Chapter 127. Ambush (2)

Beyond the fog where I couldn’t see an inch ahead, I saw will-o’-the-wisps floating around here and there.

They were the clumps of qi accumulated in the assassins’ dantians.

Then, when they were about to use some hidden trick, a skein of qi extending from that clump would spread out in all directions.

That shape looked like the diagram of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians that one learns when first practicing martial arts.

I launched myself, chasing those will-o’-the-wisps and diagrams of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians between the fog.

In doing so, I often encountered absurd sights.

From a place where nothing was visible due to the fog, an assassin dressed in white would suddenly pop out.

At the same time, the Restoring Name Sword I thrust out would pierce that assassin’s vital point.

Swish!

The skein of qi was visible first, and the body was visible afterward.

As I killed a few assassins and ran along the life gates, the fog gradually thinned.

At the same time, a strange sight came into my second eye.

A scene of unnatural qi flow condensing. No, a scene of it spreading out came into view.

“There it is.”

It seemed there was something related to this formation there.

As if showing off the movement art I had been training, I burst the ground and launched myself straight toward that place.

Swish!

Cutting down the assassins who rushed in hastily from the fog was a bonus.

Swish!

As the distance closed in an instant, the fog also dispersed rapidly.

Beyond my somewhat cleared vision, I caught a glimpse of an old man shaking a wooden staff laden with strange bells that looked like cursed objects and gold rings.

“So it’s you.”

I used my movement art towards the old man who looked every bit a shaman.

The old man’s reaction was quite peculiar.

Swish!

Whether his allies, the assassins, were dying and falling, fwoosh!, or I was rushing towards him, he just kept shaking his staff with an indifferent gaze.

A reaction as if his emotions had been castrated.

It seemed that old man was also an assassin before being a shaman.

By the time I had considerably closed the distance with the old man, four assassins simultaneously rushed in, occupying all directions.

Was it to utilize the advantage of the formation to its extreme?

Uncharacteristically for assassins, they were all dressed in white.

While dodging the weapons of the assassins who came from the front, left, and rear, I thrust the Restoring Name Sword toward the right.

The sound of my clothes being cut. And the sound of an assassin’s neck being pierced rang out at the same time.

Swish!

While the clean white clothes of the assassin were being dyed red, another dagger stealthily flew in from the side of the corpse with its neck pierced.

Even though I had somewhat escaped the formation, it was a surprise attack without a trace of presence.

But it wasn’t difficult to dodge.

Thanks to the second eye, I had already grasped his movements.

Right after twisting my upper body minimally to dodge, the dagger that had grazed my hair instantly returned, and a chilling trajectory was embroidered in the air.

As soon as the trajectory was embroidered, a second attack flew in with terrifying speed.

Clang!!

As I barely managed to block it by swinging the Restoring Name Sword, the other three assassins once again swung their weapons, aiming for my vital points.

Utilizing the principle of yielding, I deflected the assassin’s dagger and at the same time, used footwork to barely dodge the attacks of the other three.

While I was at it, this time I pierced the neck of the assassin on my side, but a dagger flew in, aiming for that gap, and lightly cut my chest.

Swish!

If I had been a little late in turning my body, my heart would have been pierced.

Pushing away the poison that was subtly seeping in through the wound with my internal energy, I observed the movements of the remaining three assassins.

Among them, I focused on the movements of the assassin who had wounded my chest.

Without any warning, a dagger flew in with tremendous speed.

Was it because of its stealth and speed? It was a strange sword art where the sound of the air being torn was heard only after the sword had flown past.

Clang!!

For some reason, as I was fighting him, Hyeok Ilso’s Shadowless Blood Flash Sword came to mind.

Not only was the essence of the martial art similar, but his level was also formidable.

Clang!

But he was a notch or two below Hyeok Ilso.

It felt close to what it would be like if Hyeok Ilso used only the Shadowless Blood Flash Sword, without the Heavenly Wind Sword Art and the Life and Death Blood Steps.

