Chapter 130
Chapter 130
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 130
Chapter Title: A Hunter's Arrogance
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"Haha, what an interesting combination."
"Pardon?"
"I'm talking about you and your guard, Wang Cheon."
Neung Un-bi tilted his head at Jin San's comment, who was watching Wang Cheon stomp angrily toward the straw hut.
"Interesting? What a thing to say... He's a real handful."
"Keke, I suppose you could see it that way."
"..."
"To you, that man must be more of a friend than a guard."
"Well, something like that. He's the friend I've spent the most time with. But lately, he's been treating his lord like dirt."
"What? Hahaha."
"Did you see his face? Sometimes he gets too big for his britches, thinking we're just friends."
As Neung Un-bi casually badmouthed Wang Cheon, Ju Seung and Gwak Hui-yeong wore troubled expressions.
To speak so openly to a member of the Orthodox faction, even if Jin San was an elder...
"My friend, that is the better way."
"Pardon? Better?"
"A friend is someone who carries the weight of life alongside you."
"..."
"If you plan to keep someone by your side for a long time, that's the kind of person you want. Someone who can speak their mind frankly, who can hold their head high and scold you harshly when you're wrong."
"..."
"You need someone like that beside you to keep from straying onto the wrong path. It may sound like the nagging of an old man, but keep him close and value him."
It felt strange. It was as if Jin San's deeply held feelings, which he usually kept hidden, had been revealed.
"It seems you have experience with such things."
"Haha, when you've lived to my age, wouldn't you have seen more than most?"
"..."
"Advice and criticism are like bitter medicine, so it's natural to close one's ears to them. The relationship you have—with a guard who doesn't hesitate to speak harshly and you, who keeps such a person by your side without resentment—is something I truly envy. Looking at you, I can only lament what people think of the Demonic Cult."
A strange sense of regret seemed to linger in Jin San's eyes as he watched Wang Cheon's back, but Neung Un-bi didn't press the matter.
What would change if he asked?
It was likely a time long past, and not something he could change...
"By the way, there is one thing I'm curious about."
"Please, ask."
"Isn't this a bit much?"
"What is?"
"He's just an assassin who killed a carpenter. If he's taking jobs from a small place like the Blue Cloud Carpentry Guild, his skills can't be that great, can they?"
"Hmm... So Elder Jin San thought so as well?"
"Hm?"
Neung Un-bi let out a soft laugh at Jin San's question.
Of course, he wouldn't know.
Assassin. One who takes human lives.
How could a man who has lived in the light understand their lives and habits?
No, aside from Hyang-i, no one here would know anything about their tendencies.
Of course, he might be an insignificant foe, just as Jin San said.
But that couldn't be right.
The list of unconfirmed kills written on the paper Wang Cheon had obtained from the Beggars' Union.
That list contained the man's true skill.
Moreover, the atmosphere here also suggested as much.
A thick, eerie gloom hung around the place he'd chosen as a hideout.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. It was an atmosphere that only assassins could read, regardless of their martial prowess.
Hyang-i, too, knew this, which was why she was worried about Wang Cheon.
"Elder Jin San."
"Speak."
"An assassin's true skill doesn't lie in the act of killing."
"What do you mean by that?"
Jin San tilted his head and leaned in to listen.
"Do you remember what Jang Il-san, a disciple of your sect, said before?"
"Il-san's words?"
"Yes. When Hyang-i deduced the assassin's method after seeing the scene of the murder."
"...You mean when he said he'd seen the same method before?"
"That's right."
"What about it?"
"I found it strange."
"..."
"I heard that Jang Il-san belongs to the Zhongnan Sect's White Cloud Hall."
"That is correct."
"He said he had hunted that assassin before."
"Also correct."
"Does it make sense that he couldn't catch him?"
"Well..."
Jin San, who had been tilting his head, suddenly widened his eyes as if he'd realized something.
"Was it because he lacked the skill?"
