Chapter 356

Swish!

A sharp reed leaf grazed Wolgui’s arm, splitting the flesh wide open.

“Kuh!”

As Fresh Blood burst forth, Wolgui quickly pressed the wound with his other hand. But the injury was so severe that the Hemostasis failed.

‘I have to get out.’

It felt as if the entire reed field held Killing intent toward him.

In Wolgui’s eyes, the vast reed field looked like a giant monster.

He kicked off the ground and threw himself backward. But at that moment, a Soul Restraining Thread flew from somewhere and wrapped around his ankle, dragging him to the ground.

Thud!

“Keuk!”

Dirt and filth smeared Wolgui’s face as he was violently thrown to the ground. But he had no time to feel disgusted.

Swish, swish, swish!

Reed leaves were flying at him relentlessly.

Wolgui rolled on the ground, dodging the leaves by a hair’s breadth. But soon, a look of despair dawned on his face.

A fierce wind had begun to swirl around his body. Caught in the wind, reed leaves spun along with it.

He couldn’t tell which of them would turn into a Hidden Weapon.

“Crazy bastard!”

Wolgui felt extreme terror.

Though he had handled countless missions, he had never seen a spectacle like this.

He couldn’t have imagined that a mere Assassin’s Internal Energy could be this immense. He couldn’t even begin to guess how much Internal Energy would be consumed to create such a wind.

“W-wait! Let’s talk…”

Stab!

At that moment, a reed leaf sliced through his side.

Along with a fiery pain, the flesh split open in a long gash, and blood gushed out.

Only then did Wolgui realize. The opponent had no intention of talking.

Then again, if he were in Pyo Wol’s shoes, he would have done the same.

There was nothing more foolish than letting someone who had been following and watching you all day go free.

It was just that the change in circumstances was what made him afraid.

“Hyaaaah!”

Wolgui gave up on talking and switched to the offensive.

He unleashed a powerful Sword Stance toward the wind swirling around him.

Cra-crack!

A loud explosion erupted as the Sword Qi clashed with the wind. But it was impossible to extinguish the wind with a sword.

The wind, which seemed to falter for a moment, soon began to rage fiercely again.

“Keuk!”

Wolgui bit his lip hard.

A look of bewilderment was plain on his face.

It was then.

Swish-swish-swish-swish!

The reed leaves that had been swirling with the wind were all shot toward him at once.

Wolgui swung his sword with all his might.

His sword instantly created a Sword Curtain. The reed leaves, shot like Hidden Weapons, failed to pierce the Sword Curtain and were all deflected.

“Heok, heok!”

It was the moment Wolgui was gasping for breath.

Thwack! Thwack!

Ghostly Rain flew without a sound and embedded itself in his body.

“Keuk!”

Unable to overcome the shock and pain, Wolgui fell to his knees. Before him, Pyo Wol appeared without a sound.

Wolgui barely managed to lift his head and look up at Pyo Wol.

A pale white face, shining ethereally in the moonlight, looked down on him.

It was a dazzlingly beautiful sight, but to Wolgui, it brought extreme terror.

Wolgui tried to throw the Hidden Weapon concealed in his sleeve. Coated in a deadly poison, the Hidden Weapon could instantly take an opponent’s life with a mere scratch.

But his attempt came to nothing.

Stab-stab-stab!

This was because Soul Restraining Threads, fired in succession, had pierced both his arms and shoulders.

“Kuaaargh!”

Wolgui let out a ghastly scream.

The wounds pierced by the Soul Restraining Thread were as small as pinpricks, but the pain was unbelievably immense.

It was so great that even Wolgui, who prided himself on being inured to pain, couldn’t help but scream.

Pyo Wol knelt on one knee and looked at Wolgui’s face.

Wolgui was a mess of tears and snot.

“P-please, spare me.”

He begged Pyo Wol for his life.

Pyo Wol smiled faintly.

In that instant, the corners of Wolgui’s eyes trembled. He had a feeling what Pyo Wol was about to say. And his prediction was not wrong.

“Weren’t you taught to rather take your own life if you fail a mission?”

