The chase and fight had already been going for half a day. It was unexpected that he did not realize that the anxiety he felt for the past few days would threaten him this directly.
“Damn it, maybe I shouldn’t have taken the item...”
The name of the man was Yu Okha.
His position was the Lower District Sect Leader.
Until recently, he was in charge of the Chengdu regional branch, but the problem started when it was elevated to the status and integrated as one of the 12 branches.
The first year passed by without any problems. However, one of the branch leaders was jealous of the sudden promotion in rank and threatened him. The person personally hired an assassin and instigated this assassination.
Actually, Yu Okha was also feeling the same thing. Having grown up from the bottom of the sect, he was well aware of the personalities of the other disciples, so he always stopped the complaints by throwing money at them.
But maybe he did not like the amount? It was quiet for a while and then suddenly this happened.
The assassins hired by the opposing side killed three of his own guards.
“Well, they are from the Heavenly Killing Clan...”
Clench
The worst of the Forces of Evil.
Although they were not great in number, they went after rich people and high-ranking officials due to their amazing skills and carried out those kinds of missions. In particular, they had to dispose of the body after the killings, so it was not easy to get them to act even with large amounts of money.
He never thought they would hide like that. Even though he sensed it in advance and ran, he could not easily escape from it. It was because of their tracking skills.
“Catch him!”
Came the harsh voice from behind from the person who was running in the forest. After hiding for a while, he had no choice but to get up again, thinking that things would get difficult.
“Haha.”
As he continued deeper into the mountain, he had this vague premonition. It was not long before he ended up in a dead end.
As far as he knew, there was nowhere left to go, this steep cliff was the end of the road.
“Should I just kill myself...?”
Getting caught was probably the worst possible outcome. It might be true, but no matter how strong his spirit was, he did not want to be tortured by the assassins.
No matter how much he did not want to, his body would feel overwhelmed with the pain and speak of some untouchable secrets. That was what he had to stop.
Should I throw myself off the cliff? No, there is water below, so it would be rather odd if I came back to life.
Shhh
Conflicted for a moment, he leaned back against a rock and took out a small poisoned blade from his chest.
He had to end it in one go. Because he cannot have a shallow cut and end up living.
“Phew, phew.”
Yu Okha took a deep breath. This was his fateful time. He had been through numerous near-death experiences, but today would be the end. It was the time to end his life.
There was no turning back anymore.
The moment he lifted the blade to stab himself.
“Um, let me ask you something.”
“... Huke!?”
He was so surprised that he fell forward.
There was no one around him, nor did he feel the energy of anyone, but this man suddenly appeared like a ghost.
“You, you...!”
Thinking that the middle-aged man was the assassin, he grabbed the blade. However—
Slash
Something odd happened. The man took out a sheet from his pocket and carefully held it up to him.
“Have you ever seen a woman who looked like this?”
The painting of the woman as fair as the sky, and the eyes of the man holding it... had no other opinion.
What was happening? Yu Okha paused for a moment, thinking how to process this.
But as soon as he opened his eyes, he asked.
“You... aren’t from the Heavenly Killing clan?”
“What, what are you even saying? Ah...”
The man immediately nodded.
“Are you speaking of the men who were camped there?”
“Camp? Were camped?”
“Yes. I ended up killing them because they blocked my path.”
“...Uh?”
He could not help but be shocked again.
Every single person in that assassination clan was a first-rate warrior, and how many of them were master-level warriors?
But he killed them all? But... if he did not, then there is no way that this man could suddenly appear here without letting his presence be known. So the chance of it happening was low.
“Anyway, please look at this again. I came here specifically because I heard that there was no one in Sichuan who knows people around here better than you. Now, this woman. Have you ever seen her?”
The man asked again.
...A skilled man.
Thinking so, he naturally turned his gaze down to the paper, and looking at it, he shook his head.
“I apologize but I don’t remember seeing such a face.”
“...Is that so?”
“It might be hard to believe, but once I see a face I never forget it. And if she was just like the painting, this beautiful, then she would stay etched into my mind for the rest of my life. So I am sure this is my first time seeing her.”
“Hmm... I see.”
“Maybe it is impossible.”
At some point, Seol-Hwi turned to living a different life, searching for her. Sometimes he lived as a loan shark, sometimes as a farmer, and sometimes as a son of a noble family.
He thought that if he lived a faithful life, his painful memories would be erased. In some lives, he had killed others, and in some he saved people.
But the more he did, the clearer the memories turned.
Cheon Miryo... he missed her.
<Seol-Hwi has 584 lives remaining.>
“...”
Just like that, it was around the time when his remaining lives fell below 600.
Seol-Hwi suddenly thought about making people around him happy.
He wanted to give freedom to his subordinates, who had not been taken care of for hundreds of lives.
Especially to Seo Ryeong, whom he liked in the past.
So he decided to change his life goals, by taking them with him to escape the Demonic Sect.