That assassin was also using a stealthy footwork, but it wasn’t as profound as that of the Life and Death Blood Steps.

But that didn’t mean the situation was comfortable.

Swish!

Once again, the dagger he swung cut through my clothes.

Although he was a little less skilled than Hyeok Ilso, it wasn’t as if I was a master far above Hyeok Ilso either.

Even then, I had barely won after a life-or-death gamble.

The only reason I was faring this well was purely thanks to the second eye.

What if I didn’t have this special eye?

What if an assassin of that level had ambushed me while I was trapped in a formation, deprived of sight, hearing, and senses?

I probably would have lost my life without even lasting a few exchanges.

It could be said that the matchup was good for me.

Even a master a few notches above me would have found it difficult to survive if they had fallen into a trap like this.

Conversely, because the matchup was good, swish!, I could easily cut another assassin’s neck.

Then, the lead assassin, who had lost another subordinate, opened his mouth.

“Ghost Sword Young Master. Your companions have already been captured.”

Should I say it was befitting of an assassin? Or unbefitting?

It was the voice of a nondescript middle-aged man, the kind you could hear anywhere.

It was also a dry tone, devoid of any particular emotion.

“If you resist further, we will cut your companions’ throats first.”

He said so threateningly and circled around me.

I also did not move rashly, instead observing the movements of the assassins.

Even though I hadn’t been hit by his dagger, I felt as if I had been struck where it hurts.

Although the fog had thinned a bit, that was only on this outer side.

Moreover, the distance was quite far, so I couldn’t accurately know the situation of my companions even with the second eye.

Could what he said be true?

I shook my head.

My companions were growing rapidly.

They wouldn’t be defeated so easily.

Then, a sudden wave of anxiety washed over me.

The formation was the problem.

I might not have been caught up in it thanks to this special eye, but my companions would be fighting with their sight, hearing, and senses all lost.

The images of my junior sister and the Tang Clan bastard, who were wounded during the first ambush, came to mind.

I tried hard to push away the anxiety.

Yes. Even if I surrendered here, there was no way those bastards would spare my companions.

These guys were trash who made a living by killing people.

As I was steeling my heart to push away the constantly rising anxiety, the old shaman standing in the back started shaking that staff laden with cursed objects again.

Even in this area, which was the outskirts of the formation, the fog gradually began to thicken.

Accordingly, the old shaman’s figure became blurry, and the figures of the assassins who had been circling nearby also began to be obscured by the fog.

Watching that scene, I belatedly realized my own foolishness, and a laugh escaped my lips.

“Hehehe. You foolish bastards.”

I was foolish, and so were they.

If they had really captured my companions as hostages, there was no way they would act like this.

Instead, they should have cleared the fog and shown me the hostages.

Perhaps because they had spent their whole lives learning only how to kill, their heads didn’t seem to work.

“When you fall to hell, make sure to learn how to use your head from King Yama.”

After giving some advice to the incorrigible human butchers, I launched a surprise attack on the assassin who was fidgeting on the right.

Swish!

They were foolish indeed.

They still hadn’t noticed that this fog was of little use against me.

Beyond the thick fog, clumps of thread floated around like will-o’-the-wisps.

Chasing them, I moved about and swung my sword.

Swish!

Another assassin died at my hand.

Swish!

A dagger that flew in as a surprise attack made another shallow wound on my body.

It didn’t matter. Now, all that was left was that one lead assassin.

Clang!

As the dagger and the Restoring Name Sword clashed, faint sparks flew.

The man, pretending to be pushed back in the power struggle, retreated and circled around me with stealthy footwork.

“Tsk.”

It seemed it would be difficult to finish him off quickly in one or two exchanges.

Apart from the formation, his skills were not to be taken lightly.

Also, if the battle dragged on, I would be at a disadvantage.

Though my companions weren’t hostages right now, if the fight dragged on, I couldn’t be sure what would happen.

If only this damn fog would disappear, I wouldn’t have to worry about my companions like this.

