Before the fight, the Thousand-Hand Sword had one thing he wanted to know.
“From what I heard earlier, it sounded as if you had some grudge against us?”
No matter how far back he searched his memory, there was no debt of blood between them and Goeak. It was not as if it involved someone else—how could he fail to remember an affair with Goeak?
Goeak did not tell them why he meant to kill them. The Thousand-Hand Sword would not understand, and in fact would surely laugh at him.
There had been a woman Goeak had kept in his heart. She was a widow who raised a child while running a small restaurant, and he would sometimes stop by to eat there.
There was no special relationship between them. They were merely the owner of a restaurant and a customer.
Strangely, he was drawn to her. If he had set his mind to it, he could have taken her, but he did not. Simply watching the woman and her child put his heart at ease.
To him, who had lived wickedly all his life, she and that place were a kind of refuge.
Then that incident occurred.
While the Scorching Heaven Twin Swords were fleeing after being branded public enemies of the martial world, the guests in the restaurant were slaughtered. She and her child died with them.
Though he had no connection to her, Goeak resolved that he would kill the Scorching Heaven Twin Swords and avenge her.
Even now, he did not know what that feeling had been. Whether it had been for her sake, or because he could not stand the sight of the two of them swaggering about as if they were among the Seven Great Masters of the Evil Path.
Later, he heard that the Scorching Heaven Twin Swords had been trapped in a heaven-and-earth net and killed.
But Goeak did not believe it. They were not men who would die so easily.
And in the end, seeing how the heavens had brought them here and set them before him, perhaps she truly had been someone who held meaning in his life.
Goeak explained this revenge as follows.
“Have we ever killed people for some grand reason?”
The Thousand-Hand Sword laughed. It was a laugh in which his mouth and eyes seemed to move apart.
“True enough.”
The fight between Goeak and the Thousand-Hand Sword began.
Goeak did not fear swords, but the Thousand-Hand Sword’s blade was terrifying. Just as rock became tofu before his fists, lumps of iron became radishes before the Thousand-Hand Sword’s sword.
The Thousand-Hand Sword felt the same. To think this man dared rampage barehanded before his sword? He would hack him to pieces in an instant and kill him without leaving even a shape behind.
But if that opponent was Goeak, he himself might end up looking like a fool rampaging about with nothing but faith in a single sword.
They knew each other too well. They knew what level the Seven Great Masters of the Evil Path possessed.
The two men’s skills were evenly matched.
It was a clash between body arts that had reached the extreme and swordsmanship that had reached the extreme.
Amid dazzling techniques there were deceptions, and within light movements were hidden ingenious killing blows. They had roamed and fought across the Central Plains all their lives, and their skills were as outstanding as the infamy they had built.
In the end, this fight would come down to how well they controlled their internal energy, and who made the first mistake. Even the smallest mistake meant death.
All this splendor would merely be the process, and in the end, the final divide between life and death would be decided by a single simple technique.
Even as they fought, both men were paying attention to the battle between Bi Sain and the Yama Sword.
Goeak wanted somehow to kill the Thousand-Hand Sword quickly and save Bi Sain, but things did not go as he wished.
The one relief was that Bi Sain was fighting far better than expected.
‘Hold out just a little longer.’
Just as the fight was hurtling toward its climax.
When the two men briefly separated and put some distance between them, the Thousand-Hand Sword saw Goeak’s gaze turn toward the sky behind him.
At that moment, the Thousand-Hand Sword read the words formed by Goeak’s slightly moving lips.
He’s coming.
Yes, Goeak had clearly muttered, He’s coming.
It might have been a trick meant to divert his attention and launch a surprise attack, so he could not turn around to look at the sky. Who was coming?
What made him even more uneasy was that the joy blooming on Goeak’s face was not something that could be deliberately faked.
And then, faintly, he heard an alien sound of wind.
Shiiiiiiiiiiii.
It was a sound he had never heard before. Something really was coming. It was a sound from such a great distance that he never would have sensed it had Goeak not told him.
