Chapter 336. I Should Ask a Hundred Times, a Thousand Times.

When I said I would perish together with the Cult Leader, the White-Clad Scholar’s expression had brightened. Since I had never seen his face brighten like that before, I made up my mind inwardly.

‘Perish together, my ass…….’

I intended to run away no matter what and survive.

In truth, all of the Four Great Villains were exhausted, and the mere fact that the White-Clad Scholar was in the inn helped so much it felt as if someone were standing guard for us, so the thought came naturally that I should harass him a little and keep him here.

Before that, the White-Clad Scholar harassed Cha Seongtae.

“A fellow who looks as though he’d die in vain like a frog hit by a stone if I struck him is wagging his tongue carelessly. Even with the Hao Clan Master beside you, I can tear apart a mouth like yours, so mind your words. Chief Cha.”

We checked Cha Seongtae’s expression. As if he had left his life back in Ilyang County, he was digging at his ear with a finger.

“…….”

Though the wording was a little strange, I mediated the quarrel between Cha Seongtae and the White-Clad Scholar.

“Enough. If he said you were unlucky, it’s because you are unlucky. Can’t a man even say that much? Allies don’t fight among themselves.”

The White-Clad Scholar reacted at once.

“Who said we were allies?”

“If we’re taking shelter from the rain under the same roof, then we’re allies. If I poured you liquor and you drank it, aren’t we allies? Why are you making a fuss? Stop making such a fuss.”

I looked once around the inn, where rainwater was dripping here and there. Then I looked at the terrible dish Cha Seongtae had made.

“By the way, have you eaten? As for this dish, it’s called Wraith Fried Rice made by Chief Cha of the Hao Clan. Should I tell him to make more of this, at least?”

The White-Clad Scholar looked at the food in the large pot.

“I wouldn’t eat dog food like that even if you gave it to me.”

I looked at Cha Seongtae.

“Hear that? He says it’s dog food, Seongtae.”

“I don’t want to give dog food to him either, though?”

Now that I heard it, that had made the White-Clad Scholar into a dog.

“You little…….”

The moment I saw the White-Clad Scholar rise from his seat, I reached out and pulled Cha Seongtae toward me with the Heavenly Jade Star-Absorbing Great Art.

“Seongtae.”

Cha Seongtae, grabbed by the collar in an instant, looked at me in surprise.

“Yes.”

“You should know when to stop. I’m saying this because you really might die if you keep that up.”

“Is that so?”

“But then again, this is what the men of our Ilyang County are like.”

“That’s right.”

After letting go of his collar, I ordered Cha Seongtae.

“It’s true that the White-Clad Scholar is unlucky, but from now on, you are to be perfectly courteous to him.”

Cha Seongtae looked at me.

“Is there a reason?”

“The reason you became stronger than when you were swaggering around Ilyang County is because this man passed on the Hundred Battles Ten-Stage Art. He isn’t your master, but he is someone who changed your life to some extent.”

Though in my previous life, my life had changed for the worse.

For Cha Seongtae, it had not been such a bad influence.

“It couldn’t be helped when you didn’t know, but now that you do, you should show him courtesy. If you become an expert later, it will be thanks to the White-Clad Scholar. Don’t forget that.”

Cha Seongtae looked back and forth with startled eyes, then answered.

“Ah… understood.”

I pointed at the White-Clad Scholar, who was still standing, and formally introduced him.

“Allow me to introduce him. The greatest mystery of the martial world, the man who shoulders the fate of the martial world, a man who seems like Zhuge Liang reborn, a man who could toy with even someone like Zhou Yu, a grand strategist accomplished in both scholarship and martial might, a master of psychological warfare who could even command a man like Zhang Fei, an artist as outstanding as Chief Byeok, the White-Clad Scholar when he is among the scholar factions, the White-Clad Martial Emperor when he is with the Orthodox Dao. Depending on whether this man helps the martial world or not, the state of the martial world will change. If this man does not help, even if the Orthodox Dao unites as one, it may be pushed back by the Demonic Dao. Even today, he helped Master Yukhap. If White-Clad had not helped, Yukhap would not have even been able to eat Cha Seongtae’s tasteless food today and would have been making an utter fool of himself.”

The Ghost Demon nodded, then looked at the White-Clad Scholar.

“That is true. White-Clad, thank you for helping.”

