Chapter 523: Side Story 23

Chapter side_23

“Huh? Young Master Dan isn’t here?”

Namgung So-hye, who was looking around the inside of the manor, sent an anxious gaze when Dan Woo-hyun was nowhere to be seen.

Even otherwise, he had disappeared for the past few years, and he had also recently gone on a journey to Gansu following Jang Sam-tae, so she was engulfed in a foreboding feeling that he had gone somewhere again.

As anxiety showed on her expression, a sound of swallowing empty wind like ‘Ha!’ could be heard from one side.

“He went out with So-mi while fishing at Dongting Lake, so don’t worry.”

“Is that so?”

“Erai, you wench! If you’re so worried, why don’t you go look for him.”

“W-Who said I was worried!”

Namgung So-hye shouted with a heavily flushed face.

As if she didn’t want to show her red and heated face, she covered it with both hands while glaring sharply at Sa Do-hak. Her eyes were so fierce that it felt like she would eat him right away.

“Oh my… You’re going to eat me completely, eat me alive. It’s not like I said anything wrong…”

“You are wrong!”

“Is there anyone here who doesn’t know you like Manor Lord Dan?”

“I said it’s not like that!”

She eventually strongly denied it while shouting loudly.

However, what could be heard from here and there were rather expressions and gazes as if they were dumbfounded. In the end, everyone in this manor knew Namgung So-hye’s feelings better than she did.

“O-Of course, it’s not that I don’t have favorable feelings…”

“Heoheo, taking a brave step closer is also a good thing.”

“G-Grandfather, you too…”

At Namgung Cheon’s words, Namgung So-hye waved her hands.

Even if she was said to be brave, she knew it was impossible. Dan Woo-hyun’s head was solely filled with thoughts of Dan So-mi, and other than that, maybe just a desire to protect this life to the end?

That was why he didn’t give Namgung So-hye a glance.

“Right now… I don’t think it’s time. Maybe a little later.”

“You’ll die of old age, you wench.”

Sa Do-hak smirked and shook his head back and forth. Namgung So-hye had grasped the situation properly, but those watching her were extremely frustrated.

If she liked him, she liked him, what was she weighing so much?

Even Dan Woo-hyun didn’t seem entirely indifferent, but it didn’t seem like he had any intention of explicitly saying it to Namgung So-hye.

Because just watching Namgung So-hye and Dan Woo-hyun was fun.

“Phew… Please stop saying things like that now. More importantly, are they still doing that over there?”

“Would anything have changed? It’s not like they’re some kind of spiteful mutants…”

Sa Do-hak clicked his tongue and turned his gaze.

The end of his gaze was directed towards the training ground. The scenery couldn’t be seen from here, but he naturally seemed to know what was going on inside.

“They are suffering a lot too.”

“They should consider themselves lucky just for not being killed.”

Sa Do-hak grinned.

Attacking a member of the Hunan Dan family was a crime worthy of death. Since this Central Plains Murim was always the law of the jungle, it was natural that the weak couldn’t even say a word.

Thus, even if they were killed, they couldn’t say it was unfair.

“But aren’t they totally spiteful mutants? They’ve already been burying their heads for four days, yet they haven’t even collapsed, right?”

At that time, Jang Sam-tae, who had secretly checked the inside of the training ground, clicked his tongue. The members of Killing Pavilion who were burying their heads were one thing, but Bi Cheon-ung, who was watching them, was also amazing.

He didn’t take his eyes off them for even a moment.

He was basically holding out for four days without even sleeping.

“This is why assassins are a problem, a problem. From whose belly are such spiteful mutants born?”

Sa Do-hak shook his head as if he was fed up.

* * *

Bi Cheon-ung silently stared at the people in front of him.

They were people with quite a name even within Killing Pavilion. Judging by their positions alone, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that all the top-ranking officials had gathered.

The fact that such people were holding out with their heads buried in the ground for four days showed that Bi Cheon-ung’s anger had reached the top of his head.

However, he didn’t explicitly say anything.

At first, he simply wondered how long they would last.

He hadn’t even thought they would stay with their heads buried in the ground for a day.

What human in the world could possibly do such a thing?

Because it was an impossible feat even for the Assassin Emperor Bi Cheon-ung.

But they were holding out bizarrely well.

So he didn’t know what to say.

Watching them, Bi Cheon-ung felt like he was going crazy.

‘I’m sleepy…’

Since he had been watching for four days, how could he not be sleepy?

But the guys with their heads buried were holding out, so wouldn’t it be funny if the so-called boss, the Assassin Emperor, left his seat saying he was sleepy?

Moreover, these guys didn’t even let out a single groan.

‘Crazy bastards…’

Even Bi Cheon-ung thought they were funny guys.

If even one of them collapsed, he thought he could use that as an excuse to leave his seat, but since they were holding out like wooden stones without even groaning, he felt like he was going to go crazy.

It was then.

Tremble, tremble-.

After four days passed, a reaction finally began to show.

When one guy started trembling, the others also trembled.

Bi Cheon-ung, thinking he could finally escape this hellish situation, opened his mouth.

“Are you tired?”

“…No. We can do more.”

However, that was also brief.

At the same time as spitting out the words that they could do more, the assassins corrected their posture again. Seeing that even the trembling could no longer be felt, it seemed they were squeezing out their last remaining strength.

‘Spiteful bastards…’

Bi Cheon-ung sweated even more cold sweat.

He was hungry.

He was sleepy.

