Chapter 9: Revenge (4)
Words without feet travel a thousand li even in a single night.
Last night, the rumor that an unidentified expert appeared and slaughtered the martial artists of the Black Path Gang spread all over Anhui Province.
The Tiger Pit Sect was also noisy because of this rumor.
“Wow, seriously. A girl I know used to work as a maid in the Black Path Gang, you know? But she said all the rumors are true!”
Tiger Pit Sect’s stablekeeper, Woo Dong-won, was passionately speaking to the other boys.
“They said the servants who survived in the Black Path Gang last night also testified to the exact same thing. Is that all? People who were heavily in debt to the Black Path Gang also spoke. They said all their debt documents disappeared overnight!”
“Wow. The people who were crying over the Black Path Gang’s wickedness all this time must feel so relieved.”
“Indeed. Frankly, even our Tiger Pit Sect was headache-ridden because of those Black Path Gang guys sometimes.”
“Eh? The Tiger Pit Sect too?”
“Yeah~ They said a few money lenders from whom the Tiger Pit Sect borrowed money sold the rights to repayment to the Black Path Gang. So well, they used to come occasionally and cause a scene demanding ridiculous interest. But since all of those became void, it’s a huge relief for the Tiger Pit Sect too!”
“Kya—what kind of chivalrous hero achieved such a wonderful feat? Truly a hero of Anhui Province, a hero!”
Woo Dong-won and the other stable boys chatted back and forth about last night’s incident.
At that moment, the eyes of Woo Dong-won, who was talking with spitting saliva, suddenly turned fierce.
“Hey, newbie! Did you clean all the horse dung!?”
The target he was shouting at was none other than Chui.
“······.”
Chui, who had entered the stable, silently began to scoop up fodder.
Actually, he had not yet taken out the gold plaque that Escort Leader Ju Ye-hwa had given him in the past.
This was because if he stayed in the Tiger Pit Sect in the capacity of an expert, there was a possibility that the series of incidents that occurred in the Black Path Gang might be linked to the Tiger Pit Sect.
‘Until I settle the matters of the Cao Family Manor, there is no need to draw attention.’
Right at that moment,
Whack!
there was a hand hitting the back of Chui’s head.
Woo Dong-won. As if he did not like Chui’s every single move, he was constantly picking a fight.
“Look at this bastard, his face is rotten just because he cleaned some horse dung. Won’t you fix your expression?”
“······.”
“If a homeless beggar bastard like you is picked up, fed, and given a place to sleep, you should work while saying thank you~, where do you think you are? Huh!? That you can work here is all thanks to the Tiger Pit Sect Leader! Work with a grateful mind! Don’t look like death warmed up just because you did some hard work!”
Woo Dong-won shrugged while reprimanding Chui.
Occasionally, he had to catch a weak guy and scold him like this once in a while to maintain discipline inside the stable.
However,
“Is it not that the work is hard because you guys dump all the work on the children who came in late?”
At Chui’s subsequent remark, Woo Dong-won was instantly dazed.
“What did you just say? A-Are you crazy? Do you really want to die, you?”
The stable boys approached with menacing expressions.
Watching them, Chui recalled his memories of the old days.
He remembered when he first arrived as a recruit at a military unit on the border.
The time when he was bullied by seniors because his body was weak and his personality was blunt.
Days when it was natural for things to disappear when he woke up, and for him to be beaten every night.
‘At that time, that fellow helped me a lot.’
Chui recalled the appearance of Ho Ye-yang, who had formed a sworn brotherhood with him.
Her face and body stained with burns, and the metallic voice that came from her burnt Adam’s apple.
……Right at that moment.
“You guys!”
A beautiful voice, completely unsuited for a stable, was heard.
Woo Dong-won and the other stable boys suddenly froze stiff, as if struck by lightning.
“······.”
Chui turned his head toward the voice.
He saw a woman standing outside the stable.
Ho Ye-yang.
She, who was standing in a jaw-droppingly beautiful appearance, completely different from the one in Chui’s memory.
“Why are you bullying the newcomer? You shouldn’t do that. I respect your own culture, but still, consideration is needed for someone who has just arrived.”
At Ho Ye-yang’s scolding, Woo Dong-won said hesitantly,
“T-That’s not it, Lady. This fellow keeps talking informally to me…… when I am obviously older. Hehe—”
“He is still a child. He might not be familiar with the etiquette of honorifics, so you guys should teach him a lot.”
