Chapter 186: A Dark and Quiet Night
The Clan Head of the Baek Li Clan, Baek Li-cheon.
Like all the Clan Heads before him, he had carried one dream in his heart for decades.
To become one of the Five Great Clans.
It was the dream of every clan that received evaluations comparable to the Five Great Clans, including the Seomun Clan, the Sima Clan, and the Gongson Clan.
‘It may truly be within reach soon.’
Baek Li-cheon thought so as he looked at the children.
The children he had gathered from all across the nation through various means were fed and sheltered as well as possible.
As proof of this, their cheeks were plump, and their eyes shone brightly with vigor.
It was a stark contrast to when they had first arrived here, emaciated and frail, having grown up in harsh and impoverished environments.
Of course, Baek Li-cheon had not undertaken this out of love or pity for the children.
There were people who needed such children.
They were the strongest in all the Central Plains.
Strength could be measured differently by different people, but at least in Baek Li-cheon’s eyes, by any standard, they were the strongest.
‘It has been exactly ten years now.’
That was how long Baek Li-cheon, and the Baek Li Clan, had been assisting them.
In return, they had received an abundance.
It was thanks to this that the Baek Li Clan possessed far more masters than any other clan of similar size.
Baek Li-cheon looked at the children eating with a satisfied expression, then moved on.
Arriving at the meeting room within the manor, Baek Li-cheon addressed his retainers.
“Jaegyeong Pavilion Master, make sure every effort is made for their visit after Seven Days and Nights.”
“Yes, Clan Head.”
The middle-aged man called Pavilion Master Jaegyeong bowed deeply. Then, Baek Li-cheon’s gaze turned to his eldest son, Baek Li-joong. His complexion was extremely poor, as though he had ingested a truly vicious poison.
“Why on earth did you accept such a thing?”
It was a rebuke, yet his voice was not stern.
For he understood Baek Li-joong’s intention.
“If I hadn’t, Dragon Seizer would have gone straight to the Murim Alliance to report everything.”
Baek Li-joong had chosen sacrifice.
The dream of the previous Clan Heads, to elevate the Baek Li Clan into the Five Great Clans, was also the dream of the eldest son, Baek Li-joong.
“Everyone here has witnessed your resolve. Whatever you may do from here on, every retainer of the Baek Li Clan will trust and support you.”
Everyone nodded.
They, too, were deeply moved by Baek Li-joong’s determination.
Baek Li-joong bowed repeatedly, paying respect to the elders of the clan.
Baek Li-cheon spoke again.
“What of the antidote?”
At the Clan Head’s question, the Medical Hall Leader, Baek Li-heon, swallowed hard. No matter how he examined the eldest son’s body, he could not identify any trace of poison.
“…Could it be that it was not poison at all?”
At those words, Baek Li-cheon’s expression twisted violently.
“As the Medical Hall Leader, is that something you ought to say? What if it is a poison you failed to detect and disaster strikes? How will you take responsibility then?”
“M-my apologies, Clan Head.”
Baek Li-heon bowed hastily, cursing inwardly. No matter how hard he tried, he could not find the slightest trace of poison—what else was he supposed to do?
Baek Li-heon then looked at Baek Li-joong, as if to ask whether he was truly certain he had ingested poison.
Baek Li-joong nodded without hesitation.
“I am certain. When I fought with Poison Phoenix from the Murim Alliance, I once swallowed poison in my sleep, and the feeling was exactly the same.”
Baek Li-heon let out a deep sigh. In any case, if a martial artist who had reached such a realm was that certain, then it was only right to assume it was poison.
Meanwhile, Baek Li-cheon exhaled roughly, his insides boiling whenever he recalled that day.
‘No matter the quarrel, how could one…’
To force poison into a sleeping person’s mouth?
At the time, Tang So-yeon, Poison Phoenix of the Tang Clan, had offered only a perfunctory apology, while her father, the Poison King, merely chuckled, saying that children grow through fighting.
It was something possible only because the Sichuan Tang Clan was one of the Five Great Clans. Since the Tang Clan had already issued even a token apology, there was nothing the Baek Li Clan could do.
They had to grow stronger. Even within the Orthodox Faction, which prided itself on justice and righteousness, inequality born of differences in strength existed vividly.
Baek Li-cheon looked firmly at the Medical Hall Leader, Baek Li-heon.
