Chapter 166. I Soared Into the Air.

The middle-aged man opened his mouth with a stiff expression.

“Do you know each other?”

Yeop Yahong cut in with an awkward smile.

“Surely not? He’s just spouting nonsense because he’s surrounded.”

The middle-aged man nodded.

“Hey, Haomun Lord. Do you have two lives? There are names you can mention, and names you cannot.”

“That’s none of my business.”

The middle-aged man spoke as if regaining his composure.

“Anyway, your side only needs to not touch the believers. You’re not a believer.”

I, too, couldn’t bring myself to say the word ‘believer.’ Because it was what I hated most.

The middle-aged man said with a smile.

“Haomun Lord, what happened this time... it doesn’t end with you dying. First of all, Haomun will be annihilated, not a single ant left alive.”

I cut in with a solemn tone.

“First of all, Haomun does not accept ants. Keep that in mind.”

“…….”

I yielded the floor to the middle-aged man.

“Do run your mouth some more.”

“Nammyeonghoe, Heukseonbo, Heukmyobang—they’ll all be killed too.”

“How frightening. You cruel, ruthless bastards.”

“Fortunately, they seem to be subordinate organizations with no ties to the Martial Alliance. But that’s not the end. Additionally, I’ll investigate your hometown, carry sketches of your likeness, and ask every passerby. What do you think will happen? The people who know you…….”

The middle-aged man made a slitting gesture across his throat.

“They’ll all die with their throats slit.”

“Why would innocent people...?”

“Shut up. That’s why you mustn’t take my proposal lightly. You can’t just throw your life away now. Understand? If all the workers in your organization, down to the lowest ones, submit to us, I’ll let them live. Of course, you’ll have to undergo the initiation ceremony. Take the medicine we give you. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

I nodded.

“Who on earth is your leader? I’ve messed with the wrong people. Since my life is in your hands anyway, tell me clearly.”

The middle-aged man leaned his head forward and whispered.

“There’s no reason to tell trash like you.”

I scratched the back of my neck and replied.

“I’ll find out on my own. I’ll figure it out as I kill. And I’m not trash. The bandits were trash.”

Yeop Yahong snickered, and Hyeolseonja and Geoji Balssagae laughed together.

“Hahahaha…….”

Even amidst that, the gleaming eyes beneath the bamboo hat were still glaring at me.

The middle-aged man also looked at me with a smile.

“Well now, you refuse quite easily.”

The atmosphere suddenly turned warm and friendly, so even I, who was thick-skinned, laughed along.

I didn’t know who was behind these bastards, but the stronger someone was, the less likely it was that I wouldn’t know them. My days of roaming the martial world in my previous life hadn’t arrived yet, so sometimes things I didn’t know happened like this.

My guess is this.

They likely don’t belong to any orthodox sect or great family, but rather have a master who is either a powerful expert straddling the line between righteous and evil, or a member of the Five Evils.

A master of that level could treat someone like me, whose reputation was still not great, in this manner. Moreover, if it’s the Five Evils, they were villains who hadn’t even backed down during my previous life as the Mad Demon.

I continued to smile, keeping watch so the middle-aged man couldn’t rise. There were certainly many opponents, so my eyes busily darted around.

When my gaze once again turned to the bamboo-hat man who had been getting on my nerves.

The seated middle-aged man suddenly thrust out both palms in a surprise attack. I wrapped both hands in Mokgye Palm Force and responded head-on.

Kwaaaaaaang!

When the frowning middle-aged man was pushed back a mere three steps and stopped.

The bamboo-hat man drew his sword…….

Yeop Yahong also drew his sword.

Hyeolseonja swung his sleeves.

The Geoji Balssagae bastard rose with a smiling face and looked at me.

I urgently dodged two bolts of lightning-like sword qi that flew at me along with the sword draw, then tilted my head back to check the steel needle passing by.

In that instant, Geoji Balssagae, who had flown in while spinning his body through the air, poured out palm force from both hands.

I responded with the Mokgye Palm Force in my right hand, then was pushed back, shattering the furniture of Chunmeng Guesthouse with my back.

The beggar bastard, bounced away by my palm force in mid-air, retreated while spinning.

‘His movements are light.’

Meanwhile, sword winds flying in an attempt to secure visibility began destroying the interior of Chunmeng Guesthouse.

‘Ah, it’s someone else’s guesthouse, and it’s going to be ruined.’

I was pushed back all the way to the kitchen, drew a flash dagger with my right hand, and unleashed the Great Energy Absorption Method with my left to snatch the kitchen knife.

I set aside the wooden sword for now like a hidden trump card.

First, I infused the flash dagger and kitchen knife with scorching qi.

The moment I saw everything before me split in a straight line with a chilling sound, I immediately soared into the air, smashed through the roof of Chunmeng Guesthouse, and landed on top.

