Chapter 66: Seolyoung, Slaps His Cheek

After receiving the call from the two, everyone rushed there.

They were shocked and enraged at the situation that had unfolded inside. In particular, Chu Sang-gi’s anger had reached its peak.

"If we find out who is behind this, I will personally crush them."

He meant it. It was Baek Seolyoung’s wedding day, of all days. One could not speak of morality to someone trying to kill, but this was simply a matter of having no basic decency at all.

While Mujin helped him clear away the bodies, Lee Jaseung and Baek Seolyoung waited in the next room.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she was lost in thought.

The scene of her killing the man earlier kept replaying in her mind. If she had let her guard down even slightly or been just a moment slower, the one who would have died was her. Thinking that she had crossed the line between life and death in that short instant left her feeling a bit hollow.

"Honestly... I was scared earlier."

It made sense. It truly had been a hair-thin situation.

"You could have helped me, right?"

In that final moment she had clearly seen him. No, since it had happened so quickly, it would be more accurate to say she had felt it. At the moment she killed the man, Lee Jaseung had simply stood and watched.

If he denied it, she would have no grounds to argue. It had all happened in an instant. But she was certain he had not moved on purpose.

Surprisingly, Lee Jaseung admitted it without resistance.

"Yes."

"Then why didn’t you try to help me?"

In truth, there was no guarantee his help would have been useful. He had been away from both her and the man. The issue was not whether he could help but whether he had the will to try.

Suspicion flickered in her eyes. They were already married. If she were to die, everything belonging to her clan would immediately pass to her husband.

Could it be that tonight’s attack was orchestrated by Lee Jaseung?

If she had failed to evade that last strike, she surely would have died.

She considered quietly holding this suspicion in her heart and uncovering the truth slowly. But she decided against it. There were points that did not quite add up for it to be his doing.

If not one but two attackers had targeted her, she would have certainly died. If they had truly wanted to kill her, they would have succeeded.

Then why?

Lee Jaseung gave a strange smile.

"Why are you smiling?"

At her still-sharp question, Lee Jaseung replied,

"You have a poor memory."

"What?"

She tried to recall what she had missed, but could not figure out why he said that.

Lee Jaseung slowly approached the bed where she was sitting. She flinched and moved back.

When he drew close to her face, she suddenly remembered what she had forgotten.

‘Ah, we kissed, didn’t we?’

The memory of that soft, sweet sensation came back to her.

‘Good heavens! I had completely forgotten about that.’

Lee Jaseung came right up to her again.

But was this his way of saying that after sharing a kiss, there was no way he would try to kill her? That seemed far too flimsy as an excuse.

She tensed, thinking he might try to kiss her again. Honestly, she was torn about whether she should kiss him or not.

"You were impressive earlier."

Slap!

The moment those words left his mouth, Baek Seolyoung slapped him across the cheek. It was so sudden that he couldn’t avoid it. No, he chose not to. He couldn’t understand why she slapped him. .

Baek Seolyoung bit her lip hard.

"Impressive!? Is that something you say to a woman?"

He still looked bewildered.

Her expression grew even angrier.

"Is telling a woman you kissed that she was impressive even a compliment!? What do you take me for!?"

‘And it was my first kiss, too!’

Lee Jaseung stared blankly at the angry woman.

Seeing his dumbfounded expression made a bad feeling rise in Baek Seolyoung’s heart.

Rubbing his cheek with a sad look, he spoke softly.

"I meant you were impressive for defeating your opponent earlier."

"What?"

From his reaction, she could tell he was telling the truth.

With her head filled with thoughts of the kiss, she reacted and slapped him without thinking.

She quickly found a way to deflect her embarrassment.

"Stop changing the subject! Why didn’t you help me? You wanted me to die, didn’t you?"

He pointed to the inside of her clothing.

Only then did she realize why he had said she had a poor memory. She was wearing the Dragon Scale Armor.

If the man’s blade had aimed for her neck or face instead of her chest, Lee Jaseung would have revealed his true power to save her.

But the blade had been aimed at her chest, and he had been confident the Dragon Scale Armor would block that one strike.

In that case, he had judged that it was better for her to face the opponent herself than for him to interfere.

