Chapter 69
Chapter 69
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Perfect Assassination
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Today's beef noodle soup."
Ilhwa and Igu set bowls of noodles in front of the squad members.
Paeng Se Gi picked up his chopsticks but couldn't help grumbling.
"I'm sick of beef noodles now. Try something else for once."
"......Yes, sir."
Ilhwa and Igu shrank back dejectedly.
They weren't real cooks, so they had no new recipes worth serving.
Still, the dishes they were confident in always turned out tasty enough.
By the time the meal wrapped up, Se Yeong spoke up.
"Sounds like someone's coming."
Igu shot to his feet and dashed to the wall, peering outside before hurrying back.
"It's an old man dressed in fine clothes, riding a horse."
"What business does a merchant have here?"
Yi Cheon Yeong's guess had the others nodding in agreement.
Warrior clans and sects were inextricably linked with merchants by nature.
Merchants supplied everything the disciples and servants ate, wore, and used.
Of course, disciples and servants sometimes went out to buy things themselves, but merchants handled most of it.
This manor, though, wasn't due for merchant visits yet.
The squad members rose and headed to the main gate.
The old man on horseback dismounted and approached as they opened the gate.
"It's an honor to meet fellow heroes of the martial world. I am Bok Mo, who runs a modest trading firm out of Huguang."
He gave his surname as Bok and bowed deeply with a beaming smile.
"Come in. I'm Han Se Yeong."
Se Yeong welcomed the merchant warmly.
They'd been needing a trading partner for the manor anyway.
"A pleasure, Hero Han."
After exchanging greetings, Se Yeong led him inside.
The merchant paused upon entering, letting out an exclamation of admiration.
"What a splendid place. I've visited many manors, but none as fine as this."
Se Yeong knew it was just flattery.
"Thank you."
As they walked to the guest hall, Se Yeong subtly observed him.
The man's aura was utterly ordinary, his movements far from those of a trained warrior.
'A bold merchant? Or does he have ulterior motives?'
Once seated in the guest hall, Ilhwa promptly brought tea.
"Please, have some."
"Thank you."
Se Yeong waited until he'd set down his cup before speaking.
"You've no doubt heard the rumors swirling through the martial world. What brings you here?"
Se Yeong cut straight to the chase.
The merchant burst into laughter.
"Hahaha...!"
"Merchants chase profit without regard for fire or water. Haven't you heard there are merchants even on battlefields?"
"I have."
Se Yeong smiled and played along.
The old merchant, rich in experience, had a disarming, easygoing demeanor.
"Tell me anything this manor needs, and I'll source the finest goods at bargain prices."
There was no such thing as cheap and good in this world.
Yet his words made it almost believable.
"Can you get me young mulberry saplings?"
At the Murim Alliance, what had caught Se Yeong's eye most was the vast fields of rice paddies and endless waves of mulberry trees.
"Young mulberry saplings run about forty pun per bundle. How many do you need?"
The merchant replied casually.
"Around five hundred bundles would be ideal."
"Understood. I'll have them for you soon. Anything else?"
"Fifty jars of fine liquor as well."
"That too, promptly."
Se Yeong pulled out paper and brush, drafting a contract on the spot.
"No advance payment needed?"
"Haha...!"
"We're meeting for the first time today—what makes you think I'd hand over advance silver? Though if you insist on giving it, I won't refuse."
Se Yeong finished the contract and stood.
"I'll fetch the silver. Wait here."
As Se Yeong stepped out, the merchant's leisurely, affable expression twisted.
'For the man who felled the Six-Net Sword Witch, he's disappointingly ordinary.'
Tall and handsome aside, he looked far too unremarkable for a warrior.
Still, the merchant stayed vigilant.
He'd encountered people far deadlier than they appeared before.
The old man, silver in hand, stepped out of the guest hall and gazed around the manor once more, sighing in admiration.
"Truly a fine manor. If it's not too much trouble, might I take a quick tour?"
"Go ahead."
Se Yeong readily agreed.
"You've chosen the perfect spot. Even accounting for the five elements in placing the halls—clearly no ordinary handiwork."
The merchant marveled nonstop as he toured the dozen-plus buildings.
"And where have you made your quarters, Hero Han?"
Se Yeong pointed to the largest hall.
"There."
"Hahaha...!"
"The perfect spot where the manor's qi converges. Excellent choice."
Se Yeong, who'd pointed on impulse, felt a twinge of unease.
'This merchant's no ordinary man.'
In the course of natural conversation, he'd gleaned Se Yeong's quarters.
After touring the entire manor, he promised to return within two months and departed.
The squad members swarmed Se Yeong the moment the merchant left.
"He really a merchant, bro?"
Se Yeong shook his head.
"Probably... not."
"How'd you know?"
"Not certain. Just a bad feeling."
The squad's faces darkened at his words.
"Then what's his deal?"
"If I'm right, a master assassin."
The squad hadn't faced assassins before.
