Chapter 174 – Tian Lisheng

“Gasp!”

Startled by Min Do-jun’s sudden appearance, Tian Lisheng reflexively swung his dagger.

Swoosh-

Despite this being a surprise attack that wasn’t quite a surprise, his opponent easily dodged the dagger.

And then.

Thud-!

“Kugh!”

A fist was planted firmly in Tian Lisheng’s face.

‘This bastard!’

More than the pain, his pride was wounded by the fact that his opponent had punched him with a fist despite having the opportunity to stab him with a blade.

Tian Lisheng raised his arm to retaliate immediately.

But.

Thud-

His opponent, who had somehow already closed the distance, grabbed both his arms.

‘Wh-what strength…!’

Tian Lisheng was terrified as he felt a grip strong enough to crush his wrists.

‘Shadow Stepping!’

Swoosh-

Tian Lisheng’s body sank below the ground and then emerged from Min Do-jun’s shadow.

Having freed himself from the restraint and gained a position behind his opponent, Tian Lisheng swung his dagger.

‘Throat Slitting!’

But once again, his opponent seemed to anticipate this, ducking his head to avoid the attack.

‘Tsk!’

After his attack failed, Tian Lisheng quickly created distance and used stealth.

“Huff, huff.”

While hidden and looking for an opportunity, Tian Lisheng quietly caught his breath.

‘Is that guy the Black Sea Guild master?’

Though he didn’t know his face, judging by his skills, it seemed likely.

Above all, he could be certain from the scent.

‘Indeed. He’s certainly capable of subduing Gao Zhihong.’

As Gao Zhihong had said, his opponent’s speed seemed to be a level above his own.

After all, hadn’t he avoided his killing strikes twice?

‘From what I experienced earlier, his strength seems considerable too…’

He now understood why Gao Zhihong had told him not to go alone.

‘But that’s not enough to defeat me, Tian Lisheng.’

Tian Lisheng hadn’t given up.

His opponent was constantly looking around, trying to find him.

‘If my stealth is invisible to him, it means his combat power is lower than mine.’

If that was the case, he still had a chance.

If he could just execute a successful surprise attack, he’d have more than half the battle won.

‘I’ll show him why I’m called the best assassin.’

Tian Lisheng, with his dagger drawn, approached stealthily.

Though his opponent might have superior stats, his combat power was higher.

As proof, despite having approached to some extent, his opponent was still looking around nervously.

‘Hehe, stupid bread-h…’

At that moment, Tian Lisheng flinched when his eyes met Min Do-jun’s.

Wasn’t his opponent looking directly at him?

Sruruuk-

Tian Lisheng was shocked to see his opponent disappear, as if to say, “You’re not the only one with stealth.”

‘Wh-what? Where did he go?’

The stealth that should have been visible to him was nowhere to be seen.

This could only mean one thing.

‘His combat power is higher than mine?’

Just then, he heard his opponent’s voice in Chinese from thin air.

“You shouldn’t enter the attack range so easily.”

Upon hearing those words, Tian Lisheng realized.

His opponent’s looking around had been a feint to lure him in.

Zwiiiiing-

A black beam appeared, tearing through space.

“Kuh!”

As Tian Lisheng twisted his body to narrowly avoid it, Min Do-jun, whose invisibility had been dispelled, genuinely admired him.

“Oh, to dodge at this distance. Not bad.”

Tian Lisheng, who had dodged instinctively, didn’t even know what kind of attack had just passed by.

‘What was that? A secret technique? Magic?’

It felt like a beam, which didn’t seem like a secret technique, but it was too dark to be magic.

Anyway, he had dodged it once, so that should be fine.

As Tian Lisheng was about to rush forward to repay his opponent’s attack.

Shiver-

A chill ran down his spine, and when he turned around, he saw that same beam.

‘I’m sure I dodged it…’

With that thought, he tried to avoid it, but it was already too late—the dark beam had pierced through his torso.