Fortunately, she had handled the enemy far better than he had expected. That was why he had called her impressive.

Baek Seolyoung’s face flushed red with embarrassment.

It was not that her memory was bad, but that she had none at all in this situation.

Chu Sang-gi rescued her from the awkwardness.

"My Lord, it is Sang-gi."

"Come in."

Chu Sang-gi entered, politely greeted Lee Jaseung, then reported quickly.

"I examined the bodies closely, but could not determine their identities. In my judgment, they do not seem to be ordinary assassins. The physicians are performing autopsies now… but it may not be easy to uncover their origins."

"Report immediately if you find anything new."

"Understood."

Chu Sang-gi left. Unfortunately, he was not perceptive enough to carry away the awkwardness lingering between the two as he went.

Awkward silence fell.

Wanting to hide in a hole but unable to, Baek Seolyoung spoke in a small voice.

"Sorry."

Lee Jaseung gave a faint smile.

"If anything, I am the one who should be sorry."

He meant it. Whoever they were, or whoever they were targeting, all of this stemmed from him. Even if they had aimed at her, it was because of him. Because of him, her fate had changed.

"Right, I should take this off for you."

"Keep wearing it for now."

"No! It’s yours, so you should wear it."

"Mine?"

Lee Jaseung gazed at her and asked.  

"Is it not ours?"

She could not reply. It sounded like he was trying to protect her. That was exactly what he intended, so she would keep wearing the Dragon Scale Armor.

"There’s another set, so wear it."

"Show me and I will."

"I will show you this evening."

It was not a lie. Thanks to Dan Woobin’s obsession with Lee Jaseung’s safety, there was indeed another set kept for emergencies.

"Alright, then I will wear it."

"Even though it’s mine, giving it to you is harder than I thought."

"Yours?"

"You are quick-witted at times like this."

She gave a small laugh, and so did he.

When the mood had improved again, she spoke seriously.

"Who could they have been?"

Lee Jaseung shook his head, not knowing the answer.

She thought she was likely their target.

"Could it have been one of Yang Sebang’s close aides who survived?"

That was the first thought that came to mind. Or perhaps Hae Ryang, imprisoned in the underground prison, had plotted it in resentment. As the saying went, even a ruined family could last three years, so even a fallen clan could have hired assassins.

"Whoever it was, the important thing is that this may not be the end."

Her expression grew tense at his words.

Then Mook Young’s voice came through in a sound transmission, a report proving that the Black Way Alliance’s intelligence network far surpassed that of the Northern Sky Clan.

— They are Undying Ghouls.

At the name Undying Ghouls, Lee Jaseung’s face hardened.

There were many mysterious organizations in Jianghu

The Undying Ghouls were one of them.

— Are you certain?"

— Yes, they are definitely Undying Ghouls.

The Undying Ghouls were a kind of mercenary group that would do any job for money. If they had been just another mercenary band, they would not have been known as a mysterious organization.

Their fame came from the fact that once they accepted a commission, they were relentless in completing it.

They did fail at times. But when they failed, they tried again and again, never stopping until the target was dead.

That was why they were called Undying Ghouls. The term "undying" was symbolic. It was not that they could not be killed because they were strong, but that they never lost their purpose. Like ghouls that devoured corpses greedily, the more they failed, the more brutally they killed their target.

Because of this, many who were targeted by the Undying Ghouls chose to take their own lives.

Of course, Lee Jaseung was not one of them.

— Arrange a meeting with strategist Dan immediately.

— Yes, understood.

After ending the transmission, he looked at Baek Seolyoung and spoke to her.

"Get some rest for now."

As he turned to leave, she called after him.

"Wait."

She held out the dagger he had given her earlier. The blood on it had been wiped clean.

She stared into Lee Jaseung’s eyes.

He was her husband now.

But no matter how much she looked into the depths of his gaze, she could not tell what he was thinking.

Her suspicion of him had not completely disappeared.

It seemed certain he was not behind today’s events. Still, the suspicion lingered because the more time she spent with him, the more new sides of him she discovered.

