Sagyo's eyes filled with white.

His heart had been pierced by a sword filled with true qi, and he had died instantly.

A man who had been given the same killing name as himself.

A man who was so talented that he had become the leader of the second-class assassins... who had not even had a chance to bloom... he was dying.

By his own sword.

And in Cheonyeong's eyes, watching that youthful death, his own past overlapped.

The prime of youth. A flower-like age.

A time when one should dream of the future and enjoy the present.

But he had been deprived of the opportunity by the will of others.

The assassin Sagyo, who had not been allowed to complain that it was hard, nor to worry about life, had the end of his life marked by his own hand.

Was it because they had the same killing name?

Although he had been planning to annihilate everything related to the Jinkagu from the beginning, it felt different from the time of Godon and Hwagye.

The feeling... was dirty.

Kka-deuk.

His brow furrowed deeply, and his face contorted.

"Punk! You're caught!"

Jasu's triumphant laughter was heard amidst his long, fleeting thoughts.

Hwa-a-ak!

The sash in her hand spread wide and covered his vision like a swaddling cloth.

Jja-reu-reu-reu.

The small blades attached to it glittered like stars in the sky.

The Wrapping Killing Method.

It was Jasu's unique skill of using a sash as a weapon.

The moment the sash wrapped around the body, those many blades would pierce, tear, and rip the whole body.

Like the many commission targets who had died at her hands.

"Die!"

The sash, filled with internal energy, covered the bodies of Cheonyeong and Sagyo.

Kkwa-a-ak.

It tightened.

The blades dug into his body.

It was the price of hesitation.

The blades embedded in his body, as if the sash were twisted, began to tear his skin.

Anger surged with a stinging pain. At the same time, the hot heat that bloomed from his dantian spread throughout his body like a fierce torrent.

It seemed to move on its own to protect the host's body, like a living creature.

As if shouting, 'Move, you stupid punk!', it urged and instigated Cheonyeong.

Kku-deu-deuk.

Cheonyeong snapped to his senses at the feeling of the sash tightening even more.

Stupid... that's right.

Did you establish the Tang Family's estate to die, lost in such sentiments?

Was my revenge only this much resolve?

To be shaken by a youthful death?

Kku-u-uk.

Cheonyeong clenched his fist.

Whether it had risen on its own, or whether Cheonyeong had instinctively operated it, he did not know...

Cheonyeong moved the boiling Samyang True Qi to suit its use.

Ku-gu-gu-gu.

The flow of internal energy that had started inside his body pushed away Jasu's sash, and then spread in all directions.

The surface of the water reacted to the wave of energy, and ripples spread out like concentric circles.

Pa-a-a-a!

It soon turned into a rough wave.

"Th-this punk?"

Jasu, who had thought she had seized victory this time, gritted her teeth and added more internal energy at the changed situation.

Jji-i-i...

But Cheonyeong's internal energy was at a level she could not handle.

The sash that had been wrapped around him began to swell even more.

Although it was an item whose strength had been increased by twisting tough silk thread, and could be called a secret treasure, it could no longer endure.

And then.

Peo-eong!

It burst.

Like a greatly inflated ball.

The pieces of the sash scattered in all directions.

"...Jasu."

"...!"

And she stared intently at Cheonyeong's blood-soaked, poison-filled eyes.

Death was not a vague imagination, but had come as a reality.

Pa-pa-pak!

Jasu, who had let go of the sash that was left with only the handle, jumps back and throws a flying needle.

It was a random hidden weapon technique that did not befit the name of a special class.

But it didn't matter.

Because the current attack was just for escaping.

Peo-peo-peo-peok!

The hidden weapons were stuck.

Not in Cheonyeong, but in the body of the dead Sagyo.

And then.

Pung-deong!

Jasu's body, which had left the boat, disappears into the water.

When an assassin's identity was revealed, he had to commit suicide.

But she couldn't die here.

It wasn't because she was afraid of death.

