My Younger Siblings Are the Greatest Masters in the World - Chapter 61
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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61.
The target is a porter from Jinan, his name is Seol Mujin.
The mission is to eliminate the target and retrieve the black box.
Since the target’s appearance destruction and movement patterns were already identified, it wasn’t a particularly difficult mission.
The variable was the three children traveling with the target.
There were no separate orders regarding the three children, but they decided to eliminate all three children as well.
Hwa Bongseong, leader of the Wolgang Unit, used hand signals to position his three subordinates.
The assassins in black clothes and matching black masks climbed onto the inn’s roof in perfect coordination.
Since they had already identified the location of the room where the four people were sleeping, the mission would end quickly.
One assassin removed the roof tiles and drilled a hole in the ceiling.
Two beds with blankets bulging up were visible.
Hwa Bongseong used his fingers to indicate the positions the three assassins should target.
It was the ceiling above the beds where Seol Mujin and the children were sleeping.
Hwa Bongseong drew his knife and nodded to the three assassins.
Slash!
After cutting the ceiling they were standing on in a circle with their knives, the four assassins dropped toward their targets.
Thud!
The sound of four knives piercing the bodies of four people was heard almost simultaneously.
But they soon realized something was wrong.
The sensation transmitted through the knives wasn’t that of human flesh.
When they lifted the blankets, they only saw white pillows pierced by knives.
“Assassins, how refreshing.”
At the voice from behind, they quickly turned around.
Hiss—!
Fire tongs lit a candle.
In the space where darkness had been pushed back, Seol Mujin and the three children were there.
From the situation, it was clear they had known about the surprise attack.
“How did you know?”
The girl said.
“When you follow us making such a racket, it’s impossible not to notice.”
“You noticed our surveillance? That can’t be. How could a mere porter…?”
Seol Mujin walked toward the assassins and said.
“Why is the word ‘mere’ always attached before the title porter? What’s wrong with being a porter?”
When the assassins didn’t answer, Seol Mujin muttered, “Well, it wasn’t a question I asked expecting an answer,” and drew his sword.
A child’s voice was heard from behind Seol Mujin.
“After always fighting with us, now he’s excited to face weaklings. He’s excited.”
Seol Mujin said to the assassins.
“Thanks for showing up. Let me get a taste of some action too.”
“What are you saying? Kill him!”
As Hwa Bongseong’s command fell, the four assassins simultaneously rushed toward Seol Mujin.
The net of blades cast in the narrow room was so dense that there was no space for Seol Mujin to escape.
That’s what they believed, but none of the net’s strands could reach Seol Mujin.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
The sound of metal cutting through bodies was heard consecutively, then the three assassins to Hwa Bongseong’s left collapsed like straw.
Without even a scream, blood was spurting from the necks of the assassins clutching their throats.
“What is this…?”
With a sword resting on his shoulder, Hwa Bongseong closed his mouth and moved his eyes as far left as possible.
Seol Mujin behind him wasn’t visible, only the blade that made his eyes sting.
Seol Mujin’s voice was heard.
“Who is the client who commissioned you to kill us?”
“I don’t know.”
The sword moved slightly, piercing through the mask and cutting the skin.
Despite the sharp pain, Hwa Bongseong had nothing to say.
The girl said.
“Brother, just kill him. Those guys are just pawns who do whatever they’re told. They can’t know anything.”
“It’s like a porter’s instinct.”
As soon as the words ended, Hwa Bongseong’s neck flew off cleanly.
Seol Changho, watching the head rolling on the floor, said.
“It’s the Transcendence Unit.”
Seol Mantong asked.
“What’s that?”
“One of Murim’s three great assassin groups.”
Seol Changho picked up the severed head and swept up the hair on the back of the skull.
At the spot that used to be called the neck, there was a crescent moon tattoo.
“It’s the mark of a Transcendence Unit assassin.”
Seol Ryeoseon snorted.
“You mean they stupidly expose their identity with tattoos?”
“It’s a tattoo that only special-grade assassins in the Transcendence Unit get. It’s like confidence that they won’t fail. Whoever it is, they spent quite a bit of money on this job.”
