Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 552

Twitch!

Song Ha-shinni stopped abruptly.

She scanned her surroundings with sharp eyes, but the streets were still bustling with people.

She could sense a few people who had cultivated internal energy [qi or vital energy]. However, none of them were skilled enough to warrant her attention.

‘Am I mistaken?’

She thought she had felt a gaze on her for a moment.

It was so fleeting that she wasn’t sure, but the chances of someone actually watching her were extremely low.

‘I must be too tense.’

Indeed, this area had a lot of foot traffic, but it was a district with unusually few martial artists.

The reason was simple. It was a region somewhat removed from the capital of Szechuan Province.

People from outside generally didn’t stay here. The cost of living was high overall, and since the capital was just a bit further, there was no reason to settle here.

There were many ordinary people who had not learned martial arts, but not many martial artists.

To be precise, there were almost no martial artists worth ‘paying attention’ to.

‘Hoo.’

Song Ha-shinni sighed inwardly and started walking again.

‘Is it really around here? Is the information correct?’

Song Ha-shinni bit her lip without realizing it.

‘Even if it’s wrong, I’ll go.’

Two of her young disciples, who had yet to see the light of day, had lost their lives to obtain this information.

It felt like she was shedding tears of blood, but she didn’t think she had the right to cry. As an elder of Emei [a famous martial arts sect], she was disqualified just for not knowing that her disciples had secretly gone out.

Once all of this was resolved, if she was still alive by then.

Then, she vowed to apologize for 108 days in front of her dead disciples’ graves before taking her own life.

‘To do that…’

Clench.

A fierce energy flickered in her eyes as she touched the soft sword tied to her waist, hidden inside her baggy robe.

‘I must catch at least one of the bastards involved in this.’

In truth, this wasn’t something she should be doing alone. She was a master of martial arts, worthy of being an Emei elder, but she had spent her entire life in the mountains, focusing only on martial arts, etiquette, and Buddhism, so she didn’t have much experience with the world.

That was why she was confused. She didn’t know how many of the mountain elders were involved in this.

Once she became distrustful, she couldn’t trust anyone. There were a few people she thought she could really trust, but she couldn’t bring herself to approach them.

Just in case, even if it was just a possibility.

What if they were also involved in this?

She didn’t mind losing her own life, but she couldn’t die yet if she wanted to expose this heinous secret to the world.

Swoosh.

Song Ha-shinni hesitated for a moment after turning behind a building.

‘Should I contact the Beggars’ Union now?’

Known as the Ten Thousand Beggars’ Union, they were the best information organization in the Central Plains [the heartland of China].

In particular, the righteousness of the current Dragon Head Chief and the Vice Chief was well-known. They were even called the best among the past leaders of the Beggars’ Union.

‘If it’s an organization with such giants standing firm, then its roots wouldn’t be rotten. But…’

There were too many.

The term Ten Thousand Beggars’ Union was not an exaggeration. If you included even the beggars who had not cultivated martial arts, it was impossible to estimate how many beggars belonged to the Beggars’ Union.

After pondering, Song Ha-shinni shook her head.

‘I’m getting weaker. Let’s not do this. Even if the Dragon Head Chief and the Vice Chief are not involved, the leaves and twigs could be rotten. As I am now, there’s no way for me to approach the leaders of the Beggars’ Union.’

To be precise, even if she contacted them, she couldn’t rule out the possibility of the message being intercepted.

Of course, that was assuming there were evil people within the Beggars’ Union.

If she were certain of their existence, she would at least feel more at ease. Song Ha-shinni didn’t know what was happening around her.

‘Ignorance makes people so miserable. I’ve truly lived a useless life.’

Song Ha-shinni, who had been sighing quietly, regained her composure.

‘It can’t be helped. Still, I’ve left my mark, so if something happens to me, the rest will have to be taken care of later.’

Having made up her mind, Song Ha-shinni followed the map and walked down the alleyway.

How long had she walked?

She had arrived in front of a building.

The building was neither fancy nor antique. Nor was it shabby.

It was a three-story building that could be found in any area. However, it was very wide, and because it was night, it looked smaller than it actually was, even though there were lanterns lit in various places.

‘It’s here.’

Tension and anger rose on Song Ha-shinni’s face.

‘This is the place…!’

Shudder.

Her fist, hidden in her sleeve, trembled fiercely.

Whoosh.

Her inner energy was about to burst out without her realizing it. Song Ha-shinni took a deep breath.

‘Calm down.’

Not having much experience with the world meant not having much experience in the martial world.

From the start, she had no intention of entering the bloody world and raising the reputation of the Emei Sect. What was important to her was to approach Buddhist law through martial arts, and through that, she wanted to cultivate more wisdom.

In the process, she found joy as her martial arts reached a deeper level, and her skills actually improved, but that was it.

That was why she made many mistakes.

She had made countless mistakes just getting here, and she was still making mistakes.

And she didn’t realize her mistakes.

‘I don’t know how many masters are hiding inside. There might even be a master stronger than me.’

Song Ha-shinni’s eyes hardened with a certain resolve.

‘Let’s go in.’

Thud.

Song Ha-shinni’s figure lightly kicked off the ground and appeared on the edge of the building’s roof.

It was a remarkable level of movement technique. It was the Emei’s basic movement technique, the Golden Summit Movement Technique, but when used by a master, it became a peerless martial art.

Rustle.

The sound of her clothes brushing against the roof floor could be heard.

Song Ha-shinni lowered her body on the roof and sharpened her senses.

‘……?’

For a moment, confusion appeared on Song Ha-shinni’s face.

‘What is this?’

Why aren’t they here?

According to the information, there should have been many masters in this building.

