Chapter 138
Chapter 138
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 138
Chapter Title: Dreaming of Revenge (1)
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"How on earth did it come to this?"
A sigh escaped the lips of Gwa Deung, the Forest Lord of the Blood Forest, as he tilted his cup alone.
He had driven out his younger brother and reclaimed the seat unjustly taken from him decades ago, but the triumph was fleeting. Now, shame and self-loathing gnawed at him relentlessly, driving him to drown his days in drink.
"What if I hadn't accepted that bastard's offer?"
Whether unconsciously gripping too hard or not, the cup in Gwa Deung's hand shattered, scattering shards across the table.
"Even if the same situation repeated a hundred times, I'd make the same choice. Damn it all!"
He couldn't shake the image of his brother's face in those final moments—pleading, even as he fell to Gwa Deung's blade, to spare the family. Those desperate eyes were etched into his mind like a brand.
"Forest Lord."
The voice from beyond the door made Gwa Deung sweep the debris from the table with his hand.
"Come in."
The door opened, and in walked Heo Ok—a man in his thirties, the youngest in Blood Forest history to achieve the rank of elite assassin.
Heo Ok glanced at the shattered cup on the floor, clucking his tongue.
"Tsk tsk. Drink like that, and you'll ruin your health. You've finally claimed the seat you craved so badly—shouldn't you stay fit for it? At least eat some proper snacks with it."
Heo Ok plopped down across from Gwa Deung and poured himself a drink without asking.
"Kuh! This stuff's top-notch. The aroma alone is killer."
Gwa Deung let out a wry chuckle at Heo Ok, who downed the liquor without a hint of hesitation.
"Ha! So now you don't even need to watch your manners around me."
"Why stand on ceremony between us?"
Heo Ok brushed off Gwa Deung's words and grabbed some snacks.
"Between us? And what exactly are 'us'?"
As Gwa Deung raised his voice, Heo Ok just chewed noisily on the snacks without reply, then emptied his cup again.
Thud!
Heo Ok slammed his cup down roughly, wiped the smile from his face, and stood.
"Five raids so far, ninety-eight throats slit. Payment will be as agreed—per head, to the exact count."
"You'll be rich in no time."
"This is just the start. We'll rake in far more soon enough."
"People will find out soon enough. That the Blood Forest has become the Blood Death Cult's lapdog."
"Doesn't matter. Even if they know, they can't do a damn thing about it."
Gwa Deung furrowed his brow, not grasping Heo Ok's exact meaning.
"Just the Blood Forest?"
"What are you saying?"
"There are plenty of forces like the Blood Forest scattered across the world."
"N-No way!"
"The Cult's shadow already blankets the land. So don't feel too hard done by..."
Heo Ok's mocking words toward Gwa Deung cut off abruptly at the sudden blare of a horn from outside.
"What is it?"
Heo Ok shouted toward the door, and a first-rate assassin, Hak Il-gon, entered with a stiffened expression.
"Looks like an intruder."
"Intruder?"
"Yes. Two short blasts—the clear signal for invasion."
"Damn it! Which direction?"
"South."
"News of this place couldn't have spread already. Did we miss some stragglers?"
"None so far, for sure."
"Then it's even stranger. An intruder out of nowhere in this situation."
"How should we respond?"
"How? The Blood Forest has never once let outsiders glimpse our inner workings. Time to remind them why we're the best in the Central Plains. All external operatives back?"
"Two teams haven't returned yet."
"Close enough. Let's go."
As Heo Ok turned to leave, he glanced back.
Gwa Deung sat there, tilting his cup as if the commotion had nothing to do with him.
Heo Ok smirked and bowed mockingly toward Gwa Deung.
"I'll be off then. Oh, and don't forget the snacks."
Sima Geon's group had smashed one of the Blood Forest's outer sentries without breaking stride.
Quick-witted foes had blown the alert horn, but they paid it no mind. Stealth was never the plan.
In the distance, midway up the mountain, darkened buildings began to emerge one by one.
"That it?"
Cheol Woo asked.
"Yes."
"Pretty far. Thought it'd be quick once past the outposts."
"The entire Ox Mountain is Blood Forest territory, practically speaking."
Gwa Yu replied in a faintly melancholic tone.
"Yeah, I see it. Already spread out thick."
Cheol Woo sneered at the killing intent wafting from all directions.
The assassins tried their best to mask it, but to a master like Cheol Woo, it was pointless. Only elite-rank or higher could hope to hide from him.
"Traps everywhere too. Calling the whole mountain one giant trap isn't far off."
Gwa Yu's words drew a laugh from Noe Jeon, who had been petting Black Wolf's head.
