Ch. 285

"So now. You're saying I came to save this person?"

"That's right."

"No, I didn't."

"What...?"

I looked at Ak Sang-gil's face once more.

Although his face was swollen from being beaten so much, if I looked closely, I could see that it was very similar to the unlucky face of that Ak Sang-cheol I had seen yesterday.

'Ak Sang-gil... I thought he was a martial artist who was evaluated as having quite a bit of skill.'

In my memory, Ak Sang-gil, unlike Ak Sang-cheol, was a considerable martial talent.

He is a martial artist who is active in the Martial Alliance for quite a long time even later... in my past life, he would not have been caught by the Black Sand Moon bastards at this time.

If he had been caught by the Black Sand Moon and suffered like now, and had survived by any chance, the Martial Alliance would not have left these bastards alone.

'Why on earth did he come here? And what's this about the Snow-Stepping Swordsman?'

The Snow-Stepping Swordsman is the same.

Although he is a martial artist who is a little lacking to be called a master, he is still a martial artist who has been active in the martial world for a long time and has a lot of experience.

If it were a martial art of the level of the Snow-Stepping Swordsman, the Black Sand Moon would be a little difficult, but if it were the Black Fist Gang, he would have easily dealt with them.

"Then does that mean we can do whatever we want with this person?"

As I was thinking for a long time while looking only at Ak Sang-gil, the Black Sand Moon Leader looked at me and asked.

I racked my brain this way and that, and although I didn't know why Ak Sang-gil was here, one thing crossed my mind.

'This bastard. Could it be that he came here because Ak Sang-cheol asked him to because of yesterday's incident?'

As for the Snow-Stepping Swordsman, when I thought about it carefully, I remembered where he took refuge when he was no longer active in the Martial Alliance.

'Come to think of it, the Snow-Stepping Swordsman... he goes to the Guangdong Jin family later, doesn't he?'

I let out a sigh without realizing it.

No matter how pathetic the bastards are, since it's hard to do something to me with their own strength, it seems they asked people around them who are quite powerful.

"Tsk, tsk. The bastards who asked, and the bastards who grant such a request."

"What are you saying!"

At that time, Ak Sang-gil, who had been unconscious until now, seemed to have finally come to his senses and, looking at me, said, "Ugh, ugh! Please save..."

Does Ak Sang-gil know that I am the Unhwi he was trying to harm?

I sighed once more and said, "Do as you please. Whether you kill him, save him, or cook him."

"I-Is that really true?"

At my words, the Black Sand Moon Leader could not hide his flustered expression.

Seeing the well-trained assassin, who had troubled me in my past life, so surprised that he couldn't even speak properly, my words must have been very shocking.

"A-Aren't you a bastard of the orthodox faction? But you're telling me to just kill or save a fellow orthodox faction martial artist?"

Anxiety filled the Black Sand Moon Leader's eyes.

It seems that fear has even arisen from my incomprehensible reaction.

"I'm from the orthodox faction, that's right. But even if I'm from the orthodox faction, I can't be kind to a bastard who was trying to kill me, can I? Right, Ak Sang-gil?"

"Un... hwi?"

Only then did Ak Sang-gil seem to realize that I was Unhwi.

Well, since we've never met before, and this is a very chaotic situation, it's possible.

"I heard you were a quite righteous and capable martial artist, but you came running to harm me like this just because your younger brother was humiliated a little?"

"I... you... I heard you used sorcery... so."

"If you believed that, you're a fool, and if you came here using that as a pretext even though you didn't believe it, you've thrown away any sense of righteousness."

"......"

Ak Sang-gil couldn't answer my sharp criticism.

The Black Sand Moon Leader, who had been listening to our conversation blankly, his eyes widened and he shouted, "Unhwi? Unhwi of the Wudang Sect?"

"Do you know me?"

"I know you from the rumors. The rising star of the orthodox faction recently."

"So a good rumor has spread about me? Was there no mention of my bad personality in that rumor?"

"I heard you have an outstanding sense of justice... and that you are a righteous hero who would even sacrifice your life for the orthodox martial world..."

A chuckle escaped me without me realizing it.

A righteous hero, my foot. Of course, the things I have done so far are just the kind of things that people who don't know would think of as a righteous hero, but in fact, I have rarely done anything because of a sense of justice.

I just did as I pleased.

Fortunately, those actions happened to align to some extent with the path of righteousness that the world speaks of.

"But you're telling me to do as I please with Ak Sang-gil?"

"Yes. But you. Do you know which family's son Ak Sang-gil is?"

"...... I know."

In fact, the Shandong Ak family is not a family that the Black Sand Moon can mess with.

Although they are not included in the Five Great Families, they are still a prestigious family with hundreds of years of tradition.

That's why they probably haven't killed Ak Sang-gil yet.

If they let Ak Sang-gil go, the Black Sand Moon would be revealed, and if they killed him, they would be afraid of the consequences, so they must have been unable to do either.

In that situation, I appeared, so they must have thought it was a good opportunity and crawled out with Ak Sang-gil.

They must have intended to exchange Ak Sang-gil's safety for their own.

But they were flustered when I said I wouldn't interfere whether they killed Ak Sang-gil or saved him.

"Still, you're going to do as you please?"

"So didn't I propose a deal? I'll save this person, so don't interfere until we leave this place."

"Yes. I heard."

As I continued to maintain a lukewarm attitude, the Black Sand Moon Leader seemed to be getting annoyed.

He's already going crazy because of the Shandong Ak family, and with me coming out like this, he can't help but lose his temper.

"But, a deal is something that is established when I also have something to gain, isn't it?"

