Chapter 283: The Iron Snake Gang (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 283: The Iron Snake Gang (3)
An endless tunnel stretched out before us as we descended the stairs.
Step, step—
We walked along the damp dirt path, guided by the occasional torch on the wall.
In the dead silence, the only sound that reached my ears was Mujin's heartbeat.
“Hoo, haa… Hoo, haa…”
Thump, thump, thump.
At this rate, his heart's going to explode.
Still, it was better to be moderately tense than completely relaxed before a real fight.
“A tunnel beneath a building… Just like a bunch of rats.”
Her eyes, now free of her veil, shone like rubies. The atmosphere around her was completely different from usual. A chilling cold seemed to flow from her very voice.
“If you ask me, they’re more like moles.”
My magic scan revealed the tunnel was absurdly deep. To dig this far in a world without construction equipment must have taken them several months.
Even the passage we were walking through was wide enough to swing a sword comfortably.
‘There are no special facilities, so it seems it was made simply to avoid the Wudang Sect’s eyes… but isn’t it too deep for just that?’
I scanned the entire tunnel with magic, but all I found were several rooms that looked lived-in.
Other than that, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Still, I walked on, carefully observing my surroundings just in case. It was then that I felt it.
—!!
—?
—…!
A presence up ahead.
I immediately raised my hand, stopping the other two.
“I-Is it an enemy?”
“Shh.”
Ignoring Mujin, who was reeking of nervousness, I focused magic into my eyes.
[Night Vision]
In that instant, my surroundings brightened, and the scene beyond the darkness became crystal clear, as if I were wearing night-vision goggles.
‘One second-rate and two third-rate martial artists.’
I drew a hidden dagger from my waist.
I planned to make use of the Flying Dagger Art I had recently learned from Cheon Yeo-hwa.
As they say, there’s no better practice than a real battle.
I circulated my internal energy, heightening the senses in my fingertips to their peak.
I had hit a deer running through a forest before, so hitting a human who was chattering away thoughtlessly would be nothing.
The distance was roughly sixty meters.
Without hesitation, I threw the daggers.
Lightning Flash.
There was no sound of the daggers flying through the air.
Thwip.
The only sound was that of flesh being pierced. The three daggers, flying through the darkness, pierced a temple, the space between the eyes, and the base of a skull.
Thud.
Their vital points struck, the men died without so much as a scream.
‘Not bad.’
Of course, its power couldn't compare to magic, but for stealthy assassinations, it would surely become an ace up my sleeve, even surpassing magic.
But if there was one downside, it was that the Lightning Flash I learned was not a High-Level Martial Art.
Even if I mastered it, it lacked the profound principles of a high-level art, so it wouldn't work on a master who had reached the Transcendent Realm.
‘Is there anywhere I can learn a decent assassination technique?’
The easiest way would be to wait for one to appear in the shop. But right now, the shop was selling nothing but strange junk items, let alone martial arts manuals.
It was basically the same as relying on luck.
That meant I’d have to catch someone who knew an assassination technique and make them spit it out. The problem was that assassination techniques weren't exactly a popular form of martial art.
In Earth terms, it was a niche within a niche.
Assassination techniques had the advantage of being easy to pick up and effective from the start, but they had a fundamental limitation: once your hidden weapons were depleted, you couldn't use the art anymore.
Furthermore, there was the practical problem that martial artists lacking funds found it difficult to even acquire proper hidden weapons.
Of course, it wasn't as if there was no one who specialized in assassination techniques.
The Salmak, for instance, surely had a trove of martial arts manuals related to them.
I even knew their location thanks to Cheon Yeo-hwa, so raiding their headquarters and stealing a secret manual would be the fastest way.
However, that was practically impossible.
First of all, the leader of the Salmak was the Dark Emperor, one of the Five Emperors. Although he was said to be weaker than the Two Venerables and Three Sovereigns, the Salmak had several masters of the pinnacle realm besides their leader.
Even if I used magic aggressively, taking on the entire Salmak by myself was out of the question.
