Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 11
>Chapter Title: Dangerous Visit (3)
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Though she possessed a fiery temper, Ha Chae-rin had undergone rigorous training and education under the Plum Inflammation Assassin, one of the Four Great Assassins of the Central Plains.
The basics of an assassination relied on gathering information and preparation.
Thus, she had launched various investigations into Mok Kyung-un, her assassination target.
However, upon actually investigating, this Mok Kyung-un was no different from a spoiled young master.
She had heard that his martial prowess was so lacking that he was merely at the third-rate level, not even earning recognition from his other brothers or the retainers of Timber Sword Manor.
‘But how did such a guy manage to kill the mid-level assassin Twenty-Nine Command?’
Here, she could surmise two possibilities.
One was that the true culprit might be someone else.
The one who had leaked this information to them was from Timber Sword Manor as well, but it was another young master who had to compete for the succession.
It was entirely plausible.
And the second,
‘He hid his power for a day like this?’
She considered this less likely than the first.
Because he was only 17 years old, and in a situation where he had to vie for succession, there was no reason to hide his strength.
The Clan Head of Timber Sword Manor had fallen ill only recently.
Thus, she had been even more certain.
‘.......My predictions were completely off.’
Ha Chae-rin momentarily doubted her own eyes.
Born as a woman, yet with her grandfather's full support and teachings, she had reached the pinnacle realm.
Even she could not perform the Void Grasping Technique.
Yet this third young master of the Mok family, whom she had dismissed as a 17-year-old brat, could do it?
Ha Chae-rin's eyes narrowed as she gazed at Mok Kyung-un.
‘But why?’
If he possessed internal energy deep enough for Void Grasping, he would have at least reached the extreme of the super pinnacle realm.
However, no matter how she sensed his qi, he seemed merely third-rate.
Exactly as the intelligence had indicated.
‘He's peculiar.’
He had demonstrated Void Grasping, yet his qi sense read as third-rate.
However, the aura he exuded was subtly ferocious to an extreme degree.
Because of that, she couldn't gauge him at all.
Perhaps he had concealed his energy, making it undetectable.
“Y-Young Master......”
At that moment, Escort Go Chan called out to Mok Kyung-un in a voice close to relief.
And well he might, for he had nearly lost his head—and his life—if it had been just a bit later.
However, the crisis was not over.
-Pak!
“Huhk!”
Ha Chae-rin seized Go Chan's throat and yanked him toward her.
The startled Go Chan twisted his body to escape, but the vast gap in their internal energy levels made resistance impossible.
With Go Chan in her grasp, she said to Mok Kyung-un,
“If you don't want to see your escort die, I advise you not to move. Young Master Mok.”
‘........’
At her words, Go Chan let out a faint sigh.
And well he might, for Ha Chae-rin knew nothing about him.
He had just saved him moments ago, but that guy wasn't the type to play along with someone's tune from the start.
It was then that Mok Kyung-un spoke.
“Who are you?”
At the question, Ha Chae-rin smirked and replied,
“There's no reason I should tell you that. More importantly, I'd appreciate it if you stepped back a bit.”
She was keeping Mok Kyung-un in check.
If not for that Void Grasping from before, she wouldn't have been this cautious.
But she needed to prepare for any possibility.
She couldn't accurately gauge Mok Kyung-un's skills, and at this point, a normal assassination was already out of reach.
‘Should I retreat?’
She pondered up to that point when she felt the throat in her grip tremble slightly.
She noticed Go Chan trying to open his mouth.
In response, she gripped his throat even tighter.
-Kkak!
“Keok!”
“Uncle Go, it seems you're really set on making an enemy of us. Doing something like this and all.”
At those words, even as Go Chan writhed in pain, he felt incredulous.
Who was it that had tried to kill him first? It was ridiculous for him to talk about making enemies.
“An assassin from the Secret Kill Gate? Oh ho. So you are an assassin.”
-Grind.
At Mok Kyung-un's words, she wore an irritated expression.
In short, he had astutely exposed her affiliation.
“Ah....damn it all.”
For an assassin to fail an assassination was bad enough, but having her affiliation discovered was the worst.
Now that things had come to this, she had to kill Mok Kyung-un one way or another.
No, even if she retreated, the goal was to change methods and kill him regardless.
