Chapter 343. There’s Only One Way.

We did not move until the White-Robed Scholar opened his eyes. We did not make unnecessary noise and disturb his qi circulation.

Because that was the etiquette of guardianship.

In truth, even if some incredible master suddenly fell from the sky, if the Four Great Villains stepped forward to buy time, the White-Robed Scholar would have been able to finish his qi circulation sufficiently.

Of course, no one suddenly appeared here.

Instead, it seemed as if someone had appeared in the White-Robed Scholar’s heart. In the midst of his qi circulation, his expression gradually grew troubled, and before long sweat was beading on his face.

Had a heart demon appeared at some point, plunged down Manzhang Cliff, and fallen into the White-Robed Scholar’s heart with a splash?

The might of a heart demon was limited only by one’s imagination, and soon the White-Robed Scholar wore the expression of a man locked in a bitter struggle.

“…….”

The moment I exchanged glances with the Four Great Villains, I knew we were all thinking the same thing.

In other words, the reason the White-Robed Scholar was struggling with his qi circulation was likely because this fellow was also wary of us. We had no intention whatsoever of ambushing the White-Robed Scholar while he was defenseless, yet he had been unable to shake off his fear and had created a heart demon for himself.

I watched the White-Robed Scholar’s distressed expression for a moment.

Just what punishment was that bastard receiving?

Perhaps the master he had supposedly killed with his own hands had appeared in the space of his thoughts and was strangling him. If we left him like this, he seemed likely to become the White-Robed Scholar who died while eating fish, so I spoke in a calm tone.

“White Robe.”

“…….”

“Stay calm. Nothing is happening here.”

Though the White-Robed Scholar’s eyes were closed, his pupils were moving back and forth. Seeing him like this, it truly felt as if he had fallen into qi deviation.

I looked at Eldest Brother, then jerked my chin as if telling him to do something.

The Sword Demon spoke in a quiet tone.

“White Robe, focus only on your breathing and calmly erase your stray thoughts one by one.”

“…….”

“Has an enemy appeared? That is an illusion. Around us, there are only fish bones, a campfire, the stove you made while grumbling, Dukang wine, and the jerky we ate together on the way here. If we had meant to strike you, as Third said, the four of us would have joined forces and attacked before we even descended Manzhang Cliff. Would we not?”

I stared at the Sword Demon, who had spoken at length for the first time in a while. Since every word was right, I had no choice but to nod.

“He’s right.”

The Ghost Demon also looked at the White-Robed Scholar and said,

“White Robe, I have not forgotten that you helped me when we fought the wraiths. I am not the sort of man to repay grace with enmity, so calm your mind. If an unexpected variable appears, I will at least block it first.”

I nodded.

“That’s right. White Robe saved Second by throwing that hidden weapon at just the right moment. Wasn’t it a chopstick?”

The Ghost Demon nodded at my words as well.

“In truth, even I would have found that chopstick difficult to avoid.”

I met the Lust Demon’s eyes, then said in an indifferent tone,

“You just keep your mouth shut.”

The Lust Demon glared at me.

“Why the hell are you starting shit? I have something to say too.”

“Go on, then.”

The Lust Demon glared at the White-Robed Scholar for a moment, then said,

“Nothing. Forgot.”

I felt it would be wrong to laugh for no reason, so I smiled only with my expression, then quietly raised a hand and covered my mouth.

“…….”

Because somehow, if the four of us burst out laughing here, it felt like the White-Robed Scholar would have no choice but to cough blood and ascend to heaven.

Had he heard our conversation?

The White-Robed Scholar’s chest was heaving greatly as he struggled to steady his breathing. He looked as if he were dreaming, and also as if he were recalling the days gone by.

His normally cold expression was mixed with resentment we had never seen before.

In truth, qi circulation is like crossing a single-log bridge with one’s eyes closed.

Sometimes one arrives at the other side comfortably, but at other times, fierce winds blow around the bridge, and one may feel as if beneath it are countless spears and blades jutting upward.

Though one knows that all of this is, in truth, a matter of the mind, each person’s life story can cause them to misstep on that single-log bridge. In particular, emotions such as anger, emptiness, loss, hatred, and regret are the companions of qi deviation.

After we had spoken once to reassure the White-Robed Scholar, we simply watched in silence.

Suddenly, the White-Robed Scholar’s expression turned stubborn, and a sigh slipped out between his breaths.

“Hoo…….”

It seemed he had fallen into a dream while circulating his qi. Even in the midst of this, people of the jianghu instinctively continue their qi circulation. It was merely that the realm of thought had separated off on its own and wandered down a side path.

The White-Robed Scholar’s Adam’s apple bobbed several times, then he suddenly clicked his teeth together. Grievance abruptly appeared on his face, and traces of his effort to suppress his anger showed in his lips and the corners of his eyes.

