Episode 326

No Hesitation Because They Know Each Other (1)

A mother and daughter were on the move.

 

They were Han So-cheon and Lee Soo-ah.

 

Both had torn clothes, and wounds marked their bodies here and there.

 

Je Mu-hyeok was truly relentless.

 

Not only had he nearly massacred the entire Hao Clan branch, but he was also pursuing the mother and daughter as doggedly as a wild hound.

 

They had nearly been caught by him multiple times.

 

Lee Soo-ah hadn’t sustained significant injuries, all thanks to Han So-cheon’s utmost efforts to protect her. As a result, Han So-cheon had suffered numerous wounds, some of them quite

deep.

 

She was still moving, despite injuries that might have been fatal if they were any deeper.

 

‘Mother!’

 

Lee Soo-ah looked at Han So-cheon.

 

Han So-cheon’s eyes were colder and more intense than ever. Lee Soo-ah thought her mother’s gaze was as sharp as a blade.

 

In all her time living with Han So-cheon, Han So-cheon had never shown such a look. Even while living a harsh life as an assassin, she never allowed such a fierce gaze to show in front of her children.

 

Although she had lived an assassin’s life out of necessity, she never wanted to reveal her tainted self to her children. Thus, she always hid her gaze as much as possible.

 

During their time at Mount Qilian, she could momentarily forget her past as an assassin.

Living a life without the need to be constantly alert was a joy in itself.

 

Thus, Han So-cheon lost her assassin’s edge.

 

She lost the keen sense honed to detect even an ant’s movements ten paces away.

 

She abandoned her life as the assassin Han So-cheon, and lived her life as an ordinary woman.

 

Her once razor-sharp senses had faded, and her body’s reflexes had grown dull, but she did not mind. She never wanted to return to being an assassin.

 

That was why she was caught off guard when Je Mu-hyeok attacked. Not only did their abilities clash unfavorably, but her rusty body and dulled senses were also a liability.

 

Though her mind and body still remembered her martial arts, being able to wield them freely was another matter. On top of that, her memories had made her loathe to use them.

 

Now, though, things have changed.

 

She had to protect her child.

 

She could no longer hold back because of those hateful memories.

 

Han So-cheon tried hard to recover her old senses, and now she had finally regained a portion of them. She was far below her prime, but it felt like she could at least make some use of her assassin’s talents.

 

As her senses returned and her mindset shifted, part of her assassin’s ability came back as well.

 

“This way…”

 

Han So-cheon led Lee Soo-ah.

 

Her eyes sharply scanned the surrounding environment.

 

The greatest strength of an assassin’s martial arts was always in ambushing.

 

Right now, they were in open terrain with no place to hide. They needed to find the most advantageous area and move there.

 

Still, she was not blindly searching for an ideal location to launch a sneak attack.

 

‘Oraboni will come for sure.’

 

Although sending out the messenger hawk had failed, by now, the news of the massacre at the Hao Clan branch would have reached Lee Gwak. He would certainly set out.

 

The key was surviving until Lee Gwak arrived. That’s why she looked for terrain best suited for an ambush.

 

‘He must be trained in specialized tracking skills or have some device to follow my trail. No matter what I do, he’ll definitely come after us.’

 

It was not a guess but a certainty.

 

She had nearly been caught multiple times already, so she knew better than anyone.

 

As she continued moving without pause, Han So-cheon suddenly looked at Lee Soo-ah.

 

“Soo-ah!”

 

“Yes?”

 

“If things start looking bad for me, you have to run on your own.”

 

“I can’t do that.”

 

Lee Soo-ah shook her head without a moment’s thought.

 

“Soo-ah!”

 

“How can I abandon you, Mother? If we die, we die together; if we live, we live together. Please don’t say that.”

 

“…”

 

“We’re family, aren’t we?”

 

“Yes, we are!”

 

“And Father will definitely come. We just have to hold on until then.”

 

Lee Soo-ah clenched her small fists tightly.

 

She looked even more exhausted and worn out than Han So-cheon, yet she did not let go of her slim thread of hope.

 

Seeing the resolve in Lee Soo-ah’s face gave Han So-cheon courage.

 

“Alright! Somehow we’ll hold out until your father comes.”

 

“Mm-hmm!”

 

Lee Soo-ah answered firmly.

 

Han So-cheon offered a faint smile.

 

The situation was dire, but having Lee Soo-ah by her side was reassuring.

