Kwa-deuk! Kwang!

The Changlim Sword Saint, Il-u, showed off an incredible martial prowess that was not lacking for his nickname.

Every time the sword strike that fell like lightning connected heaven and earth, all sides exploded.

The swept-away assassins were shattered into pieces and scattered, without even being able to preserve their bodies.

Changlim, a dense forest.

Geomseon, a sword immortal.

It was clear that his name had been wrongly given.

Where on earth did that look like an immortal?

Kwa-deu-deu-deu! Kwa-ang!

It was the height of ruthlessness.

Although a survivor was needed to find out the assassins' purpose, he could not be stopped.

If he had also seen someone from the Tang Family's estate dying in agony from corpse poison, he would have been the same as Il-u.

The only fortunate thing was that he was not leaving the vicinity of the competition stage and was guarding it.

That alone was enough.

"Don't get too close! Just block their approach with hidden weapons!"

"Yes! Vice-Family Head!"

Yongcheon was also doing his role well.

Pa-pa-pak!

"Keuk!"

When the Green Warrior Unit's hidden weapons flew towards the assassins, Yongcheon, who had immediately followed, swung his iron ball with all his might.

"Hoo-aap!"

The power of the iron ball, swung with a shout, tearing through the air, was not something a mere assassin could block.

Jjeo-eo-eong!

If they blocked it, they would be sent flying more than a dozen feet and would not be satisfied, rolling fiercely on the ground.

They would not be able to get up.

The moment they were hit by the iron ball, their bones would have been shattered into small pieces.

"Yongcheon-ah!"

"Yes! Family Head!"

"Take good care of the bundles of luggage. So that the fire bombs are not visible!"

"Pardon?"

"Hurry!"

"Yes!"

At Cheonyeong's words, Yongcheon moves in a hurry.

Would it be good to leave those dangerous fire bombs unattended?

And who knows? Maybe they'll become mine.

Cheonyeong looks at Jin Yiseon with a greedy smile.

He was still in the same place.

But he would know. The fact that the tide of the battle had already turned.

Although their true purpose was unknown, the means to achieve that purpose had been revealed.

What could they do, now that even that had been taken away?

"Pursue and kill them all!"

"Waaah!"

The corpse poison subsided, and the Blue Green Sect Taoists who had retreated and the Wild Cats of the Beggars' Sect, led by Baekta, surrounded the vicinity of the competition grounds.

Jin Yiseon's face contorts to the point where it can't be contorted anymore.

The war was over.

And, you are now... alone.

"Cheonyeong-ah!"

At the call of Baekta, who had just jumped in, Cheonyeong raises his hand to his mouth.

Baekta, who had understood the meaning, looked at Jin Yiseon and then retreated with the Wild Cats.

The Changlim Sword Saint was the same.

He, who had realized that Cheonyeong was trying to talk, had his Blue Green Sect Taoists move far away.

It was respect.

Since the Blue Green Sect had already received a lot from him.

In the center of the siege where everyone had retreated, only Cheonyeong and Jin Yiseon remained.

"Looking at your expression, it seems you've grasped the situation."

Cheonyeong speaks to him.

Kka-deuk.

The sound of grinding teeth is clearly heard in his ear.

His eyes, glaring at Cheonyeong as if he could eat him, are bloodshot, and blood seeps from his tightly clenched fists.

But, there is no way.

He would know too.

"Would you like a glass of water?"

"..."

"You look very thirsty."

Cheonyeong smiles faintly and sheathes his blade.

It meant a temporary truce, and Jin Yiseon was not one to not understand.

Hadn't everyone already retreated as Tang Cheonyeong wished?

That's why he was more curious.

"What... are you?"

"Me?"

At the sight of Jin Yiseon, who seemed to be spitting out words he had kept bottled up for a long time, Cheonyeong smirked.

He never thought the first question would be that.

Well, he must have been curious.

The failure of the request.

