Chapter 37: Becoming Candlelit Shadow Agent No. 4
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 37: Becoming Candlelit Shadow Agent No. 4
“Here! One gold ingot. Those men from earlier are dangerous. They are the Ghost Pursuit Squad, experts in tracking and assassination even within the Demonic Cult League. How did you recognize their swords?”
I considered myself fairly well-versed in the affairs of the Murim, and while I had heard of the Demonic Cult League, the name 'Ghost Pursuit Squad' was entirely new to me.
Moreover, in this urgent situation, I was more curious about why she wanted to know.
“Why does that matter? What does it have to do with you whether I recognize their swords or not?”
Seeing the intruder’s dark eyes waver, a sense of unease washed over me.
Perhaps because I hadn't trembled even when faced with the Ghost Pursuit Squad’s killing intent, she seemed to take me for a master and intended to rely on me.
“If you help me get out of here, I’ll give you ten gold ingots.”
“Gasp!”
A sharp breath escaped my lips. Ten gold ingots? She offered them as if they were mere pebbles.
However…
Her intentions were highly suspicious.
“I’ve been pursued for several days now. My stamina is depleted.”
“Then what makes you think you can trust me with such an offer?”
“You hid me even after seeing the Ghost Pursuit Squad. If I don’t trust you now, who can I trust?”
When she put it that way, it made sense.
Thinking back, I wasn't even sure why I had done something so dangerous.
Have I been hypnotized after hearing people call me 'Young Hero' and 'Great Hero' lately?
Even for the money, it was an act the usual me would never have dared.
“But do you have a plan? How do you intend to slip past their eyes?”
The intruder stared at me and spoke.
“First, could you please take your leg off my neck?”
As I pulled my leg away, the intruder scanned our surroundings.
“There is a way, but it’s a bit risky.”
“Is that so? Then I’ll be taking my leave. This one gold ingot is enough for me.”
Even if I was confident in my lightness skill, the opponents were masters on a level I couldn't hope to match. I didn't even know the full extent of my own lightness skill yet, so there was no reason to clash with such monsters.
I would miss the gold ingots, but unless it was an unavoidable danger—like the Demon Subjugation Group excursion—it was better to stay out of it.
“I’m sorry. It’s already too late. I’ll apologize when we meet again.”
The woman, who had been watching me intently, suddenly stood up and spoke with an apologetic expression.
“Huh? What do you mean by that?”
Then, the intruder threw herself out the window and shouted at the top of her lungs.
“Run! They’re coming! You must deliver that secret document to the Sect Leader! Good luck, Candlelit Shadow Agent No. 4!”
For a moment, I just stared blankly, not understanding what she was saying. I simply thought that the 'Candlelit Shadow Agent No. 4' she mentioned was someone else inside the inn.
Then, I bolted upright.
I realized her words had been aimed directly at me.
Realizing I had been played, I looked around frantically.
Wheeeet! Peep!
Whistles blew several times, and two warriors burst into the inn. They were the same ones I had argued with earlier. As they entered, the people eating in the inn panicked and scrambled out.
“Hehehe, so you’re Candlelit Shadow Agent No. 4? You almost had us fooled.”
“Me? No, I’m not.”
When I replied, the warrior’s grim smile vanished.
“Who would have thought a member of the famous Candlelit Shadows would be leisurely eating at an inn? Was the one who just fled Agent No. 1?”
“This is the first time I’ve ever heard of 'Agent No. 4' or the 'Candlelit Shadows.' What are you talking about?”
“Good grief, still playing innocent even now. Do you know who I am?”
I answered without thinking.
“Aren't you the Ghost Pursuit Squad of the Demonic Cult League?”
“Hehehe, and you still claim to be innocent? How would an ordinary person know about our Ghost Pursuit Squad? No one but the Candlelit Shadows knows our true identity in the Murim.”
Only then did my brain start working.
