Chapter 214. This will have me laughing in disbelief for days.
‘What on earth does that bastard live with in his head?’
In the middle of our conversation, I stared blankly at the White-Clad Scholar, who had turned his attention back to the painting.
Suddenly, goosebumps rose along my forearms.
Because, simply out of curiosity about what he was thinking, I wanted to seize the White-Clad Scholar, torture him, beat him, threaten him, and hear the thoughts buried at the very bottom of him. The reason that chilled me was because the man who actually did such things was none other than the White-Clad Scholar.
‘Curiosity about humans is frightening indeed.’
Why was it that I could understand the hearts of ordinary people who worked for a living, and yet also understand the heart of a deranged madman like that without much difficulty?
I truly had no idea.
After finishing the rest of the painting and handing it to Chilgyeom, the White-Clad Scholar finally pointed at me with his brush.
“Hao Sect Leader, was Taiji Fist not a martial art you created to mock the Divine Cult? It seems you have gained some insight into the combination of yin and yang. In that case, a name like Yin-Yang Divine Art (陰陽神功) or Sun-Moon Divine Art (日月神功) would suit it better, so keep that in mind. And just in case, I would like to ask the Sect Leader and my other friends of the jianghu……”
The White-Clad Scholar raised his brush and asked.
“Is there anyone who would like to compete with me in qinggong?”
“……”
We were at a loss for words. In this atmosphere, he suddenly wanted a qinggong contest?
The White-Clad Scholar tilted his head, then continued.
“It need not be now. You must all be tired, so another time would do. Sword Demon, do you have no interest?”
The Sword Demon did not answer at all.
The White-Clad Scholar sighed like a man who had lost interest.
“It seems none of you are interested in qinggong.”
With an expression that said he had lost interest, the White-Clad Scholar rose, grabbed the table with one hand, and flung it down the hill. Strangely enough, the table falling below crumbled like dust, then vanished without a trace before it even touched the ground.
My eyes widened.
‘What martial art is that?’
As I watched the table vanish like dust, I suddenly snapped my gaze back up to the hill.
The White-Clad Scholar and Chilgyeom had already disappeared without a trace.
“Hm.”
When I thought about it, even among the men of the Swift Hall, who were all mad for qinggong, he had been a fast one.
It was astonishing that he would be interested in a qinggong contest in a situation like this, even though I knew that was the kind of man he had always been. I stood there blankly for a moment, imagining what was inside the White-Clad Scholar’s head.
‘Perhaps…….’
I entertained an absurd thought.
Perhaps, in order to subdue the White-Clad Scholar completely or break his mind, the contest should be decided not with martial arts, but first through qinggong. A type like him, with boundless pride, would surely feel tremendous humiliation and loss when defeated in the field he was most confident in. The White-Clad Scholar was a man mad in his own particular way, and even I was bewildered.
Curious about what the villains had seen, I had no choice but to ask.
“Did anyone see him disappear?”
The Ghost Demon said,
“The table was falling, so my gaze naturally went downward. In terms of martial arts, you could say I took a blow in a battle of psychology.”
The Lust Demon answered,
“That’s right. I missed it too because I was watching the table turn into dust.”
When I finally checked the Sword Demon’s expression, our eldest brother said this.
“There was nothing special. After throwing the table, he withdrew in an ordinary manner.”
“Oh. As expected.”
It seemed the Sword Demon had been watching the White-Clad Scholar’s retreat. This was why the Sword Demon was the eldest brother. Just in case, I gave the Four Great Villains this instruction.
“If you happen to meet the White-Clad Scholar later, even by chance, make sure to tell him you want a qinggong contest first.”
“Why?”
I could not find a suitable reason.
“Just do it. It’s because he’s a madman. It’d be better than a martial arts duel, at least. For now, we should let the madman do what he likes.”
Perhaps confident in his qinggong, the Lust Demon asked,
“What would happen if I beat him in qinggong?”
For the moment, the possibility was slim, but I answered as I imagined it.
“He’d be delighted.”
