The Hour of the Pig was nearly over.
The street gradually became deserted, but many Murim people still decorated the street.
And.
At some point, Dong Bong-soo began moving among them.
***
Kill Shadow Number Ten was hiding under the eaves of a house about thirty meters south of Nangnang Tavern.
Not just him alone—other Kill Shadow Group members were also hiding in various spots throughout this street.
From his perch, he could clearly see Number Twenty-Two concealed deep within the opposite alleyway. The moon was bright, and the position where Number Ten was hiding was relatively higher than Number Twenty-Two.
He glanced at Number Twenty-Two once, then turned his gaze back to the entrance of Nangnang Tavern where the target was.
The target, with half his face covered by his bangs, was still standing in that spot.
Is he just watching people passing by?
Number Ten felt frustrated when he couldn't see the target's eyes well. As assassins typically do, he too predicted attack timing and movements by watching the target's eyes. However, this target had that completely blocked off, so he felt somewhat frustrated. Moreover, the fact that there was absolutely no information about the target was also playing a part.
'Damn it. Why the hell isn't that bastard moving?'
Could he have noticed the Kill Shadow Group's presence?
That was impossible.
Though Kill Shadow Group's origins were utterly base, the training they'd received was no different from hell itself. When it came to hiding alone, even peak masters would find it difficult to match them.
Number Ten believed in himself and trusted his comrades. All of them had been mobilized. At this level, wouldn't they be able to fully assassinate even a peak-level figure from the Nine Sects?
Kill Shadow Group never missed a target they'd marked. Since he became a member, there had never been a single failure. It would be the same this time. Information about the target or such things wouldn't be very important.
Number Ten's eyes, sunken in the darkness, sank even lower.
'Move. Move. The moment you move.'
You're a dead man!
It was when he was shouting that in his heart.
'...!'
The target finally moved.
The target suddenly mixed into the crowd.
Number Ten's eyes snapped wide open. Since there were not only the target but also many other people on the street, he had to be careful not to lose him.
'Fifty steps, forty-nine steps, forty-eight steps....'
Number Ten kept measuring the distance with the target to avoid losing him. He couldn't see them, but probably all the other Kill Shadow Group members were tensely alert right now. The moment the target approached right in front of them, within one or two steps, they would all unleash their assassination techniques.
Number Ten continued counting.
'Thirty-eight steps, thirty-seven steps, thirty-... six steps!?'
'Hm!? He disappeared?'
The target suddenly....
Was gone. Though people were crowding about, since the target's appearance and clothing were distinctive, it should have been impossible to lose him....
He'd lost him.
Not only that, even though dozens of Kill Shadow Group members were simultaneously watching the target, the target vanished without a trace.
Flustered, Number Ten looked at Number Twenty-Two across from him. However, Number Twenty-Two was also looking back at him, having apparently lost the target too.
'It's real! He really disappeared!'
Both simultaneously looked back at where the target first disappeared. It was in the middle of the road. There was nowhere to hide. Unless one had Concealment Arts at the level of the Kill Shadow Group Leader, no one could disappear from that spot. No, even the Kill Shadow Group Leader couldn't just vanish like that. At minimum, there should have been signs of deploying Concealment Arts.
Yet the target literally just....
Disappeared!?
For the Kill Shadow Group, losing a target meant the same as losing one's life.
The Group Leader's orders were absolute to them.
If they failed an order given by that mysterious woman who used such a Group Leader like a hand or foot?
It was the end.
"Damn it—!"
Perhaps Number Ten had even forgotten the Kill Shadow Group's group instruction to 'not speak during missions,' as he unconsciously made a sound with his mouth and came down slightly from the eaves.
When he looked across, Number Twenty-Two was also revealing his body slightly outside the alley. And from the opposite side of that alley, Number Thirty-Eight, who had been blocking the target's escape route, stepped out into the street.
Had he discovered the target?
Puck.
The moment Number Ten thought that!
Number Thirty-Eight's head fell off.
"...!"
He had absolutely no idea how it happened. But it was clear who did it.
The target! The target was hiding somewhere and unleashed an assassin strike. Then vanished again without a trace.
"Hah!"
"Wha, what!?"
"Kyaaah!"
At the suddenly created headless corpse, the people filling the street were startled and scattered in all directions. In an instant, the street became a mess and fell into chaos.
With that, not just Number Ten—Kill Shadow Group now became even more unable to grasp who the target was.
And from that moment, the slaughter began.
Puck.
Number Forty-One, hidden atop a rooftop across the street, died next. For the briefest moment, a shadow could be glimpsed behind him—but only for an instant.
Immediately after severing Number Forty-One's neck, the target disappeared again.
Puck. Puck. Puck...
Number Seven, Number Nine, Number Fifteen....
The number of Kill Shadow Group members continued decreasing.
"Tha, that...!?"
Now occasionally he could see the target's form. And occasionally he couldn't see even a shadow at all. It was unpredictable.