Seol Mujin, who had been pondering something while looking at the assassins’ corpses, burst into laughter.
“The Namgung Family must have used their heads too, right?”
Seol Ryeoseon asked.
“The Namgung Family used their heads?”
“Very few people in the Namgung Family would know about the Third Prince’s deal, right? Probably less than ten people?”
“That would be right.”
“But the fact that I was attacked means the secret leaked from one of those few people.”
Seol Changho asked.
“Couldn’t it have leaked from the Third Prince’s side?”
“Could the Third Prince’s side know exactly who I am? I don’t think the Namgung Family would have told them that precisely.”
“You think the Namgung Family used you to expose a spy?”
“Deliver the letter and expose the spy. Killing two birds with one stone.”
Seol Mantong clenched his fist.
“How dare these bastards use my brother?”
Seol Mujin calmed down the excited Seol Mantong.
“There’s nothing to be angry about. It means the Namgung Family trusts me that much.”
Seol Ryeoseon nodded.
“Brother’s right about that. They sent you because they trust that you can protect yourself. Still, it’s annoying that it’s annoying.”
Seol Mujin looked at the corpses and scratched the back of his head.
“But it looks like we’ll have to sleep outdoors tonight? We can’t stay at the inn with the room in this state.”
Seol Changho turned around and said.
“That’s great. It means more time for internal energy cultivation.”
“That’s right. Heh heh heh…”
Seol Mujin’s shoulders drooped as he followed the delighted twins.
***
Third Prince Ju Cheonmyeong’s hand stopped while looking at documents.
“What did you say?”
“Inspector Dong has been taken by the Imperial Guards on murder charges.”
“You’re saying Dong Muhyeok, who is an Imperial Guard, was arrested by the Imperial Guards on murder charges?”
Baek Seongjoo bowed his head and answered.
“That is correct.”
“Who did he kill?”
“It is said to be Ibu Sirang’s daughter.”
“What? Why would Dong Muhyeok kill Ibu Sirang’s daughter?”
For most crimes, even murder, Ju Cheonmyeong could get someone out with just a word.
Dong Muhyeok was worth that effort.
Dong Muhyeok was someone who would play an important role in controlling the Imperial Guard, the emperor’s personal guard and surveillance organization.
But if the person killed was the daughter of a second-rank minister like Ibu Sirang, the story was different.
Even Ju Cheonmyeong couldn’t make a murderer who killed Ibu Sirang’s daughter innocent.
“According to Inspector Dong, he and Ibu Sirang’s daughter were lovers, but when he woke up in the morning, she was dead.”
“So he was framed? But why was he arrested?”
A fourth-rank inspector was not a low position within the Imperial Guard.
No matter how suspicious, they wouldn’t arrest him immediately.
“He was arrested at the scene holding the weapon that killed the victim.”
“This is troublesome. Go to the palace immediately and bring Minister Yeon.”
***
It was a common Hwajeommin village that could be seen anywhere.
Where smoke should be rising from chimneys to prepare lunch and children should be running around giggling, the place was instead wrapped in silence.
That silence was covered like a blanket by dozens of corpses.
Who could have committed such an atrocity?
It could have been bandits, mounted bandits, or perhaps innocent victims of the uprisings occurring throughout the Central Plains.
This was already the third such scene they had encountered while passing through eight counties.
Large cities like Jinan operated relatively stably, but no one could guarantee safety in remote villages like this.
Seol Mujin picked up a pickaxe rolling on the ground.
And he silently dug in the open space in front of the village.
The triplets also helped Seol Mujin create a pit to bury the bodies.
This was all they could do.
What a damned world.
***
Clang!
When the knife filled with blade energy and the sword filled with sword energy clashed violently, Seol Ryeoseon’s shout was heard.
“That’s enough!”
Seol Mantong stepped back and said.
“Has it already been an hour?”
It felt like just a moment to Seol Mantong, but to Seol Mujin it felt like an eternity.
Seol Mujin collapsed and gasped for breath.
They had sparred dozens of times on the way to Beijing, but today was the most dangerous.
