Chapter 118 - Opening the Eyes (5)

But the only reason he had managed to deflect Dong Bongsu's attack was that Dong Bongsu had announced the move's name.

"The Forty-Two Flying Swallow Swords? Ji Hu, the Flying Swallow Sword of Zhejiang?"

No, that couldn't be right.

The assassin had to dismiss the thought as soon as it occurred to him. He had never met Ji Hu, the Flying Swallow Sword of Zhejiang, but the man could not have been this young.

Was this his disciple, then?

But he was too old for that. Ji Hu had died in the Great Anhui Massacre, when he himself had been only in his early thirties.

Then perhaps a junior martial brother, or a martial nephew?

No, no. That wasn't possible either.

Ji Hu had been entirely on his own.

The story of how he had happened upon a secret manual of the Forty-Two Flying Swallow Swords in a cave and mastered it alone was fairly well known throughout Murim, as was his arrogant obstinacy.

Then who in the world was this man...?

But his deductions went no further.

THUD-THUD-THUD!

"Wrong guess."

While executing Descending Swallow, Drawing the Branch with both hands, Dong Bongsu was performing another move with his right foot. That move, Drunken Tiger Strikes the Ghost, was caving in the assassin's face.

It belonged to Gang Gang-eol, the Soul-Chasing Leg.

Even as he died, the assassin never resolved his original question. Instead, he only found himself with more.

The technique that killed him belonged to Gang Gang-eol, the Soul-Chasing Leg, who had nothing whatsoever to do with Ji Hu. Come to think of it, Left Turn, Slaying the Profound, which he had seen earlier, was the signature sword technique of Noe Gu, the Demon-Catching Savage Sword. And the movements before that had all been other people's ultimate techniques.

How in the world?

But he would never learn the answers.

RIP!

Dong Bongsu tore a fistful of hair from the assassin's corpse as it toppled backward. Without a moment's hesitation, he spun around and scattered the hair toward the assassin who had thrown a blade at him from behind.

The hairs had already stiffened as they flew toward their target, clustered into the shape of a butterfly.

"Ghk...!"

The assassin behind him failed to dodge a single strand and departed this life looking like a hedgehog.

This move was Soul-Chasing Flying Butterfly.

Of the Tang Family...

"Three eliminated. Two left?"

Three of the five had been put out of action in an instant.

The remaining assassins emerged from hiding.

They began circling Dong Bongsu, maintaining a straight line with him between them. No doubt they were shocked to find him even stronger than they had expected.

Three first-class assassins had died within a few breaths, without ever getting a proper chance to fight back.

But Dong Bongsu seemed uninterested in them. He was looking far down the hill. The children were still hanging around the stone cairn or catching frogs by the stream, laughing as they swallowed or burst the eggs the frogs had laid.

Amid it all, Hee-ah was still watching the entire battle between Dong Bongsu and the assassins without so much as a blink.

Baring his white teeth, Dong Bongsu murmured,

"You little rascal. I thought you were a baby elephant, but you're a tiger cub."

If they met again someday, the child would be a beast flashing tiger fangs instead of ivory tusks.

Dong Bongsu began to move again. No, to be precise, it was his surroundings that began moving.

Stones, branches, and leaves scattered around the hill rose into the air.

"T-telekinesis...!"

The assassins, who had been circling him and watching his every move, stopped in their tracks. They were utterly stunned. His use of telekinesis was proof that Dong Bongsu had reached a supreme realm they could never even dream of. It was not a skill one could attain or perform merely by learning brilliant moves or peerless martial arts.

Enlightenment forever beyond the understanding of those who had not attained it, the manipulation of True Qi, the potency of one's Internal Energy...

Every aspect of one's martial attainment had to reach a level beyond their imagination before the technique became possible. That was telekinesis.

And what was more!

The telekinesis unfolding before them was not lifting and moving a single object. Dozens, hundreds of objects were floating and revolving in the air.

Had they known this was the opponent they would face, they would never have come!

No wonder the commission paid more than usual...!

Just then, Dong Bongsu's indifferent voice reached their ears, carried on Super True Qi Waves.

"It's Flying Butterfly Qigong."

"...!"

The assassins were every bit as shocked as when they had recognized the telekinesis.

For Flying Butterfly Qigong was none other than Tang Wu's signature ultimate technique!

It was not a Tang Family technique. Soul-Chasing Flying Butterfly belonged to the Tang Family, but Flying Butterfly Qigong was Tang Wu's own divine telekinetic art. In other words, it was an exclusive qigong that only Tang Wu could use, even within the Tang Family.

But hadn't Tang Wu already met his end in the Great Anhui Massacre...? And weren't all the techniques this man had used earlier the signature ultimate techniques of masters who had died in that massacre...?

