Inside the bushes, past the entrance, a dark cave continued.

The inside was extremely narrow.

So narrow that it was difficult for the grown-up Cheonyeong to pass through.

That's why they had made the children carry the corpses.

Because it was inconvenient to carry the corpses and come and go…

As the cave, which was bent like a snake, deepened, the heat intensified.

This was why they couldn't change the location.

The cave, bent like a snake's path, was good because it prevented the light from inside from leaking out, and the hot heat was suitable for decaying the corpses.

It was truly a relief.

Because they would still be here.

As he went deeper inside, he could hear the sound of chattering.

A laugh escaped him.

It seemed the quality of the Jingagu assassins had dropped a lot.

To think that assassins didn't know that in a cave, echoes are created and sound travels farther than light.

It was something that wouldn't become a habit unless one paid attention to it even in normal times.

By the time the echoing sound became a little clearer, a faint light flickered on the cave wall.

-Is it you again today?

-You persistent bastard, you're a real snake-like bastard.

-Look at those eyes, those eyes.

-He's carrying the corpse of a child he lived with, yet he's not fazed at all.

The memories that came to mind created auditory hallucinations.

It was as if he could clearly hear the voices of the assassin bastards who had sneered at him at that time.

But was he not fazed?

Don't give me that bullshit.

I had to live.

That was the desire for survival that you had raised.

Because you had trained me to live even like that.

Cheonyeong's face grew colder as the light grew brighter.

Emotions disappeared, and only coldness remained.

The iron gate of the decay site.

It was a place guarded by assassins. The corpse poison that was created as the corpses decayed was difficult to withstand even with an antidote, so it was blocked by a gate.

The memory of that time came to mind again.

At that time, the job he was assigned was to move the corpses to the iron gate in front of the decay site, but they, perhaps feeling uneasy, had opened the gate and pushed him inside.

There was only one antidote.

If he had been poisoned by the corpse poison, they would have closed the gate.

For him to die in there.

Because adding one more corpse wouldn't have been a big problem anyway.

While briefly reminiscing about the past. He heard the voices of the assassins.

"But how long are we just going to be on standby like this?"

"How would I know the Lord of Assassins' mind? We have to endure since he said to forbid all external activities until there are separate instructions. You know, right? That place called the Tang Family. It seems it's because of them."

"I heard it too. It seems they're keeping it quiet at the top, but they say the Lord of Assassins is having a headache because of them."

"Yeah, there's a guy I'm close with among the ones dispatched this time. When he was leaving, he said that the scale of this assignment is huge. He said they gathered all the Special Grade and assistant assassins in the vicinity of Sichuan."

"Is it that much?"

"Yeah, seeing as a few of the High Heavenly Ghosts have also been missing for a while… it seems they're planning to wipe out the Tang Family altogether."

"Hah, I'm jealous."

"Of what?"

"The ones who went out will be able to drink as much as they want, won't they?"

"What? You mindless fool. Do you think the High Heavenly Ghosts would let them drink?"

"We can just drink in secret. Have you never done it?"

"I have, but… it seems to be a killing that the higher-ups are taking quite seriously."

"You frustrating fool. With the forces you mentioned, even a decent-sized clan wouldn't last a single night."

"Hmm."

"They're probably all drinking in secret. For sure."

"Hah, stop it. My mouth is watering just hearing you."

At the sound of the assassins chattering, the eyes of Cheonyeong, who was hiding behind a nearby wall, narrowed.

As expected, they were aiming for the Tang Family.

Although he didn't know the exact scale, it seemed the Jingagu had mobilized quite a few assassins.

Because they knew the Samyang was in his hands.

No, by now, Jin Gumyeong must have found out a lot about him too.

That he was deeply involved in the events that had occurred so far, and that he knew about the Samyang and its secret history.

But he still didn't know one thing.

The fact that he was the assassin Sagyo, who had been raised by him in the past.

That would be the dagger that would be stuck in the man's heart.

It was true that he was worried about the main family in Sichuan, but he had to trust the three people who had stayed at his request.

The Sword Emperor, Seoak, Changlim.

If it were them, they would surely protect the Tang Family.

Because they were strong, and they were men who knew the weight of a promise.

