Namgoong I-in raised his sword.
The blade had been rubbed with ash to kill the shine.
His target for tonight’s killing was in the building in the distance.
He drew in a deep breath and forced his nerves back under control.
‘Today is just another ordinary day. Another ordinary day where I enjoy an ordinary hobby.’
He repeated that to himself and tried to calm his heart.
But no matter what he did, the trembling would not stop.
It was just like the first day he had taken up this little hobby of working as a hired killer.
He was only a branch member among branch members.
Still, thanks to the surname Namgoong, he had enjoyed plenty of privileges.
Decent martial skill. Decent relationships.
All in all, it had been a life he could be reasonably satisfied with.
But there was one emotion that had slowly eaten away at his heart.
Boredom.
As that boredom grew stronger, the light slowly vanished from his eyes.
Then one day,
He ended up facing a group of Unorthodox Sect members who had attacked the Namgoong Clan Lord.
And in the middle of it all, while watching people die by his sword, he felt an indescribable thrill.
He was an agent of the Hwibyeok Division, the guard unit tasked with protecting the Clan Lord’s family.
Truthfully, although he lived by the sword, he did not get many chances to kill people directly.
After all, there were not many moths foolish enough to throw themselves at the flames by targeting the Namgoong Clan’s family.
He could not forget the thrill he had tasted, but he was not in a position where he could simply kill people whenever he pleased.
There was no way the Namgoong Clan would tolerate anything that stained its name.
In the end, he came up with a solution.
A double life.
And from that moment on, his life as the hired killer known as “Shadow Assassin” began.
Thanks to that, his boredom disappeared, and life returned to his eyes.
From time to time, he wondered whether this was truly all right, but by then, he was already addicted to that thrill and could no longer stop.
Then, one day,
He happened to see his reflection in the water he had drawn in a washbasin to wash his face.
The eyes of a blood-starved madman stared back at him.
Only then did he flinch and stop working as Shadow Assassin.
But for a man already addicted to that ecstasy, his nighttime hobby had long since become impossible to quit.
In the end, he had no choice but to resume his activities as Shadow Assassin. And he justified it to himself.
‘The others in the Namgoong Clan act righteous on the surface, but behind the scenes, they’re committing all kinds of corruption too.’
‘So what’s wrong with me doing a little of the same? People were never meant to live perfectly clean lives anyway.’
That was how he reasoned it away.
And just like that, it became his hobby.
A hobby that even earned him some spending money on the side.
Some time passed, and recently, someone came to him with a murder request.
“There is someone I would like you to kill.”
“As you already know, the fee is one gold tael.”
One gold tael was a fortune large enough to buy a thatched cottage.
“I have it here.”
The client showed him one gold tael.
“However, I will hand it over after the job is done.”
“That is no problem. So, who do I need to kill?”
“Na Jeong-su. He is scheduled to participate in the Poetry and Prose Competition being held in Beijing.”
The client then described the target’s appearance in detail.
“And I have an additional request regarding the method of killing.”
“In that case, the additional fee will be…”
Clink.
“I will give you the additional fee in advance. You may think of it as a deposit.”
It was a rather troublesome request, but he completed it successfully.
But then a problem arose.
Namgoong Yang, whom he had been guarding under the Clan Lord’s orders, was framed as the culprit.
Somehow, at some point, Namgoong Yang had left the residence and been seen walking through the marketplace, and someone’s testimony had led to that conclusion.
‘What in the world happened?’
He soon realized what mistake he had made.
When he killed Na Jeong-su, he had unknowingly left behind the distinctive traits of the Namgoong Clan’s martial arts.
Even so, Namgoong Yang’s innocence was somehow proven, and it seemed as though the matter would be resolved.
Namgoong Yang had failed the preliminary round of the Poetry and Prose Competition, and he was scheduled to return to Anhui the next day.
Once that happened, there would be no way to catch him.
But today, a man named Eun Seo-ho suddenly said something meaningful to the Namgoong Clan’s elder.
“Actually, I believe we may be able to uncover the culprit behind the victim’s death.”
At those words, Namgoong I-in thought, surely not.
Then, when Eun Seo-ho said the culprit had dropped evidence, Namgoong I-in grew anxious. He had no idea what he could have dropped.
And then came the Voice Transmission.
– So, unless you want everyone to find out you’re the culprit, bring something suitable.
At that moment, he realized it.
Eun Seo-ho had already figured out that he was the culprit.
And Eun Seo-ho demanded ten gold taels as the price of silence.
Namgoong I-in was dumbfounded that a man praised far and wide as the Handsome Young Hero was openly demanding a bribe.
