Chapter 175: The Assassin’s Ambush (2)

Lately, I had been observing Seok Unjeong carefully.

As the full moon approached, there were moments when Seok Unjeong let out inexplicable groans.

Even before the full moon arrived, the Moon Yin Meridian had already begun to activate, causing her pain.

I intended to suppress the yin energy surging within her body with my Tai Chi Dantian when the moon was full, hoping to ease her suffering.

That worked better than relying on medicine.

I noticed Bukri Sogun, who always followed me around, was nowhere to be seen. So I asked Jeong Minji.

"Where did Sogun go?"

Namgung Yoo answered.

"I saw him heading toward the stream with a towel a while ago. I think he went to wash."

"Really? Perfect timing. I was about to wash as well."

"Go ahead. We’ll prepare the food in the meantime."

I stood up and headed down toward the stream.

Bukri Sogun, having revealed his thin body, was splashing around freely, washing off the accumulated dust.

It was around the time when the setting sun was slowly drawing back its red skirt, and the surroundings had begun to darken.

Because of that, he had thrown off all the clothes he had managed to put on.

He hadn’t had time to wash like this alone in quite a while.

Seeing that the Ten Geniuses of Heavenly Central Sect seemed absorbed in their martial arts training today, he had secretly come down to the stream.

As he scrubbed every corner of his body, he felt refreshed.

While staying at inns, he could wash alone, but during outdoor travels like this, he often had to sneak away to do so.

However, even that was difficult, as there were always too many eyes watching.

The stream was always occupied by the Ten Geniuses of Heavenly Central Sect or the guards of the Namgung Clan, leaving no opportunity for him.

On top of that, if they happened to spot him, they would insist on bathing together, making him flee in terror.

Each time, people would tease him, saying that the little boy was too shy.

"Young Master Bukri, come here. I’ll scrub your back for you!"

Hearing those words made his skin crawl.

As a result, he often missed chances to wash and ended up smelling bad.

Bukri Sogun hated the thought of his body smelling more than anything. So today, when everyone seemed too focused on their martial arts, he had sneaked out.

But someone was watching him from afar.

"That’s the youngest of the group."

"Then that must be Bukri Sogun."

"Seems so."

"Good. Looks like he’s alone. Let’s kidnap him."

They had infiltrated to observe my group’s movements and, seeing Bukri Sogun alone, decided to abduct him.

"According to the information, the kid hasn’t learned any martial arts, so it shouldn’t be difficult."

"Piece of cake. What luck. We can get paid without even fighting."

"Not quite. The request was to kidnap the kid and kill Yong Hwarin."

"Tch, mobilizing dozens of members of our Bi Bi Mil Mil just to kill one brat."

The two assassins, hiding and watching, whispered to each other.

"Well, the payment is generous, so it works out for us."

Though they didn’t like that the client was mobilizing their entire force just to kidnap a martial arts novice and eliminate a slightly famous martial artist like me, the high fee kept them quiet.

"Alright, let’s move when no one’s around. Wait!"

Just as they were about to move, the two assassins pressed themselves flat to the ground, hiding their presence.

The person they were most wary of had appeared.

That’s Yong Hwarin.

Why show up now, of all times?

The assassins felt bitter as their perfect chance to kidnap Bukri Sogun slipped away.

Let’s wait a bit. Maybe Yong Hwarin will leave.

But when I set down my sword and stripped off my clothes, the two assassins frowned.

Looks like he’s going to bathe.

He left his sword and went into the water. We might be able to catch him if we attack now.

He’s completely naked. It’ll be hard for him to fight back.

The two assassins grew greedy.

Normally, they wouldn’t have dared attack me with just the two of them. But now that I was unarmed and naked in the water, they thought this was the perfect chance to kill me.

Bukri Sogun still hadn’t noticed me approaching from behind.

I had hidden my presence, intending to surprise him.

However, even the assassins felt a slight unease.

If we fail, won’t our intentions be exposed? Wouldn’t it be better to fall back and return with reinforcements to ambush them all at once?

We don’t have time for that. If we bring everyone, we’ll be spotted. When will we get a better chance than this? The captain will understand.

I’m worried our identities will be revealed if we fail.

It’s fine. We already prepared for this. Remember? We have the token of Jeung Eungang in our pockets. Even if we fail, they’ll think we’re disciples of Jeung Eungang.

The two assassins boldly decided to attack me.

"Sogun!"

At the sound of my voice from behind, Bukri Sogun froze like ice.

"Ha, Hwarin hyung..."

Startled, he only turned his head slightly to look at me.

"Come here. Help me scrub my back. Let’s take this chance to bathe together and talk."

I had come on purpose, knowing Bukri Sogun preferred to bathe alone.

Lately, he had been unusually quiet, and I wanted to hear what was bothering him.

I figured that having a private conversation while bathing would comfort him.

However, Bukri Sogun didn’t turn around and replied with his back still facing me.

"I-I’m fine, hyung. Please go back."

I thought he was rejecting a conversation with me, so I softened my tone and coaxed him again.

"You seem to be troubled. Why not tell me? Who knows? Maybe I can help."

"I said I’m fine."

Hearing that, I chuckled softly.

