Swoosh!
A silver object wound its way between his fingers.
The silver object was a snake in the nearby swamp, playing with Pyo Wol's fingers for a while.
It lifted its head and stared at Pyo Wol intently.
The red eyes of the snake met Pyo Wol's deep eyes, and they seemed to communicate with each other through their eyes.
The snake flicked its tongue, and Pyo Wol smiled.
Pyo Wol had spent time with many snakes in the underground cave, and he understood their physiology and thought processes better than anyone else.
Naturally, he knew how to handle snakes.
The snake also seemed to like Pyo Wol.
It was because of the feeling of kinship that Pyo Wol emitted from his body.
That's why, without hesitation, the snake climbed onto Pyo Wol's hand when he reached out to it.
Looking into the snake's reddish eyes, Pyo Wol said, "From now on, I'll call you Gwia (鬼牙).
The snake may or may not have liked the name Gwia, but it continued to wriggle and move between Pyo Wol's fingers.
Pyo Wol already knew that this was the behavior that snakes displayed when they liked something or someone.
Gwia had been alone for a long time. It, too, had been starving for companionship and waiting for someone to reach out to it. And at just the right time, Pyo Wol appeared.
Gwia circled between Pyo Wol's fingers for a while before slipping into his sleeve and coiling around his forearm to rest.
Pyo Wol was very fond of his new little friend. He didn't need to be cautious or watch his actions around Gwia.
Pyo Wol stroked the spot where Gwia had settled and began to walk with Gwia comfortably coiled around his arm.
The night was quiet. It was so late that everyone had gone to bed.
Clink! Clink!
At that moment, a strange sound ripped through the veil of the night and echoed out.
Pausing in his steps, Pyo Wol looked toward the source of the sound.
After a moment, the owner of the sound revealed itself -it was a small doll.
Made of wood, the doll had a crude and simple appearance.
Pyo Wol had seen such dolls before.
"Hehe! Looks like you've been doing well all this time with a healthy complexion," the doll spoke as if it were a person.
In reality, it conveyed Heuk-Ho's voice, but seeing someone's voice flowing through the doll's mouth was incredibly eerie.
Pyo Wol looked around.
Today, the surroundings were even quieter than usual.
Even though it was late at night and everyone should have been asleep, there wasn't even a snoring sound.
It felt like there wasn't a single living creature on the streets.
It was not an illusion.
No signs of life could be felt from the mansions lined up on either side of Pyo Wol.
Pyo Wol asked the doll, "Did you kill everyone?"
"They were getting in the way," the doll laughed, spreading its arms wide.
Creak!
Whenever the doll laughed, the joints in the connected wood created a strange sound, making it even eerier.
At least thirty houses lined up on the street where Pyo Wol was standing.
If you calculate that each house has four people living in it, then at least 120 people have died at the hands of Heuk-Ho.
Pyo-Wol cast his gaze into the darkness.
"Did you kill all these people just to capture me?"
"That just shows how valuable you are."
"Does Lee-Yul know about this?"
"..."
The doll suddenly clamped its mouth shut.
"You're acting recklessly. Do you have the confidence to handle this? It's taboo for an assassin to defy the orders of his employer."
"Hmph! So what? Even if he's the boss, there's nothing he can do about the hundred wraith union."
Heuk-Ho snorted.
Even if Lee-Yul and his organization turned against him because of this incident, he could not overextend the matter out of respect for the reputation of the hundred wraith union.
He would have endless trouble if he couldn't take on the hundred wraith union's assassins in one fell swoop.
Lee-Yul could not attack him recklessly unless he were prepared to face all of the hundred wraith union's assassins.
The only ones who could punish the hundred wraith union's assassins were its leaders, but such instances were scarce.
Although he appeared to be acting out of madness, all of Heuk-Ho's actions were based on cold logic and calculation.
He was confident that he would not suffer any punishment or harm from this incident.
