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Chapter 151. Trying to Row a Boat On Land (22)
Chapter 151. Trying to Row a Boat On Land (22)
Chapter 151. Trying to Row a Boat On Land (22)
Another hour passed as Black Assassin continued to ask Ma-Ra what she wanted. However, it was as if she was deaf; no matter what he said, she did not move or reply in any way.
“You, you bi—! Then what the hell do you want? Do you want my sect? You might just go ahead and take control of all the others as well then!”
Ma-Ra’s eyes narrowed slightly at the words “take control of all the others.”
‘Hey, that’s not a bad idea. If I manage to unite all the assassin sects by the time Woo-Moon wakes up, I’ll be able to help him when he fights Martial Heaven later.’
Ma-Ra’s head slowly moved up and down.
Thud.
Black Assassin was finally able to touch the sweet, sweet ground again. However, he was more focused on Ma-Ra, staring at her with bewilderment.
Taking control of all the assassin sects! Unifying the assassin world!
It was just the ranting of someone desperate for his life, but now that he thought about it, it might actually be possible for the girl before him.
‘She could really do it. Considering her incredible assassination art... she could really fucking do it.’
Ma-Ra had single-handedly brought down his Flying Shadow Gate. In fact, he felt like Ma-Ra could single-handedly win even against ten Flying Shadow Gates. She was an Absolute Master. An Absolute Master Assassin!
It was more than twice as difficult for an Assassin to reach the Absolute realm compared to a typical martial artist!
Black Assassin felt as though he had been struck in the back of the head by a hammer.
‘Fuck, this is ridiculous! She really reached the Absolute Realm by cultivating an assassination art! There’s only one other person who reached that level in history... the Death God!’
The Death God was worshiped by every assassin in existence as the highest peak in their path, the very embodiment of assassination arts.
Suddenly, he realized something, and he shivered from his very core.
“You... Don’t tell me... you’re actually cultivating the Death God’s Assassination Art?”
And as he watched Ma-Ra nod curtly, he once more teared up—this time, from an entirely different kind of emotion.
‘It’s possible, it’s possible! We can unite the assassin sects. We can get revenge on those bastards who look down on us assassins! The Death God, the Death God has returned!’
By sheer chance, Ma-Ra thus began enacting a master plan—the unification of all assassin sects.
***
With one target down, Woo-Moon then set out to kill the Gansu Province's Regional Military Commissioner.
Eun-Ah had to be left behind again in the wilderness due to her size, leaving Woo-Moon to enter the Regional Military Commission alone.
The Saber Emperor and Formless Flying Sword had left the place under the pretext of going hunting with the princess in order to avoid any suspicion, making sure to stay far away as Woo-Moon made his move.
Only an Absolute Master would be able to break through the security of the Regional Military Commission compound and kill the Commissioner. Thus, both the Saber Emperor and Formless Flying Sword would have immediately fallen under suspicion if they had stayed behind.
However, this way, there wouldn’t be any issue.
Moreover, the Saber Emperor and Formless Flying Sword had taken the lord of Lanzhou and other city officials with them. These people would serve as witnesses that the two of them had nothing to do with the assassination.
Any puppet of Martial Heaven was Woo-Moon’s enemy.
Moreover, now that Woo-Moon could see the Regional Military Commissioner in person, he could tell that the Commissioner had killed an incredible amount of people in his rise to his position. The bloodlust and demonic qi emanating from his body were impressive.
Thwip.
Woo-Moon flicked a finger and fired a blast of finger qi that struck the Regional Military Commissioner in the back of his neck, hitting a certain acupoint. Because he had taken special care in doing so, any trace of his involvement in the Commissioner’s death would disappear after a short time.
‘They would just assume he died of sudden death.’[1]
Of course, although the imperial government would be none the wiser, he was sure that Martial Heaven would notice—the two people who had been preventing a military expedition to deal with the Cruel Sandstorm Riders had died at the same time.
Once the Saber Emperor, Formless Flying Sword, and Princess Mok Yong had returned, Woo-Moon silently snuck into the room where they were gathered.
The entire compound was in chaos. It was only inevitable, as the Regional Military Commissioner had just up and died.
“Good. You’ve done a great job.”
For some reason, Princess Mok Yong was speaking to Woo-Moon more politely this time.
“There is still more work to do.”
The Saber Emperor let out a harrumph. “More work? Of course there is. We have to bring the forces of the Regional Military Commission to wipe out those Bastardstorm Bastards! Hahaha!”
However, Woo-Moon shook his head.
“No, we can’t do that yet. We have to bring the North Sea Ice Palace and the Kunlun Sect to our side first so we can attack them together.”
The Saber Emperor frowned.
“And why is that?”
“The Cruel Sandstorm Riders have two Paragons; they’re on a similar level to me. I’m not sure if they’re the leaders of the Cruel Sandstorm Riders or if they’re experts sent by Martial Heaven.”
