Light Novel: Volume 20 Episode 13
Manhwa: N/A
As the Red King was battling against Gu Moon-hye’s attack, he suddenly lifted his head, feeling a chilling sensation. Gu Moon-hye paused momentarily as well.
Even at the height of her madness, she still sensed something amiss.
It was then that the Red King noticed a long thread, like a noose, tightening around him and Gu Moon-hye.
“N, No!”
Swish!
At that moment, a chilling slicing sound resonated, and Pyo-wol shot past them, crashing into the wall.
The leader of the White-Robed Shadow Ghost Squad alternated his gaze between Pyo-wol, Gu Moon-hye, and the Red King.
Pyo-wol was buried in the rubble of the collapsed wall, unable to move. Gu Moon-hye and the Red King just stared at each other.
Then, Gu Moon-hye spoke up,
“Red… King?”
“Have you come to your senses?”
The Red King’s eyes widened.
Gu Moon-hye nodded and said,
“I owe you an apology.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I’ve been lost in delusion for too long. Now, I think I can finally join him. Will he forgive me?”
“He will.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I’m sure he will.”
“Do you think he’ll still find me beautiful, even though I’ve aged and become unattractive?”
“You are beautiful. More than anyone else in this world.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that, even if it’s just empty words.”
“It’s not empty words.”
The Red King shook his head.
Gu Moon-hye smiled.
Trickle!
At that moment, fresh blood flowed from her lips.
Looking up at the sky, she sighed,
“It took too long. Far too long…”
“Lady Gu!”
“I’m sorry, Red King.”
“No. It’s been an honor to serve you till the end.”
Swoosh!
At that moment, a red line appeared on the Red King’s waist, and blood flowed down. It was the same for Gu Moon-hye.
Thud!
Soon, the red lines that appeared on their waists grew thicker and thicker. In the end, their bodies were gruesomely severed in half, collapsing to the ground.
“Lady Gu! Red King!”
The leader of the White-Robed Shadow Ghost Squad rushed over frantically.
However, by the time he arrived, Gu Moon-hye and the Red King had already died, split into two.
“Ah!”
The leader of the White-Robed Shadow Ghost Squad screamed as he held their bodies.
They had died because of him.
Pyo-wol had used his attack to get close to Gu Moon-hye and the Red King and then unleashed all his remaining energy to perform the Snake Qi Thread.
Neither Gu Moon-hye nor the Red King had anticipated Pyo-wol’s ambush. They merely thought he was flung towards them by the leader of the White-Robed Shadow Ghost Squad.
All of this was a picture painted by Pyo-wol.
“Pyo-wol, I won’t let you off the hook!”
Blood dripped from the corners of the White-Robed Shadow Ghost Squad leader’s eyes as they were torn open.
The tears mixed with the blood, becoming bloody tears.
The leader of the White-Robed Shadow Ghost Squad carefully laid the two bodies down, then rose to his feet.
Staggering, he headed towards the wall where Pyo-wol had crashed.
“You, I’ll chew every bit of your flesh…!”
The leader of the White-Robed Shadow Ghost Squad vowed as he cleared the debris of the fallen wall. However, Pyo-wol was nowhere to be found.
In the brief moment when everyone’s attention was on Gu Moon-hye and the Red King, Pyo-wol had escaped.
The leader of the White-Robed Shadow Ghost Squad shouted to his men,
“The bastard’s gone. Find him!”
The White-Robed Shadow Ghost Squad and Asura Vagabonds scattered to search for Pyo-wol, but by then, he had already left Tianyuan Temple.
Dragging his exhausted body, Pyo-wol ran along the mountain path.
He was a complete wreck.
He had sustained serious injuries that would have killed an ordinary person, and his internal energy was completely drained.
He had scraped together every last bit of his energy to create the Snake Qi Thread, which he used to kill Gu Moon-hye and the Red King.
Now, he didn’t even have the strength to gather more energy.
His only remaining option at the moment was to get as far away from Tianyuan Temple as quickly as possible.
So despite his pain and fatigue, he kept running,
The branches and leaves he passed by ruthlessly left scratches on his face and body.
