Episode 261. Accept the Proposal and Become a Scholar.

Killing Scholar Silmyeong doesn't seem to have been a trivial matter. At this rate, I might end up meeting all the Scholars for an interview.

Scholar Chumyeong looked at me, arms crossed.

"……Would you explain what happened?"

Was this an interrogation, an investigation, or some bullshit threat?

Instead of answering, a sigh escaped me. I glanced at Saekma and Gwima, then answered.

"Baekui, Silmyeong, and Cheonak showed up saying they'd kill the Beggar Sect Leader. I was with the Beggar Sect Leader to begin with. We clashed, and the Sect Leader held off Baekui and Cheonak simultaneously while Silmyeong died by my hand."

Chumyeong replied.

"Do you know why I cannot believe that story?"

I glared at Chumyeong.

"Why can't you believe it?"

"For one, your skills are below Scholar Silmyeong's."

"Is that so?"

"Let's say you killed him by luck. Then why on earth did Cheonak keep you alive? Do you know what kind of man Cheonak is?"

"Samjae."

Chumyeong scoffed.

"That's right. They call him Samjae. Did you know that when the Demonic Cult killed one of our Scholars, Cheonak stormed the Demonic Cult alone?"

"Impressive. I suppose he fought the Cult Leader then."

Chumyeong nodded.

"And such a Cheonak kept you alive? That is why I cannot believe it. That is why I suspect Scholar Baekui orchestrated his death, rather than you killing him."

"This is troublesome. Scholars generally can't believe the truth even when you tell it to them. They tend to only believe what they want to believe. Moreover, aren't you Scholar Silmyeong's sworn brother? If my words are true, that would make the entire Legalist School and me enemies?"

At that moment, as Chumyeong looked outside, a man appeared at the entrance and looked at us. He was a man in his early thirties, but from head to toe, he was shrouded in dense killing intent.

For starters, his eyes were anything but normal.

He was a madman who seemed incapable of conversation because he had killed too many people. If I had to pick someone similar, he resembled the Butcher I had killed in the past.

Come to think of it, this inn was similar to the Thousand Li Inn, and the man who had just appeared was similar to the Butcher, so I felt a strange sensation, as if I were dreaming.

Chumyeong spoke to the man.

"……Dokhaeng (獨行), the Haomunju who killed your master is here."

The man called Dokhaeng spoke to Chumyeong.

"So that's why you suddenly summoned me. Shall I kill him?"

"Wait outside for a moment. Where are your martial brothers?"

"They are on their way."

"Understood."

As the man went outside, Chumyeong looked at me.

"As you know, you're surrounded. I have my disciples, and Silmyeong's disciples are waiting outside as well."

"I see."

Gwima asked Chumyeong.

"By Dokhaeng, do you mean the Public Enemy Dokhaengja?"

Chumyeong nodded.

"You know of him."

Gwima sighed and spoke.

"In any case, Scholar Silmyeong was a man who deserved to die. What with his disciple being a public enemy of the martial arts world."

Saekma also opened his mouth.

"That Butcher fellow from before was also Scholar Baekui's disciple, wasn't he?"

I nodded.

"He was."

Saekma curled his lips in a sneer.

"Come to think of it, these crazy Scholars have nothing but public enemies of the martial arts world or madmen for disciples. Truly a remarkable force. Could the foremost swordsman of Dongho also be a disciple of the Scholars?"

"Surely not? Bigaek might be, though."

I didn't bother asking Chumyeong. He wouldn't have intended to tell us anyway.

Chumyeong spoke to us.

"……Whether Scholar Baekui killed him or you killed him, if you wish to survive here today, listen well to my words. Ijaha."

"……."

Chumyeong spoke with a cold expression.

"The three of you will join our Legalist School and fill the void left by Scholar Silmyeong. I wish to save the three of you. I will formally introduce you three to Lord Kwaedangju. Of course, just because I introduce you doesn't mean all three of you will become Scholars. Given Lord Kwaedangju's personality, he will examine your lightness skills, and likely only permit the fastest man among you to take the Scholar's seat. This is the best proposal I can offer."

It was such an absurd proposal that I looked back and forth between Saekma and Gwima's expressions.

I spoke first.

"Hey, Scholar Chumyeong…… is that how I should address you?"

Chumyeong laughed with a dumbfounded expression and nodded.

"Address me as you please."

"Telling me to work for the Legalist School…… it doesn't sound like recruiting talent, but more like telling me to enter as a slave."

"How could a Scholar's seat be the same as slaves'?"

I asked Chumyeong.

"What is the great principle of the Legalist School?"

