Became a God-Level M Chapter 256 : Night of the Assassins

Chapter 256: Night of the Assassins

The safe house of Shinsalgwi, located in Jingn County, Hubei Province.

Tak tak tak—the crisp sound of a blade striking a chopping board rang out repeatedly.

Shinsalgwi sat in a cross-legged position, his eyes gently closed as he continued circulating his qi and regulating his breathing.

At first, the constant clatter of his disciple noisily cooking sothing had been rather distracting. However, after several days of it continuing, he had grown accustod to the sound.

‘Is it at soup today?’

Shinsalgwi let his thoughts wander for a mont at the clear, savory aroma brushing past his nose, then startled when he sensed his qi about to tangle and quickly refocused.

Even while being pursued by the Deathshroud—more precisely by the Twin Slaughter Ghost and the Blind Slaughter Ghost—he was still calmly circulating his qi. That, in itself, ant he trusted his disciple that much.

How much ti had passed like that?

“Hu……”

Shinsalgwi slowly opened his eyes and exhaled deeply. Fine streams of qi were expelled along with his breath.

His body had fully recovered. As for his internal injuries, several days of nourishnt and rest had soothed them close to their usual state.

It was a rare mont of leisure.

The situation felt strangely ironic.

He had lived his entire life as an assassin and had never let down his guard—not while eating, not while using the latrine, not even while sleeping.

Yet now, trusting his disciple, enjoying the food prepared for him, and calmly circulating his qi like this……

‘I really have grown old.’

Because he had never stopped running, he had not realized it.

But once he actually rested, he understood.

He was old now, and the comfort that rest brought had surpassed the sense of achievent he once gained as an assassin.

“Eat.”

As always, Seo Yu-gyeom spoke curtly as he set a small table in front of Shinsalgwi.

It was a simple al tray laid out with at soup poured over rice and several small side dishes.

Shinsalgwi stared at it for a mont before speaking.

“Have you ever seen an assassin wash his hands in a golden basin?”

Seo Yu-gyeom narrowed his eyes and looked at his master.

“Washing one’s hands in a golden basin” literally ant washing one’s hands in a golden basin, a ritual of cutting off all grudges and ties within Murim.

In other words, it signified retirent from Murim.

If one had any unresolved grudges, they had to be settled before performing the ritual. Attacking soone afterward under the pretext of past enmity would invite condemnation from the entire world.

“Well. I’ve never seen it myself. Even if soone did wash their hands in a golden basin…… would those who lost family or friends to an assassin really accept it?”

Seo Yu-gyeom considered it from his own perspective.

If so assassin bastard killed Jin Seong-un, Seomun Ak, Lee Seowon, or Moyong Hyeon, then went and washed his hands in a golden basin?

Golden basin or not, he would hunt them down and kill them.

Well, maybe Moyong Hyeon could get a pass.

“You’re right. Washing one’s hands in a golden basin is too generous a notion for an assassin. An assassin’s retirent is death. Until death, there’s no washing away the karma of killing.”

“Stop being gloomy and eat, Master.”

“…….”

Shinsalgwi glared at his disciple for no particular reason, then resud his al.

For a while, only the soft clatter of tableware echoed as the two ate in silence.

As the al was nearing its end, Seo Yu-gyeom asked casually.

“Have you ever killed anyone who wasn’t a martial artist?”

“No. You seem to have forgotten, but I am the Vice Leader of the Deathshroud.”

True enough. They wouldn’t have used an assassin of vice-leader rank to kill an ordinary rchant or official.

Shinsalgwi, the finest assassin of his era next only to the King of Assassins, had spent his entire life killing only formidable masters.

Seo Yu-gyeom nodded and spoke.

“In that sense, I’m the sa. I was quite the capable assassin myself.”

“……What are you getting at?”

“Jin Seong-un hates assassins to begin with. Few people like killing others for money. Anyway, that’s the furthest he was willing to compromise—the line he could tolerate. Whether you only killed martial artists, or whether you killed other weak folk as well. I was lucky enough to have only killed martial artists, so I could work at the inn.”

