"Damn..."

Jin Il-hak had to move without a moment's rest, rolling on the ground countless times.

There was a set method for escaping when trapped in an enemy's formation.

Find the weak point, attack it concentratedly, and escape through the torn gap.

But what was this?

Every part of the formation was loose.

Everything visible was sloppy, and all directions were escape routes.

A bluff?

Or a deliberate sloppiness meant to lure him into a trap?

His head grew complicated.

The more he thought, the more it felt like sinking into a quagmire.

No, there was no time to think.

Whoosh!

The iron ball swinging like a giant hammer came rapidly.

The movements filled with force were powerful but riddled with openings. However, two swords filled those gaps, followed by hands and feet.

Of course, if that were all, he would have escaped long ago.

Whenever he found a moment to catch his breath, hidden weapons flew from all directions without fail, and the swordsmen forming the encirclement unleashed merciless sword strikes.

Reduction and addition, scarcity and abundance.

What was lacking was added, what was insufficient was filled.

The formation that appeared sloppy became solid, and the sparse net became dense.

What kind of person had devised such a formation?

"Huff, huff..."

Jin Il-hak, who had thought he could maintain sufficient superiority, found himself only dodging, unable to launch a single proper attack.

If only one of them came within reach, but they never approached beyond a certain distance.

Neither the three who attacked as the main force nor those maintaining the encirclement by following him. When he tried to counterattack, they fled like loaches, and attacks came from other directions.

Beyond just internal force, his stamina was gradually depleting from constantly moving to avoid endless attacks, only adding to his frustration. Until now, he hadn't killed a single person, only spewing curses at his rising anger.

It felt like they were trying to exhaust him to death.

"Damn this!"

Boom!

Finally unable to contain his rage, Jin Il-hak spewed his internal force all at once, scattering hidden weapons in all directions.

But the result was the same as before.

The three who had been troubling him like mosquitoes while maintaining distance suddenly retreated far, and those forming the encirclement hid their bodies in trees to avoid the hidden weapons.

Crack, boom!

His hidden weapons only damaged the natural surroundings as before.

But suddenly the formation's movement changed.

The rain of attacks that had been pouring stopped abruptly, as if it had never begun.

"Huff, huff."

Jin Il-hak, breathing heavily and panting, looked around.

The encirclement remained.

But each person only maintained their position, taking no action.

Then where were the others?

Jin Il-hak turned his head sharply and saw the three who had been troubling him in a "品" formation stepping aside as if making way for someone, bowing their heads.

Why?

But the question was quickly answered.

A sinister presence touched his skin like a sharp blade, and a man slowly walked toward the center of the battlefield.

Step, step.

The sound of footsteps on grass was extremely grating.

"Cheonyeong."

Jin Il-hak glared with narrowed eyes and ground his teeth, while Cheonyeong calmly received that gaze and flicked his hand.

Ping!

A hidden weapon shot like lightning.

With depleted stamina, Jin Il-hak trusted the armguards on his arms and struck the hidden weapon.

But it didn't take long to realize that was an arrogant thought.

Clang!

His blocking arm bounced back with a cracking sound and broke, and the armguards couldn't withstand the hidden weapon's power and were pierced through.

"Grgh!"

Sharp pain emanated from his broken, hanging arm.

It was a Bone-Piercing Needle.

A hidden weapon technique designed to kill targets wearing armor or protected by internal force.

"Don't whine, Jin Il-hak. We didn't poison it like your kind does."

"...?!"

At Cheonyeong's words as he approached with measured steps, Jin Il-hak's eyes widened.

J-Jin Il-hak?

How did this person know his name?

Moreover, how did he know Jinkagu's hidden weapon techniques?

But there was no time to resolve the questions.

Ping! Ping!

Cheonyeong's second hidden weapon.

Another Bone-Piercing Needle.

With his technique deployed, Jin Il-hak clearly saw how the hidden weapon's rotation twisted the space.

But it was different from the first.

The moment Cheonyeong threw the Bone-Piercing Needle, his other hand moved subtly.

First hide, then kill.

Indeed, another Jinkagu hidden weapon technique.

A method of deceiving the opponent's eyes with the first attack and stealing their life with the second hidden weapon concealed in its shadow.

Realizing that Cheonyeong had anticipated his evasion and thrown the second hidden weapon, Jin Il-hak dodged in a safe direction.

But suddenly the first hidden weapon changed direction toward him.

"A Bone-Piercing Needle with the Returning Blade? Damn!"

That was possible?

There was no time to be surprised.

With his neck about to be pierced, Jin Il-hak urgently twisted his body.

Thud!

"Argh!"

Unable to maintain balance from the sudden evasion, Jin Il-hak rolled on the ground.

It was impossible to avoid the hidden weapon.

The distance was already too close when he twisted.

"Grgh..."

Behind the shoulder, the Shoulder Well acupoint.

The hidden weapon Cheonyeong threw was embedded so deeply that only the end was visible.

But he couldn't pull it out.

Not only had it pierced flesh and embedded in bone, but the hidden weapon was suppressing the acupoint, so his arm wouldn't move.

"Y-you bastard."

Jin Il-hak, covered in dirt from rolling on the ground, struggled and barely got up, glaring at Cheonyeong.

Ping!

But as if waiting, Cheonyeong's hidden weapon flew.

Thud!

"Ugh!"

At the hidden weapon piercing both knees, Jin Il-hak lost his balance and collapsed to his knees.