“That’s…”

“That’s what I was taught.”

Those were the last words Wolgui heard alive.

＊＊＊

Yeom Huisu frowned.

She tossed and turned for a moment before opening her eyes.

Even though she had gone to sleep on a High-Grade bed, her body felt uncomfortable. It was the first time this had happened, so Yeom Huisu opened her eyes with an annoyed expression.

“What in the world?”

She thought she should complain to the Inn owner and sat up.

The moment she placed her hand on the bed, she felt something damp.

Startled, she looked at her hand and saw it was covered in a red liquid.

“Blood?”

The metallic smell of blood stung her nose.

It was clearly someone’s Fresh Blood.

Yeom Huisu hurriedly lifted the blanket. Then she saw an elongated object lying in the middle of the blood-soaked bed.

“A hand?”

It was someone’s severed forearm.

The moment she saw the forearm, she knew at once. She knew who the owner of the severed arm was.

“Wolgui.”

It was clearly the arm of her confidant, Wolgui.

In that moment, Yeom Huisu’s face turned deathly pale.

Someone had visited while she was sleeping. And left Wolgui’s arm behind.

If the visitor had harbored ill intentions, she would have lost her life without being able to resist.

There was only one person by Poyang Lake capable of such a deed.

“Pyo Wol!”

Yeom Huisu bit her red lips hard.

Her whole body trembled as if she had a fever, and she felt a chill.

She tried hard to remain calm, but her body was reacting honestly.

It was fear.

The fear of Pyo Wol was encroaching on her body and mind.

＊＊＊

“P-please, don’t do this. I’ll pay back the money soon, so please, just my daughter…”

The middle-aged man in his late forties knelt and pleaded.

Before his eyes stood a giant of a man, seven zhang tall.

With legs like pillars, a barrel chest, and a physique reminiscent of a bear, the giant was none other than Deung Cheolung, the Boss of the Blood Phantom Organization.

Deung Cheolung had founded the Blood Phantom Organization based on his innate physical strength and was taking control of the underworld around Poyang Lake.

Beside Deung Cheolung stood a beautiful woman with a delicate frame.

She was the middle-aged man’s daughter.

When he failed to pay back the King Yama Debt, Deung Cheolung had personally come to take his daughter.

The middle-aged man’s daughter was renowned for her beauty in the vicinity, and many men had coveted her. The middle-aged man had worried every day to protect her from them. Still, he had managed to protect his daughter somehow until now.

This was because the middle-aged man was a quite successful merchant with many assets. But starting two months ago, his business had declined sharply, and he needed a lot of money. So he borrowed money from Deung Cheolung. That was the root of his troubles.

In the end, he couldn’t pay back the King Yama Debt, and Deung Cheolung had appeared in person. He, like the other men, wanted his daughter.

“I’m begging you like this. Please, just leave my daughter alone.”

“Khuhuhu! If you wanted to protect your daughter, you should have paid back the money.”

“If you give me a little more time, I will definitely pay it back.”

“Huhu! I wonder if you can really pay it back even if I give you time?”

“I have that much ability. I still have connections…”

“Have you ever thought about why they didn’t lend you the urgent funds?”

“What?”

“It’s all because of me. Your connections didn’t lend you the money because they were all wary of me. That’s why you had no choice but to borrow from me in the end…”

“So you’re saying this was all a picture you painted?”

“That’s right! Huhu!”

Deung Cheolung wrapped his arm around the woman’s waist with a sinister smile.

The woman had to let herself be held in Deung Cheolung’s arms, her eyes squeezed shut.

The thick smell of sweat and blood stimulated her sense of smell.

The scent of a savage beast she had never encountered before.

It was the smell of a raw, untamed world, different from the peaceful one she had lived in; a world ruled by those with beast-like desires, the smell of the Jianghu.

Deung Cheolung tightened his grip on the woman’s waist and said.

“Your daughter is mine now.”

“No!”

At her father’s cry, the woman squeezed her eyes shut.

She and her father were nothing more than prey caught in a trap set by a savage beast. There was no way to escape this trap.

No matter how much her father paid back, Deung Cheolung would never let her go.

