Chapter 148
Translator: uly
Chapter: 148
Chapter Title: He's Just a Feather
"He's just a feather, that's all."
"How do you...?"
Yi Yang muttered in a daze.
"Thirty-two years, Jam-sa."
I couldn't understand why I felt this way. This was the man I had never forgotten for a single day over the past decades. I had always dreamed of killing him. The sole purpose of my martial arts training was to eliminate him. Even after learning I had no dantian, I couldn't give up on it because of him. And now, I had finally met him.
Yet, I felt no excitement at all.
My mind was clearer than ever since birth, and my blood ran as cold as a reptile's. Ak Muyoo slowly exhaled toward the ground.
"If you survived by heaven's luck, you should have lived in hiding. No need to throw your life away like this."
Swoosh!
Yi Yang's figure vanished. He had unleashed his signature stealth technique. After abandoning the name Jam-sa, he had rarely used assassin arts. He hadn't encountered foes strong enough to require them, and he had restrained himself to hide his past. But now, he had no choice.
Yi Yang activated his stealth and positioned himself beside a tree. It was a massive tree, over four paces in diameter.
It might be the largest tree in the entire forest, he thought. Merging with it, he was invisible to the naked eye. His stealth was that remarkable. Leaning against the tree, he scanned the surroundings, searching for Ak Muyoo.
"I always wondered how you survived with a hole through your heart."
Yi Yang spoke using Diffraction Resonance.
His voice scattered in all directions, making it impossible to pinpoint his location.
"Most people have their heart on the left, but a tiny fraction have it on the right."
"So you...?"
"Yeah. That's how I lived."
Ak Muyoo moved. Draped in his camouflage cloak, he advanced slowly, blending seamlessly.
But his opponent was Jam-sa, once the greatest assassin in the Central Plains. He noticed Ak Muyoo's movement immediately, thanks to the training he underwent to become one. Assassins mastered not only one-strike-kill techniques but also perfect concealment stealth and observational skills that memorized every detail of their surroundings at a glance.
Yi Yang had mastered two: the Ghost Horse Illusion Technique for stealth and Omnidirectional Surveillance for observation.
'A camouflage cloak, huh...'
He tilted his head as he watched Ak Muyoo inch forward, cloaked and merging with the environment.
'You wouldn't know I have Omnidirectional Surveillance. This time, I'll kill you for sure.'
Yi Yang, about to drop from the tree, stuck back.
'He's coming this way, so why bother...'
Ak Muyoo was heading straight for his tree. Waiting meant a direct confrontation. Any tiny mistake could give away his position with a sound, so there was no reason to go to him.
'I'll wait.'
He decided to strike when Ak Muyoo was right in front.
"Having survived, you should be grateful and live. Why choose death?"
He asked, eyes fixed on Ak Muyoo.
Ak Muyoo then pressed his mouth and nose to the ground.
"You have no idea how I've lived these past thirty years. My life's only purpose was one thing: killing you."
'What the?'
Yi Yang's eyes widened. Burying his face in the dirt scattered the sound, mimicking Diffraction Resonance.
'I never knew that trick.'
Ak Muyoo finished speaking and moved again.
'Heh.'
A sneer curled Yi Yang's lips.
He gripped his sword and waited. The distance between them was ten paces. A little longer, and he'd be right there. Then a stab in the back. Breath held, he waited.
Ak Muyoo crept up to the tree. Yi Yang tightened his grip. He could strike now but held back for the perfect moment. Countless assassinations had taught him patience yielded perfection.
'Haste leads to failure.'
Ak Muyoo reached right in front of the tree and circled to the left.
Yi Yang raised his sword and dropped from the tree. Just as he thrust, Ak Muyoo sprang up and clung to the trunk. Yi Yang froze and slowly leaned back against the tree.
Memories of his assassin days flooded back. He wanted to savor this moment longer. The thrill just before unleashing after long patience was indescribable.
A surge coursed through his body, like drunken ecstasy. The last time he felt it was thirty-two years ago, plunging the Heaven Killing Spike into a child's chest.
Now, he had the chance to pierce that same heart again.
Back pressed to the tree, he shifted until he stood right beside Ak Muyoo, to his left. Ak Muyoo leaned with his back too. Mere one pace apart.
Thump thump thump thump! Thump thump thump thump!
His heart raced wildly, perhaps from the long wait.
He extended his sword hand. To stab from this position, he needed a reverse grip. Without full power, it might fail. His left hand would be better.
Thump thump thump thump! Thump thump thump thump!
His heart pounded faster.
'Perfect.'
He grinned.
He grasped the hilt with his left hand. The instant both hands clenched it—
Whoosh!
Ak Muyoo's right hand, pressed to the tree, whipped out at terrifying speed.
Splat!
"Gah!"
Yi Yang's scream erupted.
A spike-shaped weapon pierced his dantian. It was the Heaven Killing Spike Yi Yang used as Jam-sa.
"You... you knew I was here?"
