Chapter 474: I'll Take This Too, In Case The Money Isn't Enough

TL: FoodieMonster007

Once again, the reactions were split. The vast majority reacted as if they were dealing with a madman. Their absolute sense of security, which came from their number being ninety-nine, made them smirk.

But a few were tense. A single worry surfaced in their minds.

What if he wasn't a madman?

If that assumption became reality, his words about silencing them would be like a grim reaper unleashing the Hell Mansion.

Yeom Je was among the worried few. He stared intently at Geom Mugeuk, trying to gauge his hidden strength, but he couldn't reach any conclusion.

The man was too young, far too young. No matter how Yeom Je looked at him, he didn't seem to be that much of a master. And yet, he was saying such things in this situation.

"The Chief has probably developed a love-hate relationship with you all, so I'll take care of it for him," Geom Mugeuk said. "Which mouths should I deal with first? From what I can see, they all look like mouths that could stand to disappear."

The immortals all frowned in unison. More than a few of them wanted to rush out and kill this insolent bastard immediately.

This was a first for Yeom Je. No master in the world would dare say such crazy things in front of them. When they were all gathered, not even the Murim Alliance would dare to invade recklessly.

Is that what he's aiming for? Trying to pretend he's a master with such arrogant words?

Yeom Je was driven to such thoughts. The more he looked, the more confusing the man was.

Right, I need to see his skills first.

Before the bastard attacks, we'll strike first.

Yeom Je said with a relaxed smile, "We have tenacious lives, so silencing our mouths won't be easy."

At a nod from Yeom Je, nine men stepped forward. They were the immortals ranked from ninety-first to ninety-ninth.

It wouldn't be too late to accurately gauge their opponent's skill and decide what to do next.

They surrounded Geom Mugeuk.

He glanced over them before speaking.

"The youngest ones, are you?"

He asked as if guessing, but Geom Mugeuk had accurately assessed their skills. Judging by their presence, they were weaker than the others.

Among so many people, Geom Mugeuk had discerned their exact skill level with just a brief glance. That wasn't all.

"It seems you've never fought together as a group either."

He saw that accurately as well. They'd never had a chance to fight in a coordinated attack.

Most of the time, they had just swarmed their enemies for revenge, carrying out one-sided massacres. Even that had rarely happened in recent times.

Trying to test my skills?

Of course, Geom Mugeuk was not one to play along with his opponent's intentions.

With his sword hanging loosely, Geom Mugeuk seemed to walk slowly toward the opponent in front of him.

WHOOSH.

In an instant, he veered to the right and charged. The movement was so fast and sudden that the man on the right had his throat slit before he could even swing his sword.

SPURT!

As blood sprayed in all directions, Geom Mugeuk's figure was already rushing toward another immortal.

The opponent instinctively thrust his sword. The two swords grazed each other in mid-air.

Because he had thoroughly concealed his true skill, Geom Mugeuk's sword was just half a step ahead of his opponent's.

STAB!

And so, when he killed the second immortal, gasps of regret erupted from the crowd. They thought that if only the immortal had been a little faster, he could have won.

The sword that had pierced the second opponent's heart now spun in a wide arc, flying toward a man charging from the opposite side.

SPLAT!

Blood from Geom Mugeuk's sword flew through the air and into the immortal's eye. It was impossible to tell if it was intentional or a coincidence, but he momentarily closed his eyes. He would never open them again.

Once again, gasps echoed from all around. How could blood get in his eye at such a moment?

As he cut down the third man, a surprise attack came from behind. It was so close that the thought 'just one more time' came to mind, but he was not given a second chance.

The one who launched the surprise attack was almost certain of his success, but the attack missed by a hair's breadth.

The blood he spewed sprayed in all directions again, obscuring the vision of the remaining immortals. He's not intentionally spraying blood like this to block their vision, is he? No, that can't be it, right? This thought occurred to the onlookers. That's how much blood was spraying like a fountain. Geom Mugeuk's fighting style was not elegant. It was rough and savage. It was a fight reeking of blood.

