Chapter 153. I Thought About What I Couldn’t Remember.

Because the Blood Night Palace Lord laughed far too loudly, my expression turned stern.

“Palace Lord, one shouldn’t laugh that loudly over a person’s life.”

“My apologies.”

But the Blood Night Palace Lord was also a woman who could strike back.

“You were pinching your thigh too.”

I nodded.

“Let’s call it even. In any case. I’ll write a letter and draw you a map, so hurry and bring a physician from the Murong Medical Family.”

“It has been a long time since Elder Heo last met with a physician.”

“That’s none of my concern, so bring one. Elder Heo still has strength left in him. Whether we arrange a meeting with the Divine Physician from my hometown and let him live one more year, or more than ten, the precise judgment and treatment are for the physician to decide. We do everything we can. And Palace Lord, this is something I’ve been thinking about for a while.”

“Speak.”

“If the worst should happen, set aside your pride and surrender for the time being.”

“Under my enemy?”

I glared at the Blood Night Palace Lord.

“Did you think the position of a leader was easy? Survive, no matter what. Until the final, final, final moment.”

“I can bear the humiliation of surrendering, but he is not someone who would accept it.”

“Being good at surrendering is also a leader’s ability. Think it over.”

The Blood Night Palace Lord asked as though curious.

“If the final moment comes for you too, do you intend to surrender to the Cult Leader?”

I raised two fingers. Folding them one by one, I said,

“If many of my subordinates are around me, I will surrender. But if I’m fighting alone, I’ll fight until I die.”

The Blood Night Palace Lord nodded.

“Thinking of it that way makes me feel somewhat at ease.”

Since we were leaders of organizations, we had many things to consider.

“What about the forces other than the Cult Leader?”

The Blood Night Palace Lord replied.

“First, there is the Rain Master, whose reputation stood shoulder to shoulder with the Sword Demon’s. As for the leaders of each organization, even I do not know. They would have killed them and chosen new ones afterward. And then there are the candidates for Vice Cult Leader. They are all around Yeong-a’s age or older than her. In other words, they are about your age. They are successors whose maternal families are the clans that offered hostages in the past. Children with fathers whose humanity grows deficient… History has a way of repeating itself.”

“How does the Cult Leader treat his children?”

“He is probably curious which of them is stronger. He teaches them the martial arts he himself has been cultivating, they learn from their respective maternal families, and they learn from the cult’s masters as well. Their personalities are different, and the combinations of their martial arts are different too. I have felt this since long ago, but the grandmasters of the demonic path seem to find their children’s struggles the most entertaining.”

“If he were an ordinary person, all his children would look precious to him.”

The Blood Night Palace Lord burst into laughter.

“Do not expect such a thing. He is the sort who would prefer one outstanding assassin over an incompetent child.”

After roughly finishing our rambling strategy meeting, I asked for writing tools, then wrote a letter and drew a map before handing them to the Blood Night Palace Lord.

“Bring him quickly. There is no need to tell Senior Heo. Bring the physician first, then make him meet him no matter what.”

The Blood Night Palace Lord spoke to me in a calm tone.

“Sect Leader.”

“Speak.”

“Thank you for taking care of so many things. When I first saw you, you were someone I wanted to beat to death. Who would have thought my thoughts about a person could change so completely?”

I was a person skilled at praising myself, but not someone accustomed to praise from others, so I let it pass.

Instead, I showed her the wooden sword and asked the Palace Lord.

“How does one use this sword? It is too light.”

“Wait a moment.”

The Blood Night Palace Lord snapped her fingers. Then a martial artist appeared from within. The Blood Night Palace Lord handed the man the letter and the map as she said,

“Escort the physician here. Use the carriage drawn by the fastest horses in the palace, at full speed. Tell him that the Hao Sect Leader is calling for him. Treat him with courtesy. He is an acquaintance of the Sect Leader.”

“Understood.”

The Palace Lord looked at her subordinate and left him with one more remark.

“Let us do everything we can.”

“Yes, Palace Lord.”

Only then did the Blood Night Palace Lord extend her hand to me.

“Give me the sword.”

The Blood Night Palace Lord grasped the wooden sword, walked to the center of the main hall, and said to me,

“This is an assassin’s sword. The foundation of the Assassin’s Sword (殺手劍) is drawing it once. That is why it is made as light as possible. Since you also cultivate martial arts, you know this, but the Assassin’s Sword is an extremely difficult sword art as well. It is a martial study without end. I will show you.”

The Blood Night Palace Lord held the wooden sword in her left hand and looked at a single point on the wall at the opposite side of the main hall.

