Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 7
>Chapter Title: The Adhesive Technique (4)
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“I finally switched sides to the Second Young Master... and this fake bastard not only refuses to cooperate, but he goes and kills the Second Young Master's escort. What a mess.”
‘!?’
The moment Gam Escort heard Mok Kyung-un's words, his expression hardened.
The death of Jo Il-sang, the guard for the Second Young Master Mok Eun-pyeong.
That had been the least likely scenario.
A warrior on the cusp of first-rate couldn't be taken down by brute strength alone.
‘Impossible.’
Gam Escort stared at Mok Kyung-un with shaken eyes.
It couldn't be true, yet he couldn't deny it.
The fact that Mok Kyung-un knew he'd switched sides and had reported to the Second Young Master that he'd lost his martial arts—that alone was proof.
“You bastard... really...”
“Yes. I killed him.”
“How? He was nearly first-rate...”
“I hung him upside down and slit his throat.”
“What?”
“He begged pathetically for his life. Even experts hate dying, it seems.”
With those words, Mok Kyung-un smiled faintly.
Gam Escort's eyes met his, and a chill ran down his spine.
Mok Kyung-un's ferocious gaze felt like it was strangling him.
‘This guy really is...’
A murderer.
It hit him anew that this fake was a condemned prisoner who'd killed countless people.
Gam Escort himself had killed many as an assassin, but he'd quit because he grew sick of it.
But this one was different from ordinary folk.
He kept death close and reveled in it.
‘Damn it.’
Gam Escort's mind grew chaotic in an instant.
The Second Young Master Mok Eun-pyeong had given him two hours.
To find his guard Jo Il-sang—but he was already dead.
All his bold promises were now meaningless.
The worst possible situation.
[If you can't find him, you’d better be prepared to lose more than just your arm—that worthless life of yours too.]
Mok Eun-pyeong's murderous warning echoed in his head.
‘And just like that, the line I switched to snaps.’
Not even a full day later.
Who could have foreseen such absurdity?
Gam Escort's mouth went dry.
Then, suddenly,
‘...Did this bastard kill him on purpose?’
It made sense.
As a fake, he had to tread carefully in everything.
No matter how unpredictable the guy was, someone this cunning would know his own precarious position.
Yet he'd killed the Second Young Master's guard.
‘He killed Mok Eun-pyeong's guard because I abandoned my original charge and switched sides. Ha...’
Unbelievable.
How could anyone be this sly?
By killing Mok Eun-pyeong's guard, he'd cornered Gam Escort with no way forward or back.
No other young master would trust him now.
Who would?
Clenching his fist tight.
Realizing this cunning bastard's intent made his grip tighten.
For a powerless murderer to push him this far.
‘Because of this guy, all my preparations...’
Gone to waste.
Rage boiled up.
“Your emotions sure change quickly. Face turning red—you must be angry.”
Gam Escort glared at the taunting voice of Mok Kyung-un.
He wanted to kill him right then.
No—should he?
With Mok Eun-pyeong gunning for his life anyway, staying in Timber Sword Manor was pointless...
‘Ah!’
Gam Escort's gaze dropped to his chest.
Tucked there were the cover and two pages of the Timber Transforming Heart Method.
Staring at those two pages, Gam Escort realized.
This was the real thing.
‘That Go Chan kept his mouth shut to the end, but he had this—which means...’
Mok Kyung-un had obtained the manual.
How did he get it?
The question lingered, but it wasn't important now.
Thwack!
Gam Escort pressed a dagger to Mok Kyung-un's ribs and whispered.
“The rest of the manual... you have it, don't you?”
“The manual?”
Thwack thwack!
Gam Escort slapped his own chest.
“This. This.”
“Ah, that?”
“Yeah.”
“Of course I do.”
At Mok Kyung-un's words, joy flashed across Gam Escort's face.
Even if the sky fell, there was always a way out.
‘Jackpot! This is it!’
