Darkness.Three people gathered in a space so tightly sealed that not even a speck of moonlight could seep in. A thick smell of blood, sticking cloyingly to the nostrils, filled the space.
One was the master, and two were slaves. This could easily be discerned from their postures.
While the young noble sat with his chin resting on his hand, the other two were prostrated on the ground three steps below, bowing their heads deeply.
“…You’re saying you’ve only just found him now?”
“Yesss, we deeply apologize. That clever little thing, to think he’d hide so close by in Jebu Province…”
“Kekeke, isn’t it good enough that we’ve found him now? If we know the location, killing him is as easy as flipping your palm.”
The two prostrated elderly raised their heads. Their appearance was extremely grotesque, with wrinkled and emaciated features that made them look like something other than human.
It was as if corpses were moving about.
Anyone with some knowledge of Jianghu would have been greatly shocked. These two elderly were once infamous Demonic Adepts of the Blood Cult, known as the Blood Spider Crone and the Sleep-Killing Stepfather.
Though infamous, they were still old Masters highly allocated in rank. Why were they bowing so deeply to a young noble?The reason lay in a mysterious book.
Thud.
The young noble’s hand landed on an ominous book with the four characters for “Demonic Descent Divine Art” written on it. This was a compilation of the Blood Cult’s esoteric doctrines and was itself a Dharma Treasure.
It was also the book that held the lifelines of these two old monsters who should have died long ago. Only with the exquisite Jiangshi Techniques unfolded from the book could the two elderly continue to live without dying.
With their lives held as collateral, they had no choice but to bow their heads even to a young blood.
This was also the secret to how the young noble, who had no foundation in the Demonic or Unorthodox Path, was able to build a solid underground force in just three years. By absorbing the forces of the Blood Spider Crone and the Sleep-Killing Stepfather wholesale, he faced no difficulties.
The young noble frowned and scolded them, full of irritation.
“I heard bad rumors circulating in Jebu Province. I clearly said it’s fine to eat people, but you must not be noticed!”
“As autumn approaches, we grow hungry… We deeply apologizeeee.”
“To scold us over eating, how truly sorrowful and bitter. Do you mean to take away even these old ones’ last pleasure?”
“I’m telling you to eat quietly. If I get caught, it’s over for you too. You know that, right? Without this book, you die!”
Blood vessels stood out in the young noble’s eyes.
Creep creep. A red Blood Qi like a heat haze seeped out of the evil book and was sucked into the young noble’s body. Seeing this, the two old monsters bowed their heads deeply.
They couldn’t let the young noble see their smiling expressions.
His temperament was gradually becoming more violent, and his once sharp intelligence was slowly becoming clouded. Influenced by the Blood Qi that had invaded to his very marrow, he was slowly becoming corrupted.
As such, the one who at first told them to survive by only drawing blood from pigs or chickens…
Hadn’t he now given permission to eat as many people as they liked?
“…Go, and this time, kill him without leaving any future troubles. Get out of my sight right now! I don’t even want to see your ugly faces!”
“Kekeke, since it is difficult for you to face a mirror, we shall step aside. We will do as you command.”
“Yesss, we shall return after completing the orderrrr.”
Whoosh.
The two elderly’s forms disappeared like candles being blown out.
The young noble rubbed his forehead, suffering from a throbbing headache, and tried to suppress his anger at the inexplicable rage welling up inside him. After barely managing to put on a smiling face, he left the secret inner chamber.
The completion of the Heavenly Demon Descent Divine Great Dharma was not far off. He just needed to obtain the blood of his clan. Then, after gaining the power of the Heavenly Demon…
“……”
When he became stronger, what was it he had wanted to do again…?
===============================================================
“We should crush the noses of those who looked down on the Namgung Clan!”
“…But is it not true that the Namgung Clan did something to deserve being disliked?”
“Yes, I admit it. But it’s not like we went around destroying everything like the Demonic Cult, we just closed our gates and the storm passed! Yet they keep calling us collaborators with the Demonic Cult and whatnot…”
Namgung Seungah ranted, shaking her fists in the inn room. This was her response when Cheonghwi asked, ‘What would you do after becoming stronger?’
“And what makes me even angrier is that they’re also belittling Namgung Zhao’s achievements. They’re saying his captures of the Blood Cult and Demonic Cult are exaggerated or staged.”
