Chapter 318

He was once a handsome man, said to be even better looking than Pyo Wol.

He had delicate facial features, almost unmanly, the kind of handsome man who would make any girl who saw him let down her guard.

But now, his former appearance was nowhere to be found on his face. It was unknown what he had been through, but his face was so hideously disfigured that the mere sight of it was enough to induce nausea.

Despite this, Pyo Wol recognized him in an instant.

“Go Shin-ok.”

“So you do remember.”

“Your face?”

“This? Let’s just call it the price for escaping the Celestial Net that day.”

Go Shin-ok caressed his own face with an indifferent expression. The texture of the skin under his fingertips was as rough as old wood. Still, Go Shin-ok smiled.

Because even though his face was ruined, he was alive and breathing.

“It’s thanks to you. Pyo Wol. Because you shook the Celestial Net, I was able to escape and have managed to stay alive until now.”

“What about So Yeowol and Song Cheonwoo?”

“How should I know?”

“Weren’t you all moving together?”

“The Celestial Net wasn’t so lenient that we could all escape together.”

It was a Celestial Net that had mobilized all the martial artists of Sichuan Province.

The children raised as assassins were caught in the Celestial Net and died miserably one by one.

Go Shin-ok was also fated to die that way.

When he was in crisis, So Yeowol and Song Cheonwoo abandoned him and fled by themselves. Left alone, Go Shin-ok had to fight a truly desperate battle.

The martial artists of Sichuan Province thought of him as prey.

Go Shin-ok was subjected to a brutal, drawn-out hunt.

In the end, someone threw a poison that covered his entire body, causing his skin to all but melt away.

If Pyo Wol hadn’t killed the assassination target, Woo Gun-sang, at that moment and shaken the Celestial Net to its core, he would have lost his life.

Pyo Wol’s counterattack had greatly shaken the martial artists mobilized for the Celestial Net, and as a result, an opportunity for Go Shin-ok to escape had arisen.

Go Shin-ok fled for his very life.

He didn’t even dare to think about treating the wounds that were melting from the poison.

He fled like that and barely managed to get out of Sichuan Province.

The aftereffects of being doused in poison were severe.

Just being exposed to sunlight made his skin feel like it was burning.

“Well, thanks to that, I live with my whole body wrapped in cloth like this, but it’s okay. I’m still alive.”

Go Shin-ok bared his teeth and smiled.

Pyo Wol stared at him in silence. The sight of it grated on Go Shin-ok’s nerves.

“What happened to you? Your face has become even more beautiful.”

“I’ve been through just as much as you have.”

“Hehe! I bet you have. You must have.”

Go Shin-ok nodded as if he understood everything.

An inexplicable madness emanated from him.

“Pyo Wol! Have I ever once asked you for a favor?”

“No.”

“Then let me ask you for the first time today.”

“Don’t.”

“What?”

“I have no desire to be asked for a favor by you, nor do I have any intention of granting it, so don’t even bother.”

“You unlucky bastard. You really haven’t changed at all.”

Go Shin-ok glared at Pyo Wol with eyes full of madness.

It was impossible to recall his old self from his current appearance.

Go Shin-ok had changed too much.

Pyo Wol asked.

“What happened?”

“What about?”

“I’m asking why you’re on this ship. Are you also involved with the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild?”

“Hah!”

Go Shin-ok let out an involuntary, hollow laugh.

It was because Pyo Wol had caught him off guard.

His expression quickly hardened.

“How much do you know?”

“As much as I need to know…”

Go Shin-ok glared into Pyo Wol’s eyes.

With most people, one could read their thoughts to some extent just by looking at their eyes, but Pyo Wol’s inner thoughts were completely inscrutable.

Pyo Wol had always been like that.

Even when everyone was adrift in the underground cavern, he alone saw through everything and prepared without a hint of wavering.

They had breathed the same air in the same space, but he alone seemed to live in a different dimension.

That was how alien of a being Pyo Wol was.

Before those emotionless eyes, it seemed impossible for any secret in the world to remain perfectly hidden.

