Tae Jan-gwi is an old man without both legs. In exchange for being able to create anything with his wrinkled hands, he could not walk.
Cheonma offered to give him legs, but he said he didn't need legs and told him to give him time instead.
Cheonma accepted this and gave time to Tae Jan-gwi, who was on the verge of death.
Hearing this, I couldn't help but think that Cheonma might truly not be human.
Unless he was a god, how could it be possible to intervene in human life and death?
Tae Jan-gwi, who gained time through Cheonma's touch, began to overhaul the Divine Cult.
The time it took for a single human to turn a castle into a fortress was merely half a year.
I remembered the face of the old man, shriveled and filled only with madness.
'Was he already working for the Black Night Palace before meeting Cheonma?'
A device that reacts to demonic energy, not a formation—the only human who could make such a thing was that old man.
Inside the door, there were stairs leading down.
Seeing the bloodstains scattered here and there, I expected it wouldn't be a normal place.
Without extinguishing the flames in my hand, I went down the stairs.
With every step down, the smell of blood grew stronger.
So much so that I had to cover my mouth and nose with my sleeve.
'What on earth were they doing?'
Seeing the bloodstains on the wall hardened and faded, it seemed like quite a while had passed.
Just as I was wondering how much further I had to go down, I finally saw the floor.
Below the stairs was a long, narrow corridor. The surroundings were already filled with a nauseating smell, and at the end of the corridor, an indistinct sound of boiling liquid could be heard.
Covering my mouth with my sleeve, I carefully approached the source of the sound.
And at the place I arrived.
".••!"
I bit my lip at the devastating sight before my eyes.
In the room, there was a small pond filled with dark red blood.
The shocking sight made it hard to calm my pounding chest.
The stench of rotting corpses filled the surroundings, and the corpses of Plum Blossom Swordsmen, whom I hadn't discovered earlier, were rolling on the floor.
Seeing that, I spat out a curse.
"•••These fucking bastards."
Unless one was a fool, even without thinking, one could tell whose blood was filling that pond.
For what?
For what on earth did they commit such an act.
I urgently surveyed the surroundings. I had to figure out what this nauseating room was used for.
Not long after, I was able to find out quickly.
It was a small flower blooming in the center of the pond.
It was a flower with a splendid color, as if it had bloomed using the blood as nourishment.
Unlike its beautiful exterior, it exuded a sinister aura, and I could even feel a faint demonic energy.
It was obviously an unusual flower.
"•••Don't tell me."
That bright red flower.
Was all this for that?
What on earth is that...?
As I was about to approach the flower with trembling eyes, I suddenly noticed something strange.
Among the corpses of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, there were bodies that looked exceptionally intact.
They wore the same white clothes, but not the kind that had been left to rot along with the flesh for a long time.
They looked as if they hadn't been dead for long.
Seeing the clothes the corpses were wearing, I immediately released my qi.
The Alliance.
Those corpses belong to the Alliance.
Moreover, they were corpses that hadn't been dead for long.
That meant the Alliance hadn't retreated, but rather...
Shweeek-!
In the sensory perception spread in all directions, a presence was caught.
There was no time to grasp the situation.
I moved immediately and protected my neck.
Stab!
A blade grazed my shoulder, and blood splattered.
Whooosh!
In response, I spewed flames to protect my body and simultaneously dispelled the darkness in the room.
I focused my gaze. I observed the appearance of the ambusher.
Since both the clothes and the mask were black, it wasn't an appearance I could recognize.
Night. Old.
Blood flowed from the injured shoulder.
'That was close.'
The choice to protect my neck was right.
The corpses of the Murim Alliance members shoved to the corner had all died from pierced throats.
Thanks to taking countermeasures seeing this, I blocked the surprise attack. I looked at the bastard and asked.
"Are you a Black Night Palace bastard?"
In response to my question, the bastard tilted his head. Fortunately, he wasn't mute, as he spoke.
