"Cough! Cough! Keok! Keok!"

Buk Myeong-woo, who had coughed up blood, glared at the masked person standing five zhang away.

Jin Sa-wol was looking at Buk Myeong-woo's deeply cut side and right arm with cold eyes.

Buk Myeong-woo, gasping for breath, asked with a flushed face, "What sword... sword technique is that?"

"Ghost God Short Life Sword."

"What a... dog-like name... Fuck. The Baekgeom Mun... will chase you forever. We will tear you to pieces and kill you, so give up any thought of living comfortably."

"Do you know who I am?"

"Ah..."

Thump!

Buk Myeong-woo, who had fallen to the floor, was no longer breathing.

"Pavilion Master!"

"Protect the Pavilion Master!"

"Chase the enemy!"

Jin Sa-wol, who had flown up while listening to the shouts of the members of the Sword Wind Hall, disappeared into the forest. There were no members of the Sword Wind Hall chasing after him.

***

The sun was rising in the eastern sky.

The sun also showed its face on the shore of Poyang Lake and shone a bright light. But the expressions of the members of the Sword Wind Hall and the Fierce Tiger Hall gathered on the shore were not good.

The dead body of Buk Myeong-woo was lying on a field not far from the shore.

Seok Jeong-bi, who was examining the severed arm and side, asked a member of the Sword Wind Hall standing next to him, "How did he die?"

"We fought a few times, but the opponent's martial arts were elusive, and he was hit by a fast sword."

"It was dawn and far away, so we couldn't see properly how they fought."

Seok Jeong-bi, who had heard the members' stories, lifted Buk Myeong-woo's severed arm with a hardened expression.

The cleanly cut cross-section looked as if it had been hit by sword energy.

The member of the Sword Wind Hall also explained that he had run from the inn to here.

He said the bastard had boldly shown himself and had run as if to say, 'chase me'.

The bastard had surely waited for Buk Myeong-woo to be off his guard and then attacked in reverse.

He was a guy who was confident in his martial arts.

Seok Jeong-bi said with a cold gaze, "Inform the alliance and move the corpses to the inn."

"Yes!"

Leaving the answers of the members of the Sword Wind Hall behind, Seok Jeong-bi headed for the inn with his head bowed.

He and Buk Myeong-woo had been separated by only about a quarter of an hour.

'To be precise, was it about half a shichen (one hour)?'

If he added the time he had stayed in Guguang Fortress, it was about two to three quarters of an hour. If he calculated the travel time, it was surely half a shichen.

"Don't tell me?"

Whoosh!

Seok Jeong-bi, as something suddenly came to mind, hurriedly used his lightness skill.

***

Thump! Thump!

Seok Jeong-bi, who had hurriedly entered the safe, swallowed a groan when he saw the dead Yoo Geum-pil.

Seok Jeong-bi suddenly felt a fear of his opponent, and his shoulders trembled lightly.

It seemed as if the bastard was looking down at him from above his head.

"What kind of bastard is he?"

Seok Jeong-bi had never heard of an assassin who moved like a ghost like this in his life.

In just one night, Pavilion Master Wang and Pavilion Master Buk Myeong had died. Although Pavilion Master Wang's martial arts were not high, Buk Myeong-woo was definitely a master.

The general manager and the gisaeng house master of the inn were assassins. But it could not be seen that they had the ability to kill Buk Myeong-woo like that.

Thump!

It was then. A small tremor occurred in the small, not-so-wide stone chamber. After that, two corpses slid into the stone chamber as if they were sliding.

They were the members of the Fierce Tiger Hall who were guarding the front of the door.

Seok Jeong-bi's eyes widened.

'The bastard didn't run away.'

Seok Jeong-bi, who had drawn his sword and held it in his hand, looked around.

A long black shadow came into the small stone chamber of about three zhang.

"The lives I want are the ringleader who attacked and burned my inn and his remnants."

As the masked person came in, Seok Jeong-bi gathered his internal energy. Although his sword emitted a silver light, the masked person's eyes did not seem very interested.

Seok Jeong-bi recalled the masked person's words, 'my inn'.

"It's Jin Sa-wol. I've heard a lot about you. Aren't you a low-class Demonic Cult member who got lucky and swallowed the inn while hunting for bounties?"

Seok Jeong-bi sneered at Jin Sa-wol with a deliberately composed face.

Jin Sa-wol knew well that Seok Jeong-bi was a renowned master in the martial world. There was no reason to play with him.