A little later, the White-Robed Scholar opened his eyes with an exhausted expression and looked around at us.

After catching his breath, the White-Robed Scholar asked us,

“……Am I still alive?”

“You’re alive.”

Only then did the White-Robed Scholar uncross his legs and glare at the bamboo tube. If a master of this caliber had been so terrified, I assumed he must have felt fear throughout the entirety of his qi circulation before meeting his master, Heixian (Black Immortal).

I am not the type to speak indirectly.

“Did you fall into delusion and meet your master or something?”

Only then did the White-Robed Scholar roll his neck once, seize the bamboo tube, and pour liquor down his throat. After swallowing the wine he had poured in with a loud gulping sound, the White-Robed Scholar looked at me.

“How do you keep figuring things like that out? Did you learn mind reading?”

“It’s obvious. Why the hell is your tone like that? You damned bastard.”

I drank the Dukang wine as well.

The White-Robed Scholar picked up some jerky and ate it as he looked around at us.

“What were you all muttering while I was circulating my qi? It sounded like you were chanting sutras.”

I snickered and answered,

“Sutras they were.”

After drinking the Dukang wine again, the White-Robed Scholar said,

“In any case, I heard voices from outside and realized the situation I was facing was not reality.”

The Sword Demon asked,

“Was your master that frightening?”

The White-Robed Scholar answered with a bitter expression.

“He was, in the past.”

This time, I asked,

“I’m curious how you killed him.”

The White-Robed Scholar said,

“It was nothing special. We attacked him while he was sleeping. We killed the guards first and were moving in when Master sensed that something was wrong and had already risen from his bed. That bastard Heixian looked around at us while dressed in white from head to toe, and his expression was no different from usual. It was as if he had long expected that his disciples and subordinates would join together to strike him. He looked around at those who had taken part in the rebellion and called their names one by one. He even asked if everyone had come. He also told us we were admirable. He said he disliked fighting in his bedchamber, so we should go out somewhere spacious. He even said he would wait if there were more men coming.”

I narrowed my brow.

“Mm.”

The White-Clad Scholar saw my expression and asked.

“Why are you making that face?”

I answered with a smile.

“They believed that? Naive bastards. They should’ve struck right then. That wasn’t a proper ambush.”

The White-Clad Scholar asked with a hollow expression.

“Sect Leader, what would you have done?”

I looked around at the Four Great Villains before answering.

“If it were me, I’d have had every single ambusher carry a bucket of boiling water, throw it at Heukseon, then fight like hell. If there was no hot water, I’d have splashed him with shit water or something.”

The Lust Demon muttered.

“That damn shit just never gets left out, does it?”

The White-Clad Scholar, who had been staring at me, looked up at the sky and continued.

“You’re right. While we loosened the encirclement first and stepped back, my junior brother died from a single palm force strike from Heukseon. After that…”

“Wait.”

I cut off the White-Clad Scholar.

“You should tell us who that junior brother was.”

“Why?”

I glared at the White-Clad Scholar.

“What do you mean, why… I’ll remember his name.”

The White-Clad Scholar answered in a calm tone.

“Fine. He was the youngest junior brother, so we mostly called him Malje (末弟). But his personality was unusually quiet, so he had the sobriquet Makgunja (嗼君子).”

Out of nowhere, I finally understood why the White-Clad Scholar had once been called Magunja, if only for a short while. It looked as though he had taken part of his youngest junior brother’s sobriquet and stuck ma (魔) onto it. I picked up the Dukang wine and said to the Four Great Villains.

“A cup for Makgunja, who departed before us…”

Thinking of Makgunja, whom we had never met, we each took a sip of wine in his stead.

The White-Clad Scholar said.

“After seeing the youngest die, there was no need to move out into an open area. That place was where we would die. We knew Master’s martial arts, and Master knew our weaknesses. I, Cheonak, Chumyeong, and Silmyeong clung to him, and even Jinhyang and Yukmaek joined in, but we couldn’t win easily.”

Finding it absurd, I asked back.

“You’re saying Heukseon held out against six people alone?”

The White-Clad Scholar shook his head.

“No. The man we called Eldest Senior Brother did not take part. From beginning to end, he was on Master’s side. He was the one who had inherited the most of Master’s martial arts. He was already a master no different from Master himself. From the moment Eldest Senior Brother appeared, everyone fought while wounded. It was a favorable six-against-two battle, but if things continued that way, the chances of our defeat were high.”

When the White-Clad Scholar brought the Dukang wine to his mouth, only one or two drops fell out.

The Ghost Demon took a bamboo flask from his bundle and tossed the Dukang wine to the White-Clad Scholar. After taking a sip of the wine the Ghost Demon had thrown him, the White-Clad Scholar spoke with a wilted expression.

“Perhaps she did it because it seemed we would all die. The moment Jinhyang chose mutual destruction with Eldest Senior Brother, they died together.”

