Jongbaek had heard all sorts of rumors about the young cult leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Incredible, outstanding, and absurd.
If he had to describe in a single word how he felt now, facing the young cult leader in person, it would be this:
Overwhelming.
So much so that he could not even breathe.
“Haa.”
When the breath Jongbaek had been holding slipped from his mouth, Geom Mugeuk released the wrist he had been gripping.
He had snatched up an arm that had been chopping down with speed in an instant; it would have been only natural for a mark to remain on the wrist.
Yet there was no trace whatsoever on his wrist. As though no one had ever grabbed it in the first place.
This was precisely the difference!
What distinguished masters who had climbed and climbed until they had nearly reached the final realm was not a difference in who could strike and smash with greater force. It was not how high they could fly or how quickly they could move.
Jongbaek knew well that the true gap in skill was revealed in subtle, seemingly trivial differences like this.
Jongbaek’s gaze, which had been fixed on his own wrist, turned toward Geom Mugeuk.
‘This man is the young cult leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.’
Jongbaek could sense no malice in Geom Mugeuk’s gentle eyes as he looked at him. That was what made him even more frightening. After all, the other party was the young cult leader of the Demonic Cult.
Just what did he want? What if he demanded something even more important than his arm?
“What is it you desire?”
Meanwhile, Chuyeon and the other warriors watching from the side had no idea how astonishing Geom Mugeuk’s single move had been. All of them had been so fixated on Jongbaek cutting off his arm that they assumed Geom Mugeuk must have arrived in the midst of it.
Under normal circumstances, Chuyeon would have stepped forward and said something.
How dare you lay a hand on him!
But the atmosphere was strange and unreadable, and thanks to him intervening, Jongbaek’s arm had been spared.
She could not understand this situation. The Jongbaek she had known since childhood was an invincible master. There had never been a matter he could not resolve once he stepped forward, and whenever a crisis came to the Flying Dragon Gang, he was always the first to stand at the front.
‘But why? Just who is that porter?’
Why was he offering up his wrist and preparing to grant a request?
At last, Geom Mugeuk opened his mouth.
“You have two arms, so I have two requests.”
At those words, Jongbaek flinched inwardly.
‘I was only going to cut off one arm.’
Of course, it had been Geom Mugeuk’s joke. He simply had two things to ask.
But everyone was so tense and shocked that the only ones who gave even a faint smile at his words were the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the One Blossom Sword Venerable.
“My first request is…”
Geom Mugeuk looked at Chuyeon. Jongbaek immediately understood what Geom Mugeuk meant to say. She had treated the young cult leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult as a mere porter and dismissed him; even if he killed her, there would be nothing to say in her defense.
And since he had said they had met three times in the cave, her rudeness must not have happened only once.
“What are you doing? Hurry and apologize!”
At Jongbaek’s thunderous shout, Chuyeon dropped flat to the ground on the spot.
“I failed to recognize an honored person and have committed a sin worthy of death!”
Chuyeon had known Jongbaek since she was young. Whenever he saw her, he had doted on her and cherished her more than anyone. This was the first time she had ever seen him so angry.
Jongbaek spoke to Geom Mugeuk with utmost courtesy.
“She is a thoughtless child who made a mistake. Please, show mercy.”
He was worried that Geom Mugeuk might demand Chuyeon’s arm instead of his own.
If the young cult leader wanted to punish her, he intended to stop it even if he had to offer his own life in her place. If he could not protect the girl he had watched over since she was young, he would have no face to show the leader of the Flying Dragon Gang.
Geom Mugeuk walked over to Chuyeon and helped her to her feet.
“I never told you who I was, so it was only natural that you did not recognize me.”
When Geom Mugeuk treated her gently, she was left bewildered. She had expected to be shouted at for failing to recognize him.
“Do you remember? That we said we should meet alive even a fourth time?”
“Of course.”
Geom Mugeuk conveyed what he wished to say to the frightened woman.
“But what matters is not that fourth meeting. What matters is those four.”
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze turned toward the Ten Heroes of the Flying Dragon standing behind her. Of the ten, only four had survived.
He meant that meeting him a fourth time was not the important thing; the more serious and important matter was that only four of her subordinates remained.
It meant she should not have clung to her greed for the treasure map until all her subordinates were dying around her.
Even now, the treasure map probably weighed more heavily in her heart than the deaths of her subordinates.
“If you do not understand the difference, you will not live to meet me a fifth time.”
“Yes, I will keep it in mind.”
She answered well, but Chuyeon did not understand what Geom Mugeuk meant. What on earth was so important about four?
Geom Mugeuk looked at Jongbaek and said,
“Now do you know what you must do with that arm?”
