Chapter 131
Chapter 131
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 131
Chapter Title: A Ghost from the Past
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With the explosion, the remnants of the thatched cottage shattered and scattered.
Then, a wave of cold air and ice fragments swept out in all directions.
“That…”
Hyang-i’s eyes widened, and she tensed her legs as if to dash out at any moment.
“Not yet.”
“…?”
“It’s enough. Leave it to Wang Cheon.”
At Neung Un-bi’s words, she relaxed her legs and stood up straight.
Hyang-i knew it too.
Blood soaked the gash on her waist, but the wound wasn't deep.
She had only intended to step in just in case.
“Let’s watch a little longer. Judging by the fact that he’s even using the White Lotus Flower, he seems absolutely furious, but…”
“…Well, alright.”
Hyang-i nodded at Neung Un-bi’s words.
The assassin's aura was formidable, but he was no match for Wang Cheon.
No matter what anyone said, he was stronger than anyone else in their group, except for Hyang-i and Neung Un-bi.
And there was no escape. This was because the warriors of the Waning Moon Squad and the Shaanxi Branch had already surrounded the area without a single gap.
“Still, it’s a relief. The assassin is an idiot.”
“Hm?”
“If it were me, I would have set a simple trap on the doorknob.”
“…”
“Something like poison smoke spreading when the door opens, or hidden weapons shooting out like rain. Or…”
Neung Un-bi blinked blankly at Hyang-i’s nonchalant assessment.
Come to think of it, he seemed to recall doing such things often in the past.
If that had happened… what about Wang Cheon?
Neung Un-bi swallowed unconsciously.
Wouldn’t Wang Cheon have been seriously injured?
And what about himself, the one who gave the order?
A lord who sent his subordinate to his death….
As he apologized internally out of guilt, a sudden question arose in his mind.
“Hyang-a.”
“What is it?”
“Did you, by any chance, to the Cult Leader…”
“I tried, but I failed. Dammit! Just thinking about it pisses me off.”
“…”
No matter how he thought about it, Hyang-i was truly amazing. To try something like that on *that* Cult Leader…
It was a wonder he had let her live.
And despite that, he made you his maid and had you brew his tea?
She was the type who wouldn't hesitate to poison his tea every day…
“By the way, your subordinate’s skill is truly remarkable.”
“Pardon?”
“I’ve seen many ice arts in my time, but never one with such power. Even the warriors of the North Sea probably aren’t at that level.”
Neung Un-bi let out a chuckle at Jin San’s pure admiration.
It was understandable why he would think that.
The ice arts of the Snow Mountain Manor were a martial art of time itself.
Wasn't the Snow Mountain Manor the one that had fought and survived north of the Heavenly Mountains, where only winter existed?
Training in the cold wind, the frigid energy must have naturally seeped into their internal energy.
And they weren't called the family that guarded the northern flank of the Demonic Cult for nothing.
Moreover, Wang Cheon was the First Young Master of that family.
Had it not been for Neung Un-bi, he was a talent who could have easily become the Cult Leader’s disciple. It was only natural for him to be strong.
And right now, he seemed quite angry. Contrary to his ice-cold appearance, his insides were probably boiling like a furnace.
A literally mad leopard. This was the true face of the warrior Wang Cheon, a man who would stand out anywhere.
“Haaah!”
Wang Cheon’s sword, which had soared into the air, slashed down vertically.
*Whoosh! Crack! Boom! Boom!*
The white sword energy relentlessly split the ground, and at the same time, the surroundings froze solid.
The sharply shattered ice fragments instantly turned into hidden weapons, targeting the assassin with every gust of dark wind.
The Snow Mountain Manor's Shattering Ice Slash.
A sword unleashed by a warrior in righteous fury, a chilling energy that froze on contact, and shattered ice fragments that turned as sharp as hidden weapons.
“You rat-like bastard!”
Wang Cheon’s irritation reached its peak as the assassin repeatedly avoided fatal blows, even as his body became covered in wounds.
He was truly a remarkable fellow.
Even while frantically dodging, he would occasionally find an opening in Wang Cheon’s defense, inflict a wound, and further provoke his anger.
But he was no match for Wang Cheon.
As time passed and he was pushed further onto the defensive, the assassin, realizing he had no other option, began to look for an escape route.