“Delighted by his own defeat?”
I nodded.
“Then do you think a man like that would live on wallowing in defeat? Instead, he’d ask to compete again next time.”
“Hm, I think I understand what type he is now.”
A short while later, I cleaned up the horrific battlefield with the Nammyeong Association.
I had killed them, so cleaning up was also my responsibility. After burying all sorts of remains in a pit, I took the jars of liquor that Sambok and the brothers of the Nammyeong Association had bought and poured them over the mound of earth.
As I poured out the liquor, I spoke to the dead.
“While you lived, you were cultists, but after death, you are merely men who lived in the jianghu. I bear you no ill will. Had I lost, I would have been buried here instead. Having survived like this, I pour liquor for you. In your next lives (來世), I hope you do not live lives that end because you listened to another’s words. What use is doctrine in the face of death?”
I poured out all the liquor in the jar. Beside me, Nam Garak spoke in a hollow tone.
“We came prepared in our own way, but we didn’t even get to fight. Why did you suddenly become so strong?”
I stared quietly at Nam Garak. There was no way Nam Garak could know what had happened to me all this time.
“Good question. I got knocked around here and there, and ended up stronger than before. Anyone injured?”
Nam Garak laughed.
“Well, you have to have done something to get hurt.”
I too let out a hollow laugh, looked around, then sat down near the mound of earth.
“Anyway, Association Leader Nam.”
“Speak.”
“You came well. It’s good to see your face.”
“I never thought I’d hear news of you through the Murim Alliance.”
Nam Garak and I giggled together.
In any case, only after I planted my backside on the ground did fatigue come rushing over me.
Only then did the Four Great Villains also collapse onto the ground, and the brothers of the Nammyeong Association, who had run all the way here with great difficulty, sat around us as well. Though they had not fought, they had run a long distance, and it seemed they too had known they would end up fighting the Demon Cult, because only now did they appear to relax.
Everyone sat with weary expressions, passing around jars of liquor and drinking. The act of drinking itself was the only moment that soothed the heart.
The liquor wet the throats of the Four Great Villains, and it wet the throats of the Nammyeong Association brothers as well.
I had no way of knowing what everyone was thinking, but after pouring liquor over the grave of the corpses, we shared the drink among ourselves.
Suddenly curious about how the Four Heavenly Kings would be treated, I asked the Sword Demon.
“Senior, if the Four Heavenly Kings lose their troops like this, flee in defeat, and return to the cult, what happens to them? Will they be reprimanded, or beaten to death by the Cult Leader?”
The Sword Demon answered,
“Who knows? Who could know what the Cult Leader is thinking?”
I looked at the Third Young Master. The Third Young Master gave the same answer.
“Who could know? It is unknowable.”
I nodded.
“……I cannot say.”
Suddenly, I felt sorry for the Four Heavenly Kings. From the looks of it, they each possessed martial arts of extreme yang and extreme yin. Baekcheon King and Heukmyeong King had a chilling air about them, while Jeogin King and Cheongji King seemed to have cultivated inner power of extreme yang.
Which meant……
Even if they were absorbed by Cheonok later, it would be bad for me. And even if they survived and made a comeback, that would also be bad for me.
Life becomes this exhausting when you get entangled with the Demonic Cult.
***
The Four Heavenly Kings, having returned to the main headquarters, were kneeling.
No one spoke, and silence hung in the air. When the sound of the Cult Leader’s footsteps was heard, the four lowered their heads.
After taking his seat upon the throne, the Cult Leader tapped the armrest with his finger, and the Four Heavenly Kings raised their heads.
The Cult Leader rested his chin on his hand and stared intently at the faces of the Four Heavenly Kings before speaking.
“The reason your epithets bear the character King (王) is so that, once you grow, you may stand shoulder to shoulder in fame with those called Sword King (劍王) and Saber King (刀王). In the end, you are to defeat them and show that our cult has no shortage of talent.”
The Four Heavenly Kings answered in unison.
“Yes, Cult Leader.”
