Chapter 269

It felt like sitting on a bed of thorns—or rather, walking down a path covered in them.

As I walked beside Mae Jonghak, the countless gazes coming my way made my face prickle.

They were filled with awe and curiosity.

Everyone knew now. The young martial artist who had been dismissed as a lucky country bumpkin just days ago was actually the great martial artist known as the Sword Saint.

“Is that really him? Great Hero Mae Jonghak, the Sword Saint.”

“Good heavens, he looks so young. I thought Returned to Youth was nothing more than an absurd fairy tale.”

“As expected of Great Hero Mae Jonghak. He’s turned the Murim upside down.”

Their hushed conversations slipped straight into my ears.

“But who’s that next to him?”

“That’s the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi, Jin Taekyung. I heard from someone yesterday that he grabbed Great Hero Mae Jonghak by the neck and talked to him like he was some punk, and—well, you know?”

“Good heavens. At that point, shouldn’t he be called the Mad Dragon instead of the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi?”

“…”

Fuck. It wasn’t like I’d done it knowingly. I hadn’t known who he was.

When I glared at the whispering crowd, Mae Jonghak burst out laughing.

“It’s all right. Friends can act that way with each other.”

He was killing me twice over.

We moved to a quiet rear garden away from the crowd.

It was still early spring, but the weather was warm and the flowers were in full bloom. Mae Jonghak gazed at blossoms whose names I didn’t know as we walked, then spoke.

“First, I should thank you.”

“For what…?”

“I heard you were a great help to Cheongpung.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it help.”

“I don’t know the details, but if he went so far as to call you his Benefactor, you must have done a great deal for him.”

“…”

He didn’t know the details. He really, really didn’t.

I almost wanted to see the look on Mae Jonghak’s face if he learned that a few candied hawthorn skewers¹ were all it had taken for Cheongpung to start calling me his Benefactor.

“To be honest, I’d been very worried about that boy. But after meeting you, I was able to put my mind at ease. I owe you a debt.”

“Oh. Right.”

I decided not to mention the candied hawthorn skewers¹. If the Sword Saint said he owed me a debt, there was no reason to sell myself short.

“How is Cheongpung?”

“He’s recovered enough to move around. The moment he opened his eyes, he threw a fit and insisted on coming to see you.”

“Oh, dear. What happened?”

“Hmm? He quieted down when I gave him some dumplings.”

Twenty years of child-rearing experience hadn’t gone to waste. He knew exactly how to handle Cheongpung.

“And Great Hero Jeok?”

“He still hasn’t regained consciousness. I actually wanted to ask you about that…”

“Ask me anything.”

I struggled to force the words out.

“Is there a chance he might never wake up…?”

“Hmm.”

Mae Jonghak stroked his smooth chin.

“What did the physician I sent say?”

“Ah, that man?”

Remembering the mouse-faced old physician who had briefly visited yesterday instantly soured my mood.

“He seemed like a complete quack.”

“A quack? The Luoyang Strange Physician?”

“The Luoyang Strange Physician or whatever. He took one quick look, said there was nothing he could do right now, and walked straight out. How is that not quackery?”

What kind of old man had such a fierce temper? When I grabbed his arm in sheer disbelief, he screamed so loudly my ears nearly fell off.

Then he shouted that he would never examine Jeok Cheongang again, leaving me no choice but to let him go.

Mae Jonghak clicked his tongue after hearing the story.

“The Luoyang Strange Physician is renowned throughout the Central Plains. His temperament is every bit as eccentric as his epithet suggests, but his skill is beyond question.”

“Then…”

My heart sank at Mae Jonghak’s nod.

It must have shown plainly on my face, because he gave me a few reassuring pats on the back.

“Don’t worry too much. If Great Hero Jeok’s life had been in immediate danger, the Luoyang Strange Physician wouldn’t have simply left.”

His words were warm and comforting, but they didn’t completely dispel my unease.

Jeok Cheongang had seemed like he would shake it off and get back on his feet in no time.

For the past year, he had been my Master, passing everything he had on to me without reservation. At the same time, he was as good as my own grandfather.

