"The assassin is coming?"
After hearing the explanation, Sister Soso’s eyes widened, and she trembled. The other disciples held their breath and stared at me. In the suffocating silence, Song Chu-gi spoke.
“You said in ten days?”
"A day has passed, so now it’s nine days.” "Are you certain?" "The sect leader said so himself, so it must be true." At the second mention of the sect leader, they all exchanged glances and nodded. “I thought all he did was chase women and wine… ahem."
When Jeon Hyeon nudged him in the side, Wang Se-won quickly trailed off and cleared his throat. The others pretended not to hear, each lost in their own thoughts. Seeing that no one rebuked him for his slip of the tongue, it seemed their trust in the sect leader wasn't very high.
Thinking back, their desire to kill the assassin was to avenge their head instructor, whom they called their big brother. No one mentioned the former sect leader who died with him.
It was natural for Sister Soso, who had lost her husband and the father of her child, but it was a bit surprising that the other disciples felt the same way.
“How will you prepare? The assassin is no ordinary master. Any subordinates he brings along will be formidable as well.”
The young master would probably help the sect leader face the assassin. That left only six of us, including myself and Sister Soso, to deal with the remaining men.
“We are prepared,” Song Chu-gi and the disciples said with grim expressions.
Sister Soso bit her lip and clutched the sword resting beside her. I understood their sincerity, but determination alone wouldn't be enough. We needed to make a plan, coordinate our movements, and prepare for the worst-case scenario.
Before that, there was something I had to confirm. "If you don't mind, let's have a sparring session.”
“…A sparring session?”
"To work together, we must first know each other's skills, shouldn't we?” After glancing at the other disciples, Song Chu-gi spoke.
“Very well.
I was curious anyway, after hearing you sparred with the young master.” “Hehe, my Black Wind Sword will finally get to sing after a long time.” As Lee Ho joked like a bandit, Wang Se-won snorted in disbelief.
“Use a wooden sword. A wooden sword. Great Hero Jeong didn't even lose to the young master.
You think your neck will still be attached if you use real swords?” We all went outside and headed to the training ground. Ju-gyeong, who had been playing alone, took Sister Soso’s hand and came with us.
There was no one in the pavilions, buildings, or the passages between them. Even though it was daytime, the place felt eerie, like an abandoned house. "Are the sect leader and the young master not on good terms?"
Sister Soso pondered for a moment before slowly nodding. “The sect leader is a cold man, lacking affection. But in his younger days, he was a promising martial artist who even took second place in the Mount Hua Sect's lay disciple tournament."
"He was close to becoming a true disciple of the Mount Hua Sect, but something must have gone wrong."
"They say his personality became a bit eccentric after that. Still, he met Madam Yu at Mount Hua back then, and they eventually married.” "Does he have any other children?" “No. Only the young master.” "He didn't take any concubines?" “The sect leader only had eyes for Madam Yu. Perhaps because the young master didn't meet his expectations, he was always strict with him."
"Things were manageable while Madam Yu was alive. After she passed away, the father and son’s relationship completely fell apart.”
“When did Madam Yu pass away?”
“She died of an illness four years ago.”
“Four years ago, was that when the former sect leader also…?”
Gazing at her young son who was running ahead, Sister Soso lowered her voice.
“About a month after Madam Yu passed away, the former sect leader and my husband met their end.”
Was it a coincidence? It could be. Or perhaps there was a connection.
The sect leader and the assassin seemed to know each other. What about the sect leader’s wife?
"Does the young master resemble his mother a lot?"
"Hmm, not particularly. But I think their personalities are a bit similar…” The outline of the incident was beginning to form in my mind.
According to the sect leader, the assassin had been targeting the Western Shadow Sword Sect for a long time for some reason. Nothing happened while Madam Yu was alive, but he took action as soon as she died. Could it be that Madam Yu’s presence had been holding the assassin back?
Was it related to what happened at Mount Hua that day? Something that happened after he failed to win the lay disciple tournament and become a true disciple, but still managed to marry Madam Yu… The training ground used by the disciples was located behind the living quarters.
It seemed to have been neglected for a while, as weeds grew wild in many places. As I stood in the center with a wooden sword, Song Chu-gi stepped forward.
"I look forward to your guidance."
"I will learn from you.” After exchanging a fist-and-palm salute, Song Chu-gi slowly raised his wooden sword above his head. He took a sword stance, gathered his breath for a moment, and then charged forward like a madman.
It went without saying that Song Chu-gi’s martial ability was inferior to the young master’s from yesterday. His fierce thrusts and the linking of his forms were top-notch, but he lacked the characteristic swiftness and phantom sword of the Mount Hua Sect.
