WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME NOVELS

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Former Supreme ◈

Chapter 19: The Heavenly Pole (2)

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As soon as Beon Saeng returned from his errand, he came to find Baek Socheon with Im Chung.

"I delivered the dagger to the Nine Dragons Inn, just as you ordered. The owner looked ordinary enough. Who are they?"

"To those who don't know, they're an innkeeper. To those who do, they're someone terrifying."

Beon Saeng glanced at Im Chung, wondering if the Branch Chief had heard anything about them in the meantime. But Im Chung had not.

"If you delivered it properly, the most terrifying person in the martial world will come within a few days. Be careful when you receive them."

What sort of person earned the title of the most terrifying person in the martial world?

"Who is it?"

"If you judge them by their appearance, even ten lives won't be enough. I've warned you."

With that, Baek Socheon returned to his room.

"It doesn't sound like a joke, does it?"

"No. It looks like someone terrifying really is coming."

"Branch Chief, do you know what happened? I was humming happily while I went to summon the most terrifying person in the martial world. Good heavens. Can you really send a lowly Squad Leader from the countryside on an errand like that? Isn't it unfair not to tell me when you're sending me to do something so terrifying?"

"I would've told you. No, I wouldn't have sent you on such a dangerous errand in the first place."

"I want to go back. Back to when I lived peacefully with you, Branch Chief."

"Isn't it too late for that?"

Despite the subject of their conversation, both men wore bright expressions. Ever since meeting Baek Socheon, they had not known a single peaceful day, yet this tension was not unpleasant.

If Baek Socheon left one day and they returned to how things used to be...

Would they truly remember that life as peaceful?

"Still, the most terrifying person in the martial world? Who could it be?"

How could anyone resist that sort of curiosity?

* * *

Two days later, the person they had been waiting for visited the branch.

Surprisingly, the most terrifying person in the martial world was a woman.

Her face was hidden behind the veil of a bamboo hat, but her figure was so sensual and captivating that anyone who saw her would be left gaping.

Only then did Im Chung and Beon Saeng understand why Baek Socheon had warned them not to judge her by appearances. It meant that if they failed to read the room and casually tossed out a joke, their heads would roll.

Even after hearing that, Beon Saeng's lips itched. He desperately wanted to say just one thing.

You are truly beautiful.

"You two, wait outside. Don't let anyone enter."

"Yes."

Once the two men left and they were alone, the woman finally spoke.

"So it really is you."

Her voice trembled.

She took out a dagger. It was the same dagger Baek Socheon had given Beon Saeng to deliver.

"Even after receiving this, I wasn't sure. I kept wondering if it could really be you. You truly haven't changed at all."

"Sit."

"Well, if it weren't you, who would dare order me around like this?"

"Sit down!"

"Stop shouting. I'll sit. What can a powerless woman do? If you tell me to come, I come. If you tell me to sit, I sit."

After taking a seat, the woman removed her bamboo hat.

The instant she revealed her face, the room seemed to brighten. She was truly beautiful.

She had the kind of looks where even if she said, "The most beautiful woman under heaven is only beautiful for a time. There are so many younger and prettier women now," it would not feel out of place at all.

If she had only been beautiful, that would have been the end of it.

Yet she possessed another kind of charm.

Her beauty did not come solely from femininity.

Something seemingly incompatible, strength, formed one pillar of her beauty. Her appearance was delicate, yet she looked like someone who would survive even if thrown into hell. Beauty and strength blended together exquisitely, giving her a unique allure.

She looked like she would be strong in martial arts, and she carried an authority that made people reluctant to treat her carelessly.

That impression was entirely correct.

She was Cheon Geuk, the current Assassin King and Alliance Leader of the Central Plains First Assassin Alliance, commonly called the Assassin Alliance.

Because people naturally assumed an Assassin King would be male, and because Cheon Geuk sounded like a man's name, everyone believed the Assassin King was a man.

But the current Assassin King was a woman. It was an open secret known only to the leaders of assassin organizations.

"Why are you so angry?"

"I had to wait two days."