I watched the White-Clad Scholar’s expression and asked.

“Was Jinhyang a woman?”

“She was.”

“Whose lover was she?”

The White-Clad Scholar looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.

“What?”

“I asked whose lover she was.”

The White-Clad Scholar spoke as if muttering.

“Cheonak’s. In any case, after Eldest Senior Brother and Jinhyang died, Cheonak went berserk, just as I expected.”

For a moment, goosebumps rose on my arms, and I looked at the White-Clad Scholar.

“You expected that? You really aren’t an ordinary bad bastard either.”

The White-Clad Scholar glared at me and answered.

“Why? Is there some reason I shouldn’t have expected it?”

He was speaking boldly, but his expression did not look bold at all.

I drank the Dukang wine and looked at the White-Clad Scholar.

“…You suffer because you’re so damn smart. If you fought while anticipating even that, doesn’t that mean you knew beforehand that Jinhyang held a grudge against Eldest Senior Brother?”

The White-Clad Scholar nodded.

“That’s right. Expecting it isn’t a crime.”

“You should’ve told Cheonak.”

“There was no time for that. And from long ago, I had urged Cheonak to learn martial arts Master didn’t know. When even Yukmaek died during the fight, Cheonak broke through the wall that had been blocking him with his own hands.”

“Emotional, isn’t it?”

I had merely stated my impression, but the White-Clad Scholar stopped his story and looked at me.

“What do you mean?”

“The martial arts… are emotional.”

“Shouldn’t you call them instinctive?”

“Whatever they are.”

The White-Clad Scholar continued.

“The four of us wore Master down. Before we knew it, dawn broke, and we were exhausted too. I called the archers who had been waiting all night and had them attack Master. After watching Master endlessly knock away the arrows, we launched a joint attack again.”

The Lust Demon opened his mouth.

“Wow, that’s ruthless.”

The White-Clad Scholar said.

“In the end, we were exhausted too and collapsed, while Cheonak alone tore Master’s body apart.”

For some reason, I was more curious about what happened next.

“And then?”

“What are you asking?”

“I’m asking what happened next…”

The White-Clad Scholar looked around at us and laughed hollowly.

“Everyone ran away. Because of Cheonak… I ran away, so I don’t know much about what came after. I heard the archers who had been waiting perfectly fine died too, so they were probably done in by Cheonak. I also hid in a safe house and did not have contact with Cheonak for a while. It took a long time before we recovered our relationship from before.”

“All of you almost got killed by Cheonak.”

The White-Clad Scholar nodded and admitted it readily.

“That’s about right. In any case, those who hadn’t joined the rebellion were caught by Cheonak and all died with their limbs torn apart. In truth, the sobriquet Cheonak that became known outside came about because of that incident.”

I looked at the Sword Demon.

“What do you think, Eldest Brother? At Heukseon’s level, would he have been Number One Under Heaven after the Sword God?”

The Sword Demon nodded.

“It seems so. He appears to have been at an even higher level than Sado.”

“Compared to the current Samjae?”

“Heukseon at the time should be considered about the same level as the current Samjae. Isn’t that so?”

At the Sword Demon’s question, the White-Clad Scholar also nodded.

“It’s ambiguous, but he wasn’t a man who feared anyone. In the end, even if we united and raised a rebellion, he was a man confident that he could suppress us. Though he probably didn’t know Cheonak would become that strong. The man who treated Cheonak the most harshly and horrifically was ultimately done in by Cheonak.”

I looked at the White-Clad Scholar.

“And you planned this entire rebellion?”

“I planned it.”

I gathered the story together and conveyed my feelings to the White-Clad Scholar.

“You are certainly not a slave. But if you become a tyrant like Heukseon, then by your own words, you are no different from Heukseon. If a butcher-like bastard had obtained an enormous fortuitous encounter, you too would have been unable to eat fish with us here.”

I picked up the fish that was nothing but bones and showed it to Baek-ui Seosaeng.

“...Don’t use that clever head merely to follow in the footsteps of the master you killed. Your youngest disciple in heaven will lament it.”

Baek-ui Seosaeng smiled with a stubborn expression at my words. Though he was smiling, he did not particularly refute me.

“Baek-ui, if you wish to live a life different from Heukseon, there is only one thing.”

“What is it?”

“Let us say there was nothing to be done about our past lives. How about becoming a master who receives respect rather than fear from even a single person? Would that not be the only way? You must become a master different from Heukseon. Only then will the Makgunja watching from heaven finally smile.”

Baek-ui Seosaeng looked at me.

“….”

“That alone is the path to cast off Heukseon and escape qi deviation. It may sound rather foolish, but that alone is the path to grow stronger.”

Hearing my words, Baek-ui Seosaeng raised his head and gazed blankly at the sky.