Chapter 148. Master, Master, Master Jaha!

Was it because I had threatened him while bringing up too many illustrious figures?

Even though I told him to have at it, that Ghost Demon bastard from my past life stayed still.

Had he only now realized why he was ugly and fallen into qi deviation? Or had he grasped my abilities to some extent?

It was someone else’s heart, so I could not know either.

Master Liuhe truly said nothing at all. He glared at me, looked at the servants as if he would kill them, and inspected my subordinates waiting nearby from head to toe.

Then Master Liuhe abruptly said to me in a blunt tone.

“……I lost today.”

“……?”

“You hide your skills truly thoroughly. I will withdraw with my servants, so will you let us leave quietly?”

The instant the thought, ‘This bastard is acting up again,’ crossed my mind, I shook my head.

“That is ambiguous.”

“What is ambiguous?”

“It means you’ll bother me again next time. Do I look idle to you?”

Master Liuhe gauged my mood for a moment, then said in an indifferent tone.

“If you let me go, I will challenge you again in ten years. Should I break this promise, I will meet the Three Calamities and suffer the misfortune of being beaten to death.”

“No. A moment ago, you were acting all relaxed as if you could kill me at any time, and now you’re saying you’ll withdraw without losing a thing? Is ten years the name of someone’s dog? Master Liujia’s murim cannot be this soft.”

Master Liuhe smiled with a bitter expression.

“Should I cut off a finger, then?”

“There’s no need for that.”

I pointed at the Seven Gold and Silver Worms.

“If a fight had broken out, all the worm bastards here would have died first. Even if you, Master Liujia, had been lucky enough to flee, that is. Leave the servants behind. Then I’ll let you go.”

Master Liuhe looked at me.

“Do you mean you will kill all the servants?”

“Who knows.”

In truth, the servants were not what mattered to me. I was simply curious about Master Liuhe’s feelings toward his servants. In my past life, I had killed them all before fighting the Ghost Demon, so I had no way of knowing what this fellow thought of his servants.

I spun the Flash Dagger round and round in my hand as I asked.

“What will you do?”

After a moment, Master Liuhe replied as follows.

“If you intend to kill my servants, I cannot leave them behind.”

The Seven Gold and Silver Worms all looked at Master Liuhe with startled eyes.

“……!”

In that moment, I grinned.

‘Oh, my. That’s an unexpected answer.’

I looked at Master Liuhe and fell into thought for a moment.

Could I spare him and use him?

Was he a fighting force that would help when battling the Demonic Cult or the black path?

Was he the sort of man who tormented the weak?

How had he ended up becoming a public enemy?

In a word, this fellow was like General Wei Yan of Shu, so I had no choice but to think deeply.

To kill him would be a waste of martial power.

To leave him alive meant keeping a problematic man around.

Since we had met when we were both public enemies of murim, I did not know much about the stories of his past.

Suddenly, I realized there was something wrong with me for agonizing over this nonsense. If I possessed the martial strength to overwhelmingly crush Master Liuhe, what problem was there?

After agonizing, I came to a conclusion inwardly.

‘Good. Let’s beat him up first and think after.’

I nodded and said.

“Master Liujia, it seems you’ve at least realized that I am not beneath you.”

Master Liuhe replied.

“From beginning to end, I tried to determine your skill, but I could not. Examining your presence was impossible as well. It was also difficult to gauge your internal energy.”

I thought that, both then and now, the Ghost Demon’s cautious personality was still the same.

Master Liuhe said calmly.

“But I did find out one thing.”

“What is it?”

“You have learned martial arts of both yin and yang.”

“Oh, how curious. How did you know that?”

I looked at the Seven Gold and Silver Worms.

“Did the worms notice too?”

This time, the worms all replied politely.

“We did not know.”

“We did not know, Sect Leader.”

I put the Flash Dagger into my robes and said.

“I see. Killing you is ambiguous, and letting you go is uncomfortable. Living in the martial world is not easy.”

I placed my hand on my chest and said.

“Peace of mind, you see……”

I drew in a deep breath, then let it out as I gripped the table with the Black Moon Ice Art infused into my left hand. In an instant, with a tudududuk— sound, cold energy spread out, surging all at once toward the Seven Gold and Silver Worms seated at the table.

At the same time, I poured the Flame Realm Great Hand Seal coiled around my right hand toward Master Liuhe like a thunderbolt. Master Liuhe immediately countered my palm force, and a thunderous roar erupted.

KWAaaaaaaang!

The aftermath of the palm forces colliding in the middle……

Flung the Seven Gold and Silver Worms, who had been struck by the Black Moon Ice Art and were being engulfed by cold, off the table.

Pubububububeok!

The worms were thrown left and right, and the moment they collided with the walls, they all fainted at once.