"You summoned me to this backwater corner of Zhejiang Province. I only got here in two days because it's me. To be blunt, you're not even the leader of the Secret Pavilion anymore..."

She had mentioned the Secret Pavilion.

"I hear you were even demoted from Squad Leader of the Iron Sword Corps."

She knew Baek Socheon's recent circumstances well.

"I'm not in the mood for jokes, so stop there."

"Why did you call me?"

Baek Socheon rose and walked over to her.

He stopped directly in front of her and stared at her in silence.

Slap!

Baek Socheon mercilessly struck her across the cheek.

She slowly turned her head back toward him. Countless emotions that could not be put into words mingled across her face, where a red handprint had appeared.

She glared at Baek Socheon and shouted.

"Are you insane?"

At that moment!

A sharp whoosh sounded.

Four iron swords were already pointed at Baek Socheon's throat. Four people who had emerged after releasing their extraordinary concealment technique surrounded him. Three men and one woman. They were Cheon Geuk's guardian stars, the Four Heavenly Assassins.

They existed solely to protect the Alliance Leader of the Assassin Alliance, possessing peerless concealment techniques and martial arts at the pinnacle.

Though four swords were aimed at his throat, Baek Socheon was not frightened in the least. Instead, he shouted at them.

"You bastards! Put your swords away! Who do you think you are, pointing swords at my throat?"

The guardian stars unleashed killing intent as they waited for Cheon Geuk's command. They looked ready to sever his head at any moment.

Cheon Geuk spoke to them.

"Withdraw."

The moment the order was given, they disappeared like ghosts, just as they had appeared.

Cheon Geuk glared at Baek Socheon.

"Give me a proper reason for hitting me. Otherwise, you'll die by my hand today."

Baek Socheon immediately shouted back.

"You bitch. Do you want to die? I warned you, didn't I? Even if you make your living as assassins, never kill children or people who don't know martial arts!"

For a moment, she looked flustered.

"We've never killed them."

"Can you guarantee that? Can you guarantee every assassin organization under you is the same?"

"..."

She was left speechless. There were not just one or two assassins in the Assassin Alliance.

"Did you throw away our promise just because I lost my internal energy? Is that it?"

"No! You damned bastard! Stop pushing me! I need time to think too."

When she snapped at him, Baek Socheon fell silent for a moment.

She rubbed her burning cheek.

"Ah, this is infuriating. You hit me? With that hollow reed of a body?"

As though it was too absurd to believe, she repeated the same words several times. If it had not been Baek Socheon, it would have been impossible.

"You got hit because you did something worth getting hit for. You didn't get hit because you're weak."

"Have you forgotten who I am? I'm the Assassin King."

"Right. I put you in that seat."

Cheon Geuk's eyes wavered.

Then she snapped sharply.

"That's also the only reason your neck is still attached."

Silence filled the room.

After a while, she regained her composure and returned to her original calm tone.

"Where did they violate the Assassin Code?"

The Assassin Code was the set of laws within the Assassin Alliance that had to be obeyed. Its first article was that children and people who did not know martial arts must never be killed.

"The Seven Sword Society."

Her expression stiffened slightly.

Of all places.

It was one of the more troublesome assassin organizations within the Assassin Alliance.

Since its members were assassins, it could not command the absolute loyalty seen in the Murim Alliance. She had to lead the alliance by applying pressure, instilling fear, and sometimes placating them.

"Do you know who commissioned them?"

"The Mythic Gang."

"What do you want?"

"Proof that the Mythic Gang commissioned the murder of Liang Qiu's family."

"All right. We'll investigate internally and contact you again."

She walked toward the door, then stopped.

"If you curse at me or hit me one more time, be prepared."

Rather than apologizing, Baek Socheon warned her in an even harsher tone.

"If this happens one more time, you'll get beaten like a dog."

"Hey!"

Unable to endure it any longer, she shouted again. Baek Socheon was truly the only person in the world who could break her composure.

She flashed forward, and before anyone could react, her hand was around Baek Socheon's throat. Her movement technique had surpassed the pinnacle and reached the supreme realm.

