Chapter 43
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Black Killer Hall
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BAM!
Slamming the table, Ha Eun-ye shot to her feet.
“The Seo Mun young master?!”
Ki Nam-hyeon wasn't all that far away.
“Prepare the fastest horses available!”
She issued the order without a second thought upon hearing the news.
Swoosh.
With frantic urgency.
“Ha Sojeo?”
“...No, have every last one that's ready stand by immediately.”
Ha Eun-ye set out in haste with them.
Of those gathered in the meeting hall, everyone except the merchant leader mounted up, while only Woo Hak-bong trailed leisurely after them.
Thud thud thud—!
Ha Eun-ye at the lead.
Among them, she knew Seo Mun-ha's trail better than most—and quite a bit about the man himself.
He could show a cruel streak at times and come off as utterly arrogant, but he never killed indiscriminately.
He didn't lay a hand on powerless commoners, unlike so many other righteous warriors.
Blue Light Martial Hall was some obscure little place she'd never even heard of, but there had to be a reason.
And since he'd gone after assassins, guessing that reason was child's play.
‘Black Killer Hall.’
She had no idea of their scale, which sparked a twinge of worry.
Even for those who'd faced Seo Mun-ha's martial arts directly or indirectly.
Assassins had always occupied a peculiar niche.
It was hard to simply lump them in with the unorthodox just because they moved on commissions like ronin.
In times of chaos, ronin and assassins thrived.
Their standing in the Central Plains was thoroughly neutral—they took jobs without regard for the client's status or alignment.
Commissioning an assassin boiled down to one thing, but the circumstances varied wildly.
From personal grudges on the small end to claims of serving some greater good.
High officials and renowned figures from the jianghu put in requests all the time.
Targets they couldn't touch publicly, or ones backed by greater powers or mighty warriors.
That was why even in this era of righteous dominance, assassins were tolerated—and why a group on the scale of one of the Central Plains' three great assassin halls could upend the world just by leaking their ledgers and client lists.
No point stirring up needless trouble.
The Iron Fortress Province might be on the back foot, but it still stood strong. Remnants of the demonic cult lingered too. The Murim Alliance was busy enough without picking fights, but if one of those assassin halls had thrown in with demonic cultists, that changed everything.
‘Just a commission, or something more?’
Black Killer Hall had a notorious reputation for brutality compared to the other two great halls.
Their methods were downright unorthodox.
What righteousness or justice could an assassin stabbing from the shadows claim? Their poisons, brewed and refined in-house, were savagely potent.
Grip.
Ha Eun-ye clenched her jaw and tightened the reins.
She prayed for the safety of his warriors, who must be beside themselves, even as a barrage of nagging worries crowded her mind.
* * *
Bang!
The Blue Light Martial Hall master kept retreating step after step.
“Hup?!”
His prized Poison Hand could do no more than bat away the blade again and again.
‘This brat's internal energy surpasses mine?!’
Driven into a defensive corner, the old man was purely on the ropes.
The swift strikes weren't light either.
A blade that size should've thrown off his balance easily, yet he showed no openings.
More precisely, his eyes couldn't keep up with the body wielding it.
‘...But it's about time.’
Having shoved his underlings aside, the hall master had laid his groundwork long ago.
The toxic powder that had blanketed the entire hall earlier.
The poison mist now clung to the floor like fog, fading even the faint outlines—and with the noon hour long past, the effects should be kicking in any moment.
Twitch.
A subtle difference.
Seo Mun-ha's sword momentum slowed for an instant, furrowing his brow.
“That's it for you.”
A sickly grin spread across the hall master's face as he brushed dust from his robes.
“Poison?”
“Didn't that lackey of mine tell you?”
That this was a place of death.
“Guess age catches up—moving this old body's getting tough.”
Thumping his stiff back, he straightened up ramrod straight.
“Bet you're feeling it too. That paralytic toxin messes with your qi flow and stiffens the muscles. For untrained commoners, it'd melt them into bloody sludge on the spot. Even a peak master like you feels it good, eh?”
The masked youth who'd come courting death.
“Can't swing that reckless fast sword anymore? You're just a toothless tiger waiting to get torn apart by the herd.”
“So that's what you were banking on.”
Seo Mun-ha, eyes the only part visible, let out a scoff.
The assassins charging straight at him under the blazing sun.
They weren't playing at being ordinary warriors by ditching names like assassin or killer.
The first-rate ones he'd faced were just time-wasters.
“Stamina's not what it used to be. Shall we start the real fight?”
His underlings joined in—not that it mattered.
At the hall master's signal, over a dozen more assassins burst from all sides, led by the bald middle-aged man.
For the finishing blow.
“Don't think you're dying easy, you bastard!”
Roaring at last, the man charged with his face flushed beet red.
Burn scars standing out starkly, he and his men were convinced agony twisted beneath the intruder's mask.
‘Certainly...’
Seo Mun-ha resisted the poison in his veins and shifted to a defensive stance.
His dulled body couldn't execute swift strikes properly.
The pinnacle of martial arts encompassed every technique—mastering the essence and making it your own was the goal.
Forms varied by person, but vast inner energy was the common thread, and wielding that much qi with precision was no easy task in his state.
Scree!
Especially since his power hadn't breached the Three Realms, far from the Thousand Poisons Immunity stage—let alone the Myriad Poisons Immunity needed to unleash the Northern Guard Divine Cavalry Art's true potential.