I spoke to my subordinates as I went outside.

“……If these worm bastards wake up, trample them down again.”

“Understood.”

So Gunpyeong asked me as I headed out of the main hall.

“Shall we join you as well?”

“No, just me.”

“Yes.”

I went out to the inner courtyard and looked at Master Liuhe.

“Master……”

“Must you really do this?”

I replied while drawing Black Cat Fang.

“I’ll spare you. First, let’s have you take a beating. Don’t run.”

Master Liuhe replied as he drew his longsword.

“It will not be easy.”

“Ah, that’s what makes you Liujia.”

It was unfortunate for Master Liuhe, but I had crossed blades with the Ghost Demon in my past life, so I knew his martial arts. On the other hand, this fellow had no way of knowing mine. Well, that was not particularly important. After all, in any fight, the stronger one always won.

I extended my left hand toward So Gunpyeong, who had come out to watch the fight.

“Nightfall Blade. Throw it.”

I caught the flying Nightfall Blade with my left hand, held Black Cat Fang in my right, and faced Master Liuhe for a moment while circling.

Master Liuhe asked me.

“You use paired sabers?”

“Shut up.”

“…….”

Since this bastard already knew I used yin and yang martial arts anyway, I openly infused my blades with the Profound Moon Ice Art and the qi of the Flame Realm, swinging them this way and that. The edges turned white, then red, back and forth, again and again……

I clashed with Master Liuhe while wielding twin blades.

Once we crossed blades, I understood.

I still had not fully recovered the martial prowess I had possessed as the Mad Demon. But the same was true for Master Liuhe; he was weaker than he had been as the Ghost Demon.

Between the two of us, who had recovered more of his prime?

Me, of course.

On top of that, the path of my martial arts had changed.

The Golden Turtle Carefree Art, which I was cultivating calmly while guarding against qi deviation, was still at a lower level than it had been in my Mad Demon days, but with the Moon Shadow Heartless Art added in, the combination of offense and defense was superior to my past life.

While knocking away Master Liuhe’s sword, I struck my twin blades together whenever I had the leisure.

The clang of metal overlapped with the sound of opposing qi colliding, making a tremendous racket.

In any case, that was the situation, but……

The Ghost Demon of my past life held out well. The depth of his inner force, accumulated over many years, was not shallow, and the Liuhe Art he used was originally an thoroughly defensive martial art.

Even I do not know the exact name of the martial art.

However, the word Liuhe refers to east, west, south, north, heaven, and earth. He used a peculiar sword art that laid out such a firm defense that one wondered when he would ever attack.

Despite the title Ghost Demon not suiting him, he used inner force from an orthodox Daoist lineage. While he maintained his solid defense, the Seven Gold-and-Silver Vermin, who did not suit orthodox martial arts at all, would launch vile sneak attacks. That was the method he chiefly preferred for winning.

An alliance of orthodoxy and the gutter, you could say.

That was why I had neutralized the Seven Gold-and-Silver Vermin before fighting Master Liuhe.

If I had left them alone, hidden weapons, poison, steel needles, whips, daggers, venomous insects, and the like would have harassed me throughout the battle.

Since my mouth was bored while I pressed Master Liuhe, I muttered whatever came to mind from beginning to end.

“Master Liuhe, Master Bullshit, bullshit…… Master, bullshit, damn it, moron.”

I dodged the sword flying toward my head, then struck my twin blades together and produced a thunderous boom. Startled, Master Liuhe leaped back.

I laughed as I watched Master Liuhe retreat excessively.

“……Why the fuss? Is it Liuhe, or is it a fuss? Pick one.”

“Could you please shut up?”

“Bullshit. If I shut up, I’m not me.”

This was a battle to find my true self. As I resumed my attack, I chanted like an eminent monk who had crossed over from Tibet.

“……If I shut up, I am not me. I am me. You are you. Blessings come to those who talk. Disaster shall befall those who keep their mouths closed, Namu Amitabha, damn it, bullshit……”

As I kept babbling while swinging my twin blades, even my own hands and feet grew disoriented.

‘Ah, even I’m getting dizzy.’

A man who makes even himself dizzy by listening to his own words—that is me.

But it was fine.

If even I was dizzy, what did that mean?

It meant this bastard must be so dizzy he was about to go mad.

According to Chapter Three, Section Sixteen of the Mad Demon Art of War.

Only by first making yourself dizzy can you make your enemy dizzy.

In the first place, there is no man under heaven who can endure madness better than I. I kept pressing Master Liuhe and babbling until he was reborn as Master Bullshit. Then, the moment I confirmed that Master Liuhe’s complexion had changed in a way unrelated to the circulation of inner force, I spoke in a calm tone.