After sending Cha Seongtae to the back, away from the White-Clad Scholar, I looked at the White-Clad Scholar.

“Sit down already.”

The White-Clad Scholar sighed, then sat.

As I looked at the White-Clad Scholar, I added one more title to this bastard’s list.

“Actually, it’s true that you are the unluckiest person in the martial world.”

The White-Clad Scholar looked at me with an incredulous expression.

“What?”

“Your martial arts are powerful enough to defeat the head of the Seomun Clan. Your movement art is excellent. You’re well-versed in schemes. Your faction isn’t small either. And as a comrade, you have Cheonak, one of the Three Calamities, as a friend. And yet you still haven’t decided for yourself whether or not to form an alliance with us, so calling you unlucky is right. I said I’d perish together with the Cult Leader, and you just grinned.”

“…….”

“Because of you people, I don’t intend to perish together with him. You’re too unlucky.”

Perhaps the White-Clad Scholar’s anger had subsided somewhat, because he answered me.

“That is a bit regrettable.”

I looked once around the inn, where rainwater was falling here and there, and said.

“Look at this dreary inn. Once the Demonic Dao appeared, everyone vanished. If the Orthodox Dao had appeared, they would have eaten a meal and asked the innkeeper if anything was wrong. If the Black Dao had appeared, they would have told him to pay protection money since they would protect him. But when the Demonic Dao appears, life becomes this empty and futile. Thanks to that, we came in soaked from the rain and are choking down dog food made by Cha Seongtae. This is all because of the Cult Leader.”

I looked at the White-Clad Scholar.

“…Is an alliance that difficult?”

The White-Clad Scholar replied.

“Why are you suddenly talking to me about an alliance?”

“Who else would I talk to?”

“Am I the leader of the scholars? The heads of each faction do not listen to me.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

The White-Clad Scholar looked at me with puzzled eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“Why did you keep going in and out of the Murim Alliance? If you tell the other scholars, ‘I met Hall Master Kwae, and the most senior of the scholars said this’… then you can appoint the next scholar yourself, and you yourself can act like Hall Master Kwae. Wouldn’t that make you something like a proxy? Even if you are not the leader, you are an unlucky person who can act like one. Am I wrong?”

“…….”

“I’m not proposing some grand alliance. I’m saying that we should each live our own lives, and when something big happens, we should at least keep things from ending up like this inn. It’s not as if I’m proposing an alliance like Wu and Shu so we can fight the Demonic Dao in a Battle of Red Cliffs. White-Clad Scholar, look at that dog food.”

The White-Clad Scholar looked at the dog food Cha Seongtae had made.

“…….”

“When the Demonic Dao appears, you have to eat dog food like that. What does that mean? It means life turns into a dog’s life. Why? Do you think it will be different for you?”

As the White-Clad Scholar fell into thought for a moment, Cha Seongtae muttered.

“Well now, you were eating it so deliciously earlier.”

“Hunger was the seasoning, so I ate it well. Anyone could see it was dog food.”

I pointed at the White-Clad Scholar with my finger.

“Look at this scholar. A fine gentleman who wouldn’t touch dog food even if he were starving.”

The White-Clad Scholar said,

“What are you saying we should do right now?”

“Call some of your disciples.”

“And once I call them?”

“We have to catch the black-clad man together. I have a feeling he’s still nearby. In any case, he’ll be after me. And since our White-Clad Scholar happens to be so outstanding at drawing, you could start with a portrait of his features.”

“What use is drawing the black-clad man?”

I did not think the White-Clad Scholar’s eye for detail was shoddy.

“Did you see his eyes?”

“I did.”

“His height?”

“I remember.”

“Build, gait, posture, voice, complexion, estimated age… you know it all, don’t you? With your personality, there’s no way you failed to take stock of him. You need to turn that into a portrait and share it.”

The White-Clad Scholar asked,

“And what will you do once you catch him? Do you plan to torture him?”

Feeling strange, I answered,

“…Kill him. Or else.”

Suddenly, the words of the absolute being who had sent me back to the past came vividly to mind.

「See to it that you never swallow the Heavenly Jade again. Whatever the outcome may be, I shall treat you with goodwill. This is the best choice I can give you, and it will be the greatest gift.」

As I fell briefly into thought, everyone looked at me in silence.