"A young brat with no manners."
At his clicking tongue, I held a sneer.
"Why are heretic bastards so obsessed with manners these days? Anyone watching would think you guys are paragons of etiquette, for a bastard who only throws surprise attacks."
"How did you dodge?"
"Your attack was so sloppy, of course I dodged."
Even while saying that, I was putting all my effort into figuring him out.
'An assassin.'
Sweat flowed down my cheek. He was a troublesome opponent. The guy wasn't a normal martial artist, but an assassin.
I blocked the first surprise attack, but if our martial arts were at the same level, he would have the advantage in a one-on-one fight.
It was fortunate that we were in a narrow room with nowhere to hide, but the compatibility was not good.
I circulated my mental method and increased the flames. The bastard saw this and nodded.
"Small stature, fierce impression, red daoist robes, and even using fire arts... Yes, you're Gu Yang-cheon."
At his words, I frowned.
"You know me?"
"You were also on the target list... Fortunately, you came on your own, things have become easier."
It was demonic energy similar to Ya Hyeol-jeok's. Given the circumstances, the guy definitely belonged to the Black Night Palace.
'The Black Night Palace knows about me.'
Did the information get in because I killed Ya Hyeol-jeok? It was a part I had expected, but it spread faster than I thought.
Does that mean the matter tied to this place is that important, that flower? Or the Divine Doctor?
'What do I do?'
The opponent is a pinnacle-level assassin. It's a different class from when I faced Ya Hyeol-jeok.
I was raising my sensory perception with heat and focusing, but the bastard was full of composure.
But he wasn't letting his guard down. What a dogshit situation.
He was blocking the entrance, so escape wasn't easy, and there was no chance of winning if we fought.
I wished he'd at least let his guard down like Ya Hyeol-jeok, but there was no such sign from him.
As I circulated my internal qi and heated up my body in this crisis, the bastard spoke.
"I will make a proposal."
"What?"
It was a sudden remark.
"Our Palace wants you. There were orders to capture you alive rather than kill you if possible, so how about you quietly surrender?"
It was an absurd statement.
"After trying to kill me with a surprise attack?"
"I didn't know who you were then. You must be a young master of a prestigious family, so wouldn't you prefer to come along comfortably without getting hurt?"
"What a funny bastard."
"I'll have to cut your tendons, but I'll spare your life."
His words made me laugh in disbelief.
So basically, he was telling me to beg for my life from a Black Night Palace bastard who might be connected to the Demonic Cult.
My life is precious.
Especially since it was a life and time I had miraculously gained. But it wasn't so expensive that I would bow my head here. At least, I didn't want to do that to demonic bastards.
With my face full of mockery, I said to him.
"Fuck off, bastard."
At my curse, the bastard's eyes distorted.
Even though I couldn't see his face, I could tell.
"You should've removed the killing intent from your eyes before saying that, you idiot."
"Heh heh... You have quicker wits than I thought."
He was a guy who had no intention of keeping his word from the start. I could tell that as soon as I saw it.
An assassin not even bothering to hide his emotions.
How much was he looking down on me?
He stopped laughing and said.
"I am called Nachal."
"Why the sudden self-introduction bullshit, do you want to get close to me?"
"You should know who you're dying to, it's my courtesy."
What a bullshit idea. So does he announce his name via sound transmission to those he kills with surprise attacks?
No way.
He was just mocking me.
'Nachal... A name I've never heard before.'
I didn't think his words were true, and no name particularly came to mind.
Originally, there were almost no known assassins except for the Dark King.
The important thing is that he is a high-level assassin and I have to survive from now on.
'•••Tsk.'
I didn't know the Black Night Palace's cleanup would be this fast. It was mostly my fault for moving hastily.
Countless methods came to mind, but I lacked the power to break through.
Even so, I had to do it.
I circulated my internal qi without rest to activate my body and was about to charge at him.
[...You're causing trouble as soon as you wake up.]
