The Nameless Assassin's Ambush
“Let’s head back later.”
As I thought about Tang Chiyeol stubbornly refusing to follow me even if it killed him, I belatedly realized he wasn’t the assassin after all.
How did I know? Simple. If that guy had actually wanted to catch me, I would’ve been caught ages ago.
It was true he’d been away a long time on dispatch to the Murim Alliance, but he was still very much a member of the Tang Clan. Even in a place like Guya-rim, an absolute peak expert like him wouldn’t face any major restrictions moving around.
“If he were an assassin, that foul-tempered Tang Chiyeol wouldn’t have stayed quiet.”
Back when I was a kid, I’d watched his rough language and wild behavior with pure admiration. Looking at it now, he just had the kind of personality that went around making enemies for fun.
“Must’ve been the rose-tinted glasses.”
Wasn’t that how it always worked? The same way delinquent older kids in the neighborhood looked cool when you were little.
“Speaking of which, what a waste.”
All the time I’d spent finding the right spot and setting up that trap, and it had been dismantled way too easily.
“Well… I did test it once, so I’ll do better next time. Now then, does this thing actually work?”
On my wrist sat an incredibly crude-looking gauntlet.
“Hmm.”
Since it was made from soft tree bark, my movements weren’t restricted at all.
“What if I connect the spider silk I got from the lair like this?”
I smiled in satisfaction as I examined the invention I’d created.
“Appearance gets a pass. But… ow, that stings!”
The spider silk’s elasticity snapped back and smacked the back of my hand. Shaking off the tingling sensation, I adjusted it again.
What I’d made was basically a glove launcher? Or should I call it a Poison Bullet Launcher? There wasn’t an exact name for it, but I had a clear purpose in mind.
“Yeah. Its name is the Poison Bullet Launcher.”
It was a device I’d built to throw dried, powdered poison that no longer had much effect when ingested, wrapped in leaves.
“Wouldn’t throwing it by hand be better?”
Some might say just hurling it manually would be more efficient, but romance has always come from inefficiency.
While messing around with the spider silk, I’d searched for practical ways to use it, and this was one of the methods I came up with.
“Adjusting it like this…”
The nights in Guya-rim were long, so during the hours outside of training I’d tinkered with all sorts of things.
Today was finally the day to see the results.
“First, I place a pebble right here…”
Like a crossbow, I’d fixed the spider silk string to the latch and moved my finger.
“Huh?”
Thwack!
With far more elasticity than I’d expected, the stone flew at incredible speed and embedded itself deep into a tree.
“The spider silk has better spring to it than I thought.”
Byproducts from a spiritual beast really were excellent all on their own.
“I don’t know about other uses, but it seems perfect for surprise attacks at close range.”
The ability to launch a surprise attack in close quarters with zero preparation? That alone gave this thing real value.
“Its durability is garbage, though.”
After just one shot, I could already feel the gauntlet starting to fray.
“Maybe I should connect the rest of the spider silk to my throwing knives?”
The Tang Clan’s hidden weapon arts were expensive. Once thrown, the weapons were usually damaged or impossible to recover.
“I can’t just throw away what my little brother gave me.”
I tied spider silk to the throwing knives Tang Oryong had given me, launched them with Chuhon Shimpyo, then pulled the line back.
“Oh!”
Snap!
The way it flew straight back into my hand like it was being sucked in felt incredibly satisfying.
“Well… I’m sure there’ll be a time when something like this comes in handy.”
Satisfied with the spider silk’s performance, I slowly drifted off to sleep.
However, the opportunity to use these items came much sooner than I’d expected.
What were the odds of running into a lost herbalist in Guya-rim? Given how dangerous the place was, maybe twenty percent? Ten percent?
The correct answer was that such a probability didn’t exist.
“Talk about lacking sincerity.”
No matter if he was an assassin, shouldn’t he at least put some effort into his work? Seeing the middle-aged man claiming to be a lost herbalist and asking for help, the words slipped out before I could stop myself.
The assassin who heard me let out a small chuckle, as if even he found his excuse ridiculous.
“Well, that’s how we usually approach targets in the mountains.”
