Chapter 136

The old monk whipped his head around in the direction of the voice. A familiar face came into view.

“Jeongmok. Does it look useful to you too?”

The old monk grinned widely.

All his teeth were gone, revealing his bare gums, and a terrible stench wafted from his mouth.

Having researched poisons for so long, Poison Qi had seeped into his body. However, he himself did not notice it.

Pyo Wol asked.

“What kind of poison is it?”

“I haven’t named it yet. It’s a fellow I’ve just completed. I guarantee you, any ordinary person exposed to this poison will die before they can even take seven steps.”

“Seven steps? In that case, how about Seven-Step Soul-Chasing Acid?”

“Seven-Step Soul-Chasing Acid? That’s quite a plausible name. Good! This poison’s name will be Seven-Step Soul-Chasing Acid. Hehehe!”

The old monk laughed, pleased.

His name was Dogwaeng.

Dogwaeng was a master of poison arts, and creating new poisons was the sole joy of his life.

The poisons he created were so potent that if they ever leaked, a major accident would occur. For that reason, he had made his nest deep in the basement of the Ten Thousand Dharma Hall, living with his disciples.

Everyone here was accustomed to poison. They had Poison Resistance and were not much affected by exposure to a small amount of Poison Qi.

Suddenly, a look of puzzlement appeared on Dogwaeng’s face.

“But Jeongmok, what brings you here? Weren’t you reluctant to come to this place?”

“I have brought a message from the sect leader.”

“The sect leader?”

“Lend me your ear for a moment…”

At Pyo Wol’s words, Dogwaeng leaned in without a hint of suspicion.

Puk!

In that instant, the Ghostly Rain pierced through his ear as if it were tofu.

Dogwaeng’s eyes flew wide open, but he couldn’t even scream.

‘You, why are you?’

Dogwaeng’s thought was never completed.

Pyo Wol had pushed the Ghostly Rain in deeper.

The ceramic bottle containing the Seven-Step Soul-Chasing Acid fell from his lifeless hand. If it hit the floor and shattered, an immense amount of Poison Qi would spread.

Pyo Wol snatched the ceramic bottle before it hit the floor.

Dogwaeng’s disciples had not yet noticed his death. That was how quickly it had happened.

Pyo Wol laid Dogwaeng’s corpse on the floor and then proceeded to kill the disciples one by one.

He either cut their breath with the Ghostly Rain or strangled them with the Soul Restraining Thread.

Dogwaeng’s disciples died one after another without even being able to scream.

In an instant, the underground cavern became a land of death.

A place no one dared to enter because of the poison.

A place that was needlessly vast and filled with darkness.

Pyo Wol liked this place.

Looking at the underground cavern reminded him of the days when he learned the Killing Method.

Those days when he couldn’t relax for a single moment, as the place was filled with all sorts of mechanisms and traps.

Pyo Wol meticulously examined every corner of the underground cavern.

He grasped the terrain and carefully observed what was inside.

Dogwaeng and his disciples had lived almost in seclusion here.

It was extremely rare for them to go outside. Others were also reluctant to have contact with them.

Because of that, they lived with a huge pile of necessary supplies.

All sorts of goods were piled up in a warehouse made by remodeling one side of the underground cavern.

Pyo Wol nodded his head.

“Good!”

＊＊＊

Inmok was sitting cross-legged, engrossed in his Qi Circulation.

He was a member of the Mad Blood Monks.

He was also a die-hard Martial Maniac who never neglected his training for a single day.

No matter how busy he was, he always made time to practice his Martial Arts. Thanks to that, his Martial Arts had surpassed the limits of a Mad Blood Monk and were comparable to a Mara Blood Monk.

He hadn’t been able to do his Martial Practice for the past few days because he had been wandering through the Southern Wood Forest. For that reason, as soon as he returned to his quarters, Inmok began his Qi Circulation.

So he did not notice the black shadow seeping into his residence.

Opening the lock without a sound, the black shadow approached Inmok, having completely erased its presence.

As if sensing a strange Qi, Inmok hurriedly stopped his Qi Circulation and opened his eyes.

At that moment, his throat was squeezed tight.

