Chapter 401. The Qualifications to Enter Plum Blossom Manor.

The First Demon Ancestor glared at the Plum Blossom Manor Lord and said,

“Why would I leisurely eat a meal after coming into enemy territory?”

The Plum Blossom Manor Lord looked straight at the First Demon Ancestor and said,

“You need not think of it as enemy territory. I consider both the Sect Leader’s party and the Cult Leader’s party to be my guests. If you request it at any time, I will not neglect my hospitality.”

I looked at the Plum Blossom Manor Lord anew.

In other words, this man was merely weaker than us in martial arts. There was nothing weak about the man himself.

Eldest Brother asked the First Demon Ancestor,

“First Grand Duke, I thought you had retired, so why have you come all the way here? Is refusing so difficult? Even so, someone of your standing ought to be able to refuse.”

The First Demon Ancestor snorted.

“What retirement is there for a cultist? One would have to be as old as Elder Heo to retire. As long as my body still moves properly, it is difficult to disobey orders. In any case, I did not receive detailed orders from the Cult Leader. He merely conveyed that I should come here. Hm, perhaps he intends to cross hands with you or with the Hao Gate Leader.”

The First Demon Ancestor looked at the Lust Demon.

“……And what are you?”

“The Lust Demon.”

“That is not what I am asking. The reason the Cult Leader called us here is likely to have us clear away these fly-like pests in advance. Are you qualified to be here? Calling yourself the Lust Demon—there is no one like you even in the Cult.”

As soon as he arrived, the First Demon Ancestor tore into the Lust Demon quite refreshingly. Since I had no particular desire to defend him either, I cheered the First Demon Ancestor on.

“Well said. Fly-like pest.”

The Lust Demon pointed at himself with his index finger.

“Me? You mean me? I’m a fly? You’re saying the fly is me?”

The Lust Demon certainly seemed to be in rather poor condition today. Or perhaps the Lust Demon had let go of something in his own way. There was a high chance that something was his sanity. Perhaps because of that, no one answered the Lust Demon’s words.

“…….”

If I had to mention it, even the Plum Blossom Manor Lord, who valued fairness and propriety, was not particularly responding, which pleased me.

The Lust Demon sighed and said,

“Listen well, old Demon Ancestor. My only opponent is the Cult Leader. Not you.”

The First Demon Ancestor laughed through his nose, then looked at Eldest Brother.

“You say he is your disciple?”

“That is so.”

“If his only opponent is the Cult Leader, does that mean he has surpassed you as well?”

Eldest Brother tilted his head.

“I have never fought my disciple in earnest. But if we were to fight in earnest, I too would be in a position where I must do my utmost. Has it been quite some time since you stepped into the jianghu? It seems your senses have dulled somewhat. First Demon Ancestor, does my disciple look that weak to you? You may not know this, but if you trace back their respective families, these two also have a rather deep grudge between them. This too is, in its own way, a match befitting a decisive battle.”

Only then did the First Demon Ancestor slowly turn his head and look closely at the Lust Demon.

“……A deep grudge?”

The Lust Demon tilted his head crookedly and glared at the First Demon Ancestor before saying,

“Were you perhaps one of the bastards who touched Okhwa Palace?”

He looked like the most crooked, insane young man in the neighborhood despite having nothing much to him.

So Eldest Brother had a reason for egging on the fight.

“If the man once called First Grand Duke calls you a fly, there must be a reason. Then will you clear away that fly? I too would like to see who the true fly is.”

The First Demon Ancestor laughed.

“Will that be all right? Out of consideration for you, I intended to leave him alive and intact before withdrawing, but if it comes to this, you will regret it.”

Eldest Brother cut off the First Demon Ancestor’s words.

“……You have grown talkative. Neither of us has lived a life with regrets.”

“I understand your meaning.”

The First Demon Ancestor sprang to his feet and moved first to a wider space. The Lust Demon glanced at the First Demon Ancestor, then downed his own liquor in one go.

As the Lust Demon rose, Eldest Brother said,

“The First Demon Ancestor has much experience and deep internal energy. He is a knowledgeable man who has mastered many rare demonic arts, so you will have no room to be careless.”

Although Eldest Brother had given proper advice, the Lust Demon replied with an obnoxious remark.

“How could one who has dabbled in all sorts of things be a match for someone who has cultivated one thing deeply?”

It felt like he was deliberately pointing that out at me, so I added a word as well.

“……How obnoxious. Ptui! You bastard. A fly-like pest who only ever peered into a single well.”

As the very person who had learned all sorts of things, I found it a highly unpleasant expression. The Lust Demon moved away while pointing a finger at me.

“This one is not a Demon Transcendent. Mad Demon bastard.”

