Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: A Clever Retribution
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“How… how did you?”
The old man’s face was filled with bewilderment.
Seriously? If you get caught, you should either start swinging your blade or bolt. Why are you just standing there, flustered?
These guys are such amateurs it's not even worth grading them.
To send scrubs like this as assassins, just how much are they looking down on me?
“Who are you people? No, who sent you?”
“……”
At Neung Un-bi’s cold question, the old man couldn't hide his trembling eyes and swallowed hard.
The woman’s face had already turned pale.
“Ah, wrong question. Who cares who you are? It’s not like there are only one or two people who want me dead.”
“……”
“I don’t enjoy killing indiscriminately, but I’m no saint who’d show mercy to those who came to kill me, you know?”
Neung Un-bi smiled, one corner of his mouth curling up.
Perhaps it was the demonic energy he was freely unleashing? With his eyes glinting strangely and the demonic energy shimmering like a heat haze, he looked so murderous it wouldn't have been surprising if he killed someone on the spot and buried them in the mountains.
However, the two weren't complete fools. They exchanged a sidelong glance before taking separate actions.
The old man held his kitchen knife horizontally, taking a stance, while the woman, who had drawn a dagger, slowly backed away toward the bed.
Trying to take Wang Cheon hostage amidst all this?
Not a chance.
It was a small room with nothing but a bed and a table.
Soundless, shadowless, formless. For Neung Un-bi, who had mastered the Three Nothings Footwork, covering a distance of less than ten feet was child’s play.
An instant, or a single breath.
That was all the time he needed to take down the woman and save Wang Cheon.
I may have deliberately gotten him drunk to lure out the attackers, but I couldn't just stand by and let my companion die.
*Swish.*
Neung Un-bi took a light step.
“...Huh?”
In that moment, a strange sensation made the hair on the back of Neung Un-bi’s neck stand on end.
And then.
*Thwack!*
“Kuh!”
“...?”
The woman collapsed limply.
“Tsk, why are these bastards causing a ruckus in someone else’s room?”
“……”
It was Wang Cheon. Wang Cheon, who had been snoring as if his life depended on it, shot up and was scratching his head vigorously.
“...You, how?”
“What do you mean, ‘how’? How could anyone sleep with this much killing intent in the air?”
“The sleeping incense was quite potent.”
“It had a nice scent.”
Neung Un-bi couldn't help but chuckle at Wang Cheon's joke.
A nice scent, he says. You have to hand it to him for the bravado.
Still, he's more capable than I thought. Has he been trained to resist sleeping incense?
“It was just strange how you kept pushing drinks on me, so I figured something was up. Well, we can talk details later... First, let's grab this guy and beat some answers out of him, shall we?”
“……”
He's lying through his teeth. I personally confirmed he was sound asleep, yet he's talking as if he knew from the start.
“Anyway, you just woke up, so wait. I'll handle it.”
“Now, now! A blade has its uses. A lord such as yourself shouldn't be getting his hands dirty.”
“……”
What a clown. I'm the one who set this all up, and he's acting all triumphant as if he did everything himself?
“Now then, shall I step in?”
Wang Cheon straightened his back and glared at the old man holding the kitchen knife.
“My path to glory is at stake here, you know? Who the hell are you to pull this shit before it even begins?”
“……”
“And I just came from meeting Ae-yang, so I'm in a foul mood. So let's make this quick. Tell me who gave the order, when, where, what it was, how, and why, and I'll make your death as painless as possible.”
At the sight of Wang Cheon menacingly cracking his clasped knuckles, the old man's eyes darted about restlessly.
This guard captain, so obsessed with rising in the world. How can a person be so damn consistent?
And you're angry… because of Ae-yang?
Neung Un-bi shook his head and sighed.
Well, even if he was a bit late, since Wang Cheon was stepping up, there was no need for him to insist on doing it himself.
His skills were more than enough. The old man wasn't that strong.
So, I'll leave this to Wang Cheon and…
As Neung Un-bi looked up, his Flying Swallow Sword, already drawn, slashed a long gash across the ceiling.
