Chapter 19
Cheongeuk (2)
As soon as Beon Saeng returned from his errand, he came to see Baek Socheon together with Im Chung.
“I delivered the dagger to Nine Dragons Inn as you instructed. The owner looked completely ordinary, though. Who is he?”
“To those who do not know him, he is an innkeeper. To those who do, he is a terrifying man.”
Beon Saeng turned toward Im Chung, wondering whether he had learned anything in the meantime, but Im Chung had heard nothing related to it either.
“If you delivered it properly, the most terrifying person in the martial world will come here within a few days. Be careful when you receive them.”
What sort of person deserved to be called the most terrifying person in the martial world?
“Who is it?”
“If you judge them by appearance alone, even ten lives would not be enough. I have warned you.”
Leaving only those words behind, Baek Socheon went inside his room.
“That didn’t sound like a joke, did it?”
“No. It seems someone truly frightening is coming.”
“Branch Leader, do you realize something? I went humming cheerfully while summoning the most terrifying person in the martial world. Good heavens! Is it really acceptable to send a mere squad leader from some backwater branch on an errand like that? How could he make me do something so terrifying without even telling me?”
“I would have told you. No, I would never have sent you on such a dangerous errand in the first place.”
“I want to go back to the old days, when you and I lived peacefully together.”
“Don’t you think it is already too late?”
Despite the content of their conversation, their expressions were bright.
Ever since meeting Baek Socheon, they had hardly experienced a single peaceful day, yet they did not dislike this constant tension.
If Baek Socheon someday left and their lives returned to how they had once been...
Would that life still remain in their memories under the name of peace?
“But the most terrifying person in the martial world... Who could it possibly be?”
How could they dislike it when curiosity such as this tempted them so strongly?
Two days later, the person they had been waiting for visited the branch.
Surprisingly, the most terrifying person in the martial world was a woman.
Her face could not be seen because she wore a bamboo hat with a veil, but her figure was so voluptuous and alluring that anyone who saw her would gape in astonishment.
Only then did Im Chung and Beon Saeng understand why Baek Socheon had warned them not to judge her carelessly by appearance.
It meant that if someone failed to read the atmosphere and made a thoughtless joke, their head would go flying.
Even after hearing that warning, Beon Saeng’s mouth itched.
He desperately wanted to say, “You are truly beautiful.”
“You two wait outside. Do not let anyone enter.”
“Yes.”
Once the two men left and they were alone, the woman finally spoke.
“So it really is you.”
Her voice trembled.
She took out the dagger Baek Socheon had given Beon Saeng to deliver.
“Even after receiving this, I could hardly believe it. I wondered whether it could truly be you. You have not changed at all.”
“I have.”
“Well, I suppose so. Who else but you would dare order me to come and go as you please?”
“Sit down!”
“Stop shouting. I’ll sit. What choice does a powerless woman like me have? If you tell me to come, I must come. If you tell me to sit, I must sit.”
After sitting down, the woman removed her bamboo hat.
The surroundings seemed to brighten the instant her face was revealed.
She was truly beautiful.
No one would have found it strange if she had said, “The title of the greatest beauty under heaven belongs only to one’s youth. These days, there are so many younger and more beautiful women.”
Had she been merely beautiful, that would have been the extent of it.
But she possessed another kind of charm as well.
Her beauty did not arise solely from femininity.
Something seemingly incompatible with it—strength—formed one of its pillars.
Her appearance was delicate and graceful, yet she gave the impression that even if she were thrown into hell, she would return alive.
Beauty and strength blended exquisitely within her, granting her a unique charm.
She therefore seemed powerful in martial arts and possessed an authority that made it impossible to treat her lightly.
That impression was entirely accurate.
She was Cheongeuk, the current Assassin King and leader of the Central Plains’ Greatest Assassin Alliance, commonly known as the Assassin Alliance.
Because people naturally assumed the Assassin King would be a man, and because Cheongeuk was also a masculine name, most believed that the current Assassin King was male.
But the present Assassin King was a woman.
It was an open secret known only to the upper ranks of the assassin organizations.
“Why are you so angry?”
“I waited two whole days.”
