Chapter 701: Everyone Knows Their Place, Right?
The Seventeenth Beauty was afraid.
The ones who had captured them were none other than the Faceless Swordsmen, followers of the Evil Smiling Demon himself.
If they were dragged away by these men, a pain worse than death would be waiting for them.
Ordinary assassins usually hid poison pellets in their molars in case they were captured, but the assassins of the Court of Beauties did not.
It was the will of their leader, Cha Iran.
If you had the strength to bite down on poison, then grit your teeth and try to survive until the very end!
‘I shouldn’t have let my guard down.’
No, this wasn’t a matter of carelessness. Even if she hadn’t, the result would have been the same. Assassins exposed outside were no different from ordinary martial artists. On top of that, they had been ambushed.
‘How did they even find us?’
Was there a traitor? Even if someone wanted to betray, they couldn’t. None of them knew exactly where the others lived. But these people had found them precisely, recognizing them without hesitation.
It was at that moment.
Piii, puh-puh-puh-pung!
From not too far away, the sound of firecrackers bursting was heard. They were not ordinary firecrackers, but ones that made a unique sound.
The Seventeenth Beauty and the Fifth Beauty exchanged glances. That firecracker was the signal Court of Beauties assassins used to warn each other of danger.
Which meant that on another side, these Faceless Swordsmen were also moving to hunt them down.
One of the Faceless Swordsmen leaned his head out the window, looking toward the direction of the firecrackers.
‘How can they not even think to glance at us?’
Any man would at least take one look. Were they truly people raised in the Demonic Cult to feel no emotions at all?
Of course, she did not know. She didn’t know just how obsessively the Faceless Swordsmen stared when they chose to.
The carriage gradually slowed down.
They didn’t know who the target was this time, but the two assassins’ wish was the same.
‘Please, let them have heard the signal!’
Just as the carriage entered a deserted street on the outskirts.
Tok-tok.
The Faceless Swordsman coachman struck the rear wall hard, and the carriage suddenly accelerated.
Thud! Thunk! Thud!
They felt things striking and embedding themselves into the carriage in quick succession.
The moment another Faceless Swordsman lifted the curtain on the opposite window to look outside—
Swaaaash!
A flying hidden weapon shot through the window, piercing straight across and out the other side.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Again came the sound of weapons lodging into the carriage.
The carriage lurched as it swerved sharply. One of the wheels lifted, tilting the entire vehicle sideways.
The Faceless Swordsman shifted to the opposite side, drawing up his inner energy.
The carriage that had tilted on one wheel barely regained balance at that very instant—
Fwaaaang!
A short, arrow-like hidden weapon pierced through the carriage wall. This was no ordinary hidden weapon. It was powerful enough to pierce straight through a carriage wall. And the place it flew into—was right where the Seventeenth Beauty and the Fifth Beauty were seated.
The Faceless Swordsman struck down the hidden weapon flying toward the women with his dagger.
Kaaang.
The force of the flying weapon was so great that his wrist throbbed as if it might snap, but thanks to that, the weapon was deflected.
The projectile shot past, piercing the space behind the two women’s heads.
Had he not struck it away, they both would have lost their lives.
At the same time—
Puaak!
Another weapon, aimed at shielding the women, tore through the arm of the Faceless Swordsman who had exposed himself at the window.
Blood splattered from his arm, but there was no time to tend to the wound.
Another hidden weapon came flying in.
Swaaaash!
A longer one than before, even faster and stronger, aimed directly at the women’s seats.
The Faceless Swordsman seized both of them and pulled them into the spot where he had been sitting.
Fwaaaang!
The weapon pierced through the place they had been sitting just moments earlier.
From outside, a relentless barrage continued. The Seventeenth Beauty and the Fifth Beauty knew exactly who the attacker was.
The Eighth Beauty. She was the one in the Court of Beauties most skilled in hidden weapons.
And of all people, it had to be her.
The Eighth Beauty’s nature was selfish and merciless. Even knowing her own comrades were inside the carriage, she still attacked without restraint.
Chaaeng! Chaang!
Once again, hidden weapons burst through the carriage, and the Faceless Swordsman struck them down. One of them would have struck the women directly, but he risked himself to block it.
‘Why is he trying this hard to keep us alive?’
The Seventeenth Beauty was secretly puzzled. When it came to cruelty and ruthlessness, weren’t these Faceless Swordsmen far worse than anyone else?
Hidden weapons rained down, but the carriage continued running. The Faceless Swordsman driving at the coachman’s seat deflected the flying weapons with bursts of wind, keeping them from striking himself or the horses.
His skill with both the reins and his mastery of the wind technique was flawless.
After tapping sharply on the rear wall to signal, he steered the carriage beside a tree thick enough to serve as cover.
The very moment the carriage stopped—
The Faceless Swordsman flung the women outside and leapt after them himself.
Papapapak!