Then again, even for a lay disciple sect, they couldn't teach the martial arts of the Mount Hua Sect to every disciple. It wouldn't have been difficult to subdue him, but I dragged out the match as long as possible to properly assess his skills.
I didn't use any forms from the Heavenly Steel Saber Technique, only the fundamentals of the saber technique to respond. This was something only a master could do against opponents of a much lower level. Song Chu-gi knew this well, so he gritted his teeth and raised his momentum.
After seeing enough, I inserted my wooden sword into an opening in his form and twisted. When his sword path was suddenly blocked and his wooden sword was knocked to the side, Song Chu-gi was startled and let go. The wooden sword flew away, and my wooden sword stopped right in front of his neck.
Song Chu-gi wore a look of dismay and gave a bitter smile.
“Hah, your skills are truly worthy of sparring with the young master. I have learned a great deal.”
Song Chu-gi gave a fist-and-palm salute and stepped back. Immediately, Lee Ho took his place with a look of great anticipation. Lee Ho’s martial ability was a notch below Song Chu-gi’s. Wang Se-won and Jeon Hyeon were about the same.
I was about to end the sparring there when Sister Soso stood before me.
"You too, sister?"
“I have to do it too. What? Not confident?”
Facing my sister as she swung her wooden sword around like she was shooing away a stray dog with a broom, a wave of emotions washed over me. I didn't want to fight my sister. But I had to check her skills to make a proper plan.
"Here I come."
"Come on."
Sister Soso used the same sword technique as the other disciples, but her martial ability was not on their level. Considering she had only been learning martial arts for four years, her skills weren't that bad. No matter how she swung her wooden sword, it was either blocked or cut through empty air.
After struggling for a long time, she exhausted herself and collapsed. Sitting on the ground, she blinked and looked up at me with wonder. Remembering me from my childhood, her surprise seemed that much greater.
“... You’ve grown up a lot.”
I grinned, extended my hand, and helped her up. Despite losing the sparring session, everyone looked cheerful. It seemed they felt reassured that I was a greater master than they had thought.
On the other hand, my worries deepened. Could I really do this with these people? Not knowing the skill level of the assassin's subordinates was extremely unsettling.
If the sect leader had to sacrifice his sect to cultivate his inner energy, they were surely not to be underestimated. If we were unlucky, we could all be wiped out without even getting to swing our swords properly.
The disciples might be willing to throw their lives away to avenge the head instructor they looked up to as their big brother, but I was not. I couldn't let Sister Soso and Ju-gyeong die. If I used my inner energy, I probably wouldn't lose, but even that wasn't a guarantee.
The only fortunate thing was that we had the advantage of choosing the battlefield. Scanning the vast interior of the sword school beyond the living quarters, I carefully recalled the methods I had used when I was hired by factions in the past. "We need to set up traps.”
"Traps?"
“First, let’s cut some bamboo.”
We cut down bamboo that was still green and elastic, and fixed it firmly inside the walls. A rope was wrapped around the end of a bamboo stalk, pulled taut at an angle, and then hooked onto a support driven into the ground to create a snare.
The bamboo and rope were clearly visible now, but at night, the darkness would conceal them.
“Will this work? Whoa!”
Lee Ho, who had curiously stepped into the snare, was instantly flipped upside down and left dangling halfway up the wall. Wang Se-won and Jeon Hyeon burst out laughing.
“Hahaha, this one’s a big catch!”
“Was he hibernating or something? Why is his bottom so plump?”
Snares alone were not enough. I searched the warehouse and found quite a few daggers and rusty swords left behind by former disciples. I took them all out and hung them upside down from the long eaves of the building.
“Lure the enemy over here, then pull this.”
When I pulled the rope, the blades fell like icicles and stuck deep into the frozen ground. Song Chu-gi shivered and clicked his tongue.
“Astounding. What did you do for a living, Great Hero?”
I felt proud but also a little embarrassed. These were just desperate measures I had learned and mastered while struggling to survive with my lacking martial ability. If my martial arts had been strong, I would have charged in recklessly with just a single sword.
I was a decent master now, but if I let my guard down, trusting only in my martial arts, death could come in an instant. Since we didn't know their skill level, we had to avoid a direct confrontation as much as possible.
As I wracked my brain for what else we could do, I remembered the method the Underworld Clan members used against demonic sect warriors who used inner energy. "Do you have anything like a net?”
“A net? We should have some. We used to catch fish in the stream during the summer.”
Searching the warehouse, I found a large pile of old nets.
“Take these nets and spread out in a wide formation with me at the center.”
“What are you planning?”
"A Heavenly Net.” When I explained how to capture a master using continuous net throws, their expressions hardened. Song Chu-gi frowned and spoke. “Great Hero, our martial ability may not be to your satisfaction, but we are disciples of the Western Shadow Sword Sect."