“Aey, he is just a transient who will leave after working for a short while anyway.”
“Even so. They say that even a mere brush of sleeves is fate. You must know how to cherish fate. You never know how things will turn out. Because we might meet again in a faraway land thousands of miles away and become family someday.”
At the gentle rebuke from Ho Ye-yang, who did not have much of an age difference from them, the stable boys scratched their heads.
‘What reason is there to meet again with a transient who will stay for just a short while.’
‘In the first place, there is no way for me to leave for a faraway land thousands of miles away.’
‘Even if we met again there, there is no way he would feel like family.’
What everyone was thinking was plain to see.
Regardless of that, Ho Ye-yang gestured toward Chui.
“Hey, are you the one who came in this time?”
“······.”
Chui stood still, looking at Ho Ye-yang.
Although it was completely different from the face and voice in his memory…… nevertheless, he could tell.
Her eyes were the same.
A clear and upright energy.
The Ho Ye-yang in front of him was definitely the very Ho Ye-yang Chui knew.
“If anyone bullies you in the future, come straight to me.”
It was exactly the appearance of the sworn older brother who always took him around when he was ostracized by seniors during his days as a low-ranking soldier.
At the image of the sworn brother overlapping in front of his eyes, Chui opened his mouth.
“You too.”
“······?”
Ho Ye-yang, who was about to turn around, hesitated.
Her eyes, as large as lakes, captured Chui’s image.
Chui spoke to Ho Ye-yang, who was facing him.
“If anyone bullies you in the future, come straight to me.”
The stable boys’ eyes widened so much that they almost popped out.
It was an expression that wrote, ‘Does that crazy bastard dare to not know his place!?’
Yet Ho Ye-yang herself only blinked her large eyes and did not say anything else.
And soon,
the corners of her eyes curved into a gentle arc.
“Yes. Sure. I will.”
With a cheerful smile, Ho Ye-yang left the stable.
* * *
A night when even the moon did not rise.
Chui silently climbed over the wall of the Tiger Pit Sect.
Retrieving the weapons he had hidden under the bushes in a secluded place, Chui headed straight to where the Cao Family Manor was located.
A dark-colored spear.
And two awls, a hammer, Iron Caltrops, a poison jar, and various other items.
Swish—
Chui scaled the wall of the Cao Family Manor in the blink of an eye.
The security was quite tight.
Perhaps because of the news that the Black Path Gang was wiped out, the guards were particularly alert.
Chui silently drew an awl.
And he passed through the grass below the wall and stepped on the guard’s shadow.
“Who is it?”
The moment the guard, sensing a presence, turned his head,
Puff!
the awl Chui drew lodged into the guard’s temple.
Neither too long nor too short, it precisely pierced the human skull, slightly touched the brain, and was smoothly pulled out.
Gurgle, gurgle……
Blood and brain fluid gushed out of the small hole pierced in the temple.
Chui dragged the corpse into the bushes and stripped the Cao Family Manor’s martial uniform to put it on.
Soon, a walkway leading to the inner garden appeared.
Several maids carrying lanterns were moving.
Chui passed by them with a calm expression.
Behind a wooden pillar, another martial artist of the Cao Family Manor was seen.
He was very tall, so his head was at a height that Chui’s hand could not easily reach.
Chui flicked his finger and shot an Iron Caltrop.
Stab—
The martial artist, who stepped on the Iron Caltrop that fell on the ground, groaned and bent his waist.
The moment he bent his head to check what had pierced the sole of his foot,
Whoosh—
Chui took out a steel hammer with a thin handle and a thick end, and struck the back of the martial artist’s head.
Crunch!
He died instantly without even being able to let out a scream.
Drag, drag……
Hiding the corpse in the shadow behind the building, Chui leapt onto the roof.
‘Let’s see. According to the map, the Manor Lord’s bedroom is……’
A building with its lights on was visible far away.
The direction was southwest, a five-story pavilion.
Several guards were standing in front of it.
One of them seemed to look around, then soon took something out of his pocket and began to eat.
Rice ball.
He was probably eating a midnight snack in secret.
Chui threw a strand of silk thread onto the roof of the building opposite.
Rattle—
As the silk thread tied to the Iron Caltrop was firmly secured to the opposite roof, Chui took out the jar containing poison from his breast pocket.
Slosh—
A drop of black poison flowed down the silk thread.
It eventually flowed to the middle of the long, connected silk thread,
…Drip!
and soon fell below the silk thread.
