Chapter 199. He Abandoned His Doctrine for a Single Silver Coin.

Only after I woke did I remember that I had been drunk.

Ordinarily, one does not get drunk easily when one’s inner force is deep. Yesterday, I had drunk with the intention of getting drunk. When I looked around, I found it was morning at an inn.

“Don’t tell me it’s Jaha Inn again.”

Whenever I woke up in an inn the day after drinking, I often suspected it might be that cramped room at Jaha Inn where my eyes used to be swollen.

Thank goodness it was not.

Because I had not been able to live as diligently as I did now, I had grown sick of going through all sorts of emotions over and over, and weary of staining my hands with blood. In particular, I wanted to stop killing men I had already killed once.

Because every time that happened, it felt as though I were being toyed with by a god.

Seeing that the Flash Dagger was not embedded in the table gave me a strange feeling. If assassins had been targeting me, there could have been no better chance than last night, when I had fallen asleep drunk.

But last night had already passed.

With a mind clearer than usual, I looked around the inside of the inn, then went up to the second floor.

On top of the stacked tables, the Pervert Demon was sleeping in a posture as straight as a corpse. Perhaps he sensed I was nearby, for he opened his mouth.

“……Don’t wake me. I need to sleep more.”

Did this bastard think I was a servant of the Mong family? To check whether he was talking in his sleep or not, I answered like this.

“Yes, young master. Please sleep comfortably.”

The Pervert Demon replied.

“Very well, Third.”

He was not talking in his sleep.

“……Con-confirmed.”

The Sword Demon seemed to have returned to his quarters, and the Ghost Demon was nowhere to be seen, so I went outside. I had to at least check what the drunks from the day before were doing, didn’t I?

By the way, there should definitely have been leftover liquor and side dishes making a mess on the tables, so why was everything so clean?

I had apparently fallen into such a deep sleep that I had not even noticed the tables being cleared, so I felt bewildered the entire time.

Had someone mixed sleeping powder into the liquor?

When I went out in front of the inn……

The Ghost Demon, ugly even in normal condition, was swinging his sword with a face made even uglier by excessive drinking.

I sat on a chair placed outside the inn and watched the Ghost Demon train from morning onward.

As the Ghost Demon swung his sword, he asked me.

“You’re up? You slept very well, like a corpse.”

Why were these bastards’ minds always so dark? He could have simply asked if I had slept well, so why did a corpse have to appear? Come to think of it, I had done the same thing the moment I saw the Pervert Demon a little while ago, so I had nothing to say.

The Ghost Demon looked especially ugly today, so I asked him this.

“Yukgap, did you stay up all night?”

That Yukgap bastard answered while swinging his sword.

“The Third and Fourth suddenly sprawled out and fell asleep, so I had no choice but to stay up the whole night.”

“Then did you swing your sword all night?”

“It has been a while since I swung it through the night.”

“What about Senior Sword Demon?”

“He told me about the cult’s Five Great Swords until dawn, then said he would sleep and left.”

“The Demon Cult’s Five Great Swords?”

Only then did the Ghost Demon lower his sword to the lower right and let out a long breath. After drinking the water on the table, he sat nearby and said,

“They say the Cult Leader’s Heavenly Demon Sword, the Right Preceptor’s Great Cloud Sword, the Left Preceptor’s Radiant Sword, and the First Young Master’s Victory Over Evil Sword are the Four Great Swords. Add the One Kill Sword used by the former Chief Strategist, and they become the Five Great Swords.”

“Mm.”

The Ghost Demon looked at me and said,

“One Kill is said to be your wooden sword. They say these five famed swords have something in common. Do you know what it is?”

There was no way I would know such a thing.

“No.”

“Before that, about One Kill. They say it is called One Kill because it is a sword passed down to the Number One Assassin. Congratulations. It seems that Chief Strategist regarded you as the successor to the Number One Assassin.”

“Why does my spine go cold when you say congratulations?”

The Ghost Demon grinned and said,

“That’s right. Those five swords are objects the cultists will try to recover by any means. They may not be sacred relics, but they are symbolic weapons of the cult, so they are tied to their honor.”

I scratched my head.

“That old man shoved a wooden sword onto me to get me killed……”

“That cannot be. In any case, the Heavenly Demon, Great Cloud, Radiant, and Victory Over Evil are swords handled by the cult’s high-ranking members, so they must be recovered. And they said One Kill is a weapon the assassins must recover because of its symbolism.”

“There must be a reason he told you this.”