If he knew Jin Yiseon's personality, that fact would be more painful than losing his life.

"Don't you already know?"

"..."

"The Tang Family's estate in Ganyang, Sicheon. The family head, Tang Cheonyeong."

Cheonyeong reveals his identity with a grin.

"Punk! You know that's not what I asked."

"Then what did you ask? I thought it was that."

At the characteristic sarcasm and smile, Jin Yiseon glares with bloodshot eyes and says.

"How do you know the Revolving Throwing Knife?"

"Revolving Throwing Knife?"

Cheonyeong tilts his head as if hearing it for the first time.

"Are you going to pretend you don't know?"

"Heh! Well."

"..."

"But, you don't have anything right now that's worth me giving you an answer."

"What did you say?"

"In a case like this, you have to be sure about giving and taking."

"You'll give and take?"

"Of course. Something important? Or valuable information? To get an answer from me that will solve your curiosity, there must be a price."

"A price..."

"I'm a bit of a snob, so I'm the type who won't even open my mouth a little, let alone move, without a price."

Jin Yiseon looks at Cheonyeong with narrowed eyes without a word.

He is thinking.

But he had already roughly guessed the answer he would give.

Because he knew him.

Because he had experienced him for a long time.

In a situation like this, there were only two choices Jin Yiseon would make.

Suicide, or escape.

His subordinates were almost annihilated, and he himself was surrounded by the Taoists of the Blue Green Sect and the Beggars' Sect.

If that was all, he would have tried to find a way to escape, but since there was the irresistible warrior, the Changlim Sword Saint, it was hopeless.

Even if he was one of the most outstanding assassins in Jingagu, a Sangcheon-gwi, he would not have the skill to shake off the Changlim Sword Saint and escape.

So, he would choose neither escape nor suicide.

"Alright, state your price."

"Heh, a good decision."

At the sight of Jin Yiseon, who had unclenched his tightly clenched fists, Cheonyeong nods.

"What was your purpose for infiltrating the Blue Green Sect?"

"Don't you already know?"

"I want to hear it from your mouth."

"...Annihilation."

"Annihilation?"

"Yes. I planned to annihilate all the participants of the Assembly of Elders. At that time, when the winner was decided and everyone was celebrating. In the end, it failed because of you."

At Jin Yiseon's words, Cheonyeong nods.

It was an answer that was not much different from his expectation.

Of course, this answer would be to gain trust.

In the words to come, he would appropriately mix lies with the revealed facts.

But that was enough.

If he picked out the lies from his numerous answers, only the truth would remain.

And in the first place, the important thing was not his lie-mixed answer.

What was he asking him?

There is always an intention hidden in a question.

"Hmm, alright. The reason?"

"Before that, it's my turn to ask."

"Ah! That's right, give and take. Good, ask your question."

"How do you know the Revolving Throwing Knife?"

"Revolving Throwing Knife, so that's what you guys call that hidden weapon technique."

"What?"

"I learned it myself."

"Y-yourself?"

"Yes."

"Nonsense!"

"Why is it nonsense?"

"Th-that's!"

"Isn't it a hidden weapon technique that anyone can learn? If you just research the degree of wrist flexion and force distribution, the shape of the fingers, and the throwing method."

"Umm."

At Cheonyeong's answer, Jin Yiseon narrows one eye.

In fact, it was nonsense.

To learn the Revolving Throwing Knife just by that?

Impossible.

To learn the Revolving Throwing Knife, one had to contain that unique flow of internal energy.

"Now, is it my turn?"

"..."

"What did you hope to gain by annihilating the participants of the Assembly of Elders?"

"Chaos."

"Tch! A one-word answer."

"I don't think we set a length for the answer."

Jeon Yiseon said curtly.

Damn punk.

Even so, what's the difference between that and a yes or no?

Damn it, I wasted a question.

"Alright. I can infer anything from that. Now it's your turn."

At Cheonyeong's words, Jin Yiseon could not readily open his mouth.

