Episode 96. The Jianghu Was Right Before My Eyes.

The assassin stared at the dagger embedded in the table.

‘How on earth…….’

Before he could even think of what to say, the assassination target opened his mouth.

“Is it Paegeomhoe, or Irwidogang? Don’t tell me it’s neither. Don’t spout bullshit, either. I knew from the moment you were watching from the building.”

“…….”

Several images of I Jaha suddenly flashed through the assassin’s mind.

The way he had stretched languidly, the way he had stared with a dumpling in his mouth, the look in his eyes when he had glanced over while talking to the waiter, and even the expression with which he had sent the waiter inside first and then observed him…….

He had thought all of them were simply I Jaha’s ordinary behavior.

They were not.

Coincidentally, the stance of an assassin that Irwidogang considered most important was naturalness—blending into the everyday.

And yet an assassin like him had only realized I Jaha’s calculated actions after seeing the dagger stuck in the table? In other words, even by the standards he had learned in Irwidogang, the opponent before him stood at a far higher level than himself.

The assassin asked the question that came to him without meaning to.

“Was Haomun an assassin organization?”

From the mouth of that blue-blooded young brat came these words.

“You shouldn’t look at the world with such a narrow field of vision.”

* * *

I looked at the assassin I would soon kill and thought it was a bother. Killing him itself was not bothersome. But knowing that this would not be the end made it somewhat bothersome.

Only by eliminating Paegeomhoe or uprooting Irwidogang would bastards like this stop coming for me.

The assassin asked back.

“A narrow field of vision?”

“When a young man speaks impudently and informally to the owner of a dumpling shop, it’s normal to look back. When a grown man appears with a dumpling in his mouth, it’s normal to look at him like he’s pathetic. When someone sings a strange song, the ordinary person’s mind makes them turn around at least once. A man who doesn’t react at all to these three things leads me to the conclusion that he is not an ordinary man. It’s proof he’s been trained. Trained bastards stand out to me even more.”

Only then did the assassin’s complexion change.

“I didn’t recognize you because I’m an assassin. From the very beginning, the way I think and the way I see are different from you lot. Do you understand what I mean?”

I smiled as I checked the assassin’s expression.

“Killing you isn’t bothersome, but what comes after is. Because even if I kill, and kill again, and keep killing, the leader never shows up easily. But I’ll endure it for you. Dealing with assassins is also part of what a leader must bear.”

I drank some Dugang wine and looked at the assassin of Irwidogang.

If the conversation worked even a little, I intended to kill him after it was over.

If it didn’t, I intended to kill him immediately.

But seeing an assassin who had come to kill me after such a long time made all sorts of words come to mind in no particular order.

“In the old days, the words assassin and killer weren’t so different from righteous hero. Like Jing Ke, who tried to kill the First Emperor. He was acknowledged.”

“Was that so?”

“But you lot take money and kill just about anyone, so the world has changed a great deal. Righteous heroes and assassins have grown as distant as though they stand on opposite sides of the world. At one time, an assassin was a righteous hero. Now it’s a world where assassins kill righteous heroes, and righteous heroes kill assassins. What do you think?”

“…….”

“No thoughts? Haomun is not an assassin organization. However, what I, its sect leader, will do is the same work from the time when righteous hero and assassin were used almost synonymously. Therefore, to a certain extent, I’m an assassin like you as well.”

I made a gesture of chopping my neck with the edge of my hand.

“I’m good at killing, you see. We were in the same line of work……. So that’s why I’m saying this, but how about I kill the leader of Irwidogang? If we want pitiful bastards like you to stop appearing, that would be perfect. Any thoughts?”

I took a sip of Dugang wine.

Perhaps because he was tense, the assassin could not drink.

It seemed my precious words were not entering his ears.

He kept judging whether he was faster or my hand was faster, which made me sigh.

Because naturally, I was faster.

“Look, ordinary assassins are orphans like you. If by chance they aren’t orphans, then the people around them are all killed in advance to make them orphans. Because if they have family, their emotions become diverse. It gets in the way of training. Assassin organizations are usually like that. That’s why bastards like you lack the emotions needed to understand what I’m saying. I feel somewhat sorry for that.”

I pointed a finger at the assassin.

“It’s right that I end your body. But you aren’t dying because of me. You’re dying because of the bastard who made Irwidogang. Understand that and die.”

“That is the life of an assassin.”

“You’re saying the life of an assassin is to die while following orders?”

“That’s right.”

“No one needs to live like that.”

“I have already stained my hands with much blood. Who would I resent?”

“What a shoddy life. What I want to know is Irwidogang’s main base. If you can’t say it, draw your sword. My walk is getting long because of you.”

The assassin’s gaze dropped, and he checked the Flash Dagger embedded in the table.

“….”

The instant his eyes shifted back to me, I drew Heukmyoa from beneath the table.

A sword-drawing form interpreted in my own way.

Slice—!

When the blade cut through the table, I infused it with the wood element, and when Heukmyoa split the table and bared its teeth, I coiled the flame element around it.

A red line was carved across the assassin’s body before he could take anything out, and the blood became engulfed in flames, burning with a sizzle. Belatedly, blood spurted up.

