No way I would’ve thought provoking you would lead to checking the Yangtze River’s temperature all of a sudden.
Back then, I just rode my bike along the river when I was in college, not checking any water temperatures.
“Im Ha-yeon?”
In what seemed like a situation where I might have to jump into the Yangtze again to ascertain the average temperature, a pink flash cut across the boat.
Im Ha-yeon, in an instant, took out all the martial artists around me, swirling her pink hair as she turned to look at me.
“I came to rescue you.”
Kind of charming, huh?
No, if this is the first meeting, I definitely fell for her first. But since Im Ha-yeon fell for me first too, I guess there’s no such thing as ‘if’ in history.
“Where did you come from?!”
“Did a boat follow us?”
“It’s not a boat! She just ran on top of the water!”
“What are you talking about!”
The atmosphere on the deck went chaotic with Im Ha-yeon’s sudden appearance.
“Im Ha-yeon. But how are you here?”
Now that I think about it, where did she even show up from? Looking around, it was clear she wasn’t on a boat.
I was about to die in the arcade game, and suddenly it felt like someone put a coin in for the ally character to drop from the sky.
“I-I told you, I tried…”
What do you mean “tried” with nothing but a river around? No way? I suddenly imagined Im Ha-yeon standing on a blade of grass.
“Did you really do the Floating on Water Technique?”
“You can praise me later. Are you alright?”
Hiding behind me, Im Ha-yeon asked. Did she really pull off the Floating on Water Technique?
“Other than a little water, I’m fine… But.”
I quietly moved closer to Im Ha-yeon and whispered in her ear. I feel like I’ve just gained an army.
“Yeah?”
“Can you handle all of them?”
“Of course! Trust me… Uh?”
At the end of our gazes, enemies kept popping out from the door of the cabin.
“Ah…”
The deck was instantly swarming with armed martial artists.
——
“Did you just walk on water?”
“N-no way.”
“Did a ghost that was hibernating show up?!”
Fortunately, there were some who witnessed Im Ha-yeon using the Floating on Water Technique, so the martial artists were hesitant to move recklessly.
If we drag this out, our allies are going to come rescue us. But is there any way to stall?
“Don’t be scared! She’s just a girl with quick legs!”
Dan Wan-gi yelled at us while clutching the boat. He seems like he’s on the brink of death himself but still tries to mess with us.
“Stay behind me. I can handle it.”
Im Ha-yeon appeared flustered for a moment but spoke reassuringly.
“Just stay behind for a bit, Soja.”
I stepped out in front of her.
“You?”
If Im Ha-yeon can pull off the Floating on Water Technique, her skills must have skyrocketed. The crew might be armed, but they can’t be a match for her. But I’m not sure if she can fight while protecting me.
Then wouldn’t the best method be to make the enemies surrender without even fighting?
“How dare you speak such nonsense to the lord of Hao-mun!”
I shouted as if I were a loyal subject who just witnessed someone disrespecting the king.
“What? The lord of Hao-mun?”
“Don’t listen! It’s a lie!”
Dan Wan-gi. You shouldn’t react so cautiously.
“A lie, huh? Just look at the Hao-mun folks lighting up the Yangtze and pursuing that guy! Dan Wan-gi has already been dismissed by the lord and all his forces are shattered! You’re helping a fugitive who betrayed Hao-mun!”
Unless the captain is a fool, he should understand the situation when he sees the Hao-mun folks lighting up the Yangtze.
Now, if Dan Wan-gi dies, no one will care. If he knows the tide has turned, he might actually turn to our side.
The captain frowned as he stared at Dan Wan-gi.
“Is that true? Je Jong-mo?”
“…I will pay you handsomely for your life.”
“Then… I’ll run anyway.”
A bit too easily agreed, isn’t it?
These self-serving henchmen are what spoil everything. If someone like me, who moves for justice and love, were involved, this wouldn’t have happened.
Wait, what about justice?
“I am Ho Pil Kang Yoon-ho!”
As I pulled out the badge symbolizing Ho Pil, the movement of the crew coming towards us hesitated.
“Ho Pil, huh?”
All the crew’s eyes turned to my badge.
“Assisting a criminal’s escape is strictly prohibited by law! That criminal has charges against him in Hubei Province for murder, conspiracy to commit murder, robbery, fraud, rape, theft, arson, stalking, and various other crimes!”
Crossing central lines, wrong-way driving, and breaking rules like a model kit smashing a horn. Basically, he’s done every bad thing under the sun.
“What?!”
“I am Ho Pil, working alongside the lord of Hao-mun to capture Je Jong-mo. Just before I was caught, I escaped and boarded this ship. If you surrender Je Jong-mo willingly, I won’t hold you accountable for the crime of aiding my escape!”
