Chapter 284

Seol Gang-yeon screamed at the top of his lungs, searching for Lee Yul. But Lee Yul never showed himself.

At this, Seol Gang-yeon wore a bewildered expression.

“Stew…ard?”

No matter how far away he was, Lee Yul was the one who would always come running whenever he called. But for some reason, Lee Yul gave no response.

Pyo Wol approached him and said,

“No matter how much you call, he won’t come.”

“What?”

“What do you know about him?”

“What nonsense is this?”

“I’m asking how much you know about Lee Yul.”

“He is a loyal subordinate.”

“Do you really think so?”

“That’s…”

Seol Gang-yeon found himself stuttering.

Pyo Wol moved in closer to him.

“What kind of loyal subordinate would use their liege as bait?”

“Bait? Who’s the bait?”

Seol Gang-yeon tried hard to deny Pyo Wol’s words. But the look of anxiety on his face was palpable.

The fact that not a single subordinate had come running, despite his shouting so loudly, was making his deeply uneasy.

No matter how many troops had been withdrawn, it was impossible for him to be left this neglected.

Pyo Wol asked,

“How did you meet Lee Yul?”

“…”

Seol Gang-yeon did not answer and stepped back.

Pyo Wol followed him and asked again.

“Did he approach you first? Saying he would find your old home for you?”

“I, I hired him. The Steward didn’t come looking for me.”

“Can you at least tell me how you first met?”

“…”

Seol Gang-yeon couldn’t answer properly.

Pyo Wol was not surprised.

“I thought so.”

Every person has their own capacity.

Lee Yul’s capacity was far greater than Seol Gang-yeon’s.

He might have thought he had Lee Yul within his grasp, but it was the exact opposite. He was merely a means to an end.

Everything about Snow Blade Sword Manor was being controlled by Lee Yul.

Considering that the scale of Snow Blade Sword Manor was by no means small, Lee Yul’s ability to have taken complete control and manipulated it to his will was truly remarkable.

Shing!

Pyo Wol drew his Ghostly Rain.

Seeing the dagger with its chillingly sharp blue blade, Seol Gang-yeon drew his sword.

“Do you think I’ll go down so easily? Even without the Steward, you won’t be able to touch a single hair on my head.”

Although he had neglected his martial arts and grown this fat, the martial arts he had learned over the years had not simply vanished.

“Haaat!”

Seol Gang-yeon attacked first.

His sword flew in, tracing a sharp trajectory. But in Pyo Wol’s eyes, countless openings were visible.

The Sword Stance itself might have been perfect, but the person who had learned it was too overweight to execute it properly.

Other martial artists might have been intimidated by the seemingly sharp Sword Stance, but to an experienced martial artist like Pyo Wol, it posed no threat whatsoever.

Pyo Wol used his Serpentine Steps to evade his Sword Stance and close the distance.

He struck a palm against Seol Gang-yeon’s wide-open chest.

Pow!

With a sound like a leather drum bursting, Seol Gang-yeon was thrown backward.

A martial artist must never let go of their weapon, no matter the circumstances. But the moment he was thrown back, Seol Gang-yeon dropped his sword.

He lacked the basic posture of a martial artist.

Subduing such a person was not a difficult task for Pyo Wol.

“Kweeegh!”

Seol Gang-yeon fell flat on the ground, vomiting the food that filled his stomach. Tears and snot covered his face.

Pyo Wol plunged the Ghostly Rain into Seol Gang-yeon’s thigh.

Stab!

“Kraaack!”

Seol Gang-yeon let out another scream.

Pyo Wol took out another Ghostly Rain dagger.

Only then did Seol Gang-yeon’s face become colored with terror.

“S-spare me.”

The Jijon of a sect should not, at the very least, lose their dignity in front of an enemy. Not even when their life was on the line.

In that respect, Seol Gang-yeon was not Jijon material.

He was nothing more than a convenient sacrificial lamb.

Just as Pyo Wol was about to plunge the Ghostly Rain into his body once more.

Shh-gaak!

A silver Sword Light split the night sky.

Pyo Wol leaped back to avoid the Sword Light.

