The sound of feet hitting the ground at breakneck speed is nowhere to be found as a group of masked, black clothed men run through a densely packed forest.
The person in the lead holds up his hand and makes a couple of quick signs and everyone except him disappears in a flash.
'Last mission before I'm done with this.' The man though as he clenched his hands and sped up.
His eyes reflecting a resolute look as he exits the densely packed forest and appears close to a dirt road.
Taking cover behind a tree and taking a deep breath, he disappears from sight and after a few breaths time, a luxurious carriage appears down the road.
The luxurious carriage carrying a huge green and black banner with huge symbols spelling out Tang.
'Really, the Namgung clan sent us for a lady of the Sichuan Tang clan?' The man thought as he realized this job might be more dangerous than he first thought.
Looking towards the opposite side of the road, his throat begins vibrating slightly.
*2 and 3 take the guards, 4 take the coachman and I will handle the lady and possible occupants of the carriage. *
He infuses his vocal cords with internal energy and sends it to the other black men hiding beside the road.
All of them giving a slight nod as their focus goes back to the carriage slowly entering their range.
As it arrived just slightly outside of their range, the man slowly draws the sword sitting on his back and his muscles tense.
The man counting down as he stares intensely at the carriage, waiting.
'3, 2, 1, Now!'
He fully draws his sword and jumps out of his hiding place. Before the 2 guards on horses and coachman even have time to react to him.
The guards head falls to the ground with a quick and silent thud, and the coachman gets nailed to this seat by a sword through the heart.
None of them having time to even think about what happened before they die.
The man kicked up the door and entered the carriage with hasty steps. Looking around, he sees two women, one young servant and an older lady.
His sword quickly slashes the servants throat before looking at the actual target.
A mature lady clad in expensive silk and adorned by many kinds of Jewry.
The man remembers the specific details of the order and acts right away.
Taking the sword and stabs it through the lady's heart, nailing her to the wall of the carrige.
Her terrified and teary eyes looking up at him, with nothing visible but his eyes, he stares back.
Blood slowly soaking her expensive silk clothes and the floor of the carriage, he lets go of his sword and quickly exits.
As he exits, he sees the three other men clad in black waiting for him, and after a nod they turn around and sprint back into the forest.
After a couple of days of running, they finally arrive at a small wooden inn situated in a clearing.
Quietly entering, they see an old man sitting at the center table.
'Something feels weird, probably just the uneasiness of my last mission.'
The black clad man thinks as his sense started going haywire.
As he approaches the old man, he uses his perception to the absolute max trying to locate what he thinks is causing the commotion.
As he arrives in front of the man, he gets down on his knees and stares at the old man.
A smile creeps up on the old man and his eyes widen to slits.
"Great work number 1, your work this time has been without fault."
The man speaks as he looks at the one kneeling in front with a fatherly smile.
"This time, tough unfortunate, was your last mission."
His smile slowly started faltering, and the kneeling man was ready to start running.
'I knew it! No way this righteous bastard would allow us to leave.'
Before he even has time to react, number 2, 3 and 4 have drawn their swords and are aiming them at the kneeling man's neck.
The cold steel of the swords creeping onto the neck slowly draws blood and the man's muscles tighten.
Looking up at the old man once more, a cold completely indifferent expression plastered on his face.
He slowly stands up and turns around, walking towards the back of the store with steady steps.
"Kill him."
The old man mutters before vanishing behind the counter and the clad man's suspicions are confirmed.
In the split second the threatened man hears that, he acts.
Putting all his internal energy into his legs and making a powerful stepping motion before he is already high up in the air.
The other men, reacting just barely later than him, manage to make some shallow cuts around his neck.
"Fuck! My sword!"
The man curses as he tries to grab at his back, before remembering the order was to leave the sword.
"I know them better then they know themselves, I just got to use that."
He quickly comes to the decision to use his former team members styles for his own benefit.
Falling he kicks one of them in the face before using him as a step, jumping away from the encirclement.
Already aware of what he was doing, his perpetrators sprint at him with their bloodlust visible.
"There really is no way to win against them, they are all just slightly below me in prowess. I must escape for now."
Taking advantage of his positioning he sprints towards the door of the inn.
Kicking it open and arriving right outside, a view he hoped not to see was seen.
People clad in white and blue clothes filled his entire field of view.
All of them were carrying different kinds of weapons, but they were all excluding their bloodlust.
Showing their willingness to kill him on the spot.
"I knew he wasn't someone who would leave it to chance."
He thought as he took in the view of them all, feeling the other people closing in from behind he stops.
That's when he heard something interesting from the shouting group of people.
"It's the last remnants of the Demonic Cult!"
"Those disgusting Cultists have entered our clan!"
He was dumbfounded at the insults being hurled at him, but the one that stood out the most.
"For justice, we must rid the Jianghu of this demonic scum!"
'They are calling me a Demonic Cult member!?'
"I have served the Namgung Clan for twenty-two years! How dare you!?"
He yells at the people and they quiet down for a second, before it erupts again.
"This vile creature thinks he can lie too us?"
"We already heard it all from the clan head!"
All of them rebuking with a disdainful smile.
Looking to be gloating in his misfortune, and just as he was about to retort, he feels a sharp pain radiating through his upper back and chest.
'Shit! I forgot about these traitors!'
He laments as he quickly jumps to the side and pulls out the sword penetrating his chest.
With a loud grunt he grasps the sword a quickly dashes towards the one who stabbed him.
Before he even has the time to arrive in front of him, sharp pain radiates from his entire body.
Looking down, he sees a spear and a sword penetrating through his body in different places.
"Fuck!"
He curses and turns his head, finding two young men with a chilly smile on their face.
Blood slowly trickled down his body, he resolved himself.
Utilizing his internal energy to the max, he turns around and swings his sword in a heavy motion.
In just a second the spearman's disdainful smile is lying on the ground next to his body.
"Come at me you bastards!"
He yells trying to overcome the pain.
Having just enough time to process what happened all the people start rushing at him with their weapons in hand.
In just a few moments, a loud grunt is heard and the covered man in kneeling on the ground in a red pool of his own blood.
Swords, spears, blades and knives penetrating his body from all different angles.
A loud cough spreading through the field as he vomits uploads of blood.
Looking at the people around him, all of them looking down at him with smirks, his eyes become completely bloodshot.
"Disgusting bastard, just die already."
They mock as they stare at him.
'If you think I'm a demonic cultist, I might as well become one!'
Before his vision completely fades, he declares something.
'If I survive, I will kill you all! Not just you, everyone closes to you, everyone you have ever talked to! I will destroy your Jianghu!'