He’s Quite Interested
Lee Kang’s Black Moon Blade shot out soundlessly.
Mak Uni didn’t notice that Lee Kang’s sword had already come up to his throat.
That wasn’t entirely Mak Uni’s fault.
Lee Kang’s martial art was that quiet, that fast. On top of that, Seol-ah’s bait had been added into the mix. Bricks falling from above, a peerless beauty standing in front, and the Black Moon Sect Leader approaching like a shadow from behind.
Three pieces locking together into a single mechanism, the perfect moment where heaven, earth, and man came into harmony.
The instant Mak Uni swung his gon to knock away the falling brick, Lee Kang’s needle-thin sword had already pierced his throat.
Thud.
“Ghk...!”
Mak Uni’s eyes flew wide open.
Only then did he turn his head and see Lee Kang. A man standing there like a black shadow. At last, he understood the situation.
Mak Uni immediately tried to respond. He moved the gon in his hand, twisted his body, tried to shake off the sword impaling his throat.
But for some reason, all his strength drained away.
His legs wobbled.
“Urk, ugh...!”
Just as he tried to shout, Lee Kang’s Moonlit Night Killing Sword technique struck again.
Short and fast. A sword thrust aimed at an opening.
The giant gon in Mak Uni’s hands was not suited to blocking attacks like this. In a wide open space, a sweeping blow might have been threatening, but in a narrow alley, especially right after his throat had been stabbed, it was far too sluggish.
Then Mak Uni sensed another presence behind him.
Whoosh.
The sharp sound of a blade moving quickly. It was Seol-ah.
She, too, unleashed her Black Moon Blade. It was not a tree branch this time. It was a real sword.
Seol-ah’s Black Moon Blade went for Mak Uni’s throat.
Thud.
That sword reached him as well. Even if he had realized it, he had no room to turn his head away from Lee Kang in front of him.
“Ngk...!”
Mak Uni’s face twisted. Once again, Lee Kang and Seol-ah’s pincer attack came crashing down on him.
Cruel and relentless. And shameless.
There was no such thing as a fair fight. No warning, no honorable duel. They stole his attention, stabbed from behind, and then went for the opening again.
Lee Kang and Seol-ah’s swords closed in on Mak Uni.
“Y-you bastards! Cough...”
Mak Uni gritted his teeth and swung the gon with all his might.
Whooom!
The massive wooden staff cut through the air in the alley.
Lee Kang instantly leaped back. Seol-ah withdrew at the same time. The tip of the gon slammed into the wall, scattering brick dust.
Mak Uni immediately took up a defensive stance.
He held the gon in front of him and looked back and forth between Lee Kang and Seol-ah. But they no longer attacked.
Seeing that, Mak Uni felt relief. No, he tried to feel relief.
A chance.
The moment that thought crossed his mind, his legs lost strength again.
“Huh...?”
His knees buckled. His fingers stopped working properly. Strength left the hand gripping the gon. He tried to draw in a breath, but his body refused to obey.
Only then did Mak Uni understand.
The blade that had grazed his throat carried poison from the very beginning. It was the paralytic powder Lee Kang had taken from Seok Yuha.
“You, despicable...”
Mak Uni couldn’t even finish the sentence.
His body collapsed as it was.
Thud.
Mak Uni fell onto the alley floor. It had taken less than ten breaths. Lee Kang looked down at the fallen man for a moment.
Then he lifted his sword and was about to cut his throat, but hesitated.
“Can you do it?”
Seol-ah looked at Lee Kang.
“You mean cut his throat?”
“Yes.”
Seol-ah did not hesitate. She adjusted her grip on her sword.
Then she brought it down toward Mak Uni’s throat.
Thwack.
But the blade stopped halfway. She lacked the strength.
She had learned the flow of basic swordsmanship through her Transcendence talent, but she still didn’t have the strength or experience to sever a person’s throat in a single strike.
Lee Kang raised a hand to stop her.
“That’s enough. He’s already dead. There’s actually no need to cut him.”
Seol-ah quietly nodded. Lee Kang searched Mak Uni’s clothes.
One Geon-gon pouch. And one key.
Lee Kang held up the key and examined it. It was worn, but not an ordinary key. A small emblem that looked like the Mak Family’s crest was engraved near the handle.
Is this a key to the Mak Family base?
This was useful. Seol-ah spoke quietly.
“I want to see the harvest.”
Her eyes were fixed on the Geon-gon pouch. Lee Kang looked at her and sighed inwardly. Was this what this world had done to her? Seol-ah’s values were already far from normal.
She wasn’t a girl who liked flowers and peace. She craved blood and spoils.
