Chapter 308: The Fire in Chang’an (10)

There are ranks in the world of assassins too.

Surprisingly, assassination requests are not common in the Central Plains.

Because if there’s someone you truly want to kill, you can just kill them and run away.

The Central Plains is vast, and if you run away, you can’t be found.

If the dead person is an ordinary civilian, the authorities don’t even pretend to try to find the culprit, so there’s no need to run far.

That’s why the Chinese people have a mindset of “let’s kill and disappear” rather than just “I want to kill”, they’re a bloodline with wild nature.

However, if you don’t want to run away but need to kill someone, then you can just have someone else do it.

These kinds of customers are at the same level.

For same-level requests, they don’t bother using assassins.

If the assassination target is an ordinary civilian, there are always desperate people ready to be used for free without needing to mobilize assassins.

Mostly ruined lives from gambling dens.

Some are victims of fraud, or debtors with pitiful circumstances.

If not for Qing, there would have been many in Nakryeong too.

And if the target seems to have some money, or it doesn’t look like a request to kill ordinary civilians, they’re treated as silver rank.

The room Qing entered was silver rank.

And gold rank, from here on are requests handled by professional assassins, professionals who make killing people their job.

These were expensive requests handled by the assassination group dominating that area.

Above that is special rank, but they don’t have separate reception windows for customers.

Because special rank customers are decision-makers of big merchant companies, or top figures like high officials or the region’s largest martial arts school.

They separately pay respects and establish connections, so there’s no need for a window where customers come.

In Qing’s opinion, no matter how she thinks about it, this information isn’t worth more than one silver tael.

Isn’t this ecology of assassins just interesting trivia that Jegal would have blabbed about out of boredom if he were here?

Hmm. Unfortunately.

Since he couldn’t pay the ransom, he can’t save himself either.

And hearing it, it’s so systematic, how long have these bastards who make a living killing people been doing this to be so systematic?

Detestable crime. Death penalty.

As a result, the two thugs kneeling and trembling wet themselves.

“Damn. How dirty. Why are grown men urinating in public, no, indoors?”

“Pl-please spare us. Please. We’ll live good lives.”

“Hmm. Alright. Live good lives. I’ll let you off once since you say you’ll live good lives. But there won’t be a second time. You understand?”

“Yes! Yes! We’ll live good lives!”

However, the two should be feeling wronged rather than grateful.

Because both barely fell short of 100 points.

Despite their rough appearances, it seems they didn’t do particularly vicious things beyond acting as decorations.

“From what I see, you don’t seem to be completely bad guys, so I’m letting you live.”

“Yes yes!”

“Thank you!”

Though their pronunciation wasn’t clear from trembling, at the words that they’d be spared, the two changed posture from kneeling to immediately prostrating themselves.

Knock knock on the door, and the thugs guarding outside open the iron door with a clang of the bolt and a creak.

The trivial information included in the ransom said the room’s soundproofing was certain, but only after the door opened and the smell of blood and urine leaked out did the thugs’ expressions change.

121, 107.

Barely, but they pass.

Though she left her weapons behind, Qing’s body is already a superhuman weapon transcending humans.

Right White Hand, Left Black Hand.

It was an amazing sight of two hand techniques from the Ten Great Demonic Arts being displayed by one person.

Hmm. The Black Slaying Demonic Palm feels a bit better.

But it came from the left, it came from the right.

While Qing was looking around wondering which side it was,

Seol Iri gently grabbed Qing’s sleeve and led her.

Seol Iri was being very subtly helpful.

As Qing advanced, corpses lined the underground corridor. Guys guarding doors or patrolling on duty.

Of course, there were a few live ones among them too.

“Ah. Shh, no, tsk. Guryeong, that won’t do. Not him. Let him go. We’ll spare him.”

Seol Iri, who had been enthusiastically punching a third-rate thug’s jaw while grabbing his collar, stared blankly at Qing as if to ask why.

But why is she beating him with her fists instead of using Ice Arts?

“Shh. He’s okay, ask that one. No, beat him.”

“Yes.”

She doesn’t argue and listens well, so she’s quite lovely.

Seol Iri basically listens well and is docile except when she’s occasionally stubborn.

“I don’t like being called Guryeong.”

-As soon as I thought that, she rebels.

But still, the kid has become quite docile, I think. In the past she would have flatly said “Don’t call me Guryeong.”

There’s a huge gap between “Don’t call me that” and “I don’t like being called that.”

“We’re using aliases. Bear with it a little.”

“You said Guryeong, not Gun-yeong.”

“It’s hard to pronounce. Gu-ryeong. How’s that?”

“You said Guryeong again.”

Suddenly Qing feels very mischievous.

Originally, Qing’s way of finding animals cute was quite mischievous.

But honestly, isn’t it too perfect?

Originally the most lacking one in a group is called a hole.

Guryeong is truly lacking in every single aspect, she’s the very embodiment of lacking.

So she’s the king of holes among holes.

She’s a beauty embarrassing to show anywhere.

If only her face wasn’t just my type…

“It was a nickname with affection. Guryeong, hmm. Isn’t it cute and nice? Can’t I just call you Guryeong?”

After thinking for a moment, Seol Iri answered:

“I still don’t like it.”

“Why? Guryeong. It’s cute, isn’t it?”

“It’s not cute at all.”

“It’s cute to me. Can’t I?”

“…I still don’t like it.”

She hesitates slightly, so it seems like pushing a little more might work.

But she seems to really dislike it, so I should stop here.

And so Qing was carving a bloody path.

Of course, carving a bloody path means opening a path with one’s own blood and sacrifice or that of allies, but anyway since blood was thoroughly soaking the passage in a straight line, even if it’s the enemies’ blood, a bloody path is a bloody path.

