Chapter 207: We Aren’t Normal.
As the Ghost Spirit Demon family head and the man in black seethe their killing intent towards me, Sword Demon opens his mouth.
“Ghost Spirit family head.”
The gloomy looking guy looks at Sword Demon.
“Left guardian, please speak.”
Sword Demon speaks with an expressionless face that doesn’t change at all.
“If you came with other intentions, tell me now.”
“…”
Perhaps the family head too had some relationship with the guy and, while looking at Sword Demon, his eyes trembled.
While the Ghost Spirit family head carefully chooses how to respond, Sword Demon continues.
“If you came here to broaden your knowledge, then I won’t kill you. It is true that I severely injured the former head, but at that time we competed for the position, so we didn’t have any ill feelings during the fight. Unfortunately, I experienced all of the family’s martial arts then. So do you mean to say that you have surpassed the ability of the former head?”
As soon as Sword Demon says that everyone who was silent realizes the reality of the situation.
The Ghost Spirit family head, stands up quietly and speaks.
“As the left guardian said, I came here because I was curious to fight you.”
Sword Demon tells him,
“Thank goodness. I have no grudge against you or the family. But I don’t want you to come fight without a reason. If you challenge me or use your head with other intentions, I will make sure to find your family and make them souls tied to the demon sword. I am not looking down on your skills, but the time to challenge me isn’t right. Go back right now.”
This time silence falls.
The family head asks,
“Will you not allow me to watch?”
Sword Demon nods.
“I cannot imagine how many will come. One cannot look between friends and enemies and may end up killing them. It is good that one isn’t forced to do it.”
Ghost Spirit family head, who had a gloomy atmosphere around, clears his throat as if he feels suffocated by the atmosphere.
“Elder, then, let us meet next time.”
My eyes widened in shock.
‘What, is he scared?’
How could such a fiend get away with just these words? I could see that the fame of the name Sword Demon is of huge importance in the Demonic Sect.
Even if the Ghost Spirit Demon family head is a head, the pride the man holds cannot be normal and yet he decided that backing away would be best.
No one spoke while the man quietly walked into the carriage. It was always a bit funny when one of them decided to run, but this man walked away in an elegant manner.
Sword Demon looks at the man in black.
“Who are you? You aren’t on the level to challenge for the role yet.”
The man in black answers.
“I am known as the one who was responsible for tracking down troops when the left guardian left. Cheol Saeng.”
Cheol Saeng cannot be this person’s real name. Since it holds the meaning that he has to cut to live, it had to be a suitable title for an assassin.
Sword Demon answers,
“But.”
“The tracking team I led was annihilated by the elder.”
“So.”
“There are no personal emotions here. I just came because I can’t die then.”
As soon as I check the sword on his belt, I notice that the wooden sword I had was the same length as his. The only difference was that his sword was black instead of a wooden sword.
As soon as I check the sword of the assassin, I tell Cheol Saeng.
“Cheol Saeng, you.”
He looks at me like I am absurd, and I speak.
“This isn’t a place for the long away junior. A young man who cannot afford to joke here. Be polite to seniors of the Sect and then make fun of them.”
Cheol Saeng says,
“What nonsense is this?”
“A disciple of Heo Gyeom, a guy who is the same as the disciple’s disciple. Don’t speak recklessly. I am Lee Zaha, the last direct descendant of Heo Gyeom. In terms of ranking, I am a master in the Sect you are in.”
“What?”
Cheol Saeng looks at me with a surprised look and then at Sword Demon. Sword Demon is a man with no expression in the first place, so there was nothing that could make him change his expression.
I grab the wooden sword with my left hand and raise It and then ask Cheol Saeng.
“What Sword is this?”
The guy answers with eyes open wide.
“One kill?”
“Right.”
Cheol Saeng stands up and speaks to me in a polite tone.
“I will challenge you.”
I let the cursed words in my mouth come out.
“Ehhh, fuck…”
“….”
Inspired by the fact that Sword Demon appeared to the Ghost Spirit Demon family and sent the guy back, I tried to do the same, but now this guy wants to challenge me?
