Chapter 237

The Red Flower Tavern was renowned in Runan for its excellent liquor. For that reason, the footsteps of connoisseurs who knew their drink never ceased, twelve shichen a day.

Among the numerous drinkers, a woman was drinking alone.

At a glance, she seemed ordinary, but once you looked, she possessed a charm that made it impossible to look away.

Because of this, those drinking near the woman couldn’t take their eyes off her. However, no one dared to approach her and make a move. The aura she exuded was far from ordinary.

“Hoo!”

The woman sighed and set her cup down on the table.

Her face was flushed red, as if she had drunk quite a lot. Indeed, two empty liquor bottles were rolling on the table where she sat.

The drunken woman was Hong Ye-seol.

She should have left Runan by now, but she remained, drinking.

Hong Ye-seol didn’t actually like to drink. It felt good while drinking, but drinking too much dulled the senses.

For that reason, most assassins were reluctant to drink heavily. Especially when heading out on a kill for a client, they would abstain without taking a single sip.

The reason Hong Ye-seol was drinking at the Red Flower Tavern was that she had no intention of going on a kill for the time being.

Instead, she chose to stay in Runan and watch the fight between the two factions.

It was just as she was pouring liquor into her empty cup.

“To think the great Hong Ye-seol is drinking alone. What a strange sight.”

A grim voice that tormented the eardrums was heard.

Without turning her head, Hong Ye-seol opened her mouth.

“Black Tiger?”

“It’s been a while.”

Without permission, a man plopped down in front of her. He was a scrawny man wearing a black Wind Cloak. He was so thin that his face looked like a skull with only skin stretched over it.

“Why are you here? Did you perhaps come in my place?”

“That’s right! I decided to take the commission you gave up.”

The man called Black Tiger answered indifferently.

Hong Ye-seol’s eyes sharpened.

Black Tiger, the Fifth of the Ten Blood Assassins.

He was an assassin of a higher rank than her.

Though they belonged to the same Ten Blood Assassins, his methods were more cruel and secretive than hers.

‘Black Tiger is here.’

It was a situation Hong Ye-seol had not anticipated at all.

She had thought someone else would come in her place, but she truly hadn’t expected it to be Black Tiger.

It was extremely rare for Black Tiger to make a move.

Unlike most assassins, he was not moved by money. He only showed interest in matters that piqued his curiosity.

Hong Ye-seol asked.

“You’re not the type to take on a commission someone else has given up, are you?”

“This time is an exception.”

“An exception?”

“It seems like it’ll be fun.”

Black Tiger grinned.

For a moment, Hong Ye-seol felt a chilling sensation.

Black Tiger’s aura was so grim that it made even a fellow assassin wary.

What was visible on the surface was merely the tip of the iceberg.

Within the Hundred Wraith Union, Black Tiger’s alias was Mad Dog. His actions were no different from a mad dog whose next move was unpredictable.

“Do you know that the Red Lotus Four Ghosts are here?”

“I know. And that you were upset about it and canceled the commission.”

“And you came even though you knew that?”

“Am I the only one?”

“What do you mean?”

“A few others have come to Runan.”

“What?”

“Ice Kill and Dark Ghost have made their move.”

“Crazy bastards!”

Hong Ye-seol swore without realizing it.

The two people Black Tiger mentioned did not belong to the Ten Blood Assassins, but they were the assassins closest to that level.

‘Black Tiger, Ice Kill, and Dark Ghost. And if you add the Red Lotus Four Ghosts to that?’

Hong Ye-seol felt goosebumps on her skin.

If they worked together, there was no one they couldn’t kill.

Though their martial arts and killing methods were different, they were all masters when it came to the art of killing people.

Even though Hong Ye-seol was one of the Ten Blood Assassins, she had no confidence she could survive against all of them.

“Now, tell me.”

“About what?”

“That assassin.”

“What assassin?”

“The one you and the Red Lotus Four Ghosts were chasing.”

Black Tiger revealed his white teeth and smiled.

Only then did Hong Ye-seol realize Black Tiger’s purpose.

He wasn’t interested in Lee Yul’s commission. His interest was Pyo Wol.

Black Tiger was famous among the Ten Blood Assassins for his strong competitive streak.

In the early days, he had even tried to pick fights with his fellow Ten Blood Assassins to determine who was superior. Fortunately, the Union’s leader intervened and prevented it, but the desire to compete with the Ten Blood Assassins always simmered in his heart. However, since he couldn’t carry out a kill against them, he had changed his target to Pyo Wol, who had emerged in the Jianghu as a new Killing Star.

Hong Ye-seol glared at Black Tiger.

“He is by no means an easy target.”

“I am different from you. I don’t turn tail and run without even facing him properly, like you did.”

“You?”

“I heard the story. That you clashed with him and only suffered losses.”

“Who’s been spouting such nonsense?”

“If that’s not true, there’s no reason you would have abandoned the mission midway.”

Thwack!

Unable to bear it any longer, Hong Ye-seol slammed her palm on the table. A palm-shaped hole was punched right through the middle of the thick table.

At that, the people in the tavern fell silent. They had realized that the woman drinking alone was a fearsome expert.

Hong Ye-seol glared at Black Tiger with terrifying eyes. But there was not a single flicker of emotion on Black Tiger’s face.

“If it’s not true, then tell me about him.”

“You’ll regret it.”

“I have never failed a single one of my one hundred and seventy-two kills. There is no such thing as regret in my assassinations.”

“You’re not the first one to get a big head and pay for it.”

“Including you?”

“……”

“Fine. You don’t seem to be in a good mood, so I won’t ask anymore. It would only hurt your pride.”

