Chapter 116. Needlessly Beautiful.

As I was circulating my qi and regulating my breathing, I heard the assassins talking.

“Brother Fisherman.”

“…….”

“Whether we die this way or that, it’s all the same. Brother Fisherman, do you have a way?”

The fisherman answered.

“No.”

“If you don’t, then tell him what you know. It’s not as if we know anything.”

“What would I know? Chubu (醜夫, ugly man) probably knows the most.”

“Brother Chubu, please say something.”

Amusingly, the temporary names I had given them were similar to the names they were actually called by.

The fisherman was Fisherman, and the ugly bastard was Chubu.

Chubu said,

“If Sword Six and Wild Man agree, I’ll speak.”

Sword Six probably referred to the swordsman, and Wild Man sounded like a name for the impolite bastard who had stripped to the waist.

Sword Six and Wild Man replied in turn.

“If Brother Chubu says he’ll talk, we should follow him.”

“I’ll follow as well.”

At last, the ugly bastard spoke to me.

“Listen. Hao Gate Master, can you hear me? I’ll tell you what I know. But even if I tell you everything I know, it won’t satisfy you. You’re in the middle of circulating your qi and regulating your breathing, so I’ll wait.”

I slowly finished my breathing exercise, then opened my eyes.

“Are you finally ready to talk?”

Chubu looked at me and replied,

“I’m going to die anyway. I’ll repay you for the mouthful of wine I drank.”

I uncrossed my legs, rose, grabbed Chubu by the nape, and set him down beside the campfire. I also lifted the remaining Fisherman, Sword Six, and Wild Man with one hand and set them down near the fire, then sat and drank Dukang wine.

“Speak.”

Chubu stared at the flickering flames and said,

“First, you kept calling us One-Reed Crossing, and I can only wonder where you heard that. Why do you think One-Reed Crossing is the name of an organization? One-Reed Crossing could be a person’s epithet, but it’s awkward as the name of a group. It refers to the realm where one can float a single reed leaf on the river and cross upon it, but as you know, we don’t have that kind of ability.”

I nodded with a calm expression.

“Keep talking.”

“One-Reed Crossing is what we call the man who manages us. We learned what it means to be assassins from him. Normally we’re scattered, and when we’re summoned, we have to gather. We receive an explanation about the assassination target, and men like Elder Seok, who died earlier, draw up operations and share information. Elder Seok likely knew the most, but he’s already dead.”

“The Farmer?”

“In Elder Seok’s operation, the Farmer was the blade meant to kill you at the end. Of those here, he was the strongest expert. What I’m trying to say is that there is no main base to speak of. The man called One-Reed Crossing is the center and the main base.”

I rose and poured Dukang wine into the mouth of Chubu, who had spoken at length.

Glug, glug, glug…… The wine vanished into Chubu’s mouth with that sound. After setting down the emptied wine jar, I broke the seal on a new one and poured wine down the throats of Fisherman, Sword Six, and Wild Man as well.

I sat back down and said to the four men,

“You all went through a great deal just to survive.”

“…….”

Suddenly, Wild Man let out a sigh, then shed tears with his eyes closed. Seeing Wild Man cry, Fisherman, Sword Six, and Chubu also sighed.

I did not ask why he was crying, nor did I scold him for crying.

Chubu said to me,

“You won’t be able to find him easily even if you search. He always sent people to summon us. Gate Master, how do you intend to find One-Reed Crossing?”

I replied in a quiet tone,

“When do things in this world ever go as one intends? It isn’t that I went around looking for One-Reed Crossing. You lot kept coming after me, didn’t you?”

Chubu nodded.

“That’s true. We suffered considerable losses, after all.”

“How am I supposed to find someone hidden so thoroughly? If he sends assassins, I kill them like today. On nights when no assassin comes, I simply sleep a little longer. It’s been a long time since I could sleep in peace.”

“…….”

“When the window rattled once in the wind, I wondered whether an infiltrating assassin had made a mistake. When a rat crossed the ceiling, I imagined it might be fleeing in fright because of an assassin. Sometimes, while turning over in bed, I worried about how I would block a blade thrusting up from beneath the bed. Then, when I looked at the window again, dawn would be breaking.”

“…….”

“The moon must have seen me toss and turn countless times. If I fall, Hao Gate falls, and if Hao Gate falls, bastards like you will prosper. The Black Path will swarm like insects, and inn boys will suffer calamities at guesthouses. Kidnapped women will dance newly learned dances in places far from their hometowns.”

I drank some Dukang wine, then grinned.

“Ah… that must not happen. I cannot bear it.”

I pointed at the campfire with my finger.

