Chapter 61 —

Two days later.

Preparations for the father’s birthday celebration were getting more and more intense. The streets of Luoyang were full of people, and even the inns had no rooms left.

The Jin family mansion was just as busy.

Servants and maids rushed around, making it clear that a major event was coming.

But the training grounds were still as noisy as ever—even though over 40 martial artists had left.

Especially Jang Chuhyung was being loud.

“Huff, huff… huff!”

“No! You’re doing the Fierce Tiger Strike all wrong! You’ll die doing it that way!”

Jang Chuhyung had started real martial arts training now, and it showed.

He was covered in bruises and panting heavily. The Southern Wild-style martial arts he was learning were rough and brutal—very different from ordinary Central Plains styles.

When he collapsed from training, the other martial artists used it as an excuse to hit him as payback.

But there was a silver lining.

The Jin family’s martial artists toughened up, and Jang Chuhyung was improving fast.

Even compared to the recent Black Bull Guild incident, he’d gotten much stronger in just a short time.

His brawling-style master Ak Gucheon seemed to match him perfectly.

“…Please, let me live…”

Jang Chuhyung still whined, of course.

I looked at him and smiled. I’d seen this look before—back when he trained out of desperation, full of revenge and a desire to protect me. Now, he wasn’t as desperate.

“If you hang in there, I’ll give you a reward.”

“…Anything?”

“Yeah.”

“Even going to the pleasure house?”

“Yes.”

“And I can eat and drink as much as I want?!”

“Do whatever you like.”

His eyes lit up with motivation. He slowly got up and clenched his fists. Then he screamed at his master like a madman:

“Let’s go! You dog of a teacher!”

“What? You little brat!”

He clearly didn’t think Ak Gucheon would mind being insulted.

But as the master got closer with a scary look, Chuhyung’s confident face turned pale.

Wham!

“Ack!”

He flew through the air from one punch and crashed to the ground.

“Tsk tsk…”

I clicked my tongue and turned to leave.

As I was walking away, Ak Gucheon looked at me while still holding Chuhyung by the collar.

“Where are you going?”

“I have somewhere to be.”

“You took all the fun guys with you. Are you doing something interesting without me?”

“I wouldn’t say fun… They’re just doing their job.”

“Where are they?”

“You don’t need to know.”

“If there’s anything fun, let me in! I’m dying of boredom.”

“You seem to be having plenty of fun already.”

“Watching this kid suffer? I want something really exciting!”

He looked at me like an excited child. Honestly, it was a little creepy.

I backed away and said,

“Please keep training him properly. Soon… something interesting will happen.”

“Oh? Will I enjoy it?”

“Can’t promise, but it’ll be better than now.”

“Hahaha! Alright! I’ll be patient!”

Ak Gucheon let go of Jang Chuhyung and laughed loudly, clearly in a good mood. If he weren’t, he’d have thrown another punch.

I smiled bitterly and left.

There are other gates in the Jin mansion besides the main one. Some secret side gates are used only by close family members.

They’re perfect for leaving unnoticed, so I’ve been using them often.

After sneaking out and walking for a while, I reached a small hut.

Lifting the floor revealed a hidden passage leading to a secret base.

After walking a bit, I opened a door and stepped into a clean room.

Outside, in the large courtyard, 40 martial artists were sitting together, looking miserable.

“Sigh… How much are we gonna get hit today?”

“I wanna go home. Please let me go.”

“I’d rather be hit by Master Ak. At least with him, you pass out after one punch. This… this is just endless pain…”

Their complaints told me how tough the last two days had been.

Even Yang Jachun, who usually spoke up, stayed quiet—so I knew he agreed with them.

I smiled.

They all turned slowly and nervously to look at me.

“…Sir, you’re here.”

Yang Jachun stood up first and greeted me. The others followed quickly.

“Good day, sir!”

“Thank you for your guidance!”

I looked around at them without saying a word.

Their foreheads started sweating nervously.

Except for one person—Gu Gunbaek, in the far back. He had the sharpest eyes.

Even though his martial level was the lowest, I could feel his strong desire to improve.

I nodded, then slowly raised my wooden sword.

“Huh?!”

“A-Are we starting already?”

“Didn’t I tell you? I plan to push hard in a short time.”

Yang Jachun closed his eyes, then pulled out his sword.

The others followed suit.

They knew now: running or avoiding wouldn’t change anything.

“From today, we’re going all out. Be ready.”

Making people improve in a short time is nearly impossible—especially if they’ve already formed their own style.

But I could make them used to something.

Like their enemy’s sword.

I pulled out all the sword techniques of the Shadow Assassins I had memorized.

Not a perfect match, but enough to prepare them.

If they got used to seeing these attacks, they’d survive.

“Let’s begin.”

The Shadow Assassins’ style is sneaky.

You never know if the sword path you see is real or fake until it hits you.

Their footwork is the same—so fast and silent that even when they’re right in front of you, they seem like a blur.

If you’re not careful, you’ll die.

Wham!

“Ack?!”

Yang Jachun went flying. I backed off and swung my sword.

Wham! Wham! Wham!

Three more went down instantly.

Just then, Gu Gunbaek charged at me with his sword.

I dodged and twisted my weapon.

My wooden sword headed toward his gut, then suddenly shifted and aimed for his throat.

Clang!

But he saw it coming and blocked it.

Nice.

That’s what I wanted to see.

All that pain these past two days paid off.

I licked my lips and smiled.

It was time to push even harder.

Wham! Wham! Wham!

“Aaaaah!”

“Urgh?!”

“S-Sir! Please go easy—urk!”

Back on the streets of Luoyang…

The streets were more crowded than ever. Because of the Jin Patriarch’s birthday celebration, there was barely space to walk.

It looked like a festival.

In the middle of it all sat a man quietly eating noodles.

He seemed to enjoy them, barely pausing to breathe.

“Haah—.”

After finishing the broth, the food stall owner quickly brought him a second bowl.

“You seem to like it, sir! I’m glad you’re enjoying it!”

“So this is why the young master from the Jin family comes here often. It’s tasty.”

“Thank you! Yes, Master Jin visits us often.”

“But not recently?”

“Hmm, probably because of the upcoming birthday event. He’s been busy.”

The man—Sagongchun—nodded and slurped more noodles.

“Does that old man named Hong Guhyeon still come here?”

“Ah, Master Hong? He’s currently out of town.”

“Out of town?”

“Yes, the young master was quite ill recently. He’s better now, but I heard Master Hong went to Beijing.”

“Beijing? Why?”

“To see a royal physician, maybe? The Jin family isn’t tied to the martial world, but they have strong ties to the imperial court.”

Sagongchun listened but looked confused.

Then, the stall owner went to serve another customer.

Sagongchun clicked his tongue and looked away.

At that moment, the stall owner served dumplings to a customer and subtly tapped his finger—signaling something.

The customer stood up and left without a word.

Unfortunately, Sagongchun didn’t see that.

His ears were focused on a secret message.

“Still no sign of the 10th unit.”

“Something’s off.”

He had already seen the signal from Unit 10, but there’d been no response for a while.

Not a single operative had shown themselves near the Jin estate. That was suspicious.

Did something go wrong?

He didn’t want to imagine it, but his gut said something was wrong.

And his instincts were usually right—especially when they pointed to disaster.

Then another message came:

“Unit 1 has confirmed something.”

“What?”

“Jin Chunwoo has the jade pendant. They watched him for days to be sure.”

Jade pendant?

Sagongchun clenched his fist.

He had lost one pendant before—he couldn’t afford another mistake.

His eyes darkened with determination.