Eldest Brother replied,

“I know.”

Suddenly, my eyes met the Plum Blossom Manor Lord’s, and I muttered whatever came to mind.

“In the past, I was the Mad Demon. Now I am the even greater Mad Mad Demon (狂狂魔).”

“…….”

“Not funny?”

The Plum Blossom Manor Lord avoided my gaze and replied,

“No.”

“It can’t be funny every time. Plum Blossom Manor Lord, being too honest is also a problem.”

“Sect Leader, you are honest as well.”

That was also true.

The Plum Blossom Manor Lord called a servant and instructed him to bring Seven Plums. In the meantime, we watched the First Demon Ancestor and the Lust Demon, who were facing off. The First Demon Ancestor was looking around with his hands clasped behind his back, like a tourist.

After creating some distance, the First Demon Ancestor glared at the Lust Demon and spoke to someone.

“Moon Wheel (月輪).”

A round weapon flew in from outside Plum Blossom Manor, drawing a curve through the air. It was quite fast, so I wondered if it was ambushing the First Demon Ancestor, but the First Demon Ancestor simply caught it.

It was a round blade like a full moon.

It was the sort of weapon one might use in the Western Regions, and aside from the handle, all of it was blade. Looking closely, the outside was sharp, and the inside also had a keen edge. It was a weapon that seemed capable of cutting anything if hooked and pulled.

I looked at the First Demon Ancestor and muttered,

“He uses an obnoxious weapon. He looks like an old scout who would carry around a bamboo spear.”

The First Demon Ancestor glared at me.

“Sect Leader, can you not shut your mouth?”

“What? You mean me? Do you want to get beaten two-on-one? I do not know propriety.”

The First Demon Ancestor sighed, and only then did he turn his head to glare at his opponent, the Lust Demon.

This time, the Lust Demon tore into me.

“You’re distracting me. Be quiet.”

“Yeah. Next fly.”

The First Demon Ancestor swung the Moon Wheel, carving a long scar into Plum Blossom Manor’s wall.

Shraaaak!

The Lust Demon dodged with a tilt of his head, retreated, then took the Muk Family Dagger from his robe and began deflecting the Moon Wheel.

According to Eldest Brother, he had mastered many demonic arts, but……

Unexpectedly, it was ordinary, like generals meeting and crossing weapons.

Because the Lust Demon’s ice art had not appeared, and neither had the First Demon Ancestor’s demonic arts.

As though they were measuring each other’s bodies and inner force, the opening skirmish passed.

Instead, their speed grew faster and faster.

During my time in the jianghu, I had faced or watched many swift swords, but Ilmajo’s attacks were the fastest among them.

Fast enough to make me wonder how anyone was supposed to block them.

Even the Pervert Demon seemed to have reached the limit of watching with his eyes and dodging, for he dealt with them as if evading by instinct. Only at moments when he could not completely avoid them did he swing the Mukga Dagger and knock away the moon wheel. Without slowing in the slightest, Ilmajo’s calm voice flowed out.

“……So you really are a winged insect.”

Even as he knocked away the moon wheel, the Pervert Demon answered stubbornly.

“Shut up.”

The formless qi extending from the moon wheel had, before long, cut down every vine on the wall, and wounds like those left by a tiger’s forepaw scraping past continued along the wall; now and then, portions of it collapsed. Even as the wall was reduced to a mess, the Pervert Demon kept dodging while remaining wary of the moon wheel.

Somehow, he seemed to be wary that the demonic art began from the moon wheel itself.

The Pervert Demon’s counterattacks were also blocked by Ilmajo’s defenses and achieved nothing.

At one point, the body of the moon wheel came pressing in along a trajectory that seemed impossible to block, and the Pervert Demon barely caught it between his thumb and forefinger.

A contest of palm force did not follow.

Because the Pervert Demon was holding the Mukga Dagger in his right hand.

The two poured out qi while connected through the moon wheel.

Ilmajo tried to twist the moon wheel free, but it did not budge.

“……!”

Then the body of the moon wheel froze pure white, and white occupying forces spread out over the blades to either side of the Pervert Demon’s fingers.

Even so, Ilmajo’s expression did not change much.

At that moment, Ilmajo’s upper garment was torn to shreds, and flames coiled around the blade of the moon wheel.

At the same time, Ilmajo threw the flame-wreathed moon wheel at the Pervert Demon as he kicked off the ground and retreated. It was an attack that even the Pervert Demon, who had mastered ice arts, seemed to find difficult to catch. As the moon wheel moved in an arc, Ilmajo caught it again and said,

“……A man truly inherited the true teachings of Okhwa Palace. Five Wheels.”

Was this cheating or not?

