Chapter 19: Cheon Geuk (2)
As soon as Beon Saeng returned from running the errand, he came to find Baek Socheon together with Lim Chung.
“I delivered the dagger to the Nine Dragons Inn just like you instructed. The innkeeper looked pretty ordinary, though. Who is it?”
“To someone who doesn’t know, the owner of an inn. To someone who does, a terrifying person.”
Beon Saeng glanced at Lim Chung. He wondered whether he had learned anything while he was away, but apparently not.
“If you delivered it properly, the most terrifying person in the Martial World will come within a few days. Be careful when you receive them.”
Just what kind of person earned the description of the most terrifying in the Martial World?
“Who is it?”
“If you judge by appearances alone, even ten lives wouldn’t be enough. I’ve warned you.”
Leaving only those words behind, Baek Socheon returned to his room.
“He wasn’t joking, was he?”
“No. Looks like someone truly terrifying is coming.”
“Branch Leader, do you know what that means? I went around humming a tune while delivering a message to summon the most terrifying person in the Martial World. Good grief! Is it really okay to dump an errand like that on a mere squad leader from the countryside? If you’re going to make me do something that dangerous, shouldn’t you at least tell me first?”
“I would’ve told you. No, I probably wouldn’t have made you do something that dangerous in the first place.”
“I want to go back to the old days. Back to when it was just you and me living peacefully together, Branch Leader.”
“Don’t you think it’s already too late?”
Despite the contents of their conversation, both of them wore bright expressions. Ever since meeting Baek Socheon, there hadn’t been a single day when their hearts had truly been at peace, but somehow this constant tension wasn’t unpleasant.
If one day Baek Socheon left and everything returned to how it used to be…
Would that life really still deserve to be called ‘peaceful’?
“Still, the most terrifying person in the Martial World? Who could it possibly be?”
When curiosity like this tempted a person, how could anyone dislike it?
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 was hidden behind a bamboo hat with a veil, but her figure alone was so alluring and seductive that anyone who saw her would be left speechless.
Only then did Lim Chung and Beon Saeng understand why Baek Socheon had warned them not to judge by appearances. If they failed to read the atmosphere and casually cracked a joke, their heads would roll.
Even after hearing that warning, Beon Saeng still found his mouth itching. He wanted to say just one thing.
You are truly beautiful.
“You two wait outside. Don’t let anyone come in.”
“Yes.”
Once the two of them left and they were alone, the woman finally spoke.
“So it really was you.”
Her voice trembled.
She took out a dagger.
It was the very dagger Baek Socheon had given Beon Saeng to deliver.
“Even after receiving this, I still couldn’t quite believe it. I kept wondering… could it really be you? You haven’t changed at all.”
“Sit.”
“Heh. Then again, if it weren’t you, who would dare order me around?”
“Sit down!”
“Stop shouting already. I’ll sit. What choice does a helpless woman have? If you tell me to come, I come. If you tell me to sit, I sit.”
After sitting down, she removed her bamboo hat.
The moment her face was revealed, it seemed as though the surroundings brightened.
She was truly beautiful.
Even if she said, “The title of the greatest beauty under the heavens was only temporary. There are so many younger, more beautiful juniors these days,” her appearance would make the statement sound perfectly natural.
If she had merely been beautiful, that alone would have been the end of it.
But she possessed one more captivating quality.
Her beauty did not stem solely from femininity.
Something seemingly incompatible—strength—formed another pillar of her beauty. Her appearance was delicate and graceful, yet she gave the impression that even if someone threw her into hell, she would survive and return alive. That exquisite blend of beauty and strength granted her a uniquely captivating charm.
She also looked like someone whose martial arts would be formidable, someone who commanded an authority that made it impossible to treat her lightly.
That impression was entirely correct.
She was none other than Cheon Geuk, the Assassin King of the current era and the Alliance Leader of the Central Plains’ Number One Assassin Alliance, commonly known as the Assassin Alliance.
People naturally assumed the Assassin King was a man, and since the name Cheon Geuk also sounded masculine, everyone believed the Assassin King to be male.
But the Assassin King of the current era was a woman.
An open secret known only to the upper ranks of the assassin organisations.
“Why are you so angry?”
“I had to wait two whole days.”
