Chapter 230
Baek San Cheolgeom Gong Hanseong was a renowned swordsman active in Guangdong Province.
A master at the peak of his art, he was famous for his unyielding spirit—never compromising with injustice, and charging headfirst at anyone he deemed wrong, no matter who they were.
Recently, after clashing with the powerful Galsu Sect in northern Guangdong and avenging the wronged, he was now traveling south with a clear conscience.
His interest had been piqued by a certain In Parang, who was waging a vendetta against the Haenamma Sword Sect’s Jin Taedo and the Hyungsan Sect.
As Gong Hanseong walked along a remote forest path, a sudden sight caught his eye.
Up ahead stood an inn.
He muttered, curious, “Hmm? Was there an inn here before?”
Momentarily puzzled, and feeling the pangs of hunger after a long stretch without food, he decided to step inside.
Creak!
A lively voice greeted him immediately.
“Welcome, welcome!”
The cheerful tone brought a faint smile to Gong Hanseong’s lips as he glanced around the inn.
To his surprise, despite the isolated location, the inn was already half full of guests.
There were merchants carrying bundles, a couple traveling with two young children, and even some burly-looking ronin.
Apparently, this path saw quite a bit of traffic.
Perhaps that was why such a remote inn could thrive here.
“Ah, a warrior! Traveling alone, are you? What can I get you?” the young innkeeper called out energetically.
Gong Hanseong made his way to an empty table between the couple and the merchants.
“I’ll have some dumplings, noodles, and bamboo leaf tea, please.”
“Right away! Dumplings, noodles, and bamboo leaf tea coming up!”
As he sat down, his eyes wandered around the room.
The first thing that caught his attention was the two children running about, playing noisily.
They came close to his table, causing a ruckus.
Their mother hurried over, apologetic, and gathered them up.
“Children, stop that! This isn’t a place for fooling around! My apologies, sir. They’re still young…”
Gong Hanseong smiled gently.
“It’s quite alright. Children will be children.”
Still, the kids kept sneaking back, playing near his seat again and again.
Just then, the innkeeper swiftly brought the food.
Perhaps it had been prepared in advance, for the service was remarkably quick.
“Enjoy your meal, sir!” she said cheerfully as she set the dishes down.
“Thanks,” Gong Hanseong replied with a friendly smile.
Before eating, as was his habit, he reached into his robe and pulled out a silver needle.
He always tested his food for poison before taking a bite.
But just as he was about to prick the food with the needle, a burly-looking ronin, clearly drunk, slurred at him.
“Hey, mister! You know how to use a sword?”
The rude tone was clearly provocative.
The drunk seemed eager to pick a fight and show off his strength.
Gong Hanseong glanced at him lightly and chuckled.
He decided to brush it off.
It was beneath a master of his caliber to waste time on mere ronin.
“I suppose I do,” he replied with a faint smile. “But I just use it casually.”
The ronin sneered and suddenly sprang up, advancing on him.
“Oh yeah? Then why the disrespectful tone? Don’t you see me? You think I’m a joke? Huh?!”
His shout silenced the room.
The merchants at the next table watched tensely, and the children’s mother hurriedly corralled her kids.
“Come here, now!”
“What? Why?”
“Don’t argue! Come here!”
Gong Hanseong took in the tense atmosphere and suppressed the growing irritation within.
He had tried to let it slide, but the man was crossing the line.
His expression hardened as he addressed the ronin.
“You’ve had too much to drink. People around here are uncomfortable. It’s best you stop.”
At that moment, the ronin lunged forward, throwing a punch.
“I’m the one who’s uncomfortable, you bastard!”
Bang!
A sudden attack.
But the drunk’s blow posed no threat to Gong Hanseong.
He let out a dry laugh, easily blocking the punch, then pushed the man’s stomach with his other hand.
Thud!
“Ugh!”
The ronin flew backward, crashing to the floor.
Clatter!