He would not have acted so recklessly if that were not the case.
After the incident where Bo-Kyung was killed, Lee-Yul blamed Heuk-Ho heavily, and Heuk-Ho was wounded in his pride.
The willingness to carry out the mission for Lee-Yul disappeared utterly.
However, abandoning the commission without a justifiable reason would harm the trust of an assassin.
An assassin who lost trust could not be hired by others.
Instead, Heuk-Ho attempted to kill Pyo Wol to conclude the deal with Lee-Yul.
He calculated that Lee-Yul would no longer make an issue of it if he just killed Pyo Wol.
Above all, Heuk-Ho felt a solid aversion to Pyo Wol.
Deep-seated anger had stirred in his chest like wildfire from the moment he first saw him.
Just being in the same space as Pyo Wol was enough to make Heuk-Ho nauseous.
He wanted to draw dozens of lines on that handsome face.
Creak! Creak!
Hundreds of dolls appeared on the roof of the mansion.
The dolls were identical to the single doll standing in front of him.
They had completely surrounded Pyo Wol.
It wasn't easy to even for Heuk-Ho to control dozens of dolls at the same time.
If so many dolls moved, they would inevitably be discovered.
So, to keep the secret, Heuk-Ho killed all the people on the street.
Thump thump!
Pyo Wol looked around at the dolls and stomped on the ground several times.
A strong resonance was felt under his feet.
Upon seeing this, Heuk-Ho shouted, "Don't fool around."
At the same time, a doll that had come close to Pyo Wol exploded, and numerous metal needles rained down like a hailstorm.
Pyo Wol swung his blade and created a shield to block the needles around his body.
Then, another doll behind Pyo Wol exploded and rained down needles.
"Huhuhu! Do you think you can stop them?" Heuk-Ho chuckled while watching the scene.
Upon seeing this, Heuk-Ho burst into laughter.
Heuk-Ho's dolls entirely dominated the streets.
There was nowhere for Pyo Wol to escape.
No matter how fast he wielded his blade to protect himself, there was a clear limit.
Boom!
The dolls exploded one after another, spewing out countless needles.
It was reminiscent of the Tang Clan's legendary Ten Thousand Flowers.
Although it was as beautiful as the scattering of flower petals, the needles from the doll's explosion were filled only with deadly energy.
The needles filled the sky, piercing through everything on the street.
Thick stone walls, mud-brick fences, and even the bodies of people inside their homes, nothing could escape the blast of the needles.
"Hehe!"
Heuk-Ho appeared from the darkness.
He was convinced that Pyo Wol was dead.
His trap was so perfect that it was impossible to survive, even if it was Heuk-Ho himself.
Heuk-Ho looked with a cold gaze at where the needles were concentrated.
But there was nothing in the direction of his gaze.
"What?"
For the first time, a bewildered expression appeared on his face.
Pop!
At that moment, something sprang up as if the ground was shaking.
The shadow flipping through the mud and dirt was Pyo Wol.
When the dolls exploded, Pyo Wol swung his blades to protect his entire body, stepped on a solid piece of wood with his legs, and added a thousand pounds of force.
The ground immediately gave way, revealing a space.
It was a drainage ditch where the mud was flowing.
The reason Pyo Wol stomped his foot before the explosion was to see if there was a space underneath.
Fortunately, as he suspected, there was a drainage ditch beneath the street.
Pyo Wol immediately jumped into the ditch.
The street was covered in needles, but he was safe in the drainage ditch. He had to get covered in filth and endure the stench, but it was worth it.
He could do worse than that if it meant saving his life.
"Siit!"
The black dragon robe instantly turned black as Pyo Wol infused his internal energy.
He was running straight toward Heuk-Ho, but Pyo Wol's figure disappeared instantly, buried in darkness.
Instinctively, Heuk-Ho swung his sword and blocked the front.
Clang!
Sparks flew as his body was pushed back. He had barely blocked the ghost blade with his sword.
