Chapter 188: Chapter 188
In the dark night, a single figure was walking cautiously along the road.
Although it was common for people to walk the streets at such a late hour, this figure possessed a distinct characteristic.
Looking around this way and that.
In his chest, he held something about the size of a child’s head, and seeing how preciously he cradled it, it seemed to be an extremely important object.
To avoid being discovered by anyone, the figure walked only through secluded places. Walking stealthily like a night cat, he navigated the alleys while avoiding government officials and those carrying swords.
Then, he stopped at a certain place.
At the same time as he stopped, he scanned his surroundings once more, and realizing that no one was there, he let out a sigh of relief and caught his breath.
Before his eyes stood a dilapidated house.
It did not look like a place where people lived, and there was not even a trace of presence inside.
He carefully opened the door of that place and stepped inside.
A musty smell and thick dust fluttered. The heavily piled dust and the pungent smell made it clear that this place had been empty for a long time.
Even so, the figure went inside.
He walked without hesitation into the largest room and fumbled along the wall.
Thud!
With a strange resonance, the floor opened, revealing a passage leading down. As thick dust billowed from within, the figure coughed and waved his hand.
“Damn it, they could have made it in a slightly better place.”
What was so displeasing to him that the figure’s scowl showed no sign of easing. Just as he sighed and was about to go inside.
Tap! A strange sound was heard.
Du Ak-chil quickly turned to look to his side.
At that moment, a harsh wind brushed past him.
“W-what is it?”
Startled by the sudden situation, he broke out in a cold sweat and looked around.
As if he had seen a ghost, his dilated pupils shook like a child trembling in fear.
However, no matter how much he looked around and examined, there was nothing to be seen.
“Phew…”
As some time passed, he gradually calmed his mind, let out a sigh of relief, and stepped inside the secret passage.
The place was extremely narrow.
It was barely wide enough for one adult to pass through. Even light did not enter properly, so it was impossible to know what was right in front of his nose.
After walking inside for quite a while, light poured in.
Dozens of torches lined the left and right, brightly illuminating the narrow cave.
Perhaps because he could finally see, Du Ak-chil felt relieved and walked inside even more boldly.
After walking for about fifteen minutes, a large cavern revealed itself, and the blurry figures of a few people could be seen there.
“Phew… No matter how many times I come here, I can’t get used to it. Why don’t you change it a bit?”
As Du Ak-chil walked inside, he did not even look at the people and brushed the dust off his clothes. Judging by his behavior, it seemed this was not his first or second time coming here.
The Black Slayer Gate.
One of the assassin organizations representing the Central Plains.
Furthermore, because their prices were very cheap compared to other places, it was a place sought after by many who could not gather money, and the reason was that most of the assassins of the Black Slayer Gate were simply gathered to see blood.
There was one more reason why the reputation of the Black Slayer Gate was poor, and that was because they dabbled in everything from stolen goods to human trafficking.
Du Ak-chil, having brushed off the dust on his clothes, turned his gaze and looked straight ahead.
“Ugh?!”
A gruesome scene entered his eyes.
Dozens of assassins lay dead. Those whose chests were torn, slashed, and whose heads were cut off.
Some were pinned to the wall with their own weapons driven into their chests.
It was a sight so wretched that it made one feel nauseous.
“Ugh!”
Du Ak-chil gagged and collapsed.
With a plop, the sound of him collapsing, the object in his arms rolled out and fell to the floor. As the cloth unraveled, the identity of the tightly hidden object was revealed.
“A diamond…”
Slik, a person wearing a black mask approached and picked up the diamond. Even to the eyes of someone who knew nothing, it was an object that seemed worth thousands of gold taels.
Not only would it be difficult to obtain, but selling it would also not be easy.
At best, it was not an object for someone like Du Ak-chil to possess.
“Y-you guys are…”
“We are called the Heaven Demon Army. A feeling like apostles of justice, perhaps?”
Haha, the Heaven Demon Army laughed.
But Du Ak-chil knew.
Heaven Demon Army my foot, they were definitely the people he had seen at the Hunan Dan Family.
Furthermore, the Heaven Demon Army in the play was not an apostle of justice, but the core of evil.
Du Ak-chil swallowed hard and turned his head.
There stood a one-armed old man wearing a pure white mask. That person was also someone he had seen at the Hunan Dan Family.
He was definitely the one who had laughed heartily while calling himself the Gentleman Sword.
“Oh… Why in a place like this…?”
“We followed your tail.”
Du Ak-chil trembled with a face drained of color.
He had not felt it at all.
Despite being so alert and checking his surroundings, to think there was a tail following him… No, if they followed him, how could they have arrived first and harmed these people?
In the unbelievable situation, only cold sweat poured out.
“The Chu Gate Family’s hand is quite large. To think they are connected even with the Black Slayer Gate…”
Namgung Cheon spoke as he leisurely looked around the dead.
The Black Slayer Gate was treated as an outcast even in the assassin world.
It was famous that even the renowned Assassin Hall did not accept the assassins of the Black Slayer Gate, because they preferred killing people over carrying out missions.
Then, what was the reason Du Ak-chil came here?
Tread, tread.
