Chapter 59
The assassins' momentum showed no signs of waning.
As if devoid of fear, they trampled over their fallen comrades' corpses, pressing relentlessly toward Bu Eun-seol.
'This isn't good.'
Bu Eun-seol bit his lip as he watched Umun Hwang at the forefront, pouring forth torrents of palm energy.
The cause of death among the assassins struck by his palm energy was gradually changing.
The previously unmarked corpses of the assassins now bore signs of having been crushed or struck by something blunt—evidence that Umun Hwang was resorting to brute force, shattering bones and muscle structures with overwhelming palm energy.
'He's pushing beyond his limits.'
Channeling ferocious palm energy was far less demanding than employing subtle, refined techniques, which required far more delicate control of internal energy.
Moreover, to protect So-ok, Umun Hwang had expanded the range of his palm energy excessively. If this continued, even he would collapse from exhaustion.
'More are coming.'
Bu Eun-seol, who had been scanning the night sky, turned to So-ok.
"Do not move a single step from this spot."
No sooner had the words left his lips than his body flickered—launching skyward in a flash.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Blades of light sliced through the darkness, striking the vital points of assassins descending from above with lethal precision.
It was a killing sword—a fusion of the Heaven Conquering Blade Ultimate Stance, disrupting their balance, and the Practical Sword Technique learned from Sa-woo.
Though he couldn't merge the two martial arts outright, he wielded them simultaneously through Je Un's Divided Mind Utilization Art.
"Gah—!"
The assassins screamed as blades moved unpredictably, only to be met with fatal thrusts.
Schlick!
Bu Eun-seol, having cleaved through every assassin in midair, sheathed his longsword with a sharp click.
Plip-plop.
Immediately, a crimson rain of blood began to fall like droplets around Bu Eun-seol and So-ok.
"Take Ok-i and retreat first..."
At that moment, Umun Hwang, having repelled another wave of assassins with a surge of palm energy, spoke to Bu Eun-seol.
"I'll hold them off alone. You must escape this place first."
"Pointless."
Bu Eun-seol shook his head.
"They've likely deployed a large force, encircling us from all directions. Splitting our strength now would be worse than fighting together here."
"The headquarters' masters will arrive within two hours."
Boom!
Umun Hwang blasted another wave of assassins back with a devastating palm strike.
"All we need is to hold out until then. So... I entrust Ok-i to you."
His face was etched with bitter regret.
He had dismissed Bu Eun-seol's warnings, overestimating his own strength. And now, they were trapped in unavoidable peril.
Sssssk—
Meanwhile, the vast manor grounds had been swallowed by an inky darkness.
Assassins clad in killing outfits poured inward like an endless swarm of insects.
"Understood."
"I won't! Leaving Uncle alone—"
Bu Eun-seol cut So-ok off sharply.
"He's exhausting himself by expanding his palm energy's range to protect you."
"Because of me..."
"Precisely. But alone, no matter how many assassins come, he could still defend himself."
"Heh heh heh. You understand well."
Umun Hwang let out a hoarse laugh before gathering his internal energy and unleashing a devastating palm strike.
Kra-kow!
With a thunderous roar, the advancing line of assassins was thrown into disarray.
"I'll carve a path! Go now!"
Bu Eun-seol nodded, swiftly scooping So-ok into his arms.
Umun Hwang's expression turned solemn as he spoke.
"Ok-i... I leave her to you."
Whoooosh—
Instead of answering, Bu Eun-seol channeled every ounce of his internal energy.
Crouching low to initiate his movement technique, an unprecedented surge of power radiated from his body.
He suppressed the mystical footwork inherent in the Ultimate Speed Shadowless, focusing his true qi to achieve maximum velocity.
Kraa-boooom!
The sound of falling thunderbolts echoed in all directions.
Like a falling star tracing a white cross in the sky, Bu Eun-seol—holding So-ok—shot forward like a streak of light, cleaving through the night.
"After him!"
Assassins spotted Bu Eun-seol's shadow splitting the darkness and gave chase.
'two hours...'
As he raced forward, splitting even the wind, a blade-like glint flashed in Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
'To hold out against such a massive force for two hours... there's only one place.'
Gritting his teeth, Bu Eun-seol doubled his internal power.
Exiting Dan Manor in a whirlwind of movement, he dashed through the marketplace before slipping into a secluded alley.
Thud.
The place where Bu Eun-seol finally halted his Movement Technique was none other than the Hoehyeon Old Bookstore.
"Welcome—"
Sang-ryang, who had been sitting leisurely at a table inside the bookstore, gaped upon seeing Bu Eun-seol and So-ok drenched in blood.
