd expose themselves clearly.
The Beggars' Sect would plunge into deep thought, and their destination... the Mount Song monks would ponder too.
But to draw out Abbot Jigong, they needed one more ploy.
What was it?
As the Fox watched Four Thousand Four, he suddenly thought: this man's resolve runs deep.
In the current murim, there were two greatest strategists, called North Star South Small. But Four Thousand Four was no less, he believed.
'Go ahead. Do as you please. I'll give everything I can. Help with all my might.'
The Fox's smile brightened.