Chapter 132: Truly Strange Fellows
A martial artist growled in a low voice at Jin Seong-un and Seo Yu-gyeom.
“You know well enough that nothing good comes from meddling in others’ fights in the Murim.”
Jin Seong-un and Seo Yu-gyeom stared straight at them.
The fugitive was a woman who looked to be around thirty. The martial artists chasing her exuded a savage air, like a pack of wolves.
Seo Yu-gyeom shrugged his shoulders.
“You lot should be the ones not meddling in other people’s business.”
With that said, Seo Yu-gyeom began cutting bamboo with his sickle. He had neither reason nor desire to involve himself in a fight happening beside him.
In his head, all he thought about was the Cheongtang Bamboo Stew. He only wanted to gather bamboo quickly and return to the inn.
As Seo Yu-gyeom began his work, Jin Seong-un also started swinging his sickle. The woman, who had been looking at them with hopeful eyes, now had disappointment on her face.
A fight broke out.
The woman used the complicated terrain of the bamboo forest to desperately dodge or counterattack.
The pursuers unleashed sword qi and saber qi relentlessly, intent on killing her.
‘…What on earth are those bastards?’
Frustrated at the woman’s persistent escape, the martial artists began to feel increasingly wary of Jin Seong-un and Seo Yu-gyeom.
Naturally so.
They were fighting a life-and-death battle, yet these strangers were calmly chatting and harvesting bamboo.
Since they could not gauge their martial skills, the tension only deepened.
They also had to keep in mind the possibility of these two suddenly joining the fight.
Thus, one of them intentionally infused his voice with internal energy and shouted:
“You dare defy the order of the Heavenly Demon Cult’s Seven Demon Heavens and think you’ll live?!”
He was referring to the Heavenly Demon Cult.
It was meant as a warning: with such a fearsome power backing them, no one should dare interfere.
But it wasn’t the wisest choice.
Slash—!
As Seo Yu-gyeom cut through bamboo, he spoke casually to Jin Seong-un.
“Hey, looks like one side’s from the Demonic Cult. Best not to get entangled. It’ll only be a hassle.”
“Then the one being chased must be from the Orthodox Sect. Shouldn’t we help?”
At that, both the woman and her pursuers froze and looked at Jin Seong-un.
Regardless, Seo Yu-gyeom clicked his tongue and went on.
“Listen, meddling only makes life troublesome. Besides, she didn’t even ask us for help. What kind of fool would make enemies of the Demonic Cult for the sake of a stranger?”
“…H-help me…”
The woman finally pleaded.
The pursuers glared at her sharply.
Jin Seong-un glanced at her, then said to Seo Yu-gyeom,
“She is asking for help.”
“Come on, maybe she did something to deserve being hunted down. Or she could be a runaway cultist herself.”
Seo Yu-gyeom stuck to his principle of not needlessly interfering in others’ affairs.
He even nodded at the martial artists across from him and added,
“Go on, finish your business. Stop staring and making things awkward.”
“…”
The cultists looked dumbfounded. Their eyes made it clear—they thought they were dealing with lunatics.
Acknowledged by the cultists as insane, Seo Yu-gyeom ignored them and went on cutting bamboo.
The battle resumed.
Hope for the woman seemed dim. Though she fled well, the number of cultists was overwhelming.
She also looked visibly exhausted, and her movement arts appeared stiff, as if she had been poisoned.
Even as he harvested bamboo, Jin Seong-un stole glances at her.
Then it happened.
“My alias is Lingbo Immortal Maiden! If you are truly of the Orthodox Faction, please help me!”
The woman shouted urgently as she swung her fan and slit a cultist’s throat.
Jin Seong-un turned to Seo Yu-gyeom.
“Do you know that alias?”
“I’ve heard of it. But she could be lying. A person near death would say anything.”
Jin Seong-un nodded.
It was a reasonable point.
Just then, her voice transmission reached him.
In the middle of this bamboo grove grows Coldbirth Grass. Please, just bring it to me.
She believed Jin Seong-un and Seo Yu-gyeom feared the Demonic Cult and thus would not intervene.
And indeed, since she herself had already turned the Cult into her enemy, she could not expect others to risk their lives for her.
But if she could ingest the Coldbirth Grass and detoxify herself, she had confidence in defeating these cultists.