That woman… she only told me that information so she could use me as a decoy. She used me to draw the Ghost Pursuit Squad’s attention so she could escape safely. What a wicked woman. I’ve been completely trapped.
I was in a bind. If I wasn't careful, my head would be rolling on the floor.
“You have the wrong person. Where is your proof that I’m from the Candlelit Shadows?”
I had no choice but to keep denying it.
“The proof will come out during the torture.”
Gasp! Torture?
These bastards are going to kill an innocent man.
I braced myself. I judged that if I was dragged away now, I wouldn't come out alive.
How do I get out of this?
First, I tried to threaten them using the name of Ten Thousand Dragons Fortress.
“You don’t seem to know where you are. This is the territory of Ten Thousand Dragons Fortress, and I am one of their warriors.”
One of the Ghost Pursuit Squad members snickered.
“Never heard of that sect. Even if this were Wudang territory, there’s no one who could chase us.”
As expected, threats using Ten Thousand Dragons Fortress didn't work.
My mind began to race furiously. However, no clever solution presented itself.
The two men exchanged glances and simultaneously drew their swords to attack me.
Since I was already prepared, I blocked their blades with my sword still in its scabbard. I opened the power of my upper dantian and funneled my gathered internal energy into the Yongcheon acupoint of my right foot.
For me, fleeing was my ultimate finishing move.
Just as I was about to kick off and run, the two men clutched their chests and collapsed.
“Urgh! You… you bastard! When did you use… poison…?”
Huh? Poison? When did I use poison?
It was truly strange. If someone had used poison, why hadn't I collapsed?
Hmm, maybe that bratty intruder released it before she left.
I shook my head. I couldn't grasp the situation.
Anyway, I have to get out of here. If more of them show up, I’m really finished.
Escape was my final resort.
Thud!
I kicked off the floor and threw myself out the window.
Two more Ghost Pursuit Squad members entered the inn, saw their dead comrades and me, and shouted.
“He killed two of our brothers and is fleeing! Don’t let him get away!”
I exerted every ounce of my strength to use my lightness skill.
I realized once again that martial arts truly improve when your life is on the line. Because it was a matter of survival, I was able to step precisely onto walls and rooftops no wider than a palm. It was almost superhuman.
Huff! Huff! Huff!
I gasped for air and looked around. Because I had suddenly used all the internal energy in my body for the lightness skill, my stamina was depleted.
I had turned through several alleys to get here. Two of them had been chasing me, but they were nowhere to be seen, likely lost thanks to my fantastic lightness skill.
“Hmph! They were all talk. They couldn't even catch me.”
I had been secretly terrified by their name, which suggested they could even hunt ghosts.
Satisfied with my lightness skill, I brushed off my clothes. I muttered to myself that learning the lightness skill was the best decision I’d ever made.
“Phew, that was a close one. I almost got caught.”
I was about to leave the alley after a short rest.
“Waiting for you was a waste of time. I followed you thinking you’d make contact with other Candlelit Shadows, but it was a fool’s errand.”
Two more Ghost Pursuit Squad members from the Demonic Cult League stepped out from the alleyway.
Ack! They were waiting for me?
I was startled out of my wits. Words laced with irritation spilled out.
“Dammit, I told you I have nothing to do with them! Why the hell do you keep following me?”
I grumbled in anger. The men stood about two jang away from me.
“You did a fine job poisoning our comrades back at the inn. What kind of poison was it?”
“You lunatics, do you think I’d tell you?”
How could I tell them something I didn't even know myself?
At most, the only thing I could use to face these guys was my lightness skill. But even that was a stretch against these two. It was also out of the question for me to draw my sword and fight them.
These were masters from the Demonic Cult League—men without mercy, blood, or tears. I had no idea what would happen to me if I swung my sword clumsily.
Yet, I couldn't just stand there and let them do as they pleased. Even a sparrow chirps before it dies.
The weather is so nice.
Looking up at the blue sky, I felt it would be a shame to die on a day like this. Tomorrow, I was supposed to lounge around with the Demon Subjugation Group and collect my pay. Was today the peak of my life?
