Swordless Demonic Path

Chapter 189 : Eating Ambition (3)

Jin Sa-wol reappeared at the place where he had fought with Tang Hyu. It was to retrace his fight with Tang Hyu here and find his own shortcomings.

Although it seemed like he had fought with Tang Hyu for a long time, the actual fight between the two did not last long.

In less than a moment, the two had exchanged over a hundred moves, and Tang Hyu had to die.

In the martial world, it was not a big deal for a martial artist to die.

He had thought so, and it had been so until now. But he felt something had changed in his heart.

His mind had also become clear, and as the world seemed small, he had also contemplated life and death for a moment. This was a new change that had never happened before.

"That's not even funny."

Jin Sa-wol, who had reprimanded himself, chuckled and picked up a fallen Fish Flash Dart from the ground.

It was a remaining Fish Flash Dart even after Woo Jeong-bong had retrieved them.

As he extended his hand forward and unfolded the Air-Grabbing technique, a strong wind arose and gathered about ten Fish Flash Darts in his hand.

It was a weapon thinner and sharper than a shuriken. It was also light, so it was good to use as a hidden weapon.

But it was not a weapon he would carry around. Because it was one of the unique hidden weapons of the Tang family.

For that reason, he had buried it in the ground with Tang Hyu.

Jin Sa-wol, who had thrown the Fish Flash Darts back on the ground, turned his head at the sound of the wind.

"Sa-wol!"

Hearing the loud shout, Jin Sa-wol looked at Jo Geom-ok, who was running from afar.

Jo Geom-ok, who was running with her long black hair fluttering, reached Jin Sa-wol's side, jumped up, and embraced him.

But as if she felt ashamed of her own action, she retreated the moment she embraced him.

Jo Geom-ok had been wandering around this area ever since Tang Hyu and Jin Sa-wol had disappeared.

Then she had found Jin Sa-wol and had run to him.

She examined Jin Sa-wol's face and asked, "I'm glad you're safe. But you seem a little different. Should I say it's strange?"

"In what way?"

"I don't know."

She, who was frowning while shaking her head, asked as if she had remembered something.

"What about Tang Hyu?"

"He left."

"He left?"

"He said he had a place to go and left."

Although Jin Sa-wol said it with an expressionless face, it was not a word that could be easily believed.

'Did he kill Tang Hyu?'

Although that thought crossed her mind, she thought it was impossible even for Jin Sa-wol.

On top of that, although he had fought with Tang Hyu, there were no wounds on Jin Sa-wol's body. Seeing that there were no traces of a fight, Jin Sa-wol's words also seemed to have a point.

"Where did he go?"

"I don't know that either. He said he remembered he had business and left."

"He acted as if he were going to kill you at any moment... It seems he has returned to Sichuan."

"What about Brother Woo?"

"He's resting at the inn."

"Let's go."

With his words, Jin Sa-wol lightly jumped up. His figure felt as light as a bird.

Jo Geom-ok thought that something important must have happened. It was a woman's intuition.

***

Jin Sa-wol, who had met Woo Jeong-bong at the inn, said, as he had told Jo Geom-ok, that he had not fought much with Tang Hyu and that he had left.

He answered that he did not know where he had gone or for what reason he had left because he had not told him.

Tang Hyu, who was called one of the Three Gods, had no obligation to inform Jin Sa-wol of where he was going. And if it were a person of that level, it would not be a big problem wherever he went.

For the time being.

Jin Sa-wol drank his liquor and looked at Woo Jeong-bong and Jo Geom-ok, who were talking about useless things.

He thought they were good people who believed him, who was lying.

'They are good people.'

While thinking that, he suddenly shook his head. He had never even had such thoughts before.

It was a useless thought.

Suddenly, a conversation he had had with Bi-sun in the past came to mind.

"Why do you keep a person like Woo Jeong-bong by your side? His way of looking at the world is different from ours. He's a different kind of human."

"Just... because he's the opposite of me. Because he sometimes lets me know that I'm a human. Sometimes, I often don't know who I am. There are times when I can't tell whether I'm a human or just a killing ghost who likes to kill. At that time, when I see Brother Woo, I feel like a human."

"That's interesting."

