Chapter 1269
Swish!
The ten weapons wielded by the Wanderer Unit's martial artists tore through the air, aiming for vital acupoints.
Yet Bu Eun-seol stood motionless, not even a flicker of panic in his expression.
Shiver.
The Ink Soul Sword in his hand twitched as though alive, and from its tip, countless points of light burst forth like fireworks.
Clang!
Simultaneously, a metallic sound reverberated from the ten weapons in their grasp.
"Ugh—!"
The Wanderer Unit members staggered backward.
Every weapon in their hands was sent flying into the air—except for Cho Gwang, who remained standing firm, having driven his blade into the ground.
Snap!
Cho Gwang was no ordinary fighter.
The moment he planted his sword to resist the force that sent weapons flying, he drew the whip from his waist and lashed toward Bu Eun-seol's flank.
Boom!
But before he could even fully execute his martial form, he was sent flipping through the air, landing far away.
Crash!
After rolling several times, he forced himself back up—but blood was already dripping from his forearm.
The gap in their martial prowess was simply too vast.
He had been sent tumbling without even comprehending what technique Bu Eun-seol had used.
"That's enough."
At Bu Eun-seol's words, Cho Gwang shook his head.
"You'll have to kill us if you want to kill the madam."
The Wanderer Unit members were unshakably loyal to Heuk-pyo, willing to face death without flinching to protect So-so.
"Hmm..."
Bu Eun-seol let out a deep sigh and extended five fingers.
Whoooosh—!
A massive gale erupted, a powerful surge of energy arcing outward in a sweeping curve.
Realizing they wouldn't retreat even in death, he had resorted to the Bullet King's Inner Energy Bullet Art.
Thud. Thud.
As the wind subsided, the ten Wanderers before him lay unconscious, their acupoints sealed.
Had they tried to crudely block their own pressure points, they would have attempted to break free using Primordial Essence True Qi and fought to the death.
So instead, he had used the overwhelming force of the Inner Energy Bullet Art—
To directly strike their Soul Acupoints, rendering them unconscious.
"In your next life..."
Bu Eun-seol turned his gaze back to So-so.
"May you be born as a good person."
Though a mere flick of his finger could end her life, she only smiled back with a provocative gleam in her eyes.
"You must have mobilized the Death Soul Squad, confirmed that Jade Youth wasn't here... and then came, right?"
She took a step closer, her voice icy.
"But what if I deliberately left those traces for you to find?"
Screeeech—!
At the same moment, a black streak tore across the distant sky—a figure clad in black robes landing beside her.
It was Heuk-pyo, who should have been in the Central Plains.
"Brother Cho Gwang!"
The moment Heuk-pyo saw the unconscious Wanderers on the ground, he rushed forward, desperately trying to release their sealed acupoints.
But the precision with which Bu Eun-seol had struck their pressure points using the Inner Energy Bullet Art was far too ruthless.
There was no way Heuk-pyo could undo the sealing.
"Lord."
Heuk-pyo glared at Bu Eun-seol, his eyes burning with fury.
"Do I have to beg you to release their acupoints now?"
Bu Eun-seol's expression darkened.
"Of course not."
Flick.
With a mere gesture, he sent out Finger Wind, instantly releasing the Wanderers' sealed acupoints.
"Why?"
Heuk-pyo's voice was raw with disbelief as he shouted at Bu Eun-seol.
"Why would you do this?!"
His enraged voice echoed through the mountains and rivers.
"I even begged you not to interfere in my affairs—so why?!"
Bu Eun-seol couldn't even defend himself.
No matter how much they were like brothers, he had tried to kill the woman Heuk-pyo loved.
He had believed that cutting down this temptress was the only way to protect Heuk-pyo—to keep him from falling into ruin.
But the choices one believes to be right are not always accepted as such by others.
He had only sought to do what was right, yet in doing so, he had left an irreparable wound in Heuk-pyo's heart.