Of course, there was a reason Geom Mugeuk fought like this. The fight was nail-bitingly close. If only he were a little faster. If only he had attacked from a slightly different angle. Leaving behind such regrets, the remaining immortals fell one after another. The sighs of regret continued, and by the time the ninth sigh ended, all of them lay dead.

The smell of the blood they had shed filled the hall. The silence was naturally heavier than when the ninety-ninth immortal had died. They never imagined that nine masters would die like this without inflicting a single scratch on their opponent.

However, they didn't think the opponent was all that great either. Instead, most of the onlookers got the impression, 'What a lucky bastard!'

In their eyes, it was a fight lost by the narrowest of margins.

Moreover, Geom Mugeuk's swordsmanship was too ordinary. You should defend like that, and attack like this. It was the kind of fight that would be perfect to show to beginners just starting to learn martial arts. A fight that seemed like it could be illustrated and published as a textbook.

Of course, the fight looked different in Yeom Je's eyes.

It looked like he was just fighting instinctively, but…

His nine subordinates had never once managed a proper coordinated attack. If two, or even three, had attacked simultaneously, they could have surely controlled the fight more easily. They must have tried to attack together, but their opponent's movements didn't allow it, and in the end, they were defeated one by one.

What if this was an intentional fight? What if this nail-biting, lucky fight was actually a thoroughly calculated one?

Yeom Je knew. He knew how difficult it was to kill them with basic skills. It was far more difficult than killing them using a flashy technique.

This bastard, he has a hidden card up his sleeve.

Geom Mugeuk flicked the blood from his sword. He then looked at Yeom Je and said, "Well, I've silenced some mouths for you. Now, how about you pay your debt?"

Yeom Je didn't answer.

Where in the world did they find a guy like this and send him?

Geom Mugeuk saw the unconcealable greed revealed on Yeom Je's face. Through his prior investigation of them, Geom Mugeuk already knew what kind of man Yeom Je was. He was a man who valued money more than his subordinates. He was the type who would rather give up his life than hand over all the money he had earned.

That was why one should never be hasty in trying to open Yeom Je's vault. He could wipe them all out at once, but he needed to see blood, gradually escalate the atmosphere, and break down his spirit bit by bit. The main objective today wasn't to kill them, but to collect the money.

"You kill a few errand boys and now you're full of yourself."

Of course, they weren't just errand boys. But Yeom Je forced himself to maintain his imposing air while suppressing an unknown anxiety.

Who should I send?

He was debating whether he should send out the Ten Immortals to nip this in the bud.

Geom Mugeuk did something unexpected.

"Excuse me, just passing through."

Geom Mugeuk suddenly started walking toward the immortals standing on the right.

Startled by his sudden action, the immortals in that direction drew their swords and backed away. A path naturally formed as they parted to the left and right.

Though the immortals with their fierce auras glared at him from both sides, Geom Mugeuk walked between them with a completely unafraid expression. An opening was visible in his natural stride. They debated whether to attack, but the opening was so obvious that they didn't dare.

However, there was one immortal who couldn't resist. It was an attack calculated to raise his rank by ten levels in a single move.

SWISH.

It was a surprise attack that, to anyone's eyes, had landed perfectly.

PLUNGE.

Geom Mugeuk twisted his body to dodge and thrust his sword. This time, too, he had luckily avoided the attack and succeeded in a hair's-breadth counterattack.

Even in that moment, a few immortals flinched. They were tormented by the desire to seize the opportunity and attack, but the man who had just died was the forty-fifth immortal. A master of above-average skill among those present had failed in a surprise attack.

When the ninety-eighth immortal attacked, it was close, and when the forty-fifth immortal attacked, it was also close. From these results, they should have been able to draw a wise conclusion, but Geom Mugeuk wasn't giving them the time to do so.

Holding a sword dripping with blood, he had walked to a painting hanging on the back wall.

"Is this painting authentic?"

Yeom Je asked with a puzzled look, "Why do you ask?"

"The Chief told me to take this too, in case you're short on money."

Yeom Je's expression hardened. The opponent was blatantly ignoring him, and he had a reputation to uphold in front of his subordinates.