Martial artists were people who accepted death as a consequence of grudges. Their deaths were neither pitiable nor unjust.

That was why Jin Seong-un had accepted Seo Yu-gyeom into the inn. If Seo Yu-gyeom had taken money to kill so neighborhood fruit vendor, Jin Seong-un would never have accepted it.

The aning behind Seo Yu-gyeom’s words was clear.

“You’re telling

to work at that inn? To spend the rest of my days chopping vegetables like you?”

“Hah. You think just anyone can cook? Of course you’d start from the bottom. As a waiter. You’d beco the junior of Seomun Ak and Moyong Hyeon.”

Seo Yu-gyeom briefly imagined his master as a waiter. A chuckle escaped him involuntarily.

Shinsalgwi looked at him as if he were dumbfounded.

“I’d be lucky if I didn’t kill those two brats. Do you think I’d even speak to them out of fear?”

“At first, it’d be awkward. And scary. But if you don’t wipe the tables properly, Seomun Ak will eventually explode. He’ll say sothing like, ‘Do you think wiping like that will remove the stains?’ He’ll hesitate, but he’ll still say it. In the end, he always does. Because he’s an idiot.”

Shinsalgwi couldn’t tell whether his disciple was insulting them or praising them.

Even so, he could feel that Seo Yu-gyeom had completely blended into the space called Seong-un Inn.

It was a rather pleasing sight.

And so, Shinsalgwi changed his mind.

“That’s enough. You’re done with this now. I’ll handle the rest.”

He thought it only right to send his disciple back ‘ho’. Having attended to him for several days was more than enough to fulfill the duty between master and disciple.

When Shinsalgwi said that, Seo Yu-gyeom didn’t even pretend to listen. Living his daily life at Seong-un Inn had taught him how to lightly ignore nonsense.

“Forget it. Let’s retire like proper assassins. What golden basin?”

“What is a proper assassin’s retirent, then?”

“Killing every last bastard who looks like they’d disturb my peaceful old age.”

“……You’re still insane.”

Shinsalgwi said so, yet he couldn’t think of a better solution.

The Twin Slaughter Ghost and the Blind Slaughter Ghost clearly intended to kill him. As for the Phantom Ghost, he was a man without firm resolve, soone worth talking to.

‘The problem is the King of Assassins.’

If he, the Vice Leader, suddenly declared retirent and left the Deathshroud, how would the King of Assassins react?

He couldn’t predict the man’s actions or thoughts at all. Even after decades together, it was the sa. The King of Assassins had always been that sort of person.

“Master. You look troubled. Let’s try acting like Jin Seong-un.”

“You talk a lot about the Guest Dragon.”

“He’s beco the center of my life. Anyway, Jin Seong-un’s logic is very simple.”

“And that is?”

“First, do what needs to be done. Think about the aftermath later. If there’s an answer, follow it. If there isn’t, make one.”

It was a refreshingly clear logic.

And ‘what needed to be done’ was equally clear.

Having fully recovered, he needed to go find the Twin Slaughter Ghost and the Blind Slaughter Ghost.

Shinsalgwi rose from his seat after finishing his al.

He felt the desire to retire. Of course, as his disciple said, he couldn’t live while working at Seong-un Inn.

He simply wanted to build a small house by a scenic lakeside and live out his days fishing.

It was an extravagant thought for soone who was an assassin.

As Shinsalgwi stepped outside, he spoke.

“I’ll be back.”

“Let’s go and co back.”

Seo Yu-gyeom said as he followed alongside him.

Shinsalgwi knew his disciple’s stubbornness well. No amount of persuasion would work.

After glaring at Seo Yu-gyeom for a mont, Shinsalgwi suddenly swung a knife-hand strike like lightning. He intended to knock him out and leave alone.

Tak.

Seo Yu-gyeom raised his arm and blocked it.

After casually stopping Shinsalgwi’s surprise attack, Seo Yu-gyeom wore a faint, victorious smile.