But he had no time to look back. Goeak had begun pouring out the last of his strength and driving him hard.
In a battle between masters like them, overexertion always demanded a price.
And yet Goeak was recklessly unleashing attacks. As if he meant to keep him from turning around. As if he were a man convinced that the fight was now over.
What on earth was coming? Was it the grim reaper himself?
In the midst of that fierce battle, he heard it.
The sound of the wall behind him collapsing.
‘Someone really has come.’
He saw someone who had flown in step on the wall and leap, then rush toward the Yama Sword. He wanted to go help, but he could not. By the time he recognized that fact, the other party had already seized the Yama Sword’s arm.
Puuuuk!
The moment he saw Bi Sain’s sword pierce the Yama Sword’s heart!
The Thousand-Hand Sword’s concentration shattered.
That fleeting instant was also the moment Goeak had been waiting for throughout the entire fight.
Bang!
Goeak’s elbow slammed into the Thousand-Hand Sword’s jaw.
Even through a shock that felt as if his soul would leave his body, the Thousand-Hand Sword forced himself to regain his senses.
As he swung his sword and defended against the second attack, Goeak’s figure vanished from sight.
‘No!’
The Thousand-Hand Sword despaired. For masters at their level, losing sight of an opponent was no different from letting go of the thread of life.
Craaaaaack.
With the sound of bones breaking, the Thousand-Hand Sword’s neck spun all the way around. He saw Goeak’s face behind him, and then the scenery before him returned to where it had been.
It had happened so quickly that he did not realize his neck bones had been smashed. He saw the Yama Sword fallen far away, and he was able to confirm what it was that Goeak had said was coming. The moment he realized it was a young man—
As if a gust of wind had blown out the flame of a lamp, the world went dark in an instant.
The light vanished from the eyes of the Thousand-Hand Sword, whose neck had been broken, and soon he collapsed limply like a bundle of straw.
“Haaaaaa.”
A long breath leaked from Goeak’s mouth.
Looking down at the Thousand-Hand Sword’s corpse, Goeak recalled the woman from long ago. The woman who had smiled brightly as she told him she had given him an extra-large portion.
Thinking on it in this moment, he realized that he had liked her.
‘The truth is, that was too much food for me. Rest in peace now.’
He now said the words he had not been able to say to her back then. In this world, there was such a thing as revenge for someone whose hand one had never even held.
Goeak raised his head and looked toward Geom Mugeuk.
Geom Mugeuk was pressing Bi Sain’s acupoints to staunch the bleeding from his wounds after he had lost consciousness.
“Did you hear what the Young Alliance Leader said?”
“What did he say?”
“Beaten half to death, he said this: Please save Senior Goe.”
Goeak’s eyes trembled slightly.
“What nonsense is that from someone who was busy beating his opponent to a pulp?”
“It looked like you were in danger.”
“I told you, I wasn’t!”
Exhausted, Goeak also sank down where he stood. He had been cut in several places and had suffered internal injuries as well.
On top of that, his mental strength had been severely drained, and when the tension left him, sleep came surging in.
“What nonsense to say to someone who was winning just fine…”
Along with his head dropping, his bravado also fell asleep.
* * *
When Bi Sain opened his eyes, he was lying on a bed.
An unfamiliar ceiling, and the sharp scent of medicine stinging his nose.
‘I’m alive.’
At the fact that he was alive, an inexpressibly joyful relief surged through him. This time, he had truly thought he was going to die.
He recalled Geom Mugeuk looking at him at the very end. The sight of him, weary and gasping for breath. That relieved look in his eyes.
‘Anyone who saw you would think you were the one who fought.’
Bi Sain examined his body. Bandages were wrapped all over him, and the smell of Golden Wound Medicine was overpowering. Just how many places had he been cut? He remembered more than six.
Without thinking, he tried to raise himself, then cried out and lay back down. His entire body hurt as if someone had beaten him all night.
At that moment, Bi Sain’s eyes fell on two sets of protective armor propped against the wall.