I’d enjoyed quite a reputation for a third-rate martial artist thanks to my luck, so I suppose I shouldn't have any regrets. I guess my luck finally ran out today.
Meeting that strange intruder on a rare outing and being driven into a corner because of her… all sorts of thoughts crossed my mind.
Strangely, those idle thoughts helped calm my heart.
Right, I still have my finishing move, don't I? If I use the Drawing Sword Technique along with my lightness skill, I might be able to create an opening.
To face them with the technique that had even surprised the Sword Palace Squad, I funneled internal energy into my right foot and my right hand.
My plan was to flee the moment they were flustered by my attack. This was my last resort, the very bottom of my barrel.
What if even this didn't work?
“To hell with it. The worst that can happen is I die,” I muttered self-deprecatingly.
I placed my hand on the hilt of my sword.
Ah! The thought that this might be my final draw made the sword in my hand feel precious.
The wind blew.
It blew from behind me, and dust swirled and writhed on the ground.
As the dust carried by the headwind obscured their vision, the men narrowed their eyes and drew their swords.
At that moment, I reflected the sunlight off my blade toward the two men. As the light flashed off my sword, they blinked.
I didn't miss that moment.
Thud!
I kicked off the ground with my right foot and flew low toward them. I continued to reflect the sunlight at them as I approached.
The men looked momentarily flustered as I closed the distance with incredible speed. A lightness skill that moved with such explosive power was not a talent just anyone could possess.
Exhaling a short breath, I slashed at both of them simultaneously with the speed of a quick-draw.
Slash!
Clang!
One of the two had a long gash across his chest, blood spraying out, while the other barely managed to block my sword.
The two men stared at me and didn't move. They seemed wary of a follow-up attack and hesitated to strike.
However, that attack was the best I could do.
Swish!
I retreated, dodging a downward slash from the man with the wounded chest. His sword was so fast it was almost invisible. It sliced a long tear in the front of my robe. If I had been just a moment slower, my chest would have been split open and my heart would have fallen out.
As the other man attacked from my side, I funneled internal energy into my right foot and twisted my body sharply in the opposite direction.
The men flinched at my movement. Even for a master of lightness skills, they knew how difficult it was to move quickly and twist one's body vertically like that.
In truth, I only managed it through superhuman strength because my life was on the line; otherwise, I would have just been stabbed and died while trying to dodge.
Thud!
A cold sensation touched my back.
Oh no, I’m blocked.
There was no more room to dodge with my lightness skill. Even a novice wouldn't try to leap upward with an enemy right in front of them. In the end, while frantically trying to escape, I had trapped myself in a corner of the alley.
“Hehehe, not bad. Being from the Candlelit Shadows, your lightness skill is certainly usable.”
The men pointed their swords at me, and I could feel them funneling internal energy into their blades, clearly intending to end this.
Even if my upper dantian was open and I had internal energy, it was useless in a situation like this. No one in the world became a master just by having strong internal energy. Internal energy was merely a medium that showed its true power when backed by martial arts; it couldn't handle masters on its own.
Still, I couldn't just die like a dog, so I raised my sword and pointed it at them.
As I circulated the energy from my upper dantian and gathered the small amounts of internal energy stored in each of my blood paths into my sword, the blade began to hum.
Zzzzzing!
Oh! Do you get Sword Resonance when you’re about to die?
However, knowing that my internal energy was nowhere near enough to achieve Sword Resonance, I listened closely. The sound wasn't coming from the sword, but from my wrist.
Huh? From the bracelet?
A small resonance occurred in the bracelet, humming like a bee. It hummed for a moment and then stopped.
But that wasn't all. Suddenly, the internal energy I was trying to funnel into the sword seemed to gather at my wrist and was sucked into the bracelet.
Gasp! What kind of sorcery is this?
It wasn't a small amount, either. The bracelet sucked up every last drop of my internal energy, leaving not a single scrap behind.