"...Hmm."
"The Beggars' Union also pursued him, but they couldn't catch him either."
"That's right."
"Do you think that's possible?"
"..."
"When I ordered Wang Cheon to investigate, he found a few more suspicious incidents."
"And?"
"Neither the Beggars' Union nor the Zhongnan Sect could uncover the killer's identity."
"So the assassin's abilities are that exceptional?"
"Yes."
"Hah! I suppose that could be the case."
"It's still just a deduction for now."
"But that deduction seems to be bordering on certainty."
"It is."
"Why is that?"
Jin San's expression grew more and more intrigued.
"As I said, an assassin's ability doesn't lie in the act of killing."
"..."
"The real skills are in the preparation for the kill, the ability to erase all traces afterward, and the ability to escape when discovered."
"Hmm..."
Believing the point to be valid, Jin San nodded.
"The man has never once been caught. It means he possesses skills so exceptional he can completely evade investigations by both the Zhongnan Sect and the Beggars' Union, regardless of his target's status."
"Is that why you prepared such a sturdy net first?"
"Of course. Someone once said..."
"...?"
"There's nothing more foolish than thinking of catching a fish without even preparing a net."
"Haha, the more I see of you, the more you astonish me. Where on earth did you learn such things? Did that man, Dam Un-cheon, teach you?"
Neung Un-bi simply smiled at Jin San's admiration.
...He learned it from death.
Long ago, on that day when Zhuge had driven him into an inescapable trap.
And those words were spoken by that bastard from the Zhuge clan, who had mocked him after he was caught in that very net.
"Ahem!"
Neung Un-bi cleared his throat to shake off the unpleasant memory and looked toward Wang Cheon.
"If my guess is correct, he's no ordinary man."
"And the one who is about to catch such a formidable man is even less ordinary."
"You think so?"
"Hm?"
"The man made a mistake. Unlike before."
"A mistake?"
"The job from the Blue Cloud Carpentry Guild. He must have looked down on it, as it was just killing a single carpenter."
"You're saying he was careless."
"Yes. He must have thought that would be enough."
"He surely didn't expect Yeom Seong-in to reveal his tracks because of your scheme."
"Yes."
Neung Un-bi narrowed his eyes and nodded, and Jin San, watching him, was inwardly astounded.
The word 'formidable' alone seemed insufficient to describe Neung Un-bi.
Barely of age. An age where it was easy to fall into recklessness.
But anyone who judged him by his age or appearance would never be able to defeat him.
Having seen his martial arts firsthand, Jin San could not deny his strength.
Aside from a few who boasted of being absolute masters, no one could dare compare to him.
Moreover, his judgment of situations was meticulous and cold. Didn't he possess an eye for small details that Jin San himself had never even considered?
He was a talent who possessed both literary and martial prowess.
Jin San looked at those by Neung Un-bi's side.
Hyang-i, who was supposedly a maid yet possessed a power even he found difficult to fathom, and Ju Seung, from whom one could feel a deep loyalty.
And Wang Cheon, who acted as both a friend and a subordinate to his lord, never hesitating to speak his mind.
Neung Un-bi was genuinely leading them all.
"Hah... well now."
For some reason, a new future for the Demonic Path began to take shape.
A Demonic Path centered around Neung Un-bi.
He thought he understood why the profound Dam Un-cheon had sent Neung Un-bi to the Central Plains.
He was raising a monster to succeed him.
To forge a new path for the demonic way.
Like the great river, he intended to fill it with a new wave that would push the old one forward.
In contrast, the Central Plains...
His face scrunched up instinctively as he recalled its current state, where justice, chivalry, and righteousness were abandoned in a constant cycle of alliances and betrayals.
"Difficult, so difficult..."
"..."
Neung Un-bi, who had tilted his head at Jin San's muttering, soon turned his gaze back to Wang Cheon.
He was almost there.
Just over ten yards to go.
