Chwa-a-a.

The boat moved forward as if pushed by the vigorously rowing oars.

The boatman, who had been cutting through the darkness and crossing the waves, stopped rowing and wore a satisfied expression as he looked at a small island that seemed to have broken off from Gunsan Island in the distance.

"How about we take a short break over there?"

He asks for their opinion.

But his heart was full of sinister intentions.

"Good. The surroundings are quiet and just right."

"I'm glad. I know this area well... ha ha!"

The boatman laughs and looks at Cheonyeong as if expecting something.

You know, right? What I mean?

It was that kind of look, and the quick-witted Cheonyeong nodded and approached, saying.

"Hey, boatman."

"Yes."

"Are you a good swimmer?"

"Swimming?"

"Yes."

"Well... I'm a boatman."

"It seems to be at least fifty jang to the island. That distance shouldn't be a problem, right?"

It was an absurd statement.

He should have just given him a little more money.

What did the distance to the island have to do with anything? And why was he asking if he was a good swimmer?

"Um... young master? What do you mean? I don't quite understand."

"What do you mean? It means I'm saving your life."

"Pardon?"

"Take good care of your money."

"Yes... e-eh? Huh? Uh-uh-uh?"

The boatman, who had been answering, was utterly bewildered.

Peok!

Cheonyeong kicked lightly, and the kicked boatman was pushed away.

There was no impact.

But.

Pung-deong!

"Eo-heok!"

The boatman, who had swallowed water because of the sudden incident, surfaced and got angry.

"What is this... huh?"

The boatman, who had been speaking, his eyes widened.

On the boat.

In the hand of the man who had pushed him, there was a sword with a blue edge.

There was no need to guess what it meant.

Chwa-a-a-ak!

The boatman hurriedly turned his body and swam away from the boat with all his might.

How many years had he been driving a pleasure boat?

Just by looking at the man who had drawn his sword, he could fully predict what would happen next.

"Heh! He's good. Really..."

Cheonyeong smirked as he watched the boatman disappear towards the island, cutting through the water.

And then.

"My, I thought you'd be a little surprised, but it seems you expected this situation."

He looked at Jasu with a smile.

Holding a sword.

But there was no sign of agitation on Jasu's face.

She looked at Cheonyeong with her usual bright smile.

"Unexpected."

"What is?"

"I thought you were planning to do it on the island. Well, people have various hobbies. A boat like this would be refreshing."

"Keuk keuk, is that so?"

Jasu's eyes trembled slightly at Cheonyeong's sneer.

But the smile on her lips was deepening.

She was dumbfounded when she saw him pay for all the seats on the pleasure boat.

Although he was young, a so-called family head was being swayed by a pretty face.

Although she knew nothing about the Tang family, if a punk like that was the family head, she could fully predict his level.

Then, at the sight of him whispering with the boatman and revealing his lust, she had been planning to kill him slowly in a secluded place.

To dare to do that to her.

Hadn't she been on edge because her plan had been ruined by an unknown culprit?

He was a perfect target to vent her anger on.

Both the boatman punk and the young family head of the Tang family who had looked at her with a sinister gaze.

But after the boat stopped, the family head punk suddenly pushed the boatman off the boat and then even drew his sword and threatened her.

"What should I do? A handsome young master is threatening me with a sword like this. I should probably take off my outer garment..."

Jasu smiles deeply and lifts her collar slightly.

A murder notice.

Although it was an old memory, how could Cheonyeong, who knew her nature, not know the meaning of that smile and action?

"Keuk, keuk keuk keuk. You're crazy."

"...?"

"I may not be a righteous person, but I'm not trash who would lust after a wench like you."

At those words, the trembling in Jasu's eyes intensifies.

But her smile remains.

"Hoh, you're not lustful? Then what are you? A robber?"

"Well, you could say that."

"My, my. You're too much. Robbing a powerless dancer and a dance boy. I heard you're the master of a great family, to the point where you even know the Beggars' Sect branch leader."

It was a sarcastic tone.

Cheonyeong just laughed.

"By the way, if it's not lust, what should I do? I was thinking of admiring a young man's naked body for a change. Since you're robbing me in this darkness where no one is watching..."

Cheonyeong sighed deeply at the sight of Jasu pouting, shaking her head from side to side.

What is she doing at her age?

Is she trying to act cute?

At your age?

"Hah, I really can't watch this anymore."

"...?"

"Jasu."

"...!"

"Stop the pretense. And stop acting pretty."

The smile on Jasu's face disappeared at Cheonyeong's sinister gaze.

"J-Jasu?"

Her voice trembled, and she seemed very flustered.

Because she had never expected her killing name to come out of Cheonyeong's mouth.

How did that punk know?

Then, didn't it mean he knew that her identity was an assassin?

A mixture of blue poison and killing intent bloomed in Jasu's eyes as she looked at Cheonyeong.

"You punk... what are you?"

"Tang Cheonyeong of the Tang Family's estate. You already know, so why are you asking again?"

At Cheonyeong's words, a cold killing intent flowed from Jasu's body, and Sagyo, who was beside her, had already filled his hands with hidden weapons and was ready to release them.

"Keuk keuk, you're very flustered, aren't you? Well, it's understandable. How would an outsider know that name?"

"I'll ask again. You punk, how do you know my name?"

"I don't want to tell you."

"What?"

"Looking at your expression, I feel like it."

"Punk!"

"Ah, shall I make you even more curious?"

"...?"

"Jinkagu. Killing Master, Jin Gumyeong."

Jasu's pupils widened even more than before.

The Jinkagu?

And he even knows the Killing Master's name?