But the area was already surrounded.
Ju Seung was not one to miss that.
Just like that time when they were chasing Neung Un-bi in the Heavenly Mountains.
“Tighten the perimeter! Do not let him escape!”
At Ju Seung's shout, the encirclement tightened, and the assassin’s eyes changed as if he felt the pressure.
His sword strikes became fiercer than before. He was making his last stand.
But it was futile.
With his martial arts, a direct confrontation with Wang Cheon was impossible, and breaking through the encirclement formed by the Demonic Cult’s elite was even more so.
But at that moment.
“Huh?”
Neung Un-bi’s eyes twitched as he saw the trajectory of the dagger the man was wielding.
A familiar sword path.
*Clang!*
It shattered the ice fragments created by Wang Cheon’s Shattering Ice Slash.
*Shwick!*
It shot out as fast as a beam of light, grazing Wang Cheon’s neck.
“Kuh!”
The moment Wang Cheon grimaced from the cut on his neck and swung his sword, the man’s blade changed again.
The small arcs created by the dagger overlapped in a chaotic, jumbled manner.
After the Flash Strike came the Chaos Strike.
“N-No way?”
Neung Un-bi’s eyes grew wider and wider.
If what followed was…
*Crack!*
“Keuk!”
Wang Cheon, who blocked the sword that broke through his attack, grimaced.
The shattered ice fragments scattered, glittering like stardust in the sunlight.
“A-A Sword-Breaking Form?!”
Neung Un-bi’s astonishment grew uncontrollably.
Three Battles Sword.
It wasn't perfect, but the assassin’s sword was undoubtedly the Three Battles Sword.
How did he…
Moreover, now that he looked closely, wasn't the footwork he was using to dodge Wang Cheon’s attacks the Forward Intent Footwork?
The one practiced by the warriors of the suicide squad he had served with.
How could the assassin possibly know it?
Unless he had stolen and learned it like Jin San, it was impossible for someone who possessed both of those martial arts to be unrelated to him.
But if he was one of his former comrades, he should be carrying out justice in the shadow of that man.
He should not shy away from the shadows to make the light shine brighter.
Then why? Why on earth was he working as a hired assassin?
And why had he killed a non-warrior like Gong Tae-seok, and committed all those other murders that the Beggars' Union had left unsolved?
“Graaah! You son of a bitch! I’ll kill you!”
As the wounds from Wang Cheon’s sword multiplied, the assassin began to rage even more fiercely.
As Wang Cheon’s attacks grew more intense in response, the assassin’s Forward Intent Footwork became more distinct.
Amidst the chaotic exchange, Neung Un-bi, with trembling eyes, carefully examined the assassin’s appearance.
He looked to be in his late middle ages, with a scar on his cheek.
Thirty years had passed since his own death.
At the time, the assassin would have been between twenty and thirty years old.
Someone who had mastered both the Forward Intent Footwork and the Forward Intent Sword…
“D-Don’t tell me it’s him?”
At that moment, a tattoo became visible inside his torn shirt, revealed by a slash from Wang Cheon’s sword.
“……!”
Neung Un-bi’s face hardened.
The fleeting suspicion solidified into certainty.
Only a part of the tattoo was visible, but it was enough to identify the man.
How could he forget?
Even after thirty years, no, even after a hundred, he would never forget.
“Hm? What’s wrong with you?”
“…”
Jin San asked with a puzzled expression, but Neung Un-bi just stared at the assassin, his body trembling.
To think he would meet that bastard who once went by the name Jeong Chi-su… here.
Suddenly, memories of the past flooded his mind.
…It was a disgusting feeling.
The ominous demonic energy that surged within him seeped into the marrow of his bones before erupting as a blinding light, and the sinister aura that slowly rose from him radiated violently in all directions.
*Grind!*
The rage embedded in his memories welled up, and he instinctively ground his teeth.
*Jeong Chi-su, it was you. You were alive.*
*You, who drove me and my comrades to our deaths…*
“H-Hey?”
At the sight of Neung Un-bi suddenly erupting in rage and spewing demonic energy, not only Jin San but everyone around him couldn't hide their confusion.
“You’re finished!”
Simultaneously, Wang Cheon’s sword was flying toward the assassin, Jeong Chi-su.
