Chapter 12: Prepare for the Sect War!

“Hmm… They are definitely the Bloodhand Clan bastards.”

Master muttered as he examined the corpses inside the cave.

It wasn’t for the person who made those corpses to say, but the sight before his eyes was terrible.

Especially the corpse of the 1st class expert who was killed last.

!!!

Her whole body was hacked to pieces, and the wounds were further widened as her inner energy exploded, and her head was cut off as a confirmation kill.

The pool of blood illuminated by the torchlight was still glistening.

“Anyway, you guys are amazing… I know you were lucky, but there were more of them, and they were higher level than you, but you annihilated them all.”

I lowered my head at Master’s words.

“I will recommend Nan-cheong to the Gwiyeong Hall. I will do it, I probably won’t be able to reject even if I look at my face.”

Nan-cheong’s face lit up brightly.

“Do you like it that much?”

“Because all of the special-grade assassins are from Gwiyeong Hall. I have admired it since before.”

I learned from Nan-cheong.

Gwiyeong Hall was one of the most famous educational facilities even in the Thousand Slaughter Valley.

But if all of the special-grade assassins came from there…

“Are Madam Number 4 and Sister Number 17 also from Gwiyeong Hall?”

“Of course. They both took the top spot in their class. They were talented people who were recognized by the Thousand Slaughter Valley. That’s why the group boldly invested.”

“Then the other special-grade assassins too.”

“Yes, they all took the top spot.”

Nan-cheong’s eyes sparkled.

Her usual calm appearance was nowhere to be found, and her expression couldn’t hide her excitement.

For her, who was just a low-ranking assassin and a servant, a recommendation to Gwiyeong Hall was like a dream.

“But… what kind of sect is the Bloodhand Clan?”

“It’s a sect that has recently emerged.”

“Recently? But I heard that they have quite a few supreme-grade experts…”

That was quite a different story from what I knew.

“Then in big cities like Seongdo….”

“There will be at least dozens of them.”

In the original Wind and Cloud Murim, it wasn’t that common.

The maximum number of supreme-grade experts created in Seongdo was ten.

This expert inflation must be due to the Erotic Murim mode.

“Of course, Seongdo is a special case. It’s one of the biggest cities in the entire Central Plains.”

Well, Seongdo was a super-large city even in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms game.

“If there is one supreme-grade expert in a small to medium-sized city, he is no different from a king. But what’s more important is whether he cares about the government or not. First-class unorthodox martial artists still care about the government, but supreme-grades don’t even care about that.”

“Is it because the government has weakened?”

“They tended to care a little less even when the government was strong.”

“Why is that?”

I asked again.

Master closed his eyes for a moment and slowly took a breath.

“The government forces dispatched to small and medium-sized cities were at most one first-class expert who was the captain, a few second-class experts to assist him, and ordinary soldiers.”

“So there were many people who thought that if things went wrong, they could just destroy everything and run away.”

“That’s right. Those rogues, and the disciples who learned personality and martial arts from those who actually escaped or from such masters. One of the sects created by several of those people is the Bloodhand Clan.”

In short, it seemed to be a group of extremely strong criminals.

“Does the Bloodhand Clan have any transcendent experts?”

“If they did, the Thousand Slaughter Valley would have been swept away already. Like us, they have several supreme-grade experts, but they don’t have any transcendent experts.”

Master paused for a moment before continuing.

“But the number of supreme-grade experts is a bit more than us. There are more than twenty, and a little less than thirty.”

I felt a sense of oppression when I heard that.

A little less than thirty.

Definitely more than twenty.

In comparison, the Thousand Slaughter Valley’s special-grade assassins numbered seventeen.

Even if we added Master, who was a supreme-grade expert but not a special-grade assassin, it was eighteen.

Their power was definitely superior to ours.

Even so, Master’s tone was calm.

“But don’t worry too much. The confrontation between forces is not only determined by the strength of the forces.”

“If not, what other factors are there?”

“It’s the diplomatic factor. The Bloodhand Clan has many enemies. In comparison, the area they occupy is small. In other words, they won’t be able to mobilize many experts at once.”

I nodded at Master’s insight.

A short time later, the executives of the Thousand Slaughter Valley, the special-grade assassins, arrived.

Most of them were women, and a familiar face caught my eye.

It was Sister Seventeen who brought me here.

When I greeted her happily, she bowed her head slightly shyly.

“To have already accomplished this much, you’re really amazing.”

A woman who seemed a bit older among the special-grade assassins spoke to Master.

Compared to Madam Number 4 and Sister Number 17, it was difficult to call her a beauty (the comparison target was a bit overwhelming), but she had bigger breasts than the other assassins.

I also felt an atmosphere that had experienced quite a bit of the world.