Because the carriage had halted, the hidden weapons struck with even greater precision.
Once on the ground, the Faceless Swordsman checked the coachman’s seat. The comrade who had been driving the horses was nowhere to be seen.
Tiiing! Shwik!
A deflected weapon ricocheted off a wall, flying straight toward the Seventeenth Beauty’s face.
Shuuung.
The Faceless Swordsman unleashed a gust of wind, knocking the weapon aside. He was faithfully keeping the joking order of Geom Mugeuk—to never let their faces be scarred.
Just as he was about to push the women behind the tree—
Shuaaaaaaah!
A rain of hidden weapons poured down on them.
Chaeng! Chaeng! Chaeng! Chaeng!
The Faceless Swordsman could have evaded on his own, but instead he shielded the Seventeenth Beauty and the Fifth Beauty, striking away the barrage.
Blood splattered across his white mask, yet he did not move aside.
The Seventeenth Beauty and the Fifth Beauty silently stared at his back as he held his ground to shield them until the very end. It was a situation where they truly didn’t know whom they should be rooting for.
‘He can’t block it! It’s impossible!’
What the Eighth Beauty was unleashing now was no ordinary hidden weapon technique. It was the Martial Alliance’s golden hidden weapon and the move she only used in the most desperate moments—Annihilation Storm.
Blood sprayed from the Faceless Swordsman’s shoulder and waist. Though his limbs were struck, he somehow managed to protect his vital points while blocking.
Kaaang!
With one last sharp sound, his arm fell limp.
He exhaled heavily. He was far too exhausted to block another strike. If just one more dagger flew at him, it would all be over.
But no further weapons came.
When he lifted his head, he saw on a rooftop across the way, the coachman Faceless Swordsman was staring back at him.
Beside him lay a woman collapsed.
While he had been blocking the attacks, his comrade had succeeded in subduing her.
Moments later, inside the battered carriage, three assassins sat side by side.
The Seventeenth Beauty, the Fifth Beauty, and even the Eighth Beauty.
Only then did the Faceless Swordsman properly tend to his wounds.
They weren’t life-threatening, but the gashes were deep. With an indifferent expression, he pressed acupoints to stop the bleeding, applied Golden Wound Medicine, and bound them with bandages.
“Uugh.”
Seeing the grimace of pain flicker in his eyes, the Seventeenth Beauty was struck by how strange it felt—this man, too, could feel pain.
His mask was heavily stained with blood. Most of it was blood spilled in order to protect her.
The Seventeenth Beauty thought that, just this once, he would not hold back. The Eighth Beauty had nearly killed him by using the Martial Alliance’s hidden weapons in turn. If not kill her, surely he would at least beat her half to death.
But the Faceless Swordsman did not utter even a single curse. He only stared silently out the window.
‘Just what could he be thinking?’
The Seventeenth Beauty, too, gazed out quietly at the passing scenery through the broken hole in the carriage.
---
The women arrived at the guest hall.
The ones gathered there today to receive their seating arrangements had advanced to the main competition but had failed to make it into the final seven.
They exchanged greetings and chatted with familiar faces.
“It feels strange to come here again.”
“I thought I’d never return.”
It was the very same guest hall where they had waited during the main tournament.
“We were sitting right here back then.”
“At the time, I thought I’d be making it to the finals.”
Laughter spread here and there. The mood was light. A peculiar camaraderie was born of the fact that they had all been eliminated together.
Once the women had all entered, a martial artist with a bamboo hat pulled low stepped in after them and shut the door.
Waiting inside the guest hall was Outer Chief Jo.
“Today, we have gathered you all here to determine the seating arrangements for the final stage.”
One side of the guest hall had been arranged like a stage, with chairs placed at the back for the women to sit on.
“Make sure you confirm your seat properly today. On the actual day, there must not be any mistakes. Now then, I will begin assigning seats.”
Outer Chief Jo called each name one by one and assigned them to their places. He seemed more tense and stiff than usual, but since everyone was preoccupied with confirming their seats, no one paid much attention to it.
“Step forward and sit where the number is written. On the day of the event, there will be no numbers on the chairs, so don’t get confused.”
Like that, one by one, each woman took her place.
Once all the seats had been decided, the women sat and looked up at the stage.
The stage itself was only a mock-up for the seating arrangement, but the disappointment in their hearts was real.
A sigh escaped someone’s lips. Everyone could tell that it was a sigh filled with regret, the thought that perhaps this stage could have been hers. And indeed, each of them was letting out the same sigh in their hearts.
Just then, a sharp, cutting voice rang out. What was said was so harsh it was hard to believe.
“You stupid bitch, why are you sighing? You got eliminated because you’re ugly.”
Everyone’s gaze turned toward the woman who had hurled the insult. Even more shocking was that she had spoken to the woman sitting right beside her—the very one who had sighed. The insulted woman’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“What did you just say?”