If Seol Mantong had attacked like today in their first sparring match, Seol Mujin might have lost his head then.
Seol Ryeoseon crouched down beside the collapsed Seol Mujin’s head.
“Brother, if you had fought like today back then, you would have easily beaten someone like Namgung Cheolsang. You’ve worked hard all this time.”
That sparring was the last one.
They had finally arrived in Beijing.
After taking a simple bath in a mountain stream, Seol Mujin changed into clean clothes.
Because he had an identification badge as an escort, entering Beijing wasn’t difficult.
The place where Namgung Cheolsang had told him to deliver the box was a trading house called Shangwulu on Wanhualu in Beijing.
Beijing was so vast that it was divided into inner and outer cities.
So they had to walk for quite a while.
“Compared to Beijing, Jinan is just a country village.”
The main street was wide enough for four carriages to pass side by side, with many people passing by and large, splendid buildings.
It seemed like half the population of the Central Plains lived in Beijing.
The triplets’ eyes also widened.
Even the triplets, who seemed to have been everywhere in the Central Plains, were visiting Beijing for the first time.
“It certainly is splendid.”
“Everyone’s wearing silk clothes and leather shoes. Money must be overflowing here.”
During the hour they walked after entering the inner city, they seemed to have seen more carriages than all the palanquins they had seen in their entire lives.
After asking for directions repeatedly to reach Wanhualu, it had already become a dim evening.
But Beijing’s night seemed brighter than day.
On both sides of the main street, splendid restaurants, pleasure houses, taverns, eateries, and trading houses scattered brilliant light to tempt passersby.
Seol Mujin quickened his pace and said.
“Let’s quickly deliver the box and eat.”
The four of them had been taking turns with their stomachs growling for a while now.
Only after asking five passersby could they finally find a trading house with a sign reading Shangwulu.
Four passersby had shaken their heads saying they didn’t know, which was understandable given how small the trading house was.
Shangwulu, combining both floors, was less than thirty pyeong and far from splendid.
Perhaps because of this, not a single customer was visible.
“This place is quiet.”
But then a head suddenly popped up from under the counter at the entrance.
“There are four customers on the second floor.”
It was a middle-aged man with a mustache under his nose.
Seol Mujin said politely.
“I came to deliver something.”
The middle-aged man’s smile disappeared at the words “deliver something.”
The middle-aged man looked back and forth between Seol Mujin and the triplets and asked.
“Did you come from Jinan?”
“That’s right.”
“Are you perhaps Escort Wang?”
“I’m Seol Podoo.”
“I see. Please go to the second floor.”
As they climbed the stairs to the second floor, the middle-aged man put up a rope to block entry at the stairway entrance.
The middle-aged man’s words about having customers on the second floor were a lie.
The middle-aged man pointed to a corner seat on the empty second floor.
“Please sit over there.”
When they took their seats, the middle-aged man sat across from Seol Mujin.
“You can call me Wang Noban. But…”
Wang Noban looked at the triplets and continued.
“Traveling with children for this kind of work… it’s good for disguise, but…”
Seol Mujin took out the box from his bundle.
“Here it is.”
When Wang Noban received the box that Seol Mujin offered, Seol Mujin stood up from his seat.
“It seems I’ve finished my job.”
“What?”
“Well then, I’ll be going.”
Wang Noban called out to stop Seol Mujin as he was about to leave.
“It seems there’s still business left to discuss?”
“My business ends with delivering that.”
“I’m merely the keeper of this box. You’ll have to meet the owner when they arrive.”
“I don’t see any reason why I should meet this owner.”
“That’s what Seol Podoo thinks. Anyway, wait until tomorrow. I’ve secured an inn for you.”
After thinking for a moment, Seol Mujin asked.
“Where is this inn?”
Wang Noban gave him a palm-sized red paper along with the name Heungwha Inn.
“It’s only two li from here even if you walk slowly, so it’s not far.”
When Wang Noban was about to give directions, Seol Ryeoseon spoke up.
“I know where it is. I saw it on the way here. It’s at the entrance of Wanhualu.”
“You’re a sharp-eyed little one.”
They hurriedly left Shangwulu.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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