Four moon wheels flew in from outside, and Ilmajo handled them all. He knocked one away with palm force, and while knocking away the next, some of them curved and shot forward. It was so marvelous, like watching a strongman performance rather than a demonic art, that I applauded.

Clap, clap, clap…….

Honestly, I did not think the Pervert Demon would lose to that kind of strongman performance. The only problem was that if he actually did lose, I would be the only piece of trash there.

Five moon wheels flew through the air…….

Strangely, perhaps because he had knocked them away with palm force, flames were now extending from all five of them.

“Wow…….”

There was no demonic art in the world as flashy as this. Even with five flame-wreathed blades roaming the air, Ilmajo looked composed. In other words, only the Pervert Demon was busy on his own.

‘How is he supposed to block that?’

Rather than that, I thought he would exhaust himself blocking it. He could block them, but there was no opening to speak of. Whenever the Pervert Demon tried to charge in, a moon wheel passed through his path, or blocked his steps from the front.

In other words, the Pervert Demon was trapped inside a prison of flames.

Like an old man giving unwanted advice during a game of baduk, I asked Eldest Brother,

“Hey, hey, hey, isn’t he going to die like that? He’s way too shoddy.”

In any case, the Pervert Demon was on our side, so I had no choice but to root for him. Amid that precarious situation, the Pervert Demon began to unleash the White Flower Palm Technique within the Fire Prison.

I rubbed my eyes, then stared properly.

“Mm.”

Was it really right to use a martial art he had made just earlier in a situation like this?

But as I watched, there seemed to be no way to respond except with the White Flower Palm Technique. He was moving as if sliding, knocking away the moon wheels with palm force wrapped in cold qi.

The two were matched against each other in a way rarely seen.

Then, suddenly, I looked up into the air. Strangely, the paths left by the flames in the air were more vivid than before. It felt as though countless red threads were hanging in midair.

It was a slightly ominous atmosphere…….

The Pervert Demon’s gaze was also directed into the empty air.

Ilmajo, who had been busily knocking the moon wheels around the outskirts, brought his palms together in a peculiar motion. The five moon wheels stopped in midair and spun fiercely, scattering sparks. It truly was a demonic art rarely seen. I could not even begin to guess how he was doing it.

The Pervert Demon seemed about to head toward Ilmajo, but then flinched…….

He looked at the moon wheels floating in the air.

“…….”

Then the flames of the moon wheels spun fiercely, and with the flames suddenly swelling to about twice their size, five circular fires rushed toward the Pervert Demon.

The Pervert Demon’s face was expressionless…….

I saw the Mukga Dagger in his hand turn entirely pure white. After that, I could not clearly see the individual movements. Only, the Mukga Dagger blocked one moon wheel, and that moon wheel froze solid as it collided with another.

Two froze at the same time.

With his left hand, he was holding another moon wheel, and that too, the instant it knocked away another moon wheel, stuck to it and froze.

Those two also froze at the same time.

The remaining one was pinned beneath the Pervert Demon’s foot, and it too had turned pure white.

A peculiar air and dignity, impossible to tell whether it was truly impressive or utterly idiotic, settled over the Pervert Demon’s expression.

The Pervert Demon looked at Ilmajo.

“……Is that all?”

This time, I learned that when a person witnesses or hears something too obnoxiously unlucky, goosebumps can actually rise.

“Wow…….”

Goosebumps had risen on my forearm, so I calmed them down. Then I tried cheering for Ilmajo, who had been completely overwhelmed in momentum.

“Excuse me. Please say some kind of bullshit.”

At that moment, we looked toward the entrance of the manor. Even those who had been fighting glanced for a moment at the newly appeared man.

A man with a white band tied around his head walked in carrying a large bundle on his back, then bowed his head slightly toward us.

“……I heard you called for a physician, so I came on a house call. I am Moyong Baek of the Moyong Medical Family. Are there any injured?”

“…….”

“If not, that is fortunate.”

Moyong Baek let out a “Hoo……” from his mouth, then came nearby and sat down on the ground. While the Pervert Demon and Ilmajo were still facing off, Moyong Baek muttered,

“……I will treat people regardless of affiliation. I ask for your cooperation. I am a physician. You need not worry. Seniors of the jianghu, please regard me as neutral.”

Without even greeting us, Moyong Baek looked at the two people in confrontation.

I looked at Moyong Baek, then swallowed all sorts of things I wanted to say. I had known the Poison Demon’s stubbornness since my previous life, so I knew full well that words would not get through to him.

Come to think of it, the first qualification for entering Plum Blossom Manor was stubbornness.

Seeing Moyong Baek made that thought occur to me.

This was also a qualification unrelated to skill.