Chapter 175 – Grim Reaper

Ziiiiing-

Xu Zhiping, who had been meditating in a cross-legged position, had to furrow his brow at the sound of a text message interrupting his concentration.

‘I told everyone not to disturb me at this time.’

Xu Zhiping irritably picked up his phone.

He would find out who had dared to interrupt his time and beat them severely.

But such thoughts vanished as soon as he saw the message.

[之]

It was a simple text.

However, its meaning in the White Snake Guild was anything but simple.

It meant that there was a problem with someone’s safety.

Moreover, the sender was also problematic.

‘A message from Tian Lisheng!’

Something had happened to Tian Lisheng, who was practically the second-in-command of the White Snake Guild?

‘Did the mission go wrong?’

Tian Lisheng was currently in Korea for an assassination mission.

If there was a problem, it most likely occurred during the process of eliminating the target.

‘Could it be that Black Sea Guild master……?’

Was the target stronger than expected?

So he encountered a difficult situation?

Suddenly having an ominous thought, Xu Zhiping checked the ranking system.

His expression hardened.

No matter how much he searched, Tian Lisheng’s name didn’t appear.

‘Removed from the rankings?’

Any hunter would know what that meant.

“Damn that bread-head bastard!”

Crack-!

With one punch, the side table next to him shattered into pieces.

‘Not just once, but twice he’s messed with my people?’

Xu Zhiping ground his teeth in anger.

This time, the target hadn’t just interfered but had killed his subordinate.

Even massacring an entire village wouldn’t be enough to relieve his stress.

‘I’ll kill him. I’ll definitely kill that Black Sea Guild master with my own hands!’

Only by tearing the target’s corpse to pieces and hanging them at the front gate would his anger be appeased.

‘But how could Tian Lisheng be defeated, even if he was careless……?’

Tian Lisheng, hailed as the guild’s top assassin, was defeated by a Korean assassin guild?

‘Are you telling me our great China lost to those Korean bastards?’

How could a major corporation lose to a mere subcontractor?

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t accept it.

‘He must have fallen into a trap. There’s no way they fought one-on-one.’

Xu Zhiping believed that Tian Lisheng must have been ambushed under extremely unfavorable conditions.

He didn’t consider the possibility of a direct confrontation resulting in death.

‘But it’s strange that I received a text when Lisheng is dead.’

Whether the text was sent before his death or not was unclear.

‘I’ll find out by checking.’

Xu Zhiping sent a reply.

[Something urgent has come up, so return to headquarters.]

If there was a response to this message, it would mean that the other party had Tian Lisheng’s phone.

After all, ghosts couldn’t send text messages.

The reply came quickly.

[Understood, Boss.]

Bang-!

Unable to contain his anger, Xu Zhiping kicked the remains of the side table.

“This pathetic Black Sea master! How dare he pretend to be Tian Lisheng and send messages!”

The other party brazenly impersonated Tian Lisheng, apparently not thinking that Xu Zhiping would check the rankings.

‘Wait, the fact that he deliberately replied using Tian Lisheng’s phone means?’

It also meant that he didn’t want Tian Lisheng’s death to be discovered yet.

‘Why?’

To buy time to escape? Or something else?

‘To launch a surprise attack on our guild?’

A person with a sound mind wouldn’t think of messing with the White Snake Guild, but the opponent was an uncivilized Korean.

‘If he were in his right mind, he wouldn’t have messed with our guild twice.’

Just the fact that they had cut off trade and swallowed the legendary sword showed how little the Black Sea Guild thought of the White Snake Guild.

‘There’s a possibility they might launch a surprise attack on our guild after reassuring us with Tian Lisheng’s message. They probably tortured Tian Lisheng to find out the location of our headquarters.’

There’s no way they would have killed Tian Lisheng peacefully.

They likely extracted information through all kinds of torture before killing him.

‘But I don’t think Lisheng betrayed us.’

If he had betrayed them, he wouldn’t have sent a message warning about a problem with his safety.

‘Wasn’t that a kind of warning message sent just before his death?’

If so, there’s a high possibility he deliberately revealed the location of the headquarters.

‘He must have meant for us to be prepared and capture them.’

Whether the Black Sea Guild would really come to attack was uncertain, but there was no harm in being prepared.

“Hey there!”

Xu Zhiping called a guild member who was outside.

“You called, sir?”

“Summon all guild members.”

“A-all of them, sir?”

“Yes.”

“I will obey your command.”

The guild member bowed his head and went outside to carry out the order.

Though he wasn’t sure why a summons was being issued from early evening.

‘The boss seemed to be in a bad mood.’

From the atmosphere, he could tell that some problem had occurred.

* * *

Three hours after the boss’s summons.

It was enough time for all the guild members scattered across different areas to gather.

“Is everyone here?”

“Yes. Everyone except Brother Gao, who is abroad, has gathered.”

“All 52 of them?”

“Yes.”

“You called Gao Zhihong too, right?”

“Yes. He said he would come on the earliest flight.”

“Good.”

All 52 members of the White Snake Guild had gathered.

They were all formidable hunters: 16 A-ranks and 36 B-ranks, a force capable of easily annihilating an entire village.

However, they didn’t know why they had been gathered in one place.

“Why did the boss suddenly call us?”

“I rushed here because he said to gather urgently, but……”

“Is he planning to raid another village in some remote area?”

“We just raided one, and now another?”

“I heard he’s in a very bad mood today?”

“Hmm, if that’s the case, I understand.”

“Hehe, I enjoy it most when killing villagers.”