“By tomorrow night, you must find an antidote.”
“…Yes, I will do so.”
Baek Li-heon replied in a sighing voice.
In the end, there was only one way.
After bowing deeply and leaving the meeting room, Baek Li-heon went straight to the prison.
Hwamyeong and Seo Yu-gyeom were sprawled flat on the ground. Hwamyeong especially looked half out of his mind.
“He is truly no different from a monster. I have met those called the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes, even so-called peerless geniuses, but compared to Guest Dragon, they all feel like nothing more than children’s play.”
Guest Dragon’s ominous energy had surged into their bodies, then delicately coursed along their intricately tangled meridians like threads, burning away the poison.
Even while experiencing it firsthand, Hwamyeong found it hard to believe such control of inner arts was possible.
Thus, the Qi-Dispersing Poison had been completely eradicated. Though a lingering trace remained, preventing full control of their inner arts for now, it was only a matter of time.
“Now it is my turn.”
Seomun Ak sat cross-legged with a tense expression.
Jin Seong-un, placing his hand on his back, said something unnecessary.
“I am growing a little weary.”
“……”
Hwamyeong’s prediction had been correct.
To infuse energy into another’s body—if the goal had been simply to recklessly ravage the body and kill, that would have been simple. But to guide it delicately through complex meridians, burning away the poison, drained the spirit immensely.
“Shall we take a short break before continuing?”
Seomun Ak suggested politely.
“No need, I am fine.”
Jin Seong-un declined, even more politely.
Seomun Ak then closed his eyes, his face like a man about to drink poison.
“Proceed.”
Blood Demon Qi entered Seomun Ak’s body.
Jin Seong-un closed his eyes and focused. The entirety of Seomun Ak’s meridians unfolded within his mind like the map of a vast land. It was possible only because he had honed his sense of qi to the extreme.
The Blood Demon Qi slowly traveled through the meridians. When a fork appeared, he split the energy without hesitation, sending it along two paths at once.
Seomun Ak was appalled. Even controlling a single current of qi seemed almost impossible, yet that qi split into two, then three, and soon into five streams.
‘If this had been an internal art intended to kill the opponent…’
The five streams of ominous energy would have torn apart his meridians in an instant and eventually caused his body to explode.
It was the sort of atrocious martial art one would expect only from infamous great demonic masters of history.
At that realization, Seomun Ak suddenly remembered why the Seong-un Inn had earned its reputation as a mad inn.
And Seomun Ak’s insight was sharp indeed.
Blood Explosion Shatter.
A simple name, meaning to burst blood apart and shatter it.
The principle of the martial art was just as simple. Flooding the opponent’s body with Blood Demon Qi and detonating it.
The deeper and more numerous the meridians invaded by the Blood Demon Qi, the greater the effect grew.
— It was with Blood Explosion Shatter that the Heavenly Demon was killed. A hundred streams of Blood Demon Qi filled his body completely and then erupted.
Jin Seong-un could still clearly hear the Blood Demon’s calm yet horrifying voice recounting the tale.
How much time had passed?
By the time Seomun Ak’s hair was drenched with sweat, Jin Seong-un slowly lifted his hand from his back.
“Seomun Hero’s meridians were far more tightly blocked than the other two, so it took longer to force them open. Test it now.”
Seomun Ak steadied his weary mind and cautiously circulated his inner arts.
And a surprising thing happened.
His inner qi flowed smoothly.
Even more so than before he had been struck by the Qi-Dispersing Poison.
“What is this?”
Seomun Ak turned his neck and shoulders with a bewildered face. His joints moved with incredible smoothness, as though oiled.
It even felt as if his meridians had widened. Normally, when a river grows wider, the current slows—but here, the current grew faster instead.
He could now wield greater qi, with even more force.
“Hm, isn’t that an enlightenment?”
“At that age, did he just undergo Meridians Cleansing?”
Meridians Cleansing was a method used when children of clans or sects first began training in martial arts—elders would inject qi into their bodies to forcibly open a few blocked acupoints.
But for men like Seomun Ak or Seo Yu-gyeom, who had long since passed their youth, it was impossible.
First, because their meridians had grown more intricate after practicing inner cultivation for over a decade. Second, because daily training prevented any significant stagnation from accumulating in the first place.
As Seomun Ak blinked, Seo Yu-gyeom spoke.
