novelraw Chapter 140 : Chapter 140
Chapter 140 : Chapter 140
Chapter 140. I Have Ways of Knowing Everything.
As soon as Jin Cheon returned home, he immediately began to clean out the rats.
Although he was very tired from staying up all night, he couldn't sleep in a house infested with rats.
How could he possibly get any sleep?
First, with the help of the Heavenly Evasion Divine Thief, Jin Cheon began to weed out the three rats who were secretly active wearing human-skin masks.
“I greet the Seventh Young Master…”
Pabak!
Jin Cheon pressed the acupoint of the rat who was bowing his head.
“……!”
The rat, subdued in an instant, couldn't even bite the poison pill in his mouth and froze on the spot.
“Take him away.”
“As you command.”
Starting with that rat, Jin Cheon subdued the other two in the same way.
One of the other two rats managed to bite his poison pill in time and died on the spot, but since he had subdued two, it wasn't too bad.
“Is it over now?”
“No.”
The Heavenly Evasion Divine Thief shook her head at Jin Cheon's question.
“There are more than one or two places where an assassin could be hiding. If we search, we'll find at least one or two. I guarantee it.”
“Really…?”
“They're probably hiding using something like the Great Turtle's Breath Art. That's why no presence can be felt.”
The commonly mentioned Great Turtle's Breath Art refers to a technique of hiding one's presence by putting oneself into a state of hibernation or suspended animation.
It was a technique commonly used by assassins, and it was said that even for a master, it was not easy to detect those using the Great Turtle's Breath Art.
Hadn't even Jin Cheon, a master of the Extreme Demon state, never dreamed that someone was hiding around his quarters?
“If no presence can be felt, how can we find them?”
“We have to search the places where an assassin might be hiding. I'll take a look for you.”
“Then I'd be grateful.”
With Jin Cheon's quarters as the center, the Heavenly Evasion Divine Thief began to search every nook and cranny where an assassin could be hiding.
She searched so thoroughly that Jin Cheon, unable to watch any longer, said a word.
This was because the Heavenly Evasion Divine Thief was about to smash a large flowerpot placed inside Jin Cheon's bedroom.
It wasn't empty; why would she search for a flowerpot in which a fairly large tree was planted?
“Don't tell me he's hiding in there…”
Wajangchang!
A small person popped out from within the broken flowerpot.
“……He is.”
Jin Cheon wore a dumbfounded expression, looking incredulous.
Even if someone were to forcibly hide, who would have thought that an assassin would be hiding in a flowerpot that could barely fit a snot-nosed kid?
“What did I tell you. I said he'd be there.”
The Heavenly Evasion Divine Thief said, as if to say, 'I told you so.'
“I guess a professional's insight is different.”
Jin Cheon had no choice but to acknowledge the Heavenly Evasion Divine Thief's expertise in stealth.
“But why isn't he moving?”
“He must have used the Great Turtle's Breath Art.”
“Ah?”
“He's probably in a state of suspended animation. He probably doesn't even know his location has been exposed.”
Indeed, as the Heavenly Evasion Divine Thief had said, despite the commotion, the assassin was as still as if he were dead.
“He has a small build.”
Jin Cheon said, looking down at the motionless assassin.
In fact, his build was very small, like that of a child.
Moreover, his build looked even smaller as he was curled up with the joints of his arms and legs bent in a grotesque manner.
From the looks of it, he had folded his limbs and curled up to squeeze into the narrow flowerpot and hide his body.
“His pulse is barely beating. It's like he's a dead person.”
Danmok Cheong said after checking the assassin's pulse.
“Is he even alive?”
“Yes, he is alive.”
“Subdue him with acupoint sealing and lock him up.”
“As you command.”
Even after that assassin was dragged away, the Heavenly Evasion Divine Thief continued to search here and there in Jin Cheon's quarters.
As a result, the Heavenly Evasion Divine Thief succeeded in finding one more assassin.
“I think that's all of them.”
“……Good heavens.”
Jin Cheon could not hide his bewilderment.