Once designated as a Hundred Days Hundred Kills target, failure to kill meant she could neither earn the title of one of the Four Great Assassins nor become the leader of the Secret Kill Gate.
‘Should I go all out?’
She still couldn't confirm Mok Kyung-un's skills, but she did have a trump card.
It was the Extreme Death Needle loaded in her wrist bracer.
Specially made, it could only be used once, but within three zhang, even most experts would struggle to block it with their body-protecting qi.
She had been told to use it only when facing mortal danger, but this might not be the time to hesitate.
‘If I let my guard down, I could be the one who dies.’
Without relaxing her tension, she slowly lowered her left hand slightly.
To this, Mok Kyung-un said,
“Let him go.”
“What?”
“If you release Escort Go Chan, I'll let you go this time. Letting someone who wants my life go free is a rare occurrence.”
‘No way?’
Go Chan was inwardly astonished.
He hadn't expected this devilish guy to let an assassin who came for his life go for his sake.
Wasn't he just a pawn to be used for that bastard?
He had thought he'd be abandoned without question, so this was truly unexpected.
‘Just let me go? Ha!’
On the other hand, at Mok Kyung-un's words, one of Ha Chae-rin's eyebrows arched upward.
His attitude, as if bestowing mercy, was grating.
But she also thought it was perfect.
The fool had made a mistake.
Letting go of an assassin gunning for his life to save one escort proved that he didn't take Go Chan lightly.
Still gripping Go Chan's throat, she dragged him backward and said,
“Young Master Mok. You seem to value your escort quite a bit.”
“No. Not particularly. It's just my whim not to let a useful man like Escort Go Chan die right now.”
“Whim. Heh.”
Sneering, she said to Mok Kyung-un,
“If you want to save him on that whim, step back more than ten paces and kneel. Then, once I'm out of the manor, I'll release your escort.”
With those words, she used the covered blind spot to switch the bracer's mechanism, loading the Extreme Death Needle.
She had already simulated the scenario in her mind countless times.
The moment Mok Kyung-un stepped back, she would use Go Chan as a shield, push forward, and fire the Extreme Death Needle from the blind spot.
“Hurry and step bac.....”
‘!?’
It was right then.
She discovered that Mok Kyung-un's gaze was not on her but slightly behind her.
At the same time.
-Hiccup!
She felt a bizarre sensation from behind and hastily switched her bracer, firing the Shadow Concealing Needles.
-Pfufufuk!
But there was nothing behind her.
‘What?’
She had clearly felt something approaching from behind just now.
It was a chilling sensation, but what in the world....!?
-Pak!
“Keok!”
In an instant, she yanked Go Chan, whom she had by the throat, and twisted her body to one side.
At that moment, a dagger grazed past her immediate right.
Seeing Ha Chae-rin dodge it, a glint appeared in Mok Kyung-un's eyes.
‘Faster than Mok Yu-cheon.’
And her senses were even sharper.
The one who had targeted Ha Chae-rin's back, Cheong-ryeong, said,
-Pinnacle experts have senses incomparable to first-rate masters. This seat's ghostly qi is too strong, so approaching within one zhang isn't easy.
That seemed to be the case.
Even Mok Yu-cheon had glanced warily at Cheong-ryeong's position intermittently while giving his testimony.
Upon reaching the pinnacle realm, one handled qi fluidly, making them sensitive even to spiritual energies.
At that moment, Ha Chae-rin said to Mok Kyung-un with sharpened eyes,
“Young Master Mok. You had an accomplice.”
“..........”
She was certain.
The eerie otherworldliness she had felt from behind.
She didn't know what it was, but with her alertness at maximum, her senses couldn't be wrong.
And she realized one fact.
‘It was weak.’
The dagger Mok Kyung-un had thrown just now was sneaky, but the power behind it was feeble.
If a pinnacle-or-higher expert had thrown it with intent, she would have been struck in the shoulder in that fleeting gap.
Something was off.
It was the perfect chance, yet she had let it slip.
‘No way?’
Perhaps the Void Grasping from earlier wasn't Mok Kyung-un's own skill.
Maybe this undetectable otherworldly presence had assisted him.
As her thoughts reached that point, the corner of her mouth curled up slyly.