Seeing them soaked in blood made him realize anew how fierce the battle had been. Toward the end, he could not even remember how he had fought.
‘Ah! What about Senior Goe?’
Worried about Goeak, he could not remain lying down.
Just as he was groaning and trying to raise himself again, Geom Mugeuk’s voice came from outside.
“Where do you keep trying to wander off to when your body hurts?”
Then came a welcome reply.
“I told you, I’m fine.”
“I told you, you’re not fine. If you don’t get proper treatment at times like this, your bones will ache when you’re old.”
“I’m already old enough, and they already ache enough!”
Bi Sain lay back down on the bed. Before he knew it, a smile had formed at the corners of his mouth. He was injured, and a formidable enemy still remained, but at least in this moment, his heart grew at ease.
When he fell asleep again and woke, Geom Mugeuk was in the room.
“You’re awake?”
“How long did I sleep?”
“Almost a full day. Aren’t you hungry?”
“I’m fine.”
When one felt too good, there were times one did not even notice hunger. This was exactly such a moment.
“But where is this?”
“A safe house on our side.”
Living long enough, he had even ended up visiting a safe house of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
“Help me sit up.”
Geom Mugeuk laid Bi Sain back down as he tried to rise.
“Are people of the evil factions always this impatient? I think you’re even more hot-tempered than the demons of our cult.”
“That doesn’t sound like something someone who flew in so urgently yesterday should say.”
He postponed saying thank you yet again. He now felt that settling the debt of gratitude could not be done in a single day. He would have no choice but to live on and take out the gratitude in that ledger basket one by one.
Geom Mugeuk threw the window wide open.
“The weather is truly nice again today.”
Bi Sain looked at Geom Mugeuk’s back as he gazed out the window.
For some reason, when he was not speaking, he felt lonely. Especially when one looked at his back as he gazed somewhere.
“How did you know to come?”
Geom Mugeuk answered with his back still turned.
“I ran over because I missed you.”
“Stop saying useless things.”
The moment Geom Mugeuk confirmed that the person who had joined hands with the Fighting King was Hyeok Sagun, the one serving as chief strategist, he had rushed toward the safe house where Bi Sain was staying with swift footwork.
Hyeok Sagun would know that Bi Sain was alive, and he would also know the location of the safe house.
Had it not been for that instantaneous decision, Bi Sain and Goeak would have died.
“The person who joined hands with Hwang Seokgyeong was…”
Bi Sain tensed. There were not many people who knew the location of the safe house and could send the Scorching Heaven Twin Swords.
Geom Mugeuk turned toward Bi Sain and said,
“Hyeok Sagun.”
“!”
Bi Sain was shocked. He had thought that it would have to be someone of that caliber for it to make sense, but he had not imagined it would truly be Hyeok Sagun.
“Are you certain?”
“I confirmed it myself.”
Bi Sain’s chest tightened, and he could no longer remain lying down. Enduring the pain, he forced himself upright.
This time, Geom Mugeuk did not stop him. When he extended his hand, an energy as soft as cotton flowed out and helped Bi Sain sit up.
Bi Sain leaned against the wall and sank into thought for a moment.
He recalled the way Hyeok Sagun had smiled at him. Whenever he saw that young man, he had felt strangely good. It was because he had felt that once Hyeok Sagun officially became chief strategist, the Evil Path Alliance would be transformed into something new.
But all of that had been pretense and lies?
Anxiety came before anger. Hyeok Sagun was a more troublesome enemy than any other foe of the Evil Path Alliance. After all, he was closer to the Alliance Leader of the Evil Path than anyone else.
“Are you worried?”
Bi Sain nodded. They would have to face Hwang Seokgyeong’s martial arts and Hyeok Sagun’s brain.
“I survived because I received your help again.”
“No. This time, you survived on your own.”
“What do you mean?”
“You met an enemy stronger than you and endured to the very end. All I did was grab that man’s arm once. You were the one who killed him.”