Who was he...?

THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD!

The instant the assassins' eyes widened to the size of saucers, the stones and other objects struck their bodies in unison. They could not even attempt to evade them. Every dancing butterfly of stone, branch, and leaf found its mark.

"J-just..."

"Who... are you...?"

Even after being turned into hedgehogs, the two assassins split their final, questioning words between them. The blood pouring from their bodies was an afterthought. Was that because they would soon have no blood left to spill anyway?

But Dong Bongsu had no interest whatsoever in their final lines. Once an extra died, that was it. Delivering dialogue was not their role.

An extra only needed to play an extra's part. Once the take was over, all that remained was to exit quietly.

"Not bad."

Dong Bongsu's brief remark marked the end of the battle.

This had been a tastier, more nourishing "delivery meal" than expected. Perhaps it was all the better because he had secured it after shaking off Ha Seonhyang's tiresome pursuit. He had also confirmed that the martial arts he had reinterpreted in his own way were, without the slightest discrepancy, the very arts he had obtained from those people back then.

Savoring a fullness and satisfaction he had not felt in some time, he flicked his tongue over his lips and looked down the hill.

Hee-ah was still looking up at him. The child's mouth hung wide open, apparently too shocked to remember to close it.

A light breeze lifted Dong Bongsu's snow-white fringe, revealing one of his emotionless eyes once more.

He raised his free hand and gently placed his index finger against his lips.

A cross, like the character for ten.

Hee-ah had never learned to read, but instinctively understood what it meant. At once, the child raised a tiny finger and placed it against lips that held a dream, making the same cross.

Then those lips rounded.

Dong Bongsu could not hear the sound, but he could read it.

"Shh."

Dong Bongsu answered with a flash of white teeth.

Then he vanished with the wind.

● ● ●

Aggro.

In a game, once a player poses a certain level of threat to monsters or attacks them enough, the monsters attack the player. This is commonly called drawing aggro.

New Murim Online was not a real game, so its inhabitants were not divided into aggressive mobs—monsters that automatically attacked whenever a player approached within a certain range—and passive mobs, which never attacked first unless the player attacked them. Thus, unless you specifically did something to draw aggro, you would not be attacked first. Wars or conflicts could occasionally turn every NPC into an aggressive mob automatically, but such events only happened from time to time.

Yet New Murim Online was also a place where one could buy that sort of "event aggro" with money.

Just like food delivery in the other world.

Food delivery that you could send not only to yourself, of course, but to someone else as well.

TAP.

Yeon Youngha, who had been struggling with noodles and shredded chicken using her clumsy chopsticks, set the chopsticks down on the table.

Only then did Old Uncle quietly rise, perhaps sensing something amiss himself. His hand was already inside his robe.

"Sit down, Old Uncle. They're mine."

"..."

"They're a present for me. That man who recognized me must have sent them."

"... Tomorrow is the Awakening of Insects. If someone bold enough to target you like this were to inform the Murim Alliance of your presence, miss..."

"He wouldn't."

Yeon Youngha was categorical.

Five crude killing intents had pushed their way through the overflowing madness to grate on her nerves. They were a gift from him.

Of that she was certain.

Was this a return gesture for her initial greeting? A gift was a gift, though she could not be certain whether it was reciprocation or meant something else. Well, it would be easier simply to think of it as a present and leave it at that.

What did it matter?

It was a gift from the only man in the Central Plains with whom she could connect.

"I thought he had no feelings, but he's more romantic than I expected. Hehe."

With a light laugh, she lifted the entire bowl of shredded chicken noodles and tipped its contents straight into her mouth.

"Munch, munch. I have to hold back for the next few days, so it was going to be boring. What perfect timing. Much obliged."

Chopsticks? No need.

Couldn't she simply swallow it all?

Yeon Youngha rose and left the inn.

The bustling madness of the busy streets lifted her spirits.

"Ah, this is nice! But in a few days, there really will be a day when I can open my eyes wide, won't there?"

"..."

"Well, I think that man alone would be enough, but I still can't quite relax. Hehe. Now! Shall we go? Into the heart of these mad Central Plains."

Yeon Youngha stretched luxuriously, then headed toward Mount Clear Dawn, where the Murim Alliance stood. Old Uncle followed directly behind her. Behind him followed five killing intents.

And filling the emptiness in their wake came the sound of a frog somewhere.

CROAK, CROAK.

It was the day before the Awakening of Insects.

============================ Author's Afterword========================================================================================================================================================================================================

Ah, I've been so busy moving and everything that I'm posting this without having properly revised it.

If you spot any problems, please report them in the comments right away. I'll start fixing them as soon as I'm done with work.

I'm sorry. (_ _)