Clearly drunk, he failed to break his fall, hitting the back of his head hard.
His comrades gasped and rushed over.
“Wang Gaya!”
“Wang Gaya, are you alright?!”
Gong Hanseong clicked his tongue.
The man had fallen harder than expected.
He must have used a bit too much force in his irritation.
As he moved to check on the fallen ronin, a sudden shout from the others caught his attention.
“He’s dead! He’s not breathing!”
“Wang Gaya! Wake up!”
Gong Hanseong was stunned.
No matter how hard he’d pushed, he never intended to kill.
The merchants nearby also gasped in shock.
“Dead? Someone’s dead?”
“Murder! That man’s a murderer!”
Gong Hanseong gave them a troubled look, then hurried to the fallen man.
“Step aside! Let me see!”
As he pushed through the ronin to check the man’s condition, a chilling sensation pricked the back of his neck.
Startled, he leapt back just as a blade sliced into the spot where he had been standing.
Whoosh!
The cold steel grazed past him.
A shiver ran down his spine.
Had he been a moment slower, he might have been killed by these third-rate ronin.
Assuming they were avenging their comrade, Gong Hanseong’s voice rose in anger.
“What is the meaning of this…!”
But then—
Thuk!
“Ugh!”
A searing pain exploded in his back.
Someone had stabbed him.
Startled, he tried to turn around, but there was no one behind him.
‘Who…?’
Before he could look back, the ronin attacked again, blades flashing.
Whoosh!
‘Too fast!’
Gong Hanseong was shocked.
The strikes were too precise, far beyond what one would expect from mere third-rate ronin.
The burning pain in his back was spreading through his body.
It was poison.
He tried to suppress it with his internal energy and decided to dodge sideways rather than defend.
He couldn’t afford to fight without knowing who was behind him.
Bang!
Whoosh!
He lunged toward the merchants’ side of the room, where the parents and children sat.
As he moved, he caught sight of the attacker behind him—and his blood ran cold.
There, two children who had been playing nearby were watching him with sinister grins.
“What the—!”
His eyes fell on the bloodied dagger clutched in their hands.
‘Impossible…’
Suddenly, everything clicked.
‘Assassins…?’
No ordinary children could wield such skill and familiarity with stabbing.
Before he could react, three blades plunged into his back.
Puk-puk-puk!
“Ugh!”
This time, he didn’t need to turn to know who was responsible.
Only three merchants sat on that side.
As his vision blurred, a memory surfaced—stories he’d heard long ago about the deadliest assassin group in the martial world.
They were said to build entire buildings, even villages, to carry out their missions.
His last words were barely a whisper.
“Hyeolwoo… Ryeon.”
And then he collapsed.
Thud!
Everyone in the inn watched silently as he fell.
The innkeeper, the young server, the merchants, the children and their parents, even the ronin—all expressionless.
Among them, the young server’s eyes hardened, cold and calculating.
“If he had just eaten quietly, he would have died quietly. But no, he had to test for poison and ended up meeting a worse fate.”
On Gong Hanseong’s table lay the silver needle he had pulled out to test his food.
The server—actually the elite assassin known as Number Seventeen of Hyeolwoo Ryeon—turned to his comrades.
“Quickly clean up the inn. We need to move fast to handle the next target.”
The boy who had stabbed Gong Hanseong—the assassin Number Thirty-Four—asked,
“Who’s the next target?”
Number Seventeen answered without expression.
“In Parang, heir of Haenamma. Not quite at the absolute peak yet, but a formidable fighter who single-handedly defeated the Hapsan Sect and, alongside Jin Gajang, overcame the Blood Sea Demon Path.”
The assassins exchanged glances before asking again.
“Are we really taking on such a skilled opponent with just our team?”
Number Seventeen smiled faintly, the corner of his mouth twitching.
And then he replied…
“No way. This time, we’re going in at the village level. They say it’s been four years since anyone’s created an entire village just to take out a target.”