“I have heard the gist of the circumstances. Yet you failed to retrieve the Gwangmyeong Sword, lost a considerable number of troops, failed to kill the apostate, did not bring back the Three Grand Dukes, and returned after suffering a defeat tantamount to having your forces annihilated at Baekeungji. With what thoughts do you continue breathing, Cheongji, Heukmyeong, Baekcheon, Jeogin?”
The four offered not a single excuse, as if they had all agreed beforehand.
“We will gladly accept punishment.”
The Cult Leader spoke toward the outside of the great hall.
“Right Envoy (右使).”
“Yes, Cult Leader.”
A middle-aged man dressed in a crimson uniform entered the great hall and approached the Cult Leader.
The Cult Leader said to the Gwangmyeong Right Envoy,
“You must have thoughts of your own. Pour out whatever you wish to say to the Four Heavenly Kings. I will listen as well.”
The Gwangmyeong Right Envoy bowed his head slightly, then looked at the Four Heavenly Kings.
“Yes. I will tell you my thoughts.”
The Four Heavenly Kings answered respectfully.
“We will listen.”
The Gwangmyeong Right Envoy spoke in an even tone.
“Surrounding them with a formation does not mean you have truly encircled them. In any case, the former Left Envoy is not a man who flees easily. If you brought a large force with you, you should have sent at least one assassin at regular intervals, day and night, for three days, so that he could not sleep. You had already lost most of your subordinate troops. Do you believe my choice to sacrifice one assassin every hour would have been incorrect?”
“No.”
“Cutting off drinking water, severing supplies, and sending assassins to wage a prolonged battle are methods all of you know well. Did you think you could defeat the former Left Envoy by treating him with courtesy? Heukmyeong King, you are not the sort of man to do that. Explain yourself.”
Heukmyeong King answered.
“There was opposition from the elders.”
“The position of the Four Heavenly Kings is not beneath that of the elders. If insubordination arose, you should have killed the elders first.”
Heukmyeong King lowered his head.
“If the same thing happens again, I will do so.”
The Gwangmyeong Right Envoy continued.
“Even if you had spent three days in a war of attrition, installed a temporary poison array (毒陣) before the formation, and regulated offense and defense during the standoff, do you think you would still have suffered such a great defeat? Baekcheon King, answer.”
Baekcheon King looked at the Gwangmyeong Right Envoy.
“Yes, I believe we would have been defeated.”
“Why?”
“As the Right Envoy said, it was indeed a mistake to treat the former Left Envoy with courtesy. However, there was no proper way to stop the martial art of the Hao Gate Master—that ultimate technique that slaughtered a large number of troops at once. Even if we had harassed them for three days, we might have been struck down in the middle of it. The eyes and ears of those attacking were focused on the former Left Envoy, so no one recognized the Hao Gate Master as someone of such importance.”
The Gwangmyeong Right Envoy asked,
“What was this ultimate technique? Jeogin King, answer.”
“I am ashamed to say it, but the martial art displayed by the Hao Gate Master was similar to the martial art cultivated by the Cult Leader. It was an ultimate technique that openly handled the qi of yin and yang, combining them into Taiji or something heaven-defying (逆天). Our entire force tried to block it, but nothing had any effect on the technique once it had already been formed. The damage it caused was also something we had not anticipated. Had Baekcheon King’s protection and several elders not poured out a great deal of inner power to stop it, it would have been difficult for us to survive as well.”
Cheongji King said,
“His personal martial might was not greatly different from ours, but that one ultimate technique caused the matter to go awry. As you said, the former Left Envoy did not avoid one-on-one fights, so he had been worn down by the elders’ successive wheel battles, and the siege was proceeding according to plan.”
The Cult Leader, who had been listening up to this point, opened his mouth.
“So they say. Right Envoy, if you had been there, how would you have responded?”
The Gwangmyeong Right Envoy said,
“I, too, likely would not have regarded the Hao Gate Master as important, and would have failed in much the same way as the Four Heavenly Kings.”
