Chapter 98
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: What the Hell Have You Been Up To?
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Ten Nangong Family warriors escorted a middle-aged lady and her two maids into the city.
Two men watched the scene from the second floor of a teahouse.
One of them glared at them with cold, serpentine eyes and spoke up.
"We've finally caught up."
Gu Jinha grinned from ear to ear.
"Yeah. But I'm not so optimistic."
Gu Jinha's voice was bright enough to brush off Gal Woheon's worried tone.
"Ah! Because of the Nangong Family warriors escorting her?"
"We prepared assassins, but they can't break through the Nangong Family's guards."
"Ahahaha."
Gu Jinha flashed a mischievous smile.
"That's why I came up with a brilliant plan."
Gal Woheon shook his head at Gu Jinha, who seemed even more frivolous than before.
Watching him obsess over revenge felt like peering into the depths of human depravity.
Sometimes, he couldn't comprehend Gu Jinha's bottomless thirst for vengeance against Cheon Taesan.
'Gu Jinha brought this on himself through his own mistakes and corruption—why blame Scholar Cheon for it?'
As that thought crossed his mind, Gal Woheon let out a scoff.
He realized he was doing the exact same thing—plotting revenge against Scholar Cheon.
'I'm no different. Who am I to judge?'
But if he didn't lash out like this, who could he vent his frustration on? His clan had turned its back on him, and the martial world shunned him.
Gu Jinha had nowhere else to direct his rage, so he fixated on Scholar Cheon, the trigger.
'It's just him exposing his own savagery through revenge.'
Gal Woheon sighed.
"So, what's this brilliant plan of yours?"
Gu Jinha's eyes sparkled with more vigor than ever as he replied.
"Right now, there are about ten Nangong Family martial artists. A group that size would stay at a big inn."
Gal Woheon nodded.
"Makes sense. But I'm warning you now—I'm short on poison. Keep that in mind."
Gu Jinha smirked.
"Using poison might kill one or two, but we couldn't take Scholar Cheon's mother hostage."
"So, what's your plan?"
What did he expect to accomplish without poison, using barely second-rate assassins—and only about twenty of them at that?
Five Nangong Family warriors could handle that many with ease.
"We'll burn the entire inn to the ground while everyone's asleep."
"What? Burn it?"
Gu Jinha replied with an innocent smile.
"Yes! We'll set fires in multiple spots at once. Once the inn's engulfed in flames, it'll turn into chaos."
"Even then, can our assassins get close to Scholar Cheon's mother?"
Gu Jinha let out a sinister chuckle.
"Elder Gal, you don't know how this works. I've set fires like this before. Most martial artists get too busy saving people inside to think straight. The Nangong Family warriors will be the same."
Gu Jinha continued.
"That leaves maybe one or two guarding Scholar Cheon's mother at most. Or maybe none at all."
He chattered on excitedly.
"A mother like hers would tell her guards to go inside and save as many people as they can instead of protecting her."
Gal Woheon could picture it clearly.
Gu Jinha was probably right.
"That's when we strike."
"Heh..."
Gal Woheon recoiled in horror at Gu Jinha's brutality.
"What about the dozens of innocent lives in that inn?"
"Do we have time to worry about that? Taking Scholar Cheon's mother hostage is what matters. If we can't grab her, we kill her."
"You're something else."
Gal Woheon meant it as sarcasm about Gu Jinha's cruel nature, but Gu Jinha took it as praise.
"Hahaha! Even you can handle this much, Elder Gal."
Gal Woheon was genuinely shocked.
'I'm seeing firsthand that revenge knows no bounds when it comes to sin.'
Seeing Gal Woheon's stunned expression satisfied Gu Jinha, who burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Cheon Taesan, I'll show you hell!"
At around the hour of the dog, Gu Jinha sent his assassins to set fires all around the inn.
They scattered hay everywhere and lit it with torches.
Flames erupted in an instant.
"Fire!"
Moments later, chaos erupted inside the inn.
The twenty assassins had hidden their swords and spears in jars beforehand, disguising themselves as people rushing to put out the fire.
People poured out of the inn.
Many who had been sleeping hadn't dressed properly.
Some wore only undergarments with a top thrown on, others had grabbed just pants.
The Nangong Family warriors rushed out and shouted.
"Get back inside and save people!"
Only martial artists could move fast enough in a place like this.
Yu Munbi, who had stepped out, frowned at the suddenly burning inn.
She was fully dressed, complete with her travel bag.
Even in the panic, she had grabbed everything she needed.
Her two maids were also fully clothed, standing out from the crowd.
"Put out the fire! Get water!"
People scurried about, shouting everywhere.
Spotting the three women from afar, Gu Jinha said.
"Elder Gal. That middle-aged woman over there must be Scholar Cheon's mother."
As the three women watched the burning inn, Gu Jinha signaled his assassins to prepare.
"Something's off."
"What is it?"
Gal Woheon felt an inexplicable sense of wrongness.
"Hm. Something doesn't feel right."
As people started bringing jars of water from all directions, Gu Jinha gave the signal.
The assassins picked up the jars and approached the three women.
"Ah!"