"The great principle of the Legalist School is Binji Gyunmin (貧治均民). The wealthy pay more taxes, and those are distributed to the poor. The world is divided, and the lives of the poor grow more destitute by the day. But whether the world is divided or not, we intend to carry out Binji Gyunmin. I understand you operate Haomun in a similar manner, do you not?"

"People claiming to practice Binji Gyunmin targeted the Beggar Sect Leader? That doesn't make sense."

"We merely cooperated with Cheonak's request. It was not our will. We only participated as support."

It was sophistry.

I tried to imagine what kind of work a public enemy of the martial arts world affiliated with the Legalist School would do. Most likely, Dokhaengja would serve the role of a butcher who kills the wealthy.

Outside, the Legalist elites had us surrounded, and before my eyes, the head of the Legalist School, whose martial prowess seemed higher than the three of us, was glaring at me. Yet strangely, I found the Legalist School unpleasant.

Chumyeong glared at me.

"Surely you aren't thinking of refusing a Scholar's seat?"

"That Scholar's seat. I'd have to take the poison the Legalist School gives, wouldn't I?"

Chumyeong nodded.

"I shall speak frankly. We will observe you for a year. Surely you can manage that? In any case, we forbid Scholars from killing Scholars. Lord Kwaedangju also opposes such acts."

I felt somewhat strange.

I wanted to see Lord Kwaedangju at least once, more than I wanted to enter the Legalist School. However, since I couldn't discern Chumyeong's true intentions, I couldn't make a judgment. After pondering a few things, I answered.

"I am not a man suited to the Legalist School. I will not cooperate with the Legalist School."

"The reason?"

"If you must classify me under the Hundred Schools of Thought, I am suited to the Daoist School. I have a mind to cooperate with them, provided I meet the head of the Daoist School and find common ground."

Chumyeong sneered.

"What makes you think you are suited to the Daoist School? We have classified you as a member of the dark path all along."

"In any case, I refuse."

Chumyeong spoke.

"Why do you seek to throw your life away?"

Chumyeong snapped his fingers and gave an order to those outside.

“……Dismantle it.”

I was watching Chumyeong when, outside the inn, the sound of something like whips cutting through the wind overlapped again and again. Then, with a sharp tak—, something struck the wall of the inn. A moment later, with a splintering crack, the wooden exterior of the inn was torn away. Glancing sideways, I saw Chumyeong’s subordinates throwing hooks attached to the ends of whips and ripping the inn apart.

I looked around together with the villains.

I could not tell whether there were thirty or forty, or forty or fifty of them. In any case, the area around the inn was packed with martial artists of the Law Family.

The old man who had guided us earlier was there as well.

There was also the martial world’s public enemy, the Lone Walker, and several more martial artists who seemed to be on a similar level.

Including Scholar Chumyeong, it was a fairly formidable force.

Chumyeong said,

“Recognize the situation. What do you think will happen if you ignore my goodwill?”

I looked at Chumyeong and replied,

“Did you bring all of the Law Family’s strength?”

“If I am offering you the seat of Scholar, I ought to show some sincerity as well. Accept my offer, and I will make you a Scholar. Refuse, and you will die together with Young Master Mong and Yukhap.”

“What kind of bullshit is that? Those two have nothing to do with Scholar Silmyeong’s death. The responsibility lies with me, so you should let them go.”

Chumyeong smiled faintly, looked at the Lust Demon, then checked the Ghost Demon’s expression.

“True. Those two have nothing to do with it. If I let them go, will the two of them leave this place quietly?”

The Ghost Demon answered,

“There is no possibility of that.”

The Lust Demon said,

“I am a man who has never run away.”

I nodded.

“Except when you had diarrhea.”

The Lust Demon looked at me and readily admitted it.

“That is true.”

It was the moment a pants-shitter acknowledged that he was a pants-shitter. People were bound to grow like this.

Chumyeong laughed.

“I did not know you people were so loyal.”

I said to Chumyeong,

“I do not know the Law Family well. I did not even know that Silmyeong’s disciple was the Lone Walker. It seems you people amass wealth by capturing and killing the rich, but I have not confirmed that with my own eyes either, so I cannot know the details of the actual situation. For now, I will respect your thoughts as much as I can. However, if you clash with us here, I can promise you one thing.”

“What is that?”

I spoke in an indifferent tone.

“Aside from you, everyone here will die. The Law Family will be as good as destroyed. Keep that in mind when you fight. Only when the fight is nearing its end will you understand why Silmyeong died by my hand.”

Chumyeong opened his mouth.