“Are you deaf now too? You strutted around from the preliminaries, and look where that got you.”
Slap!
The insulted woman swung her hand, striking her across the face without hesitation.
“This bitch dares to hit me?”
The two grabbed each other by the hair and began to fight.
It was clearly a situation where someone should intervene, but instead, another woman watching shouted out—
“Kill her! Just kill her already!”
What was this now? The women turned to look at the one who had shouted. But it wasn’t a joke or banter—her tone was sharp, venomous as she screamed once more for them to kill.
The one who had hurled the insult, the one who had lashed out with a slap, and now the one who was shouting for blood—none of them were acting normal.
And as if that weren’t enough, another voice rose.
“Pathetic. It’s women like you that got eliminated. I can’t stand being in the same room.”
At those words, a woman in the back row struck her hard on the head.
“You’re the most pathetic one here, bitch!”
This time, another two women clashed, brawling outright.
Outer Chief Jo rushed forward in alarm.
“Stop! What’s gotten into you all?”
He tried to break them apart, but in their frenzy, they saw nothing.
The brawls spread instantly. It wasn’t as though someone was provoking them or inciting a riot. Nor did the women split into sides to fight.
The chaos was erupting all on its own.
They fought with whoever was beside them, or with those they had clashed against during the tournament. Some even fought with women they had never exchanged a single word with.
Shouts, curses, and chaos erupted from every corner. It was as if they had all been waiting for this exact moment, screaming viciously, spitting insults at one another.
They swung fists, clawed at faces, and tore clothes. Hair was yanked out by the handful.
Some women even bit their opponents, while others collapsed and wept where they sat.
Some hurled curses at their parents, lamenting their lives, while another shrieked that she was the Greatest Beauty Under the Heavens. It was as if they were spilling out every word they had kept bottled up inside, things they could never say in normal circumstances.
Outer Chief Jo’s jaw dropped at the sudden scene unfolding before him. In his life, he had never seen anything like this.
Could people truly behave like this just because they had been eliminated from the finals?
He could hardly believe these were the same refined and beautiful women he had seen when they entered. It was as if they had all been struck with madness at once, overtaken by frenzy.
Yet not everyone was affected—some women stood calmly, watching the chaos unfold. Clearly, this was no contagious disease.
But in any case, he could not let this pandemonium continue.
“Stop! Stop this at once!”
At his shout—
The deafening chaos fell silent, almost as if it were a lie.
Even Outer Chief Jo was startled.
All of them had suddenly ceased fighting.
Hands released the throats they had been gripping, the fists tangled in hair let go.
The women looked around in bewilderment. They straightened their torn garments, smoothed their disheveled hair, and wiped the blood from their noses.
Moments earlier, they had looked like crazed demons. Now, their expressions said something entirely different.
What did I just do? Was that really worth fighting over?
Their faces were filled with embarrassment.
“What in heaven’s name are you doing?”
At Outer Chief Jo’s scolding, the women who had been fighting finally lowered their heads.
“I’m sorry.”
Some bowed in apology, some shrank back, too ashamed to meet anyone’s eyes, and some even apologized directly to the women they had just spat on and cursed.
It was then that the bamboo-hatted martial artist standing at the entrance stepped forward.
The women stiffened in fear. They had caused a disturbance and even brawled on the eve of such an important stage. The Divine Transformation Gang might punish them—or worse, spread word of their disgrace.
The bamboo-hatted martial artist raised his hand and pointed at certain women. Those he indicated were gathered to one side. They were all the ones who had lost control and fought just moments earlier.
But not only them—he also singled out a few among those who had only stood watching.
Once he had separated them, the bamboo-hatted martial artist spoke to Outer Chief Jo.
“Take them away.”
Even as they were led out, the women felt puzzled. Shouldn’t it have been the other way around—sending away those who hadn’t fought, and scolding the ones who had?
But instead, all the ones who had fought were dismissed.
Ah, though a few who hadn’t fought were taken away as well. No one could make sense of what criteria had been used.
Without a word of explanation, Outer Chief Jo escorted them outside.
Now, only twenty women remained in the hall.
Those who were left exchanged grave looks with one another.
And with reason—among all the contestants, the ones who should never have been grouped together in one place were the ones who remained.
They were the assassins of the Court of Beauties.
The highest-ranked among them was the Third Beauty. Even she could not make sense of this situation. Out of all those women, in the midst of all that chaos—
‘How did they leave only us behind?’
The gazes of the Third Beauty and the other assassins turned toward the bamboo-hatted martial artist.
He stepped forward, lifted up one chair that had been knocked over in the fight, and sat down.
Slowly, he removed his bamboo hat. Beneath it was a veil-covered face—revealing the Evil Smiling Demon.
“Everyone knows their place, don’t they?”
His low voice echoed through the hall, now filled only with assassins.
“First, have a seat.”