The Sword Light struck Seol Gang-yeon directly.

“Keuk!”

With an expression of disbelief, Seol Gang-yeon looked at the owner of the sword that had pierced his chest.

The man, so featureless that one wouldn’t remember his face after seeing him once or twice, was none other than Lee Yul’s confidant, Baek Dokyeong.

Baek Dokyeong’s sword had accurately pierced Seol Gang-yeon’s heart.

“Y-You?”

Seol Gang-yeon reached out, trying to grab Baek Dokyeong by the collar. But Baek Dokyeong was too far away for his hand to reach.

As the Steward’s confidant, Baek Dokyeong was also a subordinate to the Manor Lord, Seol Gang-yeon, yet he took his life without any hesitation.

Baek Dokyeong stared intently at Seol Gang-yeon and said,

“It seems our connection ends here. It has been an honor being with you all this time, Manor Lord! Farewell.”

“You, you…”

Seol Gang-yeon tried to say something, but Baek Dokyeong did not listen any longer and pulled out the sword embedded in his heart. An immense amount of fresh blood gushed from Seol Gang-yeon’s chest.

Seol Gang-yeon flailed his hands in the air before collapsing.

That was his end.

For the one who had plunged Runan into a storm of blood, it was an all too futile end.

Pyo Wol silently watched Seol Gang-yeon’s death.

“Kill and silence. It seems that’s all she was worth to the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild.”

At Pyo Wol’s completely unexpected words, Baek Dokyeong’s eyes widened.

The very name Nine Dragons Assassination Guild was top secret.

Those who knew that name in all under heaven could be counted on one hand.

Even its members did not know that the organization they belonged to was the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild.

Had Baek Dokyeong not been Lee Yul’s confidant, he would never have known that name.

The very fact that such a secret was mentioned by Pyo Wol was a great shock.

Baek Dokyeong unwittingly revealed his agitation.

“How do you?”

“Was Lee Yul’s mission to use Snow Blade Sword Manor to instigate the Troubled Times?”

“…”

Baek Dokyeong was at a loss for words.

They thought they had made no mistakes that could be traced.

Until now, the biggest threat had been Jin Geum-woo.

In all under heaven, only he had noticed the existence of the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild and had been tracking them with his comrades.

Lee Yul had planned and executed a scheme to lure Jin Geum-woo into a trap and kill him, thereby throwing all under heaven into chaos.

Pyo Wol was seeing through their secret plan, which no one else had noticed.

‘This man…’

Baek Dokyeong felt goosebumps rise all over his body.

He had never encountered such a being.

He wasn’t frightening simply because his martial arts were strong or his killing methods were formidable.

What was truly terrifying was his insight, his ability to gather mere fragments of information and paint the entire picture.

This kind of insight was something one was either born with or had to hone in extreme environments.

Baek Dokyeong had never seen someone with this level of insight and intuition. The Lee Yul he served was an outstanding individual, but he was still within the realm of common sense.

A being as enigmatic as Pyo Wol was a first.

‘He must be killed. If I let him live, he will be a source of trouble for years to come.’

Originally, Baek Dokyeong had no intention of fighting Pyo Wol directly. The potential gains were not worth the risk. But now, his thoughts had changed.

‘A man who must be eliminated, no matter the sacrifice.’

Baek Dokyeong raised his hand.

At that, ten shadows appeared on the roofs of the pavilions.

They were individuals with faces as featureless as Baek Dokyeong’s.

They had been laborers and low-ranking warriors of Snow Blade Sword Manor.

Lives that no one paid any attention to. Treated as if they didn’t exist even within Snow Blade Sword Manor, they were Baek Dokyeong’s subordinates.

Those who disguised themselves as ordinary people like Baek Dokyeong and handled matters in the shadows.

In the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild, they were called Soulless Ghosts.

Baek Dokyeong pointed his finger at Pyo Wol. The Soulless Ghosts then rushed toward Pyo Wol all at once.

One held a kitchen knife used only in the kitchen, while another brandished a sword hidden inside a broom.

They used everyday objects as weapons.

Their martial arts were the same.

There were no conspicuously flashy or impressive technique forms.