“Seems you lived so wildly that you built up quite a lot of impurities over the years, eh? Truly remarkable, in many ways.”
“……”
Seomun Ak closed his mouth.
He had no time to be bothered by Seo Yu-gyeom’s veiled jab. Something was prickling at the edge of his mind, like a realization just out of reach.
He had to surpass it. Whatever lay beyond that wall, he had to cross it to close the gap with Seo Yu-gyeom.
At the moment that powerful desire welled up—
“Ah…”
It vanished.
Desire, after all, only pushed enlightenment further away.
Seo Yu-gyeom looked curiously at him. For some reason, Seomun Ak glared back with eyes blazing.
“You damned… this is your fault.”
“What did I do?”
“The moment I thought of your face, my enlightenment vanished!”
“Then you shouldn’t have thought of me.”
“……”
Seomun Ak clamped his mouth shut.
There was no rebuttal to that.
Seo Yu-gyeom spoke again.
“You’ve gained a small advantage over before.”
Jin Seong-un and Seomun Ak looked at him with puzzled eyes.
Wouldn’t it have been far more advantageous back when their inner arts were still flowing freely and they hadn’t been thrown into prison?
But Hwamyeong, who had experienced numerous missions as a Division Leader of the Murim Alliance, immediately understood Seo Yu-gyeom’s words.
“There’s a gap in information.”
“Yes, exactly. They must think we still can’t use inner qi. Even if there are thirty or forty martial artists, the truly dangerous ones won’t number more than ten.”
“If we strike first and reduce that number, even by one, our chances of victory will change.”
Seo Yu-gyeom and Hwamyeong exchanged surprised glances, then nodded together.
Deathshroud and the Murim Alliance. Their goals and methods were entirely different, yet there was a mutual understanding that only those who had shared the experience of ‘missions’ could comprehend.
It was then.
Step, step—the sound of footsteps drew closer.
The four men quickly sat down on the floor as though nothing had happened.
Before long, a middle-aged man stopped in front of the barred gate, scrutinizing them carefully before speaking.
“So, you’re the one who poisoned the Eldest Young Master?”
Seo Yu-gyeom glanced at him, then deliberately ignored him. He already knew the face. In truth, Seo Yu-gyeom knew all the leaders of the Baek Li Clan, starting with Clan Head Baek Li-cheon. That was the work of Deathshroud.
‘Medical Hall Leader Baek Li-heon. I heard he reached Peak Master Level around five years ago.’
Seeing the young man dismiss him so brazenly, Baek Li-heon’s face subtly twisted with restrained anger.
“I am the Medical Hall Leader of the Baek Li Clan. Do you know that medicine and poison are but a hair’s breadth apart? If one is knowledgeable in medicine, one naturally knows poison well. How would you like to become a test subject for every poison under the heavens, until the day you die?”
It was a blatant threat.
Martial artists generally feared poison.
For it was something that could not always be overcome by martial prowess alone.
“If you’re so skilled, why don’t you cure the poison your precious Baek Li-joong swallowed? Isn’t that why you’re here?”
“……”
Baek Li-heon fell silent.
Seo Yu-gyeom chuckled.
After watching him for a while, Baek Li-heon realized.
‘This one won’t be swayed by words.’
There were those who excelled at using their tongues, and arguing with such men was sheer foolishness.
Baek Li-heon chose to handle it wisely, befitting his role as Medical Hall Leader.
He opened the prison gate and stepped inside, his hand resting firmly on the sword at his waist.
“How fortunate we are that you surrendered so willingly. Especially you, Guest Dragon. If you had fought in earnest, we would have lost many men as well. Of course, you and your companions would already be dead, though.”
“We had no choice, once our comrades’ lives were held hostage.”
“You must be a good man, then.”
At those words, Jin Seong-un nodded and replied.
“Perhaps. If only the world were filled with good men, how wonderful it would be. But when even within the Orthodox Faction such vile acts occur, what is left for us to trust?”
“You speak too freely. Even you should know that with your inner arts sealed, you are no match for me—not even for a single instant.”
At that moment, Jin Seong-un heard Seo Yu-gyeom’s voice through voice transmission.
Following his instructions, Jin Seong-un subtly averted his gaze from Baek Li-heon.
This left Baek Li-heon satisfied.
Then he turned to Seo Yu-gyeom.