 

Just then, Han So-cheon’s gaze turned sharp again.

 

A sinister energy crept in on the breeze.

 

‘Je Mu-hyeok!’

 

It was a sign that he was closing in.

 

Now that her assassin’s instincts had awakened, she could sense his presence—something she could not do just a short while ago.

 

During their brief conversation, Je Mu-hyeok had quickly closed the distance.

 

Han So-cheon tightened her grip on Lee Soo-ah’s hand.

 

“Let’s move faster. He’s close.”

 

“Alright!”

 

Lee Soo-ah nodded, gathering the last of her internal energy.

 

She was already at her physical limit. Yet she refused to give in.

 

She had been in a situation like this three years before.

 

It was the same when she was fleeing from the White Light Sect.

 

Back then, she had also reached her limit but did not give up. And that was when a miracle occurred—Lee Gwak appeared to rescue her.

 

Those memories were the reason Lee Soo-ah could not surrender.

 

She clenched her teeth and pressed on.

 

***

 

Squeak, squeak!

 

A red-eyed rat perched on a rock, staring intently in one direction.

 

“This way, is it?”

 

Je Mu-hyeok looked where the red-eyed rat was staring, but there was nothing there.

 

All he could see were bushes and rocks. However, Je Mu-hyeok was certain that Han So-cheon and Lee Soo-ah were beyond those bushes.

 

Han So-cheon was cunning. She traveled only over rock, solid ground, and wood—places that left virtually no tracks.

 

Because of this, Je Mu-hyeok had nearly lost track of Han So-cheon several times. Each time, the one that helped him was the red-eyed rat perched on the rock.

 

The rat’s name was Ghost Demon Rat.

 

It was a specially trained rat, raised in isolation.

 

If thousands of rats were confined in a small room without food, at some point, the rats, unable to bear the hunger, would start to devour each other.

 

The Ghost Demon Rat was the last survivor of such an ordeal.

 

Starved and forced to eat its kin, the rat developed an unusually sensitive sense and ferocity.

 

That was the Ghost Demon Rat.

 

Once it picked up a scent, it never forgot it and could track it over dozens of miles.

 

Je Mu-hyeok used the Ghost Demon Rat to track down Han So-cheon and Lee Soo-ah. Without it, he might not have been able to follow them at all, such was the cunning with which Han So-cheon erased her tracks.

 

“As long as I have the Ghost Demon Rat, they will never escape.”

 

Squeak!

 

The Ghost Demon Rat cried out and suddenly darted off in one direction.

 

Je Mu-hyeok used his qigong to follow the rat.

 

Despite being just a small rat, the Ghost Demon Rat was incredibly fast. Only someone with Je Mu-hyeok’s level of qigong could hope to keep up.

 

It was while Je Mu-hyeok was following the rat that it happened.

 

Screech!

 

—suddenly, a hawk’s cry echoed overhead.

 

Je Mu-hyeok looked up to see a large hawk circling in the air. The moment it spotted him, it plummeted downward as though swooping on prey.

 

It descended at a terrifying speed, spread its wings as it neared him and landed on his arm.

 

“Did Jin Woo-seon send this?”

 

One of Jin Woo-seon’s unique talents was taming animals.

 

The Ghost Demon Rat Je Mu-hyeok was using came from Jin Woo-seon, and so did the hawk that perched on his arm.

 

Whenever Jin Woo-seon had a message for Je Mu-hyeok, he sent it by hawk.

 

A small cylinder containing the message was fastened around the hawk’s ankle.

 

Je Mu-hyeok read the note—and his expression twisted in fury.

 

“Leave now, after all this?”

 

The message instructed him to stop chasing Han So-cheon and her daughter and to leave the area immediately, citing Lee Gwak as the reason.

 

Lee Gwak had broken through Jin Woo-seon’s interference and was headed their way, so he was advised to avoid confrontation.

 

Jin Woo-seon had written it out of concern for Je Mu-hyeok, but it only bruised Je Mu-hyeok’s pride.

 

He ground his teeth.

 

Other than Go Geom-wol, he did not acknowledge anyone as a worthy rival. Telling him to run just because Lee Gwak was coming only stoked his stubbornness.

 

“Hmph! That fellow was merely an outer hall member of the Jade Heaven Alliance—do you really think I should fear him?”

 

Je Mu-hyeok scoffed and sent the hawk back into the air.

