Not Even Worth Killing
“Haha, is that all you’ve got?”
I tumbled weakly through the mud. The wooden staff I’d been leaning on was snatched away, snapped in two, and left to roll in the muck.
“Pahwanggun was so impressed during the entrance exam that I figured there had to be something to you.”
The moment I pushed myself up I was struck again and sent sprawling. We were outnumbered from the start, and every one of them was a trained fighter. More than that, my body was still little better than a rag after barely absorbing two Heavenly White Ginsengs. Forget martial arts—I could barely move without the staff.
Winning had never been possible.
“A martial artist without a single blade on him. Hilarious. I came all this way just to deal with trash like this? Playing with courtesans at a brothel would’ve been a better use of my time.”
I coughed hard. My trembling arms couldn’t even lift my body; they slipped uselessly in the mud.
Damn it.
The second of the three brothers—Moyong Gangcheon. Gam Seoin had warned me about him: dull-witted, obsessed with women, clearly inferior to the first and third sons, yet backed by a support base inside the family that no one could ignore. Don’t let your guard down, he’d said.
Even so, I never expected to be blindsided like this.
Two of his underlings snickered as they pinned my arms while I flailed, trying to rise. One seized my hair and slammed my face straight into the mud.
I felt something hot and sticky trickle down the back of my head where it had been driven into the filthy water. With effort I lifted my head and looked at the man standing over me.
Aside from Moyong Ryu, this was the first other heir of the Moyong Family I had ever faced.
I’d traded blows with Moyong Ryu, but there had never been genuine contempt or mockery in it. I had resented him without quite realizing it, and maybe that had dulled my wariness toward the rest of the Moyong sons. They’re people too, I’d thought.
That illusion was washed away clean.
These were the kind of men who stood at the absolute top and refused to treat anyone beneath them as human. That endlessly arrogant, languid expression looked at me exactly the way a man looks at an insect. To him I was no brother—just a filthy fly that needed to be swatted. The sincerity of that contempt was impossible to miss.
“I really don’t like that look in your eyes. Still unbroken after a beating like that.”
Moyong Gangcheon drew his sword and leveled the tip at my eye, chuckling.
“He still thinks he could’ve passed the Chunmu Hall exam if we hadn’t interfered!”
One of the underlings shouted, and the whole group burst into laughter. A thick-cheeked thug sat his full weight on my back and ground me into the dirt.
“This bastard barely has any inner force at all. Did he seriously think he could build half a gap’s worth of qi in a single month?”
Another underling had clearly checked my pulse; he snickered as he mocked me. Mumyeong’s words came back to me—the absorbed qi still hadn’t settled into my body and was circulating too loosely to be sensed. They still had no idea.
“What?”
Moyong Gangcheon looked almost offended. He snapped open a folding fan, waved it at his face, and sighed.
“Ah, what a letdown. At first I planned to break all four limbs and stage an accidental death somewhere quiet. Turns out this thing isn’t even worth the effort.”
I had crawled out of the capital half-broken and lived as a martial artist in my own right. No money, no accomplishments—only pride and the stubborn belief that I was living my own life had kept me going. And this man dismissed every bit of it with a sneering smile.
“Even a butcher’s knife would be wasted on a pig like this.”
The words carved themselves into me as sharply as a single black stroke of ink on pure white paper.
“Acts of violence between disciples aren’t punished unless there’s open proof anyway. Once you’re expelled from Cheonsubaekryeonsa you’ll die on your own. No need for me to dirty my hands further.”
Moyong Gangcheon waved lazily at his men and yawned.
“Boys, show this lowborn some of your tender care. Better to be thorough. I hate loose ends.”
They seized my hand and twisted. The Jade Flow Bracelet sat on that wrist. I realized instantly what they intended. I thrashed to keep it, but they wrenched my wrist until the bracelet came free. One of the exam conditions for advancing from Chunmu Hall was returning the Jade Flow Bracelet unbroken.
“No!”
The calm I had forced myself to maintain shattered. I struggled desperately. If it broke, I failed. They meant to destroy every last possibility with a single blow.
“Easy now. Be grateful Young Master Moyong Gangcheon’s mercy is keeping your arm attached.”
The fat underling climbed onto my left hand. The bracelet was stripped from my wrist and set on a solid rock. Another thug licked his lips, raised a mace, and took aim.
I could only watch, powerless, as my future was smashed to pieces—while they laughed.
“Why are you doing this to me? What’s the real reason you want me gone from Cheonsubaekryeonsa? I never even wanted the family head’s seat! I have no backing—why are you so wary of me?!”
“Wary?”
Moyong Gangcheon barked a short, incredulous laugh and crouched in front of me.
“Hey.”
Lightning exploded across my vision. His open palm cracked across my cheek.
“Wary? You think a lowborn piece of trash like you is on my level?”
He backhanded me left and right. Then he snatched the mace from his underling and aimed it at the bracelet himself.
“Do you need a reason to step on a bug?”
The mace came down. The Jade Flow Bracelet shattered into fragments.
They left me sprawled like a squid tossed onto dry land, each of them giving me one last casual kick as they walked past.
“Five days left until the exam ends, right? You’ll be busy once you’re expelled—take care of that body of yours.”
Moyong Gangcheon’s mockery set his men roaring with laughter, clutching their bellies.
“…You’re not going to kill me?”
I spoke with my face still pressed into the mud. Moyong Gangcheon tilted his head.
“I was going to force it at first, but I changed my mind. You’re not even worth that.”
I didn’t spit out the mud filling my mouth. I only muttered,
“Want a prophecy?”
