Chapter 79

Pyo Wol said.

“I believe I’ve already refused that offer.”

“Things are different now.”

“What’s different?”

“Back then, we were genuinely thinking of recruiting you. Now, it’s an offer with your life on the line. The Emei Sect has made a request. To bring them your head. So my offer isn’t just a simple recruitment proposal, it’s the only way to save your life.”

“……”

“You’d better think carefully, handsome Orabeoni. If you refuse our offer again this time, you won’t get another chance like this. I sincerely hope you’ll accept our offer, Orabeoni. It would be such a waste to end your life without ever getting to use that handsome face.”

Thud!

Just then, with a heavy sound, a large monk appeared behind Pyo Wol. It was the Blood Monk who was always with Heo Ranju.

The Blood Monk put his palms together and said.

“Amitabha! This humble monk hopes you will accept Ranju’s offer.”

His words were polite, but the Qi and content within them were anything but.

A powerful aura, pressing down on Pyo Wol, emanated from the Blood Monk’s entire body.

Then, another voice was heard.

“Goodness! Tone down that aura. Did you come here to kill someone? Why are you glaring so fiercely?”

The one who appeared, patting the Blood Monk’s shoulder, was none other than Daoshi Go.

Daoshi Go approached Pyo Wol with his characteristic gait.

“It’s been a while. You seem to have gotten even more handsome. Dammit! What an enviable life. How wonderful would it be to live in this world with a face like that? Well, anyway, it’s something not permitted to me in this life.”

“……”

“It’s been quite hard to see your face. Then again, you’ve been moving around so diligently, it’s no wonder. In any case, it was quite impressive. Going back and forth between the Emei Sect and the Qingcheng Sect, sowing such discord. Thanks to you, we’re the only ones who’ve profited.”

Daoshi Go plopped down in the seat next to Heo Ranju.

Heo Ranju’s eyebrows twitched in displeasure, but she didn’t say anything.

Daoshi Go looked at Pyo Wol with a sly expression.

“Ranju is pleading so desperately, how about you just join hands with us? With your level of ability, the Unit Leader will surely give you an important position.”

“You said you took a request from the Emei Sect? Can you withdraw it so easily?”

“What’s to stop us? We can just pretend we killed you and clean up the mess later. By the time the Emei Sect finds out, we’ll have established a firm position in Sichuan Province. At that point, even the Emei Sect won’t be able to do anything to us.”

“Is it alright to betray a client like that? Isn’t trust the most important thing for a Wanderer?”

“Hehe! Who in this day and age abides by such old-fashioned things? As you know, the most important thing in the world is money. Only the value of money never changes.”

Daoshi Go made a gesture with his fingers as if counting money.

It was a thoroughly materialistic display, but the fact that it didn’t seem detestable was a great talent in itself.

“If you join, you could become the Vice Unit Leader in a heartbeat. We also need a cunning person like you.”

“I refuse that offer.”

“So quickly? What’s the reason?”

“Money may be the most important thing to Wanderers, but for an Assassin, trust is the most important thing.”

“Trust? What an old-fashioned word. To refuse our offer for such a reason. I can’t understand it.”

“I don’t expect you to understand. But if there’s one thing I wish for, it’s that you don’t interfere with my request.”

“Request? What request? Don’t tell me you’re doing this because someone requested it?”

Daoshi Go’s voice rose on its own.

If Pyo Wol was truly doing this on someone’s request, it meant there was someone behind him.

Heo Ranju pressed him.

“Who’s the client?”

Pyo Wol did not answer.

At this very moment, it was as if he could hear the voice of Lee Min as she was dying.

—I want them to feel the same way I do. This miserable feeling of being trampled by an irresistible force…

Lee Min had merely said those words on the verge of death, but Pyo Wol had perceived them as a request. Even though he hadn’t received a single penny as payment.

It had already been seven years.

It was something only he remembered.

Even if he stopped now, no one would say a word.

Yet, Pyo Wol had no intention of stopping Lee Min’s request.

He was an Assassin.

He was born an ordinary person, but raised as an Assassin.

To change a perception ingrained deep in his bones was now impossible.

It was a matter related to Pyo Wol’s very identity.

Daoshi Go’s voice broke Pyo Wol’s reverie.

“I’ll ask one last time. Who is the client?”

Perhaps because he thought it was an important matter, he pressed on fiercely, unlike his usual self.

Just then, Heo Ranju cut in.

“It’s a woman.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s only one reason a man would risk his life for an impossible task. It’s only when a woman is involved.”

With a woman’s intuition, Heo Ranju had deduced with surprising accuracy that a woman was involved. Though she couldn’t figure out the exact reason.

Daoshi Go grinned.

“A woman’s request? You’re more sentimental than you look. Foolish.”