Part of him wanted to stop and meditate to circulate his energy, but he couldn’t.
By now, his enemies must have realized he was gone and would be following after him.
He had no time to rest, no time to ponder.
He was out of breath, and his lungs felt like they were burning. Still, Pyo-wol moved desperately, and then after what seemed like an eternity, his sprint came to an end.
“Huff!”
Pyo-wol gasped for air and looked ahead.
A treacherous cliff stretched out in front of him.
In his frantic escape, he had run into a dead end.
Pyo-wol breathed heavily and looked back.
At that moment, he saw a group emerging from the direction he had come.
Pyo-wol stared at them, still breathing hard.
Leading the group of warriors wearing red robes were two people he knew all too well.
“So Yeowol, Song Cheonwoo!”
They were none other than So Yeowol and Song Cheonwoo.
The two of them were leading the Blood Wraiths.
So Yeowol stepped forward and said,
“Impressive! You never disappoint.”
“Yeowol!”
“To think you would successfully kill Woo Dam-ha, Go Jang-myung, Gu Moon-hye, and the Red King. It’s beyond imagination.”
“Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“That’s right!”
So Yeowol nodded.
There was no point in denying it.
“I always wanted to kill them. Maybe not Go Jang-myung, but I certainly have the power to kill Woo Dam-ha. Yet, I didn’t. Do you know why?”
“Because if you kill them with your own hands, you’d incur the wrath of Go Jang-myung and his followers.”
“Exactly! If I get blood on my hands, I will lose my legitimacy. The warriors of the Kowloon Assassin Guild will never accept me as their leader. That’s why your role was crucial.”
“I thought so.”
“You know everything, don’t you? That’s why I like talking to you. No need for long explanations.”
So Yeowol smiled.
Pyo-wol’s achievements were indeed beyond imagination.
While she thought it might be possible, So Yeowol had not anticipated that Pyo-wol would actually manage to kill both the Go Jang-myung and Gu Moon-hye.
Go Jang-myung, the sect leader, was her father, and Gu Moon-hye was practically like a grandmother to her. But, So Yeowol felt nothing for their deaths.
She had never once considered them as her family. Sure, they were her flesh and blood, but Go Jang-myung had neglected her. Even when she was sold away, he remained indifferent.
And for Gu Moon-hye, not only was she not really her blood relative, but because she was often lost in madness, there were even lesser chances for So Yeowol to form or feel any affection for her.
Their deaths were a boon for So Yeowol, not a matter of sorrow.
“Thanks to you, I’ll become the master of the Kowloon Assassin Guild.”
“Hmph! You’ve lost a significant part of your force. Are you okay with that?”
“Pyo-wol! You really don’t know much. You don’t think the forces in the New Moon Manor were all of the Kowloon Assassin Guild, do you? The true power of the Kowloon Assassin Guild isn’t here. Most of it is scattered in Saibei. Of course, it won’t be easy to unite them, but the justification is with me. I am the direct descendant of the sect leader– the rightful successor.”
“Are you the only child?”
“I have one more, a half-brother who’s currently leading the Phantom Fleet.”
“Do you think he’ll just sit idly by?”
“How could he know what happened here when he spends most of his time at sea? Even if he does, it won’t matter. By the time he finds out, I will have completely taken control of this place.”
“You’re–”
“Enough, Pyo-wol! You’re stalling for time, trying to recover your internal energy. It’s pathetic, really.”
So Yeowol saw right through Pyo-wol’s intentions.
Pyo-wol was trying to recover his internal energy while continuing to talk.
Song Cheonwoo stepped forward.
Shing!
He unsheathed his sword while approaching Pyo-wol.
Pyo-wol looked at Song Cheonwoo with his back slightly bent.
The pain from the wounds was so severe that he couldn’t even straighten his back.
Song Cheonwoo looked at Pyo-wol with a cold expression.
“So, it has come to this.”
“Song Cheonwoo!”
“I’m saying this now, but I’ve never liked you. Even in the underground cave, there were many times when I wanted to slash your self-righteous face with my sword.”