He meant that rather than cutting it off, he should take a switch in that hand and properly teach this reckless, arrogant girl.
Understanding Geom Mugeuk’s meaning, Jongbaek let out a long sigh.
“I have used the busyness of my life as an excuse and failed to pay attention to what is most important in our gang.”
If the busy gang leader could not do it, then he should have paid attention himself.
The problem was that he had only indulged and adored her too much. Since she had always been respectful toward him, he had assumed she behaved the same way outside.
“I will teach her properly.”
Chuyeon’s life, with her head bowed deeply, would become very difficult from now on.
‘For the sake of your own life, endure it well and work hard, you immature young lady.’
Geom Mugeuk turned back toward Jongbaek. Jongbaek grew tense inwardly.
This would be the real demand. If anything, Jongbaek became even more nervous. He expected Geom Mugeuk to demand something greater in exchange for forgiving Chuyeon.
Yet the second request, too, was something he had never imagined.
“Persuade the leader of the Flying Dragon Gang and do not get involved in this matter any further. At the very least, you must not meet me again over the matter of the treasure map.”
Geom Mugeuk deliberately spoke firmly. For the sake of the Flying Dragon Gang as well, they could not become involved in this affair.
Jongbaek did not hesitate to answer.
“I will keep it in mind. This old man will take responsibility and obey your words.”
“Thank you, Elder Jong.”
Jongbaek asked cautiously,
“Is that all you wished to say?”
“Yes. After all, you only have two arms, don’t you?”
Even if he had not said it outright, it was only natural that the Flying Dragon Gang would withdraw. Having become entangled with the young cult leader of the Demonic Cult like this, how could they continue trying to obtain the treasure map?
Seeing Geom Mugeuk offer a courteous salute, Jongbaek was finally able to understand. Both requests had been made for the sake of the Flying Dragon Gang.
He was someone who had no need to do this.
‘Even if the young cult leader came alone, our gang would be annihilated.’
He was someone who could have beaten Chuyeon half to death and threatened Jongbaek that if he interfered again, he would die.
Jongbaek’s gaze turned to the One Blossom Sword Venerable standing beside him. He truly had changed a great deal since the last time they had met. And that change was not limited to his appearance.
‘He has grown stronger! Incomparably so.’
Even before, Jongbaek could not have opposed him; now, even daring to stand face-to-face with him felt burdensome.
Finally, Jongbaek’s gaze went to the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, who still had his back turned. The great blade on his back was wrapped in cloth.
He had not turned around, but now Jongbaek knew who he was.
‘The Blood Heaven Blade Demon!’
If he were the Blood Heaven Blade Demon of rumor, he would already have stepped forward and swept them all away.
‘The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult has changed!’
Jongbaek silently offered a cupped-fist salute to the Blood Heaven Blade Demon as well. It was not because he was frightened of the Demonic Cult and blindly lowering his head.
He was expressing sincere gratitude for the mercy Geom Mugeuk and the two Demon Venerables had shown.
“Thank you truly for showing mercy.”
“Thank you truly for readily accepting my wishes.”
Geom Mugeuk also returned a courteous cupped-fist salute, preserving his dignity in front of his subordinates.
Jongbaek left the place with Chuyeon and his subordinates.
Chuyeon glanced once at Geom Mugeuk, then lowered her head deeply and left.
There would come a time when, after she had grown older, she would look back on this day. He could only hope that she would live a life in which today remained a shameful memory.
In the meantime, the lake where the setting sun had been descending grew dark.
“Let’s spend the night here today.”
Geom Mugeuk drove the carriage to a field near the lakeside.
After unharnessing the horses and letting them rest, he lit a campfire.
The two Demon Venerables went together and caught something for dinner. Geom Mugeuk dressed it with practiced hands and served up an excellent meal.
Taesu had not eaten the food before, but this time he silently ate everything Geom Mugeuk gave him. He now knew they were not the kind of people who would put poison in the food or mix in a confession drug.
After the meal, the two Demon Venerables went out for a stroll along the lakeshore, leaving only the two of them there.
“That thing you refused to eat last time, saying you wouldn’t have it. It really was stalactite immortal moss.”
“I know.”
He had thought of that a little while ago while eating. If it was these people, then that, too, must have been genuine.
“If I had said I would eat it, would you really have given it to me?”
“I would have given you a little of mine.”
Instead of thinking, He never would have given it to me, Taesu found himself wondering, Would he really have given it to me?
Then Taesu immediately scolded himself.
Given what? Something that precious? Don’t get confused by that man!
“Why don’t you ask? Who are you people?”
At Geom Mugeuk’s question, Taesu looked into the blazing fire and answered,
“I’m not curious.”
In truth, he was curious. He had also been terribly shocked to see an elder of the Flying Dragon Gang so frightened.