The power behind the sword was immense.
Jeong Chi-su’s resistance was fiercer than expected, and Wang Cheon, judging that capturing him with light attacks would be difficult, had added more power to his sword to incapacitate him.
“Wang Cheon!”
“…?”
At that moment, Neung Un-bi’s furious roar erupted, and Wang Cheon hastily diverted the path of his sword that was aimed at Jeong Chi-su.
*Shwaaaak!*
Retracting the sword that had cut through the air, Wang Cheon leaped back and whipped his head around to glare at Neung Un-bi.
“Ah, seriously! Why…”
Wang Cheon couldn't finish his sentence.
The sight of Neung Un-bi’s eyes, blazing as if they would spew blue flames, silenced him.
*Step, step.*
With each approaching step, immense internal energy was embedded, leaving deep footprints in the ground.
“M-My lord?”
“Step aside.”
“…”
At Neung Un-bi’s single command, Wang Cheon, who had been looking puzzled, nodded with a hardened expression.
He had never seen this before. Such an intensely angry face…
Wang Cheon didn't bother to ask.
He didn't object as he usually would.
His objections were always solely for the sake of his lord, Neung Un-bi.
Given the state Neung Un-bi was in right now…
It was clearly not a situation to question and demand answers.
There had to be a reason, and he even felt that no one should know what that reason was.
“I will clear the area.”
“Mm…”
“There should be no listening ears, either, correct?”
At Wang Cheon’s words, Neung Un-bi merely let out a short grunt and walked past him.
Blue Cloud Carpentry Guild? Gong Tae-seok’s death?
None of it entered his mind.
His eyes saw only Jeong Chi-su, and his mind was filled only with memories of him.
Watching his retreating back, Wang Cheon took a deep breath and shouted with all his might.
“Warriors of the Waning Moon Squad and the Shaanxi Branch, retreat one hundred paces immediately and seal off the area!”
“Yes, sir!”
At Wang Cheon’s forceful command, Ju Seung and the Waning Moon Squad, as well as Gwak Hui-yeong and the warriors of the Shaanxi Branch, answered without question.
“H-Hey, you all!”
*Ssk.*
“…”
As Jin San tried to approach, revealing his curiosity, Hyang-i, who had already brandished daggers in both hands, blocked his path.
“What is this?”
“I’m sorry, but your observation ends here. The Third Young Master will likely explain later, so for now, could you please step back?”
“…”
Although Hyang-i was asking with a gentle smile, Jin San could feel the thick killing intent veiled in her smiling eyes. It was a warning that she would use force depending on his actions.
He couldn't help but be dumbfounded.
To think a girl of only fifteen or sixteen would point a weapon at him.
At him, the Grandmaster of Zhongnan, once called the Great Sword Virtuoso…
The situation was beyond dumbfounding; it was absurd.
“Maid… put away your weapon…”
Wang Cheon approached and stopped Hyang-i’s actions.
“Elder Jin San, I ask for your cooperation.”
“Hmph…”
“If you have been watching, you should know. My lord is not one to express such strong anger without reason.”
“I know.”
“Yes, there must be a reason.”
“But shouldn’t I know the reason before I decide whether to step back or not?”
“I do not know either. This is the first time I have seen him like this.”
“You don’t know? And yet you’re sealing off the area?!”
“Yes.”
“…?”
“As I said, there must be a reason. If my lord is this angry… this is now the Demonic Cult’s affair.”
“What will you do if I refuse?”
“We will have to fight. Even if it means staking our lives.”
“Ha!”
It was truly a series of absurdities.
Without even knowing the reason, just because their lord was angry…
But it wasn't just Hyang-i; everyone under Neung Un-bi’s command had the same look in their eyes.
They were all moving based on the single display of Neung Un-bi’s anger.
Without even asking for a reason…
“You will have to explain this later!”
“I will try to mention it to my lord.”
“Hmph…”
*I will try to mention it.*
What kind of bullshit was that?
Did it not mean that if Neung Un-bi didn’t want to, he wouldn’t get an answer?
But Jin San turned around with a deep sigh.
It wasn't because he didn't want to cause trouble with the Demonic Cult. It was because he trusted Neung Un-bi’s character.
Even if they had only met a short while ago…