‘…Should I just sell their location to the Beggar’s Sect for some money?’
Then the Murim Alliance or others who held a grudge against the Salmak might take them down for me. And in the chaos, I could just grab a manual and run.
It was a decent plan, but there were several practical issues that made it difficult to execute right now.
Then, another idea flashed through my mind.
Even outside the Salmak, there was a place in the Orthodox Faction famous for its assassination techniques.
‘The Sichuan Tang Family.’
The Sichuan Tang Family, one of the Five Great Families that, along with the Nine Great Sects and One Alliance, were considered the pillars of the Orthodox Faction's martial world. They were said to be the best in the Central Plains when it came to poison and hidden weapons.
However, this also had its problems.
Since we were heading to Wuhan, in the opposite direction of Sichuan Province, there was virtually no chance of encountering the Tang Family.
Besides, I couldn't just take their martial arts by force like I could with an Evil Faction.
‘…I wanted to try using Ten Thousand Flowers Rain…’
As I was inwardly lamenting, I sensed another presence in the distance and threw another dagger.
Thwack—
With the sound of something bursting, two figures collapsed.
That made eleven Iron Snake Gang members I'd taken care of.
“Uh… my friend? Did you learn the art of throwing daggers too…?”
“Yes, well. I enjoy learning a bit of everything.”
“…Your surname isn’t Tang, is it?”
“Who knows?”
My official identity right now was as Lady Jin Yeo-hwa’s escort.
To avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings or suspicions when Mujin eventually learned my true identity, I needed to thoroughly conceal information about myself.
“Should I start calling you Brother Tang from now on…?”
Leaving Mujin to his muttering, I stared straight ahead. My magic detection had picked someone up.
“They’re coming.”
Tatadadak!
From beyond the darkness, I could sense multiple presences. All of them were rushing toward us.
“We’ve been discovered?!”
Mujin hastily drew his sword.
But the enemies weren't just coming from the front.
“They’re coming from behind as well.”
At Cheon Yeo-hwa’s low voice, Mujin seemed to tense up again.
Surrounded from front and back—we were truly in a bind.
—Yeo-hwa, I’ll leave the rear to you.
—You could leave them all to me, you know.
A smile spread across Cheon Yeo-hwa's lips under the torchlight.
In that moment, a cold energy flowed from her body, and the ambient temperature seemed to drop in an instant.
Fwip!
Cheon Yeo-hwa kicked off the ground and dashed toward the rear.
I silently prayed for the souls of the Iron Snake Gang members and sent a telepathic message to Mujin.
—Brother Mujin, you go with Yeo-hwa and handle the rear. I'll take the front.
—Mm!
Mujin immediately followed Cheon Yeo-hwa. Left alone, I took out ten daggers.
Lightning Flash Flying Dagger is a martial art for throwing daggers with the speed of lightning.
Of course, even if one mastered it, throwing daggers at the actual speed of lightning is impossible. If it were, it wouldn't be strange for it to be called a divine art.
But for me, imitating it to some extent was possible.
‘I’ll imbue the daggers with the element of lightning.’
Crackle—
One first-rate, two second-rate, and seven third-rate martial artists.
Even as the distance between us rapidly closed, I pushed lightning and internal energy into the daggers until I reached my limit.
Until it was an amount anyone would consider excessive.
Crack.
Under the strain of power beyond its limit, a crack appeared on one of the daggers.
It didn't matter. My finances weren't so tight that I needed to recycle my daggers.
“There he is! Kill him!”
“Don’t be careless! He’s already taken down over ten of our men!”
“If we let him escape, the Master will kill us!”
“That bastard got Chil-ddaeng!”
Seeing the enemies close to within thirty meters, I threw the daggers.
Lightning Flash: Flying Explosive Thunder.
BOOM!
With the sound of an explosion, what entered my vision were the corpses of the Iron Snake Gang members, pierced by the daggers and killed instantly.
It was truly the speed of lightning.