With interference both inside and out.
His black fame rested on swift offense, but defending with it showed unique brilliance as he fluidly transitioned stances.
‘Just fight slow. Simple as that.’
Vast experience and flexible thinking.
Watching the battle from the Blue Light Martial Hall, its master could guess the intruder's identity from that genius alone.
“The Seo Mun Clan, as expected.”
After witnessing clash after clash.
As a warrior devoted to martial study, he might regret the waste of such promising talent in a young expert... but.
‘A masked punk like you.’
Seo Mun-ha hadn't just strolled through the front gate bold as brass—he hadn't hidden his skills either.
That misplaced confidence soured his mood, right as he was sure of victory.
Clang!
Sword tips met without a hair's breadth error.
The middle-aged man staggered from the clash, and a shadow shot out to blind him in an instant.
“Just gotta be precise.”
Bare-Handed Blade Capture.
His fist was more claw than hand.
“Gaaah!”
Fingers dug into the man's face, piercing skin to test the skull beneath.
Crack!
Its durability.
In a flash, Seo Mun-ha crushed the man's head and tossed the limp body aside. The assassins faltered as the gap shifted.
Kaboom!
Sword qi erupted in a circle around Seo Mun-ha, surging from the ground.
The Golden Section of Mountain Shattering Heavenly Spirit Sword.
“Golden Strongbreaker Advance.”
Pivoting on his back foot, he formed a short circular formation. The aura coiling around him exploded outward in straight lines, engulfing everything.
Splat!
Blood rained down around him at the center of the all-encompassing technique.
“You bastard!”
Next, Seo Mun-ha drove his blade into the chest of a fallen warrior losing his balance.
“Eyes going dim in your old age, huh, gramps?”
Then he turned to the hall master, who was catching his breath.
An assassin's basics: gauge the target's strength.
“Y-You...!”
The hall master, struck by time's indifference, lost his words. Chaos left no room to intervene.
‘Not even going all out?! Holding back against this old man?!’
His mind went white with rage at being toyed with by a mere junior.
Grind.
He'd devour him whole. They'd clashed before—head-on, power decided it, and he had no chance.
Grip.
Like his dead underling, unbefitting an assassin, the old man lost composure and made fatal errors, offering up his prized claw in vain.
“Kaaak!”
No time to adjust to the shattered hand's pain.
Thud!
He clutched his kicked gut.
Drip.
Blood surged up, spilling from his mouth.
Only then did the old man's head cool.
He wasn't some warrior you faced in broad daylight outside his home turf.
‘A monster like this, one of the next generation?!’
Facing the impassive gaze, long-dulled emotions stirred.
“Urk.”
Forgotten fear.
“Cough!”
Sparring and life-or-death differed in every way but the roots.
Young experts were usually greenhorns honing themselves.
Fledglings with hot blood. But not him.
He knew assassins, mastered combat.
This life-on-the-line fight felt like facing a veteran of war-torn eras.
“Hmmm...”
Seo Mun-ha glanced around, the hall master groaning at his feet.
“Now, shall we talk calmly?”
Silence blanketed the room.
It wasn't just them dragging things out.
He'd made a huge racket to draw eyes, exaggerating his actions, but the one he'd hoped for hadn't shown.
“What in the...”
The hall master murmured weakly, staring up.
“...are you?”
“Cut the theatrics and answer my questions.”
Taming a peace-rotted hall master was easier than an herbalist.
Once his power, convictions, wealth, and achievements crumbled after decades, only a listless old man remained.
Black Killer Hall's Shandong branch, disguised as a lowly martial hall.
Decades of work gone to ruin in a blink.
Whose orders were behind the prior raid?
The frail old man spat out what he knew amid waves of agony.
Until consciousness fled.
Seo Mun-ha stood lost in thought.
It hadn't been long since the hall master passed out.
Snort!
Champion steeds slowed in a line, and a frantic group poured over Blue Light Martial Hall's threshold.
His eyes, gleaming with interest, turned to the gate.
“Seo Mun young master!”
“Brother!”
Familiar faces.
He'd expected the client or officials.
Instead, these people caught their breath, surveying the hall.
“...”
Then froze in shock.
The site reeked of blood.
Standing alone amid a sea of corpses, he was beyond overwhelming.
Faint bloodlight gleamed.
His black uniform was relatively unscathed, but covered head to toe, he looked drenched in gore.
“Brother...?”
Seeing things?
Seo Mun Young-ryeong's shock hit hardest.
Silence held briefly.
She stepped forward past the uneven, sword-scarred floor.
“Careful—poison mist's still lingering.”
She halted at the familiar voice. Ha Eun-ye sighed in relief and waved her hand.
Whoosh.
A sudden gust arose.
It parted the dust-laden poison left and right like a curtain.
“What happened? All this.”
Seo Mun Jun-sang and Seo Mun Young-ryeong followed her.
Clack, clack, clack...
Ju Eun Merchant Group's warriors fanned out ahead, securing the area for surprises.
“Perfect timing.”
Seo Mun-ha nodded.
“All of them... dead?”
“No.”
He needed hands for cleanup anyway and handed her the hall master.
Along with a quiet explanation, as tidying commenced.
‘He took on this many assassins... alone? How?’
Seo Mun Jun-sang couldn't wrap his head around it.
Dang So-so, inspecting the poison, secretly lit up with excitement.