“…….”

Seeing that smile made Shinsalgwi feel stifled.

When had this disciple grown so strong—and so infuriating?

“I said I’m going alone.”

“Don’t order

around.”

“…….”

Fearing that further conversation would cause his carefully healed internal injuries to relapse, Shinsalgwi broke into a sprint.

After all, he couldn’t exactly unleash a lethal technique on his own disciple just to knock him out.

Conversely, that also ant Seo Yu-gyeom had grown strong enough that suppressing him would be difficult unless he fought in earnest.

Thus, Shinsalgwi decided to use extre movent arts to shake his disciple off.

Shinsalgwi (God-Slaying Ghost).

The man called the greatest assassin of the era, excluding the King of Assassins.

His movent arts had reached the realm of a true master. He ran as if gliding across the surface of a lake and dashed along cliffs as though they were flat ground.

“…….”

And yet, his disciple remained right beside him the entire ti.

At this point, Shinsalgwi could no longer deny it.

‘Just how…….’

The boy was growing at a speed that couldn’t even be compared to when he had been in the Deathshroud.

It was incomprehensible. How could he beco stronger faster while spending his days cooking than when he trained relentlessly every single day?

Now, even when Shinsalgwi unleashed his movent arts at full power, he couldn’t shake his disciple off. On the contrary, there was a constant air of ease on the boy’s face.

Seo Yu-gyeom casually spoke up.

“Our Master has really grown old now. Ah, how heartbreaking.”

“…….”

Shinsalgwi clenched his teeth and ran.

Even so, Seo Yu-gyeom never lost his composure.

That was only natural. No matter how extraordinary Shinsalgwi’s lightness skill was, it couldn’t compare to Jin Seong-un, who had inherited the techniques of the greatest thief of all ti, the Divine Thief Without Shadows.

Seo Yu-gyeom was a man who had been following Jin Seong-un closely as of late.

Contrary to Shinsalgwi’s thoughts, Seo Yu-gyeom had actually undergone harsher and more exhausting training at Seong-un Inn than he ever had in the Deathshroud.

“Want

to carry you?”

“…….”

Role reversal.

A situation where the disciple guided the master.

Shinsalgwi shut his ears, fearing that inner demons might strike before he even reached the Twin Slaughter Ghost’s safe house.

Near Hamnyeong County.

It was a place where the influence of the Murim Alliance’s main base in Wuhan barely managed to reach.

Any assassin with common sense would never establish a safe house in a place like this.

However, the assassins of the Deathshroud had always exploited such common sense.

After all, the area beneath the lamp was darkest.

In the end, Shinsalgwi failed to shake off his disciple.

In the end, Seo Yu-gyeom failed to send his master off alone.

The two assassins—both of whom no longer wished to live as assassins—stepped side by side into the washing place.

During bright dayti hours, village won gathered here to do laundry.

At this late hour of night, however, it was an empty place where only the gentle sound of flowing water could be heard.

Shinsalgwi and Seo Yu-gyeom drew their daggers simultaneously. Their movents were perfectly identical, as though copied from the sa mold.

Slash—!

Blood burst out from both sides.

Disciples of the Twin Slaughter Ghost, who had been approaching stealthily, were each killed as their throats were severed.

“Master, let’s make a wager.”

“Nonsense.”

“The one who kills more gets their way. If I kill more, Master becos Seomun Ak’s junior.”

“…….”

Shinsalgwi didn’t respond.

Instead, he suddenly hurled his body forward.

“Hey, that’s cheating—!”

Seo Yu-gyeom hurriedly chased after him.

The secret safe house of the Twin Slaughter Ghost—a Deathshroud instructor and executive—was being brutally torn apart by two assassins.

.

.

.

Blood-soaked, Shinsalgwi and Seo Yu-gyeom briefly surveyed their surroundings. Assassins who followed the Twin Slaughter Ghost lay strewn about as corpses.

However, the Twin Slaughter Ghost himself was nowhere to be found.