The Clan Head's life hung by a thread.
With no successor named, the retainers were divided.
In this chaos, possessing the manual only the Clan Head could learn—or the bloodline that had mastered it—would make one the frontrunner for successor.
‘It can buy my life.’
Even Mok Eun-pyeong couldn't resist coveting this manual.
With it, he could offset the death of his guard Jo Il-sang.
Thwack!
Gam Escort pressed the dagger closer.
“No more talk. Hand over the manual if you don't want to die.”
“You seem desperate for that manual.”
“I don't have time for games with you.”
“Pretty dire straits, huh?”
“You really want to die.”
“As if. I'm just saying it seems like you're the one in trouble. Is threatening me like this really okay?”
Gam Escort sneered at Mok Kyung-un's words.
“Don't lump me in with Go Chan or Jo Il-sang. Killing you here without a sound would be child's play for me.”
He'd retired, but assassination was his trade.
He knew dozens—no, hundreds—of ways to kill.
And he was a true first-rate master.
The gap between near first-rate and actual first-rate was vast.
Jo Il-sang? He could crush him with one hand.
“Don't provoke me further.”
“Scary...”
Stab!
Before he finished, the dagger tip pierced slightly between Mok Kyung-un's ribs.
“No more questions. If you don't talk about the manual, I'll drive it all the way in. Straight through here—guaranteed instant death.”
“...Killing me here would hurt you more.”
Mok Kyung-un nodded toward the workers in the herb shop.
Meaning: Could you really kill me with them watching?
Gam Escort exhaled softly.
“Hoo.”
Then, in a flash—
Whoosh!
He pulled away from Mok Kyung-un and shot toward the workers.
His movements were so swift that in an instant, he reached them and plunged daggers into their vital points with lightning speed.
Stab stab stab stab!
The workers died instantly, vitals pierced.
No blood, no screams.
Clean work, befitting an assassin.
‘Three herb shop workers—the Second Young Master can handle that.’
He might not get away with it, but Mok Eun-pyeong could silence them.
That conviction let Gam Escort take the risk.
“Still think I can't kill you?”
He approached Mok Kyung-un.
This should make even him tense.
But—
Heh!
‘He's laughing?’
Mok Kyung-un laughed.
Even after watching three workers die in a blink.
Laughing at that?
“You really can't grasp reality. Guess you'll only talk after feeling the pain firsthand.”
Whoosh!
Gam Escort unleashed his lightness skill, closing the distance instantly.
Then he struck with the Capturing Hand technique.
Grab twist crack crack!
Seizing Mok Kyung-un's arm, wrenching it back, he gripped one finger and held a dagger to it.
“You seem pretty tough with pain.”
Gam Escort recalled first seeing Mok Kyung-un.
Trapped in a wooden cage, pelted with stones by spectators—yet not a single groan.
That's when he'd called him a freak.
“But even freaks feel pain. I know how to amplify it to the max.”
Thwack!
The dagger pierced the finger.
Gam Escort grinned viciously.
“I'll peel your finger meat slice by slice, like carving fruit. Pain you've never imagined.”
“That so?”
“Let's see how long that composure lasts.”
Gam Escort started sliding the blade upward.
That's when Mok Kyung-un spoke.
“One thing before you start.”
Gam Escort's lip curled up.
Of course.
Murderer or not, he was just 17.
No matter how composed, the fear of impending agony would break him.
“Speak.”
“Was wondering how to use it—thanks for the opportunity.”
“What?”
What nonsense?
Use what?
‘!?’
In that instant, Gam Escort felt something off.
The palm gripping Mok Kyung-un's finger felt sticky.
Maybe squeezing too hard? He eased up slightly—
Thud!
His palm stuck fast to the finger.
‘What the...’
Suspicious, Gam Escort channeled energy to his hand to pull free.
But—
Shoooo!
His concentrated internal energy drained out through his palm.
“Gasp!”
The sudden phenomenon left him stunned.