Even seasoned martial artists rarely had.
Assassins struck from shadows, eliminated targets, and vanished swiftly.
"So... we prepare to fend them off?"
Hahu Yeon's voice carried worry, mirrored on the others' faces.
The unknown always bred fear.
"If we survive, it'll be good experience."
But familiarity would banish fear.
"Damn it. If I'd known assassins were coming, I'd have trained harder."
Dang Ok Yi's anxiety ran deep.
Among the squad, Hahu Yeon had trained most in concealing presence and qi, while Paeng Se Gi had honed detection.
Dang Ok Yi and Yi Cheon Yeong had slacked off a bit.
They figured martial prowess decided everything.
Yi Cheon Yeong especially, obsessed with the Fourteen Strokes Plum Blossom Sword, had neglected it more than her.
Yeong Gak sidled up to the scowling Dang Ok Yi.
"Don't worry—this monk's got your back."
She snapped irritably.
"Buzz off."
Se Yeong eased their fears.
"Assassins will target me anyway. You all just focus on spotting their presence."
"Got it, bro. Soon as I find 'em, I'll kill every last one."
Se Yeong reined in the eager Paeng Se Gi.
"They say be wary when assassins flee."
"No worries, bro. I won't fall to scum like that."
Paeng Se Gi boasted loudly.
For this hit, they'd deployed the lair leader and two elite assassins—nothing more.
Too many risked detection of their presence.
Whoosh... swish...
They vaulted the wall by the gate pillar lightly and slunk toward the largest hall.
One elite assassin killed his presence utterly, scaling a pillar to cling beneath the eaves.
Now he waited motionless for Han Se Yeong to emerge.
The other slipped under the floorboards, sliding a short sword between them.
The instant Han Se Yeong stepped out, blades would erupt from below and slash from above, piercing throat and all.
Confirming the elites' stealth, the lair leader headed for the outhouse.
The stench hit like a punch when he opened the door.
He didn't flinch, plunging into the deep pit of filth.
The hall assassins were bait.
Success was ideal; failure meant finishing here.
One day, two—it didn't matter.
Paeng Se Gi jolted awake from a nightmare, drenched in unease.
Gasp...!
He sat up, a foul mood settling over him.
Had he ever had nightmares before?
None since childhood.
'Weird.'
Feeling off, he dressed, grabbed his saber, and stepped out.
Se Yeong's room was central; Gang Gyodu's to the right, his to the left.
On the veranda, Paeng Se Gi scanned everywhere.
Nothing suspicious.
'Just on edge from the assassin talk.'
As he turned to go back in, a whim made him extend his qi outward.
'Yeah, just nerves.'
Withdrawing it, he started inside—then spun back.
Place was empty, but the unease lingered.
He closed his eyes, attuning to himself and surroundings.
Wind in leaves faded; everything felt tangible, like touch.
'Hm?'
Shing.
Eyes snapping open, Paeng Se Gi drew his saber and moved to Se Yeong's door.
Something alien lurked here—location unclear.
Pausing at the door, he glanced at the floorboards.
A blade thrust up.
Gasp...!
He dodged desperately; a black shadow dropped from above.
'Damn.'
Thud!
Paeng Se Gi slammed his great saber into the floorboards, sensing his end.
Two assassins, not one.
Splat...!
The shadow lunged at his bent form.
"Bro!"
He bellowed for Se Yeong.
Facing death, it was Se Yeong's face—not his father's—that flashed in mind.
He toppled from the impact, gasping raggedly.
Huff... gasp...
Expecting agony in death, but... none came. Lucky.
"What're you doing?"
Gasping, he turned toward the voice.
Se Yeong stood in the doorway, staring down impassively.
Huff... gasp...
"Bro...... I'm...... going first.... Take care...... of Father."
Paeng Se Gi rasped his last words.
Se Yeong tsked pityingly.
"Tsk tsk......"
"Quit yapping and get up."
Finally sensing something off, Paeng Se Gi half-rose.
"......Huh?"
His body was fine.
Blood poured from the black shadow atop him, staining the floorboards black.
"Did I... survive, bro?"
At his dazed question, Yeong Gak's voice rang out.
"What a pathetic mortal. Om mani padme hum."
Turning, he saw the entire squad watching—even Yeong Gak.
"You want that?"
Dang Ok Yi looked pitying; Sa Sa Un's gaze dripped contempt.
Mortified, face burning, Paeng Se Gi roared at Sa Sa Un.
"Look away......!"
Finishing meditation, Se Yeong headed to his hall but paused at the outhouse in the corner.
He hadn't noticed en route out, but now his steps halted before it.
Opening the door, he peered into the dark pit.
'Impressive indeed.'
Admiration brief, he shut the door upon exiting.
"What's wrong, Hero Han?"
Yi Cheon Yeong, following, asked puzzledly.
Shh!
Se Yeong pressed a finger to lips, whispering in his ear.
"Don't use that outhouse for a while. Tell the squad too."