"What in the world happened to make you two look like—"
Bu Eun-seol, having set down So-ok, whom he had been carrying, pointed deeper inside and said,
"Escort her to the secret chamber."
"Her?"
Sang-ryang recoiled in shock upon seeing So-ok covered in blood.
"Uh—ugh!"
As Sang-ryang stumbled backward in surprise, Bu Eun-seol took So-ok's hand himself and led her toward the bookshelf concealing the hidden chamber.
Thud.
Manipulating a specific book on the shelf, he triggered the mechanism, and the thick wall flipped open, revealing the secret room.
"Huh?"
Just then, Ma-un, who had been exiting the chamber, spotted Bu Eun-seol and began to speak—
"What brings you here at this hour— Gah!"
The moment he caught sight of So-ok's face, his jaw dropped as if he had been punched in the gut, and he staggered back.
"There's no time."
Bu Eun-seol looked at Sang-ryang and Ma-un and said,
"You two—patrol the area around the bookstore and eliminate any assassins approaching this way."
"Assassins?"
"Correct. Given their numbers, the defensive line will likely be breached, but it should buy us enough time."
"What in the world is going on? Just what kind of mess—"
"A large-scale assassination squad has surrounded the entire vicinity to kill her."
"What?!"
As Sang-ryang shouted, Bu Eun-seol continued,
"Reinforcements should arrive within two hours. Hold out until then. The two of you are more than capable."
From the moment he had first arrived at the Yueyang Branch, Bu Eun-seol had suspected that these two were formidable masters.
"Where are these assassins from? How many are there? What's their encirclement strategy?"
When Ma-un demanded detailed information, Bu Eun-seol replied,
"Seems you haven't grasped the situation yet. Didn't I say your necks are on the line here?"
His gaze bore into Sang-ryang and Ma-un as he spoke with force.
"Since your lives are at stake, I suggest you stake them properly."
The situation was clear.
At Bu Eun-seol's words, Sang-ryang's eyes flashed.
"Let's go, brother!"
As if a dormant ferocity had awakened, he drew the Judge's Brush hidden in his bosom and roared with vigor.
"Shouldn't we be the ones protecting our own necks? Hahaha!"
"Fine by me!"
Ma-un, too, retrieved two razor-sharp sickles from the armory inside the chamber.
"It's been a while since my Death Sickles have drunk their fill of blood."
"Ah, young lady. My apologies for the belated greeting."
Sang-ryang then bowed deeply to So-ok and said,
"This lowly one is Sang-ryang, in charge of the Yueyang Branch. Though you may not know us, we have long been aware of your—"
"I remember. The two of you were once known by the epithet Gong Twin Demons, weren't you?"
At So-ok's words, Sang-ryang grinned broadly and clasped his hands together.
"You remember us!"
After stealing a glance at Bu Eun-seol's reaction, Sang-ryang bowed again and said,
"Forgive my impertinence... but if we handle this matter well, might you look upon us favorably?"
"What do you mean—"
"Due to a certain... mishap, we were demoted from the Demon Hall and exiled here... Hehe."
Rubbing his hands sheepishly, Sang-ryang watched as So-ok chuckled and nodded.
"I see. I'll mention it to Father when the time comes."
"Truly?! Thank you!"
Hearing her response, Sang-ryang and Ma-un exchanged glances, their faces lighting up as if all their problems had been solved.
"Young lady, please remain here and stay hidden for now!"
Their morale soaring, the two men clasped their hands and bowed deeply.
"We'll fortify this place and eliminate every assassin who dares approach!"
Then, with a burst of Lightness Art swift as a gale, they shot up into the night sky.
Bu Eun-seol watched their retreating figures as they vanished with their Movement Technique and gave a faint nod.
So they were the Gong Twin Demons.
The Gong Twin Demons—Gong Sang-ryang and Gong Ma-un.
Once dominant figures in Liangguang Murim, the two had held the high-ranking position of Incense Master within the Demon Hall.
But a few years ago, in Guilin, they had clashed with members of the Righteous Faction and slaughtered them on the spot. The problem was—those people had been spies on a critical mission for the Demon Hall.
Stripped of their rank and on the verge of being imprisoned in the Bottomless Prison, they were spared only because operatives of the Slaughter-Seeking Squad Yueyang Branch kept dying in droves.
The Demon Hall assigned them here, allowing them to serve out their sentence by managing the branch.
Whoosh.
Just then, the sound of dozens of figures tearing through the night air reached them from afar.