Risking one’s life for a mere woman’s request was something Daoshi Go couldn’t comprehend by his standards.

It was also something that went against his values.

Heo Ranju glared at Pyo Wol with fierce eyes.

“What kind of bitch is she?”

The emotion in her voice was clearly jealousy.

Normally, Daoshi Go would have teased Heo Ranju relentlessly for this, but not now.

He knew from experience that it was better not to provoke Heo Ranju when she was like this.

Heo Ranju pressed again.

“Hurry up and tell me. What kind of bitch is she?”

Crash!

Unable to contain her anger, Heo Ranju slammed her fist on the table.

The table shattered, and the food on it scattered in all directions.

Not stopping there, Heo Ranju swung her hand towards Pyo Wol’s cheek. Her jealousy had made her lose her reason.

In that instant, Pyo Wol kicked the broken table.

Bang!

“Keuk!”

The table crashed into Heo Ranju’s body and was completely smashed to pieces.

“Ranju.”

“Amitabha!”

As Heo Ranju staggered, Daoshi Go and the Blood Monk moved simultaneously.

Though they usually acted as if they couldn’t stand each other, they cared for one another terribly.

In any case, Pyo Wol was someone who had to be eliminated.

They had received a request from the Emei Sect, and the Martial Artists of the Black Cloud Corps were already spread throughout the area.

“Haap!”

The Blood Monk let out a kiai and spread his hands wide. A powerful palm force surged towards Pyo Wol.

Instead of clashing head-on, Pyo Wol launched himself into the air.

Crash!

Pyo Wol’s body shot up into the air, breaking through the inn’s roof.

Momentarily rising over ten Zhang above the roof, Pyo Wol surveyed his surroundings.

“It’s him.”

“Pyo Wol is out.”

He could see Martial Artists shouting upon seeing him.

They were the Wanderers of the Black Cloud Corps.

The streets were teeming with the Wanderers of the Black Cloud Corps.

The Black Cloud Corps had already established an Encirclement centered on the inn where Pyo Wol was staying.

Jang Muryang grinned as he saw Pyo Wol.

“You’ve finally come out of your foxhole.”

Finding Pyo Wol was as difficult as finding a fox hidden in its den. Pyo Wol had thoroughly covered his face while moving around Chengdu and never left any traces of himself.

Thanks to this, the Black Cloud Corps had to go through immense trouble to find Pyo Wol.

Jang Muryang had deployed his entire force to search Chengdu, as if combing the bottom of a stream with a fine-meshed net. After three days of such hardship, he finally found Pyo Wol.

Though he never imagined Pyo Wol would be staying at an inn right next to the Hundred Flowers Room, where the Emei Sect’s forces were stationed.

Pyo Wol landed on the roof of the inn.

Following him, Heo Ranju, the Blood Monk, and Daoshi Go jumped out and surrounded him from the front and back. But Pyo Wol didn’t even glance at them, his eyes fixed on Jang Muryang.

“It seems you received an order from Elder Nun Guhwa.”

“Huhu! She made an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

“So you mobilized your entire force just to catch me?”

“Please understand. You’re so unpredictable that we have to be fully prepared. You can consider it an honor. This is the first time the entire Black Cloud Corps has been mobilized to catch a single person.”

“You’ll regret that decision.”

“Regret? You’re the one who will have regrets.”

“You people should not have interfered in my war.”

Pyo Wol’s calm voice sounded strangely desolate.

For a moment, Jang Muryang felt a chill run down his spine.

His nerves stood on end as if screaming, and the hair on his head stood up. His pupils trembled at the sharp sensation.

‘What is this?’

This unfamiliar feeling, which he had never experienced before in his life, made him shudder.

Jang Muryang shouted without realizing it.

“Get him!”

As soon as his command fell, Heo Ranju, Daoshi Go, the Blood Monk, and others attacked Pyo Wol.

“Hap!”

“Chaaat!”

“Amitabha!”

Heo Ranju swung her whip, aiming for Pyo Wol’s waist, while Daoshi Go unleashed his palm force to block off any escape routes.

The most powerful attack was the Blood Monk’s.

As he threw a punch, a powerful fist Qi was unleashed straight at Pyo Wol.

Kwaaaah!

As the three Experts attacked in unison, a powerful battle Qi raged like a storm.

Pyo Wol was at its center.

His clothes fluttered wildly. But Pyo Wol himself did not move at all.

The Black Cloud Corps was moving in perfect unison, as if it were a single living organism.

They were moving with the sole purpose of targeting Pyo Wol.

“Where are you looking?”

“Are you looking down on us?”

Heo Ranju and Daoshi Go were enraged by Pyo Wol’s stillness until the very end.

Heo Ranju’s whip, Daoshi Go’s palm force, and the Blood Monk’s fist Qi were just about to hit Pyo Wol’s body.