"We are not fishermen. How can you ask us to use crude nets like these?” Lee Ho, Wang Se-won, and Jeon Hyeon nodded in agreement, their faces displeased.
I had proposed the traps and nets after confirming their skills through sparring. Anyone could see that I had judged their martial skills to be unhelpful and had come up with another plan. The martial arts they had polished their entire lives since childhood, the sweat they shed, the days they endured in training…
They must have felt as if all of it was being utterly ignored and negated. The Underworld Clan members were bottom-tier martial artists who hadn't properly learned martial arts. The same went for wandering swordsmen and dark path factions like the Black Night Gang.
The disciples of the Western Shadow Sword Sect were different. They were martial artists belonging to a proper orthodox sect of a considerable size. Even if it was a lay disciple sect, their pride must have been immense.
Traps were one thing, but being told to put down their swords and cast nets was something that could surely be felt as a humiliation. I had expected some resistance, but it was stronger than I thought. “Did you not say you were prepared?”
Song Chu-gi’s expression turned serious as he stared straight at me. “I am prepared. Prepared to die fighting, not to flee.
But even if I die, I will die with the sword I've held my entire life in my hand."
"What could be more futile in this world than to die by the blade while throwing some crude net?” I wondered if he could say such things in front of members of the Tang Clan, who specialized in poison and hidden weapons.
I had never seen one myself, but I heard that among the hidden weapons used by the Tang Clan were nets coated in poison. "Is it more important to use any means necessary to kill the assassin and get revenge? Or is it right to be defeated in a fair fight and only increase your resentment?”
The disciples couldn't easily refute that. They knew it in their heads. It was just that what I showed them was not the method of revenge they wanted.
In the uncomfortable silence, Sister Soso bent down and picked up a net.
“What should I do?”
"Sister-in-law, even so…” Song Chu-gi tried to stop her, but Sister Soso shook her head resolutely. “If I can avenge my husband, I’ll do anything.
I’d even cover myself in filth, let alone use a net.” With Sister Soso taking that stance, the disciples could no longer be stubborn. Following my instructions, they kept a proper distance and, with reluctant hands, cast and retrieved the nets.
“Fishermen who catch men, what a thing.” “How is this any different from bandits?” “Still, it seems to be effective.”
The self-deprecating laments that had been rambling on vanished when Jeon Hyeon, who charged in with a real sword, was entangled in the net and fell. Flustered, Jeon Hyeon swung his sword furiously, but the net did not tear easily.
He could cut through the net by moving his sword quickly with inner energy, but before he could, the disciples’ swords would pierce his body first. Just like how the Underworld Clan members had used nets and spears to take down demonic sect warriors who used inner energy. Would this be enough?
I didn't know. Even if we managed to dispose of the remnants, if the sect leader couldn't defeat the assassin, it would all be for naught. If things went south, I would have to take Sister Soso and Ju-gyeong and escape.
It was the dead of winter, but fortunately, Red Wave Village had several inns. I had enough money, so we could hide in an inn until Tang Hye-seo and Gwang-hyo returned, then go back to the Western Village with them.
As for Sister Soso’s unfulfilled revenge for the assassin, we would have to look to a future that might never come. After the first day's sparring, I clashed wooden swords with the disciples in the training ground every day.
The difference in our martial ability was so great that it was less a sparring session and more a training session with me as the instructor. Despite learning from me, who was young enough to be their little brother or nephew, they all swung their wooden swords with determination.
As if they were thrilled to be able to train to their heart's content after so long, they never seemed to tire and kept charging at me. The rest of the time, we installed additional traps throughout the sword school.
We memorized the locations of the traps to recognize them even in the dark, planned our movements, and secured escape routes. The sect leader would occasionally watch from a distance but said nothing. The young master remained holed up in his quarters the entire time.
As we moved busily and prepared step by step, nine days passed in a flash. The morning of the day the assassin was to arrive, the sect leader gathered the disciples. “Tonight, at the hour of the dog, the assassin will come to take my head and this sword school.
I will protect what is mine."
"As for you, decide your own course of action. You may meet your end under the plaque of this sword school, or you may leave.” The sect leader still reeked of alcohol, but his eyes were clearer and deeper than ever before.
The aura he exuded was also much more refined than before. It seemed he had poured out all three bottles of spiritual wine to bring his body to its peak condition. I, Sister Soso, and the disciples of the Western Shadow Sword Sect did a final check of the traps and our planned movements, then ate an early dinner.
Being winter, the sun set before early evening. The streets were quite lively with the lights from taverns and inns. The sword school, too, lit up its pavilions brightly for the first time in a long while.
Around the hour of the dog, a clattering sound stirred the heavy silence. I went outside and climbed onto the wall. Looking out by the light of the moon, I saw a single carriage approaching from the far end of the dark main road.