Rip.
Heuk-pyo savagely tore off his own sleeve—
"You and I are nothing to each other now!"
—and threw it at Bu Eun-seol's feet.
Then, with cold finality, he turned his back, leading So-so and the Wanderers away without another word.
"......"
Bu Eun-seol, too, slowly turned away.
The choice he had made for Heuk-pyo's sake had backfired in the worst possible way.
And just like that, the two of them had become complete strangers.
Lately, a subtle unease had begun to spread throughout the martial world.
The reason? A relentless string of assassinations targeting martial artists.
At first, it drew little attention—most victims were unknown, nameless wanderers of the martial world.
But as the death toll climbed past a hundred, people could no longer ignore it.
Information organizations, sensing something amiss, scrambled to grasp the situation.
Then, when the death toll surpassed two hundred—
Even the imperial court took notice of the serial murders targeting martial artists.
—All were killed by a single person.
—That person leaves no trace behind.
—Not even a shadow can be found.
That person was the Shadowless Assassin.
Before anyone realized it, intelligence networks had dubbed the killer "Shadowless Assassin" and were running themselves ragged trying to track their movements.
'Heuk-pyo.'
Bu Eun-seol's eyes darkened as he received the Death Soul Squad's report.
'If this continues...'
No matter how intricate the methods, no matter how elusive the movement techniques—it was only a matter of time before the killer's identity was exposed.
And when that happened, there would be only one outcome:
Enemy of the Murim.
Both orthodox and unorthodox factions would brand him as such, and martial artists across the land would hunt him down.
'Hmm.'
Bu Eun-seol pressed his fingers to his temple.
There was nothing he could do.
Heuk-pyo had become like a beast that had lost all reason, severing ties with him—now, they were worse than strangers.
The layers of misunderstanding showed no sign of unraveling...
If he acted rashly now, it would only be like pouring oil onto a fire.
—Do not concern yourselves with this matter. No—stand aside and observe.
When he finally issued this command,
not only the Death Soul Squad but every warrior in the Death Shadow War Unit gaped in shock.
They knew exactly what Heuk-pyo had meant to Bu Eun-seol.
Ever since the days of the Rootless Squad, the predecessor to the Death Shadow War Unit,
Heuk-pyo had shared life and death, joy and sorrow with Bu Eun-seol. The warriors had cherished him like a younger brother.
And now, with Heuk-pyo descending into madness as a murderer—how could they stand by and do nothing?
—Surely something has happened between the Lord and Heuk-pyo that we don't know about.
The unit leaders wanted to ask what had gone wrong, but Bu Eun-seol's expression was frozen in such icy detachment that none dared speak up in his presence.
So they turned to No Trace, the Death Soul Squad leader, who seemed to know the inside story—but he, too, remained utterly silent.
After much deliberation, the unit leaders voluntarily convened a Lord's Meeting and gathered together.
"Surely the Lord doesn't truly intend to leave Heuk-pyo like this?"
Won Se-mun's words were met with heavy silence in the conference hall.
Heuk-pyo had been too loyal, too pure-hearted, too bound by honor to be called a mere rogue informant.
For someone like him to become a fallen assassin, killing nameless martial artists without reason—
They couldn't just stand by and watch.
"If the Lord cannot bring himself to act, then we must."
Then Jo Nam-cheon spoke.
"What if we use the Death Soul Squad's intelligence network to predict Heuk-pyo's next kill and try to reason with him?"
"No."
Thud.
The heavy doors of the conference room swung open as Yu Un-ryong, arriving late, delivered his verdict with finality.
"If the Lord forbids it, there's a reason. So don't."
"And what is that reason?"
"I don't know."
"How does that make sense?"
"Sense?"
Yu Un-ryong swept a glare across the unit leaders, his eyes blazing with anger.
"Since when does the Lord's command require justification? Are you saying you won't obey unless you understand?"
The unit leaders clenched their jaws, unable to refute him.