My steps, which were about to dash forward, stopped.
[Tsk tsk... They should recognize working even after death in the immortal realm.]
It was a familiar voice.
A sense of relief surged in, inappropriate for the situation.
'Shin-no...'
[Don't do anything stupid and step aside.]
For a moment, the world went dark.
'What?'
Nachal was looking with bewilderment at Gu Yang-cheon, who had suddenly bowed his head.
The orders given by the Main Palace were to bring the 'Origin Fluid' from the Shaanxi branch, kidnap the Divine Doctor, and secure the boy of the Gu family.
Finding the Origin Fluid was easy. Without the Heavenly Energy, the device couldn't be opened anyway, so it was just a matter of going and taking it.
He had killed the Murim Alliance trash blocking the branch in one strike and cleared them away.
It would take at least one shichen for them to notice anything was wrong.
Just as he was about to leave with the Origin Fluid, he felt an unknown presence, so Nachal hid his presence.
The presence gradually approached, opened the door, and infiltrated underground.
At first, he thought it was someone from the Main Palace, but upon checking, surprisingly, it was a boy.
'I tensed up for nothing.'
He didn't know how he got in. He thought he had closed the door, but had he left it open?
Either way, killing him would be the end of it, so he tried to finish it quickly.
Absurdly, the boy dodged Nachal's single strike.
Soon after, with the flames filling the room and seeing the boy's impression, Nachal was certain.
That guy was the son of the Hyeop who was currently staying in Shaanxi.
Behind the vague mission given by the Palace Master to secure Gu Yang-cheon, was the addendum that killing him was also acceptable.
Even if he killed Ya Hyeol-jeok, the boy was a first-rate martial artist.
Nachal could handle someone like Ya Hyeol-jeok in a single strike if the conditions were right.
'He's certainly a monster for his age, but.'
Looking at the amount of internal energy contained in the flames filling the room, Nachal gasped inwardly.
Leaving a monster like that, who seemed to harbor ill will toward the Main Palace, alone would become a hindrance in the future.
At this moment, Nachal intended to dispose of Gu Yang-cheon.
However.
"Oww, my old bones..."
The atmosphere of Gu Yang-cheon, who started moving again, had changed completely.
"Getting old, why am I suffering like this..."
Is he playing around?
'He must be trying to buy time.'
It wouldn't change anything, Nachal gripped the dagger hidden in his sleeve and circulated his qi.
Neck, or if possible, the heart.
He planned to end it with one of the two.
He had no intention of watching any more of this clumsy acting. As he was about to rush in to finish it in one strike.
"Ugh...!"
Nachal couldn't take more than three steps.
In the first step, his neck was slashed; in the second step, his entire body was mutilated.
In a fleeting moment, hundreds of deaths passed through Nachal.
"•••What in the world..."
"No matter how much time passes in the world, there are always kids like you."
The location where the voice came from changed.
As Nachal urgently shifted his gaze, Gu Yang-cheon had drawn a sword from the corpse of a Murim Alliance underling and was swinging it in the air a few times.
"Hating that, I lived my whole life pouring my soul into it, but I now realize there are things that ultimately do not change."
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Nachal took a step back without realizing it at those words. Soon after, he frowned at his own unsightly action.
As if not caring about that, Gu Yang-cheon continued speaking.
"What did you say earlier, that one should know who they're dying to?"
"•••What have you done?"
Heh....
Gu Yang-cheon's laughter echoed in the emptiness. Even though it was a sound without a single trace of qi, it sounded so loud in Nachal's ears.
Beyond the mask covering his face, there should only be the smell of blood, but somehow he was struck by the illusion of a fragrant scent.
Gu Yang-cheon speaks.
"Good to see you, brat."
As if waiting for those words, the wind blew.
An incomprehensible wind was blowing in a place surrounded by walls on all sides.
"I am Shin Cheol."
The largest plum blossom tree, swept away by time.
Has bloomed once more in this place.