“Congratulations!”
“Congratulations?”
“Because you’ve gotten your wish, though it wasn’t through your own strength.”
Song Cheonwoo’s expression stiffened at Pyo-wol’s sarcastic remark.
Pyo-wol’s words touched a deep-seated inferiority complex in Song Cheonwoo’s heart.
Even though he didn’t want to admit it, he had to accept the truth.
He had to admit that he had always felt inferior to Pyo-wol.
The inferiority complex that had taken root in his heart from the underground cave had grown into a massive tree.
The only way to eliminate this complex was to kill Pyo-wol, its source.
Song Cheonwoo stopped right in front of Pyo-wol and slowly thrust his sword into Pyo-wol’s abdomen.
Swoosh!
Pyo-wol gritted his teeth as he felt the cold blade cut through his flesh.
Song Cheonwoo smiled in satisfaction as he looked at Pyo-wol’s contorted face.
“I won’t kill you instantly.”
Poof!
Song Cheonwoo thrust his sword deeply into Pyo-wol’s abdomen.
The sword pierced through Pyo-wol’s abdomen and protruded out of his back, but he didn’t die.
Song Cheonwoo had deliberately avoided Pyo-wol’s vital organs.
Pyo-wol’s face twisted in pain, yet he kept his lips tightly shut. It was obvious that he was enduring the excruciating pain.
Seeing Pyo-wol’s agonized expression only amplified Song Cheonwoo’s laughter.
He approached even closer to Pyo-wol, desiring to see his face more clearly.
“How does it feel, dying like this?”
“You should have… killed me in one go.”
Pyo-wol barely managed to reply.
A colder smile formed on Song Cheonwoo’s lips.
“Why? Is it too painful?”
“If you had… then none of this would have happened.”
“What?”
At that moment, something sprang from Pyo-wol’s chest and bit Song Cheonwoo’s arm. Since Song Cheonwoo was too close, he wasn’t able to dodge.
Stunned, Song Cheonwoo stared at the creature that had bitten his arm.
A red snake with horns on its head.
It was Gwiya.
“What the…”
Song Cheonwoo couldn’t finish his sentence.
It was because his arm that had been bitten by Gwiya had instantly turned black.
It was an incredibly potent snake venom.
At this rate, the venom would swiftly travel from his shoulder to his heart.
Once the venom reached his heart, not even the divine doctor could save him.
Song Cheonwoo looked up and saw Pyo-wol smiling at him.
“I told you. You should have killed me in one go when you had the chance.”
“Eugh!”
Song Cheonwoo clenched his teeth.
The snake that had bitten his arm had already returned inside Pyo-wol’s clothing.
There was no time to ponder further.
Song Cheonwoo hastily pulled out the sword that had been plunged into Pyo-wol’s abdomen and cut off his own shoulder.
Rip!
“Cheonwoo!”
So Yeowol shouted in surprise, but by then, one of Song Cheonwoo’s arms had already fallen to the ground.
“Ugh!”
Song Cheonwoo staggered backward, clutching his shoulder, which was dripping with blood.
Pyo-wol laughed as he watched him.
“Next time, it won’t end with just an arm, So Cheonwoo. See you again, Yeowol!”
“Pyo-wol!”
So Yeowol’s angry scream echoed off the steep cliffs.
Pyo-wol turned his back on her scream and threw himself off the cliff.
‘I hope there’s water…’
He bet everything on that faint possibility.
Pyo-wol’s figure instantly disappeared below the cliff.
So Yeowol immediately barked orders at the Blood Wraiths.
“What are you waiting for? Track him down and bring me his head!”
Obeying her command, the Blood Wraiths began descending the cliff.
So Yeowol hurried to Song Cheonwoo’s side.
“Cheonwoo!”
“Hng! Hurry up and catch him.”
“Your wound needs treatment first.”
“Ugh… Ah!”
Suddenly, Song Cheonwoo’s eyes rolled back in his head. He had passed out.
Even though he had cut off his arm, traces of the venom had penetrated and spread to the rest of his body.
“Cheonwoo!”
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