“That would be infuriating… But, why do you not call him ‘Orabeoni’?”
“Well, he doesn’t treat me like family either. But we’re still from the same household… So, what about you, Daoist Cheonghwi? Is there something you want to do when you become stronger?”
“Hmm.”
Having realized that strength wasn’t important in pursuing his own will, he thought about returning to his family to meet his brother, whether he became stronger or not.
That way, he wouldn’t have regrets in life.
So, if asked if there was a wish that absolutely required strength…
“Ah, there is. I really wish to touch lips.”
“…?!”
“She said she would do it if I won in a martial arts match…”
“Wh-What kind of shameless…!!”
Namgung Seungah quickly distanced herself from Cheonghwi. Seeing him attach a tail to a girl, this Semu Fake Daoist was undoubtedly pretending not to be interested in women while actually being lecherous.
However, it was balanced out by his preference for martial arts over women. If he had learned the art of seduction instead, it could have been a big problem.
Cheonghwi looked at Namgung Seungah who had retreated far away, then at Namgung Myeong sleeping soundly on the bed, before standing up and saying:
“I shall go buy some food.”
“If you bring back noodles with bamboo leaf liquor again, you’ll get hit with the Steel Tail Strike.”
“If you swing your tail, I shall counter with the Earth Dragon Emergence.”
“If you lower your stance with Earth Dragon Emergence, I’ll spin in the air and thrust downwards…”
A natural transition to discussing martial arts. Thinking they might not be able to leave for another 30 minutes if this continued, Cheonghwi used his trump card.
“My Earth Dragon Emergence is as fast as lightning, so I would have subdued you before you could even spin in the air, and I would win.”
“Hey!!”
Cheonghwi closed the door and ran away.
Three days had passed since they defeated the Imoogi underground in the Heavenly Mirror Lake. Namgung Myeong, who had taken the Elixir, was still asleep and recovering, and they had brought him up to the inn room, thinking it better than leaving him in the cold cave.
They had pondered a lot on how to swim with an unconscious person.
There was a suggestion to kiss Namgung Myeong and give him artificial respiration while swimming up, but it would be weird no matter who did it, so they found another method.
They were able to salvage organs suitable for air sacs by butchering the Imoogi’s corpse in various ways.
In the process, they forgot about the Neidan.
They had also considered the option of loading Namgung Myeong onto a cart and returning to the Namgung Clan, but didn’t choose it, thinking it would be truly dangerous if they were attacked on the way.
So, they had to stay in Jebu Province until he woke up.
For protection, they only rented one room. The innkeeper looked at them strangely when told that three people would share one room, but it wasn’t the time to worry about others’ gazes.
“Using one room for three days straight, you must be quite virile. Is your wife’s waist alright?”
“…Mind your own business!”
They heard such things from the cheeky innkeeper, but it wasn’t the time to worry about that!
It would be a big problem if they dispersed their forces unnecessarily and an assassin came in.
Cheonghwi put the money pouch in his bosom and glanced around the street. He planned to enter a suitable inn and get takeout.
Originally, he was going to order noodles with bamboo leaf liquor, but since Namgung Seungah, tired of three consecutive noodle meals, had given a stern warning, he had to choose different food today.
“…Dumplings?”
Dumplings, is it.
As he poked his head into a inn with a delicious smell, he saw steam billowing from a steamer. His mouth watered. This should satisfy Namgung Seungah.
When Cheonghwi raised his hand to call the server, the server cringed, worried that this Semu might speak in a barbarian language, but what came out of his mouth was fluent Central Plains speech.
“Please give me ten dumplings. I shall take them with me, so I do not need any other side dishes.”
“We’re short on dishes…”
“Do not worry, I brought a cloth to wrap the dumplings in.”
“Um, it’ll take a little time. There’s someone who ordered before you…”
The server glanced aside.
A man wearing a deep conical hat was sitting cross-legged, sipping green tea and waiting. But his lower face looked very familiar, and Cheonghwi raised an eyebrow.
It was a goatee he seemed to have seen somewhere.
“……”
“……”
Step. Step.
As Cheonghwi approached, the middle-aged man in the conical hat flinched. Looking closely, a drop of sweat could be seen rolling down his temple.
