Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Chapter 26 - 26. 살행
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Translator: crow
Chapter 26: Assassination
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Jeonghae Abbot smiled faintly.
"You've probably guessed it already, but this is the freshly completed Great Returning Pill. I'd like to give it to Lay Disciple Baek."
The Great Returning Pill was a spiritual medicine that every martial artist in the world desired.
Even without its enhanced effects from this refinement, it was the ultimate elixir that increased one's internal energy by a full cycle of sixty years, and it also served as a wondrous pill with significant recovery effects even for severe internal injuries.
If even one pill were released into the jianghu, it could unleash a storm of bloodshed.
"May I really accept something this precious?"
"Of course. While we kept it secret from others, if it weren't for Lay Disciple Baek, this Great Returning Pill refinement would have ultimately ended in failure. Hyegang also actively voiced his support, helping to persuade the elders."
"Hyegang Monk?"
"That stubborn fellow didn't tell even Junior Monk precisely what was going on, but he insisted that we emphasize how the Great Returning Pill is the finest wondrous pill."
...
Jeonghae Abbot hadn't noticed, but Hyegang knew Yuseong's original realm.
Moreover, Hyegang had stepped forward actively for Yuseong, who had given him enlightenment allowing him to surpass the wall even without the Great Returning Pill.
Yuseong didn't know that much.
'He must have thought it would help treat my injured dantian. I'm grateful for the sentiment.'
The Great Returning Pill couldn't heal a shattered dantian. But if he repaired it far in the future with divine power, he could instantly accumulate more than a full cycle's worth of internal energy, making it extremely useful.
Of course, he couldn't accept it now.
A treasure one lacked the power to protect was nothing but a curse.
"Would it be possible to leave this Great Returning Pill at the Shaolin Temple for a while? I have no intention of consuming it right away."
"Of course. If you're not taking it now, it's safer to leave it at the Shaolin Temple. Whenever you visit, we'll hand over the Great Returning Pill, so Lay Disciple Baek needn't worry. However, you must come within ten years. The Great Returning Pill doesn't preserve well for long."
Ten years.
He had no intention of waiting that long.
He would definitely restore his dantian before then.
***
During his days as an assassin for the Killing Sect, he had done it less, but after settling his past and living ten years as a free man, Oja-seong's will to live had grown stronger.
He even had a woman with whom he had promised a future.
If not for the promise he had made to Jo Physician, who had cared for him over the past three months, he never would have considered heading out on another assassination mission.
When he first promised Jo Physician a month to assassinate Yuseong, he had weighed the odds of success.
'I'll fill in the rest through thorough investigation. Only when the success rate nears ten parts will I strike.'
This success rate included not just the assassination, but escaping safely as well.
When he belonged to the Killing Sect, investigating targets had been relatively easy.
Though not on the level of the Beggars' Sect or House of Revelry, the Killing Sect had its own usable intelligence network.
But now that he had to do everything alone, Oja-seong realized that one month was no small amount of time.
Already, considerable days had passed without any gains.
He thought investigating Baek Yuseong would take only five days, but one of the Nine Great Sects, the Beggars' Sect, had intervened.
'Why is the Beggars' Sect protecting even a single physician so thoroughly?'
If the Killing Sect were still intact, they might have uncovered the connection between Soun and Yuseong, but Oja-seong alone lacked the capacity to dig that deep.
However, one thing was certain.
The Beggars' Sect had already noticed his presence and was moving to uncover his identity.
So he took extra care with his disguises, changed surveillance spots multiple times, and swiftly retreated whenever he sensed anything suspicious, all while circling Yuseong.
'Gaps will inevitably appear.'
Finally, that opportunity arrived.
It was when seven days had passed since Yuseong began learning formations from Jegal Yeongyeong.
"Gather all Beggars' Sect disciples! We need backup!"
A man who appeared to be a high-ranking Beggars' Sect member burst in and called together all the surrounding disciples.
They huddled briefly, then hurriedly dashed off in another direction.
...
Oja-seong cautiously held his position.
From his persistent watch over the past few days, Yuseong's house currently held only the target inside.
For every single Beggars' Sect disciple to vacate without exception suggested it might be a trap.
After waiting a long while with no reaction, he checked his mask, then stealthily released his concealment.
The shadow of the crumbling wall slithered smoothly, transforming into a human shape.
No response from the surroundings.
Drawing his sword, Oja-seong vaulted over Baek Yuseong's wall.
And he waited.
'Even now, no reaction? Did they really withdraw?'
He was prepared to pull back at the slightest sign of presence, but convinced that the Beggars' Sect disciples had withdrawn for some reason, he melted into the darkness.
'Fortunately, I can repay the debt I owe Jo Physician from ten years ago.'
It was already late enough that Yuseong should be asleep.
Reviewing his pre-planned escape routes once more, Oja-seong crossed the courtyard and entered the house, when suddenly an odd feeling struck him.
'Strange. From outside, the house looked small, so why does this room feel so large?'
A vast, empty room devoid of furniture stretched before him.
Anyway, there was at least one more room.
Opening the door to the next room revealed the exact same room as before.
No sign of Yuseong.
And though the house clearly shouldn't have more space, another door appeared in the same position.
Oja-seong felt a chill.
Approaching with a grave expression, he opened the door to find yet another identical room. It still had a door attached.
...
He had never experienced it himself, but this was undoubtedly a phenomenon from his past training.
'Am I trapped in a formation right now? Who the hell set up a formation here?'
The entrance he had first come through had vanished.
According to his training, setting up a formation was far harder than breaking one, and unless done with special mechanisms, they didn't last more than three or four days.