"Do you really want to die? Will you only be satisfied once you die by my hand?"

Then she saw it.

Baek Socheon was not afraid at all.

The strength left her fingers.

After releasing him, she pulled her bamboo hat low and went outside.

"I won't kill you. I'll keep watching you live miserably."

Once she had left, Baek Socheon let out a relieved sigh.

"Whew, I almost died."

* * *

A boat drifted along gentle waves.

The Four Heavenly Assassins, having released their concealment, stood at the front and rear of the boat.

Cheon Geuk sat in the middle, drinking. She only stared at the moon reflected in her cup, while the Four Heavenly Assassins watched her carefully.

The cheek Baek Socheon had struck was swollen. Yet no one dared mention it first.

"Have a drink."

At her words, Eastern Star, the leader of the Four Heavenly Assassins standing at the bow, respectfully accepted a cup.

"Thank you."

"You're curious about Baek Socheon, aren't you?"

"Yes."

Cheon Geuk had simply endured being slapped by Baek Socheon? They knew better than anyone what kind of person she was. Considering her pride, it should have been impossible.

As her guards, they believed they needed to know about Baek Socheon, but they had not dared bring him up. Cheon Geuk had spoken first.

"What sort of person is he?"

Cheon Geuk turned her empty cup over in her fingers.

"How long has it been since you became my guardian stars?"

"Five years. Exactly five years and four months."

It was also how long she had been the Assassin King.

"When the Previous Assassin King died, all the guardian stars protecting the Previous Assassin King died as well."

That was why the Four Heavenly Assassins had been newly created alongside Cheon Geuk, who became the new Assassin King.

"You were still training in seclusion and had not entered the martial world, so you wouldn't know..."

A shocking truth, buried as the Assassin Alliance's deepest secret until now, left Cheon Geuk's lips.

"Baek Socheon is the one who killed the Previous Assassin King."

"...!"

"He killed them all by himself. Ninety-seven assassins of the Assassin Alliance died with the Assassin King that day."

Not only Eastern Star, but the other three guardian stars were also shocked.

"I can't believe it."

The Previous Assassin King had been surrounded by the previous Four Heavenly Assassins and surely only highly skilled assassins.

"Right. It's unbelievable. But you can believe it. I saw it myself."

Cheon Geuk raised a hand. It trembled faintly.

"Look. Even now, my hand shakes when I remember that day."

"Why did he attack us?"

"Because we kept trying to kill him. The Black Heaven Alliance placed an assassination commission worth three million nyang."

"Three million nyang!"

"Yes. The highest amount in the Assassin Alliance's history."

In the end, Baek Socheon had grown furious at the relentless assassination attempts and, after gaining the Alliance Leader's approval, attacked the Assassin Alliance.

It had happened five years ago, when Baek Socheon stood at the top of the Martial World Ranking Record.

"I understand he has currently lost his internal energy."

"Yes. He almost died, but survived. Now he has a body without even a handful of internal energy. Yet he called me all the way to Zhejiang with confidence and even slapped me. What do you think?"

"Isn't he insane? Or is he desperate to die? No, it must be both. He simply cannot forget the glory of his past."

"Perhaps."

She poured herself another drink and drank it.

"If you give the order even now..."

"Yes, we could kill Baek Socheon."

"Then why do you endure this?"

"Even if I'm an assassin bitch with no pedigree, should I kill the person who spared my life and placed me on the Assassin King's throne because he slapped me once?"

Baek Socheon must have known that she could not kill him. That was what made Baek Socheon frightening. He understood exactly who he was dealing with.

"He made one demand when he acknowledged me, the successor of the Previous Assassin King, as the Assassin King. Never accept assassination commissions to kill children or people who have not learned martial arts. I promised him I would not, staking my name and the honor of an assassin on it. If it is true that we broke that promise... then taking a slap and enduring a few curses is a bargain for us."

Setting down her final cup, she spoke.

"Let's go to the Seven Sword Society."

Footnotes:

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