After that, as soon as they turned a corner, there was a dazzlingly bright golden door right in front of them.

At this, the late receptionist/broker’s cry that you’d know at a glance came to mind.

Wow. You really can tell at a glance.

The doorkeepers guarding the golden door immediately shouted when they saw the two covered in blood:

“Who are these bitches!”

“It’s me!”

“Intrud-“

At the same time, the guy immediately felt for his neck and quickly pulled out a string, hurriedly grasping what was at the end, but as soon as Qing saw its shape, bang, she fired like a cannonball stepping on true angle.

As Qing’s hand left a faintly white sword force afterimage cutting through space in a straight line, kuk, the guy looked down at his own chest in disbelief.

More precisely, at Qing’s right hand that had dug into his solar plexus with only the white forearm showing.

Regardless, Qing tore off the whistle hanging around the man’s neck.

It’s a small black whistle about two finger joints long.

“Wow. This. Right. It looked like this. I remember as soon as I see it. Wow. Memories are flooding back. But they’re not good memories?”

Qing hates the sound of whistles going peep peep.

Because of the dirty memories of them blowing peep peep from all directions like herding animals.

But here is that whistle those bastards blew back then?

“Keuhuk.”

Meanwhile, as another guy was quietly feeling for his necklace, Qing hurriedly threw the whistle in her hand.

“Ak!”

If she had followed her nature, she would have stabbed it in his eyeball, but being in a hurry, she ended up hitting his forehead, bak!!

For the collision sound of a small two-finger-joint whistle and a forehead, it was an amazing sound.

The power was also amazing, as the guy’s head who was hit by the whistle jerked back.

And at that moment-

The sound of something pouring down got closer, and silver hair tickled Qing’s cheek as it brushed past.

Snow-white cold energy blooming from the shoulders.

As the blazing white frost burning in flame shapes gathered into a dragon form, it shed frozen scales with a chalalag and wound around Seol Iri’s arm as it advanced.

And with a refreshing explosion sound of peng, Seol Iri’s palm struck the enemy’s chest, and the frost dragon touching her fingertips at that moment shivered as it dug into the enemy’s body.

Wow. What’s this! It’s so cool!

Qing forgot to pull out the hand blade she had stabbed into the doorkeeper’s chest, unable to hold back an exclamation of “Oh.”

The sight of a beauty flying with a frost dragon and striking down the enemy was truly like a picture that could be called an explosion of coolness.

If it had been winter or raining, she could have seen the ice dragon’s form, but Qing’s only sight of Seol Iri’s activity at the mountain stronghold was her running away, getting beaten like a dog, and being dragged by her hair.

While her vengeful heart feeding them arm and leg shaved ice was impressive, other than that it was pathetic behavior that couldn’t be considered that of a martial artist at all.

But our Seol Iri!

“Keueuk.”

The guy who took a proper hit to the solar plexus from the Ice White Divine Palm stumbled back, his breath cut off more from the physical impact than the cold.

At that moment, another frost dragon bloomed from Seol Iri’s other shoulder, and her outstretched left hand struck the solar plexus hard again.

There was a sound heard with the eyes going ppagak.

The guy with his chest caved in spat out blood and collapsed with a thud.

Hmm. But isn’t it Ice Arts?

Shouldn’t it freeze things?

Why are his ribs shattered?

“Keukeuk…”

A sound of blood boiling interrupting Qing’s thoughts.

Oops. Look at me.

Only then did Qing shake off the White Hand that had been lukewarmly roasting inside someone else’s body.

Though the doorkeeper was desperately grasping Qing’s wrist, how could he withstand the shaking off of the female Xiang Ji with humanity’s peak strength?

“Wow. Our Iri. I really thought you were a martial artist just now. That was cool. I’m a bit impressed. Really.”

“…?”

Seol Iri tilted her head and-

“A real martial artist? Then until now-“

“Alright, alright. Enough. Is that the Ice White Divine Palm? It’s totally cool. Why does a dragon-like thing come out? Then if you use the Buddha’s Palm, should a Buddha appear? Honestly, I’m a bit jealous too. No wonder it’s called a purple, no, divine skill.”

The corners of Seol Iri’s mouth curved very subtly.

If Qing, an expert in raising Seol Iri, were to interpret that expression, it’s a triumphant look.

Qing isn’t just saying nice things.

Seeing it with her own eyes, she’s really envious.

What’s this, why is it so cool?

Though I don’t know exactly what effect the frost dragon digging in had, isn’t it enough if it just looks cool?

Since her inner force level is said to be just barely first-rate, it might not show its full power.

“Can you show me one more time?”

“Yes.”

At this, Seol Iri summoned horolok small frost dragons. It seems she can call multiple small dragons, as adorable baby dragons wound around her arms, swirling around her fingers as they blazed, then pathetically scattered and disappeared at the ends.

“It should originally be an ice dragon. But it’s too hot.”

Seol Iri didn’t say it was because her inner force was pathetic.

As Seol Iri saw Qing’s envious gaze, she was about to say something-

“Hmm. Show me again later when we go back. Let’s finish what we were doing first.”

Qing forcefully flung open the golden door.

Then they saw the sight of the gold rank receptionist, who had been sprawled with his feet up on the desk and arms behind his head, startling in surprise.

He was so surprised that he flailed and fell off his chair.

They said the soundproofing was certain, so it seems he was dozing off without knowing his colleagues were collapsing outside.

At the same time, the guys wearing masks standing with their hands behind their backs on either side behind the fallen guy all rushed at Qing at once.

But their speed was such that by the time the receptionist hit the floor as he fell, they had already surged up right in front of Qing’s eyes, so her field of vision was suddenly filled with enemies as if they had sprung from the ground.