CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

THUD! THUD! THUD!

TWEET-WEEET! TWEET-WEEET! TWEET-WEEET!

The acrobat troupe musicians’ performance surged toward its peak, and the riders holding the five-colored flags grew so fast that it was hard to follow them with the naked eye.

With the pounding instrument sounds that made hearts thump, and the spectacle that dazzled the eyes, the cheers of the spectators packed into the main road swelled along with it.

WAAAAAH!

Because of those excited spectators, Hu Gae was having trouble.

The people bewitched by the acrobat troupe’s show were packed so tightly they formed a wall, and they would not make a path.

“Damn it! Move aside.”

When he dragged one person out, another immediately wedged into the gap, so for Hu Gae it was enough to drive him insane.

“Is this beggar crazy? On a moment like today, go beg somewhere else—why the hell are you yanking people out and making a scene!”

Seeing Hu Gae dressed like a beggar, it was only natural the people flared up, which made things even harder for him.

But he could not exactly swing the Tagu Staff to threaten civilians, so he had no choice but to swallow their curses and keep forcing his way forward.

Behind Hu Gae, who was struggling to get into the performance space no matter what, Hidden Moon Forest’s Fifth Kill, Gan Seongyeol, was approaching in secret.

At last, when there was only one person between them, Gan Seongyeol drew the dagger hidden inside his clothes.

SHKRAK!

A green gleam slickly shone on the dagger—smeared with a deadly poison that killed from even a graze.

A thick smile spread at Gan Seongyeol’s lips.

All he had to do was stab the broad back of the Beggar Clan beggar who was too busy pushing through spectators to notice.

CLANG! THUD! TWEET-WEEET! CLANG! THUD! TWEET-WEEET!

WOOOAAAH!

Right as the musicians’ performance hit its extreme and the crowd’s roar grew louder, Gan Seongyeol shoved the person in front of him hard to the side.

And at the same time, he tried to thrust the dagger forward.

But the Beggar Clan beggar’s back—what should have been there—was gone.

“...?”

He had clearly been watching the Beggar Clan beggar forcing the person ahead out of the way.

“Are you looking for me?”

At the voice that suddenly came from behind him, Gan Seongyeol turned and tried to slash with the dagger.

CRUNCH!

But that was only his intent.

Something hard as a thick log wrapped around his neck and squeezed tight, and the Fifth Kill could not move an inch.

“Khhk!”

At the same time, he felt a hand like an iron hook seize his right wrist holding the dagger.

“How..., gkk?”

Gan Seongyeol’s confusion was natural.

As a professional assassin, he had revealed no presence and no killing intent.

“How did I know?”

“Grrk...!”

“Our little brother Kwak is a very cautious sort. He told me if something happened, it would definitely happen in multiple places at once, so I should be on guard. And sure enough—I could see you slithering closer like a snake.”

Only then did Gan Seongyeol realize the Beggar Clan beggar had only pretended to push through the crowd.

He was waiting on purpose for me to close in.

Gan Seongyeol understood he had stepped into a snake trap, but there was one question he still could not resolve.

“Grrrk?”

“You’re asking how I could vanish from in front of your eyes like that?”

When the Beggar Clan beggar somehow caught the meaning of his groan, Gan Seongyeol nodded hard.

“You bastard—don’t tell me you didn’t even know who I was?”

“Grrrk...?”

“Hah. To try to grab me without even knowing I’m Hu Gae of the Beggar Clan... you people are completely out of your minds.”

That beggar bastard was Hu Gae of the Beggar Clan?

Only now did Gan Seongyeol’s question unravel.

Because he recalled the footwork said to be taught only to the Beggar Clan Leader’s direct disciples.

Drunken Eight Immortals Steps—Eight Steps, No Shadow!

Within eight steps, you couldn’t even see a shadow—an absolute divine art of shifting positions.

That was why, in the blink of an eye, he had exposed his back.

Gan Seongyeol now understood why the First Kill had dumped the Beggar Clan beggar on him.

That old hag definitely knew this guy was Hu Gae of the Beggar Clan.

Because the First Kill, Sa Gwirang, was commanding the entire Aju “release operation.”

Gan Seongyeol ground his teeth at the First Kill’s dirty move—trying to remove a rival in the middle of a mission.

Either way, to retaliate against the First Kill, he first had to escape this snake trap.

“Grrrrh!”

Pretending to cough out a groan of rage, Gan Seongyeol wriggled his left hand.

CLICK!

A blade mechanism hidden at his elbow snapped open, and he stabbed at the Beggar Clan beggar’s side at point-blank range.

But that, too, was only his thought.

CRACK! SNAP!

In the next instant, the Fifth Kill died with his neckbone broken.

“You filthy assassin bastard.”

Hu Gae knew well that assassins hid weapons all over their bodies, so the moment the bastard moved his left-hand muscles, he snapped his neck without mercy.

Truthfully, he wanted to smash the bastard’s skull with the Tagu Staff. But if he did that, the spectators would be startled and a huge commotion would erupt, so he held back.

Hu Gae propped the Fifth Kill’s corpse up as if supporting him and turned his gaze away.

He did not worry about the Dark Cavern Taoist trapped by the five-colored flags even a little.

For a master who had reached the middle stage of the Transformation Realm, escaping this kind of assassin squad’s trickery was only a matter of time.