The bamboo-hat man who had been pouring out sword qi in a perfectly straight line glared at me again.

“…….”

Geoji Balssagae moved busily to block the rear, and Yoseonja and Yeop Yahong also moved to the east and west respectively, sealing off all sides.

I spoke while locating the middle-aged man, who had suddenly become invisible.

“……But is this everyone?”

Yeop Yahong asked as if curious.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve been waiting on purpose to kill you all together. I’m asking if there are any more coming to die.”

Yeop Yahong replied with a smile.

“With this many, I think we’d have more than enough strength to kill the Lord and still have some left over.”

I answered while pacing across the roof that looked like it would soon collapse.

“That’s not so. That’s a delusion. Even now, whoever surrenders, I’ll take them into Haomun. You have to think well to survive. Young Hero Yeop, do you have any thoughts?”

“I don’t.”

I nodded.

“That’s a shame. You’re going to have a hard time.”

Suddenly, a horse’s whinny was heard nearby, and the middle-aged man mounted on a brown horse pulled an arrow from his back.

I muttered in bewilderment.

“……Aren’t bows cheating in the martial world? You crazy bastards.”

It seemed it wasn’t against the rules.

With a ping— an arrow flew. As I dodged it without difficulty, the middle-aged man spoke while drawing another arrow.

“Attack trusting in me. I’ll keep them in my sights.”

Since no one answered the middle-aged man’s words, I answered for them.

“……Understood.”

This time too, I dodged the arrow by moving only my head, but it contained such fierce power that I could feel the wind against my cheek.

In that instant, four experts shot up from the east, west, south, and north all at once, flying onto the roof.

“Good grief…….”

I dropped back through the hole in the roof, knocked away the arrow that appeared before my eyes with my kitchen knife, infused the Flame Realm toward the roof, and slashed with the Flash Dagger.

With a papapapak— the roof split open in a long line…….

And in return, sword wind, sword qi, palm force, and hidden weapons came pouring down all at once.

Pububububuk!

I hurriedly rolled across the floor, then pushed strength into both feet and hurled myself out of the inn.

By now, the sound of a bowstring being drawn was starting to sound rather chilling.

I blocked the arrow flying toward the space between my brows with the broad side of the kitchen knife, then drew the Flash Dagger vertically and sent out sword qi…….

The middle-aged man spurred his horse on and narrowly avoided the sword qi. The horse’s reaction speed was so fast it hardly seemed normal. In the blink of an eye, the four who had come down from the roof had surrounded me again.

I suddenly looked down at the shabby-looking kitchen knife.

There was no time to judge the situation, nor any leisure to run my mouth, before the middle-aged man aimed his bow at me again.

Since nothing in particular came to mind, I recited whatever came to me.

“……By any chance, is there anyone here who wishes to surrender?”

“…….”

“If not, fine.”

Ye Yahong said with a bright smile.

“Sect Master, your skills aren’t much to speak of. At this rate, far too many of us came for you.”

The middle-aged man aiming the bow frowned and said to Ye Yahong.

“Can’t you shut up?”

Ye Yahong started and answered.

“My apologies.”

“Keep your mouth shut and attack. That bastard isn’t fighting properly.”

Fairy Yao charged in without a word and swung her horsetail whisk. Then the man in the bamboo hat swung his sword, while the beggar bastard snickered nearby and watched me.

Ye Yahong also looked about, moving his head this way and that, as if waiting for an opening.

I knocked away the horsetail whisk with the Flash Dagger and parried the sword with the kitchen knife.

A white horsetail whisk was originally made from the tail of a white horse. Naturally, caught in the Flame Realm of my Flash Dagger, it began to give off a burnt smell. You could say it was a perfect mismatch against the martial arts I possessed.

“What a stupid weapon to use.”

I laughed as I knocked aside the whisk and sword, then felt a chill down my spine and shot into the air. The moment the arrow passed by, Ye Yahong leapt into the air and swung his sword.

I parried Ye Yahong’s sword with the Flash Dagger and, at the same time, flicked my wrist, throwing the kitchen knife toward his neck.

Seeing the kitchen knife streak toward him, Ye Yahong was startled and hurriedly twisted his upper body…….

But the kitchen knife was already lodged in his shoulder.

Thuk!

In that instant, I met the palm force of the beggar footrag, who had jumped into the air, with my left palm, then deliberately widened the distance and landed on the ground.

I had lost one kitchen knife, but since I’d stabbed Ye Yahong in the shoulder, I came out ahead.

Ye Yahong clutched his shoulder with a grimace.

I nodded toward him.

“It hurts because you’re young.”

“Shut up.”

Even in the midst of this, Fairy Yao, the man in the bamboo hat, and the beggar bastard were closing in on me. The arrow, making a sound so identical it was almost monotonous, pointed at me.