Bi-sun had laughed lightly, and Jin Sa-wol had also laughed.

Jin Sa-wol, who was recalling that time, came to his senses when Woo Jeong-bong called him.

"Sa-wol. Are you really not going to build a gisaeng house?"

Woo Jeong-bong cast a gaze full of regret for the gisaeng house and said as if he were begging.

Jin Sa-wol contemplated for a moment and then answered.

"Let's go and discuss it."

At the words that he would discuss it, not that he wouldn't do it, Woo Jeong-bong's expression relaxed.

Jo Geom-ok clicked her tongue and shook her head.

***

There was a manor hidden in a dense forest below Jo-a Peak, northwest of Wang-ok Mountain.

In the early morning, an old man entered the manor, his white long robe fluttering. It was Ha Shin-hak, a tall man with an aura full of profound energy.

"Master."

As he entered the yard, the one who greeted Ha Shin-hak with a bright smile was Shim Cheong-cheong, who was carrying rice.

"Have you been well?"

"Yes. It's been a month."

"Yes."

"Wait. I'll prepare a meal."

As Shim Cheong-cheong entered the kitchen, Ha Shin-hak showed a benevolent smile and then entered the tea room.

Ha Shin-hak, who was spending a leisurely time drinking bamboo leaf tea, nodded when he saw a middle-aged man entering the tea room.

"I greet you, Master."

Ha Shin-hak smiled at the greeting of his first disciple, Shin Yul.

As Shin Yul sat down in a chair, he asked, "Did the matter you went for go well?"

Ha Shin-hak shook his head with a bitter expression and said, "The Demonic Cult without the Demonic Cult Leader is like a corncob without kernels. I should say it's a monkey without a head and a pig without legs. But the problem is that the Martial Alliance also has many incidents and accidents, so it seems they can't move."

Ha Shin-hak, who let out a long sigh and stroked his beard, recalled the memory of visiting the Elder Council of the Martial Alliance.

In the Elder Council, he had insisted on a subjugation with the Huashan Sect, which had a lot of resentment towards the Demonic Cult. At first, that argument seemed to be able to unite the elders of the Martial Alliance to some extent.

But as Seok Jeong-bi, a disciple of the Huashan Sect, was killed by an assassin who had suddenly appeared and was called the God of Death, the Huashan Sect's attention was focused on the assassin.

Besides that, as Zhuge Qing died, the talk about the subjugation of the Demonic Cult had disappeared as if it were a lie.

"Now is the chance to subjugate the Demonic Cult, so why is the Martial Alliance just standing by? No matter how big an incident there is, they should move. In the first place, the Namgung Alliance Leader was a person who had advocated for the subjugation of the Demonic Cult. He should keep that promise."

"Zhuge Qing is dead. And he was murdered inside the alliance."

"How can that be..."

Shin Yul's eyes widened as if he were greatly surprised, and his mouth opened.

"It seems it won't be easy for the time being."

Ha Shin-hak judged that, given the atmosphere of the Martial Alliance, the subjugation of the Demonic Cult could not be discussed for a while.

"If it's Seok Jeong-bi of the Huashan Sect, he's a person I know well. We trained together for several years."

Shin Yul shook his head as if his heart ached and drank his tea.

In the meantime, Shim Cheong-cheong, who had gone out to the kitchen, came in.

"The atmosphere is unusual. Did something bad happen?"

"They say the Zhuge Wonju died in the alliance. He was murdered, and it seems the alliance has been turned upside down because of that."

"Oh my! How did that happen?"

Shim Cheong-cheong's eyes widened like a rabbit's as if she were surprised.

"We'll know when we catch the assassin."

Shin Yul sighed with a serious expression.

As the atmosphere became heavy, Ha Shin-hak asked Shim Cheong-cheong as if he had remembered something.

"Is the youngest doing well?"

"Yes. He's doing well. These days, he almost never comes out of the training hall."

"I'm glad he's working hard. I'll have to go up and see him tomorrow."

"Yes."

Shim Cheong-cheong showed a smile and then moved back to the kitchen.

Shin Yul thought of the youngest, Na Hyeon-gi.

