Chapter 40. Who Can We Blame?
Manbakja was equally dumbfounded.
"Damn, that bastard's gonna die!"
"......"
Juyang couldn't respond to Manbakja's cursing. He stood completely dazed.
His trance wasn't from fear. Rather, his joy had grown too overwhelming to express or contain.
How could he not rejoice?
The man who'd hired assassins had only been fulfilling Beomhang's dying wish.
Yet that same friend had now slaughtered those assassins.
Snapped necks. Blades through hearts.
"Master Man... can you believe this?"
Plop.
Juyang finally let his tears fall.
"What now?"
"My friend Beomhang... He killed to survive. Actually killed people."
Manbakja's face twisted into a disgusted grimace.
"You're touched by that? Shit, if he murders a dozen more we could throw a neighborhood festival!"
"You understand my feelings..."
"Yeah yeah, moved to tears. Got it?"
"Hahahaha!"
"Eh? Lord Juyang, this hardly seems the time for emotional revelations."
"Then what should I do?"
Manbakja's brow furrowed.
"Are you blind? The Grandmaster of Cheonhwaseogo's charging here looking murderous. You should hide."
Of course Juyang saw too.
His friend approached with terrifying speed, face contorted in rage.
Juyang smiled through tears.
"He's just overjoyed to see me! Ecstatic!"
"Ecstatic enough to kill you?"
"Precisely. Our bond runs deeper than blood."
Manbakja tilted his head before nodding.
"Fair enough. Can't blame others after begging for death yourself."
As Beomhang closed the distance, Juyang's chest heaved like bellows, breaths coming in frantic bursts.
"Master Man! His running form! How? Killing prowess and athletic grace combined! This is miraculous!"
Could any day hold more meaning?
Both he and Beomhang lived.
Juyang's joy overflowed.
"Beomhang, my brother! Come! Soar to me!"
Juyang spread his arms wide.
"Fly" proved no mere metaphor.
Beomhang's qinggong defied reality - leaping from the first floor's eaves, rebounding off second and third story window frames, before shooting through the fourth floor window like a human arrow.
Juyang welcomed him with open arms.
The Grandmaster extended his hand in kind.
His fist connected with Juyang's jaw.
CRACK.
"Guh-ACK!"
Juyang's body cartwheeled through tables and chairs before crumpling. Knocked out instantly.
Tears of joy still streaked his face. His smile remained intact even in unconsciousness.
The Grandmaster loomed over him, furious.
"Fool! If you'd read my letter, you'd have prepared! Are you brainless or just suicidal?"
Having inherited Beomhang's memories, the Grandmaster had anticipated this disaster. He'd dictated warnings through Songhwa, stressing that direct contact would reveal his transformed nature.
Yet Juyang had blundered into catastrophe.
Manbakja cautiously interjected.
"Ahem... Lord Beomhang? Our friend here seems... indisposed."
The Grandmaster turned, eyes narrowing.
'Manbakja?'
The informant flinched under that piercing gaze - a sensation of being mentally undressed, every secret laid bare. This went beyond mere martial prowess.
Indignation flared.
Being scrutinized like a criminal grated beyond reason.
"What, gonna beat me too? You ordered the hit, now complain when we deliver? Wanna fight?"
The Grandmaster remained silent.
No retort came.
Chongguan.
The Seomun Family.
The assassination contract on Juyang.
Who could he blame?
All consequences of Beomhang's own shit-stirring. At least the mess stopped here - the original's memories held no further complications.
'How much did this weasel Manbakja earn from meddling?'
The Grandmaster knew him well - the "Money Ghost" who'd sniffed out lucrative secrets during his Jianghu days. Useful, if cheap.
His gaze shifted to the blue-robed swordsman cradling Juyang. The guard's competent qinggong drew silent mockery.
'Loyalty or incompetence?'
What guard watches their master get punched? Likely Juyang had forbidden intervention. Both master and servant seemed equally absurd.
Upon waking, Juyang received another beating - this time from Cheonhwaseogo's family head.
The revelation of encoded assassination letters horrified the clan. The patriarch tearfully spanked his disciple's backside.
'How you've suffered! What torment!'
Master and disciple wept together. The patriarch had been grandfather and teacher to Juyang since childhood.
**
"Thwack! Thwack! Sounded brutal. You alive?"
"Master Man! Worry about Elder's hands, not my back."
That night, Juyang sat opposite Manbakja in temporary quarters.
"Heh. Regardless... thank you."
"For what?"
"Seeing Cheonhwaseogo in my lifetime. I never thought... Truly, this is your doing."
"Hardly my merit. Did you come for tea... or to cuddle for safety? I don't mind either."
Manbakja's face contorted at Juyang's quip.
"Never joke again. Your humor's deader than winter."
"That bad?"
"Worse. Antarctica with frostbite."
"...Understood."
Juyang slumped.
Manbakja jabbed his shoulder.
"Wallowing later. We've unresolved business."
"Business?"
"The contract remains active."
"What?"
"Forgotten? Mugeuk Salbu never stops."
"Oh!"
Juyang straightened. Mugeuk meant infinity - contracts only ended with the target's death. Originally perfect for suicidal Beomhang, now problematic.
"Can't we cancel?"
"Impossible."
"Double the payment? Surely-"
"The Jianghu doesn't work that way. Money isn't everything. Weren't you ready to die penniless earlier?"
"......"
"Finally grasping the severity?"
"You have a solution?"
"Me?"
Manbakja blinked rapidly, pointing at himself.
"Who else?"
"Sorry, impossible. Mugeuk's rules are absolute."
"Then... lifelong pursuit?"
"Until Beomhang dies or all their assassins perish. Then their deputy leader comes. Vicious bastards."
"Truly?"
"Truly."
"Then it's simple."
"Simple? Are you sleepwalking?"
Manbakja clapped sharply before Juyang's face.
"I heard if Mugeuk's forces get wiped out, it ends?"
"Correct."
"Let's exterminate them. Assassin groups shouldn't exist."
"......What?"
Manbakja's brain short-circuited.
Juyang continued earnestly:
"They're murderers for hire. Eradication benefits all."
"But... you hired them!"
"Exactly! Hence my responsibility."
Manbakja shivered. This wasn't humor - Juyang's conviction radiated coldly. True madness of wealth.
"Brilliant... but impossible. Assassins have honor codes. Rivals like Jeokhonbu or Eunjarim won't turn on Mugeuk."
"Troublesome."
"Obviously! Could Shaolin's abbot be assassinated? Or the Beggar Sect's leader? Even targeting the world's strongest martial artist would get all your killers slaughtered."
"Haah......"
Juyang's sigh could depress continents.
Then Manbakja's chuckle revived him.
"Fool! Why use assassins? Many experts would fight Mugeuk... for money."
"Oh-ho!"
Juyang's eyes reignited.
"Though it'll cost..."
Manbakja's voice turned honeyed.