*Krrrack!*
A piece of cloth fluttered down from the ugly crack in the ceiling.
“Trying to run?!”
Kicking off the floor, Neung Un-bi's figure shot up, piercing through the ceiling.
He had felt a faint presence just a moment ago.
At the very moment the woman moved to take Wang Cheon hostage.
It had vanished the instant Wang Cheon woke up, but Neung Un-bi had been watching it the whole time.
Another enemy. An assassin so skilled they couldn't even be compared to the ones who had attacked him inside the inn.
“...Ha!”
But he had lost them.
He burst through the ceiling onto the roof and looked around, but there was no one in sight. Even when he immediately spread his demonic energy in all directions to scan the area, he couldn't feel any presence.
Could they really possess movement techniques so advanced they could vanish in that brief instant?
Setting aside martial arts, he had been confident that his ability to sense energy was second to none…
Neung Un-bi looked down at the Flying Swallow Sword in his hand.
He hadn't cut deep, but he had definitely felt the impact. Yet, there wasn't a single drop of blood.
“This one is truly incredible.”
His admiration was mixed with a sense of futility and deep annoyance.
An amazing foe. Though he hadn't seen them, they were clearly far more skilled than him.
But why?
If they had intended to take his head, they certainly had the skill to do so…
*Grit.*
His mind in turmoil, Neung Un-bi gazed at the darkened streets of Sangnak and ground his teeth.
Damn it, this journey to the Central Plains might be harder than I thought.
Perhaps, just as that old Taoist had warned, he might die on the road.
Before he could even meet ‘him.’
“A guard might not be completely useless after all. At least until I get far away from the Demonic Cult…”
Unable to find any trace of the vanished assassin, Neung Un-bi irritably scratched his head and sheathed his Flying Swallow Sword.
“Spit it out! Talk!”
*Whack! Thwack! Whack!*
“……”
Below the hole he had just made in the ceiling.
Wang Cheon, having tossed aside all respect for the elderly, was beating the assassin. As if he had done everything himself.
Tsk, tsk, that uneducated brute. A man without a shred of courtesy.
If I just leave him, he'll end up killing the guy.
That won't do.
If a corpse turns up, getting rid of it will be a hassle.
More importantly, he'd had a change of heart.
Should I really let those who targeted the life of none other than the Demonic Cult Leader's third disciple die so easily?
They say that when you cook, you should make full use of the ingredients you have.
“Wang Cheon!”
“Yes!”
“Stop it. You're going to kill him.”
Leaping back down into the room through the broken ceiling, Neung Un-bi stopped Wang Cheon.
“Why should I stop? We have to find out who's behind this, even if I have to torture him!”
“And if you do?”
“Huh? Well... we should contact the Cult and demand an explanation.”
“Like that would work.”
“……”
“I told you, didn't I? My Master said he would absolutely not get involved.”
“Th-that's…”
“Is that all? Look at their skills. Do these look like assassins sent to kill me? They're too pathetic to have been sent by the Great Families or the Elder Council. If it were them, they would never have made a move in Sangnak. They'd risk conflict with the authorities.”
“...Then what?”
“It was probably done by some loyal underlings acting on their own. Trying to curry favor with their superiors.”
“Hmm, it's true their skills are lacking... but isn't it too unfair to just let it go?”
“So, kill them?”
“……”
“We gain nothing by killing them.”
“Hmm…”
Wang Cheon, thinking Neung Un-bi had a point, looked dejected.
“Wang Cheon. That's not how you get revenge.”
“Huh?”
“I don't know who came up with this pathetic plan, but we should at least drag their names through the mud.”
“...How?”
As Wang Cheon tilted his head in confusion, Neung Un-bi gave a sly grin and said.
“Where are we?”
“...Sangnak? A military city?”
“Exactly. Call the government troops.”
“Th-the government troops?”
“Yeah. We'll rope in the innkeeper and hand them all over to the troops. On the grounds that they attacked a guest to steal their money.”
“But the principle of non-interference between the government and Murim…”
“Non-interference my ass. That only applies to fights between martial artists. Who are we?”