"The ringleader is Zhuge Qing, and who is the one who led the attack on the inn?"

"I led it."

"You're not the type. Your level is low."

"You arrogant bastard."

"When the inn was attacked, Zhuge Qing was in the Martial Alliance. Who is it? I'm not very patient."

Jin Sa-wol showed his empty chest to Seok Jeong-bi with his hands hanging down. Opening a gap meant to attack.

Seok Jeong-bi looked at the entrance visible over Jin Sa-wol's shoulder.

The entrance was half open. If time passed, the division members would surely come.

The problem was whether he could hold out until the patrolling division members came.

"There's no reason to tell a killing ghost of the Demonic Cult. Come."

Whoosh!

The one who moved first was Seok Jeong-bi.

He extended his sword straight forward and stabbed Jin Sa-wol's neck and chest at the same time with a sword form similar to the form of the Seon-in-ji-ro.

It was then that Jin Sa-wol's sword extended forward.

It seemed as if his hand had moved, and Seok Jeong-bi's sword and Jin Sa-wol's sword crossed in the air.

As the sound of the sword bodies sliding against each other echoed strangely, Seok Jeong-bi's eyes widened when he saw the disappearing Jin Sa-wol.

The sight of Jin Sa-wol's sword entering his chest looked like a phantom.

"Hmph! You crazy bastard!"

Although he quickly rotated to the left, turned his body, and sprayed sword energy, it was not sword energy, but his own blood that spread like a whirlwind.

Seok Jeong-bi, who had splattered blood on the wall, clutched his chest and leaned against the wall. Jin Sa-wol was still standing at the entrance with his hands hanging down.

It was then. Seok Jeong-bi's neck opened, and blood flowed out.

"Keok! Keuk!"

Seok Jeong-bi, who had clutched his neck, staggered and sat down.

"How... did..."

"I thought once would be disappointing, so I stabbed twice."

Before Jin Sa-wol's words had even finished, Seok Jeong-bi bowed his head deeply.

Jin Sa-wol looked at the dead Seok Jeong-bi, took a step forward, and turned his body.

With a whoosh! sound, a sword flew in, but it only stabbed the empty air.

The eyes of the masked person holding the sword and Jin Sa-wol met. Just by looking at the eyes, he could tell who that person was.

The masked person who had come in was Jo Geom-ok. Her eyes were in a state of great anger.

But Jin Sa-wol's cold killing intent was even stronger.

"What are you doing?"

Jin Sa-wol extended his hand and grabbed Jo Geom-ok's arm. Jo Geom-ok did not avoid it.

"You came, so why didn't you look for me?"

"Because I didn't know you were here." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

At the words that he didn't know, Jo Geom-ok's eyes softened. Although it was a simple reason, it was a clear answer that she couldn't say anything about.

"When did you come?"

"Yesterday."

Jin Sa-wol told the truth and then looked at the dead Seok Jeong-bi.

Jo Geom-ok, who felt disappointed that Jin Sa-wol was not paying attention to her, raised her sword and began to write on the ground at Seok Jeong-bi's feet.

With a papat! sound, stone powder flew, and two characters were engraved.

"God of Death?"

As Jin Sa-wol looked, Jo Geom-ok put away her sword and answered.

"Because we need to clearly let these people know who you are. You don't even have a nickname yet, do you?"

"Is it necessary?"

Jin Sa-wol frowned, but his gaze changed when he saw the red blood seeping into the engraved characters.

Seok Jeong-bi's blood flowed into the engraved words 'God of Death'. He liked the sight.

"Not bad."

As Jin Sa-wol heard a presence from afar, he went outside with Jo Geom-ok.

A short while later, the members of the Fierce Tiger Hall who had entered the entrance of the safe moved urgently when they saw the dead body of Seok Jeong-bi.

The sound of the bell and the whistle echoed continuously around the inn.

***

Jin Sa-wol and Jo Geom-ok were standing in a forest near the top of Seosan. The two took off their masks for a moment, capturing the entire view of the inn in their eyes.

Although they saw the warriors of the Martial Alliance moving urgently, Jo Geom-ok's interest was in Jin Sa-wol.

"How was the Demonic Cult? Did you go into that place called the Infinite Hell or something?"

"That place was closed, and they say the prisoners captured by the Martial Alliance starved to death."

"Oh my. Zhuge Qing will be surprised if he finds out."

"He knows."

"He knows?"

Jo Geom-ok's eyes widened as if she were surprised.