"I know how you feel, but an order is an order. This meeting is over."
And so, the first voluntary Lord's Meeting in the history of the Death Shadow War Unit ended in futility.
The unit leaders had no choice but to rise from their seats—though Won Se-mun remained, arms crossed, lingering in the conference hall for a long while.
Days later.
The doors of the Hidden Demon Pavilion burst open violently.
"Ghk—!"
The man who staggered in, reeking of blood, was Won Se-mun.
And the faces of the unit members supporting him were deathly pale.
From his right shoulder down to his elbow—
A wound so deep and gruesome that his arm seemed moments from falling off.
Yu Un-ryong shouted the instant he saw it.
"Medicine King Faction—no, inform the Lord and summon Physician Gwak! Now!"
It was a stroke of luck.
Thanks to Gwak Mu-su—disciple of the Mad Doctor and hailed as the greatest physician of their era—
Won Se-mun's nerves, on the verge of severing, were reconnected, and his muscles sutured.
This was a Divine Skill even Medicine King Faction Lord Gyo Jung-hak could not perform.
Had Gwak Mu-su not been there—had Bu Eun-seol not brought him in the blink of an eye—
Won Se-mun would have lived the rest of his life one-armed.
—The sutures are properly done, so he should recover without issue.
At Gwak Mu-su's words after finishing treatment, the warriors of the Death Shadow War Unit finally exhaled in relief.
If he had been crippled—it would have been an irreversible tragedy.
But... the deed was already done.
The story that spilled from Won Se-mun's lips upon regaining consciousness had completely enraged the warriors of the Death Shadow War Unit.
"I tried to reason with him quietly, but he was beyond reason."
Unable to stand by and watch Black Leopard's atrocities any longer, Won Se-mun had mobilized the Death Soul Squad's intelligence network alone, finally tracking him down for a private confrontation.
But Black Leopard was no longer in his right mind, and the argument quickly escalated.
The situation grew increasingly volatile, and before they knew it, words had turned into a brutal brawl.
With weapons drawn and tempers flaring, Black Leopard finally struck—severing Won Se-mun's arm in one swift motion.
"Black Leopard didn't hesitate to cut off his arm..."
The fact that he had mercilessly severed the arm of a brother who had once shared meals with him—without so much as a flicker of remorse—completely overturned the sympathy the lords had once held for him.
"He can no longer be called our brother."
"Now, he is nothing but an uncontrollable Killing Ghost."
Another impromptu Lord's Meeting was convened.
This time, not only Yu Un-ryong and Myo Cheon-u but also No Trace of the Death Soul Squad and others—
Every key figure from the Death Shadow War Unit and the Death Soul Squad, except for Bu Eun-seol himself, had gathered.
The lords silently turned their gazes toward Yu Un-ryong and Myo Cheon-u.
If they were to prevent further sacrifices of innocent martial artists, a decision had to be made.
"Will Lord Yu take care of it? Or Lord Myo?"
After a long silence, Jo Nam-cheon finally spoke.
"Aren't the only ones capable of subduing Black Leopard the two of you?"
Myo Cheon-u and Yu Un-ryong.
These two, like Bu Eun-seol, were Ten Demonic Heirs—their skills undoubtedly surpassing even those of the Wandering King, Black Leopard.
"Alternatively, Lord No Trace stepping forward wouldn't be a bad idea either."
Wi Cheon-gyeong turned his gaze toward No Trace, the leader of the Death Soul Squad.
His strength was on par with Yu Un-ryong and the others, and his movement techniques were swift enough that—
If he truly set his mind to eliminating Black Leopard, it wouldn't be impossible.
"Do not act rashly."
Yu Un-ryong suppressed the heated atmosphere with a firm voice.
"If we act recklessly like this, it will only make things harder for the Lord."
"But leaving that bastard unchecked will eventually bring disgrace upon the Lord as well."
Jo Nam-cheon retorted sharply.