The Ghost Demon nodded.

“He said that when facing those who wield those swords, if your internal force is lacking or you are holding a worthless sword, you should be prepared to become barehanded in an instant. Even if the weapons merely clash against each other, a shoddy spear or blade will quickly break. Senior Sword Demon is training with a wooden sword, but he said he has no intention of returning the Radiant Sword to the cult. He said training to build skill is important, but if one wishes to reach the pinnacle of the sword, one should obtain something better than the sword I am using now.”

I said what I knew.

“Don’t most swords like that already have owners? As far as I know, they are in the hands of masters of the orthodox and unorthodox factions.”

The Ghost Demon nodded.

“Then I must have one made.”

“Where?”

“At Yongdu Ironworks……”

I struck my forehead with my hand. Come to think of it, the Ghost Demon had once met Uncle Geum Cheolyong at the Black Cat Clan. It seemed he intended to commission him to craft a famed sword, and though I was about to dissuade him, I barely held myself back. One never knew. Uncle Geum’s skills had improved greatly as well.

I spoke as if comforting the Ghost Demon.

“Ask him later. If my wooden sword is one of the Demon Cult’s Five Great Swords, then it was only natural that Uncle Geum’s sword broke.”

The Ghost Demon nodded, then asked me with a tired expression.

“Can we switch shifts now? I need to sleep.”

I nodded.

Come to think of it, the Ghost Demon had been training his sword art in front of the inn while also standing guard.

For a while, like someone taking over guard duty, I killed time in front of the inn and accepted an ordinary day, rare as it was, exactly as it came.

In my opinion.

A man who fights every day is highly likely to go mad someday, and a man who works every day has a high chance of becoming a fool someday. Also, a man who plays every day is bound to become miserable before long.

So, if possible, it is important to fight or work in moderation, play from time to time, and when nothing in particular is happening, do nothing at all.

Now was such a time.

For the first time in a while, I did nothing but breathe out.

As I watched outside, peddlers carrying bundles were approaching while talking among themselves. Listening to their conversation, they were saying they should fill their bellies at the inn before leaving. Since I had nothing in particular to serve them, I drew my wooden sword and gazed intently at the blade reflecting the sunlight.

The peddlers who had been approaching to eat a meal passed by quietly. I put the sword back away, then, for the first time in a while, imagined what the fellows I had spared and my subordinates might be doing around now.

Picking their noses, then shaking their legs.

Shaking their legs, then yawning.

Leaning askew against the table, trying to spend an ordinary day, I forgot whether I was the Haomunju, an inn servant, the Mad Demon, or one of the Six Dragons.

Today, just as I had done long ago, I became a pitiful man and welcomed ordinary sunlight, wind, scenery, and air exactly as they were.

My dantian, divided into yin and yang as if urging me to circulate qi, was stirring, but I left a warning for my dantian.

‘Don’t fidget and stay still. Today is a day of rest.’

While recalling my subordinates one by one, Moyong Baek’s face came to mind particularly. It was uncertain whether this fellow had come to his senses and was devoting himself to martial arts training. The conclusion of my thoughts was always similar.

‘If you survive, the day will come when you grow strong.’

Suddenly, the air carried by the wind was cool, so I took a deep breath.

***

Having escaped the Cheonri Inn and traveled somewhere overnight, Sambok, the guard of the Third Young Master, had arrived at the An Estate, which he used as an intermediate waypoint.

However, the situation at the An Estate was filled with corpses from the entrance.

Corpses were visible in the courtyard and on the walls, and he also saw a corpse draped over the roof and another with its upper body stuck in the well entrance.

Though there were many corpses of allies, those dressed in unfamiliar clothing were even more numerous. Seeing that old men were mixed among them as well, he realized that experts from the Sima Waido had raided the An Estate.

Planning to escape after checking only for survivors, Sambok surveyed his surroundings and quietly pushed the main hall door. After shoving aside the corpse leaning against the main hall door and entering, a foul stench of blood stung his nose, just as the inside of the Cheonri Inn had been.

The Third Young Master was visible, sitting cross-legged atop a small mound made of corpses.

“Young Master, it is Sambok. Young Master?”

Sambok approached the Third Young Master, who had a pale complexion, and knelt. The Third Young Master opened his eyes and looked at Sambok.

“So it was Sambok. You were alive?”

“Yes. I passed out at the inn…….”

Sambok could not elaborate because he thought the Third Young Master would misunderstand. But even so, the Third Young Master narrowed his brow.