In an instant, the Blood Night Palace Lord’s form moved in a straight line, and along the way she drew the sword, placing its tip precisely against the point she had been staring at.

“This is the first stage.”

The Blood Night Palace Lord slowly returned to where she had originally been, then fixed her eyes on the wall again.

This time, she moved as though there were countless obstacles between her and the wall.

Her movements were light yet smooth.

However, like a person transporting the wooden sword, she consistently maintained the posture just before drawing it while unfolding her lightness skill. After moving for a long while as though sweeping through a battlefield, the Blood Night Palace Lord drew the sword and thrust it out when she reached the wall.

To my eyes, this too looked like a single motion.

The Blood Night Palace Lord asked me,

“That was the second stage just now. Compared to the first stage, how was it?”

“The same.”

“Correct. In the end, it is the same thing. Then there is no need for further explanation. The rest is merely application. This is the assassin’s sword.”

“It is quite a difficult martial art.”

The Blood Night Palace Lord nodded.

“A martial art that combines every kind of training in order to unfold an extremely simple sword at extreme speed. In other words, the assassin’s martial study begins simply, is trained in complexity, and then becomes simple again. This is also Elder Heo’s martial study.”

I found myself applauding.

“It is truly a splendid martial study.”

The process itself would be suffering incarnate.

Because it was a martial study that would have no power at all unless one trained it to a considerable degree. Literally, it was the martial study of a single sword (一劍), containing only the intent of certain death in one strike. Of course, if one trained in order to thrust out that single sword, one would gradually become stronger.

I accepted the wooden sword that the Blood Night Palace Lord held out and replied,

“The world is vast.”

The Blood Night Palace Lord nodded.

“There are many obstacles. While approaching an expert in sound arts, your eardrums may burst. There are also those who conceal their figures. There are demonic arts that cause hallucinations as well. But in the end, an assassin must, with ruptured eardrums, break through the hallucinations and drive his sword into the neck of the one concealing himself.”

The Blood Night Palace Lord kept saying frightening things.

“The most desperate assassin’s attack I ever witnessed was by an assassin who killed his opponent with the sword he was thrusting out while his body was being annihilated.”

I shook my head.

“I cannot go that far. I am not an assassin to begin with. However, I will keep it in mind. In any case, I have also drawn the Cult Leader’s attention, so the cult’s assassins may come.”

As my thoughts flowed along, I suddenly flared up in anger. If an assassin might come, did that not mean I would be losing sleep again?

‘Fucking hell…….’

The Blood Night Palace Lord asked me.

“Why that look on your face?”

“Because I’m angry.”

“All of a sudden?”

“I’m furious, so give me some food. Come to think of it, I haven’t even had a cup of water.”

“I’ll tell them to prepare it.”

I called out to the Blood Night Palace Lord as he was heading inside.

“Palace Lord, wait a moment. I don’t want to eat alone, so let’s have dinner together.”

“Very well.”

Left alone for a moment in the main hall, I glared at the entrance where the Cult Leader had been. In the darkness, I could see an afterimage of him smiling.

‘Because of you, I can’t sleep in peace. Let’s see who wins.’

No way to defeat the Cult Leader right away came to mind.

But this was not a problem that could be solved through martial arts alone.

Calling Moyong Baek, helping Blood Night Palace, saving Elder Heo, tormenting the shit-pants, introducing the Sword Demon to Moyong Baek…….

All of these actions had been for the sake of killing the Cult Leader.

The Cult Leader was growing stronger as he trained in martial arts.

But I was wagering my life to contend with him.

Suddenly, Giseongja’s words came to mind.

「A chivalrous hero is stronger than any master.」

Could that really be true?

Words I had read in the past were being reinterpreted today. This must be why people read books several times.

In truth, the Cult Leader was not someone who could be beaten with martial arts right now. If one considered martial arts alone, not only I as I was now, but the Palace Lord, the Sword Demon, and even Im Sobaek were weaker than the Cult Leader.

Then I had no choice but to defeat the Cult Leader in fields other than martial arts.

Since the Cult Leader was living an unrighteous life, to bring him down, I would have to respond with the life of a chivalrous hero.

‘How absurd.’

It was a situation that made me sigh on its own.

Because from the start, I was far removed from being a chivalrous hero.

I Jaha, a chivalrous hero?

Even a passing dog would laugh…….

Even as I mocked myself, I kept pondering how Blood Night Palace could avoid being smashed by the Cult Leader.

Was there a way?

I thought in order to find a method I could not yet think of.