I declared firmly, much like a secret inspector holding a badge.
“Captain…”
Alright. Everyone’s getting flustered. When people start looking at each other, it means they’re on the same page. So let’s push a bit harder.
“Soon, the government’s ships will swarm to blockade! If you’re not involved, surrender quickly!”
As I boldly stepped forward to prove my badge wasn’t a lie, I locked eyes with Im Ha-yeon.
You think that’s pushing too much?
Well, I’ve got to try everything I can!
Isn’t it better than facing all these crew members alone?
“Captain! What do we do? We got dragged into aiding escape last time and were taken by the authority!”
“Last time, if we got caught, our ship was going to be confiscated!”
“Damn it!”
See? It works!
“……”
Big ships need government permits to operate. While people can be hidden, it’s hard to hide a ship. It’s tough to ignore government authority.
“Now! If you help subdue Dan Wan-gi, rewards will be offered by the government…”
“No government ship is in sight!”
A voice shouting out at the mast interrupted my well-crafted plan.
“So, that’s where we are…?”
You guys, why are you smiling suspiciously? I’m Ho Pil, you know. Why are you gripping your weapons tighter?
I stepped back behind Im Ha-yeon again and asked her.
“Is it possible to do the Floating on Water Technique with two people?”
“……”
We’re doomed.
The boat keeps moving forward.
All that’s left is to fight. I think I lost some Hidden Knives while flailing around on the water.
Can we win? I guess I have no choice but to trust Im Ha-yeon. As I glanced at her, I noticed something unusual on her chest.
“Im Ha-yeon, what’s that?”
There’s no time. I hurriedly reached for the awkwardly protruding object on her clothes.
“What are you touching at a time like this?!”
“If you had it, you should have given it to me earlier!”
“Ah! What’s that?!”
The small cylinder I pulled from her chest was a secret weapon I had given her due to the antidote that would lead her into enemy lines.
This could work.
“Im Ha-yeon, do you have a favorite poison?”
“Why are you suddenly asking?”
“Just asking.”
“…Poison Kill Space?”
That nostalgic name popped out in numerous ways.
“There’s someone who owns that, so I can’t.”
“What?”
“Charge!!!”
The martial artists on deck rushed in.
“We’ve arrived, my lord! Jump now!”
As time stretched, were they tailing us? I could hear my allies from afar.
“Jump now!”
“Wait!”
Im Ha-yeon pulled me back by the waist. Our eyes locked.
Im Ha-yeon. Please, just wait until I finish talking. It was brief, but exchanging intentions between us wasn’t hard.
“We’re retreating! Block them!”
With Dan Wan-gi’s desperation-filled scream, martial artists were charging toward us.
If this keeps up, I could get cut. I could feel the tension in her hands holding my waist, but Im Ha-yeon didn’t budge.
She believes in whatever I do completely. I could feel her trust. Then I should return that trust.
Quickly, I manipulated the small cylinder in my hand according to a sequence only an adept could know.
What is this?
What’s in my hand is a parting gift I received before separating from the Tang Family people.
It’s a Hidden Knife of the Tang Family. This will save Master Kang’s life at least once.
The Tang Family’s martial artists told me that they had a few of these left for the head of the family’s illegitimate child.
Use it when surrounded by enemies. It’s fine if someone is beside you. However! You must NOT use it where there are plenty of allies!
What’s so special about it?
It has the essence of Tang Family’s vision embedded in it.
The safety mechanism releases. I raise the cylinder high. I feel the vibrations inside the tube from my firmly gripped palm.
“Dieeeeee!”
At the moment countless enemies surged toward me.
The cap of the Hidden Knife opened, and there was only one name I could call that contained the essence of Tang Family’s vision, Myriad Flowers Rain.
“Myriad Storm Rain!”
Thousands of tiny Hidden Knives seemed to explode like fireworks toward the enemies.
“Kugh!”
The knife didn’t have eyes, scattering mercilessly in every direction but where it fired from.
“Kuhhh!”
On the black Yangtze, the black ship turned into ruins in an instant.
“You… what is this…?”
“I should ask for another one later.”
Standing on the deck, which had been filled with enemies, only we were left.
“Cough cough. Damn bastards…”
Actually, one more person was still there.
“Dan Wan-gi?”
Are you still alive?
“Get out of my way.”
Im Ha-yeon brushed past me with a hardened expression.
“Im Ha-yeon.”
“I want to end this filthy grudge now.”
Im Ha-yeon’s gaze was fixed on her enemy.
