The assassins’ momentum showed no sign of waning.
Stepping over their comrades’ corpses, they pressed toward Bu Eunseol without a hint of fear.
‘This isn’t good,’ Bu Eunseol thought, biting his lip as he glanced at Woomun Hwang, who was unleashing powerful palm strikes. The bodies of the assassins struck by Woomun Hwang’s palm force were changing. Initially unmarked, they now bore signs of blunt trauma or being crushed.
Woomun Hwang was shattering their bones and sinews with ferocious palm strikes.
‘He’s overexerting himself,’ Bu Eunseol realized.
Unleashing silent, subtle palm force required far greater skill and inner energy control than brute strikes. Moreover, Woomun Hwang was extending his palm force too widely to protect So-ok. At this rate, even he would collapse.
‘They’re coming again,’ Bu Eunseol thought, glancing at the night sky before turning to So-ok.
“Don’t move a single step from here.” Before he finished speaking, his body flickered and shot into the air.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Sword light flashed in the darkness, swiftly striking the vital points of the assassins descending from above.
It was a killing sword technique, combining the Heavenly Tyrant Sword Momentum to disrupt their stances with the practical swordsmanship he’d learned from Sa Woo. Though he couldn’t fully merge the two martial arts, he used Je Woon’s Dual Mind, Dual Use Technique Technique to execute them simultaneously.
“Argh!” The assassins’ swords moved erratically, and as lethal strikes pierced them, their screams echoed endlessly.
Slash!
Having cut down the airborne assassins, Bu Eunseol sheathed his longsword with a clank.
Splatter.
Blood rained down like droplets over Bu Eunseol and So-ok.
“Take Ok and get out…” Woomun Hwang said, having pushed back the assassins with a barrage of palm strikes. “I’ll hold them off alone. Just get out of here.”
“It’s pointless,” Bu Eunseol replied, shaking his head. “They’ve already deployed a large force, forming a multi-layered encirclement. Splitting our strength is worse than fighting together here.”
“In about an hour, reinforcements from the main sect will arrive,” Woomun Hwang said, blasting another wave of assassins with a fierce palm strike.
“We just need to hold out until then. Please… take care of Ok.”
His face was etched with bitter regret. He’d ignored Bu Eunseol’s advice, overconfident in his own strength, and now they were trapped in unavoidable danger.
Tsssss.
The vast estate was now shrouded in an inky darkness, with black-clad assassins pouring in like endless swarms of insects.
“Understood,” Bu Eunseol said.
“No! I can’t leave Uncle alone…” So-ok protested.
Bu Eunseol cut her off sharply. “He’s straining himself to protect you by extending his palm force too far.”
“For me…?”
“Yes. But alone, he can protect himself no matter how many assassins come.”
“Heh heh,” Woomun Hwang chuckled, summoning his inner energy for a devastating palm strike.
Boom!
With a thunderous roar, the assassins’ front line collapsed.
“I’ll clear a path! Go now!” Woomun Hwang shouted.
Bu Eunseol nodded, swiftly scooping So-ok into his arms.
Seeing this, Woomun Hwang’s expression turned earnest. “Please… protect Ok.”
Whoosh.
Instead of replying, Bu Eunseol channeled his inner energy to its fullest.
Lowering his stance to unleash his movement technique, an unprecedented wave of energy radiated from him. Suppressing the mystical footwork of Swift Beyond Shadow, he gathered his energy for a burst of maximum velocity.
Roar!
A sound like a thunderbolt echoed through the heavens. Like a meteor streaking a white arc across the sky, Bu Eunseol, carrying So-ok, shot through the night.
“Catch them!” the assassins shouted, spotting his shadow and giving chase.
‘One hour…’ As Bu Eunseol sliced through the wind, a blade-like glint flashed in his eyes. ‘To hold out against such a force for an hour, there’s only one place.’
Biting his lip, he doubled his energy output. With gale-like speed, Bu Eunseol escaped the Dan Estate, darting through the marketplace into a secluded alley.
Thud.
He stopped at his destination: the Haehyeon Bookstore.
“Welcome…” Shang Liang, lounging at a table inside, gaped at Bu Eunseol and So-ok, drenched in blood. “What in the world happened to you…?”
Setting So-ok down, Bu Eunseol pointed inside. “Take her to the secret room.”
“Her?” Shang Liang jumped, startled by So-ok’s blood-soaked appearance.
Ignoring his reaction, Bu Eunseol took So-ok’s hand and led her to the inner shelves where the secret room was hidden.
Thud.
Manipulating a book to open the door, the thick wall slid back, revealing the secret chamber.
“Huh?” Ma Yun, emerging from the room, spotted Bu Eunseol. “What brings you here at this hour—argh!” Seeing So-ok’s face, he staggered back as if struck.
“No time,” Bu Eunseol said, looking at Shang Liang and Ma Yun. “Both of you, patrol the bookstore’s perimeter and eliminate any assassins approaching.”
“Assassins?” Shang Liang asked.
“Yes. Their numbers are overwhelming, so the defense line will break, but it’ll buy us time.”
“What’s going on? What’s happening…?”
“A massive group of assassins has surrounded the area to kill her.”
“What?!” Shang Liang exclaimed.
“They say reinforcements will arrive in an hour,” Bu Eunseol continued. “Hold out until then. You two should be capable.”
Since joining the Yueyang branch, Bu Eunseol had suspected Shang Liang and Ma Yun were formidable masters.
“Where are these assassins from? How many? What’s their encirclement like?” Ma Yun demanded details.