It consisted of extremely ordinary technique forms like stabbing and slashing. But their momentum was tremendous, and their precision was exquisite, showing that they had been refined through numerous real battles.

Shwi-shwi-shwik!

The coordination of the ten was truly insane.

Like a spinning wheel, they attacked Pyo Wol without a moment’s pause.

If Pyo Wol had been an ordinary martial artist, his head would have already been severed by their combined attack. But unfortunately for them, Pyo Wol was not the kind of martial artist one could commonly find in the marketplace.

Chwareureuk!

The Ghostly Rain daggers attached to the Soul Restraining Thread began to dance.

The sight of a dozen daggers flying horizontally and vertically through the air was truly a spectacle.

An unknowing person might have applauded, calling it beautiful. But the result was not so beautiful.

Puhwaak!

A mist of blood scattered in the air.

The scattering droplets of blood became a fog, dyeing the night sky red before disappearing.

Within it, the Soulless Ghosts who had attacked Pyo Wol were collapsing.

Long gashes had appeared on their necks.

Thud-thud-thud!

Leaving the fallen Soulless Ghosts behind, Pyo Wol rushed at Baek Dokyeong.

Dark red fresh blood was visible at the corner of his mouth.

His internal injuries had worsened from the forced circulation of his internal power.

He had already sustained considerable internal injuries and wounds while dealing with Black Tiger and the Black Cloud Corps. On top of that, by forcibly circulating his internal power to kill the Soulless Ghosts, his wounds had deteriorated further.

It was an internal injury that would require at least half a month of recuperation. But even such an injury could not stop Pyo Wol.

“You bastard!”

Baek Dokyeong swung his sword in response.

Ghost Blood Demon Sword.

It was a killing sword forged on the battlefield.

A demonic art that, if mishandled, could corrupt the practitioner with an inner demon and drive them mad.

Chwa-hwak!

An ominous red sword qi, just looking at it, soared a full three zhang.

The red sword qi raged like a storm, attacking Pyo Wol.

In an instant, Baek Dokyeong unleashed a dozen technique forms in succession.

The speed at which he swung his sword was so fast that it was impossible to follow with the naked eye.

Kka-ga-ga-gang!

But Pyo Wol blocked all those attacks with two short daggers.

Baek Dokyeong increased the speed of his sword swings.

The already frantic sword strikes became even more intense.

It was truly as if a ghost crazed for blood was swinging a sword.

Along with it, Baek Dokyeong’s face contorted like that of a demon.

‘I’ll kill him.’

Before he knew it, an inner demon was encroaching upon his mind.

It was a side effect of the Ghost Blood Demon Sword.

Once consumed by an inner demon, it took a considerable amount of time to return to normal. For that reason, he usually refrained from using the Ghost Blood Demon Sword at full power, but now was not the time to be picky.

His opponent was a killing demon who transcended common sense.

To face such a being, he too had to let go of his humanity.

Kka-ga-ga-ga-gang!

The two clashed violently.

In an instant, they exchanged dozens of moves.

Ordinary martial artists would have repeatedly engaged and disengaged, moving in and out of each other’s range, but the two remained stuck together, exchanging blows.

They were fighting at a distance so close they could feel each other’s breath, looking into each other’s eyes.

Pit! Piit!

With sharp cutting sounds, blood, whose it was unknown, splattered continuously.

The blood scattered in all directions.

Still, they did not stop swinging their sword and Ghostly Rain daggers.

It was a fight on a truly insane level.

A high-level duel that would make even martial artists who insisted on direct confrontation stand with their mouths agape.

Slice!

The end came with a particularly gruesome cutting sound.

“Keoheok!”

Baek Dokyeong clutched his neck with his hand.

Red fresh blood flowed from between his fingers.

He desperately tried to apply hemostasis, but it was useless. The blood continued to pour out, and the blood qi and poison qi that had filled his eyes drained away with it.

“You…”

Baek Dokyeong tried to say something, but Pyo Wol ran past him.

He had no time to stand here and listen to Baek Dokyeong’s ramblings.

Beyond the wall, on the roof of a pavilion, he could see Lee Yul.