“……It’s warm. Life does bring small joys like a campfire from time to time, but for the most part, it is cold, hungry, and painful like today. Nine times out of ten, that pain comes from people. Most people struggle even when they live without anything particularly happening, yet men like you are casting them into hell. While I personally beat bastards like you to death one by one, my madness is deepening day by day as well. But that’s fine. There is likely no man in the world who endures madness better than I do. In the end, I win. That is who I am.”

I let out a low laugh and looked at the assassins.

“Drinking wine with assassins whose mouths have finally opened makes the Dukang wine taste even better.”

I had mostly struck these fellows in the upper body with the Cold Moon Finger Art. Because of the heat of the campfire and their legs going slack, Fisherman, Sword Six, Wild Man, and Chubu sank down as though collapsing, each according to the depth of his inner force.

I added more firewood to the campfire.

Now I was not the only one watching the flickering flames. The assassins, unable to find anywhere else to rest their eyes, were also staring at the flames of the campfire.

In life, there come times when you stare at flames without a word.

This was such a time.

There are those who must look into the flames and look back on their past lives.

Right now, the assassins were those people.

Amid the silence, Fisherman uttered a sentence.

“It is truly a warm campfire.”

Wild Man said,

“It feels empty. Even in the midst of this, I have no thoughts at all.”

Sword Six replied,

“Does that make sense? Isn’t there something you think about every day?”

Wild Man nodded.

“I’m thinking of food. I can’t think of anything but food. It seems I was only happy when I was eating.”

I looked at Wild Man, then nodded.

“So you were a glutton. You look like someone who would love food.”

“…….”

I rummaged through the dried snacks, picked up a sizable piece of jerky, and placed it in Wild Man’s mouth. Wild Man began chewing the jerky that had entered his mouth.

“You sure eat well.”

Wild Man replied while chewing the jerky.

“I’ll eat it gratefully.”

Sword Six asked me,

“Pardon me, but do you have a master? Since you’re young and not famous, Yiwei Dujiang and the ones who devise strategies kept making mistakes.”

“I have no master. The reason I’m not famous is probably because most of those who challenged me ended up dead. Our Hao Sect doesn’t take tribute, so we have no influence either. Since no notoriety spread, there was no chance for me to become famous.”

The Fisherman asked me.

“If you don’t take tribute, how do you run your sect?”

“When I shake down bastards like you, a lot of money comes out. You lot may not know it, but the higher-ups are always loaded. I’m curious too. Where did Yiwei Dujiang spend all those fairly expensive commission fees he’d been steadily collecting? He certainly didn’t spend them on you. The ones who die are bastards like you. The money is always pocketed by those above. If you’ve eaten enough years, you should at least know that this is how the world works. Don’t just think about stuffing your face all day. Wild Man, got it?”

The Wild Man replied.

“I understand.”

“What the hell do you understand, you bastard? You’d only understand rice. Whether this rice is nice and firm or cooked too soggy, that’s the sort of thing you’d understand. What else could you possibly know besides pouring water over scorched rice and eating it? And where did you throw away your shirt to come here looking like that? Your whole life is ice arts. A bastard colder than everyone else. Pathetic bastard.”

The Wild Man let out a long sigh.

“Hoo.”

Suddenly, Sword Six spoke without preamble.

“Long ago, we attacked a place called Buyang Manor, and nearly all of Yiwei Dujiang’s assassins had gathered there. There seemed to be quite a powerful expert, so everyone was tense. Yiwei Dujiang appeared in person and took command at the front, and at that time, there was a man who came to help him. Yiwei Dujiang called that man only once.”

I asked.

“What did he call him?”

“Senior Brother Wuhen.”

I replied in a bitter tone.

“The Wuhen of Taxue Wuhen?”

“Most likely.”

Yiwei Dujiang and Taxue Wuhen were both terms referring to realms of qinggong. At first glance, one might suspect the Kuai Hall, but there were no such bastards in the Kuai Hall.

“If they are senior and junior martial brothers, that means they have a master. They must be an elite Assassin Sect of few members. At the very least, it means I’ll have to capture and torture Yiwei Dujiang before the headquarters I wanted to know about appears.”

Perhaps the Southern Ming Association in my previous life had killed all these assassins, only to be counterattacked by Yiwei Dujiang or Taxue Wuhen and utterly destroyed. And Yiwei Dujiang must have stayed quiet while raising new assassins he needed to use right away.

I groped through the memories and events of my previous life.

‘Was there an Assassin Sect this thorough?’

The world of assassins, too, had its own hierarchy, like a martial world within the martial world. There were sect disputes, and incidents of rise and ruin all tangled together.

