“They must have come prepared.”
At Ju Soa’s words, Chief Seong nodded.
Impersonating Mount Hua, when not even a trace of it remained?
So openly?
It was reasonable to assume they intended to carry out a massacre once they entered.
“We should be careful.”
Ju Soa spoke quietly.
Chief Seong nodded.
“For now, do not go near them. Our priority is to avoid attention.”
“Understood.”
The three of them took a place on the opposite side of the valley entrance.
They sat among the crowd.
Unnoticed.
Ordinary.
Wonyang quietly surveyed the surroundings.
That was when it happened.
Ruuumble—!
The ground shook.
People began murmuring.
The pillar of light grew brighter.
Intensely.
So bright it was blinding.
Someone shouted.
“The secret realm is opening!”
The pillar of light spread outward.
In a circle.
A massive gate of light appeared.
The entrance to the secret realm.
People rose. Drew swords. Drew blades.
Then began rushing toward it all at once.
“We’re going.”
Chief Seong stood.
“Follow me.”
The three moved among the crowd.
They ran toward the gate of light.
Wonyang drew in a deep breath.
She was trembling.
But she was not afraid.
For Unhwi.
She would definitely obtain something inside.
And she desperately hoped it would be spiritual medicine.
She clenched her fist.
The gate of light drew closer.
The three leapt into the radiance.
***
Around the time the three entered the secret realm, a horse arrived at the inn where Unhwi was staying.
It was the Red Demon, master of Red Spirit Court.
A messenger pigeon had come from Chief Seong.
The message had been short.
Please look after the Blood Heaven Arbiter.
So he had come.
The Red Demon entered the inn and went straight up to the second floor.
The room at the end of the corridor.
He knocked.
“Come in.”
A voice came from inside.
He opened the door.
Unhwi was sitting on the bed.
A pale face.
Wounds everywhere.
He looked gravely injured.
But his eyes were clear.
“You came.”
“Yes, Blood Heaven Arbiter. I came after receiving word from Chief Seong... no, Protector Seong.”
Unhwi gave a faint laugh.
“You may speak comfortably, Master Red.”
“...How could I? Even if no one is watching, you are my benefactor, and you also hold your position within the Blood Heaven Sect.”
Unhwi let it pass.
Everyone had their own way of doing things.
“First, I apologize.”
“...Pardon? For what?”
“It has not been long since we parted at Yellow Sand Pass, yet I called you here again.”
“Mm.”
“No matter how injured I may be, it is improper to summon the head of an organization back and forth like this. I will repay this kindness later.”
At that, the Red Demon waved his hands instead.
“How could you call this kindness? Blood Heaven Arbiter, I have received far more from you. Please do not say such things.”
Unhwi nodded.
That was enough on the subject.
More importantly—
“What did you do about Red Spirit Court?”
“I left it to the vice master. There should be no issue for the time being.”
Unhwi looked at him.
“Please sit for now.”
“Pardon?”
“You need not stand guard outside. Stay here.”
The Red Demon hesitated briefly.
Then he took a seat in one corner of the room.
Night deepened.
The midnight hour.
All of Yellow Sand Pass, and the entire inn, sank into stillness.
Inside the room, Unhwi sat with his eyes closed, circulating his energy, while the Red Demon guarded him from the corner.
That was when it happened.
Slowly, Unhwi opened his eyes.
“They’re here.”
The Red Demon’s eyes flashed.
He had sensed them almost at the same time as Unhwi.
Presences around the inn.
One, two, three...
Ten in total.
No fewer than ten presences surrounded the inn.
They were hiding their presence.
And they were highly skilled at it.
The Red Demon slowly rose.
“Assassins.”
Unhwi also rose slowly.
The Red Demon tried to stop him.
“Please rest. I can handle them alone.”
Unhwi shook his head.
“Let us do it together.”
“...Pardon?”
“As you said, I do hold a certain position. It would be strange for me to merely watch.”
Unhwi walked toward the door.
“I can move, so let us go together.”
Scratching his head, the Red Demon followed.
They arrived on the first floor.
The innkeeper was already unconscious.
It seemed they had not killed him.
Unhwi opened the inn door.
He stepped outside.
Moonlight poured down.
Ten men stood in the yard.
Black masks.
Black clothes.
Assassins.
But they were different from ordinary assassins.
Their energy was different.
Gloomy.
Dark, cold, carrying the scent of death.
Unhwi stopped.
He looked at the assassins.
More precisely, he looked at their stances.
How they stood.
How they held their swords.
The positions of their feet.
The angles of their shoulders.
Unhwi’s eyes narrowed.
“Well, now...”
He murmured.
“It has been a long time.”
The Red Demon asked, “Do you know them?”
“I do.”
Unhwi answered calmly.
“The Shadow-Extinguishing Assassin Gate.”
“The Shadow-Extinguishing Assassin Gate?”
“An assassin sect destroyed two hundred years ago. As an assassin sect, they specialized in killing, and they were especially admired among assassins for their ability to conceal their energy.”
“If it was destroyed two hundred years ago... how are they here now...?”
“Descendants must have survived. Or only their martial arts were passed down.”
Of course, either possibility made no difference.
The lead assassin opened his mouth.
“Are you the Blood Heaven Arbiter?”
His voice was low.
“You came without even knowing my face?”
At Unhwi’s words, the assassin chuckled.
“Seems you are. Then die.”
No more conversation was needed.
All ten moved at once.
Black shadows poured toward Unhwi.
Unhwi moved.
One step forward.
The first assassin’s sword aimed for Unhwi’s neck.
Fast and precise.
Unhwi’s hand moved.
He caught the sword.
Barehanded.
“...Hup...!”
The assassin’s eyes widened.
