Chapter 646: Killing Method, Can You Teach Me?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 646: Killing Method, Can You Teach Me?
Tremble, tremble, tremble.
Salhon began to shake uncontrollably.
An immense murderous aura, far beyond what he could possibly handle, weighed down on his entire body.
"Ugh..."
Salhon let out a strangled groan.
The overwhelming murderous intent made it difficult for him even to breathe. It was agonizing—utterly agonizing.
"Is this enough?"
Sun-woo’s calm voice reached his ears.
"...I... think... it's... enough..."
Hearing Sun-woo’s words, Salhon stammered out a response, barely managing to speak.
Flash!
Upon hearing his answer, Sun-woo immediately released his internal energy. The murderous aura that had saturated the torture chamber vanished in an instant.
"Haah... haah... haah... haah..."
As the pressure dissipated, Salhon began to pant heavily. The sheer weight of that murderous intent had felt like it was crushing the very air out of his lungs.
After taking a moment to catch his breath and compose himself, Salhon looked up at Sun-woo with a complex expression.
'What on earth... is this...?'
Salhon couldn't understand it. He couldn't fathom how Jang Sun-woo possessed a murderous aura powerful enough to suppress even him.
Who was he? He was a heinous murderer who had lived for hundreds of years, killing countless people. Yet, this man possessed a murderous intent so vast it made him tremble in fear.
"What are you looking at?"
Perhaps sensing Salhon’s gaze, Sun-woo spoke bluntly.
"...That... murderous aura. How did you get it?" Salhon asked, finally finding his voice.
"It just happened," Sun-woo replied with a nonchalant expression.
'He has no intention of telling me.'
Hearing that, Salhon realized that Sun-woo would not share his secrets.
"Do you want to control that murderous aura?"
"That's right."
Sun-woo nodded and continued, "So, teach me. Teach me your Killing Method."
Sun-woo looked directly at Salhon as he spoke.
"............"
Salhon fell silent, lost in thought. He weighed whether or not he should pass his Killing Method to the man standing before him.
Technically, the conditions were more than met. Sun-woo possessed a murderous aura so immense it overwhelmed even his own; he was more than qualified to learn the technique.
However, the idea of handing over his True Secret Technique gnawed at him. The Killing Method he practiced was the result of hundreds of years of research—moving from body to body, studying how to kill secretly, how to kill surely, and how to kill efficiently.
The thought of simply handing over the culmination of his life's work made his stomach churn. He agonized over what choice to make.
"Why are you quiet?"
Sun-woo’s calm voice cut through Salhon’s thoughts.
Flinch.
Salhon jerked at the sound of that voice.
"Whew."
He let out a long sigh. He had made his decision.
"I refuse."
Salhon looked Sun-woo straight in the eye.
"What?"
"I said I refuse," Salhon stated firmly. "The Killing Method is a True Secret Technique I have developed through countless trials and errors over hundreds of years."
"And?"
"Do you really think I would hand something like that over to you so easily?"
"Do you want to die?"
"Hmph. Threatening to kill me is useless. I may be a murderous ghost without honor, but I am no fool who lacks pride in the Killing Method I have achieved."
Salhon glared at Sun-woo with cold eyes.
"Do with me as you wish, whether you kill me or let me live. I will never give my Killing Method to the likes of you!" Salhon declared with a defiant expression.
"Sigh... and I thought things were going well today."
Sun-woo let out a deep sigh. He had truly thought his luck was holding up. He had caught Salhon trying to escape in Tang Ju-gi’s body and had even secured a promise of cooperation in exchange for his life.
But now, things had gone sideways at the very last moment. He couldn't help but sigh.
"So, you're saying you won't give me the Killing Method?" Sun-woo asked.
"Of course! The Killing Method is my very foundation!" Salhon glared back, his eyes smoldering.
"Really?"
"Really!"
"For real?"
"For real!"
"Are you sure you won't regret this?" Sun-woo asked, his gaze turning icy.
"I have no regrets! If living means living like this, I would rather choose death! To me, the Killing Method is the proof and the fruit of my hundreds of years of existence. If I hand that over to you, I might as well be dead!"
"Didn't you say earlier that there was nothing you couldn't teach me?" Sun-woo asked, frowning.
His irritation rose at Salhon’s blatant reversal of his earlier words.
"I only said that because I thought you wouldn't be able to learn it anyway!"
"You really are a piece of work."
"Say what you want. I am an assassin; honor has nothing to do with me," Salhon replied shamelessly.
"..........Whew."
Sun-woo watched him closely for a moment before sighing again. It seemed this was as far as words would go.
"Are you... really... really not going to teach me the Killing Method?" Sun-woo asked one last time, his voice almost pleading.
"No! Not at all!"
"It doesn't have to be the one you use. Even a lower-tier Killing Method would be fine..."
"Hmph! As if I would bother learning some inferior technique! My Killing Method is the best under heaven! There is no need or value in learning some trashy substitute!" Salhon boasted.
"Sigh... I guess I have no choice then."
Sun-woo spoke with a look of profound regret.
'What's with this guy?'
Salhon felt a sense of unease. Sun-woo was giving up much faster than expected. Salhon had anticipated all sorts of threats and brutal torture. He thought a madman like Sun-woo was more than capable of it.
Yet, he was backing down easily. It was suspicious.
"Salhon."
Sun-woo called his name in a voice that sent a chill down his spine.
Flinch.
"Wh-what is it!?" Salhon stammered.
"This was your choice. Don't regret it," Sun-woo warned.
"I won't!" Salhon shouted defiantly.
He wouldn't regret it. How could a man regret standing by his convictions? It was absurd.
"Fine."
Sun-woo replied in a hollow voice.
Woooooooong.