 

He was Jin Woo-seon’s friend, not his subordinate.

 

It was up to him to decide whether to heed a friend’s request. And his decision was to refuse.

 

The hardships he had endured while tracking Han So-cheon and her daughter were indescribable.

 

If they were unable to rest properly because they were fleeing, he had also never gotten a moment’s peace. That only fueled his hatred and made him all the more determined to capture them and kill them. Only then would he be satisfied.

 

Je Mu-hyeok commanded the Ghost Demon Rat.

 

“Track them down faster.”

 

Squeak!

 

The Ghost Demon Rat seemed to understand his command and moved even faster.

 

“Bitches!”

 

Je Mu-hyeok’s eyes darkened heavily.

 

He was closing in on them. The growing cries of the Ghost Demon Rat proved it.

 

The Ghost Demon Rat was leading him to a canyon.

 

A river flowed mightily through the gorge, and dense forests loomed on either side.

 

“Is this the refuge you chose?”

 

A murderous glint flickered across Je Mu-hyeok’s eyes.

 

He entered the gorge without hesitation.

 

Tap, tap!

 

It was a fairly wide river, but Je Mu-hyeok skipped over it in one bound using his advanced qigong technique.

 

“Did you think to hide here? Then you thought wrong. You should have run farther.”

 

They must have made such a decision because they didn’t know he had the Ghost Demon Rat. It was an excellent opportunity for Je Mu-hyeok.

Once they hid in the gorge, they had no place left to flee.

 

Je Mu-hyeok made no effort to conceal his presence.

 

There was no reason to fear a prey that had been cornered.

 

Je Mu-hyeok raised his qi to locate the mother and daughter.

 

Chirp! Chirp!

 

Just then, the Ghost Demon Rat cried out in one direction. Je Mu-hyeok’s senses also picked up someone’s presence.

 

“Over there.”

 

Just as Je Mu-hyeok was about to launch himself towards the detected presence.

 

Whist!

 

A faint rustling sound echoed through the gorge.

 

“Where do you think you’re going?”

 

Je Mu-hyeok chuckled and twisted his waist slightly. By a hair’s breadth, a flying dagger passed by him.

 

“You think such a feeble attack can stop me?”

 

It was a decent bit of knife work, but it was not enough to deceive his sensitive senses. Such an ambush couldn’t even graze his clothing.

 

“Even though you were once a competent assassin, your skills have rusted.”

 

Je Mu-hyeok walked towards the direction from which the dagger had come.

 

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

 

Flying daggers pierced through the bushes in rapid succession. But again, none could touch even the sleeve of his garment.

 

The sneer on Je Mu-hyeok’s lips deepened.

 

Ouch!

 

Suddenly, he felt a pain in his ankle.

 

“Ugh!”

 

Je Mu-hyeok let out an involuntary groan and glanced down. His pupils shook for a moment.

 

An almost invisible silver wire cut a fraction of an inch into his ankle.

 

“What?”

 

Had he applied a bit more force, his ankle might have been completely severed.

 

Je Mu-hyeok quickly stepped back and surveyed the surroundings. Then he saw that the area was densely rigged with wires like a spiderweb.

 

“A trap?”

 

At that moment, a black figure burst out from the bushes. It was Han So-cheon.

 

Pap! Pap! Pap!

 

Han So-cheon ran across the thin wires as if they were flat ground, rapidly closing the distance to Je Mu-hyeok.

 

“How dare you!”

 

Roar!

 

With a roar, Je Mu-hyeok threw a punch, unleashing a powerful force that engulfed Han So-cheon. But she lightly leaped onto another wire, dodging the force.

 

Han So-cheon moved freely across the razor-sharp wires.

 

Her shoes were fitted with thin metal plates, enabling such feats. In contrast, Je Mu-hyeok was unable to perform proper steps because of the wires.

 

Sssgak!

 

In an instant, Han So-cheon closed in and inflicted a wound on Je Mu-hyeok’s shoulder.

 

Je Mu-hyeok turned to launch another forceful strike, but a flying dagger intercepted him. Lee Soo-ah had thrown it.

 

By then, Han So-cheon had already shifted to another wire.

 

She ran back and forth across the wires at an invisible speed. Each time, Je Mu-hyeok was left with significant injuries.

 

This was Han So-cheon’s way of fighting.

 

Han So-cheon’s eyes had returned to the days when she was known as the “assassin king.”