Black Tiger stood up from his seat and vanished abruptly.

Hong Ye-seol’s face hardened.

Black Tiger’s attitude just now was a clear dismissal of her.

“How dare you!”

She ground her teeth.

Just because his rank was slightly higher didn’t mean he was definitively stronger.

The difference in martial arts or killing methods between the two was minimal.

The outcome of a fight was more likely to be decided by their physical condition on that day. For him to treat her like an inferior despite that, her anger flared to the top of her head.

“You shouldn’t have treated me like such a fool.”

Hong Ye-seol’s red lips curved into a smile. A good idea had come to her.

＊＊＊

“……”

The hall was silent.

It was a very strange sight.

For a gambling den filled with madness and excitement to be so quiet you couldn’t hear a single breath was beyond bizarre; it was frightening.

There were still many people inside the gambling den. But no one dared to open their mouths, all staring at one spot.

Their gazes were fixed on Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol sat with a posture as rigid as a stone statue. But in front of him, gold taels were piled up like a mountain.

It was as if all the gold taels in the gambling den had been scraped together in front of him.

And that was actually the case.

Half a day had passed since he entered the gambling den.

During that time, Pyo Wol had won every single gamble.

Be it dice or dominoes.

There was no one who could match him.

As Pyo Wol won again and again, the gambling den urgently brought in its best gamblers. But they, too, lost all their gold taels to Pyo Wol.

No matter what tricks they used, it was useless.

Pyo Wol saw through their tricks as if he were a ghost.

In the end, not only the customers but also the gamblers hired by the house had their pockets completely emptied.

The result was the scene before them now.

Everyone was just staring at Pyo Wol.

Just then, someone broke the silence and appeared.

“What’s this? Why’s the mood so shitty?”

The one who appeared with a rough voice was the owner of the gambling den, Jang Noya.

To Jang Noya’s left and right, burly men who were said to have some clout in the back alleys stood arrayed like a folding screen.

They didn’t just have fierce looks; they had all learned a thing or two about martial arts and were said to be unmatched in Indong.

Jang Noya’s gaze turned to Pyo Wol.

“What are you?”

“……”

“Who are you to come into someone else’s place of business and cause a ruckus? Are you a guy sent by the Black Serpent Sect?”

The Black Serpent Sect was an organization that managed another gambling den nearby. They were in competition with the gambling den Pyo Wol was in now.

Pyo Wol stood up from his seat and looked at Jang Noya.

“You seem to be the boss here?”

“Ha! You came to my gambling den and gambled without even knowing that?”

“That’s not what’s important.”

“It’s important to me, you wildcat-like bastard. What are you doing? Not cutting off that bastard’s wrist? No! Leave the wrist. His face is quite pretty, so he’ll probably sell for a high price. Take his gold taels, strip him naked, and make him kneel.”

“Yes!”

Jang Noya’s subordinates answered and were about to rush toward Pyo Wol.

It was at that moment.

Sssshhh!

Suddenly, a sound like a ghost’s sob echoed through the room.

Two Ghostly Rain daggers crisscrossed through the air, piercing through Jang Noya’s subordinates.

One man’s shoulder was pierced, another had a hole in his abdomen. Several others collapsed, hit by the flying daggers in their arms or legs.

In an instant, all of Jang Noya’s men were down.

Jang Noya stared at Pyo Wol with a look of disbelief. His body trembled as if he had seen a ghost.

He had no choice.

The Ghostly Rain daggers that had pierced his subordinates’ bodies were now floating in front of his face.

“S-Sword Control?”

In truth, they were being supported by the Soul Restraining Thread, but to Jang Noya’s eyes, it all looked the same.

Only then did he break into a cold sweat, realizing that the pretty-faced man before him was a very fearsome being.

Poke!

“Ugh!”

When the Ghostly Rain dagger floating in the air lightly poked his neck, he let out an involuntary gasp.

Fortunately, Jang Noya was a very quick-witted person.

“Aigoo! Great Hero! This lowly one has committed a crime worthy of death.”

He quickly knelt and begged for forgiveness.

“Sell me where?”

“No, sir. This mouth of mine just spouted nonsense on its own.”

Thwack! Thwack!

Jang Noya quickly punched his own mouth a couple of times. His lips burst and blood splattered, but he didn’t care.

Jang Noya knew well that this was a life-or-death moment.

One wrong move here, and his life would be over.

Jang Noya wanted to live a long life.

He hadn’t spent a single penny of the money he had painstakingly saved, and he didn’t want to lose his life.

Fortunately, he knew what he had to do to save his life.

‘He must have come here to gamble because there’s something he wants.’

He didn’t think a martial artist like Pyo Wol would have entered such a dirty place just for some gold taels.

Pyo Wol approached him and crouched down.

Their eyes met.

“Huk!”

Jang Noya quickly squeezed his eyes shut.

The moment he saw those eyes, he knew.

He knew that this was not a being he could dare to mess with.

The Ghostly Rain daggers were still floating in front of him.

With the fight between Snow Blade Sword Manor and Jin Clan, numerous experts had entered Runan. Because of that, those like Jang Noya who were involved in the back alleys were being particularly careful.

Naturally, they had some grasp of the martial artists who had come from outside. But nowhere in the information they had gathered was there any mention of a man like Pyo Wol.

With this level of power, he would undoubtedly be counted among the top martial artists who had entered Runan.

Jang Noya asked cautiously.

“I-Is there perhaps something you want from this lowly one?”

Instead of answering, Pyo Wol smiled slightly.

That smile felt more terrifying than the smile of the King of Hell.

Jang Noya pressed his head to the floor.

Thud!

“I-I will tell you anything. Please, just spare my life.”