Monster

"Then I'll leave the dishes to you."\

"I'll make sure they are done perfectly, so don't worry. Have fun with mommy, Yul."\

"Okie, daddy! Bye!"

Yeo Un-hwi had just finished washing the dishes quickly when he hurriedly prepared to follow after Paeng Seo-yeon.

*Well then, shall we go?*

This was a kind of secret surveillance.

Surveillance to protect his wife.

The reason was because of the culprit who had poisoned Paeng Seo-yeon.

Yeo Un-hwi was certain that the culprit would appear again before long.

It was because of the type of poison the culprit had used.

If it had been a poison that took life in one go, there would have been no need for the culprit to appear again.

But the poison Paeng Seo-yeon had been afflicted with was one that slowly took life over time.

They would want to at least confirm that the process of Paeng Seo-yeon's life force being slowly eaten away by the poison had begun.

And in fact, the moment they discovered that Paeng Seo-yeon was not in a poisoned state,

*They'll reveal themselves.*

So Yeo Un-hwi had been secretly following his wife for several days now.

But the culprit had not yet shown themselves.

There was no way to know exactly when they would appear.

All he could do was silently continue to circle around his wife and watch over her.

"Auntie, I'm here!"

"Oh my, you've come. Young bride?"

"Hello!"

"Our pretty Yul is here too? Well then, what should I give you?"

"Hmm. One carrot and, umm, two cucumbers please. How much are the eggs? Ack, that's too expensive. Can you lower the price a bit?"

"If I lower it any more, what are we supposed to live on?"

"Come on, Auntie. There's plenty for you to live on here. Won't you give me this price? If you do, I'll come more often."

"This young bride is really going to be the death of me. Fine. Take it at that price."

"Oh, Yul's mother is here? I thought it was someone else. We've got some fresh fruit in. Buy some. I'll throw in plenty extra like last time."

"Yul's mom. Our fish is fresh today too. Come over quickly."

"I've only got one body. Let me look around slowly."

"That's right! Mommy only has one body! Slowly!"

"What's this? Hahaha."

*Pfft.*

They really were incorrigible.

Despite her beautiful looks, the market people were extremely fond of and welcomed Paeng Seo-yeon because of her unique friendliness and easygoing nature. And with the adorable Yul by her side on top of that.

Without realizing it, Yeo Un-hwi smiled happily as he watched his wife and daughter, before catching himself.

*Ahem. This isn't why I came.*

But what could he do about how lovable they were?

As the old saying goes, a cough, poverty, and love cannot be hidden.

Just as he was contentedly watching Paeng Seo-yeon and Yul shopping at the market for some time,

Hmm?

Someone caught Yeo Un-hwi's eye amidst the bustling crowd.

A very faint, minute killing intent was rippling through the crowd.

It was something that even a fairly skilled master would not have noticed.

Before long, the owner of that killing intent revealed themselves near Paeng Seo-yeon.

*Found you.*

Yeo Un-hwi's eyes grew incredibly cold.

In the bustling market.

An herb peddler who had come with a large bundle full of medicinal herbs slung over his shoulder slowly got up from his spot after selling all the herbs he had gathered in the mountains.

Soon after dusting off both hands, he looked around the market a few times, and not finding anything particularly worth buying, slowly left the market.

Not long after leaving the village, he slowly turned his body to look back towards the village.

"How strange. I was certain I had poisoned her then."

He thought it was good that he had stayed to observe the situation further, just in case.

If he hadn't, this mission would have failed without him even realizing it, and if that had happened, he would have undoubtedly received a severe scolding from *that person*.

In any case, it was truly strange no matter how he thought about it.

This had never happened before.

*Ziiip.*

The man slowly peeled off the skin from below his neck up to his face.

It was a human skin mask.

It was so meticulously crafted that most people wouldn't even notice.

And the face revealed was, unlike before, a sharp countenance with fierce eyes and an aquiline nose.

Dark killing intent flowed thickly from his narrowly slit eyes.

"Well, I've made another attempt, so it should be fine."

There was no way there could be two mistakes.

It was then.

"So it was you."

"Huk!"

The man stumbled back in shock.

"Wh-Who are you!"

To be caught from behind.

It was unbelievable, even though he had let his guard down and been careless.

But then,

"You, you're?"

"Ho-oh."

A slender scholar was standing there.

It was Yeo Un-hwi.

"It seems you know me?"

He knew very well.

Who Yeo Un-hwi was.

The husband of the woman who had been his target today.

But,

*What, was I mistaken?*

The man who had investigated them for quite some time quickly relaxed.

He knew very well who his opponent was and what kind of person he was.

That man was merely an ordinary scholar who knew nothing of martial arts.

According to the information he had received before starting this job for his master, and what he had investigated after arriving in this village, it was clear.

He had been away from the village for about fifteen days in between, but that wasn't important.