Jin Seong-un gave her a sidelong glance.
Might you be the one who tended this bamboo grove?
She nodded with all her strength.
It was indeed she who had cultivated this place, caring for it over decades so the Coldbirth Grass could grow.
After being poisoned by the cultists, she had barely managed to crawl here, intent on retrieving it.
But evading the cultists while obtaining it had proven impossible.
Jin Seong-un pondered briefly, then nodded.
“Understood.”
If one were to take bamboo, it was only right to ask the permission of its caretaker.
Jin Seong-un began walking slowly.
The cultists’ eyes sharpened with vigilance, brimming with open hostility toward him.
But Jin Seong-un strolled leisurely through the bamboo and spoke.
“If I help, will I be free to take as much bamboo as I wish?”
“O-of course! Take the whole forest if you want—just save me this once!”
“I won’t need the whole forest.”
With that, Jin Seong-un plucked a blue Coldbirth Grass growing in the grove’s center.
The cultists slowly realized his intention.
“Stop him!”
One of them shouted, and their blades turned toward Jin Seong-un.
Yet he strode forward unperturbed.
To reach the woman, he had to pass through the cultists. When he finally reached them—
A sword, oozing violet demonic qi, slashed down at Jin Seong-un.
The cultist intended to take his head in one strike.
But before the blade had swung halfway—
“…”
A chilling sensation pressed against his neck.
He swallowed hard.
Somehow, Seo Yu-gyeom had appeared behind him, the sickle he had used to cut bamboo now resting at his throat.
‘Wh-when did he—?’
The cultist’s face was filled with shock.
That man had been cutting bamboo far away just moments ago. How had he gotten here?
Seo Yu-gyeom casually spoke to Jin Seong-un.
“Let’s just deliver that herb and get out. Killing Demonic Cultists needlessly will only bring us trouble later. These guys are seriously ruthless.”
A glimmer of hope flashed in the eyes of the cultists.
After all, the worst-case scenario was if these two unknown experts decided to join the fight.
But Jin Seong-un’s next words shattered their hope to pieces.
“I have already killed a martial artist of the Demonic Cult before.”
“When? Who?”
“By chance, I once killed an Elder of the Sword Demon Heaven.”
It had happened back at the Qinghai Iron Workshop.
Seo Yu-gyeom let out a small sigh.
“Then we’ll have to kill them all this time too.”
Jin Seong-un nodded.
And at that very moment, the two vanished.
Slash—!
The cultist who had been pinned by Seo Yu-gyeom had his head fly into the air. Blood dyed the snow around him red.
By then, Jin Seong-un was already in front of Lingbo Immortal Maiden.
“K-kill him!”
“Over there! Kill him!”
As fierce battle raged behind them where Seo Yu-gyeom fought, Jin Seong-un calmly handed her the Coldbirth Grass.
She blinked and asked again.
“Did you really kill an Elder of the Sword Demon Heaven?”
“By chance.”
She was aghast.
How could the act of killing an Elder of the Heavenly Demon Cult’s Seven Demon Heavens be brushed aside as “by chance”?
Even as she slowly consumed the Coldbirth Grass, she couldn’t take her eyes off Jin Seong-un.
‘He looks no older than twenty…’
Had he perhaps undergone Body Reformation to return to youth?
Most who first met Jin Seong-un had such doubts.
As the energy of the Coldbirth Grass spread through her body, the poison began to dissipate.
Just then, two cultists who had escaped Seo Yu-gyeom rushed at Jin Seong-un.
Startled, Lingbo Immortal Maiden pointed frantically.
“Behind you!”
But Jin Seong-un still looked only at her. The reason was simple.
‘She’s stronger than the cultists.’
He still didn’t know exactly who she was.
If neither side could be trusted fully, then it was only right to keep watch on the stronger one.
Of course, that didn’t mean he intended to take the cultists’ blades in his back.
Jin Seong-un stomped down with a True Step.
Boom—!
Snow piled around them shot skyward with a blast of qi.
Lingbo Immortal Maiden cursed reflexively.
“Crazy bastard…”
To stomp a True Step right in front of someone still poisoned!
She hurriedly circulated her internal energy, only to realize something astonishing—
Not a trace of the shockwave reached her.
Only the approaching cultists vomited blood and froze in place.
As the white flurry clouded her vision—
Jin Seong-un’s figure vanished.