Everyone thought it was too late to dodge.

Jang Muryang, who was watching from below, thought the same.

In that instant, something unbelievable happened.

Pyo Wol’s figure vanished from their sight without a trace. Thanks to that, the three’s attacks cut through empty air in vain.

“What?”

At the unbelievable sight, the three of them let out cries of alarm almost simultaneously.

They were all renowned Experts in the Jianghu. They couldn’t believe that a Light Body Art existed that could completely deceive the eyes of such Experts and allow someone to disappear.

Swish!

The place where Pyo Wol reappeared was on the roof of another inn, about ten Zhang away from the one the three were on.

“Using evil arts?”

“Chaaat!”

“Everyone be careful. His Light Body Art is unusual.”

They launched themselves towards the inn where Pyo Wol had appeared. But by the time they landed on the inn’s roof, Pyo Wol had already moved to the roof of another nearby building.

“What the?”

Daoshi Go’s pupils trembled.

He had faced countless Martial Artists until now, but he had never met an opponent like Pyo Wol.

It felt like he was fighting a ghost, not a human.

Pyo Wol’s movements were that far beyond imagination.

Black Lightning.

Pyo Wol had named the Light Body Art he had learned in the underground cavity Black Lightning.

Through the Thunderclap Mind Method, Pyo Wol had come to understand the concept of Heart Speed.

Black Lightning was one of the branches extending from Heart Speed.

The human body’s reactions operate on electrical signals, that is, Lightning power. Black Lightning adjusts this Lightning power to raise the body’s reaction speed to its limit.

By accelerating his thoughts through Heart Speed and raising his body’s reaction speed to the extreme through Black Lightning, he could replicate movements like the legendary Immovable Body Technique of Buddhism.

Crash!

The roof of the building was shattered to pieces by the combined attack of the three. But Pyo Wol had already left the roof and moved elsewhere.

“Crazy!”

“What the hell?”

“Press him harder!”

The three attacked Pyo Wol like madmen. But their attacks missed in vain, destroying only the unfortunate roofs of the buildings.

“Damn him!”

Jang Muryang gritted his teeth at Pyo Wol’s martial prowess, which was greater than expected.

He gestured to his Subordinates and gave an order.

“This is a battlefield advantageous to him. Push him into open ground. His evil arts will be useless there.”

“Yes!”

Fifty Experts who were waiting below joined the fight.

Kwa-kwang!

Their entry into the fight caused the already sensitive Martial Artists of Chengdu to rush outside.

“What? Who are they?”

“Why are they all ganging up on one guy?”

The Martial Artists approached the street that had become a battlefield to find out what was going on.

Jang Muryang ordered his Vice Unit Leader, Yang Woo-jeong.

“Stop the approaching Martial Artists.”

“Understood.”

Jang Muryang did not want the situation to escalate any further and attract the attention of more Martial Artists.

What he wanted was a swift conclusion to the situation.

But what Pyo Wol wanted was the opposite.

Pyo Wol, who had dodged the combined attack of the three using Black Lightning, attacked one of the Martial Artists who was approaching the battlefield.

“Wha-what? Keok!”

By the time the Martial Artist let out a cry of alarm, Pyo Wol had already struck a blow to his chest.

The Martial Artist, who had suffered a fatal blow, flew through the air and hit a wall. But he would never cry out in pain. He was already dead.

Although he had killed one Martial Artist in a single blow, Pyo Wol had no intention of stopping.

He moved to find his next sacrifice.

“Keuheok!”

“Ack!”

He killed two more Martial Artists in an instant.

Only then did Jang Muryang realize Pyo Wol’s intention and shout.

“No! Stop him!”

The Experts of the Black Cloud Corps moved to stop Pyo Wol. But before they could catch up, Pyo Wol had already slaughtered several more Experts.

“What? These bastards!”

“Dammit!”

To the gathered heroes, the sight of Pyo Wol moving with the Black Cloud Corps on his tail looked as if he was leading his subordinates to attack them.

“Stop those guys in black clothes.”

“Kill them!”

The street instantly became an Asura Field.

The heroes, mistaking the Black Cloud Corps for Pyo Wol’s allies, attacked them, and the Black Cloud Corps cut down the cumbersome Martial Artists to get to Pyo Wol.

“We have to stop him! He’s trying to make us fight amongst ourselves with the heroes.”

Jang Muryang belatedly realized Pyo Wol’s intention and tried to stop it, but the atmosphere was already flowing according to Pyo Wol’s plan.

“Waaah!”

The Martial Artists who had come out onto the street without knowing what was going on jumped into the fight one after another.

The street was being stained with blood.

At the center of it all was Pyo Wol.

“I’ll drag out every last thing that’s hiding.”

The great flame of madness that would burn down all of Chengdu was beginning with him.