“How did you find out? There should be almost no one in the Jianghu who knows that name.”

“I found out by chance.”

“By chance? Hmph! Don’t play with words. The Nine Dragons Assassination Guild isn’t so careless that you could find out about it by chance.”

“It may not be careless, but it’s not perfect either.”

Pyo Wol shrugged.

His every action grated on Go Shin-ok.

From one to ten.

From his breathing to his slightest movements.

Everything about Pyo Wol provoked Go Shin-ok.

That was also what Pyo Wol intended.

Even Pyo Wol hadn’t known that the Phantom Ship Fleet was truly connected to the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild. He had only prodded because the feeling was unusual, but Go Shin-ok had reacted more intensely than expected.

He had to provoke Go Shin-ok as much as possible to find out as much of the truth as he could.

“I’ve always been curious. Just where does the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild raise so many martial artists? To raise martial artists trained to that level, real combat is essential. But as you know, the Jianghu has been peaceful for the last few decades. As a result, most of the martial artists in the current Jianghu lack a sense of crisis. But the martial artists of the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild were different. They were all honed to a razor’s edge.”

“Go on.”

“It means they experienced real combat somewhere. And very fierce real combat at that… So I thought about it. If there’s no such place in the Jianghu, could it be in the Outer Regions? A prime example would be the Western Regions. A place where countless people have died due to a long-lasting civil war.”

“……”

Go Shin-ok’s lips were sealed shut.

Though he tried his best to act nonchalant, Pyo Wol did not miss the slight tremor at the corner of his eyes.

“The Nine Dragons Assassination Guild built its power there. They improved the skills of their martial artists by deploying them in real combat. To properly build up their forces, the civil war would have had to continue for a long time. So they must have stirred things up to prevent the civil war from ending. The Phantom Ship Fleet was probably created for that purpose as well. They must have built up their power by plundering while traveling between the Central Plains and the Western Regions, fomenting discord, transporting martial artists, and looting goods.”

“……”

Go Shin-ok’s pupils trembled uncontrollably.

Because what Pyo Wol was saying was close to the truth.

This was at a time when there was no proof that the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild even existed. Even the renowned masters of the Jianghu were unaware of the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild’s existence, yet Pyo Wol was making deductions close to the truth with just a few pieces of circumstantial evidence.

It was terrifying enough for Go Shin-ok just to watch.

Even at that moment, Pyo Wol’s words continued.

“Why did they have to keep it so thoroughly secret? I would guess it’s because they haven’t yet reached their desired level of power. Or perhaps they learned a lesson from the fall of the Demonic Cult and the Divine Demon Association. They must have realized that an exposed power is bound to be thoroughly destroyed if it faces a joint attack from the Jianghu. So they must have built their power in the shadows. What I’m curious about is who created the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild, and for what purpose.”

He was looking at Go Shin-ok, but the words were not for him.

They were words Pyo Wol was saying to himself.

Since Jin Geum-woo’s death, he had continuously clashed with the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild.

It was a question he had had since then. But there was too little information to solve the mystery.

The Nine Dragons Assassination Guild had thoroughly hidden its existence, leaving only fragmented information in the world.

He had to deduce the truth with only shattered pieces of information. But there were too many missing parts to form the big picture.

To fit the countless shattered pieces together, a core piece was needed. A piece that might seem like nothing to others, but to someone who had long pondered the matter, it was a piece that could bring enlightenment.

To Pyo Wol, Go Shin-ok was such a being.

Go Shin-ok had not given Pyo Wol any clues. But to Pyo Wol, Go Shin-ok’s very existence was the key piece to completing the fragmented picture.

The moment he saw Go Shin-ok, the pieces he had been fitting together until now were falling into place.

“Considering they learned a lesson from the fall of the Demonic Cult and the Divine Demon Association, and that their power is not yet complete, the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild was probably established only a few decades ago. During that time, the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild must have avoided the eyes of the Jianghu and built up its size and talent by fomenting discord in the Outer Regions. Lee Yul must be one of those raised in such a way.”