The sword would not move.
More than that, the energy flowing into him made his entire arm go numb.
Unhwi pulled the sword, and the assassin’s body was dragged toward him.
Unhwi’s other hand stabbed into the assassin’s chest.
Puk—!
His fingers pierced through the ribs.
They went through the heart.
The assassin collapsed.
The second.
A sword came from the side.
Unhwi twisted his body.
The sword grazed past.
Counterattack.
His knife-hand cut across the assassin’s throat.
Slice.
Blood sprayed.
The assassin fell.
The third.
Behind him.
Unhwi did not turn around.
He thrust his elbow backward.
It struck the assassin’s solar plexus.
The assassin flew back, vomiting blood.
He slammed into the wall.
And did not move again.
The Red Demon moved as well.
The fourth assassin aimed for Unhwi’s flank.
The Red Demon’s sword blocked it.
Claaang—!
The assassin looked at the Red Demon.
The Red Demon pressed forward.
He swung his sword.
The assassin’s shoulder was cut.
Shhk.
And in the next instant—
His sword swung again.
Slice.
The assassin’s head soared into the air.
The body collapsed.
The fifth.
The Red Demon charged.
He stabbed his sword.
The assassin blocked, but sword and all, his heart was pierced.
That assassin fell as well.
Unhwi killed the sixth.
He stabbed a finger into the center of the man’s forehead.
The seventh.
The Red Demon seized the assassin’s sword and took it from him.
With that sword, he cut off the assassin’s head.
The eighth.
The assassin tried to flee.
Unhwi grasped empty air.
The assassin’s body stopped.
Then was dragged backward.
An invisible force.
Object-drawing through the air.
Unhwi’s hand pierced through the assassin’s chest.
The Red Demon faced the ninth.
Swords collided.
Claaang—!
The ninth assassin’s sword shattered in midair the moment it struck the Red Demon’s blade.
The instant his eyes widened, his head was already flying into the sky.
The last.
The tenth.
He was an assassin who had reached the Heaven-Human realm.
The Red Demon turned his head.
A Manifestation of the Boundless master unleashed his energy.
That was when it happened.
Puk.
Unhwi’s finger sank into the side of the assassin’s head.
He had lost track of Unhwi while focusing on the Red Demon.
The assassin’s eyes went slack, and he crumpled to the ground.
It was over.
Ten corpses lay scattered across the yard.
Moonlight poured over them.
Blood flowed, forming puddles.
Unhwi shook the blood from his hand.
Then turned.
He looked at the Red Demon.
The Red Demon was staring at him with a complicated expression.
“...Are you all right?”
“I am.”
The assassins had been excellent.
But that was all.
With a Manifestation of the Boundless master here, assassins of this level should not even have been able to touch the hem of Unhwi’s robe.
But Unhwi’s movements...
Those were not the movements of a man with grievous injuries.
He had killed people with his fingers.
Caught a sword barehanded.
Grasped empty air and dragged a person toward him.
Was that human?
Was that the strength of a human being?
Looking down at the corpses, Unhwi spoke quietly.
“Interesting.”
“...Pardon?”
“The Shadow-Extinguishing Assassin Gate. Descendants of an assassin sect destroyed two hundred years ago. Who do you think stands behind them?”
It was the essential question.
Who had sent assassins?
And against Unhwi, no less.
They belonged to an assassin sect destroyed two hundred years ago, one that had left not even a trace.
Even the Red Demon, master of Red Spirit Court, who had encountered all kinds of intelligence in the Central Plains, had not known them.
“I am beginning to wonder who has the ability to command the descendants of the Shadow-Extinguishing Assassin Gate.”
The Red Demon spoke firmly.
“I will guard you.”
“...”
“Until you recover, I will remain at your side and guard you.”
Unhwi looked at the Red Demon.
For a long while.
“Good.”
He nodded.
“I leave it to you.”
With that, Unhwi turned.
He was about to enter the inn when he stopped.
He fell into thought.
The timing of the assassins’ arrival.
The timing when Chief Seong, Ju Soa, and Wonyang had left.
And the timing of the Red Demon’s arrival.
There are no coincidences in this world.
If they exist, they are merely inevitabilities that look like coincidences.
Then whose intention was this?
A coincidence too precise.
The one who had created this situation...
Had to be one of two people.
Someone hostile to Unhwi.
Gun Mugeol.
Or Yu Cheong.
If it was Gun Mugeol?
No.
Gun Mugeol did not move this way.
He was subtler.
He looked further ahead.
Direct assassination like this was not his style.
Then was it Yu Cheong?
With Yu Cheong, it was possible.
He was in a position to command the descendants of the Shadow-Extinguishing Assassin Gate.
But.
Such a crude trick?
Yu Cheong was no fool.
He could not possibly believe assassins of this level could kill Unhwi.
Even gravely wounded, ten assassins would not be enough.
Yu Cheong knew that too.
Then why send them?
There had to be another objective.
Unhwi’s eyes narrowed.
What was the purpose of this attack?
His gaze turned to the Red Demon.
The Red Demon was moving to clear away the bodies.
Unhwi spoke.
“Master Red.”
The Red Demon turned back.
“Yes, Blood Heaven Arbiter.”
Unhwi silently gazed at him.
Beneath the moonlight.
Unhwi’s eyes were deep.
“The human heart is a strange thing.”
“...Pardon?”
“Sometimes, what cannot be seen beneath sunlight becomes visible beneath moonlight.”
The Red Demon closed his mouth.
He could not understand what Unhwi meant.
Unhwi continued.
“The opposite is also true. What was visible beneath moonlight may vanish beneath sunlight.”
“...”
“Isn’t that interesting?”
Unhwi gave a faint laugh.
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