At those words, the other assassins nodded in understanding.
Then, moving with practiced efficiency, they began cleaning up the scene.
A day later, the inn where Gong Hanseong had met his death had vanished as if it had never existed.
Not only the building itself but every trace that it had ever stood there was completely erased.
Like some kind of goblin’s trick.
This was exactly how Hyeolwoo-ryeon, the world’s top assassin guild, handled their targets.
To the east of Guangdong Province lies Haweon.
Here, countless rivers converge to form Pumcheong Lake, so vast it looks like a sea.
For generations, the Haweon faction has ruled this area.
Though they were technically part of the underworld, their reputation wasn’t as bad as one might expect.
They didn’t harass the ordinary folk living in Haweon; instead, they protected the region from outside invaders and carefully managed Pumcheong Lake—the lifeblood of the people here.
Because of this, the locals liked the Haweon faction and generally obeyed their commands.
The current leader of the Haweon faction was a woman.
Yeon Taejin, daughter of the previous boss, had killed all her male siblings to claim the position herself.
A formidable woman, she was known as the “Reincarnated Moon” or simply the “Haweon Moon.”
As her nickname suggested, she was in her thirties but had reached an extraordinary level of skill, ranking among the Five Great Beauties of the underworld.
At that moment, Yeon Taejin sat lazily slouched in a large chair, still half-awake, receiving a challenger.
Yawning, she asked the man standing before her, “So, who exactly are you?”
The man—a bald, muscular figure whose physique was evident even through his clothes—grinned and replied, “I’m Yuk Ju-gang of the Eastern Divine Iron Fist. Among the gamblers active in Jiangxi Province, no one doesn’t know my name.”
As he spoke, his gleaming eyes roamed over Yeon Taejin’s entire figure.
Her outfit was loose and revealing: the slit in her skirt exposed her thigh, and her top had slipped off one shoulder, leaving it bare.
Her smooth, pale skin was impossible to ignore.
Yuk Ju-gang swallowed hard, finally understanding why she was counted among the Five Great Beauties of the underworld.
She was utterly captivating.
With a greedy smile, he asked, “Just to be sure… if I can give you a fight worthy of your satisfaction…”
Unfazed by his lecherous gaze, Yeon Taejin cut him off with a lazy smile.
“Fine. If you can give me a fiery battle that satisfies me, then you’ll definitely get to sleep with me. So, what do you say? Ready to challenge me?”
Yuk Ju-gang slammed his fists together with a loud bang.
“I’m always fiery! Fierce in battle, and even fiercer in bed!”
Yeon Taejin smiled brightly and slowly rose from her chair.
“Good. I’m looking forward to it.”
Soon, their duel began inside the main hall.
Still dressed in her loose, shoulder-baring outfit, Yeon Taejin smiled sweetly.
“Here I go.”
In an instant, she launched herself like a cannonball.
Bang!
Her fist struck Yuk Ju-gang with lightning speed.
He hastily crossed his arms to block, but—
Crack!
“Ugh!”
In a single blow, his thick arms shattered.
The sheer destructive power coming from her slender frame was unbelievable.
But Yeon Taejin didn’t stop there.
Her follow-up low kick slammed into Yuk Ju-gang’s thigh with a thunderous crack.
Crack!
“Argh!”
He screamed in agony, as if his entire thigh bone had been crushed.
Unable to endure the pain, he tried to collapse.
But Yeon Taejin wouldn’t let him fall.
With eyes burning like flames, she began pummeling him mercilessly.
Crack! Whack! Bam! Thud!
Yuk Ju-gang howled in torment.
“Gyaaaaaaah!”
She kept beating him as if trying to turn him into minced meat, shouting,
“Didn’t you hear me?! If you can’t give me a fiery fight, you’ll die the most painful death imaginable!”
“P-please spare me!”
After a while, Yeon Taejin looked down at the battered Yuk Ju-gang with disdain.
