A Matter of Not Dying in Vain

"Chase them! They must be nearby."

In a dense forest near the riverbank.

Numerous shadowy figures were swiftly moving towards some destination.

Their movements resembled hunters driving prey into a trap.

Huff. Huff.

Inside a cave, Peng Seo-jin was trying to staunch the blood seeping from his wounds while gripping his blade once more.

His complexion had already turned deathly pale, looking far from good.

His blade had already claimed the lives of over a dozen assailants.

It was truly a display of martial arts befitting the man called the Mad Dragon and the Great Young Master of the Hebei Peng Family.

But there were still far too many enemies remaining.

No, if anything, it seemed their numbers had been steadily increasing since some point.

"Damn it, at this rate..."

Moreover, these bastards had stopped rushing in recklessly once his resistance intensified.

As if they knew about his injuries, as if they were waiting for their prey's strength to gradually ebb away, they were looking for the perfect moment to pounce and tear out his throat.

It was utterly vicious, but that alone made it clear.

These were men utterly accustomed to taking lives.

What made things even worse was that each of their weapons was coated with lethal poison.

For instance, the blood flowing from his calf and arm was turning an ominous black.

From the start, these were men who had come with the clear intention of taking Peng Seo-jin's life.

Perhaps it was only to be expected.

Though he was using his internal energy to suppress the poison from spreading throughout his body, at this rate, the situation would only worsen as time passed.

"Huff, huff."

He had been gritting his teeth so hard against the excruciating pain that his jaw ached.

Could he really make it back alive?

It was clear the situation was far from positive.

Just then,

Rustle. Rustle.

Peng Seo-jin's aura perception sensed them closing in their encirclement once more.

For a moment, Peng Seo-jin was torn.

Should he leave here and move to another location?

Or should he stay and fight?

Which was the better choice, or was there even a better choice to begin with?

With his body in such a terrible state, his mind wasn't working as quickly or clearly as usual.

In truth, he was holding up better than most.

An ordinary person might have gone mad by now in this situation.

Crunch.

Peng Seo-jin bit his lip hard enough to draw blood, trying to maintain his composure.

*Don't give up. I have to survive. No matter what!*

He couldn't die so meaninglessly here.

Whoosh.

A figure that had been soaring at incredible speed suddenly came to a stop atop the tallest tree in the forest.

*What's going on? I was certain he'd be around here somewhere.*

It was Peng Mugang, the head of the Hebei Peng Family.

He had dispatched warriors to thoroughly search the area where the Peng Family warrior's corpse had been found, but they hadn't been able to locate Peng Seo-jin.

So, driven by impatience, he had set out himself without telling anyone.

He had thought that he would be able to find his son quickly, but that wasn't the case.

Where on earth could he be that he was so impossible to find?

*No, unless...*

Suddenly, Peng Mugang's face hardened.

Then he shook his head vigorously.

As if trying to shake off the thought that had just occurred to him.

That boy couldn't have fallen so easily.

"Of course not. He's my son, after all."

His thoughts inadvertently slipped out in words.

But contrary to his words, Peng Mugang's grim expression refused to soften.

"I'll have to search a wider area this time."

Peng Mugang's figure leapt high into the air.

Whoosh. Rumble.

His presence evoked the overwhelming pressure of a massive tiger.

It was an incredible display of lightfoot skill worthy of his reputation.

But for some reason, that figure seemed more anxious than ever.

"What's going on? This should have been taken care of in one go."

In an opulent mansion known as the Golden Manor.

In its most secretive room, a corpulent man with a greedy expression was grumbling irritably.

The two men beside him, dressed similarly, also wore displeased expressions.

This was not the situation they had wanted.

"Why are you making this so complicated! What if the Great Young Master is still alive?"

"Of course, it would have been better if we'd eliminated him in one go as planned, but we're dealing with the Great Young Master of the Hebei Peng Family, one of the Five Great Families. Moreover, he's the man known as the Mad Dragon. His resistance was no small matter."

Despite the clients' obvious irritation, the masked man shrugged his shoulders, completely unconcerned.

"Honestly, we didn't expect him to hold out this long against our ambush. But our leader has judged that it's nothing more than his final struggle. So the matter will be concluded soon, don't worry."

"Hmph. It had better be. If you want to receive the full promised payment, that is."

"Do you think we would have started this job against one of the Five Great Families with half-hearted resolve?"

At the mention of money, the masked man's eyes sharpened.

The Golden Manor's owners flinched at that fierce gaze.

Except for the fat man seated in the center.

The masked man continued in a low voice:

"When we started a job of this magnitude, we staked our organization's very existence on it. And let me warn you in advance, if you try to play any tricks..."

The masked man's gaze swept over the three men seated at the round table.

"Our leader's flying daggers will be aimed at you. So if you're thinking of any foolish schemes, it's best to abandon them now."

