After leaving the Valley of Villains, I went to the Southern Blade Sect, where the Blood Heaven Blade Demon resided.
Seo Daeryong, who had been training in the courtyard there, was startled out of his wits when he saw the white mask dangling from my waist.
“Gasp! Don’t tell me—did you kill the Extreme Evil Young Demon too?”
As if he himself was shocked by what he had just said, Seo Daeryong hurriedly clapped a hand over his mouth.
“Of course. Did you think I’d let a villain like that live?”
When I spoke coldly, Seo Daeryong instead lowered the hand covering his mouth in relief.
“Thank goodness. I really thought you’d killed him.”
“I said I killed him!”
“You’re not foolish enough to go around wearing evidence of murder at your waist, Pavilion Lord.”
“If you know that, why ask if I killed him?”
“I was so shocked the moment I saw the mask. But what is that mask? Are you thinking of infiltrating the Valley of Villains?”
“Why would I need this to infiltrate that place? You’d need it if you were infiltrating.”
My Four Steps of the Wind God had now risen to a level where no Faceless Guest could sense my presence.
“This is a gift the Extreme Evil Young Demon gave me.”
Seo Daeryong was even more shocked than before.
“The Extreme Evil Young Demon gave you a gift?”
“And it was a gift the Young Demon personally bought for me in Maga Village, even paying money for it.”
“It’s more surprising that a man like that carries money. He seems like the sort who’d just kill someone and take what he wants. Anyway, Pavilion Lord, you’ll be the first and last person ever to receive a gift from the Extreme Evil Young Demon.”
“Investigator Seo.”
“Yes.”
“What we know least, apart from what lies inside a person’s heart, is our own future. On the day we first met, could you ever have imagined that you and I would be having this conversation in the courtyard of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s home?”
“Well, that’s true. Back when I fell for your coaxing at the tavern, I really had no idea this training hell would be waiting for me.”
Watching him sigh, I smiled.
“One day, you’ll say this too. I truly had no idea that hellish training back then would save my life.”
Seo Daeryong looked at me and grinned. Seo Daeryong himself was living proof of those words. There was no crookedness or gloom to be seen in him now. One never knew what lay ahead for a person.
Leaving him behind as he began training again, I entered the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s house.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon was taking books down from the shelf.
“Keep playing tricks like that and you’ll lose your head.”
“How can such a refined man who reads poetry say something so vulgar?”
“It’s because you’re wearing that damned unlucky thing.”
I had put on the white mask as a prank when I entered the room.
As I had done with the Extreme Evil Young Demon, I pushed the mask up onto my head like a hat.
“I’ll be leaving the cult tomorrow with the Extreme Evil Young Demon. I came to ask you to look after matters inside the cult while I’m away.”
Still pulling books from the shelf, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon spoke without turning around.
“No need to worry. Things will run just fine on their own. They run without me, and they’ll run perfectly well without you too.”
“Right? They run too well, and that’s the problem. Oh, and please tell the Sword Venerable in my stead, Elder.”
“Me?”
“Yes. Tell him I left without paying my respects because I was busy.”
The reason I deliberately asked the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was because I hoped the two of them would meet one more time under the pretext of this errand.
Perhaps the Blood Heaven Blade Demon guessed my intention as well, for he did not bother refusing. At times like this, it was clear he too wished to reconcile with the Sword Venerable.
“Then I’ll be off.”
I was about to turn and leave when the Blood Heaven Blade Demon asked from behind me.
“Do you truly intend to draw the Extreme Evil Young Demon to our side?”
“Even if he doesn’t become our ally, I at least won’t let him become our enemy.”
“Is there any need to go that far?”
“If the Extreme Evil Young Demon joins hands with my elder brother, he’ll become several times more troublesome than he is now.”
“In any case, the Extreme Evil Young Demon isn’t the sort of man who would sincerely serve the First Young Master.”
“That’s the problem. The two of them will keep a suitable distance while exchanging tasks and rewards as they move forward. Given their personalities, they won’t have any emotional clashes, nor will either of them have his pride wounded. That’s why they’ll get along even better than with the Demon Buddha.”
Because that was exactly what had happened in reality. The two had worked so well together that, in the end, they became closer than the Demon Buddha or the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
“Then I’ll be going.”
“Wait a moment.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon put the books he had taken out back into places other than where they had originally been. The moment the final book slid into place—
Srrrk.
The bookshelf opened, revealing a secret room. It was an intricate secret passage that opened when specific books were placed in specific spots.
More surprising than the fact that there was a secret room here was that he had opened it without hesitation in front of me.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon entered the secret room and came back out carrying something.
