Assassins in the Marketplace
In the bustling market stall, the eyes of the man dressed as an ordinary merchant twitched ever so slightly.
Good.
No one was watching his extending hand. He was just one jang away from his target. Even a Cho-jeol-jeong expert couldn't block the poison needle at this range if they didn't sense it beforehand.
Recalling his nonchalance, he flicked his sleeve—
But a heavy hand seized his forearm.
Thwack!
Mu Yun furrowed his brow and muttered in a bored tone, “What kind of poison is this? It reeks.”
In the southern reaches of Chim-ju, the face of Jo-in, a first-class assassin from the Guang-dong killer group Hamil-ya, froze solid.
Failure!
It was his own failure. Now he had to signal his comrades.
Jo-in widened his eyes in feigned stupidity and raised his voice. “What'd you say to me?”
Mu Yun's eyes flashed.
He tightened his grip just a fraction, but the man showed no sign of pain.
No need to hesitate. Before the words even finished, he slashed his blade through the air like a gust of wind.
Shiiik!
“Kuhk!”
The chilling sword light grazed Jo-in's forearm, drawing blood.
Drip!
As the sleeve containing the poison needle and the arm hit the ground with a roll, gasps of horror erupted from the stunned crowd.
“A-aaah! Blood!”
“Th-the arm!”
“Run!”
“Fight! It's a fight!”
The startled gazes of Ha Hu-jin and Chim-do-bang's macho thug, Ma Cho-woong, turned to Mu Yun.
Ma Cho-woong's sharp shout rang through the market stall but cut short.
The man with half his face hidden by a beard.
“What the hell are you— …Cheong-ho Bang-ju?”
In lieu of an answer, Mu Yun's hooked blade gleamed white once more.
The edge, already brimming with killing intent, flew unerringly toward the throat.
Whoosh!
Pfuk!
“Gack!”
An assassin's strike ends only when the breath is fully severed. Capturing for information is for when there's an overwhelming gap in skill.
Before the death rattle signaling life's end, Mu Yun sent a transmission to Ha Hu-jin.
—That one's an assassin too!
Ha Hu-jin grasped the meaning just as a chilling prickle raced across the back of his head.
The direction: where the woman he'd been protecting stood.
Got it!
The sharp whistle of wind-cut hidden weapons slicing through the air announced their approach.
Gooseflesh bristled into merciless shivers down his spine.
Too late.
If he couldn't dodge, he had to deflect. With his judgment made, his twisting body infused his legs with a vortex of power.
Whoooosh!
From his crouched form, legs crossed like a windmill swept the surroundings.
Pak! Pa-pak! Thud!
Three flying daggers kicked away by his toes clattered to the ground.
The eyes of Seo-jeong, a second-class assassin from Hamil-ya who had been pitifully weeping moments ago, gleamed.
Interfering bastard!
The target was at best Jeol-jeong level. With senior assassin Jo-in, it would have been no problem, but this sudden intruder ruined it.
Killing intent burst from her writhing pupils, proclaiming her resolve.
No place treats captured assassins kindly.
Last resort!
Time to move for her final struggle. Biting her lower lip, she drew a dagger toward the target.
Pa-pat!
Ha Hu-jin's blade-sharp gaze tracked the foe.
Knowing the assassin targeted him now, there was no room for hesitation.
Twisting his true stance with gathered inner power, he stepped forward.
The moment his clenched fist traced a comet's arc, a punch pierced straight through to his solar plexus.
Shuuuk! Peok!
“Gack!”
With a ragged cough, congealed blood spewed forth, and the wretchedly crumpling body scraped the ground.
Black dead blood surged back relentlessly, soaking the earth without pause.
The fishy stench heralded how little life remained.
Ha Hu-jin let out a deep sigh from the depths of his chest.
“Hoo!”
An assassin who tried to kill him, but now a woman on the verge of death.
Still, he was the one who wrought this pitiful sight.
As his gaze, filled with faint regret, turned away from her, the gasping woman's lips pursed round.
She drew a long breath quietly, on the verge of exhaling—
Hoo!
Mu Yun's form struck the ground like lightning, folding space itself.
The sword wind he unleashed passing Ha Hu-jin grazed her throat.
Saaak!
“Guhk!”
Her head severed clean tumbled down, her body slumping limply after.