It wasn't as if one could learn extraordinary martial arts separately in just fifteen days.

The investigation had long been completed and preparations were finished.

Yet he had been extremely cautious, finding the most natural place to poison his target woman without being detected by anyone, and carried it out.

Strangely, that poison didn't seem to work, so he had made another attempt today.

Though it was a bit odd how this scholar had suddenly appeared before him, he didn't particularly mind that either.

If he became a hindrance, he would simply get rid of him.

As his thoughts settled, the corners of the man's mouth turned up.

"I see you're alone."

"Well, as you can see. My wife and daughter are in the village market though."

"You saw?"

"You using the poison? Of course I saw. Very clearly."

Yeo Un-hwi had also neutralized the poison that the culprit had used without anyone knowing, unbeknownst to the culprit.

*Shing, shiiing.*

"Ha, it seems you have quite good eyesight?"

Two short daggers appeared in the culprit's hands.

Pointing at Yeo Un-hwi with the daggers held in reverse grip, he said:

"If you had pretended not to know, you could have lived, tsk tsk. Though you would have suffered for a long time."

"Let me ask you one thing. Why did you do this? What grudge do you have?"

"Why? Kekek. Fine, I'll tell you since you're about to die anyway."

The man showed a vicious smile as he continued.

"The crime of daring to covet *that person's* woman, and the crime of daring to betray *that person* for the likes of you! That's the reason you two lovers will die. Remember it well!"

Yeo Un-hwi's eyebrow raised slightly.

*Swoosh.*

In that moment, the culprit's form sank into the ground before appearing in front of Yeo Un-hwi.

It was truly ghostly, elusive footwork.

The culprit then swung the two daggers held in reverse grip in a cross pattern.

Many people's necks had been severed by this technique.

Today would be no different.

As the two daggers slashed in powerfully, they suddenly stopped in front of Yeo Un-hwi as if time had frozen.

"Wh-What?"

He didn't feel the sensation of cutting flesh.

The shocked culprit checked his daggers.

Yeo Un-hwi had blocked the intersection point of the two daggers with the edge of his hand.

In a situation where his hand should have been cleanly severed, the attack was blocked without even cutting his hand.

"What... what is this..."

He's learned martial arts, this bastard!

And not just any martial arts, but those of an incredibly skilled master.

"Kuk, if that's the case!"

The man who had quickly calmed his startled heart and regained his senses continued his attack.

*Thud, smack! Kwaaak!*

*Paaaaang!*

He poured everything he had into sharper and more lethal attacks.

But Yeo Un-hwi easily blocked all those fierce attacks with a casually raised hand, as if brushing away a gentle breeze.

"Huff, huff. This damn..."

How could his attacks not work at all like this?

But he couldn't give up just because of that.

If just one attack connected, he could kill him.

Thinking that, he summoned all his strength to increase his speed, then,

*Whirr, spin.*

*Paaaaaaak!*

He extended the swords out to both sides, then spun at an incredible speed like a top as he rushed at Yeo Un-hwi.

And using that rotational force, he attacked the top of Yeo Un-hwi's head.

As if intending to split him in half.

But,

*Tak.*

Yeo Un-hwi caught the sword aiming for the top of his head with his hand.

Very easily.

Even this attack did not work on Yeo Un-hwi.

"Is that all?"

"Eek."

As Yeo Un-hwi began to apply force to the blade he was gripping,

*Crack!*

The sword simply broke.

The culprit's eyes widened impossibly.

But there was no time for that.

Yeo Un-hwi, who had been purely defensive until now, raised his fist and swung.

*Thwack!*

That fist connected squarely with the culprit's face.

The impact was so strong that a wave of energy trailed behind the connecting fist.

And then,

*Boom, crash!*

The culprit's body flew far away and slammed into the ground.

With a tremendous sound.

"Kuheeeok!"

His qi and blood were reversed and his heart meridian was severed.

With that single blow.

"Kueeeeek!"

The culprit spat blood from his nose and mouth.

How, how could this happen?

He was someone who ranked among the strong in the martial world.

He may not be able to compete with famous figures, but he was confident he could put up a good fight against any strong opponent if he was determined.

But, but...

What kind of monster was this!

Even he, who had been through thick and thin in the martial world, had never heard of a fight like this.

This was like... the Family Head. No, beyond even that...

"Hey."

Yeo Un-hwi, who had approached by now, looked at the culprit crawling on the ground and asked.

"What you said earlier about 'that person' or whatever."

The culprit barely raised his trembling head to look at Yeo Un-hwi.

That composure, those eyes... why hadn't he noticed earlier?

He should have known when everything started to go strangely.

That something had gone terribly wrong.

"Tell me that story again."

This guy is a monster. An impossible monster.

Yeo Un-hwi's smile as he slightly raised the corners of his mouth.

Seeing that smile sent chills down his entire body.

Death was very close.