It was clear—the assassins who had discovered Bu Eun-seol and So-ok's trail were undoubtedly heading this way.
"If things go wrong, this place will become our grave."
Even in a life-or-death situation, So-ok grinned and cracked a joke.
"Save those words for when you're actually about to die."
Bu Eun-seol wiped the blood and sweat streaming down his face and turned his body.
"Get inside. Now."
"Well..."
At that moment, So-ok took a step closer, staring at Bu Eun-seol's face.
"Is this Teacher Ho's real face?"
The Face-Changing Bone-Shifting Art was a secret technique that consumed a tenth of one's internal energy. After exhausting his true qi in continuous battles, Bu Eun-seol's original face had finally surfaced.
"Yes."
Bu Eun-seol nodded as if there was no helping it.
Though drenched in blood and sweat, his skin was strikingly pale, and his eyes were long and noble, like those of a phoenix.
It was as if a mystical dragon soaring through the clouds had descended to the mortal world in human form.
"Go inside. And don't come out until I open the door."
As Bu Eun-seol moved to shut the door, So-ok snapped out of her daze and hesitantly stepped forward.
"Actually... my surname isn't So. It's Dan."
Her cheeks flushed as she whispered.
"My real name is Dan So-ok. I wonder if Teacher Ho will remember it."
'Dan So-ok...'
For a brief moment, Bu Eun-seol's gaze wavered.
There was only one person in the Murim world who bore that name.
Dan So-ok—the Jewel in the Palm of the Demons-Control Department Director, who commanded the Demon Hall's military forces. A tragic genius who, due to her congenital condition, the Profound Yin Severed Meridians, could never practice martial arts.
And yet, her extraordinary intellect had led the Elders' Hall to designate her as the Demon Hall's future Chief Strategist.
"So you are the Demons-Control Department Director's daughter."
Though she stood before him as one of the most powerful figures in the Demon Hall, Bu Eun-seol's expression remained indifferent.
"Go inside."
"You didn't answer me."
Bu Eun-seol sighed and nodded.
"I'll remember."
"Then tell me your real name too."
"Later."
"I might die here, you know."
Her eyes burned with longing.
"Before I die, I want to know Teacher Ho's real name."
Staring into those fiercely gleaming eyes, Bu Eun-seol found himself at a loss for words.
"You won't die."
Avoiding her gaze, he gripped the door to the hidden chamber.
"I'll tell you when this is all over."
"Really?"
Though he had spoken casually, So-ok—no, Dan So-ok—lit up with joy.
Crash!
After shutting the chamber door, Bu Eun-seol destroyed the mechanism that controlled the bookshelf.
Now, unless she opened it from the inside, it would be nearly impossible for the assassins to breach the hidden room.
Hssssss...
A strange sound suddenly echoed through the old bookstore.
It was an eerie noise, as if thousands of insects were scattering in all directions.
'They've broken through.'
Though Sang-ryang and Ma-un had frantically patrolled the bookstore's perimeter, eliminating assassins, they had ultimately failed to stop the enemy's human wave tactics.
Shing—
Bu Eun-seol, who had been staring into the void, drew the longsword at his waist.
There was no need to heighten his senses with the Way of the Beast—the bookstore was already saturated with the killing intent of the assassins.
"If you run now, you might live."
A chilling voice slithered out from the darkness.
"You're still young. No need to throw your life away."
Skitter-skatter—
Like a swarm of insects dispersing, the hidden figures revealed themselves all at once.
Hundreds of shadowy wraiths, as if risen from hell, surrounded him.
Even the most courageous martial artist would have felt fear in this situation.
"How amusing."
But unfortunately for them, their opponent was Bu Eun-seol.
A man who had long since outgrown fear—who savored death daily.
"Are you afraid?"
"What?"
"An assassin only opens his mouth for one reason."
"And what's that?"
Bu Eun-seol's lips curled coldly.
"When he isn't confident of victory."
The assassin's pupils flickered, as if struck by the truth.
Indeed, sensing the overwhelming presence Bu Eun-seol exuded, he had subtly suggested retreat.
"You're quite confident."
Shhhhk—
The assassins unsheathed their blackened swords in unison.
"Then we'll erase you. Every last trace of your existence."
RUMBLE—
The ground trembled with a low vibration, and the books on the shelves around Bu Eun-seol began to scatter.
The assassins had already formed a Strange Formation, exerting crushing pressure upon him.
Silently raising his longsword, Bu Eun-seol's eyes ignited with a bloody light.
Two hours.
A two-hour period of life-or-death combat was about to begin.