Because of that, the strength left my legs and I stumbled.
Having exhausted all my internal energy with the enemy right in front of me, tears welled in my eyes. Setting aside this bizarre occurrence, I felt as though I was truly fated to die today.
I pushed the bracelet out of my mind and focused on the impending attack from the Ghost Pursuit Squad. Driven by the desire to live, I raised my sword, which felt somewhat heavy without any internal energy to support it.
They’re coming!
The men began to move. It was a strange movement. They approached with a swaying footwork. It was so irregular that I couldn't even predict where their attack would come from.
My palms grew sweaty, and beads of perspiration rolled down my forehead. The thought that I might die at any moment made my bladder feel like it was about to burst; I felt like I might wet myself right then and there.
But then, an absurd sight unfolded that shattered the tension in an instant.
The two men, who were just about to attack me, began to tremble violently. They pointed their fingers at me and then collapsed with a thud.
“Eh? What happened?”
“I even regulated my breathing to avoid being poisoned like our comrades at the inn… When did you… use the poison…?”
The other man’s eyes rolled back into his head as he spoke.
“What… kind of poison… is this…?”
Realizing they had no reason to act like that just to catch me, I looked around.
I wondered if, like in martial arts novels, some passing master had seen me in danger and lent a helping hand. But in reality, the chances of that were about the same as being struck by lightning on a clear day, so I didn't really believe it.
As expected, there was no one around.
Still, I didn't let my guard down. I thought this might be another of their schemes. But seeing them foaming at the mouth and twitching on the ground, it didn't seem like a trick.
“This is truly strange. Could it be… that I have some special power? Like the Heart Sword that masters of the Transcendence Realm are said to emit?”
I muttered to myself, even though I knew it was nonsense.
Then, a thought flashed through my mind, startling me.
Right, the golden bracelet! Could it be…?
The only thing different about my body was the golden bracelet on my wrist. Furthermore, I couldn't ignore the fact that the bracelet had vibrated like Sword Resonance when I funneled internal energy into it.
Did this thing release poison?
But I soon shook my head. If it were poison, why was I perfectly fine while only those men were dying?
No. It’s not poison.
As I was lost in thought, yellow smoke began to rise from their corpses.
“Whoa! What wicked bastards!”
The bodies of the dead men were melting away. It seemed they intended to leave no trace behind.
I had heard of something called Bone-Corrosion Poison that dissolves corpses in the Murim, but this was the first time I had seen it in person. They must have been treated so that the Bone-Corrosion Poison would activate upon their death.
Seeing the malice of the Demonic Cult League, who would inject Bone-Corrosion Poison into a living person just to ensure their identity remained a secret after death, they were truly evil to the core.
However, something remained after the corpses melted.
Two copper plates were bubbling and simmering within the Bone-Corrosion Poison.
Seeing them, my mind began to spin like a waterwheel.
I used my sword to pull them out, covered them with dirt, and rubbed them with my foot. I did this several times to roughly wash away the Bone-Corrosion Poison.
Looking at the copper plates, the words 'Ghost Pursuit' were engraved on the front, and the numbers '13' and '25' were written on the back. It seemed they used numbers to identify themselves to maintain secrecy.
I wrapped the copper plates in the remnants of the men's clothes that hadn't melted.
There was only one reason I was taking the plates. The Ghost Pursuit Squad would undoubtedly come looking for me after this incident. If I needed to ask someone for help, I would need evidence. For instance, if I were to ask Phoenix King Grandpa for help, wouldn't it be more credible if I had identification showing who these people were?
As I stood there lost in thought, I realized I couldn't stay here.
I needed to flee as quickly as possible, but because the bracelet had drained my internal energy, I could barely walk. I limped out of the alleyway.
If I were to encounter other Ghost Pursuit Squad members now, I would be as good as dead.
Fortunately, no reinforcements arrived, perhaps because they were all busy chasing the intruder who had driven me into this mess.