Chapter 65: The Fist King, Communication is Key
The Fist King, Communication is Key
Episode 65: The Fist King, Communication is Key
The thick fog had persisted for over ten days. It spread densely through the night, only dissipating after the morning sun rose. The closer one got to the lake, the heavier the fog became. This particular dawn was darker than usual, as if rain was imminent.
Through this fog-covered path, a man and a woman had been walking since daybreak.
The man, of course, was Dan Woo-sung, and the woman was Baek Yak.
Ever since being beaten in his dream by the strongest fighters under heaven, Dan Woo-sung had been grinding his teeth and throwing himself into training. And Baek Yak wasn't the type to stop just because the weather was gloomy or rain threatened to fall.
Their morning walks had become routine, with nothing particularly eventful happening. Occasionally, they'd spot a wildcat darting through the mist or a merchant setting up shop at dawn—nothing more.
But sometimes, when one of them suddenly picked up speed, their stroll would turn into a training session—or a contest of their Lightfoot Techniques.
Dan Woo-sung ran with earth-shattering ferocity, while Baek Yak moved so lightly her footsteps made no sound.
Yet, determining a winner was meaningless.
Baek Yak's Lightfoot Technique was unparalleled, worthy of being called the best in the martial world.
It wasn't for nothing that she had mastered the art of walking on water.
Dan Woo-sung suspected that if Baek Yak truly put her mind to it, there were only a handful in the martial world who could keep up with her.
No matter how much Dan Woo-sung pushed his speed, Baek Yak matched him effortlessly, running shoulder-to-shoulder with him.
He took it in stride.
It was a good challenge.
From their occasional exchanges, the reason was clear. The environment where Baek Yak had trained was far harsher than flat ground like this, and the White Flower Divine Art contained many secrets of movement.
Today, too, the two arrived side by side at Yangpyeong Lake and silently gazed at the water without exchanging words. The white mist hanging low over the rippling surface made the scenery especially breathtaking, like the meeting of sea and sky.
Baek Yak spoke first.
"The Central Plains have many beautiful places. I wonder why my ancestors chose to seclude themselves in a land of endless white snow."
Dan Woo-sung listened silently, arms crossed. It was her family's matter, so he had nothing to say.
"When I was young, I also heard this: that the Heavenly Demon killed too many people. Back then, every last member of the Demon Sect likely met their end by his hand... They say he fought nearly every battle alone. That's why the generations after him must have struggled. Descendants like me inherited grudges they didn't even know existed."
Dan Woo-sung nodded.
"That makes sense."
Baek Yak smiled faintly as she watched the lake.
"So, this warning was passed down: If we ever return to the Central Plains, we must be thoroughly prepared. Even if that preparation takes a hundred years—or two hundred—it doesn't matter. That's what I was told."
She trailed off.
Then Dan Woo-sung turned his head, narrowing his eyes as he glared into the thick mist.
"......"
In unison, Dan Woo-sung and Baek Yak leaped into the air just as a volley of hidden needles sliced through the wind, embedding themselves into the lake.
The two landed with their backs to the water and exchanged a glance. Their eyes conveyed everything—no words were needed.
'Be careful...'
'Understood.'
Dan Woo-sung pointed downward with a finger, signaling they would split up and regroup later. At their level, fear was nonexistent.
Their thoughts were simple: if enemies came, they would kill them. Without another word, the two vanished into the mist.
Dan Woo-sung swept his hand through the air, and the fog swirled away like a curtain pulled aside.
Emerging from the haze were assassins clad in white robes, their faces hidden behind golden masks—the Golden Masked, the highest-ranked killers of the Gold-Silver Assassin Society.
Dan Woo-sung smirked.
"Assassins from the Gold-Silver Assassin Society, it seems."
Baek Yak replied coolly.
"Noted."
The fact that they wore masks meant these were the society's elite.
The two shot forward like arrows, then split left and right, putting distance between them. Against formidable foes, they knew their martial arts would be too destructive—better to fight apart.
Cold energy and lightning qi began seeping into the mist.
To the right, where Dan Woo-sung fought, flashes of lightning erupted through the fog. To the left, where Baek Yak moved, white silhouettes stretched and twisted like puppets.
The mist remained, and not a single scream or shout was heard.
Even as Dan Woo-sung spun midair, seizing two assassins by the skull and flooding them with lightning qi, no cries escaped their lips.
Only a faint, grotesque click sounded before their bodies crumpled.
They had all bitten down on poison pills.
A final act—to die rather than be captured and tortured.
Still gripping the two corpses, Dan Woo-sung hurled them at the oncoming assassins.
Thud! Crack!
One corpse was deflected by an assassin's palm force, while the other was cleanly bisected by a blade.
Squelch!
Footsteps grew louder as the assassins encircled him in formation. Every time the wind dispersed the mist, golden masks flickered in and out of view like ghosts.
A sight terrifying enough to paralyze the weak-willed before battle even began.