No. He’ll be all right.

I forced down the anxiety rising inside me.

A martial artist counted among the ten greatest in the world and a renowned physician had already examined Jeok Cheongang. For now, all I could do was trust them.

Having settled on that, I changed the subject.

“Have you learned anything more about Dark Heaven?”

“Dark Heaven…”

Mae Jonghak gazed at the flower garden with an odd expression.

“I can’t make heads or tails of it.”

“Which parts?”

“All of it.”

“What?”

“Let me ask you something. Did anything about this incident strike you as strange?”

I thought for a while before answering.

So much had happened so urgently yesterday that I hadn’t noticed it at the time, but there were certainly several things that raised questions.

“There were a few things that seemed strange…”

“Such as?”

“For one thing, I don’t understand what those bastards were trying to accomplish.”

“Go on.”

“If Dark Heaven intended to deal a serious blow to the Murim, they should have prepared something much bigger.”

The leaders of the orthodox faction’s Murim had all gathered in one place.

If Dark Heaven’s goal was to destroy the orthodox faction and seize control of the world, they could at least have tried planting explosives.

Whether it succeeded or not, it was a golden opportunity to wipe out the enemy’s leadership in one stroke.

Yet the only ones sacrificed were Dharma King Hong Dao and Shaolin Temple. Those bastards chose specific targets from the beginning and acted accordingly.

“Coming out into the open like this means they must have made at least some preparations for a fight… Yet it feels like they openly revealed themselves only to pick up iron coins instead of silver nyang.”

Mae Jonghak, who had been listening in silence, suddenly spoke.

“That comparison is wrong. Shaolin Temple is a symbol of the orthodox faction. By destroying that symbol, Dark Heaven made sure the world knew they existed.”

“Was that really necessary?”

“Several theories have emerged. The first is that they want a direct confrontation.”

“Surely not.”

“Don’t underestimate demonic practitioners. They are people ruled solely by blood and power. The Demonic Cult during the Great Faction War was no different. They’re impossible to read.”

Mae Jonghak shook his head and continued.

“The second theory is that Dark Heaven is nothing more than a smokescreen.”

“A smokescreen?”

“Do you know who caused the bloodbath at Shaolin Temple?”

“The Yin-Yang Twin Freaks… Ah.”

“That’s right. They were great fiends who earned fearsome reputations beneath the Demonic Cult’s banner during the Great Faction War. Many years have passed, but there’s still a strong possibility that they remain followers of the Demonic Cult.”

So Dark Heaven might be a Demonic Cult franchise. No, a subordinate organization.

As Mae Jonghak said, it was entirely possible.

But there was still one thing bothering me.

“What about the Blood Lord? Is he part of the Demonic Cult too?”

“I don’t know.”

Mae Jonghak answered without the slightest hesitation, then scratched his chin.

“The Temporary Strength Pill you acquired, the Exploding Blood Demonic Art used by those who attacked Shaolin, and the Blood Lord himself. They all clearly carry the scent of the Demonic Cult, but… something is different. It has become darker and stranger.”

Mae Jonghak was a living witness to the Great Faction War. He must have fought countless enemies and experienced their martial arts firsthand.

He was one of the orthodox Murim’s foremost authorities on demonic martial arts. Anything he said might as well have been academic consensus.

“Especially that sorcery I witnessed at the end. Even I had never encountered anything like it.”

It wasn’t a movement technique or qinggong.² It was sorcery.

I had heard that the Demonic Cult possessed all sorts of bizarre sorceries, but I had never imagined anything like that was possible.

Even I, someone accustomed to magic, had been left gaping in astonishment.

Wasn’t that practically magic?

Martial artists had scoured the surrounding area in case he was still nearby, but the Blood Lord was nowhere to be found. He had truly vanished as though the earth had swallowed him.

“There has also been considerable debate over where so many enemies came from. If they can use that kind of sorcery on a large scale…”

“That’s horrifying just to think about.”

Calling it a surprise attack wouldn’t even begin to cover it. If the enemy could pop up east and west like Hong Gil-dong,³ it would be like a bolt from the blue every time.