* * *

While sitting around and eating with the people of Blood Night Palace, I finally managed to come up with an answer to the problem I had been pondering so hard. As I ate, I roughly babbled it out.

“……I’m dull-witted, so this is all I barely managed to think of. Hear me out.”

My mouth was stuffed full of something, so grains of rice flew out and side dishes spilled from my lips.

The Palace Lord sighed and said.

“Gate Master, at least finish what’s in your mouth slowly before speaking.”

“Understood.”

It was a simple matter, but for the Palace Lord, it would be truly difficult. And it was not something for me to decide; it was something the Palace Lord had to resolve.

I glanced at the officers of Blood Night Palace and the young lady Gyoyeong, then said to the Palace Lord.

“Let us now open the palace wide. The time is near for you to mingle with the gangho.”

“We are a faction that split from the Cult. Who would like us?”

Since I could not get angry at the dinner table, I answered the Palace Lord calmly.

“It is better than dying. Open every door there is wide. Disable all formations and the like as well. Stop the formation construction too. There are already many collaborators inside, so let people come and go more freely. Invite people as well.”

“For example?”

“First, invite our Haomun. Invite the Fengyun Meng Clan, invite Senior Sword Demon, and notify the Martial Alliance too.”

The Palace Lord received my opinion with a nearly mocking expression, as though it carried no weight whatsoever.

“On what pretext?”

Assuming that Blood Night Palace had at most three years left to exist, I answered.

“A declaration of war against the Black Path would be fine. A declaration that you will walk a different path from the Cult. An honest request to the seniors of the gangho for help. A notice that you will abandon the name Blood Night Palace. In the end, you should share the practical reality that you are being threatened by the Demon Cult Leader, and that within a year or two, all of Blood Night Palace may be slaughtered.”

As though the food had stuck in their throats, everyone put down their chopsticks and looked at me.

“…….”

I poured myself a cup of wine and drank it while watching the Palace Lord and the officers.

“……If you want to survive, reach out yourselves. You have to ask to be saved. Send someone eloquent and clever to the Martial Alliance and have them cling to Alliance Leader Im Sobaek’s trouser legs if they must. If they get driven out, send them again to cling to his trouser legs. Whether you circulate hero invitations to those great prestigious clans or send letters pleading for help, do anything you can. Try exchanging with the Beggar Sect, where those beggar bastards swarm everywhere. If Alliance Leader Im requests help with suppressing mountain bandits and water bandits like last time, then you must roll up your sleeves and step forward.”

I grinned.

“I followed along too, and it was more fun than I expected. There were lots of spoils as well. In any case, though Blood Night Palace comes from the Demonic Path, reach out to those damn Orthodox Path people and ask them to save you. Do everything you can possibly do. Truly try everything.”

Everyone was so silent that all of Blood Night Palace seemed to have gone quiet.

But I am a man with much to say.

“What meaning is there in living like a frog in a well, only to be struck dead when the Cult Leader throws a single stone? The Cult Leader told you to struggle desperately, and he was right. But if you are going to struggle, you should show him what it means to struggle properly.”

I glared at the people and said.

“Because I made a promise with Elder Heo, even if the entire Orthodox Path turns away, Haomun will help Blood Night Palace. So now my life is on the line in this matter too. I do not want to die in vain.”

I muttered as I drank wine.

“There are still plenty of bastards left to beat to death.”

I looked at the Blood Night Palace Lord.

“Senior Eo Soryeong, it is time to set aside your pride. Dying because of stubbornness is something the vast majority of gangho people can do. Decide after thinking clearly whether you want to burn to death here with your subordinates, or whether you truly want revenge.”

I looked at the young lady Gyoyeong.

“Young Palace Lord.”

“Yes.”

“The Demon Cult Leader was asking why the palace had been built so splendidly, you know? He said it would look good when it burned. The palace has to remain for you to be the Young Palace Lord. If this place burns and all your subordinates die, you are nothing either. Just a young lady who burns to death before the age of twenty.”

Gyoyeong looked at me with a startled expression, and I glared at Gyoyeong.

‘In truth, that was probably your previous life.’

The Blood Night Palace Lord struck the table with his hand and said.

“Do not frighten her.”

“That is reality.”

The Blood Night Palace Lord Eo Soryeong folded his arms, then spoke to those present at dinner.

“……I will open all of Blood Night Palace wide. We will change the name as well. And I will send a messenger to Alliance Leader Im.”

I let out a sigh, then drank. Only then did the food that had been lodged tight in my chest slide smoothly down.

“Buuurp……!”

With a calm expression, I raised my hand and said,

“My apologies.”