The assassins closed in. Dan Woo-sung dodged a blade aimed at his face, seized the arm behind it, and—
Crunch.
—wrenched it with brute force. Then, using the man's body like a flail, he swung wildly. Even as the corpse tore apart under the strain, he didn't stop until limbs were severed by stray blades.
At least Baek Yak couldn't see his brutality through the fog.
Gradually, the assassins realized what kind of opponent they faced. Most bit their poison pills the moment Dan Woo-sung grabbed them.
They were terrifyingly ruthless.
Trained to be.
When the suicidal swarm pressed in, leaving no room to move, Dan Woo-sung stomped the ground with Lightning Foot.
BOOM!
A shockwave sent nearby assassins flying like driftwood in a tidal wave.
Standing in the cleared space, Dan Woo-sung surveyed the battlefield, then slashed his palm toward the densest cluster of enemies.
Swiish!
A blade of lightning qi cut through the air. He followed with a barrage of Lightning Fists from his left hand, then unleashed a Sound Attack with both palms.
CRACK!
Baek Yak was too skilled to be affected by such an attack. The Golden Masked, however, clutched their ears, staggering. Those with weaker internal energy found their hands bloodied—their eardrums had burst.
Then—
Plip. Plop.
Rain began to fall.
The already dark sky turned pitch black with storm clouds. Distant thunder rumbled before the downpour intensified.
Whoooosh—
In that moment, Dan Woo-sung blurred forward with his movement technique, seized an assassin, and dragged him along like a ragdoll, stripping off his mask and outer robe. After firing a Lightning Fist ahead, he backstepped calmly, now clad in the assassin's white robe and golden mask.
He tilted his head up, letting raindrops patter against the mask.
"I'm wearing a mask now," he said, as if informing Baek Yak.
From a distance, her reply was brief.
"Understood."
Communication was flawless.
Baek Yak's fighting style was the complete opposite of Dan Woo-sung's.
She used only the White Flower Finger Technique, lightly tapping assassins' pressure points with her fingertips. Her speed fluctuated—slow one moment, blindingly fast the next.
Her movements blended mountain-like stillness with wind-like swiftness.
She observed attacks, dodged, struck the nape, confirmed the next strike, then aimed for the waist—all while focusing on sound.
From the start, she made no noise—no breath, no footsteps.
And any sound she did make was drowned out by the cacophony of Dan Woo-sung's brutal combat. Over there, bones crunched, earth split, and bodies flew through the air nonstop.
Baek Yak used even that noise to her advantage.
In this battlefield, she was the most dangerous assassin.
She moved through the mist, conserving her energy. Stronger foes might appear after these assassins. Even when pausing to catch her breath, she stood beside frozen enemies, ready to topple them like puppets before darting to the next targets.
To the Gold-Silver Assassin Society, it was like fighting a white-clad ghost. Long ago, Baek Mujin had once been called the White Ghost. To these assassins, Baek Yak was no different.
By the time the battle ended, morning had fully arrived. The sun was up, but the sky remained dark, the rain still pouring. At least the fog had lifted, revealing the corpses.
Dan Woo-sung removed his mask and searched for Baek Yak. She was weaving through the bodies toward him.
"Cold?" he asked.
"I'm fine."
Though they'd only been apart briefly, it felt like a reunion after ages. Dan Woo-sung stepped over a few corpses to meet her.
Not far away, the leader of this assassination attempt lay face-down, breath stilled. How long he had been there, no one knew. He had waited silently in the middle of the road—the same road they would have taken back to the Silver River Merchant Group once all the assassins were dead.
A master like Baek Yak wouldn't feel the cold, but drenched in rain, she looked pitiful regardless.
Dan Woo-sung shrugged off the assassin's outer robe and handed it to her. Without hesitation, she used it like an umbrella.
Only then did they turn to leave.
With all the assassins dead by poison, there was no one left to interrogate. Dan Woo-sung planned to have Ha Jeon-ik, leader of the Eight Dragons Sect, investigate the Gold-Silver Assassin Society. Even the Black Path scum had their uses at times—they'd know more about such organizations than the orthodox factions.
As they walked side by side, they paused at the corpse lying in the road's center.
"Did you kill him?" Dan Woo-sung asked.
"No."
They stopped, studying the body. Neither could remember every kill, but they knew their own battlefields precisely. In another situation, they might have assumed the other did it and moved on.
But communication was key.
Baek Yak unleashed a wave of freezing energy from her makeshift umbrella, and Dan Woo-sung lunged forward like lightning. As the assassin's body stiffened into ice, Dan Woo-sung kicked it straight into Yangpyeong Lake.
Splash.
The assassin—clearly dead or frozen solid—sank beneath the surface.
Thanks to this ambush, the two had tested their martial synergy. And in doing so, they confirmed something else:
They understood each other perfectly.
While these two were getting to know one another, the assassins had been utterly annihilated.
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