“Well, that’s because you summoned me to this remote corner of Zhejiang Province. I only made it here in two days because it’s me. Besides… you’re not the Deputy Pavilion Master anymore, are you?”
She mentioned the Secret Pavilion.
“And I heard you’ve even been demoted from Third Squad Leader of the First Unit of the Iron Sword Corps.”
She was well informed about Baek Socheon’s current circumstances.
“I’m not in the mood for jokes, so that’s enough.”
“Why did you call me?”
Baek Socheon rose from his seat and walked over to her.
He stopped right in front of her and quietly stared for a moment.
Smack!
Baek Socheon mercilessly slapped her across the face.
Her head slowly turned back toward him.
Her reddened cheek bore the imprint of his hand, and her face was filled with emotions that words could not describe.
She glared at Baek Socheon and shouted,
“Have you lost your mind?”
At that instant!
Whoosh!
The sound of wind cut through the air.
Before anyone knew it, four iron swords were pointed at Baek Socheon’s neck.
Four people had appeared after emerging from perfect concealment, surrounding him.
Three men and one woman.
They were the Four Heavenly Killers, Cheon Geuk’s Guardian Killing Stars.
They existed solely to protect the leader of the Assassin Alliance, masters who possessed supreme concealment techniques and peerless martial arts.
Even with four swords aimed at his throat, Baek Socheon showed no fear whatsoever.
Instead, he shouted at them.
“You bastards! Put your swords away! Who the hell gave you the nerve to point your swords at my neck?”
The Guardian Killing Stars released killing intent as they waited for Cheon Geuk’s command.
They looked ready to sever his head at any moment.
Cheon Geuk spoke.
“Stand down.”
The moment the order was given, they vanished like ghosts, just as mysteriously as they had appeared.
Still glaring at Baek Socheon, Cheon Geuk asked,
“You’d better give me a proper reason for hitting me. Otherwise, you’re dying by my hand today.”
Baek Socheon immediately roared back.
“You damned bitch! You want to die? Didn’t I warn you? Even if you make your living as assassins, never kill children or people who don’t know martial arts!”
His words caught her completely off guard.
“We’ve never killed them.”
“Can you swear to that? Every assassin organisation under your command?”
“……”
She was left speechless.
How many assassin organisations belonged to the Assassin Alliance?
“You… just because I’ve lost my Internal Energy, are you throwing away our promise? Is that it?”
“No! You damned bastard! Stop cornering me! At least give me time to think!”
When she exploded in anger, Baek Socheon finally fell silent.
She rubbed her burning cheek.
“Ah, this is really infuriating. You actually hit me? With that hollow scarecrow of a body?”
She repeated the words several times, unable to believe it.
If it hadn’t been Baek Socheon, such a thing could never have happened.
“You deserved to be hit. You weren’t hit because you were weak.”
“Did you forget who I am? I’m the Assassin King.”
“Yes. I’m the one who put you in that seat.”
For an instant, Cheon Geuk’s eyes wavered.
Then she snapped back fiercely.
“That’s also the only reason your head is still attached to your shoulders.”
Silence filled the room.
A moment later, she regained both her composure and the calm tone she had at the beginning.
“Where was it? Where was the Code of Assassins broken?”
The Code of Assassins was an absolute law within the Assassin Alliance.
Its very first article was simple.
Never kill children or those who had never learned martial arts.
“The Seven Swords Society.”
For a brief moment, her expression stiffened.
‘Of all places.’
Among the organisations within the Assassin Alliance, that one was particularly troublesome.
Since its members were assassins, they did not display the absolute loyalty seen in organisations like the Martial Alliance.
Sometimes she had to pressure them, sometimes intimidate them, and at other times coax them.
That was how the Alliance had to be managed.
“Do you know who commissioned it?”
“The Divine Transformation Gang.”
“What is it you want?”
“Proof that the Divine Transformation Gang commissioned the murder of Liang Qiu’s family.”
“Understood. I’ll investigate it personally and contact you again.”
She walked toward the door before stopping.
“If you swear at me and hit me one more time, you’d better be prepared.”
Instead of apologising, Baek Socheon warned her in an even harsher tone.
“If something like this happens one more time, you’ll get beaten like a dog.”
“Hey!”