Just looking at the scar running across his face, it was obvious he wasn’t trying to hide the fact that he was an assassin.
How had it come to this? I’d woken up, gone to the river to wash, and run into him.
The scarred man had introduced himself as a lost herbalist the moment he saw me, and I’d immediately spoken my true thoughts.
Damn. To think I’d meet a real assassin like this.
An assassin encountered with zero preparation or defenses in place.
I felt a chill run down my spine.
Dangerous.
I’d instinctively realized the assassin was a first-rate expert.
And the same chilling sensation I’d felt in my previous life when facing death quickly spread throughout my entire body.
So this is what killing intent feels like.
In my previous life I hadn’t known exactly what this uncomfortable, fear-inducing feeling was. After being reborn, I could finally identify it clearly.
Killing intent.
It made you feel fear, paralyzed your reason, and dulled your senses.
Get a grip. Still, he’s not on the level of that boss monster I met in my past life.
Back then, boss monsters in the gates always radiated something called “fear.” It was like experiencing the true terror of death. Compared to that, the killing intent coming from the man before me was bearable.
“Huu…”
As I steadied my breathing, I felt my paralyzed reason and senses returning.
In a crisis, I needed to stay cold and make clear judgments.
“Will you go peacefully? Or will you choose to struggle?”
“If you’re an assassin, shouldn’t you just kill me quietly?”
“I’d like to, but I don’t have time.”
Normally he should have analyzed my behavior first and then assassinated me quietly, but the man didn’t even have time for that, so he’d come straight out into the open.
There was also an extra reason for the hurry.
To think that Yukdo Birang is acting as a watcher… There’s no time.
He’d received word that he could somehow handle the people at the entrance, but there was nothing he could do about Tang Chiyeol inside.
He won’t last long against Tang Chiyeol.
With little time left before Tang Chiyeol arrived, the man decided to hurry.
“And I don’t see the need to waste time monitoring and analyzing you.”
It was blatant disregard, but a very convincing statement.
“Ah~ Then I guess I’ll have to acknowledge that.”
Despite my relaxed appearance, my mind was spinning faster than it ever had.
He’s not at Tang Chiyeol’s level, but at a glance he’s clearly a first-rate expert…
It was absurd for someone who had just stepped into the second-rate realm to face him head-on.
But I had no intention of just taking the beating.
Think. Think of everything I can use…
As I calmly scanned my surroundings, I opened my mouth with a leisurely smile.
“Do you intend to make an enemy of the Tang Clan?”
“Getting involved with the Tang Clan is indeed a headache. But if the third young master failure dies in Guya-rim, I doubt anyone will lose much sleep over it, right?”
He seemed to have done his research thoroughly.
Even if I died here, everyone would probably just say it was a miracle I’d lasted this long and move on.
And there wouldn’t be a small number of people hoping for exactly that.
Even if Father intervenes, Tang Woo and Eon Jungmi’s side will make sure it gets buried.
No matter how much Tang Munseong ran around, the elders and branch families would make the incident disappear.
He would know this but be powerless to stop it, and I could already picture Mother falling into despair.
I can’t be an unfilial son.
With that thought, I moved slowly. Seeing this, the assassin slowly drew his sword.
“So you choose to struggle.”
“Got to try something. Do you have a name?”
“You can call me Mumeong. And I recommend you don’t put your hand in your sleeve. That would make your death far from comfortable.”
Since the Tang Clan’s hand techniques were so famous, Mumeong gave me the warning. I slowly extended my middle finger.
“Then how about you eat this?”
“What?”
“Eat shit.”
“Shit? Eat?”
Just raising one middle finger and telling him to eat shit. Facing that made his mood extremely foul.
Is this the Tang Clan style of cursing?
Anyway, those Tang Clan bastards were creative with their insults and excellent at making people feel terrible.
With that, the man raised his sword and charged at me.
The dense vegetation restricted movement, but for a first-rate expert like Mumeong it meant nothing.
Swish! Swish!
Mumeong ran toward me, slicing through the grass.
I retreated using Dokryong-bo, and as if he’d expected it, Mumeong threw hidden weapons.