He casually tossed what he had brought onto the table in front of me.
“Take it.”
“What is this?”
When I opened the neatly wrapped package, there was a thin upper garment inside.
“It’s the Ghost-Guard Garment. If you wear it, it’ll hurt a little less when you get beaten.”
It was not merely a matter of hurting a little less. The Ghost-Guard Garment was a top-grade protective garment, impervious to blades and swords.
“Are you truly giving me something this precious?”
“I am.”
“You should wear it yourself, Elder.”
“What would an old man like me do with it? It’d be unsightly.”
“Then sell it.”
“And after selling it?”
“You’d make money.”
“And after making it?”
Come to think of it, he had no blood relatives to pass his wealth on to.
“Travel through the Central Plains and eat delicacies from mountains and seas.”
“Delicacies, my foot. Now that I’m old, even the noodles I eat at lunch don’t digest properly.”
My heart ached because I knew it was not entirely a joke. I had experienced it myself, so I knew. No matter how great a master one was, aging could not be helped.
“You don’t want to wear it? If you don’t, then forget it.”
“Of course that’s not true.”
When he tried to take it back, I swiftly snatched it up and put on the Ghost-Guard Garment right there. Wasn’t it only proper etiquette to wear such a protective garment on the spot?
“It fits perfectly! It’s really comfortable.”
It was thin and elastic, so it felt as if I were not wearing it at all. If I wrapped the Supreme Heavenly Silkworm Thread over this and activated the Heavenly Demon Protective Divine Art, my body would not be cut apart even if I were struck by sword qi or sword force.
Far removed from showing off his generosity, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon had already gone out into the courtyard where Seo Daeryong was, as if worried I might thank him, and had begun nagging.
After watching the two of them train for a short while, I quietly left his residence.
I did not intend to repay the Blood Heaven Blade Demon with words.
* * *
“When did you say you were leaving?”
For some reason, Ian was even less worried about me than the Blood Heaven Blade Demon had been.
“Tomorrow morning.”
“Then we can’t hold a farewell party. Ah, and I thought we might finally all gather and have a drink after so long.”
“Ian! Is that what matters right now? I’m going out to the Central Plains with the Extreme Evil Young Demon. ‘Won’t that be dangerous? I’ll guard you!’ Where did she go? My old Ian!”
“I miss her too, that affectionate Ian.”
“This is all because of training. I’ll have to stop you from doing it.”
I approached and examined Ian’s hands. The layers of calluses on her palms spoke of the harsh training she had undergone.
“These days, when I grip a sword, something feels different.”
There was no further explanation, but I knew what she meant.
The Flying Heaven Sword Art, which had reached the eighth stage, must have been ceaselessly tempting and provoking her. Urging her to meet strong opponents and fight.
Compared to me or the Demon Venerables, she was still lacking in many ways, but the Flying Heaven Sword Art at the eighth stage was a level of skill where, once she entered the martial world, she would be hard-pressed to find a worthy opponent.
“I’ll go and tremble in fear beside the terrifying Extreme Evil Young Demon.”
“I heard you went to the Heavenly Demon Hall yourself to receive permission so you could suffer that terrifying ordeal.”
“Who did you hear that from?”
“Investigator Seo has already been here.”
“He must be the loosest-lipped right-hand man in the martial world.”
Ian did not laugh at my joke.
“I was always the first to know news about you, Young Master. And whenever you left the cult like this, I naturally followed you.”
“Are you upset?”
At that, her true feelings burst out.
“Yes, I’m upset. I’m very, very upset.”
With a long sigh, the emotions she had been holding back poured out.
“I’m worried! I want to follow you and protect you! I’m no longer your guard, and you’ve even given me the excessive position of captain of the Ghost Shadow Unit, but what I still want is to stay by your side and protect you. I’m someone who wants to die beside you, even if I die. That is my dream… I thought that if I became a greater master than I am now, I’d be able to truly protect you, that I should endure until I became someone useful like that, that I should endure and keep training…”
Then Ian choked up.
“…I know you’re so busy and having such a hard time… so I didn’t want to say this… I’m sorry. I’ll keep training hard.”
In the end, the tears she had been holding back fell from her eyes.
“Pack your things.”
For a moment, Ian flinched in surprise.
“I’m sorry. I was wrong. Please don’t drive me away.”
“What are you talking about? Pack your things. Let’s go together tomorrow.”
In that instant, she was startled.
“Really?”
“You’re right. If you don’t protect me, who will? Let’s go together. Go and protect me to your heart’s content.”