He had already accumulated considerable impact from the Ghost Hand's palm strike, and his stamina had been excessively depleted from being trapped in the Tang Family's encirclement, so he couldn't dodge.

No, Cheonyeong's hidden weapons were too fast to avoid.

Knees and arms.

With his limbs suppressed, Jin Il-hak had nothing left he could do.

It was futile.

"Damn... damn! If I hadn't been weakened by being caught by these dogs."

As Jin Il-hak grumbled bitterly, Cheonyeong, who had approached and was looking down at him, spoke bluntly.

"Why? Angry at being caught by the weak?"

"What?"

"It's called the Tiger Catching Formation."

"T-Tiger catching?"

"Yes, it's the perfect formation to capture a beast like you."

"B-Beast? You bastard!"

Jin Il-hak shouted with anger, but Cheonyeong merely laughed coldly.

"Pathetic. The great Jin Il-hak reduced to just screaming."

Jin Il-hak, glaring with blazing eyes, asked Cheonyeong.

"How do you know me?"

"How... perhaps because of the accumulated resentment?"

"What?"

"Yes, it's fine for you to know the sins of your past before you die."

"What are you talking about!"

Cheonyeong approached and grasped Jin Il-hak's hair, whispering softly near his ear.

"The Accelerated Corpse Formation."

Jin Il-hak's eyes opened as if they would split.

The Accelerated Corpse Formation?

That was a formation Jin Il-hak himself had devised to accelerate corpse decay. But how did this person know about it—a fact only known to Jinkagu's leadership?

"Surprised?"

"Who are you?"

"I remember it clearly even now. Back then, I truly believed. That if I just passed through that formation, I could live. But I was wrong. There was never a Gate of Life in that formation. You selected children to be discarded and shoved them into that damn formation."

"H-how did you..."

At Cheonyeong's whisper, Jin Il-hak's pupils trembled like a sailboat in a fierce storm.

"We fought fiercely because of the Confusion Poison you spread in the formation. That poison that drew out killing intent. All those children died thinking each other were mortal enemies. Remember?"

"..."

"Hehehehe, I really thought I would die back then."

Cheonyeong's laughter, holding his hair and chuckling near his ear, was so chilling it sent shivers.

"I learned later. That your atrocities didn't end with the Killing Formation. You used the Accelerated Corpse Formation to rapidly decay the corpses and create corpse poison. So their souls couldn't even rest in peace."

"Y-you..."

He tried to scream.

He tried to ask.

But with a sharp pain and his acupoint suppressed, Jin Il-hak could only stare at Cheonyeong's cruel smile.

"But today isn't revenge for that."

"..."

"At first, if a Jinkagu assassin came after me, I planned to capture him, remove the poison, and ask. What was your purpose in causing chaos in the Blue Green Sect? And why you were searching for the Samyang Divine Art."

At the following words, Jin Il-hak couldn't hide his shock.

His name, his secrets, the poison?

What was this person's identity that he knew such details?

But with hidden weapons disabling his limbs and his acupoint suppressed, Jin Il-hak could only stare at him with trembling eyes.

"But it doesn't matter. I can ask one of the people I'll meet later."

"Ugh..."

"You shouldn't have killed Myeong-chun, Jin Il-hak."

"Ugh."

"You've now killed a Tang Family member and created deep resentment. And the Tang Family never leaves resentment unresolved. Regardless of who the opponent is."

Cheonyeong released the hair he had been holding and stepped back.

Jin Il-hak knew death's moment was approaching. But at that moment, his questions about Cheonyeong were greater than death itself.

What are you?

How do you know my name, and how do you know Jinkagu's hidden secrets and the Samyang Divine Art?

Watching Jin Il-hak, whose complexion changed by the moment as he could neither speak nor move, Cheonyeong smiled with mockery.

"Jin Il-hak, it's not I who kills you today, but the Tang Family's rage at losing a member."

His slowly raised hand came down, and the killing intent of the Tang Family martial artists forming the encirclement engulfed the forest.

Whoosh!

And it poured down.

The hidden weapons poured out by the Tang Family martial artists, as if venting their anger at Myeong-chun's death, filled the sky with killing intent like rain.

Hidden weapons filling the entire sky, pouring down like rain.

Damn...

Jin Il-hak, unable to move, had a bitter smile on his lips as if he had given up everything. Even if his limbs had been intact, he couldn't have escaped.

How could a human escape rain?

Puff! Puff-puff-puff!

Hidden weapons relentlessly rained down on his body.

The rain of hidden weapons stained with killing intent fell for a long time, soaking his entire body, and Jin Il-hak's kneeling form shook ceaselessly.

Hidden weapons with nowhere left to embed struck each other, tearing his skin and shredding him beyond recognition.

Thud.

Jin Il-hak's body could endure no longer and collapsed.

Though he had long since died, the Tang Family's rain fell with cruel persistence. When the rain finally stopped, only the traces of brutal slaughter remained in the silent forest.

Cheonyeong walked with heavy steps toward Jin Il-hak's corpse.

In his eyes and in the eyes of the Tang Family martial artists forming the encirclement, there was no cheap pity.

Slide.

The drawn sword caught the moonlight coldly.

Slice!

Without a moment's hesitation, Cheonyeong severed Jin Il-hak's neck and spoke.

"...The tiger hunt is over."

The Tang Family's Departure from the World