“……”

For some reason, those words had come to mind, and since I could not understand why, I relayed part of them to the White-Clad Scholar.

“White-Clad, whatever the outcome may be, I shall treat you with goodwill.”

“Mm.”

“Helping me is your choice, so I can’t force you. The way I see it, the black-clad man is fated to be absorbed by the Cult Leader. There’s no slave more enslaved than that. He must be struggling so desperately because he hates it. But he crossed a line. If he killed even the ordinary people here in order to struggle like that, then his method was wrong. This is something that cannot be forgiven. It’s not as if he killed them while fighting members of the martial world. Seongtae.”

“Yes.”

“Bastards who kill people from inns like this are enemies of the Hao Gate.”

“That’s right.”

Once I had spoken, I felt somewhat relieved.

In truth, killing him was the first plan, and the second was for me to absorb him.

But the moment the absolute being’s words came to mind, I realized that was something I must not do.

Because in seeking to kill the Demonic Dao, I would become the Demonic Dao myself.

A cruel trap hidden along the journey of life, perhaps.

Moreover, I already held the Heavenly Jade, with its side effects removed.

I was growing stronger at such a pace that calling it the greatest gift did not feel excessive. I surmised that the reason I became drowsy when drawing on its power, or the reason I could not become stronger all at once, was because the level of my body was still insufficient.

The Heavenly Jade was a deep sea…

And if I drew it out and contained it within my body, the depth my body’s level possessed was instead too shallow, causing it to overflow. That overflowing would act as a burden on the flesh and come surging in the form of aftereffects such as drowsiness.

If I went against the natural order in order to grow stronger…

That, too, would be an improper path—the Demonic Dao.

Then what was the proper path?

Once more, I looked anew at the Four Great Evildoers, Cha Seongtae, and the White-Clad Scholar.

Even if my own ability was a little lacking…

I could resolve it together with these people.

The reason the Cult Leader had entered closed-door cultivation before absorbing the Heavenly Jade was also clear. Even the Cult Leader must have needed preparation to raise the level of his body.

The White-Clad Scholar rose and recited the very words he had spoken on the rooftop.

“Gate Master.”

“What?”

“Is it a request?”

The White-Clad Scholar was looking at me with a sly grin, as if he meant to tease me. With a solemn expression, I stood and deliberately showed courtesy to him.

“Wudi, I ask this of you.”

When I suddenly observed propriety, the White-Clad Scholar looked me up and down.

“You madman… what’s with the manners all of a sudden? It doesn’t suit you.”

“More Hao Gate members may die, so of course I have to ask. I’ll ask a hundred times, a thousand times if I must.”

The White-Clad Scholar looked around the desolate inn and said,

“Ah, was this place originally part of the Hao Gate too?”

“It was not.”

“What?”

I ran my hand over the old table and said,

“These people don’t need to know that they belong to the Hao Gate. They don’t need to know that I’m the Gate Master or that Cha Seongtae is the Chief Steward. I simply think of them as Hao Gate members on my own.”

The White-Clad Scholar narrowed his brow and looked around at us.

“You’re all madmen, every last one of you. I’m going.”

“Take care on your way.”

The White-Clad Scholar left the inn. Watching him pass by outside the window, I muttered,

“There goes a comrade. I had so much to say, but his entrances and exits are always entirely at his own whim.”

Cha Seongtae asked me,

“Do you think he’ll come back with his disciples?”

“Who knows.”

I checked Cha Seongtae’s condition.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No.”

“Stand guard for us. We need to rest.”

“Yes.”

…The White-Clad Scholar, who had been walking alone down a street pooled with rainwater, stopped and spoke to a man passing by while pulling a cart.

“Samgon.”

The man called Samgon stopped the cart and turned around.

“Yes, please give your orders.”

“Call everyone.”

“By everyone… you mean?”

The White-Clad Scholar spoke in an indifferent tone.

“Why the question? Everyone, all of them, every last one… Tell Cheonak to come too. Even if he says he won’t, deliver the message. Once they arrive, I’ll give you a portrait, so bring him in. Before that, seal off this area with an inescapable net. Put sentries near the Gate Master’s party.”

Samgon bowed his head and answered,

“I receive your command.”

With his hands clasped behind his back, the White-Clad Scholar silently looked around at the corpses strewn in every direction and the buildings collapsed here and there.

“……”