“What? They have two masters on your level?”
The Saber Emperor and Formless Flying Sword were both shocked. On the other hand, Princess Mok Yong didn’t react much. She had very little understanding of how great Woo-Moon’s cultivation was or how strong a Paragon was, so she just blinked with a puzzled expression.
Now that Princess Mok Yong was speaking politely to Woo-Moon, Formless Flying Sword couldn’t speak as coarsely to him as she had before. Thus, she cautiously opened her mouth.
“If that’s the case, then it really would be difficult to take down the Cruel Sandstorm Riders without the help of the Kunlun Sect and the North Sea Ice Palace.”
In truth, it wouldn’t just be difficult. It was plain impossible.
“Hmm...”
If Woo-Moon were to deal with one of the two Paragons, the remaining Paragon would have to be kept busy through the concerted effort of the Saber Emperor, Formless Flying Sword, and Otherworldly Ice Fairy Ah Hee.
And on the off chance that neither of the two was the leader of the Cruel Sandstorm Riders and the actual leader was an Absolute Master, the Transcendent experts of the North Sea Ice Palace and the Kunlun Sect would have to join forces to deal with them.
Thus, they would only be able to take down the Cruel Sandstorm Riders with the help of the two sects. It was the only way for them to win.
Finally catching on to that fact, Princess Mok Yong frowned slightly.
“But... would they, as sects of the murim, join forces with the imperial government to fight the Cruel Sandstorm Riders?”
“We’ll have to persuade them. No matter what. We’ll force them to help us if we have to.”
Woo-Moon's eyes were shining coldly as he said that. The death of the Palm Martial Emperor and Si-Hyeon had to be avenged at all costs!
Woo-Moon was willing to sacrifice anything to deal with Martial Heaven.
The three could feel a chill fall over them. It felt as if they were caught in the middle of a blizzard... and the snowflakes were not frozen water but frozen blood.
Still, as one of the Eight Heavenly Martial Emperors, the Saber Emperor Jeong Yi-Moon was the first to wake up from his shock and smack Woo-Moon on the back.
“Alright, alright. We understand. You’re a young man, but you have no time to joke around when the enemy is close.”
Formless Flying Sword Yoon Ha-Rin sighed. She finally accepted that Woo-Moon had reached such an unimaginably high level in spite of his youth, and she had an inkling as to what he’d gone through on the way there.
“The North Sea Ice Palace or the Kunlun Sect? Which one do you want to go to first?”
“I plan to stay here for a few days and then head to the North Sea Ice Palace. Also, Your Highness...”
“Y-yes? What is it?”
“Please closely investigate the movements of the Cruel Sandstorm Riders during the few days I’m here. Could you tell me their location and what they seem to be up to?”
“Understood. We’ve been investigating their movements for a while, anyway.”
“Thank you, Your Highness. Also... do you have a mask somewhere?”
***
In the middle of the night, Woo-Moon sat with Eun-Ah in the mountains near Lanzhou.
He had come out into the wilderness to sleep by her side as it was still too difficult to take her into Lanzhou, where the princess was still busy establishing order.
Woo-Moon lay down on the grass and looked up at the sky. It was beautiful, full of countless stars.
‘Just like Si-Hyeon and Grandpa... they also shone like stars.’
The more he thought about it, the more the longing and sadness came flooding back to him.
As he wallowed in sadness, Eun-Ah slowly approached and lay down on his stomach.
“Ugh!”
Eun-Ah used to climb all over him when she was small. That was completely fine, but now that she was bigger than a horse, she almost smothered Woo-Moon to death.
No matter the size, cats are cats.
“Mmmmmph... Move, you little rascal!”
Kya!
Eun-Ah was startled as Woo-Moon kicked her in the gut and rolled away.
“Think about how big you’ve gotten, you little brat. Are you trying to kill me?”
Mlem, mlem.
Eun-Ah licked Woo-Moon’s cheek with her massive tongue, whimpering like a little puppy begging for forgiveness.
“It’s fine. Go lay down over there.”
As Eun-Ah lay down, Woo-Moon moved over and lay down on top of her.
“Ah, this is really nice.”
Kyaaaa.
Eun-Ah cried softly as if she was irritated.
“Shut up. I didn’t say anything when you did this stuff, now it’s your turn.”
As he quarreled with Eun-Ah, Woo-Moon quietly forgot about the grief that weighed down on him like a second skin. Slowly, he fell asleep as he listened to Eun-Ah’s heartbeat and felt her chest move up and down with the cadence of her breath.
He muttered to himself as if he were sleep-talking, “Now, the only thing I have left is you, Eun-Ah. Don’t leave me.”
His voice was rife with sadness and loneliness.
