Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: The End of Endurance
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After finishing breakfast, Paeng Se Gi wandered aimlessly near the outhouse.
"Hey, Yeonggak. Do you know the oldest and most rundown spot in our estate?"
Yeonggak wondered why he was suddenly bringing this up.
"Where?"
"That outhouse over there. Looks like we should fill it with dirt and build a new one somewhere else."
In truth, the estate's outhouse was worn but still serviceable after repairs—it wasn't that shabby. And it was spacious enough for several people to use at once.
Realizing the reason behind his words, Yeonggak clasped his hands together.
"What a cruel mortal you are."
Even for an assassin, this was basically ordering a live burial.
The other squad members, having finished their meals, gathered one by one and stared at the outhouse.
"No, better to set it on fire first and then fill it with dirt."
Dang Ok took it a step further than Paeng Se Gi.
"This place is hell."
Yeonggak shook his head and quickly walked away from the man.
Once the siblings finished washing the dishes, the squad members left the estate in unison.
After they departed, Squad Leader Kang took their place, positioning himself where he could see the outhouse.
Daring to target the young master.
If Se Yeong hadn't given orders, he would have already doused it with oil and set it ablaze.
"Impressive assassin, Squad Leader."
A voice of admiration came from behind him.
Squad Leader Kang didn't disagree with Se Yeong's assessment.
If he had been the target, he surely would have lost his life to the assassin's stealthy strike.
"Still, don't show him any mercy, Young Master."
Ha ha...
"I have no intention of doing so."
Have I been discovered?
The branch leader, with only his head poking out from the filth, grew increasingly anxious as time dragged on.
He had never encountered a situation like this during any of his assassination missions. Something had clearly gone terribly wrong this time.
Should I wait another two days?
He was well aware that the elite assassins had failed their ambush and lost their lives.
He had heard the shouts to burn the bodies, and the estate's atmosphere remained unchanged.
Talk of burning it and filling it with dirt feels like they're mocking me.
As his mind grew cluttered, the numbed scent seeped back into his nose.
The branch leader cleared his thoughts and calmed his breathing.
If no one enters the outhouse for the rest of the day, I'll assume my stealth has been compromised.
The branch leader waited until deep into the night before awkwardly extricating himself from the waste vat.
Throughout the day, not only Han Se Yeong but even the young martial artists of the jianghu hadn't come near the outhouse.
Ha...
If I open this door and step out, Han Se Yeong will be waiting.
A mix of admiration and lament escaped his lips.
The admiration was for his target, Han Se Yeong, while the lament was for the dead elite assassins and himself.
He knew all too well what was coming next.
He couldn't escape, nor did he want to.
As he opened the door and stepped outside, he saw Han Se Yeong standing under bright torchlight, flanked by the young jianghu folk.
The branch leader removed his mask, knelt on the ground, and prostrated himself.
"The branch leader of Black Moon Pavilion offers his greetings."
His stark white hair and elderly face drew surprised expressions from the squad members.
They hadn't suspected the merchant from the day before was the branch leader.
"I'll beat that bastard to death, Brother."
Paeng Se Gi, nursing a grudge, stepped forward with his iron rod at the ready.
Se Yeong raised a hand to stop him and spoke.
"Who hired you?"
Assassins never revealed their clients, even on the brink of death.
But the Black Moon Pavilion branch leader was different from most.
"The Moyong Family."
The squad members—and even Se Yeong—were taken aback as he revealed the client without hesitation.
"Lies."
Paeng Se Gi, who had faltered at Se Yeong's words, stepped forward again.
"Looks like we need to break some bones before he'll confess properly, Brother."
The branch leader panicked as events veered off course.
"Please believe me. The Moyong Family put in a commission for two hundred thousand nyang."
Paeng Se Gi glanced back and forth between the branch leader and Se Yeong.
"Is it true, Brother?"
As Se Yeong nodded, Paeng Se Gi and the squad members stared at the branch leader in disbelief.
"You can just... reveal that? The Moyong Family won't let it slide."
"The likes of the Moyong Family hold no fear for me."
The Moyong Family wasn't some trivial clan to be dismissed so lightly.
If an assassination sect clashed head-on with them, the assassins' chances of victory were slim to none.
"Did the assassination sects form an alliance?"
Se Yeong posed the possibility.
But the branch leader's unexpected response caught him off guard.
"Black Moon Pavilion serves under the Four White Saints."
Se Yeong's expression darkened.
The supreme of the jianghu.
Namgung Je might be the supreme in the wider jianghu, but to Se Yeong, the White Master was the true pinnacle.
During their meeting, Se Yeong hadn't gleaned even a hint of the man's inner thoughts.
This is the third attempt on my life.
The reason Iron Fairy died and he left the Murim Alliance? The Four White Saints.
The Black-Faced Ghost Venerable targeting him? Again, the Four White Saints.
Now even assassins were after his head.
"Why does he want me dead so badly?"
Se Yeong addressed the absent White Master.
Mistaking it for a question directed at him, the branch leader answered.
"Black Moon Pavilion withdraws from the commission."
He believed this would spare his life.
But Se Yeong had no intention of letting him go.
"Kill him."
At the cold decree of death, Paeng Se Gi sprang into action as if he had been waiting.
As Paeng Se Gi approached with murderous intent, the branch leader grew desperate.
"Wait! If this old man dies, the Supreme One will step in personally!"
Assassins were expected to accept death upon a failed mission.
Yet he felt unjustly wronged.
He had surrendered and broken the assassins' taboo by revealing the client.
Even more troubling, he held the Silver Shadow Sword, the sect's priceless heirloom that had been passed down through generations of Black Moon Pavilion.