Thud!
Bluish veins throbbed visibly on Ha Hu-jin's forehead.
From deep within, an involuntary rage boiled toward the sword wielder.
“What the hell was that? She was dying anyway!”
Mu Yun's eyebrows shot up.
This guy not only looked but even acted just like his old friend Yeo Dan.
Regret from the past kept gentle words at bay.
“Ha! You're really a handful.”
“What?”
“To subdue an assassin, you have to seal the mute acupoint properly. Don't you get why she charged head-on?”
“……?”
“She pursed her lips just now. I figured she had a poison needle in her mouth. …Wanna pry it open and check?”
“……!”
Ha Hu-jin's mouth and feet both froze solid.
No words to utter, even with ten mouths.
A muffled mutter drifted into the air.
Twice now.
His face flushed crimson. As a martial artist, this moment was utter humiliation.
He who'd focused solely on that, shaking off other worries.
All that effort negated in an instant.
Emptiness whitened his mind.
Distant darkness veiled his vision.
A moment later, Mu Yun quietly dismissed the others.
Now alone with him. His gaze toward the bowed head carried wistful light.
Too alike. Looks and actions both.
Overlapping with the man before him: his friend from the past, Yeo Dan.
A thousand years ago, after pacifying Chim-ju's underworld, five years later when Yeo Hwi rapidly rose to prominence, those coveting his martial arts ambushed.
A rootless wanderer like that sometimes gains an absolute secret manual.
His friend who threw himself into peril to save the desperate Yeo Hwi and him.
Without the skill or ability, charging in recklessly.
Just as he had done for Yeo Hwi.
That crushing weight on his chest, the aching wound.
Even reborn in another life, an unhealable scar.
The reason: he hadn't made him promise those words.
—Yeo Dan-ah. If things get dangerous, you bolt to the cave first, got it?
—Huh? Oh, yeah. Got it.
—If they catch you, we can't escape either.
—Hey, asshole! You think I'm an idiot? Don't worry.
—Promise me.
—……Yeah, promise!
He should have added this.
—You survive first, then we can too. You get it?
If he'd etched those words into Yeo Dan's mind, he surely would have lived.
They'd have been in greater peril, but still.
His struggle not to forget birthed this moment.
The soul's fierce gale ravaged his heart long after, until a quiet sigh escaped Mu Yun's lips.
Still the same.
The piercing regret of not imparting those brief words nailed into his chest like an iron spike.
Yet it remained unpulled even now.
Then, Ha Hu-jin steadied his gaze and bowed his head politely.
“Thank you. Whether orthodox or unorthodox, a martial artist doesn’t take a life debt lightly. I will repay this grace.”
Mu Yun waved it off.
He'd decided after some thought.
“Wasn't trying to make a fuss, so forget it. How about this instead?”
“What?”
“Spar with me for ten breaths. Right here.”
“……Why a bout?”
“I'll tell you after. But give it your all. Unless you wanna get wrecked.”
“……?”
A moment later.
“Shall we start?”
“Fine.”
No sooner said than Mu Yun's form folded space.
A fist whipping out like lightning summoned wind.
Shuuk!
In a blink, the hem of his black robes embracing the gale brushed Ha Hu-jin's vision.
His eyes bulged instinctively.
Fast!
But no time for further shock. A storm-like blow already swept his side.
Before the pained cry, his body reeled first.
“Urk!”
Shuuuk! Peok!
“Kuhk!”
Pain like shattered ribs surged. Tingling lightning wrapped his head.
Shock transmitted through body and sound simultaneously.
Crack! Boom!
Blood gushed from his mouth, the fishy tang from his burning nostrils, his back buckled by the elbow strike to his spine.
“Kuhk!”
Before registering shock and pain, instinct sent his feet stumbling back.
Tap!
A wind-borne fist mercilessly battered his hunched form.
Peok! Pak! Pa-pak!
“Kuhk!”
After ten such strikes cleaved the air.
Ha Hu-jin sprawled spread-eagled on the ground, his ragged breaths filling the empty market stall.
“Ha! Hak! Haa!”
Before absurdity, futility washed over him.
Couldn't even see it.
He knew who Mu Yun was. He'd seen his skill from beyond the wall during the bout at the family compound recently.