If Mok Kyung-un wasn't an expert she needed to fear, she could definitely kill him.
‘Extreme Death Needle!’
In a flash, killing intent surged from her.
Sensing it, Mok Kyung-un said in a cold voice,
“That might be your worst move.”
“No. Not at all!”
With those words, Ha Chae-rin shoved Go Chan straight toward Mok Kyung-un.
-Papapapapak!
And as they closed to within three zhang, she struck the back of Go Chan's neck with her left palm.
-Paaaaang!
Something burst forth.
“Guhk!”
The Extreme Death Needle pierced through Go Chan's back and flew precisely toward Mok Kyung-un's forehead.
The Extreme Death Needle's tremendous speed and power could pierce even the body-protecting qi of most inner realm experts.
However,
-Whiric!
The flying Extreme Death Needle veered upward off course, piercing through the palm of Mok Kyung-un's right hand, which was raised above.
-Puk!
‘!?’
Ha Chae-rin's eyes widened.
For the Extreme Death Needle to change trajectory mid-flight—what in the world was happening?
It was the moment she wondered in bewilderment.
-You should have just left when I said I'd let you go? Mortal fool.
Startled by the woman's voice in her left ear, she flung herself to the right, firing Shadow Concealing Needles.
But there was nothing there.
-Pfufufufuk!
The voice had clearly come from right beside her.
Yet why was nothing visible?
As she felt bewildered, something yanked her body to the ground with immense force.
-Pak! Kwang!
“Ack!”
A dying scream burst from Ha Chae-rin as she hit the floor.
Panicking, she circulated her qi, drawing up her internal energy to its maximum.
She tried to generate repulsive force to shake off the power suppressing her body.
However,
“Hup!”
At that instant, something unbelievable happened.
-Bubbling bubbling!
Blood welled up around her pinned body on the floor, dyeing everything red.
At the same time, a foul, bloody stench choked her.
Faced with this bizarre event for the first time in her life, she couldn't comprehend what was happening.
-Kkaduk! Kkaduk!
‘!!!!!!!’
She momentarily doubted her own eyes.
Dozens of red hands erupted from the floor, seizing and pulling at her limbs, making her heart feel like it would burst.
Terror so intense that no scream escaped her.
-Twist twist!
All she could do was writhe her body.
Gazing at such a Ha Chae-rin, Cheong-ryeong jeered.
-This seat will use that body, so I'll try not to leave too many scars.
She was delighted.
Watching the reveling Cheong-ryeong and the terrified Ha Chae-rin, Mok Kyung-un shook his head.
“I warned you it was a bad move.”
He had definitely warned her.
She had threatened him while gripping Escort Go Chan's throat, so he had even given her a chance to live.
Yet in the end, she had squandered it.
“Cough cough.”
Mok Kyung-un checked on Go Chan, whose face was turning blue and whose warmth was fading.
His mouth filled with blood, and blood ceaselessly poured from the hole in his chest.
It seemed to have pierced his heart; there was no hope left.
Gazing at him, Mok Kyung-un said in a dry tone,
“It's a shame. I thought we'd stick together longer.”
He had done his best to save him.
But he was truly unlucky.
Looking down at the dying Go Chan, Mok Kyung-un continued,
“You've worked hard. I won't forget Escort Go Chan's efforts.”
“Cough......Y-Young.....I don't want......to die.......”
Go Chan muttered something with great difficulty.
It was the intense desire to live of a dying man.
Staring blankly at him indifferently, Mok Kyung-un said,
“Your attachment to life is strong.”
“Cough cough........Please........”
Gazing down at him as his eyes grew dimmer, Mok Kyung-un twitched the corner of his mouth and murmured,
“There might be a way for us to stay together longer after all.”
With those words, he drew something from his waist.
Something was written on it in red ink, but Go Chan's dimming vision made it hard to see.
Mok Kyung-un pressed that talisman to Go Chan's forehead.
Then, placing his palm on his heart area, he said,
“According to the Sixfold Spirit Descent Art, a grudge spirit can be born not only from strong resentment but also when death is met in a place overflowing with regrets and deathly qi.”
No sooner had the words ended.
A chilling, ferocious energy surged from Mok Kyung-un's palm.
-Gooooooh!
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