“Huhu!”

“I have a request.”

“Hm?”

At the woman’s words, Deung Cheolung looked at her with narrowed eyes.

“I’ll follow you obediently, so please forgive my father’s debt.”

“What?”

“You did this because you coveted me. So please forgive my father’s debt.”

“Why should I do that? I already have you in my hands.”

“Because if you don’t, I will take my own life.”

“What?”

“Isn’t it a waste? To lose the prize you worked so hard to get without even enjoying it?”

“Khahahaha!”

Deung Cheolung laughed loudly at the woman’s threat.

She was the first person by Poyang Lake to dare threaten him. And with her own life, no less. But he didn’t feel bad. And he had no intention of doing as the woman wished.

Deung Cheolung pulled the woman’s face close to his and said.

“If you die, your father dies too.”

“…”

“If you kill yourself, I will kill your father. Very slowly, as painfully as possible… I’ll cut off all his limbs so he can’t move, then make him food for wolves. I’ll make him vividly feel the pain of being eaten alive. Will you still kill yourself?”

The woman couldn’t answer and just squeezed her eyes shut.

She felt a deep despair toward this man, against whom her threats were useless. And she knew there was no way out.

Deung Cheolung whispered in the woman’s ear.

“If you don’t want to see your father die in agony, then live, clinging to life. Huhu!”

The woman nodded, clenching her teeth.

Thick teardrops streamed down her cheeks.

Deung Cheolung gave an order to his Subordinate.

“Take her away. I’m taking her tonight.”

“Yes!”

The Subordinate dragged the woman away.

“No!”

The middle-aged man screamed, but it was no use. He collapsed on the floor, regretting his foolish choice.

Watching him fall into despair, Deung Cheolung grinned.

He couldn’t count how many people had shown such a sight before him.

The mountain called the Blood Phantom Organization that he had built was made by piling up the corpses of countless people.

Trampling on others and making them shed tears of blood was a daily routine for him. The tears of the middle-aged man and his daughter could not stir any emotion in him.

“Good!”

Deung Cheolung laughed, revealing his yellowed teeth.

Although he was insignificant compared to the great Sects of the Jianghu, he was steadily expanding his territory.

“They’re morons, aren’t they? Leaving such a prime spot alone for the sake of some damn reputation. Well, it’s good for me. Khuhuhu!”

He had no ambition to conquer the Jianghu, no desire to become the number one in Jiangxi. He was content with just being the ruler of the Poyang Lake area. And even now, he was slowly getting closer to his dream.

It was then.

“Boss!”

His confidant, Oh Sinpyeong, ran to him.

“What is it?”

“We have a troublesome situation.”

“What?”

“Do you remember the visitors who came a while ago?”

“Visitors?”

“The ten of them who barged in all at once and demanded a place to hide?”

“Ah! Those creepy bastards! Why?”

“Someone is looking for them.”

“What? Who in the world is looking for them?”

“Since this morning, some guys have been asking about their whereabouts.”

“Dammit!”

Deung Cheolung spat out a curse.

A look of anxiety appeared on his face.

The ten Martial Artists who had suddenly shown up at the Blood Phantom Organization a while ago. They had requested Deung Cheolung’s cooperation.

It was called cooperation, but it was closer to a threat.

Although Deung Cheolung was an Expert of Martial Arts, he didn’t dare to confront them. They reeked of danger. So he cooperated with them. And a few days later, the Hao Clan’s secret branch was annihilated.

Only after the Hao Clan branch was massacred did he learn the truth, and he realized it was the work of the people he had secretly hidden.

No matter how much Deung Cheolung prided himself as the hegemon of Poyang Lake, he couldn’t compare to a real Jianghu Sect. Moreover, his opponent was the Hao Clan.

If the Hao Clan decided to attack, the Blood Phantom Organization would be wiped out overnight. So he had thoroughly hidden the visitors’ existence.

“Who is it? Who dares to look for them?”

“We don’t know yet.”

“Hurry up and find out their identities.”

“Yes!”

“Mobilize all our Subordinates.”

“Understood.”