“That is because you summoned me to some remote corner of Zhejiang Province. Only someone like me could arrive in two days. To put it bluntly, you are no longer... the Pavilion Master, are you?”
The Secret Pavilion was mentioned in her words.
“I also heard you were demoted from squad leader of the Iron Sword Corps.”
She knew Baek Socheon’s recent circumstances well.
“I am not in the mood for jokes, so stop there.”
“Why did you summon me?”
Baek Socheon rose and approached her.
He came to a stop directly in front of her and silently stared at her for a moment.
Smack!
Baek Socheon struck her cheek without restraint.
Her head snapped to the side before slowly turning back toward him.
A vivid handprint reddened her face, which now contained an indescribable mixture of emotions.
She glared at Baek Socheon and shouted,
“Have you lost your mind?”
At that moment—
A sharp hiss cut through the air.
Before anyone noticed their arrival, four iron swords were already pointed at Baek Socheon’s neck.
Four figures had released their profound concealment techniques and appeared around him—three men and one woman.
They were Cheongeuk’s guardian killing stars, the Four Heavenly Killers.
They existed solely to protect the leader of the Assassin Alliance and possessed supreme concealment arts and peak martial skill.
Despite four swords being aimed at his neck, Baek Socheon showed no fear.
Instead, he shouted at them.
“You bastards! Put those swords away! How dare you point blades at my neck and bring me bad luck?”
The guardian killing stars released killing intent as they awaited Cheongeuk’s command.
They looked ready to sever his neck at any moment.
Cheongeuk ordered them,
“Withdraw.”
The instant the command fell, they vanished like ghosts, just as they had appeared.
Cheongeuk glared at Baek Socheon and demanded,
“Give me a proper reason for hitting me. Otherwise, you will die by my hand today.”
Baek Socheon roared back,
“You damned bitch! Are you the one who wants to die? I warned you, didn’t I? Even if you make your living as an assassin, you are never to kill children or people who do not know martial arts!”
For a moment, she looked flustered by his accusation.
“We have never killed them.”
“Can you guarantee that? Can you say the same for every assassin organization under you?”
“...”
She was rendered speechless.
How many assassin organizations belonged to the Assassin Alliance?
“You abandoned your promise just because I lost my internal energy? Is that it?”
“I said no, you damned bastard! Stop cornering me and let me think!”
When she exploded in anger, Baek Socheon finally fell silent for a moment.
She rubbed her stinging cheek.
“Ah, this is infuriating. You hit me? With that empty, reed-like body of yours?”
Apparently finding the situation too absurd to comprehend, she repeated the words several times.
It was something that could never have happened had the man before her been anyone other than Baek Socheon.
“You were struck because you deserved it, not because you were weak.”
“Have you forgotten who I am? I am the Assassin King.”
“Yes. I was the one who put you in that position.”
Cheongeuk’s eyes wavered for a moment.
She soon replied sharply,
“That is also the only reason your neck is still attached to your body.”
Silence descended.
After a while, she regained her composure and returned to her initially calm tone.
“Which organization violated the Assassin Laws?”
The Assassin Laws were inviolable rules established within the Assassin Alliance.
The first article stated that children and those who had never learned martial arts must never be killed.
“The Seven Swords Society.”
Her expression stiffened slightly.
‘Of all places.’
It was one of the most troublesome assassin organizations within the Assassin Alliance.
Since its members were assassins, absolute loyalty like that shown within the Martial Alliance could not be expected.
The alliance had to be led through pressure, intimidation, and occasionally appeasement.
“Do you also know who commissioned the killings?”
“The Shinhwa Sect.”
“What do you want?”
“Evidence that the Shinhwa Sect commissioned the massacre of Yang Chu’s family.”
“Understood. We will investigate internally and contact you again.”
As she walked toward the exit, she stopped before the door.
“Insult or strike me one more time, and you had better be prepared.”
Rather than apologizing, Baek Socheon warned her in an even harsher tone.
“If something like this happens again, I will beat you like a dog.”
“Hey!”
Unable to endure it, she exploded once more.
Baek Socheon was truly the only person in the world capable of shattering her composure.
