Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Assassin Kim Ji-yong - [1]
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Indeed, Heo Pung-gae wasn't exactly rolling in cash.
Sure, by ordinary folks' standards, he raked in a jaw-dropping fortune. But measured against martial artists, it fell short.
And for a peerless master who deserved to be swimming in gold more than anyone? It was downright pathetic.
That made sense, seeing as billion-won jobs came his way fairly often, but he'd only ever taken one.
No killing. No drug running. With rules like that, the gigs dried up fast for an unorthodox martial artist, and the paychecks got slimmer too.
So yeah, he didn't have enough spare change for top-shelf elixirs. The really rare, pricey ones were tough to get his hands on.
Up until now, he hadn't sweated it much. He'd never bought into the idea that popping pills solved everything.
If the best elixirs guaranteed the ultimate realm, then Bill Gates and the Saudi king should've been untouchable peaks by now. Hell, word was Gates had retired decades ago to grind martial arts full-time, but no one was calling him a peerless master.
That proved elixirs weren't the whole story.
But apparently, they were a glaring gap for him right now.
One single pill, and this kind of insane breakthrough?
He'd swallowed something just as good once before.
Back when he'd raided the broadcasting station, Korea's top tycoon had handed over an elixir everyone coveted as payment. Come to think of it, the gains after that one had been pretty huge too, right?
Elixirs. Damn elixirs.
He'd always loved getting them as gifts. Now his head was stuffed full of them.
It was messing with his meditation, so Heo Pung-gae tried shaking off the thoughts.
'Drug dealer tactics. To hook customers on heroin, they give out free samples first. Scare 'em straight so they won't buy upfront, then let the high convince 'em to pay full price later...'
But knowing that didn't snap him out of the haze.
The nagging doubt in his heart just kept swelling. Eventually, it dug up something deeper—an old anxiety.
Could he really ascend to immortality this way? Had he been on the wrong path all along? If so, wasn't the last century mostly wasted?
It wasn't a new fear. Just one he'd buried deep during a hundred years of training, now bubbling up. That was probably why it wouldn't fade.
No wonder—the Heavenly Demon had crashed his cultivation, stirring up heart demons.
To shake it off, Heo Pung-gae threw himself into training.
True to his resolve, he shaved an hour off sleep and squeezed in every extra minute he could.
Four days later, Heo Pung-gae was still deep in his ascetic routine. Cultivate as a Taoist priest, then tend patients at the acupuncture clinic.
The only time not tied to training? One hour teaching Yi Pung's disciples.
"Play with me!"
After a solid lesson, Yi Baram started whining.
"Play with me!"
Heo Pung-gae ignored the tantrum-throwing girl—who was like a granddaughter to him—and started heading downstairs. But he stopped. Couldn't treat her like that.
With a sigh, he asked,
"It's not that you really wanna play with me, right? You're just pissed 'cause I bolted the second class ended."
"No way! I really wanna play with you, oppa!"
Yi Pung finally butted in to rein in his daughter.
"Hey, quit causing a scene and go home. Keep this up, no more allowance."
Three minutes later, Yi Baram was gone. Yi Pung flashed a genuinely sorry look.
He knew his brother was already pushing his packed training schedule even harder. And that he hated these kinds of time sinks.
"Seriously, really sorry."
"Forget it."
Heo Pung-gae waved it off, but Yi Pung kept apologizing.
"Bro? If you wanna save time... you can drop teaching Do-hyeok too. You know why I was teaching the staff kids martial arts?"
"To practice before teaching Baram, since you suck at it."
"Spot on. Yeah. Now she's learning straight from a peerless master—no more practice needed. So you don't have to teach them either..."
Heo Pung-gae sighed.
"Can't just take disciples and ditch 'em."
"No, bro."
"Master-disciple bond's like parent-child. Abandoning kids you made is unfilial; ignoring pupils you took is the same."
"These days, kids beat up their teachers. I got expelled for decking my desk."
"You little shit."
Heo Pung-gae glared at Yi Pung and finally moved to head to his clinic.
But a visitor in the office stopped him.
Someone looking for Heo Pung-gae.
