Chapter 67
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Mooching Thugs (2)
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‘I can’t lose!’
As Taejin, he had every reason not to lose. His father was watching from behind. The mere thought of defeat was horrifying. Father’s presence offered no comfort—only the prickling agony of sitting on pins and needles.
‘I’ll win no matter what!’
Cheolho accepted the challenge and pressed forward. He hated his uncle, but training under him had brought massive strides in his Iron Blood Lion Art.
Clang!
A presence pierced through the patter of rain.
“Heh heh heh, your courage is commendable.”
When the two youngsters stood their ground without fleeing, a deep, gravelly voice emanated from the man whose wide-brimmed hat was pulled low over his face.
“Since you’ve saved us the trouble, I’ll grant you a swift end without pain.”
The hat-wearing man signaled with his hands. Twenty assassins charged toward Cheolho and Taejin.
Thud thud thud!
No words exchanged—just action.
Taejin and Cheolho readied their weapons and steadied their breaths. The thick stench of bloodlust rolling off these foes was incomparable to the common thugs. It made their teeth chatter, wondering how many lives it took to reek so foully of carnage.
Slash!
The darkened space was rent apart.
They struck from five directions, slipping between Cheolho and Taejin without warning. These were seasoned killers.
Boom!
Cheolho, with greaves and arm guards equipped, unleashed a fist blast. Air and rain burst outward, disrupting the assassins’ sword paths.
A split-second hesitation.
Slash! Slash!
Taejin seized the opening Cheolho created. They growled at each other like rivals aflame with competitive fire, but knew when and where to set it aside. Having synced perfectly against the thugs earlier, their coordination had evolved into something even more refined.
Executing One Thousand Strikes and Gale Force simultaneously, he felled the five, then disrupted the follow-up barrage from the approaching assassins.
Whoosh!
A more mature sword aura surged along his blade like wind, firing off. Cheolho followed like a beast, nullifying the swords’ space and striking their vital points precisely.
Pow pow pow!
One strike, one kill.
Cheolho’s punches left no room for the next thought. Scarred by past hesitation, he made no such mistake again. The assassins struck in their death points screamed not, collapsing lifeless.
Swish swish!
They aimed for the regrouping pair mid-attack. Blackened, razor-sharp Soul-Reaving Needles targeted Cheolho.
Clang clang!
The Shadow Assassins’ Soul-Reaving Needles were parried by Taejin’s sword before reaching Cheolho. His blade swept the space, its trajectory blooming like a shield to deflect them.
Crack!
Cheolho’s pure strike cut off the assassin’s path. The opportunistic killer faced him head-on. Opening his Iron Blood Lion Art’s sixth stage, Cheolho punched. A fist shadow pierced the dark, severing the foe’s lifeline.
“Gah!”
The sensing assassin dodged, only for Taejin’s sword to preempt his path—as if anticipating the evasion. The disoriented killer flailed, and Taejin’s Pine Wind Step seized control.
Slash! Slash!
The assassin’s head tumbled across the ground.
Taejin and Cheolho rode their momentum instead of pausing for breath, pressuring the killers. They quickly thinned their numbers.
Like interlocking gears, Cheolho and Taejin’s tandem assault left no gaps for the assassins.
“Hold!”
A sword force pierced the rainstorm, targeting Cheolho and Taejin.
Claaaang!
A twisted metallic screech drowned the rain, ripples scattering droplets everywhere like an exploding fan. The spray pierced trees and underbrush indiscriminately.
Shudder!
As Taejin reeled back blocking the sword force, assassins targeted him—only for Cheolho to unleash Lion’s Iron Wave, which crushed steel. A condensed, tangible blast erupted all at once.
Boom boom boom!
When the fist blast cleared space, Taejin swung to block the serpentine sword intent slithering in.
Crack!
Taejin and Cheolho widened their gap, exhaling held breaths. Handling multiple threats in an instant had drained them heavily. It looked easy, but dragging it out was unwise—they poured out full power.
‘The rain amps up energy drain more than usual.’
They felt why rainy battles were hellish. Far worse than theory suggested—double, at least.
“You damn whelps dare!”
For Kang Jaegi of the Remnant Eagle Sword, the damage was beyond expectation. He’d planned to brush aside the brats and claim the target. Yet the target lounged in his tent gnawing meat, while half his men lay dead to those brats.
The Blood Hounds were elite assassins trained in killing arts. Optimized for slaughter in hellish conditions like tonight’s—able to move like daylight in darkness.
“I’ll tear you to shreds and feed you to the beasts!”