“Huh?”
“A young master from a rural family and his guard, out sightseeing.”
“……”
“We have nothing to do with the martial world. We're just innocent passersby. And we were attacked by thugs—or, on the surface, inn employees—who were after our travel money.”
Wang Cheon blinked, not quite understanding at first.
“Heh heh, their red faces will be a sight to see. Even the Cult Leader, who said he wouldn't get involved, will probably summon the higher-ups and give them hell when he hears the full story. To think they tried to take my life with trash like this.”
“...Ah!”
Only then did Wang Cheon let out a cry of realization.
Just as Neung Un-bi said, they were currently disguised as a young master from a rural family and his guard on a sightseeing trip.
Their identities were created by the Third Elder's office, so a government investigation wouldn't find any problems.
But the assassins were different. They were bona fide criminals.
Of course, no matter how much the authorities investigated, they wouldn't be able to uncover any connection to the Demonic Cult.
However, within the Demonic Cult, all hell would break loose.
Who would stand by and do nothing when a member of the Demonic Cult was captured by the authorities and facing an investigation?
They would tenaciously trace it back, and either the Great Families or the Elder Council would surely be caught.
How could those esteemed individuals handle such humiliation?
Having sent such incompetent fools and creating unnecessary trouble, they wouldn't dare show their faces.
“I see. Then I should hurry and send a letter to my mother, shouldn't I?”
“Hoh! They say even a dog at a schoolhouse can recite poetry after three years. It seems hanging around me has sharpened your wits.”
“...Are you calling me a dog?”
“Don't argue. It was a compliment.”
“...You son of a…”
Wang Cheon glared with sullen eyes, but Neung Un-bi couldn't hold back his laughter.
It was obvious how So Seol-ok-su would react upon receiving the letter.
With her personality, would she stay quiet?
She would not only fly into a rage but also name names and publicly humiliate them.
Heh heh, I don't know who you are, but let's see you deal with this.
* * *
At the same time Neung Un-bi was calling the government troops and turning the inn upside down, a woman with her face veiled was watching the inn from the entrance of a nearby alley.
“The Third Young Master is more capable than I thought.”
It was a youthful voice, and her muttering was inscrutable.
But on her lips, hidden behind the veil, was a faint smile.
A short while ago, she had been hiding in the ceiling of the inn, which was turning into a chaotic scene, observing Neung Un-bi.
The assassins were nobodies, not even worth assessing, but she had been worried just in case.
She was worried that Neung Un-bi, who had no experience in the martial world, might fall to them.
But the situation turned out to be unexpected.
He had actually lured the assassins in and was waiting for them, wasn't he?
Moreover, he had held his breath for over a quarter of an hour in a room filled with sleeping incense.
“To think he even knows the Lunar Eclipse... it seems he's hiding a lot more than others think.”
That technique, one of the highest-level breathing methods for stealth practitioners.
Honestly, it was unexpected.
Why would a disciple of the Cult Leader learn what proud martial artists considered a mere trick?
That wasn't all.
She suddenly looked at the hem of her clothes.
There was a cut mark. If she hadn't pulled back in time, it wouldn't have been just her clothes that were cut.
He had pinpointed her location exactly.
An outstanding sensitivity to energy. A level one could never reach without specific training.
But what did it matter what he had learned?
It just didn't fit his status.
Perhaps he had learned it for survival. After all, his life had always walked the line between life and death.
In the midst of it all, the Third Young Master's way of handling things was quite amusing.
The Cult Leader's disciple, who must have known the attack was ordered by someone from the Demonic Cult, actually called the government troops and handed over the assassins. Who would have thought?
It's easy to imagine what will happen next.
“Heh heh, he's such an interesting person. I never imagined he would get his revenge this way. But since it's come to this, I suppose I should lend a hand, shouldn't I?”
Covering her mouth with her hand as she laughed, she took out a brush, ink, and paper from her robes and wrote something.
It began with ‘A personal letter to the Cult Leader,’ and ended with… ‘From Hyang-i.’