Among them, the only assassin I knew in detail was the Assassin King.

‘Surely not……?’

The quickest way to find out which Assassin Sect Yiwei Dujiang belonged to would be to meet the Assassin King and ask him.

But if left alone, he was a bastard who would charge at the Mad Monk on his own and die, so I wondered whether there was any need to go looking for him.

Because that bastard called the Assassin King had fought the Mad Monk before my eyes and died with his limbs torn apart.

One must not misunderstand here: the Assassin King died because the Mad Monk was stronger. Facing the Assassin King in my current state was unnecessary.

As my thoughts continued, one leading to another like links in a chain, I suddenly looked at each of these bastards’ expressions one by one and recited whatever anecdotes about the Assassin King came to mind.

“There is a beautiful valley called Hualiu Valley. Has anyone heard of it?”

The assassins shook their heads.

“I haven’t heard of it.”

“This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

I looked into the assassins’ eyes and said.

“I heard that after an old assassin went into seclusion there, its name changed to Siliu Valley. Originally, peony petals would fall upon the flowing stream, making it a lovely place to see, but they say corpses would often float down the valley. Instead of petals, it became a valley where death flowed.”

“…….”

“Peonies were originally called the king of flowers. And assassins from Siliu Valley were often called the King of Assassins. Now, if Yiwei Dujiang is from Siliu Valley…”

“…….”

I looked at the Fisherman, Sword Six, the Wild Man, and the Ugly Man.

“I’ve gotten deeply involved in something far too dangerous. Just in case, I shouldn’t look for their headquarters. I might end up provoking the Assassin King. No matter how I think about it, the only force I can imagine capable of brainwashing you this perfectly and instilling your thoughts, acting, speech, behavior, even ideology, is that place. I suspect Yiwei Dujiang and Taxue Wuhen are assassins from Siliu Valley. What do you think?”

I rose from my seat and approached the Fisherman.

“Let’s answer carefully, one by one. The Fisherman first.”

I gripped the Fisherman’s shoulder, then examined his eyes and expression. The Fisherman looked up at me and said.

“I think they are from Siliu Valley.”

“You said you’d never heard of it.”

“The Sect Leader is widely learned, so would you not be correct?”

I asked in a low voice.

“Was the Dukang wine tasty?”

“…….”

I injected the Waning Moon Ice Art into the Fisherman’s Jianjing acupoint. The Fisherman’s jaw trembled as he nodded.

“It was tasty.”

“That’s a relief.”

I watched the Fisherman turn deathly pale and stiffen, then looked at Sword Six.

“What do you think?”

Sword Six looked up at me with a composed expression.

“It is excellent insight and discernment, Hao Sect Leader.”

“Is that so? You’re saying my guess was right.”

“…….”

I thrust out a palm and struck Sword Six in the forehead. With a thud, Sword Six collapsed.

“Ugly bastard, what do you think?”

The Ugly Man looked up at me and answered.

“Just kill me.”

“Siliu Valley is a place even I would find hard to handle. Why didn’t you just say so?”

The Ugly Man said with a smile.

“Hao Sect Leader.”

“What?”

“People do not change easily.”

“Shouldn’t you know how to change when someone shows you goodwill?”

“How was that goodwill? It was a contest.”

“Ah, damn……”

I cackled and laughed.

“The world fails to understand me. Fine.”

I used the Star-Absorbing Great Art to pull the Ugly Man’s neck into my grasp, then snapped his cervical vertebrae just like that. After letting go of the limp Ugly Man, I looked at the Wild Man.

“Wild Man, I was going to feed you pork backbones later, and this is how you treat me?”

The Wild Man replied with a troubled expression.

“I don’t know whether it’s Siliu Valley or whatever. I only know Yiwei Dujiang, so why did you suddenly kill them all?”

“Wild Man.”

“Speak.”

I looked at the Wild Man with a serious gaze.

“You are the most impressive of all. You are an outstanding assassin.”

Tears had half welled up in the eyes of the wild man staring at me.

“What on earth do you mean by that…….”

“Leave your last words.”

The wild man let out a brief gasp, then spoke to me in a completely changed tone.

“I have no last words. I Jaha, the jerky was delicious.”

In the meantime, having undone the Ice Art to some extent, the wild man slowly reached his hand toward me.

I watched the assassin’s hand draw near my body, then wrapped Ice Art around the edge of my hand and struck the crown of the wild man’s head.

Thwack!

Suddenly, the back of my head prickled, and when I turned around, a dazzling moonlight was pouring down.

I gazed at the moonlight rippling together with the lake and muttered.

“Well now, the moonlight is uselessly beautiful again today.”