She had to survive and report the punk's existence to the Jinkagu.

Jasu rationalized her actions by repeating that to herself.

In the water. A place where movement is inevitably slowed down due to the resistance of the water.

There, that punk's sword, his flying needles... and the technique he had used to use water droplets as hidden weapons would be useless.

And she had a special technique.

Diving.

It was one of the techniques that the organization's assassins had to learn to approach their targets or to escape.

And hadn't the assassins learned a strange breathing method called Sea Breath?

With that, which was like an advanced form of Turtle Breath, modeled after a turtle that stayed in the water for a long time and occasionally came out of the water to breathe... she would be able to escape.

Jasu thought so, and dived with all her might.

"Struggling to live. Throwing away a subordinate into death without hesitation."

Cheonyeong lets go of Sagyo, who had become his shield.

Seu-reu-reuk, teol-seok.

Cheonyeong, who had left the powerlessly collapsed Sagyo behind, immediately flew into the water after Jasu.

Pung!

It was a completely different entry from Jasu's.

Only a small water droplet splashed behind Cheonyeong, who seemed to seep into the water, and the ripples that had spread soon disappeared without a trace.

Wait, Jasu.

I will definitely break your neck.

Before this night is over...

* * *

In the darkness on the river, far from the pleasure boat where Cheonyeong was fighting.

A small, black-painted boat was quietly staying.

And on it, men with their faces painted black, as dark as the darkness, were staring blankly with their mouths open.

They were the water bandits of the Gunsan Stronghold's surveillance ship, which Chief Nam Gwangro had ordered to be launched at the request of the Beggars' Sect branch leader, Baekta.

It was not difficult for them to find the pleasure boat that the chief had mentioned.

Because at least in the water, nothing could escape their surveillance.

But it was a truly tremendous fight.

Even from a considerable distance, seeing the waves that spread out every time they clashed and reached the boat, they could tell how much internal energy they possessed.

And what a harmony it was, sparks were constantly flying around throughout the fight.

Like a fireworks display.

So, in the eyes of the water bandits, it could only be an enormous spectacle.

But.

"Are they, now, jumping into the water?"

"Probably..."

Byeon Geumrye, a subordinate water bandit, said, staring blankly, blinking his eyes, at the words of the surveillance ship master, Ojang.

"But they're quite something."

"Huh?"

"They just dived in... but it seems they haven't come out yet..."

"Can you see that?"

"I can't see well, but there's no sound of them coming out of the water, nor the sound of them cutting through the water."

"Ah!"

That was right.

Unless they had gills, they would have to breathe out of the water, and of course there should be the sound of water.

The absence of the sound of water meant.

"Their diving skills are that good?"

"They're punks who put water bandits to shame. It hurts the pride of a water bandit who is watching."

"Heo!"

Ojang could not hide his surprise.

But.

"Byeon-ga."

"Yes?"

"That... aren't there other kids spread out besides the surveillance ship?"

"There are. Since the chief was so angry, around the pleasure boat... huk!"

Byeon Geumrye's eyes shot open in surprise as he was thinking hard.

Could it be that only the surveillance ship was deployed?

The Fish Dragons of Gunsan.

It was the diving unit that the Gunsan Stronghold was proud of.

They were positioned in a circle fifty jang outside the pleasure boat.

To watch the boat.

But two masters had jumped into the water, and if they encountered the Fish Dragons who were on surveillance?

A fight was bound to break out.

Because the Fish Dragons would think they had been discovered while on surveillance.

Although they were a water bandit gang that boasted of being invincible in the water by learning outstanding water skills, it also depended on the opponent.

And weren't they masters with outstanding diving skills?

"Th-this damn it! Byeon-ga!"

"Yes!"

"Fire the retreat signal flare!"

"Pardon?"

"Blow the whistle! Dammit! Do something! Hurry!"

"Yes!"