Sa Do-hak grabbed Du Ak-chil by the hair and pulled him up. Already paralyzed with fear, he trembled all over without being able to offer any resistance.
“Speak. For what reason did you come to the Black Slayer Gate?”
At the sinister eyes visible through the mask, Du Ak-chil caught his breath. He should not speak, but his mouth kept trying to open.
The figure of the Heaven Demon Army wearing the black mask looked like a grim reaper to him.
Did they even know the feeling of having death right before their eyes?
His body shook on its own and his mouth went bone-dry.
“Chu Mun-won… It seems he does not know, is that correct?”
At the Gentleman Sword’s question, Du Ak-chil’s gaze naturally turned. If the Heaven Demon Army in front of him was terror, the Gentleman Sword had something that wrapped around a person with a warm aura, consciously or unconsciously.
Therefore, he opened his mouth without realizing.
“Y-yes, that is correct…”
“Look at this bastard?”
The Heaven Demon Army scowled and stretched out his hand.
He pinched Du Ak-chil’s cheek and pulled it hard. It inflicted extreme pain, as if his cheek were about to tear off.
“Argh!”
“Is my word barking, and that guy’s word human speech?”
Seeing Du Ak-chil struggling in pain, the Gentleman Sword sighed. He stepped closer and reached out to dissuade the Heaven Demon Army.
“Do not do that. How painful must it be?”
Du Ak-chil nodded frantically and slithered toward the Gentleman Sword’s side.
At that action, which was like looking for a guardian, the Heaven Demon Army let out a dumbfounded laugh.
“Because you shield him like that, doesn’t a guy like that look down on me?”
“You are doing that because you bully him, how is that my fault?”
Looking at the Heaven Demon Army who glared with fierce eyes, Du Ak-chil trembled in fear. Without realizing, he reached out and grabbed the hem of the Gentleman Sword’s trousers.
Seeing him behave like a child, it seemed even his mind was clouded by fear.
“Yes, yes, I know. Did it hurt a lot?”
He stroked Du Ak-chil’s head as if soothing a child.
Whether he was touched by that gentle hand movement, Du Ak-chil nodded his head and swallowed his tears.
The Gentleman Sword watched this quietly and lightly struck out with his hand.
Thwack!
“Argh!”
Du Ak-chil, who was hit on the head, let out a loud cry.
It was so painful that he rolled on the floor like crazy.
“No. When an adult speaks, you must speak. Where did you learn the bad habit of nodding your head?”
“…”
The Heaven Demon Army, no, Sa Do-hak looked at Namgung Cheon without a word. Seeing him scolding him harshly was somewhat absurd.
But is there not an old saying that if you give a disease, you must give the medicine?
Namgung Cheon naturally stroked his head again.
“Did it hurt a lot?”
“…Y-yes.”
“Hohoho, that is why manners are very important. You must not do such things in the future.”
“Understood.”
“Yes, yes, that aside, what did you say you came here for?”
He asked gently.
With that single word, Du Ak-chil’s expression seemed to ease somewhat, but not knowing whether he should speak or not, he did not open his mouth.
Slap!
“Ugh!”
Then, what flew was none other than Namgung Cheon’s palm.
The thick palm slapped Du Ak-chil’s cheek. He struck so hard that his flying body was buried among the corpses.
“You must answer! When an adult asks, is it right to hesitate?”
“Argh…”
Du Ak-chil felt like he was going crazy.
His slapped cheek was numb and even his brain shook. Because he was buried among the corpses, the fishy smell of blood rose sickeningly. Yet, why did the thought occur that he would rather be a corpse?
“Come here quickly.”
“Yes!”
Du Ak-chil, who quickly got up from his spot, rushed before Namgung Cheon. As if to show manners, he knelt and sat before Namgung Cheon.
Thud!
“Ugh!”
“Who told you to sit? While an old man is standing, is a young fellow sitting comfortably?”
Du Ak-chil, who vomited a mouthful, clutched his abdomen and trembled all over.
‘D-damn it…’
He wanted to spit out curses, but they did not dare come out of his mouth. It was because it was obvious what would happen. Du Ak-chil’s trembling gaze looked at Sa Do-hak.
Rather, that person seemed better.
He sent a gaze begging to be saved.
Crack!
“Argh!”
“Where do you think you are looking at an adult so casually? From whom on earth did you learn your manners?”
As he stepped on the tilted head as it was, Du Ak-chil’s head was slammed into the floor, and a scream echoed. Blood poured out, and it seemed that if he had stepped just a bit harder, his head would not have existed.
“…”
Sa Do-hak quietly watched the scene.
Beating him while talking about manners, and sometimes giving medicine and beating him.
But did he really beat him because he lacked manners?
Sa Do-hak’s eyes stared intently at Namgung Cheon’s face.
He could see a faint smile forming at the corner of Namgung Cheon’s mouth.
‘That guy, he is definitely enjoying it.’
To anyone’s eyes, Namgung Cheon was enjoying this situation right now. Sa Do-hak looked at Du Ak-chil with pitiful eyes and shook his head.
Strictly speaking, Namgung Cheon seemed to have an even more cruel personality than Sa Do-hak, the great arch-demon of the world.
A cold sweat trickled down Sa Do-hak’s forehead.
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