"Cough..."

Blood spurted out with a cough.

It was impossible to tell if it had surged up from within his body or if something he had swallowed had failed to go down his throat and came back up.

What was certain was the fact that he would soon be dead.

I am leaning against a wall right now.

Sitting in a pool of my own blood.

Funnily enough, I was worried my backside might get raw.

What does that even matter at this point.

I couldn't get my body up.

Exhaustion was one thing... but there was nothing left below my knees.

My legs...

For a moment, I turned my head to look for my severed legs.

But all I saw was a multitude of death.

Dozens, hundreds?

Enough, that's enough.

Why would I be counting corpses on my deathbed.

My gaze turned away from the dead, and a meaningless smile remained on my lips.

It was a smile of accepting fate.

It was the surrender of giving up the will to live, an acceptance of embracing death.

"Sagyo."

My blurring focus sharpened at someone's call.

My name, Sagyo.

Not my true name, but the name given to me after I became an assassin.

Cunning Snake.

It was a name that came about when the twelve of us who became assassins together were ludicrously lumped together under the name of the Twelve Zodiac Generals.

Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit... 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

They must have been too lazy to come up with proper names.

Even now, as I accept death, the memory of that day still makes my blood boil.

Even for an assassin, they say a person's life is tied to their name... they could have at least used characters with slightly better meanings...

"As expected, you truly are remarkable. I never thought you would last this long."

"Heh, heh heh."

I laughed at those words.

This long?

This is as far as I got.

I had planned to kill them all and escape.

In the end, I succumbed to the organization's power.

The old man approached with the surviving assassins.

Jin Gumyeong.

He was an old man with that name.

He was also the one who had given me the ridiculous name of Sagyo.

That damn old man.

His now empty shoulder was etched into my blurring eyes.

A pity. I should have taken his head.

"Speak. Sagyo... where did you hide the Samyang secret manual?"

At the interrogation, I just smiled.

In the end, that was their goal.

The secret manual.

Even at a time when hundreds of heads had rolled, he was more curious about the existence of the secret manual than angry about the deaths of his subordinates.

Damn son of a bitch.

Then again, to him, we were probably nothing more than disposable pawns to be thrown away someday.

If we broke, he could just raise new ones.

"Sagyo!"

Don't shout.

My ears are ringing.

His vocal cords must not have aged even if he got old.

But all I could do was grimace.

There was no way left for me to shut his mouth.

The throwing needles that had filled the tight fitting vest were all used up.

The soft sword I always kept hidden in my belt was gone, who knows where, leaving only an empty scabbard.

It had been a long time since the five vials of poison were emptied.

Even if one of them, no, even if all three had remained, nothing would have changed.

I no longer had the strength to even lift a finger.

"I said speak! Where is the Samyang secret manual!"

Without answering the question, I leaned my hard to control head back and looked up. Hyeseo, who was also one of the Twelve Zodiac Generals, stepped forward in the old man's stead, grabbed me by the collar, and shook me.

Who the hell does he think he is...

"You bastard! The Samyang secret manual is..."

"I was born in Ganyang, Sichuan."

"What?"

"We were rich. Quite well known in the area..."

At Sagyo's words, not only Hyeseo's but also Jin Gumyeong's eyes contorted.

It wasn't the answer they wanted.

But I wanted to say it.

The memories were surfacing in my mind with strange clarity.

"My father used to say. Always repay kindness, and let go of grudges like the wind."

"..."

"Heh heh, funny, isn't it? I think so too... what kind of bullshit is that."

I muttered the memories that floated and brushed past my mind as if I were rambling.

Repay kindness without fail, and let grudges be swept away by the wind.

Those words, spoken like a habit, became my father's last will.

He died without leaving anything else.

The child who stared blankly at the flames that burned down his house clenched his teeth.

The government office just said they didn't know.

Does that make sense?

There was no way the officials, who knew my father, a local prominent figure, and often got free drinks from him, wouldn't know.

My father wasn't poor enough to be in debt, nor was he a man with enough bravado to squander his fortune on vain desires.

But for a creditor to suddenly appear, confiscate the property, and even drag the lone child around for hard labor... anyone could see that guy was the culprit!

Does it make sense to say you don't know something anyone could find out with a simple investigation?

In the end, the officials were corrupt.

When I protested, they shoved a document, the ink not even dry, in my face as evidence. Anyone could tell it was a fake.

If it were real, it wouldn't be this new.

A document created later.

It was clear they had some sort of relationship and had taken a hefty sum of money under the table.