The leadership must be in chaos too.

The atmosphere had already been disorderly when I briefly attended the meeting the day before. By now, it could only have gotten worse.

I was clicking my tongue at the thought when Mae Jonghak asked,

“Have you ever wondered about something?”

Mae Jonghak’s clear eyes fixed on me.

“Why were they so obsessed with the Green Jade Buddha Staff?”

“Who knows? Because it’s Shaolin Temple’s sacred treasure?”

“They could have simply broken it.”

“I think they were more interested in taking it. Honestly, I’m not even sure what they planned to do with it.”

As far as I knew, the Green Jade Buddha Staff was nothing more than a slightly unusual staff.

I thought it only seemed more impressive because it carried the authority of Shaolin’s Abbot and the history of a thousand-year-old Shaolin Temple.

It wasn’t the Elder Wand⁴ or anything. What were they going to do with a fluorescent green staff?

“Yes, that may be so. The others thought the same.”

Mae Jonghak fell into thought for a while, then abruptly spoke again.

“Did you know that Master Hong Dao left me a letter?”

“This is the first I’ve heard of it since I grew pubic hair.”

“Perhaps he sensed his own fate and made preparations. In the letter, he wrote that you were the Morning Star who would drive away the darkness.”

“…”

“You’re a genius unlike any I’ve ever seen. Look around you. Who else your age has reached such a realm?”

I thought for a moment before answering.

“Cheongpung.”

“Oh. I see.”

“…”

“Pung broke through the wall to the Peak realm when he was eighteen. I’d have thought you had done about the same by that age.”

“I was doing well in a different sense back then. My epithet was the Night King.”

“Oh, did it mean you were comparable to the Ten Kings?”

“No. I went in and out of pleasure houses too often.”

“Oh. I see.”

“…”

“…”

An icy silence descended.

Mae Jonghak scratched the back of his head, momentarily unable to find anything to say, then let out a hollow laugh.

“That’s my grandson.”

“…I think I’ll be going now.”

As I turned away, Mae Jonghak shouted after me.

“I’ll drop by again soon! And I’ll bring news that will surprise you!”

Ugh. Why did I feel so drained?

“Have you returned?”

When I returned to the room where Jeok Cheongang lay, Hyuk Mujin greeted me with a bow. Unlike before, he now stood rigidly at attention, and I smiled with satisfaction.

“That’s how you stand guard. You can draw your sword at any moment. Isn’t that nice?”

“Of course. I’ll guard this place like an iron fortress.”

“Yeah. You can go now.”

“Yes, sir!”

Hyuk Mujin was about to dart out of the room when I spoke.

“Put the lump of gold in your sleeve back down.”

“…”

“If it isn’t down by the time I count to three, you’re getting murdered today. One, two.”

Clatter.

Hyuk Mujin put down the gold mask I had crushed into a lump earlier and lowered his head dejectedly.

“Ah. You knew?”

“Do I look like an easy mark?”

“Captain, please. I even took on Yama’s Debt⁵ this time…”

A hundred thousand silver nyang hadn’t been enough, so he had even borrowed from a loan shark. What a lunatic.

I clicked my tongue and tucked the lump of gold into my robes.

“We’ll see. It depends on how you behave.”

“Gasp. Does that mean…?”

“I’m going to rest now, so don’t let anyone in. Not even my eldest brother.”

“E-Even the Lesser Family Head?”

“That’s right. Tell them I’m exhausted and asleep.”

I looked out the window. The sky was slowly turning red.

“Until tomorrow morning. Can you manage that?”

Hyuk Mujin nodded resolutely.

“I’ll give my life.”

“I already know you won’t, so just do what I told you.”

“Yes, sir!”

Some “yes, sir.”

Hyuk Mujin’s face lit up, and he moved aside with a broad grin.

I gazed at Jeok Cheongang’s face, which looked as though he were sleeping soundly, then lay down on the bed beside him.

How long had it been?

I had spent the past year running without a moment’s rest. Now, I desperately wanted to loosen the reins a little and return to my family’s embrace.

Logout.

Ding.

With the familiar notification sound, my vision went black.