That person must be Number 1…

I had a feeling.

Because she had the most veteran atmosphere among the special-grade assassins.

“What could this monk have done? It’s all thanks to these children.”

“If these young children are already so clever, it’s thanks to the great master’s good teaching.”

“So, I was wondering if we could put this child, who is my servant, into the next class of Gwiyeong Hall. Her aptitude is slightly lacking to enter Gwiyeong Hall, but this much merit should be enough.”

Nan-cheong’s face hardened at her words.

She seemed hurt by the words that her aptitude was lacking.

But soon she smiled brightly at the fact that she could enter Gwiyeong Hall.

“Let’s do that. Does anyone else have any complaints?”

Number 1 looked around at the other special-grade assassins.

But no one objected.

There was no way they could.

With Master’s recommendation and Number 1 stepping up to speak, who could object?

“And about the disciple of Great Master Gu-hyung…”

I held my breath at Number 1’s words.

A story about my future was about to come out.

Master smiled and joked.

“As for this child, it’s enough if the support you promised comes in time.”

“Well, since he is the Great Master’s disciple, the Great Master will take good care of him.”

Number 1 called Master ‘Great Master’ and expressed respect.

I smirked inwardly at the sight.

‘Great Master’, it was too far from Master’s usual actions.

He is a person who enjoys alcohol, meat, and women as much as he wants.

Although his alcohol consumption seemed to have decreased a bit recently, he still enjoyed meat, especially women, very much.

Indeed my role model.

But I only thought about such things inside.

I maintained a serious expression on the outside.

It was a disciple’s duty to protect Master’s face.

“And about the spy. First of all, our seventeen and the four special elders, including Gu-hyung Daesa, cannot be spies.

The leader of our valley will lead this.

And the special elder seemed to be referring to a male Harmony Body.

Number 1’s voice became even colder.

“First of all, all those who are suspected will be imprisoned, and those who have disappeared will be searched for, and if necessary, we will allow them to be killed. From today, our Thousand Slaughter Valley will prepare for the sect war.”

The air inside the cave seemed to freeze for a moment.

The energy of the special-grade assassins soared all at once.

“Yes, ma’am!”

The special-grade assassins’ loud answer echoed through the cave.

“Am I going to participate in the sect war too?”

I asked Master, but he shook his head.

Master’s eyes were serious, unlike usual.

I let out a hollow laugh.

I knew it would be like that, but I felt complicated when I heard it.

“Then what should I do?”

“What we have to do is clear. Before the full-scale battle begins, we have to take refuge in a safe place. There is a special shelter in this song, so we can take refuge in that room.”

The fate of the Thousand Slaughter Valley was at stake.

And the reality that I had to hide in that battle made my heart feel stuffy.

But all of the special-grade assassins seemed to think this was natural.

And the next day.

I gathered a few boys and girls.

It was to choose those who would protect me and attend to me in the future.

Perhaps she has a wider footprint than me.

This was because her older brother, Nanpa, was a good person and had a good reputation, rather than her sociability being good.

In that way, about 20 people, including the Nan-cheong Nanpa siblings, were selected.

“Hyaa, we were able to be in a safe place thanks to Young Master.”

Nanpa said jokingly.

His bright personality remained unchanged even in this situation.

His laughter made the tense atmosphere a little lighter.

Time passed and night came.

At Master’s low voice, everyone quietly rose from their seats.

Without even holding a torch, we moved with the help of the moonlight.

Master first guided us to an underground cave inside the sect.

As soon as we entered the underground cave, Master groped the wall, and somewhere there was a ‘click’ sound.

The wall moved slightly and a hidden passage was revealed.

The passage was deeper than I thought.

After walking down the narrow path for a while, another door came out, and inside was a fairly large room.

It was a double, no, triple-hidden space.

A few days after starting life in the basement, there were several restrictions because twenty people were living in a small space.

“We shouldn’t do over-training so we don’t smell too much sweat.”

Instead, everyone focused on inner energy training.

In particular, Nan-cheong’s appearance stood out.

She was deeply immersed in training with her brother.

Looking at them training, it seemed to be the Cheongseong’s inner energy heart method that they had found in the monster rat cave that day.

“It seems to be a right sect’s inner energy heart method. Where did you get it?”

Master asked with interest.

“It’s a treasure that I found in that cave with the young master. The young master gave it to me.”

Nan-cheong answered politely.

Master nodded.

“Well, our disciple is learning Shaolin’s inner energy heart method, so he doesn’t need to learn it.”

After speaking, he examined Nan-cheong and Nanpa’s posture and gave them some advice.

As expected, it was a right sect’s inner energy heart method, so it was Master’s specialty, who was originally a right sect expert.

Time in the basement flowed slowly, but finally that day came.