"Keuk keuk, you're curious, aren't you? You're dying of curiosity, aren't you? How does that punk know? Not only my name, but the organization's name, and even the Killing Master's name."

Jasu's cheeks trembled at Cheonyeong's words, which were thoroughly provoking her, and the sound of her grinding teeth was heard loudly.

"Oh! You can make that expression too? Unexpected. I thought you only laughed like a madwoman."

Cheonyeong chuckled as if enjoying Jasu's reaction.

And Jasu, who had been glaring at Cheonyeong for a long time, wore a smile on her lips again.

"I see. It was you."

"..."

"Hwagye and Godon, and even the Beggars' Sect. It was all your doing, wasn't it?"

"That's right."

"Why?"

"A grudge."

"A grudge?"

"Yes."

"It seems there was a Tang among the punks who died at my hands. Well, I can't know the name of a dead punk."

Cheonyeong burst out laughing at Jasu, who was speaking with a pleasant smile, purring like a she-cat.

"What are you talking about? Why would a Tang die at your hands?"

"What?"

"My grudge is a matter of the much more distant future. Although it's something that hasn't happened yet... it doesn't matter. In fact, I won't feel any guilt for killing a wench like you."

It was an incomprehensible statement.

The future?

Was that punk some kind of time traveler?

"You don't have to worry. You won't find the answer with your head anyway."

"..."

"I'll tell you one more thing. Actually, I was in that punk's place."

"What did you say?"

Jasu looks at Sagyo as Cheonyeong points with his finger.

Sagyo's... place?

"Keuk keuk, that's all I'll tell you. Take that curiosity with you to the afterlife."

The conversation was long. Jasu.

The conversation of reunion ends here.

Cheonyeong, who had smiled until his mouth split wide, lightly lifted the heel of his right foot and then forcefully brought it down, striking the boat.

Martial artists can lower their internal energy to their lower body and temporarily direct all their power downwards.

This is called the Thousand Jin Drop.

But Cheonyeong's, which could release all the internal energy in his dantian at once through the Transformed Body, could produce several times the power of a normal Thousand Jin Drop.

Samyang, Body Transformation.

Ground Stomp!

Ku-u-ung!

The front of the pressed boat sinks into the water.

It was natural for the back of the boat to shoot up like a seesaw.

"Tch!"

Jasu's bewilderment, whose movements were restricted as she was thrown into the air like a grain on a winnowing fan, was beyond words.

But she couldn't just leave that punk alone.

He knows about the organization.

The commission requested by the Gongson family was not the problem.

Kill to silence.

He had to be killed to shut his mouth.

But before that, there was something he had to know.

Through what route he had been able to find out about the Jinkagu, the Killing Master, and even her own name.

And who else knew that fact.

Since he seemed to have a close relationship with the Beggars' Sect branch leader, that part could not be overlooked.

"You punk, it would have been better if you had just lived in ignorance. Your useless curiosity has hastened your death!"

Jasu, who had twisted her body in mid-air and corrected her posture, glares at Cheonyeong.

He was still standing on the front of the boat, smiling.

A favorable position for that punk.

The real fight would have to be after the fall ended.

"Sagyo! Block that punk's movements first!"

"Yes!"

At Jasu's shout, Sagyo's hands were forcefully extended.

Swae-ae-aek!

The flying needles he had been holding tightly fell like a shower of rain.

But.

"As expected... it seems you were the current Sagyo."

Although he had expected it, Cheonyeong wore a strange expression upon hearing the name directly.

It couldn't be helped.

Wasn't he a punk with the same name he had?

But thoughts later.

For now.

Kkang! Kka-ga-ga-gang!

Cheonyeong quickly swings his sword and deflects the flying needles.

The force contained is considerable.

It was a completely different level of hidden weapon technique from Hwagye or Godon, whom he had killed before.

My, is there some power in the name?

Come to think of it, that punk was also a leader.

Like himself in the past.

By any chance... are you also a child prodigy?

Teok, teo-teok.

The sound of Jasu and Sagyo landing on the stern of the boat is heard at the same time as the shower of flying needles ends.

"Punk, you missed a good opportunity."

Jasu, who had untied the sash from her waist and was holding it in both hands, smiles coldly.

It was her unique weapon. The sash, made of tough silk thread with blades attached.

Swi-a-ak!

Cheonyeong leans his upper body back to avoid the long, arcing sash.

The blades attached to the inside of the sash, which grazed over his chest, glittered with a 'jja-reu-reu' sound.

As expected.

"Heung! Do you think you can avoid it!"

As Jasu's hand twisted, the limp sash twisted and became stiff, changing direction and falling vertically.

Kwa-a-a-ang!

The bow of the boat shatters from the forceful impact.

But Cheonyeong, who had already dodged to the side, looks at Jasu with a sinister gaze.

"As expected of a special class. Your skills haven't rusted."

"Heung!"

Pa-ra-rak!

The sash in Jasu's hand, as if it had a life of its own, unravels and aims for Cheonyeong.

Tung!

Cheonyeong, avoiding the attack, jumps back and throws his body onto the surface of the water.

"Punk! Do you think you can't be caught just because you run into the water?"

Cheonyeong's lips curve into a deep smile at Jasu's frosty voice.

Run?

The Tang Family's estate has no such word...

Pak!

Cheonyeong's foot kicks a piece of wood floating on the water, shattered by Jasu's attack, and he shoots straight towards the boat again.

"U-unhyeong-bo?!"

Jasu's eyes widen once more.

Cheonyeong's hazy, fading figure, and the overlapping afterimages.

Cheonyeong's lightness skill was a unique secret art of the Jinkagu.

And it was one that only assassins with the skill of a special class or higher could learn...

(End of Chapter)