This is why these bastards are from the Demonic Sect.
Actually, it was a mistake because I used a technique that works for naïve people. While thinking of the right words to find my way to escape…
“Third one, take care of it.”
I glare at Sword Demon.
“What?”
I am a bit too flustered at the eldest hyung, so I continue to stare at him. Reluctantly, I point to the wide space ahead of the guest house and tell Cheol Saeng,
“Nice. let’s go. Ah, this has been blown a bit out of proportion.”
As soon as the confrontation is decided, I head to the place with Cheol Saeng. After all, Demonic Cult is mainly about life and death. There is no need to set specific details. I win, I win and I lose, I lose.
However, this place is in front of the guesthouse, not the Demonic Sect.
When I arrive at the place and stand there, Cheol Saeng widens the distance and says,
“You ready?”
“Well.”
Cheol Saeng, who had been walking with his back exposed, stops outside three or four steps, and then turns around. I have never competed with a warrior of the Demonic Cult, and suddenly I feel curious.
“Is this a battle of life and death?”
Cheol Saeng answers,
“Are you the elder’s disciple? I suspect that the one kill sword is fake.”
I scold Cheol Saeng.
“You pitiful bastard. That man also had a change of heart in his later years of life, so he didn’t try to kill recklessly. It means that the gap has widened since then when people had to die if they were fought. You should know that your life is precious, so you will not carelessly consider other people’s lives. Stupid, bastard throwing around senseless words, walking around in dark clothes on a hot day.”
Honestly, it isn’t something I wanted to say, but well, it is important for him to be put in his place, so it doesn’t matter in what way I scold him.
The guy asks me again,
“Are you ready?”
“Well.”
“When will you be ready?”
I yell at Sam Bok who is watching.
“Sam Bok!”
“Yes, Sect Leader!”
“I am thirsty.”
Sam Bok snatches the kettle there and then approaches me with nimble movements. After drinking, I glare at Cheol Saeng and say,
“Do we draw?”
“I don’t want to.”
“Of course.”
I wrap the Shadow Moon Martial Arts in my left hand and cover my face. When the cold qi touches my face, my senses become heightened and I look at the guy through my fingers and say,
“I am ready.”
As soon as I finish speaking, the dust under Cheol Saeng’s feet rises and spreads around in a circular shape. Cheol Saeng steps into the air and draws his sword and moves in one breath. I stretch my hand out, which is covering my face, and grab the sword which comes close to my neck.
I move my hand from my face to my neck.
In the meantime, Cheol Saeng narrows 3 to 4 steps into one step, and even pulls out his sword.
However, since it is the hand which has Shadow Moon Martial Arts, I try to infuse ice qi into the guy. This is the realm of the mountain trail which started from the guesthouse and reached the plateau of a snowy mountain.
Cheol Saeng freezes with the sword the moment he tries to swing it.
“…”
I push my head to the side to check the state of Cheol Saeng. A long time ago, when I was strong in martial arts, there was something I always wanted to try. It was to hold the sword of a warrior right between my index and middle finger.
The level of Supreme nature.
If one can’t hold the sword between the two fingers to stop it, one’s fingers and hand can be cut off.
Thanks to that, I grab the sword with five fingers and my palm. I probably wouldn’t have tried it if I hadn’t learned the ice martial arts. Only then did I release the blade from my palm and say to Cheol Saeng, whose body is cold,
“How many times did you have to be saved to live?”
As he is frozen, there is no answer.
“….”
I grab the collar of the guy and throw him into the barracks with all my energy. As the body of the guy rushes at Chil Geom, the poor guy is so startled that he swings his scythe.
The body of Cheol Saeng gets split with it. I glare at Chil Geom covered in blood. I checked what happened and his expression too.
Chil Geom glares at me with a bloody face and I say,
“Who told you to watch this freely? Get rid of that body.”
I think about it and then feel goosebumps rise. The name of the dead guy is Cheol Saeng, and it meant the end of life when the body is slashed.