“Good! That’s really great!”
For the first time in a long while, Ian was so happy that she jumped up and down.
“Thank you, Young Master. Thank you so much.”
“Once you leave home, all that awaits is hardship. What are you thanking me for? And our companion is the Extreme Evil Young Demon, no less.”
“I’d go even if it were the Cult Leader, not the Extreme Evil Young Demon! I’m going, I tell you! I’ll see you later. I have a lot to prepare. Women have many things to get ready!”
As if she were busy, Ian ran out of the training ground first.
Watching her so excited, I realized something.
Martial arts training was good, and changes in life were good as well, but the most important thing was that emotion she was now leaping about with in joy… this moment, right now, was the most important.
Perhaps, behind my wish for her to become stronger, there had been selfishness meant to put my own heart at ease.
Perhaps a cowardly unconscious thought had been at work in me, thinking that her hardships would soon become mine.
Her life was so vividly alive, unfolding in the present, and yet I might have driven her into this training ground to conceal my own anxiety.
I finally realized that the true time to perform the Divine Poison Purification Art had nothing to do with her—it was the moment I overcame my own anxiety. That was why I was able to make my decision.
Yes, now was truly the time.
By the time she returned from this journey, she would return as a different person.
* * *
The next morning, I went to the Valley of Villains with Ian.
When we arrived, the Extreme Evil Young Demon had already finished preparing to leave.
“I intend to go quietly, so I’ll only bring one friend to attend to me.”
The mask of the Faceless Guest introduced by the Extreme Evil Young Demon had a stylish blue line drawn across it.
“This is Blue Mask.”
He greeted me respectfully. As the Extreme Evil Young Demon’s right-hand man, he was someone I knew well.
His martial arts were excellent, and his loyalty was even more excellent. When I had come to search for the Great Art of Regression, he had still been the Extreme Evil Young Demon’s right-hand man.
And he was also an ill-fated man who could not become the next Extreme Evil Young Demon because the current one lived too long.
I introduced Ian to them as well.
“This is my guard.”
Ian greeted the Extreme Evil Young Demon politely.
“I am Ian. It is an honor to meet you.”
I added one more word.
“She is also my heart.”
Ian’s face turned slightly red, but because of the occasion, she simply kept her head bowed in silence.
At my words, the Extreme Evil Young Demon smiled and said,
“First you reveal your right arm, and now you tell me where your heart is.”
“I’m exposing all my weaknesses so thoroughly that no one will know which one is the real weakness.”
“Well then, shall we depart?”
“Good.”
The Extreme Evil Young Demon and I climbed into the carriage, while Ian and Blue Mask sat on the driver’s bench. The two of them exchanged brief nods from the bench. Though they had only just met, they shared the common bond of guarding their masters.
Once the carriage set off, the Extreme Evil Young Demon did not hide his delight.
“I feel good.”
“It has been a long time since I’ve gone to the Central Plains, so I feel good as well.”
I meant it. For quite some time, I had been confined to the cult, going only between the Yellow Springs Pavilion, the training ground, the Heavenly Demon Hall, and the Pungryu Tavern.
At least, whenever I felt stifled, I had been able to use the Spacetime Transposition Art to rest in new places; had it not been for that, I would truly have felt suffocated. So there was no need to even mention the suffocation the Extreme Evil Young Demon must have felt after being confined for two years.
“You brought that mask.”
The white mask he had given me as a gift was hanging from my waist.
“You gave it to me, Young Demon. Of course I had to bring it.”
“I’ll have a better one made for you, not something cheap like that.”
He meant that he would have one made like the one he wore, where the eyes could not be seen from the outside.
“No, it’s all right. I prefer this one.”
“You prefer that?”
“Did you not buy it for me yourself, Young Demon? That alone is enough.”
“Second Young Master. I am someone who begins by suspecting people when I look at them. The more pleasing their words, the more I suspect them.”
“Of course you should suspect me. I’m treating someone with ‘Extreme Evil’ in his title this well, so surely I must have some ulterior motive.”
“What is your ulterior motive, Second Young Master?”
I grinned.
“You asked whether making all sorts of expressions was not more tiring, didn’t you? I actually prefer it. At times like this, I can use an ambiguous expression to gloss over my answer.”
He could not press me too closely. After all, I was not urging him to keep his promise to remove his mask either.
“Why do you not ask where we are going?”
“We must be going somewhere in this dreary world.”
At my joke, the Extreme Evil Young Demon laughed loudly.
Meanwhile, the carriage left the main cult and began picking up speed toward the Central Plains.