Just at a glance, Dan Wan-gi was on the brink of life and death. Yes, it’s time to put an end to it. And the person who should end it is not me, but Im Ha-yeon.
I nodded and quietly watched her back as she approached her enemy.
——
“Dan Wan-gi.”
Im Ha-yeon called out the person who had relentlessly tormented her.
Having lost an arm, fallen from the highest point of the tower, endured injury from the wedding ring, and beaten by Hidden Knives, Dan Wan-gi’s eyes still sparkled with madness.
“If not for you… If not for you!!! The lord! Hao-mun! All the riches and glory would have been mine!!!”
His lifelong preparations were destroyed all because of two individuals. Je Jong-mo howled with rage.
But it wasn’t just Je Jong-mo’s life that was ruined.
“If it weren’t for you, my mother would still be alive.”
Im Ha-yeon spoke with a calm voice filled with the burning rage of everything she had suffered.
“Kuh…”
“If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have grown up as a courtesan. I would have lived a normal life. I wouldn’t even have been standing here in front of you.”
She wouldn’t have blamed or misunderstood her father all her life.
She wouldn’t have watched her mother die, weeping alone.
She wouldn’t have had to choose a path as a courtesan while starving at a young age because she and her parents never wanted that life.
Before her stood the sworn enemy who had destroyed her childhood, family, and hometown.
“Huh… So that means we must die as the grudge demands.”
Dan Wan-gi squeezed the last ounce of strength to grasp his sword.
“No. It’s not both dying; one will die.”
They couldn’t coexist under the same sky anymore. Im Ha-yeon’s feet began to move.
“Kugh!”
She had already crossed the line.
With a single punch, Im Ha-yeon sent Dan Wan-gi’s yellowed teeth flying into the Yangtze. A kick disrupted his balance. With a final desperate swing, his sword was caught and broken at the wrist.
Her knee struck the enemy’s chin. Dan Wan-gi’s body flew into the air. Her mother, dead courtesan sister and brothers, all those who had died in the hands of this enemy — she unleashed relentless punches filled with countless grudges.
This was a fight that shouldn’t have been happening at all. Dan Wan-gi’s bones were snapping under the blows.
“Kukh! Yes! Kill me! You filthy bitch! I’ll curse you to death even after I die!”
Im Ha-yeon stared blankly at Dan Wan-gi as he fell, bleeding. Though the enemy rolled on the floor, the gaze filled with vengeance intended for her didn’t waver.
Im Ha-yeon picked up a nearby fallen sword but couldn’t directly swing it toward her enemy. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to kill him. The grudge hadn’t suddenly vanished.
The most despicable one from Hao-mun, Dan Wan-gi. It was just that she feared his death would leave a dirty stain on her life, a shadow that would follow her like a label.
There was merely a slight hesitation.
“Damn bitch. Why are you suddenly hesitating to kill? Kugh! I should’ve killed you instead of your mother!”
At that moment, something dark and grimy erupted from Im Ha-yeon’s heart. Yes, it was time to put a conclusion. No matter how filthy it was, she had to tie the knot herself.
“Let’s end this…”
“Stop!”
From behind Im Ha-yeon, a voice akin to a concerned parent calling out to a child playing near dangerous waters reached her ears.
“…I have to kill him.”
Im Ha-yeon spoke without turning back to her father.
“He’s not worth killing.”
No. She must kill him. The instant Im Ha-yeon raised the sword high.
“Why? Are you going to spare me? Father and daughter alike are making a fuss… Kugh!”
With a crunch, the snapping sound of the neck rang out. The previous Shadowless Thief had done what a husband and parent should do.
A new corpse lay sprawled in pools of blood. It was a fate far too generous for someone who had driven so many people into suffering.
“Ha-yeon.”
The previous Shadowless Thief, Wang Jong-ho, looked at his daughter with shock frozen on his face.
It wasn’t just about avenging the grudge. It was something his foolish father had to do.
He couldn’t let his daughter’s hands be stained. He couldn’t let her be tethered to the past. Because unlike his old soul, she had a future to live.
She was a girl who had suffered so much because of him. She should only look forward, fall in love with a good man, and live that life.
The filthy waste should be dealt with by the hand of an imperfect father, not the pure hands of his daughter.
The previous Shadowless Thief, Wang Jong-ho, called out the name of the daughter he had missed for ten long years.
“…Dad.”
The voice of a daughter who had misunderstood him her entire life trembled. Every emotion brushed over Im Ha-yeon’s face, and words that would never escape again finally slipped out.
With the filth that had relentlessly tormented them underfoot, the father and daughter bid farewell to the madman who had ruined their family lives.
The father walked slowly, embracing the daughter he had longed for all his life as he wept.