To think that there were two assassins hiding in his quarters and he hadn't noticed…
“Don't blame yourself. With this level of skill, it's no exaggeration to say it's close to the best in the world.”
“Even so, two is too much.”
Jin Cheon could not hide his chilling fear.
He thought he was usually good at keeping an eye on his surroundings…
“You found out late, but you still found out. That's what matters, right?”
“That's true, but I don't feel very good about it.”
“How easy do you think it is to stop an assassin who came in with determination? And consider the opponent.”
“The opponent?”
“They're probably assassins from the Heavenly Killing Sect.”
“Ah.”
Jin Cheon, having heard the rumors about the Heavenly Killing Sect, nodded his head.
Although it was about two hundred years ago, the Heavenly Killing Sect was a group that had even assassinated an emperor.
In the first place, the Heavenly Killing Sect had become famous starting with the killing of an emperor of a foreign dynasty…
“I need to be more thorough with my surroundings from now on. To make sure this never happens again.”
Jin Cheon decided to take this incident as a lesson to ensure that he would never be taken down by an assassin.
He did not want to have such an unpleasant and chilling experience ever again.
***
Jin Cheon was not the only one who reflected on his actions.
As soon as the rat extermination was over, Danmok Cheong and the Seventh Divine Demon Squad performed a full prostration before Jin Cheon and confessed their sins.
“My lord, it is all because of our shortcomings. Please punish us.”
“Please punish us.”
Danmok Cheong and the Seventh Divine Demon Squad were ready to commit suicide if Jin Cheon ordered them to.
And with good reason; as the so-called independent guards of the Seventh Young Master, it was only natural for them to confess their sins and ask for punishment since they had failed to notice the infiltration of the assassins.
However, Jin Cheon did not particularly feel like punishing Danmok Cheong and the Seventh Divine Demon Squad.
Why?
Because the opponent was the Heavenly Killing Sect.
From the circumstances, the special-grade assassins of the world's foremost assassin sect, the Heavenly Killing Sect, had stepped forward. He could not blame his subordinates for failing to notice them.
“Hmm.”
After thinking for a moment, Jin Cheon opened his mouth.
“I will take the circumstances into consideration for this case, so everyone, get up.”
“……”
“Hurry.”
As Jin Cheon spoke again, Danmok Cheong and the Seventh Divine Demon Squad got up.
“However, I cannot let it go without any reprimand, so you are all sentenced to a three-month salary cut. Also, to prevent recurrence, I order you to undergo assassin training. From now on, in your spare time, pair up and go to the Yama Squad to receive assassin training. That is all.”
“As you command.”
The Yama Squad was one of the many organizations within the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, a group composed solely of assassins.
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult also nurtured and operated professional assassins to assassinate key figures of hostile forces.
‘He's more fair and just than he looks. I thought he was just cold.’
The Heavenly Evasion Divine Thief, watching Jin Cheon from the side, thought that his command was reasonable and rational.
The salary cut was a slap on the wrist, but by having his subordinates undergo assassin training to increase their understanding of assassins and making efforts to prevent such an incident from happening again was a quite wise measure.
“If you all understand, let's start preparing for the interrogation. I have a lot of questions for these rats.”
“As you command.”
As soon as Jin Cheon's order fell, Danmok Cheong and the Seventh Divine Demon Squad set up various torture instruments and racks in the backyard of the manor so that Jin Cheon could interrogate the rats.
“Is something wrong?”
“What? What is it? What's going on? Is something fun happening?”
Yeom Bi and the Blood Qilin, who happened to visit Jin Cheon's house at that time, tilted their heads at the chaotic atmosphere.
“You've come.”
Jin Cheon welcomed Yeom Bi.
“It's been a long time.”
“Yes, you too.”
“You seem to have gotten much stronger since I last saw you.”
Those words of Jin Cheon were by no means empty.
Just as the Blood Qilin had become tremendously strong in just a few months, so had Yeom Bi.
As if to prove that he was not the disciple of the Iron-Blooded Demonic God for nothing, he was growing unrecognizably even after a short time.