Below it was the rice ball the guard was eating.
Slide—
As soon as the poison fell onto the rice ball, it directly permeated between the white rice grains.
Although it was black, it did not particularly stand out because it was dark.
“Cough!?”
The guard who was eating the rice ball held his neck and coughed.
And then he collapsed abruptly.
At that, the warriors patrolling from afar ran over.
“What is it? What happened!”
“P-Poison!? It’s poison! It’s poisoning!”
“Let’s go to the kitchen! Capture the maids first!”
“Close the gates of the manor! Make sure no one leaves!”
Confusion broke out inside.
The warriors of the Cao Family Manor dispersed in groups to crack down on the innocent kitchen maids.
Chui, who was watching this, stood up.
“I suppose I can stop the play here.”
He leaped from roof to roof.
Leap— stab!
He leaped high and simultaneously thrust his spear to lodge it into the wall.
Chui reached the height of the fourth floor in an instant.
…Crash!
When he broke the window and went inside, there were three warriors there.
“W-Who……!?”
“Raid……!”
“Assassin……!”
All three opened their mouths, but could not make a sound.
It was because Chui wielded his spear with lightning speed.
…Puff-puff-puff!
A straight scar was left on the Adam’s apple of the three warriors, and no trace was left on the back of their necks.
It was a trace of the spear blade that cut through the skin and pulled out right before penetration, cutting only the throat.
Chui withdrew his spear.
Since time should not be delayed during retrieval, there was no need to pierce through.
Stabbing to the depth just enough to kill was all that was needed.
As he passed the blood-stained floor, a presence was heard from the stairs.
“Who is it?”
The guard on the fifth floor frowned upon seeing Chui.
“Are you in charge of the fourth floor? Why did you come up all the way here?”
“······.”
“Wait. I haven’t seen your face before? Who are you? Why are you holding a spear instead of a sword……?”
Chui was wearing the Cao Family Manor’s martial uniform, which did not have a single drop of blood on it, over his girl-like pretty face.
Thus, the guard seemed unable to immediately make the judgment that Chui was an attacker.
……That directly became his cause of death.
Boom!
Chui, who kicked off the stairs, thrust his spear directly.
The blood-red energy of the Spear Ghost Calling wrapped around the black spear, drawing a straight dark red trajectory.
Crunch!
The guard’s heart was pierced straight through and pinned to the wall.
Chui blew the guard’s body away with that momentum and leaped up to the fifth floor.
“What is it?”
“Gasp! It’s a raid!”
“An assassin has come!”
The three guards on the fifth floor responded immediately to Chui’s appearance.
But Chui’s reaction speed was even faster.
Since Chui had memorized all the terrain inside the building, he kicked and broke the partition wall he first faced.
The other two guards who were inside preparing a surprise attack were startled.
In a battle situation, a moment of hesitation is death.
Crack— slash!
Chui brandished his spear twice, separating two heads from their bodies and sending them flying into the air.
Two of the three guards in the corridor drew their swords and rushed forward, but
“Ugh! On the floor……!”
“Aaargh! My foot!”
they stepped on the Iron Caltrops made of nails and collapsed helplessly.
Stab— stab!
Chui drove his spear into the backs of the two fallen guards.
The last one kicked off the wall, leaping and swinging his sword, but
Thwack!
he was struck on the forehead by the hammer thrown by Chui and died in mid-air, spilling his brains.
Drip-drop— drip-drop— drip-drop—
A shower of blood fell inside the building.
Chui pushed away the Iron Caltrops and fragments of flesh scattered on the floor with his foot.
At that time,
“It is noisy.”
A low voice sounded from inside.
Chui stopped in his tracks.
A voice containing immense internal energy was echoing in the space beyond the wall.
An aura that could not even be compared to the likes of Ouyang Po, whom he had fought in the Black Path Gang.
“No matter how uninvited a guest you are, you should at least have a minimum of conscience. What is this commotion at this hour?”
Soon, an old man walked out into the corridor.
White hair, bushy eyebrows, a tall stature, a dark complexion, and piercing eyes.
A master swordsman with a long sword at his waist, which seemed twice the length of other swords, faced Chui.
Chui tilted his head slightly and asked.
“Zhao Xiangzi. Right?”
“You are a child of few words.”
Cao Yangzi, the patriarch of the Cao Family Manor.
He was the culprit who dropped Ho Ye-yang’s life into the abyss.
Unrivaled Spear Ghost