He had lost his grandfather and junior sister, and then his parents had disappeared as well.
Ma-Ra had said that she would only be gone for a short while, but she hadn’t returned yet.
Just as Ma-Ra was angry at Woo-Moon for living like a comatose patient, Woo-Moon was also disappointed in Ma-Ra for not understanding him.
Listening to Woo-Moon’s heartbroken voice, Eun-Ah closed her misty eyes.
Roughly two hours after the two had fallen asleep together, Woo-Moon’s eyes suddenly shone in the darkness, and Eun-Ah quickly woke up as well.
The next moment, one of Princess Mok Yong’s secret guards emerged from the darkness.
“About four hundred Cruel Sandstorm Riders have detached from the main camp and are moving separately.”
A bleak light appeared in Woo-Moon's eyes.
“Do you know where they are?”
“Would you like me to guide you there?”
"Yes,” Woo-Moon said, quickly descending the mountain.
***
“Kya!!!”
“Hahahaha! How thrilling!”
The Cruel Sandstorm Riders’ Blood Wolf Squadron cheered as they rode freely across the dark plains.[2]
Riding across a plain with prisoners tied to the backs of their saddles after a bloody slaughter was their favorite pastime.
“P-please...”
A middle-aged woman covered in blood begged as she was dragged behind a horse with her wrists tied. However, none of the bandits paid any attention to her.
On another horse, the Blood Wolf Captain rode with a girl he had kidnapped while raiding a merchant guild and village, groping her all over regardless of her screams and protests.
‘Hehe, since they’re all still alive, there won’t be any fishy smells this time. I can’t believe I made such a windfall.’
The Cruel Sandstorm Riders had gathered horse bandits from all over and had now grown to a massive five thousand strong. They had reached a scale that was impossible to maintain without Martial Heaven’s financial support.
In order to allow the bandits some relief, the Cruel Sandstorm Riders periodically took turns sending them out to pillage and rape, and this time, it was the Blood Wolf Squadron’s turn.
By this point, the squadron was happily returning to the main encampment of the Cruel Sandstorm Riders when the captain suddenly noticed something strange in the distance.
“What the hell is that? A white tiger? Why is it so damn big? Wait, is someone riding it?!”
Their horses slowed down, feeling the scent of a predator wafting downwind.
Eventually, the other squadron members also caught sight of Eun-Ah and Woo-Moon.
“What the hell is that?”
“It’s a white tiger! Who the fuck is that bastard riding a white tiger?!”
“Kekeke, that’s pretty impressive, don’t you think? It makes me want to steal it and ride it myself!”
Although the horses were intimidated, they were still warhorses that had seen rivers of blood on countless battlefields and pillaging trips with the Blood Wolf Squadron. Thus, even though they trembled with instinctual fear, they kept walking forward.
Woo-Moon sat on Eun-Ah's back and waited quietly for them.
Once they approached within about ten zhang, the Blood Wolf Captain pointed at Woo-Moon with the hatchet in his hand.
“And who the hell might you be?”
Woo-Moon could smell the scent of Martial Heaven clearly coming from the Blood Wolf Captain.
Thump. Thump.
Upon discovering this, Woo-Moon’s heart began to beat rapidly as the speed of the blood flowing through his body increased explosively.
The images of his grandfather and junior sister dying overlapped with the sight of the Blood Wolves racing toward him.
“Dogs of Martial Heaven... I’ll kill you all.”
Putting on the yaksha mask Princess Mok Yong had given him, Woo-Moon rushed toward the Blood Wolves with Eun-Ah.[3]
They had already reached a point where they could communicate through their minds, and Woo-Moon could give her simple commands and directions without having to say a word.
Moreover, Eun-Ah hated Martial Heaven just as much as Woo-Moon did!
ROAR!
With a single roar, all of the Blood Wolf Squadron’s warhorses became frightened and started rearing, completely out of control.
With a flash of light, Woo-Moon rose into the air and swung his sword.
A sword wind stretched wide across the open plain, simultaneously cutting all of the ropes tied to the prisoners being dragged behind the Blood Wolf Squadron’s horses.
In spite of their shock, the prisoners immediately ran away like mad, trying to escape their captors.
At the same time, Eun-Ah lifted her front paw and swung it from right to left. With that one motion, four horses and men were torn to pieces.
Stepping on her head, Woo-Moon drew Lightflash and threw it forward.
Shing!!!!
1. Although ?? could be translated as heart attack, I decided to keep it as its literal translation as it was an actual diagnosis in ancient times, often attributed to an imbalance of qi. ?
2. “Wolf” is also slang for “pervert,” so this can be interpreted as “bandits turned on by blood.” ?
3. Yaksha are a very broad class of natural spirits, some good and some evil but generally described as fearsome warriors. Evil yaksha are known to haunt the wilderness and devour travelers. ?