Jin Yiseon also knew.

That the current war of words was not to find an answer, but to read each other's minds...

Cheonyeong hid his expression with indifference, thinking of the numerous questions he could ask.

And Jin Yiseon, who had finished his long deliberation, asked.

His gaze is fierce.

What on earth is he going to ask...

"How did you know about the Samyang Divine Art?"

"What?"

Samyang Divine Art?

Why is 'Samyang' coming out of his mouth now?

No, how does he know about the Samyang Divine Art?

It was a completely unexpected question.

If someone else had asked about the Samyang, he would have lied that it was a family secret, but at Jin Yiseon's question, his mouth wouldn't open.

Because the Samyang Divine Art was a martial art that Jingagu should not have known about yet.

"Heh heh. That expression is enough of an answer. You knew about the Samyang too."

"You?"

Cheonyeong could not hide his surprised expression.

A cold smile formed on Jin Yiseon's lips.

Just as he had observed the punk, the punk had also observed his reaction.

He had lost the war of words he had been sure of winning.

"Tang Cheonyeong. From now on, every moment you are alive will be hell."

Jin Yiseon said, as if casting a curse.

And then.

"Damn it, I too... revealed my hand too easily. I needed a longer conversation. Now you won't give me any answers, will you?"

"It's already too late."

"Too late? What is?"

Towards the triumphant Jin Yiseon, Cheonyeong, who had already erased his surprise, raises his head.

Was it because he had read the killing intent flickering in his eyes?

Jin Yiseon's pupils tremble finely.

"No way? Did you believe that?"

"What?"

Cheonyeong's hand, which had gone into his bosom, opens as soon as the words are finished.

Swa-a-a-a!

There was a sound of the wind being swept.

Peo-eok!

And before Jin Yiseon's head had even fully turned, a sound like a watermelon bursting was heard.

Teol-seok.

On a tree near the wall of a distant Taoist temple. A headless body fell to the ground.

Jin Yiseon, who had confirmed the sight belatedly, muttered with finely trembling pupils.

"F-flash Thunder."

Jin Yiseon turns his head towards Cheonyeong with a horrified expression.

"Y-you, how could you?"

"Even if I say I learned it myself, you won't believe me now, will you?"

"Shut up!"

"Hehehehe. Yes, I thought so."

Cheonyeong nods with a strange laugh.

The hidden technique, Flash Thunder.

A single hidden weapon.

The strongest hidden weapon technique that, besides himself, only the Salju had learned in Jingagu.

"Actually, I've been observing since a while ago."

"What?"

"The content of the Q&A would be a secret that shouldn't be known, so why did you speak in your own voice instead of using telepathy?"

"No way?"

"Because the rat had to hear. Because it had to see and hear all the questions we exchanged, and my reactions, and report them."

Jin Yiseon just stared with his mouth agape.

He was destined to die anyway, and when the Tang family head had requested a conversation, he had thought it was a good thing.

Because he had thought that even if he died, as he had said, the Q&A would be delivered to the Salju.

But.

"You knew."

"Yes."

"How, how did you know?"

"That's..."

Cheonyeong grins and raises the sword he had hidden.

[Because I know everything about you. The fact that you are the Sangcheon-gwi of Jingagu, Jin Yiseon, and that the Salju has the name Jin Gumyeong.]

"Wh-what?"

Jin Yiseon's eyes widened as if they would pop out.

How could this punk...

It was something that should not have been known.

It was content that had never been known to anyone outside until now.

This was a different problem from failing a request. It was a matter that could reveal the organization if he was not careful.

He had to kill him.

He had to silence him.

By any means necessary.

This was a much more important matter that had to be done before his own suicide.

[Look forward to it, if you go first... I'll send everyone to follow you.]

Kung!

The end of the telepathic message and Cheonyeong's lunge were simultaneous.

"Die!"

And so was Jin Yiseon's pouring out of all the hidden weapons he had.

(End of Chapter)