"How long do you think the intelligence networks will remain blind to Black Leopard's true identity? If it's revealed that the Shadowless Assassin is him..."
He spat out the words in frustration.
"Just like before, the martial world will spread baseless rumors about the Lord without reason. And this time, they'll have actual grounds for condemnation—they won't stop."
Black Leopard had long acted as Bu Eun-seol's right-hand man.
Having accomplished numerous great deeds together, their close relationship was well-known throughout the martial world.
So what would happen if it came to light that Black Leopard was the Shadowless Assassin slaughtering Central Plains martial artists?
The reputation Bu Eun-seol had built through righteousness would crack, and the Demon Hall would be torn apart under the pretext of investigating his connections.
If that happened, even his standing within the Demon Hall could shrink once more.
"So what if his reputation takes a hit? The Lord has endured baseless misunderstandings and nitpicking more than once or twice before."
Yu Un-ryong spoke as if exasperated.
"The Lord is not a god. The way you all worship him as some flawless being—even that is suffocating pressure to him."
"But why should we tolerate Black Leopard tarnishing the Lord's prestige for no reason?"
Wi Cheon-gyeong's voice was icy.
"A traitor who didn't hesitate to cut off his own brother's arm."
"So?"
"We handle it ourselves, without troubling the Lord."
"And the aftermath?"
"I'll take responsibility."
"Nonsense!"
The debate grew fiercer.
Hardliners insisted on eliminating Black Leopard to prevent future disasters, while the cautious argued they could not act without the Lord's approval.
Shouting matches erupted, then subsided, only to flare up again.
Amid the chaos, one man stood silently observing.
Tak Il-hon, the guardian of the Death Shadow War Unit, who had just returned from his Demon Leave.
Like So-yo, who stood by Bu Eun-seol's side,
he had taken on the duty of guarding Seo Jin-ha's shadow, standing watch for twelve double-hours a day.
But with the recent easing of tensions between the Martial Soul Society and the Azure Heaven Alliance,
he had gained considerable leeway and, at Bu Eun-seol's suggestion, had taken an extended leave.
However, upon hearing that Black Leopard had caused a major incident—one that now threatened Bu Eun-seol—
he had immediately returned to the Hidden Demon Pavilion and belatedly joined the Lord's Meeting.
"Hmm..."
A deep sigh escaped Tak Il-hon's lips after watching the meeting for a long while.
This was no mere difference of opinion.
Because of Black Leopard alone, the once-unbreakable unity of the Death Shadow War Unit was cracking apart.
"Most of the warriors in the Death Shadow War Unit shared hardships and triumphs with Heuk-pyo—that boy."
Tak Il-hon had not been part of the Death Shadow War Unit during the Rootless Squad days, so he had neither deep camaraderie nor any real connection with Heuk-pyo.
"Now I understand why this meeting was called."
Surveying the heated debate in the conference hall, Tak Il-hon let out a sigh.
"Despite all their words, they never truly intended to act."
He realized that this prolonged dispute was nothing more than venting frustration over their inability to do anything.
The warriors of the Death Shadow War Unit were all true men of conviction.
If there was something that needed to be done, they would have acted immediately without a word—just like Won Se-mun.
"The warriors of the Death Shadow War Unit can no longer be called followers of the Demonic Path."
Unbeknownst to them, they had transcended the boundaries of the Orthodox and Demonic Paths, now adhering solely to Bu Eun-seol's beliefs.
And in doing so, their bonds of loyalty had grown even thicker.
No matter how harshly they spoke, they would never truly be able to eliminate Heuk-pyo.
"In the end, they'll only scramble to clean up the mess once the situation spirals completely out of control..."
With another deep sigh, Tak Il-hon turned his gaze out the window.
"The reason Lord granted me the position of Dharma Protector was to enforce the law and uphold discipline with unwavering severity."
His eyes, fixed on the distant sky, grew cold and resolute.