He began to circulate the Yin-Yang Harmony Divine Art. Immediately, the surrounding Nature Qi began to be sucked into Sun-woo’s body at an incredible speed.
Swish, swish!
Salhon’s heart began to race. A sense of dread rose within him, mounting higher and higher.
Woooooooong.
A green current began to flow from Sun-woo’s body—a very deep, dark green mist.
Gulp.
Salhon swallowed hard. His anxiety doubled.
"I really wanted to get your cooperation peacefully... but you just wouldn't help me."
Sun-woo glared at Salhon with cold eyes.
"Since this is what you chose, make sure you can handle it."
Sun-woo slowly reached out his hand. Before long, his palm began to fill with a blood-red energy. It looked like steel glowing in a forge.
"Ah..."
Seeing this, Salhon realized exactly what Sun-woo was about to do.
"Wa-wait!"
Salhon screamed in desperation. His only thought was to stop Sun-woo.
"Too late, bastard."
Thud.
Despite Salhon’s plea, Sun-woo did not pull back. He simply placed his hand gently over Salhon’s heart.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"
Salhon shrieked. He remembered the agony that red touch—like the hellfire of the kalpa—inflicted.
"No... no... please... please..."
Salhon began to beg. He pleaded for Sun-woo to withdraw the poison before the Scorching Poison could spread through his body. The moment that poison circulated, he would be engulfed in a pain that would shatter his mind. He would rather be killed.
"Get lost."
But Sun-woo coldly rejected his plea. He was annoyed by the way Salhon had stubbornly clung to his pride.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!"
Hearing Sun-woo’s heartless response, Salhon fell into despair. He knew that in a few moments, unimaginable pain would strike.
After a few moments of despair, his fingertips and toes began to burn.
'...It's here... it's started...'
Salhon knew. The time of agony was beginning.
"AAAAAAAGH!"
Soon, his extremities felt as if they were being seared by fire, and the intense pain began to set in.
"It hurts! It hurts! IT HURTS!!!!!!!"
The burning sensation quickly spread throughout his entire body. From his fingertips to his palms, his entire arms, and his upper torso. From his toes to his soles, his entire legs, and his lower body.
"AAAAAAAGH!"
The searing pain consumed him. It felt as if his entire body had been cast into molten lava. It was agonizing. It was so painful he felt he would go insane.
"Does it hurt?" Sun-woo asked, watching him.
"AAAAAAAGH!"
Salhon could only scream in response. How could he answer when his entire body felt like it was being incinerated? He could do nothing but shriek.
"It should. I put in a much nastier version than before."
Sun-woo spoke calmly as he watched Salhon writhe in pain. The poison he had injected was a version of the Scorching Poison that had undergone multiple refinements. it was far more potent than the one he had used on Lee Ye-seol or Joo So-yang.
Salhon was an old monster who had lived for hundreds of years. His mental strength would be incomparably tougher than anyone else's. That was why Sun-woo had used a more refined, lethal version. He had blended the Scorching Poison with the extreme poisons of Yorang and the Poison Demon to maximize the suffering.
It would be a maddening pain—the kind that would make one beg for death. And that pain would rapidly erode his lofty pride and mental fortitude.
"AAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!"
"This is all your fault. I tried to resolve this peacefully."
Sun-woo continued in a flat tone as Salhon screamed.
"AAAAAAAGH!"
Salhon couldn't even form words; he just kept screaming. Sun-woo watched him silently, waiting until his cries became even more wretched.
*
Twitch, twitch, twitch.
Salhon’s eyes were rolled back, and he was foaming at the mouth, his entire body convulsing. He had lost consciousness from the sheer intensity of the pain.
Sun-woo slowly reached out and placed his hand on Salhon’s heart.
Sssssss.
He began to absorb all the Scorching Poison Qi spread throughout Salhon’s body. He took every last drop.
After a while, Salhon, who had been twitching in agony, stopped moving and went limp. With the pain gone, a sense of stability seemed to return to him.
"Hey."
Slap!
Sun-woo delivered a sharp slap to Salhon’s cheek. But Salhon remained limp and motionless.
"Wake up, brat."
Slap! Slap! Slap!
Sun-woo began to slap him relentlessly.
"Ugh... ugh..."
Finally, Salhon began to groan. The slaps seemed to have worked.
"You awake?"
As Salhon came to, Sun-woo spoke in a calm voice.
"......I am awake..."
Salhon replied with extreme politeness. He was a completely different person from the one who had been talking back and resisting earlier.
"Did it hurt a lot?"
"...........It hurt."
Salhon answered submissively.
"So? Have you had a change of heart?"
"............"
"I guess you can still handle more."
Sun-woo began to reach out his hand, which was once again glowing red.
"N-no! I can't handle any more!"
Salhon shouted in a panic. He was terrified that Sun-woo would inject the Scorching Poison again.
"Then I'll ask you one more time."
Sun-woo spoke slowly, looking at Salhon.
"The Killing Method. Can you teach me?"
"I... I will teach you."
Salhon answered hurriedly. Handing over the essence of his hundreds of years of work was a massive blow to his pride, but he couldn't bear to experience that pain again. He had endured all sorts of torture in his long life, but even he couldn't withstand this.
"I don't need it."
"What!?"
Salhon asked, looking bewildered. He didn't need it? What kind of nonsense was that?
Thump!
Sun-woo’s glowing red hand struck Salhon’s chest again.
"Wh-why!?"
Salhon looked at Sun-woo, his face full of shock. He couldn't understand Sun-woo’s actions.
"Suffer a little longer."
Sun-woo spoke with a mischievous expression. A playful smile played on his lips.
"Wh-what does th—AAAAAAAGH!"
Once again, a scream of pure agony erupted from Salhon’s throat. Sun-woo just watched him, waiting for his screams to become even more desperate.