But what could I do?

Even if I was often called a prodigy, I was only ten years old then.

I was a fool who was born into a rich family and grew up without hardship.

Confucius, Mencius... I should have known sooner that it was all just hollow bullshit.

No matter how much I cried out, justice without power was helpless.

Benevolence? Self cultivation? Justice?

What a load of crap.

"Oh, young master, what money do I have?"

"Tsk! So unlucky first thing in the morning! You're disturbing my business, so get lost!"

"What are you crying for, you bastard! Do you still think you're the young master of the Mandeok Estate?!"

That's right.

This is what a ten year old boy, suddenly saddled with debt, heard from people.

And from the very people who had received kindness from my father.

Repay kindness without fail, and let grudges be swept away by the wind. Then someday, it will return to you as a blessing.

"Blessing, my ass..."

I resented my father who taught me to see only the bright side of the world.

Light always comes with shadows.

Is resentment unfilial?

Then what should a little kid, left with debt and filled with venom from living a hard life day after day, do?

At that time, I decided to become a tree frog.

Long ago, there was a tree frog that did the opposite of whatever its parents said.

So its sick mother, wanting to be buried on a mountain, said in her will to bury her by the stream instead.

However, the tree frog, realizing its past disobedience, buried its mother by the stream as she had willed.

After that, whenever it rained, it is said to cry sadly, worried that its mother's grave might be washed away.

Stupid frog bastard.

Wouldn't it have been better if you had just done the opposite, like you always did?

I had to be different from such a lowly creature.

Kindness?

I don't know about that.

It's up to the giver anyway.

But grudges are a bit different, aren't they?

That's up to the one who suffered.

However, I had no power to repay my grudges.

I was no different from the foolish frog that could only stare at its mother's grave and cry, having no strength to go against the stream.

I was just a child living a very hard life day by day, my labor exploited by creditors.

And in the year I turned thirteen... I barely escaped from the clutches of the creditors.

I lived wandering among vagrants and beggars.

A prodigy?

What's the use of that when there's not even a chance to make my talent bloom?

I resented my fate.

The heavens, you son of a bitch.

They say they only give you trials you can endure... and they really did.

Just enough that I could endure.

They gave me just enough trials to barely sustain my life without any dreams, and they didn't give me a chance to escape this damn life.

I thought it would be really nice if I was given even a small opportunity.

That much should be fine, you heartless bastard of a sky... I lived with curses on my lips.

Those words, that wish, was a mistake.

I shouldn't have cursed.

I never thought the heavens, thoroughly pissed off, would give me such a fate.

The memory in my head changes to another scene.

"Damn it... to think I'd become an assassin..."

It was a life stained with death.

I vowed not to forget my grudges, but to live a life listening to the grudges of others.

Retracing my life, I smiled in a self mockery.

It was a day when I was biding my time, plotting a comeback while mixed in with the vagrants.

I fell asleep on a straw mat and when I woke up...

Jingagu?

I had been kidnapped by an assassin organization with a ridiculously named.

Orphans with no family, no relatives, all alone.

Those bastards who catch children who fit such descriptions and raise them as assassins...

However, I considered even that an opportunity and truly did my best.

The strongest assassin of Jingagu.

And the youngest at that.

I received all the expectations of the Assassin Lord.

Along with the envy and jealousy of my colleagues.

It was natural. At that time, I was treated as the future of the organization, or the next Assassin Lord.

But would I like it?

I'm still just a butcher who kills people.

I have to escape someday.

While living with that thought in my heart, a real opportunity came along.

Samyang...

A secret manual left by someone who sought to reach the pinnacle of martial arts long ago.

It was a byproduct of a contract I got by chance.

I became greedy.

The disillusionment with being an assassin that I had held deep in my heart reared its head and urged me on.

Although it was only the first part of a connected series.

I couldn't find the later volumes, but with just this...

But it seems that greed wasn't exclusive to me.

The assassin who had received all the organization's expectations was branded a traitor overnight.

That's what a secret manual means to those called martial artists.

Enough to make even an old assassin with not long to live jump up and search for it with bloodshot eyes.

There was... nowhere to hide.

What is an assassin?

They are those who, once a target is set, chase them to the ends of hell to complete the contract.

I fought, and fought again...

Roughly hundreds, I don't even remember exactly how many I killed.

And so I came this far.

To the end of my life.

"Cough, cough... what a fucking life."

I had spewed out the memories that flashed by like a revolving lantern, coughed, letting the un-wiped blood flow from the corner of my mouth.