And for Kwak Yeon’s future—clearly bound to be harsh—it was better to buy this kind of experience even if it cost money.

Hu Gae worried whether an assassin had attached themselves to Jin Cheongha as well.

Jin Cheongha had said if anything happened, she would hide with concealment arts, so he should not worry—but he was still anxious.

No matter how he scanned around, when he could not see Jin Cheongha, Hu Gae finally felt relief.

He thought, just as she promised, she was concealed somewhere.

*****

Hidden Moon Forest’s First Kill, Sa Gwirang, saw the Fifth Kill cling tight behind Hu Gae and hurried into an alley.

Sa Gwirang had already seen Jin Cheongha enter the alley.

Sa Gwirang did not particularly care why she had gone in.

In an alley with no people, it was rather welcome—she could handle her however she liked.

I’ll peel that smug shell right off you, bitch.

As expected, there was not even the slightest trace of people in the alley.

With such a huge spectacle on the main road, it was only natural the foot traffic had dried up.

Sa Gwirang adjusted the sack on her back once, then began to walk down the alley at a slow pace.

TAK. TAK.

Bent at the waist, using the Ink-Nail Moon Needles shaped like a cane, Sa Gwirang looked exactly like an old woman.

Sa Gwirang thought she would soon see Jin Cheongha.

Even if she was a martial artist, a young woman would find it unpleasant to go deep into a damp, sinister alley like this.

TAK. TAK.

Sa Gwirang deliberately made her cane sound loud as she walked about ten feet in and reached a bent section of the alley—then she was dumbfounded.

Even far past the bend, she could not see Jin Cheongha.

Don’t tell me that bitch slipped off somewhere...?

As Sa Gwirang was dumbfounded for a moment, she heard a presence from the alley behind her, from the way she had come.

“Grandmother, who are you looking for?”

Sa Gwirang did not need to look to know who the owner of that voice was.

Sa Gwirang’s nerves went taut.

To hide while deceiving her sensitive senses...

Sa Gwirang straightened her bent back and turned around.

“Now that I see it, you weren’t an ordinary bitch.”

It was a line packed with meaning.

Jin Cheongha smiled lightly.

“That insult is very grating to the ear, but I’ll take it as praise.”

“With such a delicate face, you even speak so delicately.”

On Sa Gwirang’s wrinkled face, laughing hoarsely, warts were scattered everywhere.

“Of course. You must have been pampered your whole life, hearing only nice words.”

“Is that meant as ‘Plenty makes you generous’? Then that, too, is praise.”

Sa Gwirang nodded.

“Of course. It’s praise for being pretty. Before I kill you, I should do at least that much, so my heart feels at ease.”

Jin Cheongha tilted her head.

“I can’t understand. I’m seeing you for the first time—why are you treating me like an enemy? Ah—don’t tell me... it’s not inferiority complex, is it?”

When Jin Cheongha saw Sa Gwirang’s face twist, she let out a small snort of laughter.

“This is truly ridiculous. Judging by how perfectly you’re hiding your energy, you don’t seem like an ordinary assassin—yet you can’t separate public duty from private feeling.”

“Heh heh heh. The way you talk so slyly... as I thought, your martial arts clearly didn’t originate from the righteous path.”

Sa Gwirang had suspected from early on that the concealment art Jin Cheongha displayed was not a righteous-path martial art.

There was no righteous-path concealment art that could evade her senses.

“That’s right.”

Jin Cheongha nodded readily.

“I did learn a few righteous-path arts, but they aren’t enough to face a master like you. So I brought you here, where there are no people. If someone sees my true martial arts, it becomes very troublesome.”

“So you mean you have to keep wearing the righteous-path mask around your companions. Then why tell me that?”

“Because.”

SHING!

Jin Cheongha drew a flashing sword and continued.

“Soon you’ll become a ghost and won’t be able to chatter.”

“Hmph!”

Sa Gwirang lifted the Ink-Nail Moon Needles to point them and snorted.

“Child. Even turning things upside down has to have limits.”

“Does it, really?”

Sa Gwirang flinched when she saw black energy ripple over Jin Cheongha’s entire body.

Body-Motion Manifestation.

It was a natural phenomenon that appeared when a Transcendent-level master raised energy.

And on top of that, the feeling of that energy was truly cold.

Then demonic arts...!

A chill ran down Sa Gwirang’s spine.

At such a young age—a Transcendent demonic master...?

Sa Gwirang realized Jin Cheongha’s identity was not ordinary. At the same time, she realized she herself was in grave danger.

That Jin Cheongha had said she lured her into this alley was not an empty claim.

“What in the world... are you?”

At Sa Gwirang’s question, Jin Cheongha gave a cold smile.

“Stop trying to stall and just come at me. No matter how long you wait, not a single person will come to help you.”

At Jin Cheongha’s words, Sa Gwirang realized these people had already seen through their assassination operation.

“Then the Fifth Kill who approached Hu Gae of the Beggar Clan...?”

“Why ask something so obvious?”

“...?”

“By now, he’d have become a lonely ghost in the hands of the Beggar Clan’s Sub-Branch Master.”

“Then... even the Dark Cavern Taoist walked into the trap knowing it?”

At Sa Gwirang’s question, Jin Cheongha nodded.

“Of course. In fact, all of this was prepared by Taoist Kwak.”

Sa Gwirang’s eyes widened with a start.

“How could he know and do that?”