"Only this old man can break through this deadlock..."
After several moments of silent contemplation, he rose from his seat without a word, his expression heavy with resolve, and left the conference room.
He then made his way to the Communication Bureau within the Hidden Demon Pavilion—
A hub where dispatches, intelligence reports, secret letters, and coded messages flowed in and out.
Having long relied on the Flying Horse Unit to manage the Death Soul Squad's information network,
Tak Il-hon could swiftly obtain the intelligence he needed.
KWA-WOONG!
Then, bursting out of the Demon Hall, he soared into the sky in a single leap, heading north.
His destination was the location where Heuk-pyo was expected to carry out his next assassination.
At this point, he was the only one in the Death Shadow War Unit who could still stop him.
KWA-UUUUNG!
His mastery of Lightness Art was no less than Heuk-pyo's, and after decades of wandering the Martial World, he had weathered countless storms and battles, etching their lessons into his very bones.
Through this, he had come to understand not only the structural weaknesses of Assassin Martial Arts and Wanderer Martial Arts, but also the common habits and mistakes of young masters.
No matter how brilliant and formidable a prodigy might be, they could never overcome the wiles of a seasoned veteran.
No matter how exceptional Heuk-pyo was,
Tracking him down relentlessly and ultimately assassinating him was not an impossible task.
After three days of pursuit, Tak Il-hon finally uncovered Heuk-pyo's trail.
"Did he never even intend to evade the Death Soul Squad's surveillance?"
Up until now, the Death Soul Squad had worked closely with Heuk-pyo, exchanging intelligence to handle various matters.
Thus, finding his whereabouts had been easy.
Had Heuk-pyo truly wished to conceal his movements, he would have had to evade their intelligence network entirely.
But whether out of overconfidence in his own abilities or blind faith that the Death Soul Squad warriors would not interfere—
He made no particular effort to deceive them.
"Is he planning to kill more martial artists soon?"
Spotting Heuk-pyo drinking alone by the window of an inn,
Tak Il-hon concealed himself on the rooftop opposite, observing him intently.
Gulp, gulp.
Heuk-pyo looked like a fallen assassin—haggard, drowning himself in liquor.
His eyes were unfocused, his breathing ragged.
Was it the weight of his blood-soaked fate? Or was he simply consumed by rage?
His demeanor suggested he was barely restraining an eruption of fury.
"The killing intent has seeped into his very marrow."
Unless one was a born Killing Ghost, slaughtering people without pause was never an easy task.
Right now, Heuk-pyo was brimming with murderous intent—capable of severing necks and limbs without hesitation.
He was no longer the righteous wanderer, nor the young grandmaster who once united the Beyond the Frontier.
"They say he was ensnared by a woman's skirts."
Before leaving the Hidden Demon Pavilion, Tak Il-hon had gathered some information from No Trace about Heuk-pyo.
He learned that after encountering a wicked woman,
The rift between him and the Lord had widened considerably.
"And so, he became a puppet, slaughtering innocent martial artists without end."
Yet Tak Il-hon did not let his guard down.
Though drunk and corrupted, the skill that earned him the title of Wandering King had not diminished.
The hand gripping the wine cup, his low, coiled stance, the ever-expanding waves of Extrasensory Perception and True Qi—
Moreover, due to his relentless spree of assassinations,
He was prepared to counterattack at any moment, from any angle.
"A frontal assault would be difficult."
In the past, Tak Il-hon had stolen martial manuals from countless sects—among them, unique and exceptional Assassin Secret Arts.
Though not widely known in the Martial World,
He was an assassin who had honed his Art of Killing to rival even the most infamous Special-Grade Assassins.
"It seems he has no intention of carrying out an assassination tonight."
No matter how deep an assassin drowned himself in liquor,
He drank after a kill—never before.
Given how heavily he was drinking, it was unlikely he had any assassinations planned for the next few days.
Tonight was the perfect opportunity to deal with him.