For now, he had to erase the complicated thoughts in his head and do his best against the enemy in front of him.

Cheonyeong gripped two Great Despair Scales, which had become his new unique hidden weapons.

The targets were two.

Because there were always three there.

He would let one live.

Because there was something he had to hear.

At the end of the bend in the cave.

Cheonyeong flicked one Great Despair Scale.

Ping!

A clear sound echoed through the cave and bent along the cave.

By the time the assassins, who were surprised by the sound that shouldn't have been there, stopped their conversation, the Great Despair Scale had already pierced the neck of one of them.

Thwack!

"Keuleuk."

With the sound of air escaping, a gush of blood poured out, and the assassin's body collapsed.

"Th-this! Who is it?!"

At the death of their comrade, the assassins threw the hidden weapons they were holding towards the entrance of the cave.

Sweeeeeeek! Tadadadang!

The hidden weapons that hit the cave wall made a rough metallic sound and fell to the floor.

It was a shotgun blast that had not been aimed at a target from the beginning.

It was thrown with the expectation that if there was someone who had approached, they would be hit by the pouring hidden weapons.

"What the hell is this?"

When nothing appeared at the place where they had thrown the hidden weapons, the assassins made a bewildered face.

But they had already missed it in a fleeting moment.

At that time when their comrade had died, in the gap when their attention was briefly stolen, Cheonyeong had stepped on the cave wall and had thrown his body to the ceiling.

And.

Kwa-deu-deuk!

Cheonyeong, who had stood on the ceiling, which was the assassins' blind spot, drew his sword simultaneously with his descent and cut vertically.

Craaack!

From head to groin.

When the sword was placed between his two legs, the assassin's body was split exactly in half.

It was a clean and cruel strike.

The surprised assassin's eyes widened, but he had no time to do anything.

Pipiping!

Several flying needles that had been held in his hand were deeply embedded in the body of the surviving assassin.

The assassin, whose paralyzing points on the front of his body had all been suppressed, could not move a single finger and stared at Cheonyeong with his eyes wide open.

There was no need to suppress his vocal cords.

Because Yoo Seongyeon was guarding outside, and even if he screamed, there was no one who would come to help.

"Who are you!"

"…"

"Who are you to do such a thing! Do you think you'll be safe!"

At the sight of the assassin shouting, his veins popping, Cheonyeong burst out laughing.

"Can't you assess the situation?"

"What?"

"Even though two of them are already dead, you're asking useless things… a man who seems to be at least first-class is quite pathetic."

At Cheonyeong's cold sneer, the assassin blinked his eyes.

"Let's see."

Cheonyeong, who passed the assassin who couldn't move, approached the iron gate of the decay site.

It was locked with a large padlock.

Originally, a key would be needed, but Cheonyeong just gripped it with his hand.

Kududuk.

At the sound of the iron bending and tearing, the assassin, unable to turn his head, shouted.

"What are you doing! That gate is!?"

Thud!

But Cheonyeong, without caring, broke the padlock and pulled the door.

"You crazy bastard! You can't open it! Inside there is…"

Creeak.

The assassin's shout was just futile.

When he opened the door wide, a pungent poisonous gas spread out on the floor and flowed out.

"You damn bastard!"

The assassin screamed in terror, but since he couldn't move his body, he couldn't eat the antidote in his bosom.

"Close it quickly! Quickly! That's corpse poison!"

Despite his warning, Cheonyeong walked into the decay site without hesitation.

The poisonous energy came and surrounded him as if it were alive, but Cheonyeong, who had raised his Samyang Divine Art, didn't even feel dizzy.

"The Samyang Divine Art is good. It's indeed something the Demonic Cult would covet. To think that the corpse poison that even Sword Immortal Changlim couldn't easily approach has no effect on me now that I've reached the Middle Dantian."

Cheonyeong, who smiled regardless of whether the assassin was screaming or not, looked at the decay site.

It was a complicated feeling.

The decaying corpses, the children who couldn't even bloom, were being used as ingredients for poison.

Anger flared up again.

About the Jingagu.

And about his past self, who had contributed to the making of the corpse poison, even if it was to survive.