A single strand of Silver Thread was tightening around his neck like a noose.

The moment Inmok struggled, the Silver Thread dug into his flesh and cut off his breath.

Just like that, Inmok died without a single scream.

The black shadow retrieved the Silver Thread.

The owner of the Silver Thread was none other than Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol left Inmok and slipped into the room right next door.

Another Mad Blood Monk had lost his life in vain.

Thus, the Reaper of death visited the rooms of all the Mad Blood Monks in succession.

The next morning, the Small Thunder Sound Temple was in an uproar.

The bodies of the Mad Blood Monks had been discovered.

All thirty Mad Blood Monks were dead, with no signs of resistance.

The first to discover the bodies was a low-ranking Disciple who handled chores.

He was in charge of collecting and washing the Mad Blood Monks’ clothes, but when not a single one came out no matter how long he waited, he couldn’t bear it any longer and went inside, only to find the bodies.

One Mad Blood Monk was dead in each room.

If the low-ranking Disciple hadn’t gone in, the discovery of the bodies would have been delayed much longer.

Naturally, the Small Thunder Sound Temple was turned upside down.

The Mad Blood Monks were talents that were not easy to cultivate.

It would take decades to raise such Martial Artists again.

Naturally, the Blood Buddha flew into a rage.

“What is the meaning of this? The Mad Blood Monks have been annihilated. Why can no one answer?”

“It must be the work of that Assassin. He must have infiltrated the Small Thunder Sound Temple.”

“Didn’t you say he could never enter the main temple because of the formation spread throughout the Southern Wood Forest?”

“It seems his abilities exceed our expectations.”

Kwang!

The Blood Buddha slammed his fist on the armrest.

The thick armrest crumbled into dust.

Seeing this, the leaders of the Small Thunder Sound Temple swallowed dryly. It was a sign that the Blood Buddha’s anger had reached its peak.

The sect leader of the Small Thunder Sound Temple was always the strongest one.

The Small Thunder Sound Temple was a place where even those of the direct lineage would be eliminated if their Martial Arts were weak. The Blood Buddha was a Martial Artist reputed to have the strongest martial power among all past sect leaders.

When he was angry, no one in the Small Thunder Sound Temple could escape it.

That was true even for the Blood Thunder Ten Monks.

The Blood Thunder Ten Monks bowed their waists low, waiting for the Blood Buddha’s anger to subside. But as time passed, the Blood Buddha’s anger only grew.

A full thirty men had died.

And within their own headquarters, the Small Thunder Sound Temple.

“He is hiding here.”

“……”

“He must have killed someone and taken on their face. If we leave him be, he will continue to kill the disciples of the Small Thunder Sound Temple. You must find him. And bring him before me. I will tear him limb from limb while he is still alive. Do you understand my words?”

“Yes!”

The Blood Thunder Ten Monks answered in unison and rushed outside.

They summoned the monks under their command and began to search the interior of the Small Thunder Sound Temple.

“Find him!”

“He must have transformed into one of us.”

“Anyone acting suspiciously is the Assassin.”

The monks’ anger pierced the heavens.

They watched each other with fire in their eyes.

For now, suspecting each other was the best they could do.

The slightest suspicious action would lead to immediate interrogation or capture.

They knew for certain that an Assassin had infiltrated.

The problem was that not a single person had seen the Assassin’s face.

They didn’t know what he looked like, nor what Martial Arts he used. They couldn’t tell what his specialties were, or what weapons he mainly used.

The monks of the Small Thunder Sound Temple keenly felt that there was nothing more terrifying than knowing nothing.

The opponent was an unknown entity.

There was no way that flushing out such a person would be easy.

Various incidents kept occurring.

It even reached a point where monks started fighting amongst themselves out of suspicion.

All of this was caused by a single Assassin.

As the situation escalated, the Blood Thunder Ten Monks had to step in personally to control the disciples. A misstep could lead to extreme antagonism and develop into internal strife.

Fortunately, the Assassin had shown no particular movement for the past few days. As the situation became like this, some monks thought that the Assassin might have escaped the Small Thunder Sound Temple.

“It must have been a burden for him too, right?”