“Hand over the antidote. For each refusal, I will cut off your wrist, your elbow, and your shoulder in turn. I deal in medicine and poison, so don’t expect any compassion from the Orthodox Faction.”
Seo Yu-gyeom shrugged deliberately.
As if to say, such threats carried no weight for him.
Baek Li-heon let out a hollow laugh of disbelief before stepping closer.
He grabbed Seo Yu-gyeom’s forearm.
At that moment, Hwamyeong shot up to his feet.
“How can one martial artist of the Orthodox Faction treat another this way! It’s not too late, you can still reveal the Baek Li Clan’s crime to the world and—”
“Silence! How dare a greenhorn try to lecture me! As one lives, there come matters more important than the Orthodox Faction or chivalry. Growing old is to learn that truth!”
“And what truth is that? What could possibly be so important that you’d commit such vile and wretched acts?”
Hwamyeong’s words were like blades, cutting into Baek Li-heon.
His face flushed red, then pale.
Though he tried to remain calm, being chastised so openly by much younger juniors filled him with both rage and humiliation.
Baek Li-heon gripped Seo Yu-gyeom’s arm harder, his other hand reaching for the sword at his waist.
He meant to sever the young man’s arm in fury.
“……”
But his hand grasped nothing.
Looking down, Baek Li-heon realized his scabbard was empty.
What? Had he come carrying only the scabbard?
He had no choice but to think so.
Who could have imagined that in this small prison, there was a disciple of the Divine Thief Without Shadows, the greatest thief under heaven?
“Looking for this?”
Only when Jin Seong-un spoke, and Baek Li-heon turned to see his own sword in the young man’s hand, did he understand.
‘He broke the seal!’
Panicked, Baek Li-heon tried to retreat.
But his wrist was caught, held immovably.
Seo Yu-gyeom had reversed the grip, seizing his wrist. A chilling cold seeped into his flesh, freezing his body stiff.
Though Baek Li-heon was a master at Peak Master Level, strong enough not to be completely overwhelmed, the situation changed when blades pressed against him from all sides.
By then, Hwamyeong and Seomun Ak had stepped in close, pinning him down with force.
Baek Li-heon realized.
‘I’m going to die.’
At that instant, Jin Seong-un’s blade drove into his chest without hesitation.
“Wh-what…”
Seo Yu-gyeom clamped a hand over his mouth.
Noise was the last thing they needed in the dead of night.
Baek Li-heon tried to say something, but Seo Yu-gyeom pressed down harder.
Blood surged over his palm in hot spurts.
Moments later, Baek Li-heon’s eyes fluttered shut as the strength drained from his body.
Even so, Seo Yu-gyeom did not release him.
“There are always bastards like this when doing a job.”
By “job,” Seo Yu-gyeom surely meant the work of Deathshroud.
He forced Baek Li-heon’s eyelids open with his fingers. The man’s terrified eyes rolled in panic.
“They always pretend to be dead.”
With those words, Seo Yu-gyeom locked his arms around Baek Li-heon’s neck and squeezed.
Crack—!
At last, Baek Li-heon crumpled to the floor.
Seo Yu-gyeom shook the blood from his hands into the air.
Perhaps it was the poison he had ingested earlier, or perhaps the brush with death, but a fierce killing intent briefly flickered in his eyes.
“Seo Hero.”
“I’m fine. For now.”
“If there’s a problem, you must say so at once.”
Seo Yu-gyeom nodded. Since advancing in realm, controlling his killing intent had become easier than ever.
Hwamyeong, who had been listening from the side, tilted his head.
“So… something like a Murder Fiend? Someone who can’t control his killing intent? You won’t stab your comrades, will you? From the looks of it, you’re far stronger than I am.”
With that, he subtly stepped back.
Seo Yu-gyeom smirked.
“I wouldn’t usually stab my comrades, but you’re questionable. Hard to say.”
“How cruel. Haven’t we risked life and death together? That makes us comrades, doesn’t it? Don’t you all agree?”
Hwamyeong sought agreement from Seomun Ak and Jin Seong-un, but received no satisfying response.
So he quickly put on a charming smile.
Usually, when he smiled like this, whether man or woman, they would nod along.
But the three of them ignored him in unison, striding away.
Feeling awkward, Hwamyeong scratched his head and hurried to catch up.
“Wait, let’s go together.”
Thus, the four left the prison behind, Baek Li-heon’s corpse on the ground.
The night was especially dark and silent.