Although the consumption of internal energy was unnecessarily high, that was something I could improve on over time.
‘…Should I just give up swordsmanship and join the Sichuan Tang Family to learn their assassination techniques?’
Perhaps being an assassin suited my aptitude more than being a swordsman.
Just as I was seriously contemplating this…
Flinch!
Far in the distance, I felt an ominous aura.
It was definitely the same aura I had briefly felt when I was mapping out the structure of Monghyeonru.
Before long, a figure appeared. He began to approach me without any hesitation.
Soon, the distance closed enough for me to see him with my naked eye, and I met the gaze of an old man who was radiating a murderous aura.
Outwardly, he looked like an ordinary old man you could see anywhere.
But the emotion in the eyes staring at me was anything but ordinary.
They held something twisted, something that could be called hideous.
“Hmph… Are you the whelp who killed the Ghost Hand Twin Swords?” the old man asked, looking at me with a hint of interest.
“And who might you be?”
“Hm?”
My response made the old man’s eyes widen. He then let out a disgusting laugh and slowly stroked his beard.
“Kekeke… Just like the brats these days. No manners.”
FWOOSH!
In that instant, an indescribable killing intent washed over me.
It was so dense that even I felt myself flinch for a moment.
“Fine. I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll overlook your pathetic bravado.”
Tap.
The moment the old man tapped the floor with his staff, the ‘darkness’ spreading behind him began to squirm.
I doubted my eyes at the bizarre sight for a moment, but thanks to my magic detection, I realized what was happening.
Ssssk—
It wasn't darkness.
It was a countless swarm of centipedes.
“I am Wang Chwiong, the master of the Black Centipede Sect, one of the Twelve Demonic Sects.”
The Twelve Demonic Sects.
I had heard of them from Cheon Yeo-hwa.
It was the collective term for the twelve sects that supported the Evil Alliance, the martial arts coalition hostile to the Murim Alliance.
Among them, the Black Centipede Sect was a sect that dealt with poison, and its master was an absolute master who had reached the early stages of the Flower Realm.
Although he wasn't one of the Five Emperors, Cheon Yeo-hwa had repeatedly warned me that his skills were by no means inferior to theirs.
‘For such a big shot to be wandering around Hubei Province, the territory of the Orthodox Faction…’
It smelled of a conspiracy, but that wasn't something I needed to worry about right now.
“That aside, I can hardly believe my own eyes. To reach the pinnacle realm at such a young age… You could have become the Alliance Leader’s third disciple if things had gone well, but it seems the Black Dragon Castle Lord is wary of you.”
Ssssk—
The centipedes around Wang Chwiong began to encircle me.
“Now, tell me where Hyeolhwa is. Do so, and I swear on the name of the Black Centipede Sect that I will grant you a painless death.”
“…I don’t know who Hyeolhwa is, but aren’t you going to kill me whether I talk or not?”
“Kekeke, have you ever heard the phrase ‘cut the grass and pull out the roots’?”
“So you’re going to kill me here and now because you’re afraid of my potential for growth?”
“You ask the obvious. A monster like you will one day claim a seat among the Five Emperors. What fool in this world would make an enemy of such a person and let them live? If you want to blame someone, blame the Black Dragon Castle Lord for assigning the protection of Hyeolhwa to someone with your talent.”
Shing.
I drew the Black Killing Mad Demon Sword without a word.
The blade gleamed black under the torchlight. It was as if the Mad Demon Sword was whispering to me.
—Feed that man to me.
FWOOSH!
My killing intent overwhelmed Wang Chwiong’s.
“…Just like a dog from the Black Dragon Castle, you choose only the most foolish actions.”
Rage filled Wang Chwiong’s eyes.
The surrounding centipedes looked ready to pounce at any moment, but I simply raised my sword with a relaxed expression.
In my eyes, Wang Chwiong looked like a spirit beast harboring a precious elixir.
“Absorbing second-rate martial artists was barely an appetizer. I wonder what a master at the Flower Realm will be like?”