At first, he had actually suspected that these people might be from the Flying Dragon Gang. Perhaps they were on the same side, and this was all an act arranged to frighten him.
But he soon thought that could not be true. If they had wanted to, they could simply have tortured him outright; there was no reason for them to make things so difficult.
“If I ask who you are, will you answer?”
“No.”
Taesu lifted one corner of his mouth as if he had known it.
“Do you know why I can’t tell you?”
“What is it?”
“The way you speak has changed.”
“!”
Now that he heard it, that was true.
Before meeting Elder Jong of the Flying Dragon Gang, he had spoken more casually and bluntly, but now he was addressing Geom Mugeuk with great politeness.
“I… did not notice.”
“You don’t have to notice that, but you do need to know this. If you learn that I have power and belong to a famous house, you will give up on stealing my heart.”
“Why do you think so?”
“Because you have the kind of personality that can’t say even one simple thing like, ‘The scenery beside you is so beautiful.’ You have an enormous amount of pride.”
Taesu could not refute that.
“Pride is important. But do not forget this: if your pride is too high, in the end you will be forced to submit from a low place.”
Those words stabbed into his chest because he knew that he was not the sort of person who could protect even that paltry pride to the very end.
Taesu stared silently at the flickering campfire, then asked Geom Mugeuk,
“With your ability, whether by threats or torture, you could find out everything you want from me. Why are you giving me these chances?”
Then an unexpected answer came.
“In the past, I owed a debt to a thief.”
This man? Just who had he owed, and what kind of debt? It did not seem like such a thing could happen.
“Who was it?”
Taesu knew the lineages of most thieves in the Central Plains by heart. If Geom Mugeuk only said the name, he would know who it was, but Geom Mugeuk did not tell him.
“Then answer this. I am not even the person involved, so why are you trying to repay me?”
Geom Mugeuk flopped down where he was and looked up at the stars in the night sky as he said,
“I don’t think I’ll ever meet a thief again in my life with such a deep connection. So just take it! Didn’t I tell you? You used up all the gambling luck of your lifetime when you met me. Then you ought to gain something from it too.”
Taesu silently looked at Geom Mugeuk, then at the campfire again, and then up at the night sky where tiny sparks rose into the air.
After remaining deep in thought like that for a long while, Taesu abruptly brought up the past.
“Forty years ago, a single treasure map appeared in the world.”
Still lying down, Geom Mugeuk turned his head and looked at him. Beyond the campfire, Taesu continued speaking.
“The murim was turned upside down by the rumor that it was a treasure map marking the location of a tomb filled with enough riches to let one live as a tycoon for generations. Only, whose tomb it was was never revealed.”
“Like now?”
“Yes, like now.”
As always, the history of the murim was repeating itself.
“That tomb is this very Sword Tomb. At the time, peerless masters entered it, and not a single one came out alive. Leaving aside all the treasures inside, what if one could obtain the weapons of those masters? What if there happened to be martial arts manuals as well? That alone would make it worth risking one’s life.”
Then, from Taesu’s mouth came a fact even Geom Mugeuk did not know.
“Do you know whose tomb that originally was?”
When Geom Mugeuk shook his head, Taesu mentioned one person. It was a fact unknown to the world.
“It is Zhu Jiashen, the One Sword of the Evil Path.”
Zhu Jiashen, the One Sword of the Evil Path.
He was a figure who, three hundred years ago, had been famous as the leader of the Evil Path Alliance and the greatest master of the unorthodox factions.
“The Sword Tomb is his tomb.”
Geom Mugeuk, who had been lying down, sat up.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Why did you tell me you owed a debt to a thief?”
Silence flowed between them, and their gazes briefly intertwined in midair.
Taesu had revealed the secret because he had made up his mind.
“It does not matter who you are. From now until we reach the Sword Tomb, I will steal your heart and survive. Not only my life—I will also obtain the treasure I want from that place. I will stake everything on this contest with you.”
Then he would show his father. He would show him that he had survived by stealing the heart of someone truly extraordinary.
“The Sword Tomb is in Zhejiang Province.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the One Blossom Sword Venerable, who were returning from their stroll, also heard his words.
“I will tell you the exact location once we arrive.”
Knowing that Taesu’s words were not false, Geom Mugeuk said to the two Demon Venerables,
“Starting tomorrow, we head for Zhejiang Province.”
Once the destination was set, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon felt regretful inwardly.
‘Why is he in such a hurry!’
He could have spoken a little more slowly. They could have wandered a little longer wherever their feet carried them.
Then again, after being caught by whom, how could he hold out without talking?
Yes, and who would not understand the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s regretful heart?
“We need to give this friend here a chance, so we’ll go slowly!”