"Sogun, your back looks like a girl’s. The lines of your body are so delicate. Is it because you haven’t trained in martial arts? Turn around and show me. I bet you’ve grown down there. A guy like you is probably hiding a monster."

I threw a playful joke, as men often did, hoping to lighten the mood and build some closeness.

"Hyung, what are you saying!"

As Bukri Sogun turned his head, he froze, speechless, staring blankly at my naked body.

‘It’s still way too big!’

"If you won’t come to me, I’ll come to you."

As I walked toward him through the water, Bukri Sogun’s face turned bright red.

"That’s not it…!"

It was at that moment.

Bukri Sogun, who had turned his head to shout at me, suddenly spoke when he noticed something drifting downstream.

"Hyung, there’s a body floating toward you."

I stopped and looked at the body drifting in the water.

As a martial artist, the proper thing to do would be to retrieve and bury the body.

Leaving it in the water would rot it and pollute the stream, so it had to be pulled out.

I reached out to grab the collar at the back of the corpse’s clothing, intending to pull it in.

Suddenly, the body flipped over and a sword shot out.

Startled, I bent my waist backward instantly to avoid the blade.

Swiish!

Missing me by a hair’s breadth, the assassin’s sword sliced through the air.

"Watch out!"

Bukri Sogun shouted in alarm and began running toward me.

Splash, splash!

But without any internal energy, Bukri Sogun struggled to move quickly through the water.

He stopped mid-stride.

He realized that even if he reached me, he wouldn’t be able to help.

"No!"

Bukri Sogun imagined the assassin’s blade cleaving me in two as it came down vertically.

Bent backward as I was, it looked like I couldn’t dodge the blade.

Despite the situation, Bukri Sogun’s gaze involuntarily fell on my lower half, which was fully exposed, his vision oddly magnifying that area.

"Help! It’s an assassin!"

Bukri Sogun shouted at the top of his lungs.

But we were too far from the others for them to hear.

I watched the blade coming for my chest and instantly circulated my qi, snapping my fingers with Dragon Scale Flick to deflect the sword.

While in the Iron Plate Bridge stance, that was the only move I could use.

Seeing the faint blue energy on the assassin’s blade, I could tell this was a skilled fighter who had reached the level of Qi Thread.

As I moved to flick the blade with my finger, a grin formed on the assassin’s lips.

‘He actually thinks he can deflect a blade imbued with sword qi with just a flick? Then again, what other choice does he have?’

There weren’t many in the martial world who could deflect such a blade with flicking techniques.

While Dragon Scale Flick was a useful martial art, its weakness was its low destructive power.

But then the assassin’s eyes widened in shock.

Clang!

The sword didn’t just bounce off. It broke clean in half, the shattered blade flying into the air.

"Tch!"

Though his sword was broken, the assassin wasn’t done. His follow-up attack came with the dagger in his left hand.

A true assassin always planned a second strike during an ambush.

If this dagger failed, the assassin intended to target my lower body with the poisoned needles hidden in his shoes.

But as I straightened my upper body, I suddenly vanished from his sight.

Not expecting me to move so quickly in the water, the assassin heightened his senses, searching for me.

‘Behind me!’

The assassin swung horizontally and turned around.

Whoosh!

At the same time, I struck him hard in the abdomen.

Thud!

My fist sank into his Lower Dantian, knocking the wind out of him.

He hadn’t expected to be overpowered so easily by just a fist.

I didn’t stop there.

Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack!

I pummeled him with Dragon Fist Barrage, smashing his dantian and rendering him powerless.

"Guuaagh!"

The assassin spat blood as he collapsed.

Splash!

Finally, he floated on the water like a true corpse.

When I turned my head toward Bukri Sogun, I saw another assassin running toward the riverbank, carrying Bukri Sogun.

"Where do you think you’re going!"

I flicked the shattered blade piece that had been falling through the air with Dragon Scale Flick.

Ting!

The fragment, propelled by my qi, shot toward the assassin’s back like a beam of light.

Thunk!

The blade shard embedded itself in the back of the assassin’s head, and he toppled over, stiff as a board.

As he fell, he took Bukri Sogun down with him.

After confirming Bukri Sogun was safe, I pulled the assassin floating in the water back to shore.

He was still alive.

I had spared him because I had questions to ask.

"Cough! Cough!"

As the assassin vomited the water he had swallowed, I asked,

"Who sent you after Bukri Sogun?"

The assassin, his dantian destroyed and pinned down by my internal energy, couldn’t move.

"Hehehe, did you really think you could live comfortably after killing our master?"

The assassin, blood dripping from his mouth, still radiated murderous intent.

"Was your master Jeung Eungang?"

"That’s right."

I placed my palm on his Crown Point.

I intended to verify his words and check if there were any remaining forces.

Sensing my hand moving toward his Crown Point, the assassin pulled out the dagger hidden in his clothes and lunged toward me.

He had realized I was about to do something significant to him and chose to die instead.

But of course, I had anticipated that.

I caught the dagger with the same hand that had been heading toward his Crown Point and struck his chest with my left palm.

I used just enough force to subdue him, but the impact still sent him flying into the water with the sound of flesh tearing.

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