He wanted to eat the meal Jang Sam-tae made, lie down on the bed, cover himself with a warm blanket, and sleep. Since such desires were surging like crazy, even a murderous intent to kill those in front of him crept up.

Did they feel that murderous intent?

The men flinched and trembled.

Bi Cheon-ung, who observed that without missing a beat, finally opened his mouth.

“Stand straight.”

The moment he said a word, they sprang up from their spots. Their complexions were pale as blood rushed to their heads. Well, if they were ordinary people, they would have already died.

The fact that they were still holding out was tantamount to saying they were prepared to throw away their lives at Bi Cheon-ung’s command.

“Do you know what you did wrong?”

“We do not know.”

“We did our best to carry out our mission.”

Yeah, honestly, even Bi Cheon-ung thought they didn’t really do anything wrong.

Since they received money, they had to prove their worth.

Weren’t assassins originally those who killed people for money? It was also funny to say the Hunan Dan family was excluded from that.

Sweat drop-.

Bi Cheon-ung swallowed a groan for a moment.

Since it came to this, he was slightly at a loss for what to say.

“What? You don’t know, you bastards?”

At that time, a ray of light shone down on Bi Cheon-ung.

The one who suddenly appeared out of nowhere was Sa Do-hak.

He instantly closed the distance and kicked toward the standing men.

Kwadang-kwadang-!

In an instant, several men flew and crashed into the ground.

Seeing them unable to stand properly while letting out intense groans, Sa Do-hak’s kicks seemed to be more than just usually painful.

“If you thought about touching the Hunan Dan family, you should have also thought about all dying. It’s a mistake that you bastards are alive right now, you rotten scumbags.”

“Keu-euk…”

“Consider yourselves lucky. I held back from smashing the Killing Pavilion or whatever to pieces.”

“A-No, smashing to pieces is a bit…”

At Sa Do-hak’s fiercely pouring words, Bi Cheon-ung lost his words.

No matter how much he had left that place now, it was still a group gathered for Bi Cheon-ung and essentially a place he was affiliated with.

Smashing such a place to pieces?

Would he feel good if someone said they would smash the Demonic Cult to pieces?

The moment Bi Cheon-ung was making an absurd expression.

Sa Do-hak shouted, whether he knew such feelings or not.

“What are you doing? You bastards. Come in and eat! If you’re alive, you have to eat something!”

At Sa Do-hak’s words, the assassins hastily stood up from their spots.

They had also been struggling in their own way.

Bi Cheon-ung lost his words as he watched that scene.

‘You should have said if it was hard…’

If they did, he would have ended this ridiculous situation long ago.

* * *

Gwon Mu-jin swung his swords like crazy.

The reason he never stopped even while feeling the pain of his arms about to fall off was because he felt like he would stop altogether the moment he stopped.

He had to climb.

He, who hadn’t received something bestowed by someone like Jang Sam-tae, was the most ordinary person in this manor.

But he wanted to show countless people that he could reach high places with that ordinariness.

‘Ma Jang-gang!’

Especially to Ma Jang-gang, who would be looking down from the sky.

Even for that friend he clinked glasses with while smiling and talking about such things together, Gwon Mu-jin could never stop.

Chwa-chwa-chwa-ak-!

The two twin sabers were swung without hesitation.

Fast, precise, and somehow even light and cheerful.

The appearance when he thrust one sword and swung the other was like a demon, so if there was an opponent, they would have been sufficiently pressured.

“Tsk tsk, you’re putting in too much strength.”

However, it didn’t look like that in another person’s eyes.

Jeok Mu-seong, who hadn’t seen Gwon Mu-jin’s training even once until now, was watching Gwon Mu-jin for some reason.

When he, startled by the voice suddenly heard, tried to stop his sword dance, Jeok Mu-seong shouted and pressed him as if scolding.

“Don’t stop, and keep going.”

Those words were like a command.

Gwon Mu-jin, who had been about to withdraw his swords, put in more strength.

At the thought that it was Jeok Mu-seong of all people who was watching, he moved and swung even more nimbly, trying to thrust out his everything.

If there was an enemy in front of his eyes, it seemed he would cut down anyone.

“How foolish! Do not leave it to the sword! You are the one who must command the sword!”

“U-Understood!”

“Gal (Shout)! How dare you open your mouth during training!”

Jeok Mu-seong shouted loudly and pressed Gwon Mu-jin.

He had left him alone until now.

Because everyone is bound to grow, and in that growth, another person’s advice could sometimes be a hindrance.

Since Jeok Mu-seong had reached his current position in that way, it was also true that he believed and left Gwon Mu-jin alone thinking he would be the same.

But things didn’t go as well as he thought.

Gwon Mu-jin was a genius by effort.

But there is a limit to just effort.

If someone didn’t give him teachings by his side now, even that effort would shatter to pieces and he wouldn’t be able to grow anymore.

Knowing that fact, he couldn’t leave him alone.

“If you want to become stronger, you must know that there are things that cannot be achieved by effort alone.”

“…”

“But from now on, I will pave the way for you.”

Jeok Mu-seong was trying to raise Gwon Mu-jin.

To the point where his name would highly reach the sky.

Because he knew that was the wish Gwon Mu-jin had, and because Jeok Mu-seong also had such a feeling, if only for a time…

Raising a disciple before dying didn’t seem too bad either.

Jeok Mu-seong grinned.

At the same time, Gwon Mu-jin’s swords became even more nimble.

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