But there weren’t many masters that her senses could detect. At most, there were only three or four, and even those were just one peak master and the rest were first-rate masters with a strong smell of blood.

At this level, there was no need to move secretly. She could have easily subdued them even if she had made a frontal breakthrough.

‘No, wait a minute.’

Song Ha-shinni’s eyes wavered.

‘It’s not just that there are few masters. There aren’t many signs of people at all.’

This was strange.

‘There should be at least hundreds of presences. If the information is correct! But why can’t I sense them?’

Could it be?

‘Was the information false?’

It was then.

Swish, swish, swish!

With a chilling sound, seven throwing knives were embedded in the roof where Song Ha-shinni had been sitting.

It was fortunate that Song Ha-shinni had quickly jumped away after noticing the signs, or else the throwing knives would have all pierced her back. It was that dense and sharp of a hidden weapon technique.

“Who is it?!”

Song Ha-shinni looked around.

In that moment, she felt an unknown chill.

‘They’re not there?’

She had clearly captured the killing intent at the moment the hidden weapons were flying.

If she had captured the killing intent, she should have also captured the person who threw the hidden weapons. But she couldn’t feel any presence.

Moreover, this was on the roof. Even if she looked around, there was no place where a person could be standing!

‘Am I being possessed by a ghost?!’

Song Ha-shinni was flustered.

In this situation, it was difficult to calm her mind even with the deep and serene inner energy unique to Buddhism. From the start, it was her first time experiencing an ambush.

This was why experience was important. Even though she was one of the top masters among the Emei Sect elders who had broken through the Wall of Martial Arts [a significant milestone in martial arts cultivation], she was so flustered that she didn’t realize she was in a state of sensory abnormality.

Decisively, she shouldn’t have stayed there. If there was an attacker who couldn’t be detected by her senses, she had to quickly get out of there.

Swish, swish, swish!

Throwing knives poured down from all directions.

It was a hidden weapon technique with minimal killing intent. Even a decent master would be vulnerable to the attack the moment they noticed the signs. It was that fast and sharp.

Song Ha-shinni’s body spun in place.

Whoosh! Swish! Swish!

The energy of the Emei Sect’s divine art was imbued in her spinning movements. With an amazing technique that controlled the flow of air, most of the throwing knives scattered in all directions.

However, not all of the throwing knives missed. Three of them made cuts on her arms and legs.

“Hoo!”

Song Ha-shinni, who was panting, looked around with tense eyes.

It was the same. She still couldn’t feel any presence.

‘Assassins? Killers!’

Song Ha-shinni’s eyes trembled.

‘Are killers such terrifying beings?’

The information seemed to be true. Even if she didn’t have much experience in the martial world, she was someone who had broken through the Wall of Martial Arts. If her senses couldn’t detect them, they must have mastered a top-tier stealth technique.

‘This is…’

She had heard so much about assassins and killers that her ears were sore.

When she had only heard about them, she thought they were just bad people, but when she actually faced them, it was much more than that.

‘I’m at a loss.’

She wasn’t scared. The Emei Sect’s righteous divine art couldn’t pull her out of the swamp of confusion, but it did free her from the emotion of fear.

The problem was the solution.

‘If I keep going like this…’

She had to find a solution.

Swish, swish, swish!

More hidden weapons flew towards her.

Song Ha-shinni’s face was filled with urgency. Just a moment ago, they were throwing knives, but now, even invisible, tiny poisoned needles were flying towards her.

It had become even more difficult to avoid them. She could handle the throwing knives, but if she was hit by a poisoned needle, it would be difficult to properly use her martial arts.

‘This won’t do. I need to get out of here first…’

It was then.

“Cough!”

Song Ha-shinni coughed involuntarily and knelt on one knee.

Her head was spinning, and her stomach was churning. Her skin, which had been flushed with excitement, now felt cold.

Song Ha-shinni’s face turned pale.

‘Poison?!’

Whoosh!

She tried to draw out the poison by circulating the inner energy of the Emei Lotus Heart Technique.

But it wasn’t easy. The sticky poison was spreading like ink, and its speed was faster than she had expected.

‘Th-this!’

Flash!

When she pushed the Lotus Heart Technique to its extreme, white smoke rose from the wounds where she had been cut by the throwing knives.

Only then did Song Ha-shinni realize that the poison had entered through the wounds from the throwing knives.

‘Throwing knives… I didn’t even think of that!’

It was utterly absurd. She had heard that there were many fools in the martial world who threw poisoned throwing knives, but when she was actually hit, the poison was terrifying.

Moreover, it wasn’t ordinary poison. She didn’t have extensive knowledge of poisons, but if it was stubbornly penetrating her body even with the Lotus Heart Technique’s inner energy, it was probably a deadly poison.

Thud! Thud!

The blood that poured from her nose stained the roof.

Despair clouded Song Ha-shinni’s face.

‘Am I going to die so meaninglessly… so meaninglessly?’

It was then.

Whoosh!

A gust of wind tore through the dark night sky.

Thwack, thwack, thwack!

At the same time, a chilling sound of flesh tearing and a fishy smell filled the air.

“I’ve seen a lot of people in my time, but…”

Song Ha-shinni looked ahead with tired eyes.

There was a strange man with a long spear slung over his shoulder and a blood-dripping hand axe in his other hand.

“This is the first time I’ve seen something so absurd. It was so absurd that I was late to intervene.”

“Wh-who…?”

The strange man, Yeon Ho-Jeong, frowned.

“I’m more curious about who you are. What’s with all the clumsiness? Did you secretly steal and learn the Emei Sect’s martial arts? You seem to be imitating it quite well.”