“Hey, Master Liuhe……”

The Ghost Demon of my past life looked at me with a bewildered expression even as he swung his sword.

With the Yarae Saber, I poured Waning Moon Cold Qi forward, then pierced through it with Heukmyoa’s straight-line Flame Realm and attacked. As I rotated my body and swung my twin blades, I murmured again.

“Master Liuhe…… Your face is pale. Your qi and blood are reversing. It’s a precursor to qi deviation. If you do not throw away your sword and surrender right now, something very unpleasant will happen. I am calling you Liuhe because this is a serious situation. Master Bullshit……”

At that moment, the bastard who had been the Ghost Demon in my past life spat dark red blood from his mouth and retreated.

Pffft……!

“Huh?”

It seemed his qi and blood really had reversed. I immediately pressed Master Liuhe. Master Liuhe’s sword, which had fiercely knocked away my blades each time, had become as light as a bamboo sword.

The truth was, even I had nearly suffered qi deviation from the words I was babbling……

So it must have been difficult for that Ghost Demon bastard to endure.

I stabbed Master Liuhe’s staggering shoulder, cut his forearm, stabbed his thigh, slashed his side, then kicked him.

In an instant, blood burst out as Master Liuhe spun round and round through the air and flew away. I chased after him, kicked away Master Liuhe’s sword, then set down the Yarae Saber, reached out, and struck his entire body with the Waning Moon Finger Technique.

Tak, tak, tak, tak, tak, tak!

Master Liuhe, whose entire body had gone rigid, looked up at me with a blank expression.

“…….”

I looked down at Master Liuhe and whispered.

“Master Bullshit, I’ll call a physician and have you treated, so wait here. Don’t die.”

I reached out and knocked Master Liuhe unconscious with a flick to the forehead.

Thwack!

* * *

Pitch-black darkness.

The Ghost Demon of the past life, Master Liuhe, opened his eyes while feeling that his entire body was bound by something. The dazzling sunlight made him frown. Even as his breathing came roughly, he tried to recall what had happened just before he lost consciousness.

‘The Hao Sect Leader.’

Master Liuhe moved his eyes and examined his surroundings. Servants were tied up and hanging upside down from plum trees here and there.

‘They were all captured.’

Just then, someone’s voice sounded, and people approached.

“Master Liuhe has opened his eyes.”

“His condition?”

“He’s past the critical point.”

“Good.”

Master Liuhe suddenly tried to move his body, but he was tied up all over as if he had been completely rolled up on the bed. On top of that, every time he moved, the wounds cut by the blades were truly agonizing.

As he barely exhaled and waited……

A man wearing a white hood suddenly appeared in Master Liuhe’s line of sight. Beside him also appeared the fellow whom the Hao Sect Leader had called “Seongtae.” The conversation between the two continued.

The man whose face was mostly covered by the white hood spoke as if telling him to record it.

“His fever has gone down a lot.”

The fellow beside him named Seongtae wrote it down with a thin brush on a sheet of paper that looked like a medical chart.

“Yes, his fever has gone down a lot.”

“Sword wounds all over, four places. Here, there, right here, and here.”

“Right here, cut by a blade.”

“He was also hit by ice arts. His internal injuries are deep as well.”

“So he is trembling, and his internal injuries are deep. Is that what you mean?”

“His condition is critical.”

“Mine?”

“Not yours.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You wrote it all down, didn’t you? Go to our physician—Master, Master Murong—and have him prepare the medicine.”

“Understood.”

“Tell him there’s no need to come all the way here, since he must be busy. He isn’t my subordinate, after all. If this one dies, well, there’s nothing to be done.”

“Understood. I’ll be back.”

“Don’t go now. Eat first.”

“Ah, I am hungry.”

Master Liuhe exhaled roughly and glared at the man in the white kerchief. The man lowered the white kerchief that had been covering his mouth and asked Master Liuhe.

“Master, what was that? Drink lukewarm water often, and remember that you have to quit Mangwu Grass as well if you want to recover quickly.”

Master Liuhe looked at the Hao Gate Master, who had lowered his kerchief. The moment he saw the Hao Gate Master’s face, dizziness washed over him.

“……”

The Hao Gate Master suddenly clutched the shoulder that had been cut by the blade and said,

“I’ll save you, so hang in there. Liuhe……”

“……Aah.”

Master Liuhe could not bring himself to say that his shoulder hurt. There was no strength in his entire body. In the midst of that, the Hao Gate Master lowered his head and whispered,

“You’re not allowed to die now without my permission. Got it? I’ll do my best, in my own way, to treat you. The quack physician of Hao Gate—that is me.”

As Master Liuhe listened to the Hao Gate Master’s whisper, his consciousness slipped away once more.