Gal Woheon realized what was wrong.
"Those three are the only ones who came out fully dressed. That means they got ready fast—really fast. Those three women..."
"Come on, Elder Gal. They probably just woke up and threw on their clothes before running out."
Gu Jinha dismissed it as nonsense and watched his assassins pull weapons from the jars and charge.
"Time for us to prepare to withdraw."
Once they kidnapped Scholar Cheon's mother, they had to flee immediately, so he stood.
"Huh?"
But the assassins collapsed as they neared the three women.
The two maids had drawn daggers and slain them.
"Damn it! The maids are guards too!"
He cursed himself for overlooking the two maids.
"Ten of you hold off the maids—the rest, grab the target!"
Gu Jinha was annoyed at having to micromanage.
"Huh?"
But even the assassins approaching Scholar Cheon's mother crumpled to the ground.
"What the hell? You joking?"
Gal Woheon's voice came from behind.
"Does that look like a joke to you? Can normal people dress fully in a fire? Only experts could manage that."
"Experts?"
"No time to chat. We need to get out of here ourselves."
"What are you talking about? Why should w—"
He turned to look at the inn. Nearly twenty assassins lay dead on the ground.
The three women had taken them all out.
"Shit."
Gu Jinha shivered as Scholar Cheon's mother stared him down coldly.
"Let's run."
The two mounted their prepared horses and fled.
But the two maids pursued them, leaping like the wind.
"What the hell are those things?"
Gu Jinha shouted desperately.
"Elder Gal! Deal with them!"
Gal Woheon rummaged in his robe and scattered something.
"Poison!"
The maids split left and right to dodge, and Gal Woheon hurled hidden weapons.
But the maids evaded in the darkness, forcing Gal Woheon to grit his teeth.
They weren't ordinary.
Worried about Gu Jinha while struggling himself, Gal Woheon glanced back.
Gu Jinha wildly swung his sword at a maid approaching alongside his horse—impossibly close.
The maid leaped up to go for his throat, and Gal Woheon seized the moment to throw hidden weapons.
"Hidden weapons!"
The maid twisted midair upon hearing him, dropping to the ground.
Instead, she hurled her dagger at Gu Jinha's sword-wielding wrist.
Psshk!
The dagger grazed his wrist.
"Ugh!"
Gu Jinha spurred his horse faster.
Gal Woheon scattered more poison powder, and the maids finally stopped pursuing, climbing trees to evade it.
After galloping for a while, Gu Jinha looked at Gal Woheon.
"Thanks to you, Elder Gal, I survived. I really thought I was done for."
Noticing Gal Woheon's gaze on his right hand, he looked down.
There was no sensation in the hand gripping the reins.
Half his wrist was severed, the reins flopping loosely with the motion.
"......"
Staring blankly for a moment, Gu Jinha finally screamed.
"Uwaaaaaah!"
Only after realizing it did the pain hit.
"Cheon Taesan, you bastard! I'll kill you!"
Gu Jinha cursed Cheon Taesan even as he urged his horse faster.
Yu Munbi's face was pale, her illness weighing heavily on her.
Fighting the assassins had drained her energy further, worsening her condition.
"Ma'am, are you all right?"
The two maids approached, supporting her to sit on a nearby rock.
"I'm fine. Did you figure out who attacked us?"
"One used poison and hidden weapons—he was peak-level expert. The other seemed like a scholar; we couldn't gauge his skills."
"You just let them go?"
"The scholar won't use his right wrist anymore."
"Hm. You should've gone for the throat."
"The poison old man blocked us."
The other maid spoke up.
"And as he fled, he cursed the young master."
"Taesan? So both are connected to him?"
"Seems like it."
Yu Munbi murmured while gazing at the inn, where the fire was nearly out.
"They set the inn ablaze targeting us. Vicious bastards. Next time, no mercy—kill them outright."
"Yes, ma'am."
Yu Munbi muttered to herself.
"Son, what the hell have you been up to that scum like this are after you?"
The Nangong Family warriors arrived soon after, stunned by the assassins' corpses strewn about.
They were shocked to learn the assassins had attacked Scholar Cheon's mother while they extinguished the fire.
"We're sorry, ma'am."
"It's fine."
"But who killed these?"
"My girls know martial arts."
The Nangong Family warriors were speechless.
Two people taking down nearly twenty assassins? Their skills were immeasurable.
The Nangong Family warriors apologized profusely and moved to another inn.
Gal Woheon burst into a clinic in a nearby village, waking the sleeping physician at swordpoint.
He demanded treatment for Gu Jinha's wrist.
The terrified physician treated him, trembling.
"How is it? Can he use the hand?"
The physician glanced nervously before answering.
"The wrist nerves are severed—he won't be able to move his fingers. Better to amputate. Leaving it could cause infection, and you might lose the whole arm."
Gal Woheon couldn't decide, so he asked Gu Jinha.
"Your call."
Gu Jinha chewed his lip for a moment before replying.
"Cut it off."
He squeezed his eyes shut and muttered.
"I'll repay this grudge, Cheon Taesan. You're my archenemy now."
Gu Jinha ground his teeth.