After entrusting the process of disposing of the body to Chil Geom. I finally look at the carriage. Finally, the coachman swings the whip and starts the carriage. It was as if the Ghost Spirit Demon family head was watching this fight from within.
And I tell the guy who is leaving,
“Family head, where in this world is anything you get for free? Stop before I chase after you.”
Normally in such circumstances, assassination needles would be convenient.
*Swish!*
This time, I use ice arts with the middle and index finger of my right hand and catch an object that rushes towards me. It is a coin. Maybe spectator fee.
“I confirm.”
After placing the coin into my pocket, I head for the guest house and the Four Evils rush to me and look at me like I am some monkey.
Sword Demon speaks in a dry tone.
“You did good.”
Ghost Demon too speaks in a similar tone,
“You did good.”
Before Pervert Demon can speak, I tell him,
“Shut up.”
“…”
Pouring a glass of alcohol at the table, I say,
“One win streak. Not bad. Sam Bok.”
Every time Sam Bok is called out, he would breathe heavily, and I tell him,
“That is not normal.”
“Yes.”
“You never know when some of them will come. We might be surrounded so bring us plenty of food. Also, get us some beef jerky in case of emergencies. Isn’t it too troublesome for us to break through the siege and go out to eat?”
“Right.”
“Be entrusted with the task of breaking through the siege. Why? We are too bothered to do it.”
Sam Bok nods his head like he realizes my intent.
“It would be better for me to leave now.”
“Go then”
Sam Bok nods.
“Please give me some money.”
“I gave it the other day.”
“I used all of it.”
I tried to recall how much I gave Sam Bok the other day and how much he spent on the alcohol and sides, but I couldn’t remember anything. I am pretty bad at such things. So, reluctantly, I take out a slip and give it to him and put a silver coin in his palm.
“This one is for your errands. Get dressed.”
Sam Bok smiles and looks at me.
“I confirm,”
“What?”
“… did it. I said I confirm, like you do. I will come back safe.”
Sam Bok suddenly disappears with light footwork technique, and I see the other four there and look inside. The third young lord was asleep on the side of the table.
“Did he stand guard last night?”
Pervert Demon nods.
“Right.”
I was going to say ‘confirm’, but I didn’t want to after Sam Bok did. I sit next to the Four Evils and watch the peaceful daily life occurrences by clearing out unnecessary thoughts. The problem is that I am clearing out my emotions and that couldn’t be peaceful.
Then, it means that the ordinary life here will turn into a mess soon.
So, I stay silent, and Sword Demon says,
“…The Ghost Spirit Demon family head, the former one, retired because of me. I killed the members of the troops of the guy called Cheol Saeng too. Actually, I even forgot that I didn’t kill him. The other day, killing those who fight back is normal. I thought it was the end, but the people involved couldn’t possibly think that. Normally, I thought the Cult Leader just wanted the sword retrieved out of boredom, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. To realize that those who were once victims wouldn’t forget their emotions.”
We listen to his recollection and then, Sword Demon says,
“They will come to retrieve the sword, but it seems like those with a grudge against me will come too. The Cult Leader is sending them one by one, smiling.”
I ask Sword Demon,
“For what will the Cult Leader be smiling?”
To which he answers,
“How dare you think about living a peaceful life? I can already hear the ridicule in his voice. Even though I left the Cult, the Cult Leader doesn’t allow me to lead a normal life.”
I sigh as I hear Sword Demon’s lonely memories. However, after coming to my senses, I analyze his thoughts and this guy is clearly depressed.
In the meantime, I turn my head and look at the people who had nothing to do around here.
There was depression, obsession, a nymphomaniac, and I had mania. I handle this new information with a trembling heart.
We aren’t normal.
Suddenly, I want to call Moyong Baek.
.
.
.
Come to think of it, having him here is a bit dangerous. I think about how if he were to get confined into such an extreme environment, Moyong Baek would also end up giggling and making poison in the kitchen.
That cannot happen.
So, I come back to my senses.