Yi Yang cried out in shock.
"Yeah."
Ak Muyoo nodded.
"So you pretended not to know...?"
"If I killed you easily, I couldn't forgive myself."
Ak Muyoo stepped forward, folding his bloodwind cloak into his bosom. Staring straight into Yi Yang's eyes, he said,
"I have a lot of questions."
Ak Muyoo drew his dagger.
"You must've been in my bedroom."
Yi Yang glanced at the spike embedded in his dantian, which pierced straight through to the tree behind, immobilizing him.
"I searched there first, thinking you might have info on the client. But nothing."
"I don't know who the client is."
"We'll see about that."
Ak Muyoo wasn't rushed. He deployed every skill from his past jobs. Butcher techniques to dissect Yi Yang, embalming assistant skills to stitch him up. Repeating dissection and repair, he extracted everything from Yi Yang's mind.
But nothing emerged except Heaven.
"So Hweong knows?"
"Y-Yeah."
Even shredded, Yi Yang clung to life. His arms were raised above his head, nailed to the tree with carved wooden spikes through his palms. His bloodied mouth had no teeth left.
"I see."
"Mercy... please."
"No."
Ak Muyoo shook his head.
"You're a butcher."
"Mom begged you too. To save the child. But you just smiled wide. Now I'm off to catch that Hweong bastard."
Ak Muyoo stared at Yi Yang, then turned to leave.
"Mercy!"
Yi Yang bellowed.
"Mercy! Mercy! Please!"
But Ak Muyoo didn't look back.
As he walked, he slumped against a tree.
'I've finally taken him out, Mom.'
Gazing at the sky, he murmured softly.
'Now forget and live.'
"I want to, but the problem is this guy's just a feather. The real body's elsewhere."
'You'll only bring misery to yourself.'
"I know. But he said my family name is Joo. And Joo Muyoo's living well in Peking, wondering why you're talking revenge. I don't get it. But I remember clearly. Him stabbing this into my chest. And Mom dying."
Ak Muyoo raised the Heaven Killing Spike. Blood and flesh clung to its surface.
"I need to catch him and dig deeper."
Ak Muyoo stood.
He looked up at the tree for a mark. Moments later, he departed.
'Where's the exit?'
Hweong stared ahead, muttering inwardly. But no matter how he scanned, only clouds filled his view.
—Any leads on the formation?
He sent a transmission to nearby Zhuque, leader of the five unranked assassins in the Life-Death Society.
—Nothing but that it's called Maze Formation.
—So we just sit here?
The assassins, including Hweong, remained intact because they froze upon grasping the formation's nature. Cloaked in stealth, they waited motionless.
—Once the fight ends, they'll relax. That's our chance to slip out.
—Tch!
Hweong grimaced.
No other way, as Zhuque said.
Hweong lay prone, waiting. Time dragged. Night soon fell.
At night, the assassins rose to relieve themselves, then returned to their spots, prone again.
'Endurance is our specialty... Huh?'
Hweong's eyes widened. Far off, two glowing orbs like beast eyes appeared. They moved slowly.
'What is that? ...No beasts, they said?'
The small orbs vanished soon. Hweong kept watch. Usually, he'd sleep prone at night, but unease banished sleep.
He dozed off an hour later.
Staring ahead, he nodded off, head dropping.
Thud!
A faint sound came from somewhere, unnoticed.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Faint sounds continued.
"Huh!"
Hweong jolted awake.
—Zhuque!
He transmitted to the nearby one.
—Yes.
The quick reply eased him.
—Check the squad.
—The squad?
—Right now.
—Yes.
Zhuque rose slowly. Scanning squad members in stealth.
'Whoa!'
Zhuque nearly dropped stealth in shock.
—What is it?
—The squad's been hit.
—How many?
—About fifty.
—Fifty down without a sound... Damn it...
Hweong cursed. Their no-scream training, even in death, backfired. No cries gave it away.
—What's the murder weapon?
—Arrows shorter than a palm.
—The killer...
—Don't know who, but nearby.
—Shot arrows while nearby?
—We're all stealthed, invisible. He must've aimed at our presences. Can't sense presences from afar.
—I see. Start a search. Yell if you spot him.
—Yes.
Zhuque ordered the squad.
Life-Death Society assassins moved stealthily.
Crunch!
'Whoa!'
Something tripped an assassin, soft like a body.
Regaining composure, he stabbed toward it. Everyone but them was foe—no need to check. Even a corpse, stab first.
Splat!
Just before his weapon pierced, a chilling sound came from his throat.
...?
The assassin's eyes widened.
—No scream? Fine by me.
A gravelly voice echoed in his head.
'S-Scream...'
But he died without one.
'Nice.'
An old man sprang up. He was White Demon Ta Bul Yeo, one of the Hundred Mad Demons.
"Chaos Net's the real deal. Heh heh heh!"
White Demon chuckled lowly, stepping forward. His form melted into the air.
Soon, a silence like the deep sea descended.