Her gaze was on the Geon-gon pouch in Lee Kang’s hand, not on the sensation of killing they had just shared. Lee Kang shook his head while holding the pouch.
“It’s not over yet. Cleanup matters too.”
He looked around.
“Keep watch for anyone observing us.”
“...Yes.”
Seol-ah immediately turned her eyes toward the mouth of the alley. Lee Kang bent over Mak Uni’s body.
Then he took out a large black plastic sheet and covered the corpse with it. The dark, rough plastic masked the body’s shape. Overlaid with the alley’s shadows, it was hard to tell what it was at a glance.
Lee Kang dragged over a large trash bin nearby.
Creak.
The old wheels scraped against the ground.
He carefully lifted the body wrapped in plastic and put it inside the bin. Once the lid was closed, it looked, on the outside, like nothing more than an old trash container.
Lee Kang immediately opened the translucent gallery window. Then he found the tip comment he had planted in advance and deleted it.
There was no need to leave any trace behind.
After finishing the cleanup, Lee Kang checked the surroundings once more. Seol-ah also shook her head.
“No one’s here.”
“Good.”
Only then did Lee Kang open Mak Uni’s Geon-gon pouch. There wasn’t much inside.
About 200 nyang.
And eight adult magazines.
“...”
Lee Kang peered into the pouch and coughed awkwardly.
“Ahem.”
Seol-ah’s gaze dropped into the pouch as well. More precisely, toward the adult magazines.
Lee Kang noticed that look and paused.
No way.
He tested it, lifting one magazine and moving it to the right.
Seol-ah’s eyes moved to the right too.
Then he shifted it left.
Seol-ah’s gaze followed left.
“...”
Lee Kang looked down at the magazine and said, “This one’s worth fifty nyang apiece.”
At that, Seol-ah looked at Lee Kang. Then she asked, very seriously, “May I look?”
Lee Kang went silent for a moment.
She’s very honest.
For now, he stuffed everything back into the Geon-gon pouch. Once it was all packed away, he handed the pouch to Seol-ah.
She didn’t have one yet.
“You carry it.”
Seol-ah took the Geon-gon pouch with both hands. She looked extremely pleased.
[Lee Seol-ah’s affection has increased.]
Lee Kang checked the area one last time. The alley was quiet again. Lee Kang and Seol-ah quickly slipped out.
“The second way to kill someone is with bait.”
Seol-ah was silent for a moment.
“You mean you used the same method to draw out another one?”
“Yes.”
Lee Kang nodded.
“I posted a tip to the gallery after a time delay. An hour later, I arranged to meet another Mak Family member nearby.”
Seol-ah listened quietly, the pouch held against her chest.
“But this time there’s no brick trap.”
“Why not?”
“The other side changed the meeting place.”
Seol-ah’s white eyes narrowed just a fraction.
“Then weren’t we the ones being lured?”
Lee Kang gave a slight snort.
“High chance of that.”
Seol-ah watched him without speaking.
“But it’s fine. There are only two of us, and in the Mak Family, the only second-class martial artist is Mak Daehan. Unless Mak Daehan shows up himself, we can handle it.”
Lee Kang didn’t slow his pace.
“Of course, we can’t get careless. Before we meet him, we need to thoroughly scout the area and see how many people are there.”
The chances of more than one person showing up were slim, but Lee Kang decided to move cautiously. He couldn’t treat a matter with his life on the line lightly. Seol-ah quietly nodded at his words.
The two crossed the alley again. The method was the same this time too. Seol-ah would lure, and Lee Kang would ambush.
On the way, Lee Kang swept his gaze over the alley shadows. Seol-ah also silently watched the surroundings.
A little later, the two split up again. Seol-ah slowly headed toward the meeting place.
Lee Kang scouted the area around it for a long time. Fortunately, no one else was visible. There were almost no places where someone could hide.
The meeting point was a wide four-lane road.
Most of the cars had been abandoned, and some had been overturned. Broken glass and dried bloodstains marked the road in several places. Still, the sightlines were open.
Not bad. It was just a difficult place to hide and ambush from.
Lee Kang concealed himself in the shadow of a building and looked across the road.
I guess I have to trust Seol-ah.
Lee Kang lowered his breathing.
And so Lee Kang and Seol-ah arrived at the meeting place from different directions and positions.
Seol-ah slowly walked out toward the edge of the road. Lee Kang remained hidden a little farther away. Using shadows and the wrecked vehicles, he killed his presence as much as possible.
Then someone appeared in the distance.
It was a huge man. Tall, broad-shouldered. He carried a wooden gon in his hands, and it was stained dark red from drinking so much blood.