“Puhaha! Now he’s a fortune-teller? Our little bastard brother? Sure, sure—say whatever you want.”
I raised my head. Mud slid from my forehead and nose, tracing my jawline before dripping free.
“I don’t care about the other brothers. But you—Moyong Gangcheon—I’m going to make damn sure you don’t die clean.”
Silence fell over the group. I had no idea what my face looked like, but for a single heartbeat every mocking expression froze solid. A beat later they laughed even harder, as if denying that momentary reaction had ever happened.
“Puhaha! Look at this wreck still trying to sound cool!”
“Oh no, I’m so scared I wet myself! Young Master, my pants are soaked—what do I do?”
Through their laughter I burned every one of Moyong Gangcheon’s roughly ten men into my memory. I chewed the mud filling my mouth.
I would no longer endure humiliation. I would no longer pretend not to hear, not to feel. I would repay everything that was done to me. Without fail. And when I repaid it, it would be double—no, more. I would not spare the old. I would not spare women. I would not spare children. I would tear, kill, and chew them to pieces.
…
They left me there, thoroughly beaten, and vanished.
“Haa… haa…”
In the empty valley I rolled my body with difficulty. Shattered fragments of the Jade Flow Bracelet lay scattered beside me.
“…Shit.”
My entire body was swollen. Breathing hurt. Something felt broken—hardly surprising after a beating that long.
Night fell. Crickets sang. A chilly wind blew. No other sound reached me—not even the usual mountain beasts. The valley felt like a perfect land of the dead.
I stared up at the stars. The moon rose. The final week. This month was ending. I gazed quietly at the sky. The night wind swept cool across my still-feverish body.
[Host, are you all right?]
“You were awake. Watching?”
[I awoke to the Host’s intense will. Are you all right? You look worse than any day I’ve seen.]
“Wait.”
I blinked.
“You woke to my will? Not to killing intent from the other side?”
[Correct. It was clearly the Host’s powerful will. There was no killing intent from them.]
“Ha.”
They had truly looked down on me, dismissed me, decided I wasn’t even worth killing.
“Ha… hahaha. Wow. Right to the end—classy as hell. Yeah. That’s how it is.”
I looked up at the blue full moon.
“Mumyeong. It’s time, right?”
[Time?]
I pointed at the full moon. Mumyeong answered.
[The full moon has risen. Correct. From now until the next full moon, one emergency physical restoration is possible.]
“Start it. Now.”
Mumyeong hesitated.
[This is a once-a-month measure reserved for true emergencies. If you waste it, you will be defenseless against future dangers—]
“Start it.”
He must have sensed the difference in my tone. After a silence he spoke.
[Understood.]
Swollen, ruptured flesh knitted at high speed. Cracked and shattered bones writhed and fused as if seared by fire, skin and sinew closing over them.
Ordinarily this was only an emergency measure—enough to restore basic mobility. It was no miracle cure, yet for a man who could barely move it was more than enough to put me back on my feet.
Moyong Gangcheon.
Lying on the ground I carved those four syllables into my bones.
You picked the wrong man.
My eyes burned.
“Are you Young Master Moyong Bi?”
A strange voice cut through the night air. What kind of day was this turning into? Still lying down, I turned my head.
Under the full moon a figure stepped out of the darkness and continued speaking.
“Illegitimate son of the Moyong Family. Recently made contact with Elder Pal as well. The circumstances seem certain enough… though it looks like something happened in the meantime.”
A man emerged fully into the moonlight—twin swords on his back, a black mask pulled up over his nose. An assassin by any measure. He placed a hand politely over his chest.
“Even an illegitimate son is still blood of one of the Five Great Families. I’ll show the minimum courtesy before I kill you.”
I stared without speaking. The assassin shrugged.
“I’m sorry, but you need to die tonight. I’ve accepted a job.”
I was so far past disbelief that only laughter remained.
“And why the hell do you want me dead?”
The assassin answered in a calm, measured voice.
“The client asked me to pass along the charge if you inquired: the crime of being born of filthy blood and disturbing the eldest young master’s peace of mind. Have you finished any last words?”
Steel whispered as a blade left its sheath. Looking at it, I could only laugh. My shoulders shook; the sound spilled out of me.
“…You’re laughing?”
“Heh… shit. The second brother comes to humiliate me, and the first sends an assassin? These bastards really never stop. Fine. Let’s settle this for good.”
I brushed myself off and stood. I clenched my fists, feeling the fully restored body.
“You goddamn Moyong Family dogs.”
“Further conversation seems pointless. One last word.”
The assassin leveled his sword at me.
“I hold no personal grudge. But for the sake of my client’s path, die.”
“Then let me ask one thing too.”
I rose fully, dusting off my backside. Night wind stirred.
“You’re here under the qualification of a Chunmu Hall examinee as well, right? This is still exam territory.”
The assassin tilted his head.
“That’s correct.”
“Which means…”
I looked at him quietly beneath the full moon.
“You’ve got a Jade Flow Bracelet too.”
“What?”
I stripped off my upper robe. It dropped to the ground with a soft thud.
“I’ll leave you with one last word as well.”
My black pupils flooded crimson. Through the fully restored flesh, the spiritual energy of the absorbed Heavenly Thunder White Ginseng and Heavenly Flame White Ginseng surged outward—thunder and fire roaring without restraint through every meridian. The ground trembled. Twin red serpents coiled around my hands, swelling beyond serpents into dragons, their coils shaking the entire valley.
“I hold no personal grudge either. Hand over your Jade Flow Bracelet and die.”