As soon as I had this thought, a way came to mind.

At the same time, the lead assassin’s dagger flew in.

Clang!!

After exchanging a few blows with the lead assassin, who was striking and retreating as if to test the waters, I unleashed One Sun, Ten Thousand Lights to match the moment he lunged in again.

Several strands of sword qi coiled around the Restoring Name Sword, clashing with the dagger, and the man, pushed back by the force, was sent flying backward.

But my gaze was not on him.

Beyond the fog that filled the surroundings, at the place that was the foundation of the formation, the skein of qi flowing through the old shaman’s body.

And there was a very stealthy thread of silk making its way toward that place.

It was the Azure Heaven’s Hidden Smile, hidden and sent with One Sun, Ten Thousand Lights.

The sword qi, hidden in the thick fog, advanced stealthily and soon reached the old shaman’s body.

No cutting sound was heard.

No sight of blood splattering was seen.

But I could see it.

“Hehehe.”

The sight of the qi flow there being violently distorted.

Soon after, the fog that had enveloped the surroundings slowly began to disperse.

Beyond the whitish vision, the sight of the old shaman’s headless corpse sprawled on the ground belatedly came into view.

At that moment, the lead assassin hastily used his movement art.

Not toward me, but toward my back.

I chased him, using my movement art at full power.

BOOM!!!

The ground exploded, and the gap between us closed in an instant.

Clang!!

As the dagger and the Restoring Name Sword clashed again, a smile appeared on my lips.

Beyond the lead assassin, the figures of my companions were now beginning to become faintly visible.

As expected, that Nam Geon fellow, who had achieved the Diamond Indestructible Body, was unharmed.

My junior sister and the Tang Clan bastard also seemed to have sustained additional wounds, but they weren’t on the verge of death.

“The formation is broken!!”

When I shouted with my internal energy, my companions responded.

As if resentful of having been beaten one-sidedly due to the formation, the Tang Clan bastard made a venomous expression and began to throw poison needles in all directions.

“Whoo. You damn bastards.”

Nam Geon and my junior sister also stopped focusing on defense and began to charge at the assassins in earnest.

“I-I’ll punish the bad guys!”

In the meantime, I also gradually pushed the lead assassin back.

At the moment he unleashed his stealthy killing sword, I struck his dagger hard with One Sun, Ten Thousand Lights.

Clang!

Perhaps because it was a sword art specialized only in the principle of speed, the man’s stance faltered as he was pushed back in the power struggle.

Aiming for this, I unexpectedly unleashed the Flying Swallow Sword Art in reverse.

Pretending to aim for his head, I changed the trajectory to his leg.

Swish.

The Restoring Name Sword grazed past his right thigh.

I failed to cut it off completely, but he was in a state where he could not use his right leg properly.

Even as his white pants were quickly stained with blood, the man did not let out a single groan.

Clang!

As we exchanged blows, the number of wounds on his body gradually increased.

A strange sight came into view.

His jaw joint moved minutely, and his cheek was slightly indented.

I thought he might be trying to shoot a poison needle hidden in his mouth, but it was subtly different.

No trajectory of a poison needle appeared in the air. Also, the flow of internal energy through his Eight Extraordinary Meridians did not gather toward his mouth.

If he wasn’t shooting a poison needle, then what?

I instinctively lunged towards him.

For the first time, the man’s pupils shook.

The lead assassin hastily swung his dagger.

Swish.

As my forearm was lightly cut and blood splattered, my body had already reached his vicinity.

I thrust out my left hand and roughly grabbed his cheeks.

Then I swung my leg and struck his crippled right leg.

Thwack!!

After slamming his head into the ground first, I forcibly pried open his mouth.

He let out a scream as if his cheekbones and jaw were breaking.

Crrrrack.

Inside his wide-open mouth, a small pill was hidden.

Just as I thought.

“Who gave you permission to die?”

Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, he was undoubtedly trying to commit suicide by taking a poison core.

“Before you go to King Yama, you will spit out everything you know.”

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