Jin Gumyeong, who had been listening for a while, grimaced and said.

"What kind of bullshit is that!"

He must have been expecting something.

Hoping I might give him a hint about the Samyang secret manual.

Still, thank you.

For listening to a dying man's ramblings...

"Sagyo, speak. Where is the Samyang secret manual!"

The same question.

Now he's even grabbing my collar and shaking me.

Making my head ring...

Helplessly shaken in his grasp, I smiled.

It was not a self mocking smile, but a sneer.

Feeling that the end was near, I did my best to sneer and said.

"If it were you... would you tell?"

"What?"

What do you mean, what?

When I've already given up on living...

"If I tell you, will I live?"

"This bastard...! Yes, I'll let you live! If you just hand over the Samyang secret manual, I will somehow save you."

Crazy bastard, begging at a time like this.

His bullshit is top notch.

Such an impossible boast is only because his greed for the secret manual is so great.

He should know just by looking at my state that even Hua Tuo couldn't save me.

"...Should I tell you?"

"Re, really?"

"Far..."

As his voice grew lower and lower, Jin Gumyeong brought his ear close to my mouth.

Human greed is this terrifying.

I squeezed out my last bit of strength and said.

"Get away... I think I'm going to die from your bad breath."

And with all his might, I bit Jin Gumyeong's ear.

Chomp!

"Aaaaaaaargh!"

Jin Gumyeong's piercing scream echoed.

Crunch, crunch...

I chewed on the torn off ear of Jin Gumyeong.

"You, you son of a bitch!"

Jin Gumyeong's eyes, glaring as blood poured out, glinted with killing intent.

Consider yourself lucky.

Jin Gumyeong...

If I had a little more strength... I would have chewed on your throat.

But now, even the strength in my jaw is fading.

Even chewing is difficult.

Life is truly... cruel.

And the heavens that gave me this kind of fate are really like a dog.

Crunch, crunch.

* * *

"Ugh... Aaaaaaaargh!"

A piercing scream painfully rings in my ears.

It hurts a lot, doesn't it?

But it's just one ear.

I'll chew on it until the moment I die.

Crunch, crunch.

"Aaargh! Let go! Let go, you son of a bitch!"

Thwack!

My body was helplessly thrown back by a fist.

In my dying state, I had no strength to withstand Jin Gumyeong's punch.

"Heh heh... huh?"

Yeah, hit me. Even if I fall, I'll get back up... I'm up?

What is this?

My legs are gone... huh?

I saw short, thin legs.

Suddenly, my mind snapped to attention.

Why... do I have legs?

Come to think of it, the things I see around me are quite familiar.

Perhaps because I had just experienced a revolving lantern of memories, it was all too vivid.

"This place is..."

A vagrant village.

Thirteen years old, my childhood.

A point in time during those days when I wandered without a home or a temple after running away from the creditors.

Was it a place called Inhoe at the northern end of Guizhou Castle?

I thought I had run far from my hometown, but I later found out it was only about seven hundred li away.

Well, for a child's steps, that's quite an achievement.

And looking at me, grimacing and panting while holding his bitten ear...

"Makgae?"

It was him.

The leader of the vagrant children's gang I belonged to at the time...

So why are you here?

"What? Makgae? You son of a bitch! You really want to die!"

Want to die?

No, I was literally dying just now?

Clearly...

"Cheo, Cheonyeong. What's wrong with you? Hurry up and apologize."

"Huh?"

One of the children who had woken up from the commotion spoke with a worried face.

With a large build and an innocent face...

"Jongma?"

"Huh?"

That was his name.

The one who was captured by the assassin organization with me... and died protecting me.

His real name was... Yongcheon?

"Cheonyeong, I said hurry and apologize. You don't know the boss's temper?"

I know. It was a long time ago, but...

But why are you alive?

And why are you in your childhood form?

I blinked my eyes.

What the hell is this... a dream?

One of the stages of dying, something like that?

"You, you son of a bitch! I'm going to kill you today!"

The furious Makgae rolled up his tattered sleeves and approached.

"Wait a minute, I don't understand..."

"Shut up!"

Makgae's fist flew at me.

This little thing.

I'll just twist my body to the side... and got hit in the jaw.

My body flew helplessly and slammed into the ground.

"Die! Die!"

And I was brutally stomped on.

Was it when my family was ruined, and I had just run away from the creditors?

I remember now.

The fact that at this time... my body was weak.

(End of Chapter)