“Excuse me, you. Are we perhaps acquainted?”
“Wh-What, what are you talking about, no, I mean. I, I’m seeing you for the first time…”
“Please try lifting your hat once.”
“I, I have a scar on my face… Ah, shit!”
Whoosh-!
The middle-aged man grabbed a sand pouch from his bosom, sprinkled it on Cheonghwi’s face, then pushed over the chair and ran away hurriedly.
Cheonghwi, who had been sufficiently on guard, lowered his posture as soon as the man tried to sprinkle something, and the sand pouch flew in a parabola, directly hitting the dumpling steamer.
“Aaaaargh!!”
As the dumplings turned into desert dumplings and the chef who was steaming them screamed, Cheonghwi chased after the middle-aged man on all fours.
There was no better running technique for instant acceleration.
That bastard, he must be the fake Daoist who was invited to the Namgung Clan!
Crash!
After the runner and the pursuer disappeared from the inn like a gust of wind, the server stood still, dumbfounded, looking at the chaotic interior.
Soon the inn owner would come, and he’d have to explain how this disaster happened.
If he said, ‘A middle-aged man in a conical hat sprinkled sand and ruined the dumplings, then a well-dressed Semu ran after him on all fours like a dog, breaking several chairs’… would they believe him?
They had to believe him…!
===============================================================
After about a 3-minute chase, Cheonghwi tackled the fake Daoist and took a mount position. The fake Daoist immediately squeezed his eyes shut and declared surrender.
“S-Surrender! I surrender! E-Everything I did was only because I was told to do! I’m innocent!”
“I have not even hit you yet… Can you please take about three hits and then spill it?”
“Uwaaah! Uwaaaah!”
“Why are you exaggerating before I have even hit you…”
The grudge of being called a fraud to his face and picking pointless fights in the banquet hall. He was going to pay back that grudge now, but seeing him tremble like a chick made Cheonghwi pity him.
Cheonghwi relaxed his fist and asked.
“Who are you?”
“…W-Well, I am. I’m Kim Seopyeong, who travels the world performing plays.”
“…Plays?”
“Yes. Yes. I’m not a Daoist, I’m just a poor ordinary person who makes a living by acting… I’m not a martial artist, so please have mercy!”
An actor, not a Daoist. Didn’t Namgung Zhao say he had invited him?
Cheonghwi calmly extracted information.
“How did you end up at the Namgung Clan?”
“What would a fake Daoist do at a banquet? I was called to say nice things like, ‘The secrets of the heavens are such and such, so everything will go well and fortune will come’!”
“Why did you slander me?”
“That, well… It was my employer’s order. Saying there’s no need for two Daoists, he told me to pick a fight somehow, or I wouldn’t get a penny if I couldn’t drive you out. So, I hurriedly did as I was told!”
“It was clumsy. You must not have had much time.”
Then, who hired you?
Cheonghwi pondered for a long time whether to ask this question or not. And in the end, he decided to keep his mouth shut. He decided to leave it as a suspicion.
However, he checked one more thing.
“…Did they tell you to read the secrets of the heavens, saying Namgung Myeong should not become the Clan Lord?”
“……”
“Never mind. There is no need to say more… Let us settle this grudge here.”
Framing someone as a minion of the Demonic Cult. It was a serious slander that could have resulted in severe torture or death if things hadn’t gone well.
However, since he wasn’t keen on taking a life either, Cheonghwi decided to take the man’s hair instead.
“Selvier said there are strangely many bald people in the Red Magic Tower. She said it is all because of heat. Saying that the heat of a scalp could be one of the causes of hair loss.”
“Wh-What…”
“And the magic contained in this scroll is 『Hair Loss Promotion』. She said it works on the principle of warming the scalp, and to use this if there is someone I wish to mess with.”
“N-No! Nooooo!!”
Rip-!
As the scroll tore, the power of the mysterious magic settled on the fake Daoist’s scalp. Cheonghwi got up with a refreshed face and left the place.
“It’s sorcery, terrible sorcery…!!”
Only the scream of the fake Daoist who barely kept his life remained in the back alley.
===============================================================
“What about the meal?”
“Ah.”
“…Steel Tail Strike!”
“Aargh!”
Cheonghwi was hit by the tail.