“Damn it!”
Seeing the quickly approaching hidden weapons, I ducked behind a large tree.
“Hmm.”
Realizing my movements were quicker than expected, Mumeong was about to swing his sword when he sensed something was wrong.
“…You’re pulling tricks.”
“It’s called strategy. Haven’t you read any military texts?”
The trees were too dense to swing a long sword freely.
Unless one was an absolute peak expert who could wield sword energy at will, movement would inevitably be restricted.
“Coming to a place like this with a sword that long. Isn’t prior investigation essential for an assassin?”
“Hah?”
In a situation more irritating than expected, Mumeong’s forehead wrinkled.
Plus, my continuous provocations made his face harden.
“What a shame. If your lifeline was only as long as that glib tongue of yours, it wouldn’t have come to this.”
“I’m still alive, aren’t I? Too scared to come closer?”
Crack.
This provocation seemed to hit the mark. Mumeong’s face turned terrifying.
“Hmph!”
As Mumeong quickly closed the distance, I kicked a poisonous snake at my feet toward him.
This was exactly why I’d been provoking him so hard.
“Damn it!”
Mumeong’s sword moved like lightning toward the clearly dangerous snake.
“Stop with the tricks!”
“Tricks? I told you, it’s strategy.”
After living in Guya-rim for five months, I knew the area better than anyone and began using the surrounding terrain to my advantage.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Mumeong’s fierce sword techniques flew toward me.
But I cleverly moved through the gaps between the trees, disrupting his sword path.
“Take this!”
“Hmph!”
This time I threw a toad I’d caught!
However, as expected of a first-rate expert, my pathetic attack had no chance of landing.
“You bastard.”
It only seemed to anger him more.
“Huu!”
At this rate it would only drag out time, so Mumeong steadied his resolve.
There’s no time!
He drew up his internal energy.
He couldn’t properly use sword energy as a first-rate expert, but he could use a similar technique.
“Black Killing Sword Technique – Intentional Slash!”
Slice!
A bizarre sight of a massive tree being cut as easily as tofu!
I tried to quickly move somewhere else, but Mumeong was faster.
“Die!”
“Ugh!”
The sword flew straight for my heart!
But I leaned my upper body back slightly and barely avoided a fatal wound.
“Ugh!”
Seeing my clothes turn red, I took up a stance.
“Tangga-gwon!”
Realizing I couldn’t just keep dodging, I threw a punch.
To Mumeong’s eyes it looked crude, slow, and unnecessarily flashy.
Plus, was there any need to shout the technique name so loudly? Mumeong clicked his tongue without realizing it.
“Tsk! Such a pathetic… Damn it!”
Mumeong had let his guard down looking at my pathetic fist, but then felt a chill from the hidden weapon secretly shooting out from my sleeve.
Even a failure, the Tang is still the Tang?
Yes. This was the Tang Clan’s hidden weapon technique!
Hiding a lethal move within the flashy and extravagant.
“Ha! Ha!”
I even added kicks while throwing punches!
From between my extended fists, lethal hidden weapons shot out without warning.
“Hahap!”
Even against second-rate me, Mumeong couldn’t afford to lower his guard.
Slash!
The hidden weapon lightly grazed his arm. His skin immediately broke out in goosebumps.
If he hadn’t taken the poison antidote just in case, it would’ve been truly dangerous.
“I take back what I said about tricks!”
“You’re realizing it a bit late.”
Swish swish! Clang!
The obsidian hidden weapon—lethally sharp but with durability as its greatest weakness—shattered into pieces against Mumeong’s sword.
My hidden weapon!
That damn footwork!
Every time he thought he’d closed the distance, I retreated again using my footwork. Mumeong’s expression twisted in real time.
I guess I have to push myself.
In the end, Mumeong decided to release the internal energy he’d been saving in preparation for facing Tang Chiyeol.
“From now on, it’ll be different.”
“I could say the same even if I’m not at the peak level…”
Before I could finish, Mumeong instantly closed the distance and swung his sword.
“Ugh!”
Slash!
A long horizontal sword wound was carved across my chest.