‘That son of a bitch! He’s just another polished fraud on the outside!’
In any case, he had to stop the truth from coming out.
At minimum, his dantian would be crippled and he would be expelled from the Namgoong Clan. In the worst case, he could even be executed.
Neither outcome appealed to him.
He usually received one gold tael for each murder request, but all of that money had long since been spent on pleasure.
Of course, if he had to gather ten gold taels, it was not impossible… but the real problem was what came after.
Would ten gold taels truly seal that mouth for good?
In the end, there was only one way to silence him forever.
Kill him and erase the evidence.
However, the fact that his opponent was a Peak master made him hesitate.
Then an opportunity came to him.
“I think I will stay here tonight. Do you have a detached wing?”
It was an opportunity.
And what was more, Eun Seo-ho even dismissed his guards!
He could not let this chance slip away. So he made an excuse that he was not feeling well and came outside.
Then he came to the detached wing of Spring Dream Pavilion, where Eun Seo-ho was staying.
“Whew…”
Namgoong I-in looked at his sword and calmly settled his mind.
Soon, a chilling light flashed in his eyes, and the trembling in his hand stopped as well.
He concealed his presence and approached the detached wing.
There were no guards visible around the building. Only a single sound could be heard.
“Drrrnk. Koo… Mmnya…”
At that sound, Namgoong I-in quietly smiled.
The sleeping drug he had sprinkled over the food sent to Eun Seo-ho’s detached wing had clearly taken effect.
It was powerful enough that not even a Peak martial artist could withstand it.
He took out a mask and covered his face.
Then he quickly threw himself toward the detached wing.
Rattle.
The moment he opened the door and stepped into the room,
“…!”
A sudden chill swept over him, and by instinct, he swung his sword.
Clang!
There was the sound of something striking metal, and immediately after, he sensed something aiming for him.
But before he could react, pain exploded in his shoulder.
Thud!
“Aaagh!”
Then a voice sounded.
“Palgap, light the lamp.”
“Yes, sir.”
Soon, a candle was lit, and only then could Namgoong I-in see inside the detached wing.
A table of wine and food that had not been touched at all.
And Eun Seo-ho, whose clothes were not even slightly disheveled.
Namgoong I-in understood the situation at once.
‘It was a trap!’
If that was the case, what came next was obvious.
He pulled a dagger from his robe and stabbed it toward his own throat.
Tak!
But Eun Seo-ho kicked his hand with his foot and, at the same time, drove a fist into his stomach.
Thwack!
“Keugh!”
Hah, where do you think you’re running off to?
The culprit who had just come to kill me had tried to stab himself in the throat and commit suicide.
He did not have the confidence to deal with what came next, so he tried to run off to the afterlife.
If he did not have the confidence to deal with the consequences, why do something like this in the first place…?
I clicked my tongue and removed the mask from the man who had passed out.
As expected, he was the one I had sent the Voice Transmission to.
In truth, Unorthodox Qi was not all the same. It differed slightly from person to person.
That was how I realized this man was the culprit.
But compared to earlier, I could feel the Unorthodox Qi from him even more strongly now. Even though he had clearly learned the Namgoong Clan’s martial arts.
Why was that?
After thinking it over for a moment, the answer came to me quickly.
Unorthodox Qi did not refer to one fixed, specific sensation. Rather, it meant a Qi that was not upright.
And to be not upright meant going against the natural order of the world.
After learning the Supreme Yin Ice Sea Divine Art and even reaching the Profound realm, I came to understand that the natural order was not actually some grand, complicated thing.
Cherishing life.
That was both the beginning and the end of following the natural order.
But those of the Unorthodox Sect did not cherish life, so naturally, their actions came to oppose the world’s order.
Their own internal power understood that better than anyone, and in the end, even its nature changed.
Of course, as martial artists, it was not as though Orthodox Sect members never killed anyone.
When assassins, Forest Bandits, and other Unorthodox Sect members attacked them, they had no choice but to kill them.
Yet I did not sense Unorthodox Qi from them.
Most likely, that was because they fulfilled their own role.
To cultivate crops, there had to be someone who caught the insects, and that was precisely the role they played.
As long as they carried the will to protect other lives, even if it meant cutting down their enemies, they did not become Unorthodox.
That was what Chivalry was.
I looked down at the culprit collapsed beneath my feet.
The fact that the Unorthodox Qi from him felt so strong meant he had been acting against the natural order for a long time.
So this proved that no matter how much someone learned Orthodox Sect martial arts, if they did not practice Chivalry and instead acted like someone from the Unorthodox Sect, their Qi would become no different from Unorthodox Qi.