I smiled and slowly stepped back.

“……If I run, are you going to follow?”

The beggar bastard answered.

“If you’re confident, try running.”

I pushed off the ground with my left foot, floated into the air, spun my body, and unleashed my lightness skill.

From behind me came a “Hyah!” and a moment later an arrow flew toward the back of my head.

Shwaaaeng!

Without slowing down, I lowered my upper body, then stretched out as if diving into water and increased my speed even further. In an instant, my temper flared, and I ran at a ferocious speed as if breaking a record.

If I lost to these bastards in lightness skill, how would I ever have entered the Swift Hall in my previous life?

Naturally, I shook them all off, ran for quite a while, and circled the neighborhood once.

This terrifying homing instinct.

I arrived once more in front of the Chunmong Inn and stared blankly at the wreckage of the smashed inn.

“……It’s ruined again.”

At this point, I think it should become accepted fact that every inn I visit ends up ruined.

A fate where there was no particular need to resent anyone, perhaps.

As I stood there for a while, looking over the Chunmong Inn…….

The bastards chasing me arrived one after another and came to a stop.

Seeing me calmly inspecting the Chunmong Inn, they seemed rather surprised as well.

I looked at the bastards who had followed me with indifferent eyes, then slipped the Flash Dagger back into my clothes.

“…….”

Ye Yahong, injured in the shoulder, arrived last and breathed heavily.

I consoled Ye Yahong for his efforts.

“You’re working hard. Looks like you’ll die in the next attack. Poor bastard.”

I went back into the Chunmong Inn, sat down on a chair that had miraculously survived, and looked at the madwoman, the glaring bastard, the beggar bastard, the injured bastard, and the bow-using bastard.

“…….”

The beggar footrag hardened his expression for the first time and said to the middle-aged man.

“This one isn’t your ordinary madman, is he? I thought he was running away.”

The middle-aged man dismounted, then placed his arrow on the horse’s rump. After exhaling deeply, the middle-aged man said.

“He’s continuing to hide his skills, so don’t let your guard down. You’ll end up like Ye Yahong. If there had been poison on that kitchen knife, the Ye brat would already be dead.”

“Understood.”

I said to the living bastards in a serious tone.

“Surrender. A righteous hero does not kill carelessly.”

The middle-aged man answered.

“From now on, don’t answer his words carelessly either.”

I nodded and replied.

“But I’m not a righteous hero. In truth, I am a man who kills carelessly. That is who I am. Especially you.”

I pointed at Fairy Yao.

“Even if she’s a madwoman, I generally don’t kill women. Hurry up and kneel. If you take a few slaps, I’ll forgive you. Are you idiots? One-fifth of your fighting strength has been reduced. Just like the bow bastard said, I still haven’t gone all out. Why? For what reason?”

A question and answer with myself.

“The mindset of a righteous hero. The thought that perhaps even you are nothing more than scarecrows. If you are currently being threatened or coerced by some annoying superior, raise your hand high or blink your eyes at me…….”

“…….”

“No one?”

The middle-aged man said to Ye Yahong.

“Bring more.”

Ye Yahong instantly unfolded his lightness skill and answered.

“Understood.”

When the middle-aged man sat back down at a table a little farther away on the outer side, the rest righted the fallen tables and chairs as well, then sat around roughly.

In the meantime, I thought of the Moon Shadow Heartless Art.

Just as the Golden Turtle Carefree Art had several ultimate techniques.

Naturally, the Moon Shadow Heartless Art had ultimate techniques as well. I simply had never used them.

In an ultimate technique unleashed through an ice art, naturally, there was a principle by which cold qi (冷氣) spread with formidable power.

Since failure could mean death, my mind grew clear. I gauged the positions and spacing of the men sitting there and searched for the point I needed to penetrate.

In that instant, I looked at my enemies with the Moon Shadow Heartless Art wrapped around my entire body. It was my first time shrouding my whole body in the cold qi of the Moon Shadow Heartless Art as well.

As a pale chill began to fill the chair and table where I sat…….

Fairy Yo, the beggar, the man in the bamboo hat, and the middle-aged man all showed different changes in expression.

Sitting in the inn, I rounded my lips and blew toward my enemies as though cooling a dumpling with my mouth.

“Haa…….”

A snow-white cold wind flowed from my mouth, as though a ghost were breathing. Among the descriptions written in the Moon Shadow Heartless Art, there was a horrifying passage.

It said that its creator had frozen both his unfaithful lover and the lover’s partner while they were embracing, then watched them beneath the moonlight…….

Suddenly, as I thought of that, I drew up my rage.

Now that I thought about it, I had never been betrayed by a lover.

Because I had never had one to begin with.

Just as my fury began to surge, I heard the voice of that beggar foot-rag.

“This bastard’s eyes have gone crazy, haven’t they?”

I shot up into the air.