Thick, blood-soaked killing intent poured from Kang Jaegi.
He was leagues above the Blood Hounds. Peak-level prowess, wielding a high-lethality assassination sword. In truth, a peak warrior versus peak killer? The killer crushed them.
“You sure talk a lot. Fight already!”
Mujin, scooping rice into beef soup, wasn’t one to watch passively.
Pathetic losers acting all high and mighty. Just mooching thugs trying to snatch back the scraps.
Crack!
Kang Jaegi seethed at Mujin’s attitude—sending kids to fight while casually eating. Never had his killing urge boiled so fiercely.
“Your spawn will die screaming. Let’s see if food goes down easy then.”
“Typical low-rent assassins— all mouth, no bite.”
As Kang Jaegi glared at Mujin, Taejin and Cheolho charged. Waiting for openings was foolish. Mujin’s teachings shone.
“You brainless fools!”
“Guess kids’ blades don’t kill ya.”
Mujin’s barbs ignored time and place. He sniped whenever the mood struck.
“Holding back just makes you sick.”
Mujin’s harshness might seem cruel, but warriors couldn’t fear blood. For their principles, they’d wade through seas of blood and mountains of corpses. Lacking that resolve? Quit being a warrior.
“Warriors must be ruthless.”
Not license for excess. A warrior losing cool rationality forfeits martial arts. And once resolved? Be bold—especially on death’s edge.
The jianghu offered no second chances. Regret after death? Meaningless.
‘Guard only your own heart.’
Many kills make an assassin? By that logic, jianghu heroes were butchers and slaughters. Stay untainted by demonic ways, rooted in ironclad mind.
-What about Mijoo?
‘Shut it.’
My girl deserves a world of beauty only! As long as my eyes don’t close in death, crap like this won’t touch her. Come at us? All die.
Clang clang clang!
Slash! Spurt!
A severed arm flew through the air to splat on the ground as a fist burst through rain, smashing an assassin’s skull.
Huff huff!
Cheolho and Taejin’s bodies were soaked in sweat and blood. Rain washed the ground red. White breath fogged with every exhale. They quenched burning thirst with raindrops.
Crunch!
Three more down.
Kang Jaegi tallied losses that didn’t add up. He’d joined personally, backed by Mad Dog Three Fiends. The brats were rampaging, but he’d planned to rip them apart for dog food soon.
Not quite!
The brats’ teamwork was no joke. They blocked Blood Hounds’ killing strikes, counterattacked—even parried his assassination sword with pinpoint timing.
“Tsk tsk tsk, assassins fretting over their own hides first. Toss comrades aside to finish the job, right? Pathetic.”
Even amid chaos, that hated yap jabbered nonstop. Impossible to ignore—nerves grated to perfection.
“Back in my day, three hundred sixty-five days of assassin attacks, no break. One punk called Dark Emperor used kids to target my soft heart. Know what happened? All sent to the afterlife. Gave me trouble, sure. But you lot? No grit. Prioritizing your skins over the kill? What kinda assassins are you? Just learn a trade, farm instead.”
Mujin’s scathing critique—failing to take down even one kid, shitting blood—poured like the rain, piercing their ears unheeded.
Crunch!
Kang Jaegi and Blood Hounds hated it but couldn’t plug ears—do so, and brats would strike.
“I’ll kill you!”
Unbearable. They hadn’t become assassins for this prattle. It stung their pride of flawless target disposal.
“Butchers with pride, huh? That’s why you suck. Assassins got no business with pride. Get your heads straight.”
As Kang Jaegi and Blood Hounds’ rage dominated the space, Cheolho and Taejin felt like dying.
If you won’t help, stop interfering. Just shut up, please.
Every Mujin jab made assassins lash out in fury. Yet it remained manageable—they’d lost cool-headedness.
Stab!
Taejin didn’t miss Cheolho’s punch-created gap. Sword thrust into the front-back-left-right openings.
The stabbed assassin thrashed in death throes, but Taejin withdrew swiftly, preserving tandem flow.
“Snap to it, all of you!”
Another down—now just six, not half. Even with Mad Dog Three Fiends as core left, Kang Jaegi jolted awake.
‘This goddamn mess!’
Target untouched, half his force lost to brats. If Boss Lu learned, he was done. Blood Hounds were night ops mainstay.
‘Must kill them!’
Even now, Mujin smirked.
Watching him savor rain and firelight made calming fury hard. But he couldn’t underestimate the brats anymore.
‘What the hell are these guys?’