When visible, he moved faster than 'fast' could describe. The more Kill Shadow Group members he killed, the faster he became, and sometimes he disappeared as if extinguished on that spot, and at times he vanished as if entering into a pillar.
No one could catch his movements. That wasn't Concealment Arts, Movement Technique, or anything.
What should he call it?
The opponent was just a ghost! A ghost.
"Gho, ghost! It's a ghost!"
As if voicing Number Ten's thoughts, a bystander shrieked—triggering an even wilder stampede.
Several of the Kill Shadow Group members also tried to leave the scene mixed in with them. But no one could escape. The target, no, the ghost killed Kill Shadow Group members trying to escape first.
With that, the Kill Shadow Group members' range of action narrowed even more. Number Ten was the same, and Number Twenty-Two across from him was exactly the same. The fear that moving first meant dying was imprinted in everyone's minds.
Puck, puck, puck...
But staying still didn't mean one could survive either. The slaughter scene unfolded in various spots throughout the street regardless of movement.
Puck, puck, puck...
"..."
Number Ten merely waited with his mouth hanging open. For his turn to come.
Then at some moment.
Puck.
Across from him, the head of Number Twenty-Two, who had been standing dazed with his mouth open just like him, disappeared.
The Killer who severed Number Twenty-Two's neck turned his body and looked this way.
Of course, Number Ten couldn't move. Not because he knew any movement would be useless. His body, legs, arms just... didn't move.
Swish.
The ghost disappeared again. Probably that characteristic Movement Technique.
Immediately goosebumps rose on his back.
Behind. The ghost appeared behind. He could tell without looking.
Because the scent of blood was sharply stimulating his nose. Soon his own blood would be included there too.
"Who is she?"
The ghost spoke.
The ghost's voice was special too. Was he indeed different from humans? It was an emotionless voice that didn't contain even a hair's worth of feeling.
Number Ten's eyes trembled. Number Ten didn't know who the 'she' he was referring to was. Just that she used the Group Leader like a hand or foot.
"I..."
Number Ten opened his mouth to say 'I don't know.' But the sound didn't come out of his mouth.
Because his neck was already sliding sideways, his eye level was gradually lowering, and his consciousness had already fled far away.
From that moment, the new Hour of the Rat arrived and a new day dawned.
***
"Oh my. Today already ended. What a shame."
Yeon Yeong-ha clicked her tongue as if disappointed.
She was sitting perched on a branch of an oak tree on a hill about hundred meters from Nangnang Tavern. From there, she'd watched everything unfold in front of Nangnang Tavern.
Though she was seeing a similar scene for the third time, it was still fascinating.
Abnormal.
That person was a human who deviated from the normal track. Like herself... perhaps even more abnormal.
If she watched once or twice more, she felt she might understand... unfortunately, the day ended. That was what disappointed Yeon Yeong-ha.
"Old Uncle, did you see?"
Even at her words, the shadow remained unmoved. There was no answer.
"Right, of course. There's no way Old Uncle could have seen properly."
At her continuing words, the shadow finally rippled.
"Hm? Me? You're asking if I saw?"
"..."
"I didn't see either. That's why it's driving me even crazier. Three times wasn't enough. Far from enough."
A mere three times wasn't even enough to understand.
Disappearing and appearing....
Not just his body alone. Even the sword held in his hand appeared and disappeared, existed and vanished... It was unbelievable, but it was a fact she'd clearly seen with her own two eyes.
Even now, there was no sword held in his hand. Though there had definitely been a sword in his hand when he killed the last Kill Shadow Group member.
[Kill. Kill them all.]
The Heavenly Calamity Energy boiled up again.
Yeon Yeong-ha's pupils turned jet black.
It was difficult to hold back. But she couldn't let the Heavenly Calamity Energy run wild here.
1
"I'm going crazy. I'm really going to lose it. Old Uncle. I'm dying to play with that guy."
Was it because he saw her jet-black eyes? The shadow trembled as if struck by madness.
"There's something called Noga Village if you go about five kilometers over the back of this hill, right?"
As if affirming her words, the shadow swayed along the tree branch again.
Twinkle.
Her jet-black pupils shone with madness.
In those pitch-black pupils, Dong Bong-soo leisurely returning to the Murim Alliance was visible, and even the Murim Alliance patrol members who had come upon hearing news of the slaughter were captured.
Though she wanted to play with everyone there, it wasn't time for that yet.
Anyway, the big event called the Heavenly Youth Martial Arts Tournament would unfold soon.
Not yet... now wasn't the time. Today, I should just catch a few bugs to soothe the Heavenly Calamity Energy.
Dong Bong-soo soon disappeared from her view, and Yeon Yeong-ha also flew her body to the back of the hill and left the scene. Now only the patrol members, busy collecting corpses and onlookers simultaneously feeling fear and curiosity at the ghost's appearance remained there.
A while later, day broke.