Spurt!

The assassin, who had been awkwardly rising with strength in his legs, fell backward with his upper body sliced diagonally.

With a thud, his upper body split into two pieces.

I shook the blood from the tip of the blade, then sheathed Heukmyoa.

There was more doubt than pain in the assassin’s expression.

At times like this, killing without pain is mercy.

Rather than anger toward the dead bastard, my ill feelings toward Irwidogang and Paegeomhoe piled up like a tower in an instant.

As river-like rage surged within me, the waiter Jangsam ran out and asked me with a startled expression.

“Sect Leader?”

“Yeah.”

“Was he an assassin?”

“Yes.”

I saw Jangsam approach the corpse and said.

“Don’t touch it. There may be poison in his clothes or mouth. You mustn’t touch even the corpse of a bastard like this.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll send my men to clean it up at once, so leave it as it is for a moment. Take this.”

I handed silver coins to Jangsam.

“The cost of the liquor and the table.”

“Why are you giving me so much?”

“I’m paying in advance. Similar things will happen often. For the time being, I’ll deliberately come out for walks more often.”

Rather than suffer an assassin’s surprise attack while sleeping, it would be more comfortable to walk around in broad daylight, defenseless.

“Ah, yes. Thank you. But how did you know? I just thought he seemed a little strange because he was an unfamiliar man.”

I said to Jangsam, who wore a bewildered expression.

“Jangsam, can’t you tell just by looking?”

“I can’t.”

I gestured with my chin toward the assassin’s face.

“Just look. It’s written all over his face that he’s an assassin.”

“Where? Nothing’s written there. His forehead’s narrow, too.”

“You have to be able to recognize that to enter the Black Cat Gang. Useless fool, pathetic fool, worthless fool, fool who doesn’t even know the basics of being a waiter.”

“You’re suddenly insulting me like this?”

“That is me.”

Jangsam pulled out the dagger stuck in the fallen table and held it out to me.

“Gang Leader, take your dagger. From what I saw, you planted the dagger right into the table, then finished him off with a sword out of nowhere—bam! Starting with stabbing the dagger into the table, this was some very high-class psychological warfare, right?”

“It’s just a habit.”

“Yes.”

As I headed toward the Black Cat Gang, Jangsam asked me.

“Gang Leader, when your men come, should I ask them? Whether they can tell just by looking.”

“If any of them say they can’t, report them to me. They’re useless fools who’ve been neglecting their training. They need to be scolded.”

“Understood.”

* * *

Jangsam the waiter looked over the martial artists who had come out of the Black Cat Gang with sharp eyes, then spoke to the man who seemed to be in charge.

“Excuse me.”

“What?”

“Does this man look like an assassin at a glance? He looks ordinary.”

The man in charge, having received the waiter’s question, replied with a pathetic expression.

“Can’t you tell just by looking? You can’t?”

“……Pardon?”

“You can’t tell just by looking? Good grief, what a pathetic bastard.”

“No, I mean, when have you ever even seen me? I am pathetic, but……”

The man suddenly spoke with a serious expression.

“Aren’t you Haomun?”

“Me?”

“You don’t pay tribute like before anymore, do you?”

“No.”

“Then you’re Haomun.”

“Ah, understood.”

The man abruptly pointed at himself with his thumb.

“It’s me.”

“What is?”

“I am Haomun’s Chief Administrator, Haomun’s second-in-command, the man who laid Haomun’s foundation alongside our Sect Leader from the very beginning, Ilyang’s Number One Sword, Cha Seongtae.”

Jangsam bowed his head without looking particularly surprised.

“Goodness, it’s a pleasure to meet you. So, Chief Administrator, you can tell whether someone is an assassin just by looking at their face?”

Cha Seongtae nodded and replied.

“That is me.”

Jangsam looked at Cha Seongtae and thought to himself.

‘This con artist bastard is imitating the Gang Leader…… He just looks like some slick neighborhood punk. How did he become the second-in-command?’

Cha Seongtae said.

“Why are you looking at me like that? What an impertinent waiter.”

“Ah, no, sir. That is me. That phrase is unique to the Gang Leader, so please refrain from using it. It’s unpleasant to hear.”

“This bastard……”

Cha Seongtae was about to retort, but the brothers of the Black Cat Gang burst into laughter, so he closed his mouth. Feeling a prick of embarrassment, Cha Seongtae looked at the corpse being loaded onto a stretcher, then said to the martial artists of the Black Cat Gang.

“Brothers, there may be poison on the corpse, so let’s take it somewhere secluded and burn it.”

“Yes, Chief Administrator.”

Only then did Cha Seongtae look back at Jangsam and say.

“What’s your name?”

“Jangsam.”

“There’s a high chance his fellow assassins will come here to investigate how he died. Try recognizing them then.”

“If I recognize them? Should I report it?”

“No, just recognize them. Don’t do anything dangerous. They’ll probably have a similar air to the dead guy, so you’ll be able to tell.”

“How am I supposed to tell?”

“Did you see the dead guy’s eyes?”

“Yes.”

“Assassins lack emotion, so their eyes feel sunken and subdued.”