And the reason his Unorthodox Qi felt stronger now than it had earlier was probably because he had resolved himself to harm me.
I glanced at him again with cold eyes and said,
“Wake him up.”
“Yes.”
At that moment, Escort Guard Seo Wu, who had come as part of my guard detail, asked,
“Before that, wouldn’t it be better to tie his hands and feet? It would be troublesome if he tries to kill himself again.”
“Good idea. But tying him up would be a hassle, so…”
I grinned.
“Let’s just break his wrists.”
“Understood.”
“And check whether he has a poison pill hidden on him as well.”
Crunch!
Escort Guard Seo Wu crushed both of the man’s wrists without the slightest hesitation, then checked inside his mouth for a suicide poison pill.
“Wake him.”
Smack!
After Escort Guard Chang Un slapped his cheek a few times, the man came to his senses.
“Huk!”
Startled, he tried to push himself up with his hands, then screamed.
“Urgh!”
Of course it hurt. His wrists were broken.
He collapsed back onto the floor, and I smiled brightly at him as I said,
“There are a few things I’m curious about, so I would appreciate your cooperation.”
“Gulp!”
His Adam’s apple bobbed hard.
He must have sensed it too.
Right now, this situation was in no way a joke.
.
.
.
A little while later,
I lightly kicked Namgoong I-in, who had been reduced to a bloody mess.
“Hey.”
But judging by the lack of response, he had already fainted again.
Through the interrogation just now, I had learned his identity and a few other pieces of information.
Honestly, I wanted to ask him about the Namgoong Clan as well, but I did not.
I was supposed to be interrogating him about the murder request, and if I asked about things like that, he would definitely find it suspicious.
And unless I killed him here, this man might later tell Elder Namgoong Geon-ji what I had asked him.
If I killed Namgoong I-in here, that would not matter, but…
I had interrogated him, but he said he did not know much about the person who hired him for the murder.
“The voice! If I hear the voice and see the hands, I think I might be able to recognize him!”
In other words, to find the one who hired him, I had to keep this man alive.
“Sigh.”
I let out a sigh and sat down in a chair. Then I spoke to Palgap.
“Palgap, you have that, right?”
“What do you mean, sir?”
“The Geumryeo… no, the Purifying Water. The one I gave you.”
“Yes. I have it right here, sir.”
“Use that to treat him.”
“Excuse me?”
Palgap looked at me as though I had just said something outrageous.
“Why should we treat this man, sir? He is a shameless villain who killed so many people.”
Palgap had heard it during the interrogation just now as well.
He knew just how many people this man had killed.
Because Namgoong I-in’s skills were fairly decent, and because he had not revealed the Namgoong Clan’s martial arts, he had managed to avoid being caught all this time.
This time, his only mistake was choosing the wrong opponent.
I said to Palgap,
“I don’t want to either, but to be honest, we went a little too far with him.”
“…”
Namgoong I-in had not answered as readily as I expected, so we had ended up using our hands a little more harshly than necessary.
There were several places where the raw flesh had been gouged open deeply enough to expose bone.
He had fainted and been woken up several times over.
He had more grit than I expected.
Hah, was the Namgoong Clan still the Namgoong Clan after all?
But Escort Guard Chang Un had a strange look on his face.
“What is it?”
At my question, Escort Guard Chang Un scratched his cheek and answered,
“It’s just… when we do this, it makes us feel like the villains.”
I chuckled.
“Good and evil are relative by nature. What matters is not crossing the line.”
“I… see.”
I said to Palgap,
“Hurry up and treat him. If the Namgoong Clan sees him like that, they’ll start foaming at the mouth and throwing a fit.”
This was not a matter of simply questioning a Namgoong Clan martial artist. We had tortured him.
No matter how distant a branch family he came from, they cherished those who carried the Namgoong name.
If they saw him like this, they would lose their minds.
And the reason I tortured him this badly was because I had something to rely on: Geumryeong’s saliva.
It had been made quite a while ago, but its effects remained the same.
Besides, I did not want to use fresh Geumryeong saliva on this guy.
In any case, even if he wanted to tattle about what happened today, without any evidence, it would only be a false accusation.
On top of that, Elder Namgoong Geon-ji, the highest-ranking Namgoong Clan member here right now, was showing goodwill toward me.
If things went badly for him, his own actions might be exposed instead, and he would receive a terrifying punishment.
So if he had even a little sense in that head of his, he would not be able to speak about what happened today.
Haa, this really makes me feel like I’ve become the villain.
– Kui!
Geumryeong, why are you agreeing?
–TL Notes–
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