Yet a Jeol-jeong like him ended up like this without a chance to counter.
Mu Yun spoke calmly.
“I hid like this to survive. But you? Assassins like these target Jeol-jeong or higher. Means the ones who sent them know your skill well.”
“……!”
Mu Yun voiced his final point.
“You survive first, then you can do anything.”
“……!”
Ha Hu-jin squeezed his eyes shut against the hammer-blow shock resounding in his mind.
One thought alone surfaced.
Survive first!
Before shame, memories flashed like a lantern show.
Mother!
Even in her final moments, weeping as she clutched her son's hand, refusing to let go amid worry.
The eldest brother, young master of the house, gaze filled with irritation and jealousy, never voicing it outright.
And the second brother, exploding in rage at any mention of him as kin.
This was surely that bastard's doing too.
The family members who knew all this yet dismissed him with haughty indifference.
Even his father, who at least urged him to master martial arts as his path to survival, with those wistful eyes.
All the hardship and fear unraveled at that quiet word.
A moment later, his trembling eyes held one resolve.
The storm piercing his heart elevated it to his mind, spurring his soul to true earnestness.
I live. Somehow, I survive.
He vowed never to forget this self-inflicted peril.
Never forget those fists that pummeled his body.
Ha Hu-jin buried the rage and grudge from his chest's depths as steadfast resolve.
A moment later, as his explosive breaths steadied, he spoke.
First, he had to ask.
“Why show me? Something you hid so painstakingly.”
“Didn't seem like the type to blab. Was I wrong?”
An inexplicable warmth misted Ha Hu-jin's eyes.
Believes me on first meeting.
A stranger, no kin or prior bond, extending trust so readily.
That weighty thrill drew an awkward smile to his lips.
“……Nowhere to blab anyway.”
“Good.”
Ha Hu-jin voiced what he'd hesitated on, buoyed by the ready reply.
“Can I come find you?”
“If you're sure you won't get caught. My crew or yours.”
“……I will.”
Mu Yun had one thing left to confirm.
If they'd targeted only Ha Hu-jin, no reason to strike at this hour in the broad marketplace, not at night.
“Any ties between Ha Hu Sega and Chim-do-bang?”
A stinging question amid the pain.
“……Not sure.”
Mu Yun waved it off.
“Sorry! Don't mind it. I'm off.”
“…….”
Ha Hu-jin remained rooted long after Mu Yun left.
As his dazed, entranced gaze settled, a sudden realization drew a wry chuckle.
went easy on me!
His body's pain confirmed it. No internal injuries or lingering effects from any blow.
Even those wild swings held mercy.
Instinctive defense or not, against a Jeol-jeong like him.
Irrepressible heat rimmed Ha Hu-jin's eyes.
Time to learn.
A moment later, as Ha Hu-jin emerged from the stall, intent eyes watched him.
Yeon Sa-gu, just arrived, tilted his head.
Different from his subordinate's report.
Said he was fine?
Eyeing the staggering Ha Hu-jin closely, Yeon Sa-gu's eyes sharpened.
The guy emerging just as he arrived.
Cheong-ho Bang-ju!
Clearly, only those two had been inside.
His keen senses fanned his suspicions.
They clashed!
Meanwhile, Mu Yun's superhuman senses prickled at the nape as he passed Yeon Sa-gu.
The thug famed from Hao mun.
A sly smile curved Mu Yun's lips.
Not quite a thug.
A short while later, at Chim-do-bang's compound.
The other major underworld power alongside Cheong-ho Bang.
Chim-do-bang-ju Gal Ma-pung's eyes narrowed.
The intruder who burst in without warning or contact.
Of course, no welcome friend.
Says he knows nothing.
This man before him showed no notable moves in the four months since becoming bang-ju.
Mostly holed up training, never touching their turf or others'.
Rumors even spread he'd sternly warned his subordinates to steer clear.
Yet unease lingered.
Something's up.
Fifteen years surviving on instinct alone as an underworld bang-ju.
Five years ago, he reconnected with his sworn brother by chance, gaining covert backing—but even that was cautious, aid countable on one hand.
Just playing it safe had kept him alive.
This man before him poked at that instinct.
So he'd secretly summoned his brother, the nominal vice-bang-ju, to the next room.
That one would see through this guy's true face.
Brother will know.