Geom Mugeuk gave all the credit to Bi Sain. Another piece of gratitude went back into the ledger basket.
“You fought truly well. Among all the Young Alliance Leaders I’ve seen, you are the best.”
A smile formed on Bi Sain’s rough face.
“You’ve only ever seen one Young Alliance Leader.”
This time, Geom Mugeuk smiled brightly. Seeing that smile of Geom Mugeuk’s made it truly feel as if he had survived.
Just then, Goeak entered the room.
Bi Sain tried to offer a fist-and-palm salute as best he could while sitting, only to groan. Now that he thought about it, both his arms had been cut.
“It’s fine. Stay as you are.”
“Senior, are you all right?”
Goeak, too, reeked of medicine and had bandages wrapped here and there.
“I’m fine.”
He was grateful that the man was alive. If he alone had survived and the man had died, he would have spent the rest of his life thinking of him and feeling guilty.
“I am alive like this because you saved me, Senior.”
“How could that be because of me?”
As he said that, Goeak looked at Geom Mugeuk. Because Geom Mugeuk had arrived in time, both he and Bi Sain had been able to live. He had already owed him his life twice.
When he tried to thank him, he felt pointlessly contrary.
“When can I leave? Demon Cult food really doesn’t suit my palate.”
He was uncomfortable staying in one of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s safe houses. Before meeting Geom Mugeuk, he had always attached the word “damned” in front of “Demon Cult.”
“As for me, my business is finished now, so wouldn’t it be all right for me to go?”
He had killed those who needed killing, so there was no need to covet the secret manual.
“I’m thinking of living in seclusion somewhere with good mountains and clear water.”
At that, Bi Sain said to him.
“Please postpone that retirement.”
“Why? Have you decided it’s a waste to buy me the biggest golden basin in the world?”
“How could that be? Before you put those hands into the basin, I would like to borrow them for a while. You have already saved me once, so please take responsibility for this life of mine from now on as well.”
Having lived as a martial artist, Geom Mugeuk knew better than anyone how significant it was to overcome a crisis of death together. And so he knew just how important this moment was for these two.
Bi Sain bowed his head politely and asked him.
“Please help me become a good Alliance Leader.”
Bi Sain did not raise his head. There was a determination in him to remain bowed like this unless permission was granted.
“I have many enemies and many flaws. If you keep me at your side, there will be a great deal of opposition.”
“I will tell them all to get lost.”
A faint smile formed at the corners of Goeak’s mouth.
“That may be how you feel now.”
Goeak did not accept easily. After looking for a moment at Bi Sain, who had his head bowed, Goeak glanced at Geom Mugeuk.
Geom Mugeuk said to him.
“I’ll pay you twice what the Young Alliance Leader offers. Come to our side.”
Bi Sain, who had been keeping his head bowed, let out a hollow laugh. Geom Mugeuk was the sort of person who could not resist joking even in a situation like this.
“Your food doesn’t suit my palate.”
After refusing in a single sentence, Goeak went over to Bi Sain and helped him straighten up from his bow.
“There’s no need to keep me at your side out of consideration for me. On the contrary, I’ll be able to help you properly only by taking a step back.”
It meant he would help quietly without stepping to the front. It was also his resolve not to swagger about under the authority of the Alliance Leader.
“Thank you. Truly, thank you.”
“The biggest and best golden basin. Don’t forget.”
It was the moment Bi Sain, who had depended only on the Thirteen Wolves of the Sado Alliance, gained an ally more reliable than anyone.
Geom Mugeuk congratulated the two of them with his gaze. Naturally, a few people he missed came to mind.
Just then, a demon practitioner managing the safe house came and delivered a letter.
“It is an urgent letter sent from the Sado Alliance to the Young Cult Leader through Tongcheongak.”
Geom Mugeuk checked the contents of the letter.
“What does it say?”
At Bi Sain’s tense question, Geom Mugeuk answered with an expression that said what was finally meant to come had come.
“Your Alliance Leader wants to see me.”
Absolute Regression, Chapter 360