“Oh…… I think that was true.”

“That guy is an assassin.”

Jangsam nodded and looked at Cha Seongtae with eyes of respect.

“As expected of the Chief Administrator. Please come by for a drink sometime.”

Cha Seongtae replied as he headed off somewhere with the martial artists of the Black Cat Gang.

“Not falling for it. Don’t try to drum up business with me.”

Jangsam crossed his arms and watched Cha Seongtae’s back.

‘That bastard seems smart and stupid at the same time. How fascinating. Copycat bastard, slick bastard, bastard who looks down on waiters, son of a bitch……’

* * *

For the second day in a row, Jangsam sat outside all day with his arms crossed, glaring at the passersby.

‘You’re an assassin, aren’t you? Not you. You’re an assassin, right? Your eyes are dead fish. You’re clearly not one. You’re an assa……’

Jangsam happened to meet one man’s eyes, and his heart dropped. His miscellaneous thoughts were torn apart by killing intent, and suddenly he couldn’t think of anything at all.

‘…….’

It felt like if he kept looking, he would die.

‘He really is an assassin.’

As Jangsam hurriedly lowered his head and wiped a table, the man whose eyes he had met walked straight over.

“Let me ask you something.”

“Ah, yes. Please go ahead.”

Jangsam looked at the man with both hands respectfully clasped. The man, who wore a thin longsword at his waist, examined the table and the ground before asking.

“The person who died here yesterday.”

“Yes.”

“Did he die in a single stroke?”

“That’s right.”

As soon as Jangsam met the man’s eyes, he lowered his head again.

He now understood what it meant for someone to “look ordinary, but frightening.”

He had recognized him at a glance, but Jangsam thought he might die here.

“Where was he sitting?”

Jangsam held out his hand.

“There. No, sir. Yes, he was sitting there.”

The fellow with “assassin” written on his forehead sat at the newly placed table and spoke to Jangsam in a tone suppressing anger.

“Bring me the liquor the man who died yesterday drank.”

“Yes.”

At that moment, someone approached and whispered to the man who had ordered the wine.

“Team Leader, you mustn’t do this.”

“Stand down.”

When Jang Sam set the Wuling wine and dried snacks down on the table, the assassin spoke while staring straight ahead.

“Waiter.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t run. Sit quietly if you don’t want to die. Sit over there.”

Jang Sam quietly sat in the seat the assassin indicated, while the assassin glared at the walking path I Jaha always took.

Suddenly, as Jang Sam looked out at the street, he realized there were an unusual number of people he had never seen in this neighborhood before.

A man pulling a cart.

A young man selling rice cakes.

A peddler with a bundle.

They were all unfamiliar faces, and they shared one thing in common. Their eyes were different. Besides them, other unfamiliar men he could not quite place were coming and going along the street.

Suspicion and certainty mingled together until he could no longer tell who was an assassin.

When Jang Sam studied the street closely, the assassin seated at the table turned his head and smiled chillingly.

“Hey, waiter.”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to die right now?”

“I’m sorry.”

“If you’re a waiter, act like one. Don’t go showing off how quick-witted you are and get dragged in and killed.”

“Understood.”

Jang Sam realized that what had happened yesterday had been nothing more than a prelude. The man who died likely had not even known he was a sacrificial pawn. It was frightening, and yet he was also curious.

If he only lifted his head, the jianghu lay before his eyes.

‘This is driving me mad.’

In the midst of it all, the assassin who had come openly spoke toward the front.

“Sect Leader, welcome.”

“Oh, have you been waiting long?”

“I just arrived.”

Jang Sam had no choice but to lift his head. The leader of the Black Rabbit Gang, who often took walks alone and bought dumplings from time to time, fearlessly sat down across from the table.

“Jang Sam, Dukang wine for me.”

“Understood.”

A moment later, as Jang Sam set down the Dukang wine, he heard the Gang Leader speak.

“Looks like you brought quite a few lackeys today.”

“I was quite discourteous. I had no information about you at all, you see. I should have done this from the start.”

“I have more subordinates than you.”

“How could numbers stop an assassination? Even if I die, you’ll find things rather troublesome for a while.”

“Jang Sam, go inside.”

Jang Sam snapped back to his senses at the Gang Leader’s words.

“Ah, yes.”

As Jang Sam went inside, he suddenly felt an ominous chill and looked back. The moment the assassin grabbed a chopstick, he threw it at him.

But the chopstick, flying toward him with a sharp whoosh, abruptly changed direction on its own in midair and drove into the ground.

Thuk!

Jang Sam stared in a daze, then unknowingly fell onto his backside. The assassin had tried to kill him with a chopstick, and the Gang Leader had stretched out his hand and twisted its direction.

What on earth had just happened?

In that instant, the Gang Leader and the assassin exchanged palm force.

KWA-A-A-A-ANG!

Jang Sam’s chest heaved as he looked at the Gang Leader and the assassin. The assassin was shoved back, smashing through three or four tables, then drew his sword...

The Gang Leader was leisurely drinking his Dukang wine.

To Jang Sam’s eyes, the sight was truly impressive.

‘So this is the jianghu.’