Thus, Oja-seong couldn't even guess who had set it up or imprisoned him.
From his surveillance, no one had entered or left Yuseong's house for days, except the target.
It was then.
Suddenly, the air tore open, and a blade thrust out from the rift.
'Gasp!'
Oja-seong barely twisted away.
The blade sliced through the air and vanished.
The room fell silent, as if nothing had happened.
Cold sweat trickled down his spine.
He didn't know where the next blade might emerge.
'This is a high-level formation. Trapping someone inside and attacking unilaterally—it must have been set by a formation master. Could it be the Zhuge Family? Since when have they been hiding in this house, waiting for me?'
Getting caught by the Beggars' Sect must have been the problem. He had fallen neatly into a trap to capture him.
Given time, he might break the formation and escape, but the pursuing blades allowed no such leisure.
...
From long habit during assassinations, he recalled the suicide poison pill tied to his molars.
He might have to bite it.
Though Oja-seong's will to live was strong, the poison pill was for his protection.
If captured without escaping the formation, he was as good as dead.
It was the means to choose between dying under torture or dying immediately.
Watching the masked assassin tense up, Yuseong was satisfied with the formation's effect.
'Worth studying hard.'
Given time to set it up in advance, formations were truly useful techniques.
He felt grateful to Jegal Yeongyeong anew.
Circling near the assassin, who was on edge not knowing where the next blade would come from, Yuseong waited for an opening and swung again.
Hiding in the Concealment Formation, he thrust an attack into the Labyrinth Formation, then retreated back into the Concealment Formation.
"Gah!"
This time, the strike landed effectively. A deep sword wound marred the assassin's arm.
The assassin, with basic formation knowledge, tried moving toward the life gate, but Yuseong's accumulating attacks prevented him from approaching.
'How annoying this assassin has been. Now I can finally sleep easy.'
If the Beggars' Sect disciples hadn't been so cautious as to withdraw completely without biting, Yuseong might not have encountered the assassin today.
The Beggars' Sect disciples had hopped in surprise but cooperated with the plan when Yuseong said he'd let them experience the formation once, then they'd catch the assassin from behind while he stayed hidden inside.
In any case, even at the first-rate warrior level, the assassin gradually accumulated damage from Yuseong's blades and was subdued.
Unilateral attacks were terrifying.
Yuseong's swordsmanship, refined in response to the assassin's dodges, had helped too.
Finally, Yuseong revealed himself to the assassin, who had collapsed with deep sword wounds on his limbs.
The assassin lay on the floor, panting heavily and glaring at Yuseong.
"You've been circling around, driving me crazy. Who sent you? I don't recall harboring grudge enough to warrant killing me."
No answer came.
Instead, a silver glint flashed from the assassin's mouth.
Sss—
Yuseong's body, prepared for contingencies, slid sideways like flowing water.
He easily dodged the silver needle aimed at his chest.
...
Though silent, the assassin's shaking eyes suggested it had been his final gambit.
"That's enough struggling. Reveal your identity and your backer obediently."
Oja-seong thought there was no chance of him living as the owner of Zaseong Inn in the future.
If captured and tortured, he would eventually spill everything and die, or hold out and die.
His status as a remnant of the Killing Sect might even be exposed.
'In the end, this is how my life ends.'
With his final assassination failing, he executed the best option available now.
Crunch—
Biting the poison pill.
The most effective way for an assassin to end their life when escape was impossible.
The poison liquid from the pill flowed down his throat.
Reacting with the long-accumulated toxins in his body, it turned into a lethal poison for Oja-seong.
Without immediate antidote, survival was impossible.
'It's over now. My identity as Zaseong Inn's owner will be revealed, but they'll suspect without pointing to Jo Physician as the backer.'
Already, the poison seeped into his blood, his heart pounding madly.
Chest pain intensified, vision blurring.
'Farewell.'
Bidding goodbye to the world and the lover with whom he had promised a future, he quietly closed his eyes.
***
Splash—
'What, what is this?'
Oja-seong, jolted awake by a sudden bucket of water to the face from a sound sleep, opened his eyes in shock.
His limbs were tightly bound.
He turned his head to survey his surroundings.
A dim, sealed chamber.
A man with a cruel expression.
Sharp knives, awls, tongs, hammers, and various torture tools hung on the walls.
Though it was his first time here, Oja-seong could infer the place.
'Interrogation room!'
The very scene he had tried to avoid even by biting the poison pill unfolded before him.
'I definitely ingested the poison—why am I still alive?'
The chest pain from the end was gone.
Aside from the sword wounds scattered about, his body was perfectly fine, showing no signs of poisoning.
"Wake now? Shall we get started? Let's begin nice and easy with this."
Oja-seong's eyes trembled mercilessly as he watched the man pick up a tool from the wall.
***
"Impressive, White-Clothed Physician. To think you'd catch the assassin alone. If you'd just held him with the formation, we could've handled the rest."
"You've been guarding me all this time—I couldn't trouble you further. Thanks to the Beggars' Sect protecting me, I could prepare to catch the assassin. Please convey my thanks to the Branch Leader. What happens to him now?"
"We've handed him to the Murim Alliance, so he'll spill everything from birth to now before he's done. The Murim Alliance interrogation room has a fearsome reputation."
"Please, make sure he reveals his backer."
"Don't worry. Even vicious demonic cultists struggle to endure once inside."
If they failed to catch the backer, another assassin might come. They had to uncover it this time.
'I'd heard of such things but didn't know he'd actually bite a poison pill. Lucky I just learned the Detoxification skill.'