After looking for a moment, Cheonyeong came out and picked up a torch from the wall.

"I'm sorry. Please… rest in peace."

Cheonyeong set fire to the pile of corpses.

The fire, which had been spreading little by little, blazed up and reached the ceiling, and as the fiercely rising smoke and heat filled the decay site, the poisonous gas escaped out of the broken iron gate as if fleeing.

"Ugh, no! No! I don't want to die!"

The assassin screamed, struggling.

Slap!

Cheonyeong, who had approached him, slapped him.

"Listen carefully."

"…"

"You have one chance."

At Cheonyeong's words, the assassin swallowed hard and looked at him. His pupils were trembling minutely, as if he were terrified.

To him, Cheonyeong no longer looked like a person.

The man had killed two of his comrades, and even after seeing the corpses in the decay site, he hadn't blinked an eye with an expressionless face.

And didn't he seem to be unaffected by the corpse poison?

He was scared.

"Where is Jin Gumyeong."

"Pardon?"

At that question, the assassin couldn't hide his surprise.

Jin Gumyeong?

How could an outsider know that name?

As the assassin just stared with wide-open eyes and hesitated, Cheonyeong whipped around and headed towards the cave entrance.

"Yes, I didn't think you would say it at once. From now on, you will regret not taking that chance."

"What?"

At the sight of Cheonyeong taking out a small, thin needle, the assassin's eyes went wide.

A fine needle.

It was so thin that if you didn't look closely, you wouldn't see it, to the point where you would believe it if someone said it was a strand of hair.

And the fact that he was holding that needle meant?

"You know too, right? What kind of pain this fine needle gives when it digs into a blood vessel?"

"D-don't tell me? You?"

At his eyes, which were wide open as if they would tear, Cheonyeong smiled chillingly and stuck the fine needle into his body.

"Let's see how long you can endure."

"Keuuu… no!"

Blood Needle Technique, Confusion.

It was a heinous torture technique that literally mixed fine needles into the blood.

It wasn't common for a craftsman who could make a fine needle the size of a hair to exist, and it wasn't easy to have the skill to insert a needle into a blood vessel, so he had only heard of it in words.

Of course, he had never done any training to endure it.

"Kuaaaaaaaak!"

As soon as the fine needle dug in, the assassin, who felt a pain as if his whole body was being pierced by needles, screamed.

Cheonyeong, who had become able to use the needle precisely with his energy after reaching the Middle Dantian.

He could give pain to any place he wanted.

Cheonyeong didn't ask anything.

But when the long torture was over, the assassin began to spit out everything on his own.

"Chukhyeon Peak! It's on Chukhyeon Peak!"

At his answer, Cheonyeong's footsteps stopped.

It was a place he had never heard of.

Cheonyeong asked with an indifferent expression.

"Where is that place?"

"…It is a place where the desolation of the Seven-Colored Danxia can be seen. It is not far from here. If you go about ten li to the west, it is on the mountainside where it is always shaded."

"Seven-Colored Danxia?"

At his answer, the corners of Cheonyeong's eyes trembled.

He remembered.

Sometime in his past life, when he was staying at the main mountain, there was a mountain that looked as if a rainbow from the sky had descended on it on a clear day.

Even though it was a desolate mountain without any vegetation, he had found comfort in his heart seeing it show off its beautiful colors under the sun.

Although he was an assassin, he had vowed to shine like that mountain someday.

The Seven-Colored Danxia was near Zhangye, near the Qilian Mountains.

If that place was visible and it was always shaded, it would be to the south of the Seven-Colored, and among them, the highest peak.

Cheonyeong's lips split into a bizarre grin.

"So you were there, Jin Gumyeong. There…"

His heart pounded.

Cheonyeong left the cave as he was.

"S-save me! Didn't I tell you everything!"

Even at his shout, Cheonyeong did not stop walking.

There was no need to bother.

Since he, whose paralyzing points had been suppressed, could not move, his whole body would melt in the corpse poison that had flowed out from the decay site.

Also, the smoke generated from burning the corpses would penetrate his lungs and slowly suffocate him.

He would die like that.

From the corpse poison created by the dead children and the smoke that rose from the burning.

(End of Chapter)