The Cult Leader replied,
“Do not defend the Four Heavenly Kings. Speak your own thoughts.”
The Gwangmyeong Right Envoy smiled faintly as he said,
“Cult Leader, there is something strange in what the Four Heavenly Kings have said. They seem to have watched clearly as the ultimate technique was performed, so I wonder why they simply let it happen. If it had been me to begin with, I would not have given him an opening. And with the chance to use the ultimate technique cut off, I would have ordered the troops to scatter.”
The Cult Leader nodded, then looked at Heukmyeong King.
“Myeong King, reproduce what it looked like at that moment.”
Heukmyeong King, having received the order, rose with a pale expression.
“Yes.”
Heukmyeong King swallowed once, then stood rigidly. The Gwangmyeong Right Envoy said,
“Myeong King, this is unlike you. What is the matter? Explain as thoroughly as you can the posture, atmosphere, form, and characteristics of the ultimate technique the Hao Gate Master displayed.”
Cheongji King, unable to watch any longer, rose in his place.
“Forgive me, but I will reproduce it instead.”
The Gwangmyeong Right Envoy nodded.
“Do so.”
Cheongji King, whose palm was wrapped in cloth, let out a short sigh as well. Then, with a pale face, he stepped back, stood at a slight angle to the side, and slowly extended both hands.
It was Taijiquan.
The reason Cheongji King turned his direction and demonstrated it was because he could not dare make a show of sending palm force toward the Cult Leader.
In any case, Cheongji King imitated the Taijiquan that the Hao Gate Master had performed.
The problem was that, since the principle was to report exactly what he had seen, he had no choice but to move slowly, just like the Hao Gate Master. He wanted to explain something with words, but the Cult Leader frightened him too much for him to move his tongue.
When Cheongji King extended both hands and moved them as though waves were rippling, the Gwangmyeong Right Envoy, who had been watching, said,
“What on earth are you doing?”
Cheongji King swallowed and said,
“I am showing you exactly as it was.”
“Are you saying he moved that slowly?”
“Yes.”
The other Four Heavenly Kings stared blankly at King Cheongji as he demonstrated. King Cheongji was imitating the Hao Sect Leader’s pathetic Taijiquan exactly. And when they thought that the terrifying Cult Leader was watching nearby, the Four Heavenly Kings felt an indescribable sorrow. It was all the more bewildering because this was the truth.
Gwangmyeong Usa said,
“How long do you intend to keep doing that?”
King Cheongji answered.
“……So, after turning around at about this point, the moment he combined the red palm force and the pale palm force, a ringing phenomenon occurred. By then it was already too late, so if the Hao Sect Leader had dropped it there, all of us, including the Four Heavenly Kings and the remaining elders, would have died. But perhaps judging that he himself was also in danger of dying, the Hao Sect Leader threw it toward the place where our forces were gathered. And after that……”
Suddenly, King Cheongji looked at Gwangmyeong Usa with a flustered expression. Gwangmyeong Usa narrowed his brow and asked,
“What? Speak.”
“I have no memory of it. I learned later that I had escaped with King Baekcheon’s help.”
Gwangmyeong Usa let out a sigh, then bowed his head toward the Cult Leader.
“My apologies. Cult Leader, today not only the Four Heavenly Kings but even I have made mistakes……”
The Cult Leader, who had been resting his chin on his hand all this time, asked the Four Heavenly Kings,
“What martial art did he say that was?”
“There was no explanation.”
The Cult Leader said, still propping up his chin.
“He deliberately moved slowly, putting on an absurd display to wage psychological warfare. The jianghu is full of such absurd men. Victory is never decided solely by the level of one’s martial arts. However, the beginning of all these blunders was the consideration you showed for the former Left Envoy. Remember that because of that consideration, you could have died. To think that men calling themselves kings could be this soft…… I’ll be laughing hollowly for days.”
At the Cult Leader’s words, the Four Heavenly Kings prostrated themselves flat on the floor.
The Cult Leader laughed awkwardly, making a nasal sound like someone laughing for the first time in a very long while.