“Well now……”

In that instant, a gust of wind blew before my eyes, and Chumyeong’s figure vanished. Then Chumyeong appeared outside the wreckage of the inn and said to his subordinates,

“I have confirmed that Scholar Silmyeong, who was privately my junior martial brother and publicly an executor of the Law Family, was killed by the Hao Sect Leader. Since it was originally a defeat in a conflict related to business, I set aside personal feelings and offered him entry into the Law Family, but the Sect Leader refused. Young Master Mong and Master Yukhap also seem intent on sharing life and death with him, so the Law Family shall end the lives of these three here and send them to join my junior martial brother.”

The martial artists surrounding the inn answered at the same time.

“We obey.”

I stood up and said to the two of them,

“It really is hard to live quietly.”

The Lust Demon also let out a sigh.

“You can say that again.”

The Ghost Demon drew his sword and said,

“Third, Fourth. Let us see each other after we survive first.”

A slight headache washed over me, so I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again. The skin beneath my eye was trembling on its own.

Then a whoosh— sounded, and whips with hooks attached were spinning in the air from all directions.

The Lust Demon was the first to walk toward the enemies, saying,

“Good thing I ate a hearty meal.”

The Ghost Demon jumped down from the second floor and replied as he headed for the main entrance,

“You can say that again. See you later.”

I placed both hands on my hips and looked at Scholar Chumyeong. The Lone Walker beside him met my eyes, then suddenly soared into the air.

At the same time, hooks flew toward us from every direction.

All of a sudden, I felt as though time were flowing slowly.

I had visited the Wi Family Estate, had a proper sparring match, been treated to a feast, and personally confirmed the beauty of the famed One Peak and Two Fairies.

I had even drunk plum tea.

As soon as that brief, normal, and heartwarming visit to a family estate ended……

It felt as though the gates of hell had opened again.

I dodged the Lone Walker’s sword, which had come close, and muttered,

“……Life is hard. I am tired.”

It was a sword difficult to deal with by dodging alone, so I drew my wooden sword as well. In an instant, sword clashed against sword, and sparks flew. If I had been able to get the Ghost Demon and Lust Demon out unharmed and fight alone, I would have dragged the Law Family’s forces around, fled, and dealt with them through all kinds of improvisation.

However, since the Ghost Demon and Lust Demon had already charged into the troops first and were fighting wildly, I could not do that.

I deflected the Lone Walker’s sword and observed his expression.

Unlike me, his face did not seem to have any particular worries. All I could see was murderous intent. He was the frightening sort. Just how many people did one have to kill to end up with an expression like that?

The Lone Walker, who seemed not even to breathe, swung his sword and laughed while looking at me.

Even as I swung my wooden sword, my mouth opened on its own.

“Do not laugh…… You stink.”

The Lone Walker’s sword became wrapped in a reddish glow, coiled with sword energy, and came down vertically. I pulled my upper body back and twisted my entire body. As the sword energy passed before my eyes, a clump of my bangs was sliced off and scattered.

Then, perhaps because the Lone Walker’s sword energy had cut down several martial artists of the Law Family, three or four screams burst out at the same time.

I knocked aside the Lone Walker’s sword again and stepped backward.

Now that I looked, no one else joined in once the Lone Walker attacked me. Was he called the Lone Walker because he fought one-on-one by himself? As I watched the Lone Walker’s vicious expression, a thought suddenly occurred to me. The Lone Walker was the sort of man who hated, almost to the point of a fit, having the person he intended to kill taken from him. Of course, it was a guess with little evidence. But as always, my guesses were often right.

After knocking away the Lone Walker’s sword, I used the recoil to soar into the air, then moved by stepping on the shoulders of the Law Family’s martial artists. The Lone Walker’s voice sounded from behind me.

“Move. Move!”

“Oh……”

For a moment, I realized this was a one-on-one situation between the Lone Walker and me. After I stepped on several shoulders and came down, the enemies retreated with a rumble and created a round sparring ground. There, the Lone Walker appeared again with his eyes wide open and swung his sword.

The Lone Walker’s swordsmanship was, like the Butcher’s, a swift sword without any particular defensive forms mixed in. My skill was in a completely different state from when I had killed the Butcher. We clashed swords at nearly the same speed.

After calming myself, I circulated my internal energy with the Divided Mind Art. Into the wooden sword, I infused only wood energy as I swung it, while around my left palm I coiled the Hundred Battles Ten Stages Art. In the midst of knocking aside the Lone Wanderer’s sword, my left hand trembled violently, as if afflicted with palsy.

Rather than unleashing the Hundred Battles Ten Stages Art as palm force, I infused lightning energy into each finger separately, preparing five strands of finger techniques.