Although they were brothers-in-law, they were still an awkward relationship. Some of the brothers-in-law did not even talk to him. Because he was from the Demonic Cult.

Since Shin Yul was the eldest brother-in-law, he often talked with Na Hyeon-gi and also taught him martial arts.

"The youngest seems frustrated because his martial arts are at a standstill."

"That's understandable. Compared to the martial arts of the Demonic Cult, it can't help but be slow. Take good care of him."

"Yes."

Although Shin Yul answered, his expression was not confident.

The next morning.

Ha Shin-hak, who had woken up early, went up to the training hall where Na Hyeon-gi was.

'I'm so glad he's training hard. If he endures this difficult time with patience, he will surely see a great realm.'

There was nothing more pleasant than a disciple training hard in martial arts.

Ha Shin-hak hoped that Na Hyeon-gi would forget the past and walk the path of the orthodox faction with the Jongnam Sect.

As he passed the place where the valley water flowed and climbed the mountain ridge, he saw a deserted thatched house.

At the faint sound of breathing coming from inside the thatched house, Ha Shin-hak went inside.

Na Hyeon-gi, who was practicing qi circulation, was startled by the presence and opened his eyes.

"I greet you, Master. Ugh!"

Because he had suddenly stopped the qi circulation in the middle, his qi and blood were twisted.

As Na Hyeon-gi's complexion instantly turned yellow, the startled Ha Shin-hak hurriedly approached.

"Take a posture and practice qi circulation. I'll watch over you."

"I'm sorry."

Na Hyeon-gi answered and then sat in a cross-legged position and closed his eyes. Ha Shin-hak's palm touched Na Hyeon-gi's Jianjing acupoint.

After that, Ha Shin-hak's internal energy slowly corrected the twisted qi and blood through Na Hyeon-gi's Jianjing acupoint.

"Concentrate on the qi circulation."

Ha Shin-hak said, pressing down on Na Hyeon-gi's wriggling qi and blood. Na Hyeon-gi silently concentrated his mind.

It was that moment.

Ha Shin-hak's internal energy, regardless of his own will, was sucked into Na Hyeon-gi's body through his palm at a fast speed.

"Hmph!"

Startled, he tried to remove his hand from Na Hyeon-gi's Jianjing acupoint, but he could not let go, as if he were caught by a strong force.

"How can this be."

Ha Shin-hak had to watch as all his internal energy was sucked into Na Hyeon-gi's body, trembling all over.

"You bastard!"

Ha Shin-hak shouted, drew his sword, and cut his own right arm.

With a thwack! sound, as blood spurted, Na Hyeon-gi, who was sitting in a cross-legged position, slowly stood up and turned his body.

In his eyes, he saw a dying old man trembling all over with his arm cut off.

Ha Shin-hak, who had been full of profound energy, had already disappeared long ago.

"How... how did you learn the Star-Absorbing Demonic Art?"

"Isn't it natural for a Demonic Cult member to learn demonic arts?"

Na Hyeon-gi's answer was not wrong.

"You vicious..."

"I couldn't help it. I heard that the orthodox faction gives everything to its disciples. Even their lives. So I will take your life, Master. I'm sorry it has come to this."

Na Hyeon-gi, who had moved nimbly, pressed Ha Shin-hak's Baihui acupoint with his hand and unfolded the Star-Absorbing Demonic Art.

The grayish-white smoke that had risen from Na Hyeon-gi's body quickly seeped into his dantian through his palm.

A short while later, Na Hyeon-gi, who had put down the limp Ha Shin-hak, sat in a cross-legged position with an indifferent face and began to make Ha Shin-hak's internal energy his own through qi circulation.

Perhaps because it was the internal energy of the orthodox faction, he felt his dantian become solid.

When about half a quarter of an hour had passed like that, the sound of footsteps was heard.

Na Hyeon-gi, who had finished the qi circulation and opened his eyes, saw Shim Cheong-cheong and Shin Yul entering the room.

The eyes of the two turned not to Na Hyeon-gi, but to the dead Ha Shin-hak.

"Huh?"

"Master?!"

The eyes of the flustered two and Na Hyeon-gi met.

"If you had come a little later, you could have lived."

Na Hyeon-gi's figure covered the two.

(End of Chapter)