His hand adhered, internal energy sucked away rapidly, disrupting his energy flow—impossible to release.
A hefty chunk of energy was already gone.
His left hand and arm went limp.
‘Where did he learn this devilry?’
This wasn't orthodox martial arts.
Absorbing others' energy?
Nearly ten percent gone already—if it continued, disaster.
“Let go!”
Gam Escort reversed the dagger in his fist to strike Mok Kyung-un's neck.
To knock him out.
But Mok Kyung-un twisted, taking it on the shoulder.
“Pfft!”
A first-rate master was first-rate.
The energy-infused punch drew a bloody cough from Mok Kyung-un.
Yet he held on.
“Grrr! You freak!”
Thud thud!
Enraged, Gam Escort hammered Mok Kyung-un's neck and back.
Despite the agony of energy-laced blows, Mok Kyung-un refused to release.
‘This freak!’
Finally, Gam Escort drove the dagger between Mok Kyung-un's ribs.
Stab!
“Hngh!”
Half-buried in the ribs, it severed his breathing—the Adhesive Technique broke.
The suction vanished. Gam Escort kicked Mok Kyung-un's back, creating distance.
Thud!
Tatatat!
Backing off seven paces, Gam Escort stared at his pale, trembling left palm.
No energy left in the convulsing hand.
He could circulate energy to recover, but this eerie sensation was new.
Glaring at the staggering Mok Kyung-un, Gam Escort demanded.
“What was that? What devilish art did you learn?”
“Hoo... hoo...”
Mok Kyung-un clutched the dagger in his ribs, steadying himself.
“Definitely... first-rate.”
“Tell me. What was that just now?”
“Guess this alone isn't enough to take you down.”
Grind!
Gam Escort gnashed his teeth.
Did this arrogant punk think that brief trick meant he could handle him?
Big mistake.
Gam Escort circulated energy, withdrew the dagger, and assumed a ready stance.
No more carelessness.
‘Let's see you try that after I chop off all your limbs.’
Whoosh!
He lunged at the barely steady Mok Kyung-un.
Just avoid palm contact—he could win.
Thud! Stab!
A thrown dagger embedded in Mok Kyung-un's thigh.
He staggered.
Gam Escort seized the opening, drawing another hidden wrist dagger to hurl at his shoulder.
That instant.
“Demon Monk.”
Chill!
The word sent goosebumps over Gam Escort as something grabbed at his wrist from behind.
Panicking, he dropped his arm and rolled aside.
Then looked back.
‘!?’
Gam Escort frowned.
He'd felt a creepy sensation from behind—yet nothing there.
‘What did this guy do?’
Nothing visible, yet this eerie feeling?
Confused, his eyes flicked to Mok Kyung-un.
“What was that?”
“What do you mean?”
“Don't play dumb. Something tried to grab my wrist from behind.”
“Sharp senses.”
“...So you did do something.”
“Not me. This friend did.”
“This friend?”
What the hell?
A real accomplice?
Gam Escort sharpened his senses, scanning around, as Mok Kyung-un casually said.
“Curious? Here—Demon Monk.”
The words ended—
Shimmer shimmer!
‘!!!!!!!!!’
Gam Escort doubted his eyes.
A massive monk in blood-soaked robes, skull prayer beads dangling, materialized like a heat haze, glaring down with ghastly eyes.
‘What the hell...’
If his eyes weren't lying, this was no living human.
Like a ghost...
In his bewilderment—
Stab!
Something passed through the monk and plunged into his chest center.
A dagger.
“Now we're even.”
Shimmer shimmer!
The monk faded away, revealing Mok Kyung-un in a throwing pose behind.
“This... this...”
Gam Escort looked down at the dagger in his chest.
He'd protected himself with energy, yet the dagger's force drove it deep.
Bewildered, he muttered.
“How?”
Mok Kyung-un smiled faintly.
“The dagger and energy? Both yours.”
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