Turning sharply, she returned to her chair and said,
“He’s not even worth killing. Just patch him up roughly and toss him out.”
Her subordinates immediately responded and moved to obey.
“Yes, Boss!”
But no matter how well they treated him, it was unlikely Yuk Ju-gang would ever walk as a martial artist again.
His bones were shattered beyond repair—he was as good as dead in that world.
Yeon Taejin slumped back into her chair, muttering with a dissatisfied expression.
“Woke up for nothing. I can’t even remember the last time I had a truly fiery fight. Maybe I should follow Senior Son’s example and become a lust demon.”
Yeon Taejin’s idol was Son Eun-sang, the legendary Lust Demon.
The first in martial history to become untouchable as a lust demon, her path was the ideal Yeon Taejin dreamed of.
But as she muttered bitterly, her aide beside her frowned and spoke softly.
“Boss, please don’t say that again… If you become a lust demon and a public enemy of the martial world, it won’t just be you in danger—all the Haweon faction’s people will be doomed.”
Yeon Taejin snapped back sharply.
“Yeah, yeah, I know! I’m just saying!”
She squeezed her eyes shut in frustration.
What she regretted most these days was killing her brothers and becoming the boss of the Haweon faction.
They had looked down on her because she was a woman, so she crushed them.
But when they tried to kill her through cowardly means, she had no choice but to kill them all.
If only she’d been patient back then.
“I should’ve just left home.”
Grinding her teeth, she sighed and asked her aide,
“Have we found any trace of Senior Son yet?”
Her aide answered with a pitiful look.
“She went to the Sunwoo family, then returned to Guangxi Province where the strange Ma Jonghwan is. But after that, both she and the Ma disappeared without a trace. I’m sorry, Boss.”
Yeon Taejin sighed deeply.
“Don’t make that sad face—I won’t hit you. Haaah… If only I could meet her just once. Dreams are so hard to come true.”
At that moment, her aide glanced at her cautiously and spoke.
“Boss, a letter just arrived from Jin Taedo of the Hainan Sword Sect.”
Yeon Taejin’s eyes twitched.
“Jin Taedo? That snake? Why would he send me a letter? Is he old and wants to sleep with me now?”
Her aide shrank back and replied nervously,
“W-well, he says he wants to place a contract…”
As expected, Yeon Taejin exploded.
“What?! That worm dares to offer me a contract?! Does he think I’m some filthy assassin?! Huh?!”
Her aide squeezed his eyes shut and shouted quickly.
If she got any angrier, she might hit him again.
Actually, he thought it might be better if he got hit than if she declared war on the Hainan Sect.
“Th-the contract target is In Parang!”
“In Parang? Who’s that?”
“He’s the heir of the Hainan Sect… The one who single-handedly destroyed the Hapsan Sect recently! He toppled the Baekgyo faction with Jin Gajang and even fought the Blood Sea Demons…”
At that, Yeon Taejin fell silent.
Her aide, still trembling, peeked at her a moment later.
He saw a captivating smile playing on her lips.
“Oh? He destroyed the Hapsan Sect alone? Fought the Blood Sea Demons?”
She looked genuinely intrigued.
Her aide quickly said,
“Yes! And he’s rumored to be an incredibly handsome man in his twenties!”
Yeon Taejin’s eyes twitched again.
“Only in his twenties? And he fought the Blood Sea Demons, whom I haven’t even faced? Hmm… I definitely can’t let this slide. This is an insult to me, isn’t it?”
Why fighting In Parang was an insult to Yeon Taejin made no sense to anyone else.
But her aide nodded vigorously.
“Absolutely! Fighting In Parang is a hundred times better than fighting Jin Taedo’s Hainan Sect! It’s definitely an insult to you, Boss!”
A bright smile spread across Yeon Taejin’s face.
“Good! Let’s go!”
The swords Jin Taedo had gathered were slowly closing in on Sunwoo Jin.