Moreover, only a small fraction of the assassins under his command had been present here.

“He ran.”

“Looks like he was afraid of us.”

Shinsalgwi let out a sigh.

Now, there were two choices.

“Since we’ve already started, we can continue pursuing the Twin Slaughter Ghost. Or we can change direction and launch a surprise attack on the Blind Slaughter Ghost’s safe house.”

“There’s one more option.”

“What is it?”

“Let’s stop by the inn for a bit. I think I’ll feel more at ease after checking on that side first.”

Seo Yu-gyeom secretly hoped that the assassins would foolishly head toward Seong-un Inn, yet a corner of his heart still worried.

Shinsalgwi nodded. He, too, was concerned about Seong-un Inn. More precisely, he was worried about how his disciple would react if anything went wrong there.

Shinsalgwi asked quietly.

“How is your killing intent?”

“It’s gotten much better lately. Ever since learning Ice Arts, my mind feels calr. And maybe because cooking itself is an extension of killing, it’s been fairly effective.”

The sole side effect of the Heaven-Slaying Star.

A phenonon where killing intent broke free of control and ran rampant.

Seo Yu-gyeom had worked tirelessly to resolve it and had achieved considerable results.

Shinsalgwi nodded.

“That’s a relief.”

“Master. Don’t keep slipping in awkward, itchy words like that. Let’s just keep living the way we always have.”

“Even when I worry about you, you complain…….”

Seo Yu-gyeom stared at his master with wide eyes.

Crude profanity flowed without hesitation from the mouth of a master who was, for an assassin, remarkably refined.

That sight was unbearably amusing.

Seo Yu-gyeom chuckled softly before speaking.

“Then let’s go. This ti as well, we run without resting.”

And so, the two assassins once again lted into the night scenery.

Hubei Province, Yichang.

Seo Yu-gyeom and Shinsalgwi ran without rest and arrived at Seong-un Inn. The eastern sky was faintly beginning to brighten.

“Master. Take a good look at this street. You’ll be sweeping and polishing it yourself later.”

“Nonsense.”

Seo Yu-gyeom laughed. Looking now, even his master, Shinsalgwi, was a man worth teasing. Since no one had ever dared to mock him before, there was even a sense of accomplishnt in blazing this new trail.

Shinsalgwi ignored Seo Yu-gyeom, treating him like a lunatic. Soon, the two entered the inn.

And the sight that greeted them was……

“There was a real madman after all.”

Shinsalgwi muttered in quiet admiration.

He had felt apologetic toward Jin Seong-un. It felt as though he had saddled the man with an insane yet immature disciple.

But now he saw that wasn’t the case. The innkeeper himself was clearly not in his right mind either.

Assassins of the Deathshroud were seated throughout the inn. Naturally, all of them had their acupoints sealed and were tightly bound with ropes.

So many had been captured that there wasn’t a single empty seat left in the inn.

At a glance, it looked like so kind of year-end ‘Night of the Assassins’ event.

Each assassin even had a dish placed in front of them—food personally prepared by Jin Seong-un.

Among the bound assassins was the Phantom Ghost.

Upon spotting the Vice Leader, the Phantom Ghost spoke.

“Senior Shinsalgwi. I was reckless. Let’s make peace here. No, please—tell that mad bastard to let

go. I’d rather be killed.”

Just then, Jin Seong-un erged from the kitchen, placed a bowl of food in front of the Phantom Ghost, and said,

“I’ve said it many tis—an inn is not a place to kill people. It’s a place to serve food to guests. So eat.”

The color drained completely from the Phantom Ghost’s face.

Elite assassins who endured torture well were desperately holding on, but a few inexperienced ones had already vomited their guts out.

“…….”

Shinsalgwi and Seo Yu-gyeom stared at Jin Seong-un in disbelief, while Jin Seong-un calmly greeted the two.

“As expected, this Chief Steward’s thod was correct once again.”

Though things had deviated slightly from the original plan, he had found Seo Yu-gyeom in the end. In that sense, Lee Seowon had been right.