"He sent me knowing?"

"It seems so. It's my guess."

Jin Sa-wol answered and then looked at Jo Geom-ok. Although her long black hair was fluttering in the wind, Jin Sa-wol was not interested.

"I met the Esoteric Cult Leader. I never thought it, but he was living as the Demonic Cult Leader."

"The demonic bastard. So? Did you kill him?"

Jin Sa-wol shook his head and contemplated for a moment how to answer.

To say he had missed him, Cheon Yu-myeong was too fine. He didn't seem to have run away either.

It seemed right to say he had just left.

"He left."

"Where to?"

"I don't know. But he'll probably appear again soon."

Cheon Yu-myeong's patience was not very high. He would surely commit slaughter somewhere, and the traces would come out.

"When are you going to the Martial Alliance?"

Jo Geom-ok asked as she recalled Cheon Yu-myeong.

Since she had heard the conversation between Seok Jeong-bi and Jin Sa-wol in the safe, she knew that the mastermind behind the attack on the inn was Zhuge Qing.

"If Zhuge Qing is the mastermind, we have to get rid of Zhuge Qing. Do you think Zhuge Qing will even bat an eye if we kill the pavilion masters?"

"Even if he doesn't bat an eye, we can tie his feet. Zhuge Qing might confine himself within the fence of the Martial Alliance."

Hearing Jin Sa-wol's words, Jo Geom-ok thought that if it were Zhuge Qing, he could sufficiently do that.

The Martial Alliance, with its high walls and numerous masters, was surely the safest place in the world. But looking at it from another direction, she thought it could also be a prison.

Jin Sa-wol, to the silently nodding Jo Geom-ok, said again, "There's a bastard we have to kill first, before Zhuge Qing."

"Who is that?"

"The head of the snake who killed Il-hu and Il-bi and led the attack on the inn."

Jin Sa-wol frowned deeply, touched his chin, and contemplated.

"A person who can command the pavilion masters of the Martial Alliance, a person who knows well that there is a lot of gold and silver treasures left by Jo Han-yu in the inn, and a person with high martial arts."

Jin Sa-wol, who had turned his head, looked at Jo Geom-ok.

Jo Geom-ok frowned slightly. Hearing Jin Sa-wol's story, it seemed Jin Sa-wol already had an idea of who it was.

"What are you looking at?"

If Woo Jeong-bong had looked at her like Jin Sa-wol, her hand would have gone out first. But Jin Sa-wol's eyes were the eyes she had seen when she was young.

"Why?"

"Hyeonjeong."

At Jin Sa-wol's short words, Jo Geom-ok's eyes widened.

Was it because she had heard a name she had never even thought of? Or was it because he was her brother-in-law?

Jo Geom-ok soon shook her head.

"No."

"If it's Hyeonjeong, he's a person who can easily command the elders of the Hao Faction."

"No. The elders of the Hao Faction can also be commanded by Zhuge Qing."

As Jo Geom-ok's voice turned sharp, Jin Sa-wol felt that there was a connection between Jo Geom-ok and Hyeonjeong.

"We'll know if we investigate."

Whoosh!

Jin Sa-wol flew up, leaving Jo Geom-ok behind.

Jo Geom-ok, who had been standing in place for a moment, recalled Hyeonjeong, who had given her candy and stroked her head in the Martial Alliance.

"It's just a feeling."

Whoosh!

***

"Brother Jin!"

As he entered the room, Woo Jeong-bong embraced him. Woo Jeong-bong's happiness was like that of a dog rushing in.

"I missed you so much, why did you only appear now? I'm sorry. If I had remained at the inn, I would have killed all the unorthodox faction bastards. Of all things, the sect leader fell ill, so I had no choice but to go to Wudang Mountain."

Woo Jeong-bong, with a tearful face, spoke at length, sighed, and then drank from a water jug.

"Phew! When I think of the inn, my insides burn black. Haa... Where can I drink and enjoy the arts now? I'm sad, so sad."

Jo Geom-ok, who had heard Woo Jeong-bong's story, clicked her tongue and returned to her room.

"It seems you missed the inn, not me."

"How can that be? I'm a Taoist. A Taoist. A Taoist without worldly desires."

"Where is Master Hyeonjeong?"

"Brother-in-law is coming to the inn with the Jeongcheon Wonju now."

Hearing Woo Jeong-bong's answer, Jin Sa-wol showed a smile and patted his shoulder.

(End of Chapter)