“Ku, kuluk.”

With a large hole in his abdomen, Tian Lisheng could no longer stand.

Thud-

A shadow fell over his head as he collapsed.

Min Do-jun was standing there with his ghost sword, wearing the smile of a victor.

‘Ah… I should have brought more troops as Gao Zhihong said.’

But it was too late for regrets.

Slash-

Tian Lisheng’s neck was severed in an instant.

[You have killed Hunter Tian Lisheng.]

[You have stolen the characteristic ‘Hunting Dog’.]

[You have stolen 7 pieces of equipment.]

‘Even a level 3,500 S-rank assassin is nothing special.’

Min Do-jun’s agility, enhanced by Frenzy, was 3,500.

Meanwhile, Tian Lisheng’s agility was at most 3,000.

‘The battle was already over when I beat an assassin in speed.’

Additionally, Min Do-jun overwhelmed him in strength, health, and combat power, so there was virtually no chance of him losing.

‘If the left and right arms are at this level, I might be able to face the White Snake Guild master too?’

Of course, the boss, Xu Zhiping, would be on a different level, but Min Do-jun was also a monster of a different dimension.

‘If I go with a full stack of Battle Avatar, even someone like him would have to yield.’

Having decided to destroy the White Snake Guild, Min Do-jun checked Tian Lisheng’s items.

The equipment was S-grade, but it was all focused on agility, so there wasn’t anything useful.

‘I guess the characteristic is the most valuable thing.’

[Characteristic – Hunting Dog]

-Grade: A

-Description: Can distinguish and track scents with exceptional smell. Agility and movement speed increase by 20%.

‘To think my agility will increase by another 20%.’

It wasn’t a bad characteristic at all.

‘Plus, with this, I can track their headquarters.’

By tracking Tian Lisheng’s scent backward, he could find the White Snake Guild’s headquarters.

Of course, he could also follow Gao Zhihong’s scent, which he had already memorized with the ghost wolf’s tracking skill.

‘But I can’t just go there recklessly. Before fighting their boss, I need to stack the Battle Avatar buff to its maximum.’

However, he didn’t know if there were any dungeons nearby, so when and where could he achieve 50 kills and stack the buff?

‘With a duration of only 1 hour, I can’t stack the buff in advance either.’

Of course, there was a solution.

‘I just need to kill 50 White Snake Guild members.’

If he fought the boss after that, he could win comfortably.

‘For that, I need to gather them in one place as much as possible…’

As Min Do-jun was contemplating a method, he looked at the spot where Tian Lisheng had died.

‘What if I send a text pretending to be Tian Lisheng from his phone?’

There was a high possibility that the guild members would gather in one place according to his plan.

He bent down and found the phone among the pile of clothes Tian Lisheng had left behind.

‘Tsk, it’s locked.’

He had intended to open the phone, but it had a pattern lock.

‘Well, I stored his soul for situations like this.’

[You have stored a soul.]

[Number of stored souls: 2/10]

[1. Tian Lisheng]

[2. Empty]

……

…

[9. Empty]

[10. Lee Min-ji]

In the recent battle, Min Do-jun had consumed all souls except for Lee Min-ji’s.

As a result, he was able to easily pierce Tian Lisheng’s abdomen and also secure many slots.

‘Tian Lisheng.’

[Huh? Are you the Black Sea Guild master?]

‘Yes.’

Min Do-jun deliberately didn’t reveal his true identity.

Since the other person thought he was the Black Sea Guild master, he just had to play along.

Fortunately, since Min Do-jun had faced him with his bare face from the beginning, Tian Lisheng didn’t notice any discrepancy in his appearance.

[You! What did you do to me!]

‘What do you mean? I killed you.’

[What? I’m dead?]

‘Yes. You must have felt your neck being cut off at the end, right?’

[Ah.]

As if the memory of his final moments came back to him, Tian Lisheng’s voice trembled slightly.

