Chapter 16: The Silent Blade, the Screaming Blood
Chapter 16: The Silent Blade, the Screaming Blood
The moon was high. Pale. Cold.
Mu-won crouched on the temple roof, breathing quietly. Every sense sharpened. Every nerve alive.
> "He's here."
He didn't see him. He didn't need to.
The air had shifted. The temperature dropped. Even the insects had gone silent.
That's how the Whisper Fang killed.
He didn't arrive.
He erased everything before he appeared.
---
Inside the temple ruins, Yeom Ji slowly unsheathed her blade and backed into the shadows.
> "Do not interfere," Mu-won had told her.
> "If you fall," she'd warned, "I won't bury you."
He only smiled.
> "You'll have to catch me first."
---
A whisper. A flicker.
And death arrived.
The Whisper Fang struck without form—his twin daggers flowing like liquid shadow, aiming for Mu-won's throat and heart at once.
Mu-won twisted mid-air, barely dodging both. One blade grazed his ribs, cold and silent. No pain. Just numbness.
> Poisoned.
Mu-won dropped low and swept the assassin's feet—but the Whisper Fang danced backward, not touching the ground. His body floated like smoke, his face hidden behind a white bone mask.
> "Impressive," the assassin said, voice flat. "But you're not ready."
> "I don't need to be ready," Mu-won hissed, eyes glowing crimson. "I just need to be faster than you."
---
The forest lit up.
Blood qi erupted, shaping into burning sigils midair.
Mu-won activated Blood Pulse Flow, a speed-enhancing technique that flooded his limbs with energy. It hurt—like liquid fire in his veins—but it let him see the next strike before it landed.
He parried.
Then countered.
His blade sang—a short knife Yeom Ji had given him, blessed with poison-absorbing jade. It met the assassin's dagger, clashing in a burst of black sparks.
And then—
He vanished.
Reappeared behind the assassin.
Struck low—aiming for the kidney.
A shallow hit. But it drew blood.
The Whisper Fang stumbled, just a step.
> "You bleed," Mu-won whispered.
> "And now I own that blood."
He formed a seal with one hand.
> "Blood Echo Bind."
From the assassin's wound, crimson threads burst forth, latching to Mu-won's palm.
> He's binding my movement! the Whisper Fang realized.
In panic, he tried to retreat—
Too late.
Mu-won's foot slammed into his chest, sending him flying into the temple wall.
---
The assassin stood slowly, cloak torn.
> "You're not normal."
> "No," Mu-won said calmly. "I'm reborn."
The assassin pulled back his hood. Beneath the mask was a young man—barely older than Mu-won—with eyes full of rage.
> "They said you were a threat. But you're a curse."
> "Tell them I'm worse than that," Mu-won said.
> "I'm a memory that bites back."
He flicked blood from his blade.
The assassin lunged once more, going for a final, desperate strike.
Mu-won ducked low, sidestepped—
And drove his knife up into the assassin's heart.
No words. No hesitation.
Just a clean, silent kill.
---
The body slumped to the ground.
Mu-won stood over it, blood dripping from his hands, heart pounding—not with fear, but focus.
> "He was skilled," Yeom Ji said, stepping out from the trees. "You killed him faster than I expected."
Mu-won didn't turn.
> "He came for my life. I gave him the silence he offered me."
Yeom Ji looked at the corpse.
> "You're almost ready."
> "For what?"
> "For the day you'll have to kill someone you once cared about."
Mu-won's eyes narrowed.
And deep in his mind, a memory flickered.
A brother's voice.
A mother's scream.
A betrayal that hadn't happened—yet.
---
Elsewhere — In the Silver Lotus Temple
An old monk read from a jade scroll.
He paused.
> "The seal has cracked. The blood heir awakens."
A young disciple approached. "Master, should we intervene?"
The monk closed the scroll.
> "No. Let him walk the path of blood."
> "If he survives it—he may be the only one who can kill the Heavenly Serpent."
---
To be continued....