Now he thought he understood why the Ghost Dance Unit that Lee Yul commanded had the air of a military unit.

It was created that way from the very beginning.

As an organization that emphasized rules and orders.

He didn’t know who created the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild, but they were obsessed with rules and orders to a near-compulsive degree.

He must have experienced a great sense of loss due to rules and orders not being followed.

Go Shin-ok’s eyebrow twitched.

He belatedly realized what state Pyo Wol was in.

That with the thread of himself, Pyo Wol was weaving together all sorts of fragmented information to create a single story.

Even as he spoke, he was branching out, imagining, and recalling situations, painting the truth in his mind.

If left alone, Pyo Wol would completely uncover the long-hidden secrets of the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild.

He couldn’t let that happen.

He didn’t know what the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild meant to Pyo Wol, but to him, it was practically his savior.

It was the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild that had saved him when he was on the verge of death.

They had treated him, put him on the Phantom Ship Fleet, sent him to the Western Regions, and allowed him to kill to his heart’s content.

His skills improved as he carried out killings in the Western Regions.

Go Shin-ok was satisfied with such a life.

He couldn’t let Pyo Wol shatter that life.

“Pyo Wol!”

Swoosh!

Go Shin-ok roared and attacked Pyo Wol.

In that instant, Pyo Wol’s concentration shattered.

The door of truth, which had seemed ready to open at a touch, was once again firmly shut.

To open the door of truth from now on, he would need an even deeper state of immersion or more definitive proof.

Kaang!

Go Shin-ok’s sword was blocked by Pyo Wol’s Ghostly Rain. But Go Shin-ok was not disappointed.

Because his attack had only just begun.

For the past few years, he had walked a bloody path that Pyo Wol could not even imagine.

He had been thrown onto the battlefield with nothing but his bare body and no information. There, he had to survive on his own.

That was the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild’s test.

The Nine Dragons Assassination Guild had no room for leeway or mercy to spare for those who could not survive.

At first, he despaired. And he wandered.

After cheating death several times, he realized.

The only one who could help him here was himself.

After that, Go Shin-ok steeled his resolve.

He further polished his Killing Method and succeeded in numerous killings.

Thus, Go Shin-ok developed, and was eventually recognized by the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild and put in charge of one of the ships of the Phantom Ship Fleet.

The number of people who had died by his hand until he reached his current position was well over a hundred.

As he stained his hands with the blood of so many, his Killing Method became more and more perfect.

He was no longer the Go Shin-ok of the underground cavern days, who had only chased after So Yeowol or Song Cheonwoo.

Although he had lost the beauty of his face, his hands had become even more ruthless.

He was confident that even if the So Yeowol or Song Cheonwoo from the underground cavern days came, they would no longer be a match for him.

Swoosh!

A sound like the tearing of a silk cloth echoed through the cabin.

It was the sound of Go Shin-ok’s sword cutting through the darkness.

Like a cat tracking a mouse, his sword was relentless.

If an ordinary martial artist had received his attack, they would have become disoriented within a few seconds, their hands and feet in a tangle.

That was how relentless and yet how adept his attacks were at exploiting openings. But his sword never touched Pyo Wol’s body.

Kaang!

Because Pyo Wol had defended with the Ghostly Rain.

Although it was only the size of a child’s palm, that was more than enough for Pyo Wol.

Because no matter how long a sword was, the area of impact was ultimately no larger than a child’s palm.

The key was accuracy, speed, and boldness. And Pyo Wol possessed all three.

Kakakakang!

Pyo Wol deflected all of Go Shin-ok’s attacks.

When his attacks failed to connect, Go Shin-ok’s face contorted slightly.

He hated Pyo Wol’s indifferent face, which didn’t change expression even under his attacks.

No, that wasn’t the reason.

He hated that face, which retained the beauty he had lost.

No matter how much he pretended to be indifferent, the sense of loss from having lost his beautiful days sometimes tormented him.

Suddenly, a desire bloomed in his heart.

The blossoming desire consumed his heart uncontrollably.

“Give me the skin of your face, Pyo Wol!”