When he reappeared, it was behind the two cultists.
Slash—!
Their waists were cut clean through.
Jin Seong-un flicked the blood from his sickle.
“Hmm…”
Then he realized. The bamboo tubes would be used for food. He could no longer cut bamboo with a blade soaked in blood.
Clicking his tongue in regret, he smacked his lips.
By then, Lingbo Immortal Maiden brushed the snow off her clothes and rose to her feet.
Her thin, flowing robes slid gracefully along the curves of her body, making her look almost like a celestial being, befitting her alias.
She cast a glare at the cultists, then suddenly snapped open her folded fan and swung it.
A small breeze rose from its edge, swelling into a raging snowstorm.
Whoooosh—!
Wind carrying blades swept through the bamboo grove.
Screams erupted from the cultists, and the white snowfield grew steadily redder.
Amazingly, not a single bamboo stalk was cut.
Jin Seong-un stared in wonder. He had never before seen martial arts wielded through a fan.
“Oh.”
He let out a quiet sound of admiration.
Seo Yu-gyeom soon landed beside him.
Watching Lingbo Immortal Maiden slaughter the remaining cultists one by one, he commented,
“She’s not lying. As far as I know, no one but Lingbo Immortal Maiden uses such martial arts.”
She moved through the bamboo grove as though dancing, her fan slicing through the air.
With every graceful sweep, the cries of cultists rang out.
Though the results were gruesome, her movements were as elegant as a fan dance.
Her flowing garments whipped in the wind, only heightening the illusion.
“Is she famous?”
“Quite famous. Poetry, song, dance, painting, the zither. There’s hardly anything she can’t do. Among the artists, she’s the most renowned, and on top of that, she’s a strong martial artist.”
After thinking for a moment, Seo Yu-gyeom added,
“About seven or eight top-class assassins.”
That was the number and caliber of assassins Deathshroud would dispatch to kill her without any risk.
“Of course, if they fully prepared and resolved to die together with her, two might be enough.”
His pride was evident in those words.
Jin Seong-un nodded in admiration.
Long ago, Seo Yu-gyeom had said that defeating Baek Cloud Sword Hyeon-un would require ten top-class assassins.
Compared to that, Lingbo Immortal Maiden was undoubtedly a formidable master in her own right.
By then, her fan dance had ended.
Only three remained standing in the vast bamboo forest.
She slowly turned to face Jin Seong-un and Seo Yu-gyeom. Having faced over a dozen cultists alone, her chest rose and fell faintly with each breath.
After a brief silence, she spoke.
“You saved me. If not for the poison, I wouldn’t have been chased by such vermin in the first place. In any case, how could I repay this favor…”
Yet in her eyes lingered a trace of wariness.
That was only human nature.
Once one’s life was spared, questions arose about the true purpose of these two men in the bamboo grove.
Were they after the Coldbirth Grass? Or—though unlikely—were they men coveting her?
After all, who would climb such snowy mountains simply to gather bamboo?
It was for that very reason the cultists had been so suspicious and cautious of them.
As such uneasy thoughts crossed her mind—
Jin Seong-un lifted his sickle.
She flinched reflexively.
Then his words followed.
“Would you cut some bamboo with that fan dance of yours? As you see, this sickle is stained with blood.”
Her wariness instantly turned into bewilderment.
Thinking back, these two had been consistent from beginning to end—only ever talking about bamboo.
‘They really just came for bamboo?’
She realized anew that there were truly strange people in the world.
Of course, their eccentricity had turned into a miraculous encounter for her, so she could only be grateful.
She lightly swung her fan.
Whooosh—!
A storm of blade-like wind cut through the bamboo.
As the one who had cultivated this grove herself, she did not cut recklessly but thinned the stalks with precision, ensuring the forest’s lifeblood remained intact.
Many stalks fell, yet the density of the grove seemed hardly diminished, thanks to her careful selection.
Jin Seong-un and Seo Yu-gyeom marveled at the sight. After all, the reason they had refrained from cutting bamboo with sword qi or saber qi was precisely to avoid damaging the forest.
“Ooooh!!”
The two, who had remained calm even while cultists were slaughtered, now burst into awe at the “slaughter” of bamboo.
Lingbo Immortal Maiden’s expression grew even stranger.
‘…Truly strange fellows.’