“He can’t hide in the Small Thunder Sound Temple forever, can he? He must have left a long time ago.”

But as if to mock their predictions, several more monks lost their lives that very night.

The cause of death was the same.

All had been strangled to death by a Silver Thread.

And in their own quarters, no less.

They had surely locked their doors tightly from the inside and maintained a strict guard. But all those preparations were useless.

The Assassin had broken through all of the Small Thunder Sound Temple’s defense systems.

In the past three days, the number of monks killed by the Assassin exceeded twenty.

As the situation reached this point, the martial artists of the Small Thunder Sound Temple were terrified.

An unseen arrow was more frightening than a visible sword.

The fear that they could become the Assassin’s target at any moment and bid farewell to the world made them shrink in their actions.

“What is this disgraceful state over a single Assassin?”

The Blood Buddha let out a roar.

“There is no need to be afraid. He is still just one man.”

“If we stick together, he won’t be able to do anything to us.”

The Blood Thunder Ten Monks also encouraged their disciples. But despite their encouragement, another ten or so disciples lost their lives overnight.

The cause of death was the same.

The Assassin was never in a hurry.

He did not expose any traces.

He thoroughly exploited the openings of the Small Thunder Sound Temple monks, and he never once failed.

Because of this, the monks’ fear snowballed with each passing day.

“He is like a demon. To think the main temple is being swayed like this by a single Assassin.”

Myeongak, one of the Blood Thunder Ten Monks, muttered as he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

His eyes were bloodshot from not having slept properly for the past few days.

The strain on his body was no joke, as he was constantly on high alert, not knowing when the Assassin might strike. The back of his neck was as stiff as a rock, and no amount of Qi Circulation could relieve the fatigue.

“When I catch that bastard, I will surely tear him into a thousand, ten thousand pieces.”

Myeongak moved his feet, radiating Killing intent.

All the monks of the Small Thunder Sound Temple were in a similar state to Myeongak.

Their nerves were stretched taut. They were so filled with anger that it felt like they would explode at the slightest shock.

The place Myeongak was heading to was Heuk Am’s residence.

Since returning from Chengdu, Heuk Am had stayed only in his own quarters. The entire Small Thunder Sound Temple was in an uproar over a single Assassin, yet he hadn’t shown his face once, remaining in seclusion.

“Seclusion, for the one who brought the Assassin here?”

As the saying goes, he who ties the knot must untie it.

Since Heuk Am had caused this situation, he should be the one to resolve it.

A few disciples who spotted him hurriedly bowed their heads in greeting. But they did not approach him closely.

Since the Assassin’s killings began, the monks were wary of getting close to each other. It was because the Assassin might have transformed into a colleague to approach them.

Myeongak was the same.

He only nodded to acknowledge the monks’ greetings, neither approaching them nor offering a single warm word.

It was then.

Puk!

Suddenly, he felt a sting on the sole of his foot.

When he checked the sole of his foot, a fine Silver Needle was embedded upside down. He felt his body becoming paralyzed, starting from the area where the Silver Needle was stuck.

‘A poison needle?’

Myeongak hurriedly circulated his Qi to drive out the poison.

But before he could even move his Internal Energy, the paralysis had reached his upper body.

“Ass…assin…”

His vocal cords had also stiffened, so his voice barely came out.

His body was rigid like a stone statue, but his mind was strangely clear.

Myeongak remembered that Dogwaeng from the Ten Thousand Dharma Hall’s basement had created such a poison long ago.

‘Could it be that Dogwaeng also fell to him?’

At that moment, a black shadow revealed itself before Myeongak.

Appearing silently like a snake, the black shadow stared intently at Myeongak.

The moment he saw the emotionless gaze, Myeongak realized that this was the Assassin the Small Thunder Sound Temple had been so desperately searching for.

As Myeongak had predicted, the black shadow was none other than Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol hoisted the paralyzed Myeongak onto his shoulder.

Myeongak’s weight was considerable, but Pyo Wol moved as lightly as a feather, as if he couldn’t feel the weight at all.

Right after Pyo Wol disappeared, monks of the Small Thunder Sound Temple passed by that spot. But not a single one of them noticed that Myeongak had vanished.