“I prefer playing with the women at the end.”

“Honestly, both are good, you idiots!”

“That’s true.”

“Kuk kuk kuk kuk kuk.”

While the guild members were chatting about various things, Xu Zhiping shouted.

“Silence!”

The crowd instantly fell silent, as if cold water had been poured on them.

“You must be wondering why I suddenly called you all to gather.”

Xu Zhiping spoke in a solemn voice.

“It’s for war.”

“War……?”

As the crowd stirred, Xu Zhiping raised his voice again.

“Soon, the Black Sea Guild from Korea will come to attack us. I don’t know how many will come. It could be 20, 50, or even 100. We need to prepare for their attack. We need to prepare for war.”

Though everyone was visibly surprised by this unexpected declaration of war, the guild members quickly accepted it and steeled their resolve.

None of them had thought that peaceful days would continue forever.

Some had even joined expecting such large-scale battles.

“The opponent is an assassin guild known as the best in Korea. Are you all confident?”

“No matter how many attack, we are confident we can win!”

“Leave it to us!”

“We can defeat those bread-heads even without using skills!”

“We will protect our guild with our own hands, so don’t worry!”

Xu Zhiping looked satisfied with his subordinates’ responses.

‘This level of morale is sufficient.’

There was no need to give a long speech to raise it further.

‘Come anytime. We’ll show you how strong our guild is.’

The guild members each gripped their weapons, preparing to welcome the Black Sea Guild.

Some showed confident attitudes.

Some were excited about their first large-scale battle.

Some couldn’t hide their excitement at the thought of seeing blood soon.

Though their expressions varied, they were all equally tense inside.

Because they couldn’t predict the enemy’s forces.

‘We can’t know their forces, but we can predict one thing.’

That it would be a fiercer battle than expected.

But contrary to such expectations.

“Huh? They’re here!”

“Enemy!”

The person who appeared from the darkness was just one man.

“Who is this guy?”

“Just one person?”

“Are there no more?”

Thinking more would follow, they waited until the unidentified man approached, but contrary to expectations, no one else appeared.

“Ah, damn.”

“What is this……”

The emptiness and disappointment were palpable throughout the crowd.

Xu Zhiping’s feelings were not much different from his subordinates’.

‘To appear alone at this place where all our forces are gathered. Is he insane?’

Of course, judging by how he was walking without hesitation while holding a blue sword, it was clear he was no ordinary opponent.

‘That must be the Black Sea Guild master. But even the most formidable S-rank hunter would find it difficult to face this many B-rank and above hunters.’

Moreover, with himself, a level 3,800 hunter, joining the battle, the outcome was already determined.

Therefore, Xu Zhiping thought the opponent had come to apologize or negotiate.

At least, that was the case until he saw his guild members’ heads falling off.

Thud- Thud thud-

With one swing from the opponent, three heads were severed.

A speed that even most hunters would find difficult to follow with their eyes.

“Th-that, that bastard!”

As heads flew again with another flash.

“Kill him!”

“F*ck, you bread-head bastard!”

“Waaaah!”

Only then did the guild members rush in to avenge their comrades.

“W-wait!”

Feeling an ominous premonition, Xu Zhiping belatedly shouted.

“Uaaah!”

“Kill hiiiiim!”

But his voice was buried in the war cries, and no one heard him.

Slash- Slash-!

Thud- Thud thud-

A massacre began.

Generally, the term “massacre” is used when a larger force attacks a smaller one, but.

Slash- Slash-!

Thud- Thud thud-

In the current situation, it was being used in the opposite way.

“Th-this f*cking!”

A look of dismay appeared on Xu Zhiping’s face.

‘Ten people dead in an instant!’

He had underestimated the opponent because he was alone, but the enemy was more skilled than expected.

‘Without a doubt, he’s an S-rank hunter! On par with me!’

The way he dodged the barrage of attacks while precisely cutting off heads was extraordinary.

‘Even if all the guild members rush in, they can’t stop him. Only I can!’

Xu Zhiping gripped his spear and rushed in.

However.

‘Huh!’

Zwiiiiing!

Seeing a black beam flying from the darkness, he had to quickly throw himself aside.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang-!

Dirt and dust flew up, turning the spot where Xu Zhiping had been into a wasteland.

Though he barely saved his life, the beam’s target wasn’t Xu Zhiping to begin with.

“Gasp! M-my subordinates……”

Guild members who couldn’t dodge the beam lost their lives in large numbers.

About a dozen or so people.

Even amidst this chaos, the Black Sea Guild master didn’t stop moving.

Slash- Slash-!

Heads bounced like springs, spraying blood.

Whether B-rank or A-rank, they all died with a single strike of the sword.

Swooooosh-!

Occasionally, wind blades would appear and mercilessly tear apart guild members who stood in the way, but.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!

Even more terrifying was the black beam that was hard to see in the darkness.

Flinch-

After ducking to avoid another beam, Xu Zhiping stopped moving.

He had intended to rush toward the enemy to prevent unnecessary sacrifices, but there was no need for that anymore.

“All… dead?”

Xu Zhiping looked around.

Less than a minute had passed since the battle began, but among the White Snake Guild members, he was the only one still standing.

The surroundings, filled with dust, were littered with corpses.

“Haha… hahaha.”

It was so absurd that he couldn’t help but laugh.

‘I was wrong.’

When he first saw the opponent, he thought he had come to negotiate, but that wasn’t the case.

‘He came to annihilate our guild.’

Xu Zhiping raised his head.

The figure walking through the dust looked like the grim reaper himself.