In a flash, her hand was already wrapped around his throat.
Her movement technique had surpassed the peak and reached the transcendent realm.
“Do you truly wish to die? Will you only be satisfied after dying by my hand?”
Then she saw it.
Baek Socheon was not afraid in the slightest.
She loosened her fingers.
After releasing him, she pulled her bamboo hat low over her face and walked outside.
“I won’t kill you. I’ll keep watching you live miserably.”
Once she was gone, Baek Socheon let out a relieved sigh.
“Whew. I nearly died.”
***
A boat drifted along the gentle current.
The Four Heavenly Killers, having released their concealment techniques, stood at the bow and stern.
Cheongeuk sat in the middle drinking liquor.
She merely stared at the moon reflected in her cup, while the Four Heavenly Killers carefully watched her mood.
The cheek Baek Socheon had struck had swollen.
Yet none of them dared mention the incident first.
“Have a drink.”
At her words, Dongseong, the leader of the Four Heavenly Killers who stood at the bow, respectfully accepted the cup.
“Thank you.”
“You are curious about Baek Socheon, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
Cheongeuk had been struck across the face and simply let it pass?
They knew better than anyone what kind of woman she was.
Given her pride, it should have been absolutely impossible.
As her guards, they believed they needed to know about Baek Socheon, but none had dared ask.
Cheongeuk raised the subject first.
“Just what kind of man is he?”
Cheongeuk idly turned the empty cup in her fingers.
“How long has it been since you became my guardian killing stars?”
“Five years. To be precise, five years and four months.”
It was also the length of time she had served as the Assassin King.
“When the previous Assassin King died, all of the guardian killing stars who protected him died as well.”
Thus, when Cheongeuk became the new Assassin King, these Four Heavenly Killers were newly established alongside her.
“You would not know because you were secluded in training at the time, but...”
A shocking truth that had remained buried as the alliance’s highest secret now emerged from Cheongeuk’s lips.
“The person who killed the previous Assassin King was Baek Socheon.”
“...!”
“He killed every one of them alone. Ninety-seven assassins of the Assassin Alliance died alongside the Assassin King that day.”
Not only Dongseong but the other three guardian killing stars were stunned.
“I cannot believe it.”
There had been the previous Assassin King, the former Four Heavenly Killers, and surely only the finest assassins would have been stationed around the Assassin King.
“You are right. It is unbelievable. But you may believe it. I saw it with my own eyes.”
Cheongeuk raised her hand.
It was trembling faintly.
“Look. Even now, my hand still shakes whenever I remember that day.”
“Why did he attack us?”
“Because we kept trying to kill him. The Cheukcheon Alliance placed a contract worth three million taels on his head.”
“Three million taels!”
“Yes. The largest contract in the history of the Assassin Alliance.”
In the end, Baek Socheon became enraged by the relentless assassination attempts and attacked the Assassin Alliance after receiving authorization from its leader.
It had happened five years ago, when Baek Socheon stood at the very top of the Martial Rankings.
“I understand that he has now lost his internal energy.”
“Yes. He barely survived. His body now contains not even a trace of internal energy. Yet he still summoned me all the way to Zhejiang Province without hesitation and even struck me across the face. What do you think?”
“Is he not insane? Or perhaps mad with a desire to die. No, it must be both. He is merely unable to forget his former glory.”
“Perhaps.”
She poured herself another cup and drank.
“If you give the order even now...”
“Yes, Baek Socheon could be killed.”
“Then why are you restraining yourself?”
“No matter how rootless an assassin bitch I may be, should I kill the man who spared my life and placed me on the Assassin King’s throne merely because he struck me once?”
Baek Socheon must have known that she could not kill him.
That was what made him terrifying.
He understood his opponents with perfect accuracy.
“When he recognized me, the successor of the previous Assassin King, as the new Assassin King, he demanded one promise. We were never to accept contracts targeting children or people who had never learned martial arts. I swore upon my name and the honor of an assassin that I would obey. If it is true that we broke that promise... then receiving one slap and enduring a few insults still leaves us with the better end of the bargain.”
She set down her cup.
“Take us to the Seven Swords Society.”