“It's nothing compared to you.”
Yeom Bi shrugged his shoulders as if it were nothing.
“Lately, all I hear is your name. They say you're called the Unrivaled New Demon.”
“Yes, well. It just happened to be that way. Haha…”
“You're doing well. I wish I could contribute to our cult as much as you do.”
“I heard that Senior Brother Yeom has also been very active.”
“It's nothing compared to you.”
As Jin Cheon and Yeom Bi exchanged stories about their recent activities, the Blood Qilin fumed.
“Why are you talking without me! Are you ignoring me now?”
However, Jin Cheon and Yeom Bi, regardless of whether the Blood Qilin was fuming or not, chatted for a while, strengthening the bond between senior and junior brothers who had not seen each other in a long time.
“So what on earth is going on. I've already asked five times, you know?”
“Ah.”
Jin Cheon explained the whole story to the very angry Blood Qilin.
“……So I was about to interrogate the assassins.”
“They dared to try to kill my junior brother, is that what you're saying?”
The Blood Qilin's eyes turned red with anger.
The same was true for Yeom Bi.
“I should smash their heads right now.”
Yeom Bi revealed his killing intent, clenching his huge, cauldron-lid-sized hands.
“Even if we're going to kill them, the interrogation comes first, so Senior Brothers, just watch. We need to know who sent them, don't we.”
Only after barely calming down the Blood Qilin and Yeom Bi, who were about to kill the assassins immediately, could Jin Cheon proceed with the interrogation.
***
This time, a total of four rats were captured alive.
Jin Cheon had them sit in a row and opened his mouth.
“Your affiliation.”
“……”
“Affiliation, anyone going to talk?”
The assassins, as if they had made a promise, kept their mouths tightly shut in silence.
“Yes, I thought so.”
Jin Cheon gave a meaningful smile.
The assassins' firm silence was an expected reaction, so Jin Cheon did not think much of it.
In the first place, they were gagged, so there was no way for the assassins to speak anyway.
“Since you don't want to talk, I'll show you something good.”
The assassins showed no reaction to Jin Cheon's words.
As if they had expected torture, they were just transcendent, as if it were no big deal.
Indeed, those who had undergone professional assassin training had an enormous tolerance for pain.
If necessary, it was not uncommon for them to numb their sense of pain through various methods, so it was perhaps natural for them not to bat an eye at the threat of torture.
“If you don't want to talk, you don't have to. I have ways of knowing everything.”
Jin Cheon, with a chilling smile, approached the assassin sitting at the far left and gently placed his hand on his head.
“Let me tell you in advance. Not even death will be able to protect your secrets. Huhu.”
Soon, Jin Cheon's hand turned a deep purple.
Seueueu!
The sinister demonic qi was truly intense.
“Youngest, don't tell me.”
The Blood Qilin, having realized what Jin Cheon was about to do, wore a surprised expression.
Yeom Bi's reaction was no different.
“Is that really the Soul-Demolishing Brain-Reading Hand.”
The name of that demonic art flowed from Yeom Bi's mouth.
“Now, let's slowly begin.”
Jin Cheon whispered so into the ear of the assassin he had chosen as his first interrogation subject, and then put strength into the hand he had placed on his head.
Puuk, Jin Cheon's hand dug into the top of the assassin's head.
“Keoheok!”
The assassin coughed up blood from his mouth, but Jin Cheon paid no heed.
“What could be inside your head?”
Soon, Jin Cheon's hand, the Soul-Demolishing Brain-Reading Hand, began to suck out the assassin's brain matter.
“Name is Amgyeong… Heavenly Killing Sect first-class assassin… has worked as an assassin for seventy years. So far, successful killings… fifty-two times.”
“……!”
As information about the assassin flowed out of Jin Cheon's mouth, astonishment appeared in the eyes of the other three assassins.
They realized that Jin Cheon's words, that he had ways of knowing everything without them speaking and that not even death could protect their secrets, were by no means an empty boast.