The man entering seemed around thirty. Yet he bowed deeply to the younger-looking Heo Pung-gae and said,
"Are you the Invincible Unaffiliated, great hero?"
Heo Pung-gae hated being treated like an old-timer. He snapped back curtly.
"Do I look old enough to be called 'great hero'?"
Yi Pung shot a weird look at the 120-year-old, but Heo ignored it, eyeing the man.
Death clung to him like a stench.
The man said,
"Yes, well... young hero? No, teacher... please save me. I'm as good as dead."
"What're you on about?"
"The Martial Alliance... the Martial Alliance is trying to kill me."
Heo Pung-gae raised one eyebrow.
"Martial Alliance?"
"Yes. They're sending a hitman to take me out. So please..."
The man's name was Kim Ji-yong. His ties to the Martial Alliance marked him as a martial artist.
He'd learned some arts, but nothing elite. Even low-level guys had ways to scrape by—odd jobs for their clan or sect, or Alliance work if not.
Kim Ji-yong had worked for the Alliance.
"I was an assassin. Took out martial criminals on the Alliance's orders..."
"A hitman?"
Kim Ji-yong muttered self-mockingly.
"Yeah. Now I'm the one getting hit."
Yi Pung thought a sec, then said,
"Oh yeah, I've heard of you. Kim Ji-yong, the Alliance's top killer. Nearly thirty hits, zero evidence left behind. That guy?"
"Yes. That's me."
Heo Pung-gae sighed inwardly as he listened.
The Taoist precepts forbade even mentioning murder or death. Not just doing it—never speaking of it.
So he never threatened to kill. Hated the word "death" itself.
Naturally, hearing about it repulsed him. Threats of death sent him into a rage.
And now? Dozens of murder talks incoming. How toxic for cultivation.
Kim Ji-yong had already pissed him off. Unaware, he kept going.
"Yeah, twenty-nine kills, never caught. Staged perfect accidents or suicides. I was the Alliance's best."
Then his last job: another martial criminal. A gangster who'd stiffed a major sect on tribute for three months, then begged cops for protection after threats.
Alliance committee voted him a public enemy. Kim infiltrated easy and killed him.
Bad timing. Cops were losing it over spiking gun and drug cases.
They wouldn't let a murder slide—obvious mob hit.
Raided Alliance HQ, demanding the killer.
Committee fumed at the violation of sacred turf over one death, but what could they do?
Crime groups gotta let cops save face. Prove to the public they're working.
Normally, sacrifice a loyal grunt, pin it on him. Cops get a win, face saved, peace holds.
Not this time. Evidence stuck around.
"Didn't you say no evidence before?"
"Yes. First time. Not even my fault. That bastard's mosquito..."
"Mosquito?"
Yeah. Mosquito.
During the hit, one bit Kim.
He cleaned the scene spotless and left. The mosquito got sucked into a running fan, shredded on the blades.
Left blood and corpse—Kim's DNA.
Couldn't frame just anyone now. Hand over the real killer or brazenly deny ties.
Atmosphere was too hot for denial. Cops wouldn't buy it.
Had to give up the guy. How?
"So you're here to dodge the cops? We don't help with that."
Yi Pung's question got a shake of the head.
"No. I'd face murder charges if needed."
"Then why?"
"Alliance won't hand me over alive. I've done nearly thirty jobs, all their orders. If I talk in custody, they're screwed."
"Ah, so..."
Kim nodded.
"They'll kill me. Tell cops, 'We knew the suspect's spot. Check it out.' They'll find my body—perfect suicide, no evidence."
"Turn yourself in, get police protection?"
"Can't trust it. One target was in prison. And I've cleaned up Alliance's paid hits on non-criminals too. Exposing that screws big shots..."
Heo Pung-gae kept sighing through it all.
Vile bastard. Filthy killer.
"So you want saving? Have us fend off their hitman?"
"No. Mediate with the Alliance. They can't ignore a plea from Invincible BB Bullet's disciple, a peerless master."
Yi Pung pondered, then asked,
"What's the mediation fee?"
"Around 400 million..."
"Not enough. Puts us in their debt. Up it."
They settled on 560 million. Yi Pung called the Alliance.