"What? So Ak Sang-gil..."

"Didn't I say it a little while ago? Do as you please whether you kill Ak Sang-gil or save him. Saving him is of no benefit to me. It's not a condition of the deal. If you want to kill him, kill him! And live your life being chased by the Shandong Ak family. And do you know this? The Snow-Stepping Swordsman is also a sworn brother of the Guangdong Jin family head. You may not know, but that uncle has also promised to take refuge in the Guangdong Jin family in a few years."

"Following the Shandong Ak family... the Guangdong Jin family?"

He seemed to have finally realized that he couldn't kill both of them.

I guess blood ties and regional ties are this important for people.

If it were someone else, it would be a situation where even dying a hundred times would not be enough, but just because he is the young master of the Shandong Ak family and a close friend of the Guangdong Jin family head, he is about to save his life.

I drew my sword.

The well-maintained Red Dragon Sword flashed a red light as it received the light.

"You have no more cards to play, right? Then the negotiation is off. You have only one move left. Kill me and run away from here. Ah! But come to think of it, I'm also from the Wudang Sect. If I die, will Wudang just stand by?"

The Black Sand Moon Leader's face turned pale, and then it started to turn yellow.

"I-I'll give you money. I'll give you a large sum of money that a mere Taoist can't even touch."

"Money? I like money too, but unfortunately, I have a lot of money. More than you can imagine."

"What?

"Can you give me about a thousand taels? I think I'll be satisfied with that."

"This... crazy bastard!"

I, clicking my tongue, shook my head and opened my mouth.

"Then there really is only one way left. Since we have to get rid of the witnesses, you have to kill me, Ak Sang-gil here, and the Snow-Stepping Swordsman who is trapped somewhere, and you all have to live in seclusion... or you have to change your names and identities and start over from the bottom."

"......"

The Black Sand Moon Leader, after glaring at me for a moment, began to back away stealthily.

The scene I experienced in my past life and the current appearance of the Black Sand Moon Leader overlap.

When the Black Sand Moon Leader performs a movement technique backwards and sticks to the wall, that's when the fight begins.

Even now, countless assassins are hiding in this vicinity.

If I chase after the Black Sand Moon Leader, the assassins will attack me whenever I enter their range.

It could be one at a time, or it could be more.

'Certainly, compared to my past life... my qi sense is much better.'

I, for a moment, spread my energy wide and grasped the locations of the assassins hiding in this vicinity.

In my past life, in this situation, I had not been able to detect that the bastards were hiding at all.

The first reason is that I never thought the Black Sand Moon would be there, and the second is that although my martial arts level might have been similar to now, my qi sense was not more sensitive.

Because this qi sense is something I obtained while training the upper dantian in Wudang.

At that moment, the Black Sand Moon Leader performed a movement technique backwards.

Originally, I should have reflexively followed him, but I did not follow him.

Instead, I ran to the wall. And then I accurately stabbed my sword into the small gap between the walls.

The sound of a sword piercing flesh echoed, and blood trickled from between the walls.

"H-How..."

The assassin who was hiding there, after leaving only those words, seemed to have died on the spot and could not say anything more.

After meeting these bastards on my first mission in the Martial Alliance in my past life, I had replayed that day's fight several times.

Because it had been bothering me all along that I had overcome several near-death crises when I fought these bastards.

Although I won, I was able to return to the Martial Alliance with a body that was almost in tatters, and after that, I had to recuperate for a while.

Of course, thanks to that, the Martial Alliance Leader favored me more.

"C-Cowardly!"

"What's cowardly about bastards who were determined to hide and ambush!"

I, stepping on a movement technique, instantly approached the next bastard and flew my sword again.

This time it was under the ground, and they must have intended to stab the sword upwards when I passed over it, by placing a thin plate and spreading a thin layer of soil on top of it.

"Everyone, break your stealth and come out behind me! He knows all our locations!"

Unfortunately, the Black Sand Moon Leader was not a fool.

He had just made the best choice he could make right now.

As soon as he shouted, about thirty assassins, all dressed in black from head to toe, popped out from everywhere and stood behind the Black Sand Moon Leader.

"Good judgment. You've made the best judgment you can make right now."

"Y-You, who are you! Reveal your identity!"

"Identity? Didn't I say it earlier? Unhwi of the Wudang Sect."

"How does a Taoist of the Wudang Sect know all the locations of our assassins? That's something that can't be recognized unless you're a person who has learned the stealth techniques of an assassin."

"With outstanding qi sense... and experience, you can find out enough."

"Experience?"

Another look of bewilderment filled his face.

It must be absurd for me, who looks young at a glance, to talk about experience.

But, what can I do? It's the truth. Moreover, this is the second time I'm facing these bastards.

As I infused energy into the hand holding the Red Dragon Sword, the sword responds pleasantly.

I, looking at the Black Sand Moon Leader, said, "It's the best of the judgments you can make... but in fact, the result is the same. You will all die."

At my cold words, the assassins flinched in unison.

I, lowering my voice a little, immediately continued, "So if you want to live, run away now. Except for the Black Sand Moon Leader there, I will not chase after the rest if they run away. But... if you get caught by my hand again, you will beg me to kill you."

Although everyone heard my words clearly, no one moved.

They seem to be quite well-trained bastards, even if they look like that.

"Yes. Your choice. I'll respect it."

As soon as my words ended, I kicked the ground and rushed at the assassins.

In the past, I was in tatters because of the bastards, but this time, it will be different.

Because assassins who have revealed their appearance are no different from third-rate martial artists.

(End of Chapter)