At Ojang's urgent shout, Byeon Geumrye takes out the signal flare that was in the surveillance ship.

If you pull the string at the bottom of the bamboo tube.

Peo-eong!

"...?"

"...?"

It was not the sound of a signal flare exploding.

The string had not even been pulled yet.

The sound was far away...

Peo-eong!

A black object shot up with a splash of water.

It was a person.

Wearing a fish-skin suit that clung to his body and reduced the resistance of the water...

"A-a Fish Dragon?"

Ojang stared with a dumbfounded expression at the pride of the Gunsan Stronghold falling from the sky.

A fight had broken out.

* * *

'These punks...!'

There was a goal in front of him.

Cheonyeong was swimming at a tremendous speed, chasing Jasu who had jumped into the water.

But punks like giant fish blocked Jasu, who was running away ahead.

Then a fight suddenly broke out.

Seeing their movements, they were clearly punks who had professionally trained in diving.

Could it be... the Dongting Lake water bandits?

Why were these punks?

It was strange.

Were the Dongting Lake water bandit punks doing business here?

Well, anyway, it was a relief.

Thanks to them, the time to cut off Jasu's life was just around the corner...

Swi-a-a-ak!

"...?!"

A punk who had swum up at a fast speed took out a sword and swung it forcefully.

Cheonyeong, who had not expected an attack, pushed the water with both hands and dodged the blade.

Could it be that they thought he was an enemy because he had interfered in their business?

Dammit, I don't want to get involved with the water bandit punks like this...

Since he had received the ferry from the Lee family a while ago, wasn't he in a position to get along well with the water bandits?

He hurriedly gestured to express that he was not an enemy... damn, he was so flustered. He could have just used telepathy.

At this close a distance, even in the water, telepathy would have reached sufficiently.

[Get back! This has nothing to do with the Yangtze River!]

Swi-a-ak!

'Huh? What's this? Did the water block the ki and the telepathy didn't get through properly?'

Cheonyeong, who was attacked again by a sword, moves his body back again and continues to send telepathic messages.

One punk, then another, and before long, Cheonyeong's surroundings and Jasu's surroundings are filled with water bandits.

But even at their attacks, Cheonyeong only dodges and gestures as if he has no intention of fighting, and the water bandits flinch.

Hoo... I'll have to step up my telepathy training so that it can be transmitted well even in the water.

If the meaning transmitted through his body hadn't gotten through, he would have been at odds with the stronghold and would have had a big problem with his future business.

But.

'What's this? Why has the color of the water deepened?'

Could this be... blood?

Although it didn't have a reddish tint because it was in the water at night, how could he not know the sudden change in depth?

Cheonyeong's face contorts and he looks towards Jasu.

Just like him, there were a lot of water bandits in front of Jasu.

The problem was that unlike him, Jasu did not hold back her hand for the sake of escaping.

No, she was killing them as they approached.

The blood that gushed from their bodies spread along the flow of the water.

And then.

Swi-a-ak!

'Dammit...'

As their comrades died, the eyes of the water bandits who had blocked Cheonyeong became murderous at once, and their blades were swung, filled with killing intent.

And he was blocked, while Jasu was moving little by little.

[Get out of the way! Get out of the way! I said this has nothing to do with you! I have to catch that wench.]

It was a hollow shout.

No matter how many telepathic messages he sent, it was useless.

The water bandits were gathering more and more, and the blades aiming for Cheonyeong were increasing.

He thought he might lose Jasu at this rate.

Because of the interference of the water bandits...

Lose... Jasu?

Jasu?

Ppudeudeuk!

'This, damn it!'

Business, my ass!

This fight, you guys started it first.

Hwi-ri-ri-ri!

Samyang True Qi violently gathered in Cheonyeong's hand.

Swi-a-ak!

A sword flew again.

Peo-eong!

Cheonyeong's palm, which had rushed in, avoiding the sword, forcefully strikes the clearly visible chest of the water bandit.

(End of Chapter)