Without Lee Jaseung today, she would have died. She knew his skill was formidable. After all, he had defeated Jin Yang, the Greatest Swordsman of the Central Plains, to win the tournament.

But she also knew there was a great difference between fighting well in a tournament and fighting well in a real battle. Yet he excelled at both. He fought too well.

Lee Jaseung read those thoughts from her expression and eyes. A faint smile touched his lips.

‘Yes, it is good to be able to doubt.’

After taking the dagger, he left.

A short while later, a meeting was held in his quarters.

"The Undying Ghouls are famous not only because they are relentless but for another reason as well."

The listeners were Lee Jaseung and Mujin. All three wore serious expressions.

"They have never once revealed the identity of a client. Which means that anyone who uses the Undying Ghouls wishes to keep their identity extremely secret."

"Not once? How is that possible?" Mujin asked in surprise.

"It is because of their structure. They are organized into strict cells. Scattered in various places, they gather only under orders from above to complete a mission. Once it is done, they disperse again. Only their leader, the Celestial Ghost, knows who the target is and who the client is."

"Celestial Ghost? That’s their leader?"

Dan Woobin nodded.

"He has never once officially shown himself in the world. No one knows if he is a man or woman, old or young. But our Alliance knows he is a man in his forties and that he has an old subordinate he treats like his right hand."

"Why have I never heard of him?"

"Because when you should have been learning that, you were drinking with women."

"Stop joking."

"Joke?. Do you think the Undying Ghouls are the only thing you do not know because of women? We may control the Black Way, but there are countless strange groups and mysterious experts that arose while our elegant Young Master was busy drinking."

Mujin narrowed his eyes.

"I see. I did not know my trusted friend was someone who would so mercilessly attack me. I truly did not know."

"It is not an attack, it is the truth. Though truth can be painful, so you may call it an attack if you like."

While the two bantered, Lee Jaseung toyed with the Asura and sank into thought.

Dan Woobin and Mujin exchanged a glance. They could tell he was in a foul mood. It was only natural, given that this had happened on his wedding night.

Finally, Lee Jaseung spoke.

"Only the Celestial Ghost knows who commissioned this job, correct?"

"That is right."

Lee Jaseung spoke as if declaring.

"Then we will kill him and uncover the mastermind."

The mood turned solemn. Dan Woobin lowered his head with an apologetic expression.

"But he has never left a trace of his movements."

It was not something he wanted to say in this situation, but he had no choice.

But Lee Jaseung remained firm.

"Think of a way to find him today and report it."

Patting Dan Woobin who had a conflicted expression on the shoulder, he added,

"I am speaking to the only person in Jianghu who can find him in just one day."

A flicker of emotion crossed Dan Woobin’s face.

"Understood. Leave it to me."

Lee Jaseung left the room first after giving his order.  

Mujin gave Dan Woobin a look of pity.

"Naïve."

"Naïve?"

"Can you not see? He is using one compliment to get you to work for him."

"Do not judge our Lord by your vulgar standards."

"Our Lord? Haha, tell him that he sure caught a fine fish by bringing you in."

Dan Woobin was no longer listening. He was ruffling his hair in frustration.

"How do I find the Celestial Ghost? There must be a way!"

"If the Alliance’s chief strategist is this simple, we will be ruined in a day."

Mujin had teased him in similar ways back when they drank with women at taverns.

"Be quiet! If you are here to distract me, get out!"

"I will leave so you can burn with loyalty!"

As he chuckled and moved to leave, Mujin suddenly added,

"What are you worried about? There is an easy way."

"What way?"

"Spread a discreet rumor that you want to hire the Undying Ghouls for a huge sum."

"He is suspicious. Even if he hears the rumor, he will investigate the client. That will take a lot of time. Our Lord wants this as soon as possib... Huh?"

Dan Woobin stopped mid-sentence, and his eyes lit up with inspiration.

"Yes, you’re right, we just have to spread the rumor."

He ran over and hugged Mujin.

"Thank you! Thanks to you, I have found the way!"

Then he dashed out of the room.

"Then you owe me a drink! Where do you think you’re going!"

But Dan Woobin was already gone.

As Mujin left the room slowly, a smile appeared on his face.

"It seems we will not fall so easily."

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