“How did you survive?”

“The Left Lord showed mercy, so I was able to survive.”

The Third Young Master nodded.

“Mm, any survivors outside?”

“I did not see any.”

“I wonder when the location of the An Estate was discovered. The maternal family is likely under attack as well.”

“Are your injuries alright?”

The Third Young Master shook his head.

“I was struck by a strange palm force, and it hurts quite a lot. Sambok.”

“Yes.”

“It seems I lack both the skill and the qualification to become the Vice Leader. I failed.”

Sambok could find no words to reply and simply listened.

The Third Young Master spoke.

“In any case, I am in no position to beg mercy from my brothers. The Cult Leader will not even meet with me. The maternal family must also be in danger.”

“Yes.”

When the Third Young Master pulled open his robe, a dark palm mark was stamped on his chest.

“Can you identify what this is?”

Sambok said,

“Could it be poisonous?”

“It was, but I have mostly expelled it.”

“It appears to be Dokmokja’s Gloomy Hand. It seems the Great Young Master or the Grand Duke recruited an expert from the Jecheon Alliance.”

“So I was not the only one who hired Sima Waido experts.”

“How did Dokmokja…….”

The Third Young Master gestured with his chin toward the entrance of the main hall. When Sambok turned around, a corpse with a large hole in its chest was sprawled out.

Sambok said,

“Young Master, please get on my back. Even if it is just to a nearby physician…….”

The Third Young Master shook his head.

“Forget it. I know my own body better. It is faster to expel the poison here.”

“…….”

“Sambok.”

“Yes.”

“You must have learned that if the lord dies, the guard must also die, but you need not do so from now on. If you stay here, more people may come to inspect, so escape first. I may face them while circulating qi, or if I have enough time, I should temporarily hide as well. I suppose it would be better to hide in Baek Eungji, where the Righteous Path swarms, rather than anywhere else.”

“Where would I go? Let us go together.”

“Sambok, not dying is revenge. Let us scatter. Go quickly.”

The Third Young Master waved his hand and closed his eyes again.

Sambok said,

“Young Master, I will remain to serve you until the end.”

The Third Young Master spoke with his eyes closed.

“Serve what. I am not dead yet. It is merely a single palm strike. Once recovered, I will go to the maternal family, and if they have been attacked as well, I will set out for revenge. Though I failed in the succession struggle, I have no intention of failing at revenge as well. The maternal family’s grudge is none of your concern, so do not get involved. Go. Even speaking is tiring. If you are truly worried, check on the maternal family.”

Sambok bowed his head.

“Understood, Young Master. But are you not returning to the cult?”

“The Cult Leader despises the weak. I will not go for the time being.”

“Yes…… Ah, I had wanted to tell you this for some time, but I am only saying it now. Thank you for taking in an orphan with nowhere to go. Please recover quickly.”

“Nonsense.”

Sambok listened carefully to the Third Young Master’s breathing, then quietly withdrew. After looking around at the corpses filling the An Estate again and exiting, Sambok suddenly stopped still and put his hand into his bosom.

A single silver coin delivered by the Haomunju lay plainly in his palm. The young Haomunju’s insolent expression and his words came to mind.

‘Only by abandoning the doctrine will a new life await.’

Sambok stood blankly for a moment and pondered what it meant to abandon the doctrine.

‘What the hell kind of nonsense is that?’

Even looking around and gazing at the exceptionally clear sky today, he could not find an answer immediately. Even while feeling emotions that seemed like he would fall into qi deviation, Sambok agonized fiercely over what it meant to abandon the doctrine. As he struggled to think of something he could not recall, heat was rising from his head.

.

.

.

“What in the world are you doing! Sambok!”

“…….”

Sambok, who had been racking his brains staring at the single silver coin, had gone back into the An Estate, hoisted the Third Young Master on his back, and was running at full speed. The Third Young Master spoke.

“Put me down. Where are you going?”

“You will die if you stay here.”

“So in this situation, where do you think you are going?”

Sambok kept his mouth shut as he unleashed his movement arts. A moment later, when the unwell Third Young Master started nagging again, Sambok opened his mouth in a different tone.

“Young Master, please shut up for a moment.”

“What?”

Sambok spoke to the Third Young Master as he ran fiercely.

“For now, I’ll escort you to someplace safe. You’re being loud, so shut up.”

In the end, Sambok abandoned his doctrine for a single silver coin. He had no choice but to believe that this was the only way to save the Third Young Master and survive himself.