Heuk-Ho was also a top assassin at Kangho.
Although Pyo Wol concealed himself in darkness, he accurately sensed Pyo Wol's location with his highly developed senses.
Kakakang!
In an instant, Pyo Wol's ghost blades clashed with Heuk-Ho's sword dozens of times.
The two of them ran down the street, wielding their weapons at each other.
Flames erupted dozens of times in the darkness, creating a short cascade of sparks that stretched to the end of the street.
Tatatatak!
This time, the two of them ran along the wall.
It would have been impossible for an ordinary person to run on the wall, but it was not a problem for the two assassins.
They knew how to efficiently cut off their opponent's breath and relentlessly attack each other's weak points.
Even though they moved so vigorously, they didn't let out a rough breath or a grunt.
The only thing that could be heard was ghost blades and swords clashing.
"Karga-gak!"
The sound of metal echoed through the quiet street like a ghost ripping apart a drum.
Sweat dripped down the back of Heuk-Ho's spine.
He didn't scream, but there were quite a few injuries on his body. They were all wounds from the ghost blade.
Some of the wounds were quite deep, and if he had dodged a little slower, he would have lost his life.
The attack of the ghost blade was genuinely fatal.
"Damn it!"
Heuk-Ho's skull-like face twisted unpleasantly.
He didn't want to admit it, but Pyo Wol's martial arts were one step ahead of his.
Moreover, Pyo Wol's movements were much more concise yet deadly.
The problem was that Pyo Wol's current skill level was not his bottom line.
Unlike himself, who was already on the brink of breathlessness, there was no change in the expression on Pyo Wol's face.
It could be an attempt to feign nonchalance, but at least it didn't seem like a lie to Heuk-Ho.
There was no way to beat Pyo Wol through normal means.
The moment Heuk-Ho admitted this fact, his gaze became even more sinister.
It was strange for the assassin to look for a usual way.
Heuk-Ho was prepared to kill Pyo Wol by any means necessary.
"Now!"
At that moment, something exploded behind Pyo Wol.
Boom!
It was a doll that Heuk-Ho had hidden, which had spit out the needles.
Pyo Wol took off his black dragon robe and swung it.
Thud!
The needles hit the black dragon robe and fell like rain.
At that moment, Heuk-Ho rushed in and swung his sword like an arrow.
Crash!
A long wound appeared on Pyo Wol's side.
Thanks to his superhuman senses and reflexes, he twisted his waist just enough to avoid any vital organs, but if his reaction had been a little slower, he would have suffered internal injuries.
Pyo Wol suppressed his pain and unleashed his Soul reaping threads.
An intangible thread flew towards Heuk-Ho, aiming for his throat. But Heuk-Ho, sensing the danger by his killer instinct, quickly moved back.
At the same time, an explosion occurred on Pyo Wol's right.
He had also hidden a doll there.
"Phfit!"
It was an explosion that Pyo Wol had never expected.
Pyo Wol swung his black dragon robe, but in the end, he couldn't avoid the three needles that hit his shoulder, abdomen, and thigh.
Heuk-Ho smiled as he saw Pyo Wol's condition.
"It's over."
The needles on the exploded doll were coated with a highly toxic substance.
It was a poison that could instantly paralyze even those with high immunity to toxins.
Heuk-Ho approached Pyo Wol with a smile.
Pyo Wol's face had turned dark red.
It was evident that the poison was working correctly.
"Hehe! It's called the Thousand Day Poison. It's an extremely potent poison that once you're infected, you can't move for a thousand days."
A human can't survive without moving.
Most likely, they would die before reaching one hundred days.
Pyo Wol would only live for a few days.
He was going to die soon.
That's when it happened.
Suddenly, Heuk-Ho's ankle stung.
As Heuk-Ho looked down, he saw a silver rope-like object biting his ankle and quickly retreating.
"A snake?"
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