The assassin inside might have been careless, just as Jin San had said.
He probably didn't care about the traces he'd left with Yeom Seong-in.
He must have been confident in his ability to escape the encirclement of those who pursued him.
Arrogance and carelessness. The man had broken the two taboos an assassin must never commit.
Just as he himself had in the past...
"Ju Seung, Branch Manager."
"Yes, my lord!"
"Get the men ready. We will not let him escape."
"Yes, sir!"
At Neung Un-bi's command, the eyes of Ju Seung and Gwak Hui-yeong sharpened.
"Hyang-i."
"What is it?"
"Just in case."
"In case of what?"
"We can't let Wang Cheon get hurt, can we? That guy is being careless right now."
At Neung Un-bi's words, Hyang-i smirked and drew a dagger in each hand.
"Alright. I'll at least make sure he doesn't die."
"Good. That's enough."
Hyang-i shifted her weight forward, as if ready to dash toward the straw hut at any moment.
And then, Wang Cheon's hand gripped the doorknob.
* * *
"Dammit, what's the big deal about some assassin... At best, he's just a third-rate killer."
Wang Cheon grumbled in annoyance. He had been spreading his senses to scan the area as he approached, just in case.
A formidable assassin?
He felt no eerie presence; not even a single hair on his body stirred. It was so quiet he wondered if anyone was even inside.
What in the world was all this fuss about?
Making such a scene while the Zhongnan Sect was watching...
This was for the best. If the assassin was inside, he would just beat him up and drag him out himself.
They had countless enemies to face in the future; it would be troublesome if things were always like this.
Had he said anything wrong? Everything he'd said was for his master's own good.
Every small mistake would be seen as a major flaw by their jackal-like competitors. This time, he would definitely fix Neung Un-bi's self-righteous stubbornness.
Bracing himself for a potential attack from the assassin, Wang Cheon yanked hard on the doorknob.
The inside of the hut was revealed.
"...!"
And at the same time, a chill ran down Wang Cheon's spine.
In the darkness within, a ferocious beast turned its head, its crimson eyes glaring at Wang Cheon with a murderous light.
"Who are you?"
"..."
With the eerie question, a streak of light shot out.
*Swish!*
"Kuh!"
Wang Cheon urgently twisted his upper body to the side, drawing his sword and swinging it diagonally in the same motion.
*Shwaaak! Klang!*
Wang Cheon's sword cut through the darkness and was blocked by something, sending sparks flying.
The brief flash of light faintly illuminated the inside of the hut.
"...!"
Wang Cheon couldn't hide his shock.
...Corpses?
The hut was filled with horrifically dismembered bodies, a sight so gruesome that even Wang Cheon, who had lived his life as a member of the Demonic Cult, had to grimace.
Arms, legs, and unidentifiable pieces of flesh.
Hacked-up pieces of flesh were scattered everywhere.
But there was no smell of blood?
"Kekekek, you're pretty good. It'll be fun to kill you."
"...!?"
The beast smiled, licking the dagger that had blocked Wang Cheon's sword.
"You, you bastard... What the hell are you!"
Facing the emotionless red eyes, Wang Cheon roared and thrust his sword straight forward.
*Shwaak!*
Just as the sword, flying like a beam of light, was about to pierce the beast's body, its form blurred.
The sword struck empty air, and the beast had already closed in on Wang Cheon's flank.
With a dagger poised like a venomous fang.
"Foolish bastard. Die."
"...!"
The dagger grazed his side.
If he hadn't managed to retreat, the wound would have been deep.
Enraged by the stinging pain spreading from his side, Wang Cheon gritted his teeth and unleashed his internal energy.
"This goddamn assassin!"
*Thump!*
With a powerful stomp, the White Lotus of the Snow Mountain bloomed magnificently.
*Paaaaak!*
The chilling energy that erupted in all directions blew the entire straw hut away.
*Kwaaaaaang!*