"Hmph! If we were planning to play games with money on such a big job, we wouldn't have made the request in the first place. We're merchants, profit-seekers. We never skimp on money that needs to be spent at crucial times!"

"Good. That's very pleasing to hear. Then I'll be back soon with an answer that will satisfy you. Until next time."

With those words, the figure sank into the floor and vanished.

The room fell silent for a moment.

They paused briefly, unsure if the man from earlier had truly left.

Soon, one of them spoke up.

"Is... is this really okay, Brother?"

It was the skinniest of the three men seated at the round table in the room.

He wore an extremely anxious expression.

"What are you saying at this point?"

The man who had been leading the conversation glared at the skinny man with an irritated look.

"It's just that I feel uneasy. Targeting the Peng Family's Great Young Master was already unsettling, but failing to finish him off in one go and now dragging things out like this... it just doesn't sit right with me."

"Didn't you hear what they just said? It'll be resolved soon."

The other man, who had been silent until now, spoke up as if to reassure him.

"That's right. He's already in tatters, so how long can he hold out? Besides, I heard he was found washed up quite far from where it all started. Luck is on our side."

"But how did they find him?"

The skinny man looked at the fat man with curiosity.

"If he was swept so far away by the river, it shouldn't have been easy to find him."

No, his face seemed to ask if such a thing was even possible.

Seeing his expression, the fat man smirked.

"We secretly arranged for one of the merchants meeting the Great Young Master today to be our man, in case something like this happened."

"Oh? You mean there was a traitor among them?"

He remembered seeing them before.

He recalled that they all had kind faces.

But then,

"Tsk tsk. Traitor? What nonsense. Do you think a merchant would use such a foolish word?"

The fat man clicked his tongue as if to say not to talk nonsense and continued:

"It's only natural for people to act in their own interests. He was simply satisfied with our offer, that's all."

"So what did you do?"

"We applied a scent to him that won't fade for three days once applied."

"Oh!"

"No matter where he hides or how he runs, it's useless. He won't survive past tonight. Hehehe."

Already injured and exhausted, he'll be unable to get help from others and will be chased down and butchered by those human butchers.

"Hahaha!"

The fat man burst into laughter, seemingly satisfied.

As if he had never been upset about failing to finish the job in one go.

The more he thought about it, the more certain he felt that things would end well.

Besides, it wasn't for nothing that he had paid such a large sum to those human butchers who claimed they'd do anything for money.

*"As a merchant, I understand the pursuit of profit, but it must not become greed. And I have no intention of standing idly by while that greed taints Hebei. Do you understand?"*

That's what he had said.

How dare that brat, so much younger than him, rely on the power of the family behind him and act so arrogantly!

So if he could teach that impudent brat who interfered with their business and dared to be insolent to him a lesson, he didn't care how much it cost.

"One of the Five Great Families? Hmph."

The fat man firmly believed that such things could always be crushed with his money.

And once they got rid of that so-called Great Young Master, they would be able to swallow up all of Hebei's commercial rights.

Thinking of the money they would gain then, the sum spent on those human butchers tonight didn't seem the least bit wasteful.

At his words, even the skinny man who had been trembling with anxiety began to smile.

Hahaha.

Hahahaha!

Soon the room was filled with greedy laughter.

"Hmph. Stupid fools."

A figure that had just left the massive mansion paused briefly and looked back.

"Do you think our leader will leave you alone after this job is done?"

A fact they didn't know.

For all contract killing organizations, the transaction process usually ends with receiving the promised payment after successfully completing the client's request.

But the Blood Poison Group he belonged to was different.

Once they confirm the payment ability of a client who can pay a large sum after completing a request, they tear off that client's head and devour everything.

That was why they were despised by other contract killing organizations, calling them the worst of their kind.

But it didn't matter. That was their way.

And this man was one of the executives of the Blood Poison Group.

It was laughable to see those idiots who came to them, not knowing this, offering large sums to kill the Great Young Master of the Hebei Peng Family.

As far as he knew, their leader had already made up his mind.

"So the moment this job is done, those fools are dead men walking."

Their arrogance would end here.

They had already figured out how much money the Golden Manor possessed.

And they had already planned how to take it all.

Even if dealing with the Hebei Peng Family's Great Young Master became an issue later, they were perfectly prepared to go into hiding for a while.

"Hehehe."

The more he thought about it, the more he couldn't help but laugh.

"Well then, I should be on my way too."

His figure leapt into the air.

Though it was quite a distance, it wasn't a problem for him, the most skilled in lightfoot techniques among the Blood Poison Group members.

He was confident that his lightfoot skill was second to none.

But he had no idea.

Even he, who was a Master, didn't realize that someone was melting into his shadow, following him without even this expert noticing.