[Th-then my current state is…]

‘You’re just a soul. Of course, this isn’t a normal situation. It’s only possible because I’m holding onto you.’

[That means…]

‘Yes. If I wanted to, I could easily annihilate your soul.’

[……]

The annihilation of a soul.

From a soul’s perspective, that was equivalent to death.

Tian Lisheng would surely understand this fact.

‘Despite that, the reason I’m holding onto you and talking to you is because I have questions.’

[What do you want to know?]

‘Your mission and the subsequent procedures, the internal structure of the White Snake Guild, the movements of the White Snake Guild master, his relationship with Justin Walker, and everything else about the White Snake Guild.’

[…Are you asking me to betray them?]

‘If you cooperate, I won’t annihilate your soul.’

[……]

Tian Lisheng was silent for a while.

Just as it was becoming tedious to wait, Tian Lisheng spoke.

[No.]

‘You won’t cooperate?’

[I’ve lived my entire life loyal to the White Snake Guild. Betrayal? I won’t sell out the guild to a bread-head like you.]

‘So you’re okay with being annihilated?’

[Do as you please. I, Tian Lisheng, do not fear death.]

‘Is that so? Alright. I’ll annihilate you as you wish.’

Though he said that, Min Do-jun merely blocked the conversation, turning off Tian Lisheng’s vision.

‘As expected, his loyalty to the guild is considerable. And his pride is just as strong.’

From the beginning, Min Do-jun knew that threats wouldn’t work on Tian Lisheng.

So he hadn’t even expected it to.

‘It would be good to get information about the White Snake Guild, but that’s not what I really want.’

Min Do-jun’s goal was to gather the guild members in one place.

‘For that, I need to use his phone.’

Since threats didn’t work, a different approach was needed.

Min Do-jun reconnected the conversation with Tian Lisheng.

[…What? Wasn’t I annihilated?]

It seemed he had mistaken the loss of vision for annihilation.

‘I haven’t annihilated you yet.’

[What? You made a big fuss about annihilating me, but it was just a bluff? Kuk kuk kuk.]

‘I still have things to discuss with you.’

[I have nothing to discuss with someone like you. As I said, betrayal is something I would never…]

‘How many years have you spent in the guild?’

[What?]

‘5 years? 10 years? If we include the time in the Triad, it must be quite long. With such a family-like atmosphere, it’s impossible not to have loyalty.’

[What are you trying to say?]

‘I’m planning to completely destroy your guild. Starting from the subordinates, including Gao Zhihong, and all the way to Xu Zhiping. But if you give me the information I need, I won’t kill the subordinates and will just take the heads of the executives.’

[What? Pft, puhahahahaha!]

For some reason, Tian Lisheng laughed loudly.

[So you’re saying if I cooperate, you won’t exterminate our guild? Is that it?]

‘You understand perfectly. By the way, if you don’t cooperate, I’ll make sure your boss dies as painfully as possible.’

[You’re insane. The moment you face our boss, you’ll be torn to pieces and become food for stray dogs.]

‘We’ll see about that.’

[A guy who doesn’t even know the location of our guild is talking big.]

‘If you’re so confident, why don’t you tell me?’

[Kuk kuk. Fine. I’d like to see you die, so this works out. I’ll tell you the location of our headquarters. But first, send a text to the boss from my phone.]

‘A text?’

[We were supposed to send a survival text in the evening. If I don’t send it, they’ll be suspicious. The lock pattern is…]

Min Do-jun unlocked the phone as instructed and sent a simple text pretending to be Tian Lisheng.

Watching this, Tian Lisheng suppressed a sneer.

‘Kuku, stupid fool. He actually sent the text when I told him to. When he goes to the headquarters, the guild members who have seen my death in the rankings will not let him live.’

But Tian Lisheng didn’t know.

That gathering the guild members in one place was exactly what Min Do-jun wanted.