Bu Eunseol’s gaze hardened. “Haven’t you grasped the situation? Didn’t I say your necks are on the line?” He spoke with authority. “Your lives are at stake, so fight like it.”
The situation was clear.
Shang Liang’s eyes gleamed. “Let’s go, Brother!” As if awakening a dormant ferocity, he drew a hidden judge’s brush and shouted boldly, “As he says, we must protect our own necks! Haha!”
“Fine by me!” Ma Yun said, grabbing two gleaming sickles from the armory in the secret room. “It’s been a while since my Death Scythes tasted blood.”
“Oh, and my lady, apologies for the late introduction,” Shang Liang said, bowing deeply to So-ok. “I’m Shang Liang, head of the Yueyang branch. You may not know us, but we’ve known of you for a long time…”
“I remember,” So-ok said. “You two are the Gong Twin Demons, aren’t you?”
Shang Liang grinned widely, clasping his hands. “You remember us!”
Glancing at Bu Eunseol, he continued, “Pardon my boldness, but if this job goes well, please put in a good word for us.”
“What do you mean…?”
“We made some mistakes and were demoted here from Majeon… heh heh.”
So-ok smiled and nodded. “I see. I’ll speak to my father.”
“Really? Thank you!” Shang Liang and Ma Yun exchanged looks as if their problems were solved. “Stay here and take cover, my lady!” they said, bowing deeply. “We’ll fortify this place and eliminate every assassin!”
With that, they launched into the night sky with whirlwind-like lightness. Watching their retreating figures, Bu Eunseol nodded softly. ‘So they were the Gong Twin Demons.’
Gong Shang Liang and Gong Ma Yun, the Gong Twin Demons.
Once dominant in the Yangguang martial world, they held high ranks as incense masters in Majeon. But years ago, in Guilin, they clashed with orthodox sect members and killed them—unaware those were key spies on a critical mission for Majeon.
Stripped of their ranks and imprisoned in Majeon’s dungeon, they were assigned to the Yueyang branch to serve out their sentence as operatives kept dying.
Whoosh.
The sound of dozens of figures slicing through the air echoed from afar. The assassins had clearly tracked Bu Eunseol and So-ok to the bookstore.
“If things go wrong, this place will be our grave,” So-ok said, smiling lightly despite the life-or-death stakes.
“Save such talk for when you’re dying,” Bu Eunseol replied, wiping the blood from his face and turning. “Get inside.”
“I…” So-ok hesitated, stepping closer and looking at his face. “Is this your real face?”
The Face and Bone Shifting Art consumed significant energy. After expending so much in battle, Bu Eunseol’s true face had emerged.
“Yes,” he said, nodding reluctantly.
Though soaked in blood and sweat, his skin was strikingly fair, his eyes long and noble like a phoenix’s, as if a mystical dragon from the clouds had descended in human form.
“Get inside,” he urged. “Don’t come out until I open the door.”
As he moved to close it, So-ok, snapping out of her daze, stepped forward. “Actually, my surname isn’t So… it’s Dan.”
Blushing, she whispered, “My real name is Dan So-ok. I hope you’ll remember it, Mr. Tiger.”
‘Dan So-ok…’ Bu Eunseol’s eyes flickered.
In the martial world, only one bore that name: the treasured jewel of Majeon’s military commander, a genius hindered by the cursed Yin-Severing Meridian, unable to practice martial arts. Yet her brilliance had marked her as a candidate for Majeon’s next chief strategist.
“So you’re the young lady of the military commander,” he said, his gaze steady despite her status.
“Get inside.”
“You didn’t answer,” she pressed.
Bu Eunseol nodded reluctantly. “I’ll remember.”
“Then tell me your name.”
“Later.”
“I might die here,” she said, her eyes filled with longing. “I want to know your real name before I die.”
Her fervent gaze left him at a loss for words.
“You won’t die,” he said, avoiding her eyes and gripping the door. “I’ll tell you when this is over.”
“Really?” Though he’d said it offhandedly, Dan So-ok beamed with joy.
Thud. Crack!
Bu Eunseol closed the secret room’s door and broke the mechanism, ensuring no one could enter unless she opened it.
Hiss.
A strange sound filled the bookstore, like thousands of insects scattering.
‘They’ve breached.’ Despite Shang Liang and Ma Yun’s frantic efforts to fend off the assassins, their human wave tactics had broken through.
Shing.
Bu Eunseol drew his longsword, staring into the void. No need to use the Beast Way to sense their presence—the bookstore was already thick with their killing intent.
“You can still escape and live,” a sinister voice echoed from the darkness. “You’re young. No need to throw your life away.”
Rustle.
Like swarming insects, the hidden assassins revealed themselves, surrounding him like hundreds of dark spirits from hell. Even the boldest martial artist would feel fear in such a situation.
“Funny,” Bu Eunseol said.
Unfortunately for them, their opponent was Bu Eunseol. Having seen others’ die daily, fear was a long-forgotten emotion.
“Are you scared?” he asked.
“What?”
“Assassins only speak for one reason,” he said coldly, lips curling. “When they’re not sure they can win.”
The assassin’s eyes wavered, struck by the truth. Indeed, Bu Eunseol’s overwhelming presence had prompted their subtle offer of escape.
“Such confidence,” the assassin said.
Shing.
The assassins drew their dark blades in unison.
“We’ll erase every trace of your existence.”
Clatter!
With a low hum, the ground vibrated, and books on the shelves around Bu Eunseol scattered. The assassins had deployed a strange formation, exerting immense pressure on him. Raising his longsword silently, a blood-red glint flashed in Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
One hour.
The life-or-death battle for that single hour had begun.
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