However, the strange anxiety this young opponent gave him was still greater.

"Do I look like the kind of person who would hang a fake in a place where people come and go?"

Such pride in a situation thick with the smell of his subordinates' blood?

Geom Mugeuk felt a strange sense of dissonance.

However, Geom Mugeuk was the only one who found it dissonant. On the contrary, his subordinates felt no sense of incongruity at those words. To all of them, their own face and money were more important than their comrades.

Geom Mugeuk began to take the framed picture off the wall.

He's really taking the painting?

The moment that thought crossed Yeom Je's mind, his expression hardened completely.

SHIIING! A nearby immortal, not missing the opportunity, launched a surprise attack. It was the exact moment he took the painting down and held it. Moreover, when Geom Mugeuk held the painting in his right hand, the man couldn't hold back. Of course, in the end, he should have.

THWACK! His sword missed by a hair's breadth, and Geom Mugeuk's left fist, as he turned, struck the man's jaw. He was the thirty-ninth immortal, so he should have been able to withstand a single punch, but he collapsed, dead on the spot. It didn't even look like a particularly amazing fist technique.

Yeom Je's gaze was not on his dead subordinate, but on the painting. He was lost in a single doubt.

Why is he taking the painting now? If he really needs it, he could take it down later.

Geom Mugeuk carried the frame over and placed it on the table piled with slips of paper. He looked as if to say that everything here was his.

"What do you think you're doing?" Yeom Je asked.

Geom Mugeuk answered calmly, "Because you all have lived this kind of life, there aren't many ways to deal with you. So don't resent me."

The immortals stood there, staring at Geom Mugeuk with expressions that asked what kind of nonsense he was spouting.

An ominous thought flashed through Yeom Je's mind.

Could it be? No, it can't be.

It was at that very moment.

SHIIIIIIIIIIING!

Yeom Je saw a single line. Not just him, everyone saw it. A single line, drawn out long and clean, then disappearing.

The line appeared to Geom Mugeuk's right. The very side where he had walked to take down the painting. The line passed through the immortals standing before him. It passed through the immortals in the first row, the second, and the third.

Following that, they saw Geom Mugeuk with his sword extended toward them. Only after seeing that did they finally understand. The line they had just seen was the path of Geom Mugeuk's sword.

Can sword qi really fly like a single line like this? It didn't fly like a brilliant light, nor did it leave an afterimage. A single line, as if drawn with a ruler. He had never in his life seen such a clean sword qi.

Silence fell over the place.

CLICK.

The moment Geom Mugeuk's Black Demon Sword entered its sheath, the bodies of the immortals standing on the right began to shift apart.

SLIDE.

The immortals, their bodies bisected, all spewed blood and collapsed on the spot. "Aaaaaaah!" An immortal watching from the front let out a scream. No matter how brave these masters were, the sight of some twenty men being cut in half in a single blow was both shocking and terrifying.

And then they understood. They understood why he had taken the painting from the back wall. The sword qi that had cut down the immortals had left a long line on the wall behind them.

Yeom Je's eyes flew wide open. He had entered the murim and overcome many crises, but had he ever been this shocked? He knew his opponent had a hidden card, but he never imagined he could kill twenty of his subordinates in a single move.

The other immortals felt the same. Now, no one there was smirking. The hot stench of blood rose up, filling the great hall.

"He must have used a lot of inner qi! He can't have any left!"

It was a claim that would never have been made if they could see into Geom Mugeuk's qi center. But at Yeom Je's cry, the immortals all drew their swords at once.

They all revealed their killing intent in unison, but Geom Mugeuk was not frightened in the least.

"I told you not to draw your swords, but to pay your debt."

Even in this situation, with some thirty of his subordinates dead, the words offering to pay the money did not leave Yeom Je's lips. Their lives had not yet touched a single hair of the three million taels.

"It seems more mouths need to be silenced."

This time, Geom Mugeuk looked to the opposite side, the left. He spoke quietly to the immortals standing there.

"Fortunately, there are no paintings on this wall."