Unable to endure it any longer, she shouted again.
Truly, Baek Socheon was the only person in the world capable of shattering her composure.
In the blink of an eye, she was already gripping Baek Socheon’s throat.
Her movement technique had long surpassed the peak realm.
“You really want to die? Will I only be satisfied after killing you with my own hands?”
Then she saw it.
Baek Socheon wasn’t afraid at all.
She slowly 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 this miserable life.”
Once she was gone, Baek Socheon let out a sigh of relief.
“Whew… I almost died.”
A lone boat drifted gently along the calm water.
The Four Heavenly Killers, no longer concealed, stood at the bow and stern.
Cheon Geuk sat in the middle, drinking alone.
She stared silently at the moon reflected in her wine cup while the Four Heavenly Killers cautiously watched her mood.
The cheek Baek Socheon had slapped was swollen.
Yet no one dared mention it first.
“Have a drink.”
At her words, Dongseong, the leader of the Four Heavenly Killers standing at the bow, respectfully accepted the cup.
“Thank you.”
“You’re curious about Baek Socheon, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
Cheon Geuk had been slapped and simply let it pass?
No one knew better than they did what kind of person she was.
With her pride, such a thing should have been absolutely impossible.
As those responsible for protecting her, they believed they needed to know about Baek Socheon, but none of them dared ask.
Instead, Cheon Geuk brought it up herself.
“What kind of man is he?”
As she idly turned her empty wine cup in her fingers, she spoke.
“How long has it been since you became my Guardian Killing Stars?”
“Five years. Exactly five years and four months.”
It was also the length of time she had been the Assassin King.
“When the previous Assassin King died, the Guardian Killing Stars who protected him all died alongside him.”
Thus, together with Cheon Geuk’s ascension as the new Assassin King, these Four Heavenly Killers had also been newly appointed.
“You wouldn’t know because you were still training in seclusion back then…”
From Cheon Geuk’s lips came a shocking truth that had remained one of the Alliance’s highest secrets.
“The one who killed the previous Assassin King… was Baek Socheon.”
“…!”
“He killed them all by himself. That day, ninety-seven assassins of the Assassin Alliance died together with the Assassin King.”
Not only Dongseong, but the other three Guardian Killing Stars were equally horrified.
“I can’t believe it.”
The previous Assassin King.
The previous Four Heavenly Killers.
And countless elite assassins surrounding the Assassin King.
“That’s right. It’s unbelievable. But you can believe it. Because I saw it with my own eyes.”
Cheon Geuk raised her hand.
It was trembling uncontrollably.
“Look. Even now, just remembering that day makes my hand shake like this.”
“Why did he attack us?”
“Because we kept trying to kill him over and over. The Black Heaven Alliance placed a commission worth three million taels.”
“Three million taels!”
“Yes. The highest bounty in the history of the Assassin Alliance.”
Eventually, enraged by the endless assassination attempts, Baek Socheon obtained the Alliance Leader’s approval and attacked the Assassin Alliance.
It had happened five years ago, back when Baek Socheon stood at the very top of the Martial World Rankings.
“I’ve heard he has now lost his Internal Energy.”
“Yes. He barely survived. Right now, he doesn’t even possess a trace of Internal Energy. Yet he’s still the kind of man who summons me all the way to Zhejiang and even slaps me across the face. What do you think?”
“Isn’t he insane? Either he has a death wish, or he’s completely mad. No… probably both. He’s just a fool who still can’t let go of his former glory.”
“Perhaps.”
She poured herself another drink.
“If you would only give the order now…”
“Yes, we could kill Baek Socheon.”
“Then why do you endure it?”
“No matter how lowborn an assassin I may be, should I kill the man who spared my life and made me the Assassin King just because he slapped me once?”
Baek Socheon had known.
He knew she could not kill him.
That was what made him frightening.
He understood people with absolute precision.
“When he acknowledged me, the successor of the previous Assassin King, as the new Assassin King, he asked me for one promise. Never accept commissions to kill children or those who had never learned martial arts. I swore on my own name and the honour of an assassin that I would keep that promise. If it turns out we truly broke that promise… then taking one slap and a few curses is a bargain.”
Setting down her final cup, she said,
“Let’s go to the Seven Swords Society.”
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