"Traps? Ha! Talk of traps brings back old memories. Ever heard of the Ghost Gate Clan?"
"No."
Gwa Yu shook his head. Noe Jeon nodded, a touch disappointed but unsurprised.
"Makes sense. No dealings between you lot anyway. Point is, the Ghost Gate Clan built their name on stuff like this."
Noe Jeon tapped his own head.
Man Chu, ears perked, jumped in eagerly.
"Like the Zhuge Clan, then."
"Yeah, exactly. In the demonic path, they're our Zhuge Clan. The petty tricks from those brains of theirs gave us hell. Got burned plenty."
"True that."
Even Cheol Woo, who usually nitpicked Noe Jeon, agreed—lending real weight to the tale.
"Ghost Gate had a base like this Ox Mountain, and hitting it was a nightmare. Traps everywhere you turned, mechanisms galore. And unheard-of formations scattered all over."
Noe Jeon shuddered, as if reliving the chills.
"This scar's from then too."
Noe Jeon hiked up his robe, pointing to a fist-sized scar on his left side.
It was nasty—deep damage.
"Arrow hit me, but not your average one. The tip split like fingers, lodged in the flesh and wouldn't budge. If it'd been extracted carefully, no scar like this—but some brute yanked it out rough, tearing meat with it."
As Gwa Yu and Man Chu turned to him, Cheol Woo scoffed.
"Bull. Leave it in, you'd be dead. Poisoned arrowhead. Saved your life, ungrateful bastard."
Gwa Yu and Man Chu's gazes shifted back to Noe Jeon.
Confirming the truth, Noe Jeon deflected smoothly.
"Anyway, my point is—we smashed even the Ghost Gate Clan. Not downplaying Blood Forest, but these traps? Child's play."
Noe Jeon puffed his chest; Cheol Woo nodded in agreement.
Man Chu eyed them both, then asked quietly.
"You know where all the traps are?"
"Yes."
"And can bypass them?"
"Bypass, yeah—not dismantle."
Man Chu turned to Noe Jeon and Cheol Woo.
"He says so."
Noe Jeon and Cheol Woo, faces flushing, took it out on Black Wolf instead.
"Lead on. Ignore the rest."
"Yes."
At Sima Geon's word, Gwa Yu strode forward.
Sima Geon right behind, the rest following.
Paths to Blood Forest and surrounds bristled with traps, but as Gwa Yu promised, none snagged the group.
The waiting assassins panicked—they'd banked on the traps doing the work.
Sharp eyes might spot and dodge a few, but every single one? Impossible.
The reason soon emerged.
Someone recognized Gwa Yu's face.
News of his return stirred the assassins. But those loyal to the former lord were long purged. The survivors chased profit or bent to the tide, blades turned against kin.
Shame vanished; instead, a shared resolve burned—to silence him and bury their shame. It spread heart-to-heart without a word.
As Gwa Yu guided them past yet another trap, the assassins snapped.
"Tsk tsk. Assassins with no patience."
Cheol Woo spotted the approaching killers and sneered.
"Alright, time to teach why patience is an assassin's prime virtue. Starting with the big mole."
Cheol Woo's eyes flashed; he stomped.
Ryu Un, a first-rate assassin sneaking underground via Earth Escape, never surfaced—his spine snapped, life snuffed before he could.
Cheol Woo snatched up stones flung skyward by his stomp and hurled them.
A scream erupted from behind a tree.
The assassin crumpled forward, face frozen in disbelief. A pebble piercing wood straight to the heart? Unthinkable.
He got off lucky, though.
Another, leg shattered by a pebble, collapsed—right into Black Wolf's jaws.
While killers targeting Cheol Woo died pointless deaths without a fight, those after Man Chu put up more of a show.
Especially Baek Wol, first-rate assassin leaping from the trees to ambush Man Chu mid-battle.
It was lightning-fast. Had Sima Geon's Thunderclap Palm not deflected the blade from Man Chu's skull, he'd have been bisected head to toe in gruesome fashion.
Failure didn't deter Baek Wol; he thrust at Man Chu's waist the instant his feet hit ground. But the second strike fell to another Thunderclap Palm.
Only then did Man Chu notice, whirling in horror—but Baek Wol was already collapsing, brow pierced clean through.
"Th-Thank you."
Man Chu steadied his pounding heart and bowed.
"Never drop your guard in the chaos of battle. Especially against assassins."
Sima Geon, now beside him, offered light counsel.
"I'll remember."
"Still, that last strike of yours was solid. Perfect Burst Fist hit."
Sima Geon checked the fallen assassin from Man Chu's attack.
The man's chest, struck by the Burst Fist, was caved in deep—like hammered by a massive club.