"That's why you're dying."
Se Yeong's voice remained unchanged.
Why should he show mercy to someone trying to kill him?
"Black Moon Pavilion will substitute with three commissions—our lives in exchange."
"Hold up."
Paeng Se Gi lowered his raised iron rod at Se Yeong's command.
"Ah... what a shame."
"Substitute with commissions, you say?"
The branch leader nodded at Se Yeong's question.
"Yes. The promise holds until Black Moon Pavilion's destruction."
"How can I trust your word?"
The branch leader placed the Silver Shadow Sword on the ground.
"I'll swear on the Silver Shadow Sword."
Se Yeong snorted derisively.
Hmph.
"You expect me to trust some short little sword?"
The branch leader replied with utmost solemnity.
"This blade is the Silver Shadow Sword, the sect's priceless treasure."
Silver Shadow Sword?
The squad members exchanged glances.
They had never heard of such a sword.
Then Yeonggak recited the Six-Character Mantra and spoke.
"Om mani padme hum. The Silver Shadow Sword was the beloved weapon of the Slaughter King, a legend of the assassination sects. The Slaughter King, from some two hundred years ago, was said to have no target beyond his blade in assassination."
"So this old assassin's the Slaughter King?"
The branch leader shook his head at Paeng Se Gi's question.
"How could this old man dare compare to the Slaughter King?"
Only then did Se Yeong set aside his doubts.
"I'll trust your words. But how will the commissions be handled?"
"Once I return, I'll send an assassin here."
"Go ahead and leave."
Se Yeong let him go without resistance.
Using him alive seemed far more valuable than killing him.
"My thanks."
The branch leader rose and headed out of the estate.
I barely saved my neck. Barely saved it.
But before he could take ten steps, Se Yeong's voice called him back.
"Then let's start the first commission. For the next month, stay here and ambush the squad members."
The branch leader thought he had misheard.
"No response?"
The follow-up made him halt in his tracks.
What a ruthless bastard.
The branch leader turned and bowed his head.
"I accept the commission. But I reek, so I need to wash first."
Some smells didn't wash off easily.
One was the scent of human blood, another the rot of corpses, and the last, human waste.
"The river's not far. Wash there and come back."
"Understood."
Once the branch leader left the estate, Se Yeong called for Sa Sa Un.
"Prepare a meal for him when he returns."
Sa Sa Un dawdled with an uneasy look.
"Uh, yes, Hero Han."
He answered, but inwardly cursed up a storm.
Hey, you lunatic! Cut it out already!
Living alongside an assassin who might slit his throat anytime had his future looking pitch black already.
Yi Cheon Yeong froze mid-breakfast as something cold pressed against the back of his neck.
"You're already dead, young hero."
The squad members, equally rigid, stared at the masked branch leader.
No one knew when or how he had appeared.
By the time they spotted him, the sword was already on Yi Cheon Yeong's shoulder.
Whew...
Yi Cheon Yeong let out a long sigh only after the branch leader sheathed his sword and vanished.
"...Pathetic."
For someone aiming to revive Mount Hua Sect, getting done in by a mere assassin?
His pride wounded deeply, he set down his chopsticks.
"Skip a meal every time you're ambushed, and you'll starve to death soon enough."
"My apologies, Hero Han."
At Se Yeong's words, he picked up his chopsticks again.
"Brother. The food's stuck in my throat... won't go down."
No sooner had Paeng Se Gi spoken than something cold touched Dang Ok's throat too.
"This lady's dead too."
Unlike Yi Cheon Yeong, she shook off her freeze and shoved food into her mouth.
"Just you wait. I'll stick a hidden weapon right in his thigh."
Squad Leader Kang, quietly eating, spoke up.
"Treat me the same as these young heroes."
Though the assassin was an enemy who targeted the young master, since the young master forgave him, he would accept it too.
A voice came from the kitchen roof at his words.
"Understood."
"When will you eat?"
"This old man will scavenge for himself. No need to worry."
The next voice came from behind Sa Sa Un.
Gasp!
Startled, Sa Sa Un spun around, but the branch leader was already gone.
Watching this, Se Yeong smiled.
"Well? Fun, right?"
The squad members voiced their complaints in unison.
"Not fun at all, Hero Han."
"Please, at least let us eat in peace."
Se Yeong shook his head firmly.
"Death in the jianghu always strikes when your guard is down."
"It failed, Supreme One."
The White Master merely nodded at Ak Su Deok's report.
"He sent a signal that he's alive, so the branch leader survived. But he still hasn't left the estate."
"He won't return for a while."
The White Master's voice was serene, as if he had expected it.
"How do you know?"
"It's what I would do in his place. That guy's not alone anymore. If the squad members had stayed at the Murim Alliance, he'd have ditched them without a second thought. But since they left together, he'll see his duty through."
Han Se Yeong was that kind of man.
A fleeting pity crossed the White Master's face before vanishing.
He had recognized it the moment they met.
That man's nature was like looking in a mirror—eerily similar to his own.
That's why he felt drawn to him.
One day, he'll point his sword at me.
The mere thought lifted his spirits, bringing a natural smile.
Ak Su Deok's mind reeled in confusion.
What does the Supreme One want from Han Se Yeong?
As the question lingered, the White Master spoke.
"I'll write a letter. Deliver it to the Eighteen Green Forest Strongholds."
Ak Su Deok composed himself before replying.
"The Chieftain may have once been one of the Four White Saints' elites, but he's no one to trust. He'll betray you eventually."
But the White Master showed no concern.
"It's his first and last order. He won't refuse."