Chapter 54

Chapter 54

Before anyone realized it, half a month had passed since the Poison Demon had been killed.

“So how long am I supposed to stay here?”

At Youngho’s grumbling, the blue veins on Yeo Jeonghye’s arm bulged even more.

“I believe I told you a Quarter-Hour ago that I do not know?”

“If you’re going to complain, complain to your master. The one keeping me here is your master.”

“……I have nothing to say to that.”

“I can only endure one more day now.”

“What exactly are you enduring?”

“My patience.”

“Please wait just a little longer.”

“I really have to get going soon.”

“Then why not simply leave?”

“It isn’t often that one gets to place a debt on the Gold-Blood Hall Master of the Gold-Blood Hall.”

“……You’re a vicious bastard.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing at all.”

After muttering a light curse under her breath so that Youngho would not hear, Yeo Jeonghye looked toward Kang Hosan and Kang Chowon and said,

“You’re training quite comfortably in someone else’s estate.”

“One has to train every day. No matter the location, you mustn’t skip it.”

“It would have been more convincing if you demonstrated that you followed your own words.”

“I train every day, though?”

For an instant, Yeo Jeonghye’s eyebrows twitched.

Had she heard that correctly just now? With a bewildered expression, she stared at Youngho.

“Tell me. What do you think I am?”

“A brat who’s arrogant because his talent is too exceptional.”

“……That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?”

“Were you hoping for a different answer? I can lie as much as you’d like.”

“Forget it. I’ll give you a question. What do you think I’m doing right now?”

“You are closing your eyes and meditating.”

That was exactly what it looked like. Whether the word meditation was accurate or not, Youngho had his eyes closed and had not moved a single step.

Yeo Jeonghye had already calculated her next words in advance, assuming that a positive response would naturally come from his mouth.

“Wrong.”

“……Pardon?”

But Youngho’s answer went completely off her expectations, and every prepared move she had thought of vanished at once.

As if he knew exactly what expression she was making, Youngho let out a faint chuckle.

“I’m sleeping right now.”

“……In what way?”

His consciousness was awake. Absolutely certain. And yet he claimed he was sleeping? No matter how trustworthy a guest Youngho was, Yeo Jeonghye was not foolish enough to believe outright nonsense.

With an even deeper smile curling on his lips, Youngho said,

“It doesn’t look like sleeping to you, does it?”

“Of course not. If what you’re saying is true, then that would mean you sleep while conversing with me and train at dawn.”

“Correct.”

“Do you truly believe that makes sense?”

At her perfectly reasonable doubt, Youngho laughed lightly.

“I mastered it a long time ago. I didn’t even know it would work.”

“That is something only assassins might attempt. No—even a seasoned assassin cannot remain conscious while properly resting.”

“Once you’ve been through war, it becomes natural.”

“For someone who has never experienced war to say such…….”

“Even so, I’m a veteran of a hundred battles.”

“That is not an amusing joke.”

To Yeo Jeonghye, it could only have sounded like a joke. But Youngho spoke based on his experiences in war…

All of it was true.

Yeo Jeonghye did not know. She did not know of battlefields where one would die if one let go of consciousness even while sleeping, or battlefields where one could be killed in deep slumber without a sound.

It was not that he looked down on her. In this era, the strange one was not Yeo Jeonghye, but himself.

The current Youngho was merely eccentric and odd. But if the Demonic Cult began to stir… then at that time, Youngho would—

“At least I’d become normal.”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

“You truly are a strange person.”

“That’s why I can make deals with you.”

“Always watch your back. If we determine you are no longer beneficial, we can stab a blade into your spine at any time.”

“Thanks for the warning.”

Since Youngho knew that such words could only be spoken when one was somewhat close, it simply looked to him as though Yeo Jeonghye was playfully teasing him.

“I am the Gold-Blood Hall Master, you know.”

“Being the Gold-Blood Hall Master doesn’t necessarily mean you’re strong.”

“Hmm?”

At Youngho’s blatant provocation, Nam A-pyeong bared his white teeth in a grin.

“It’s been a while since I’ve heard such a joke.”

“If you wish to take it as a joke, feel free.”

Though the words seemed meaningless, upon seeing Youngho’s chilling smile, Nam A-pyeong broke into a cold sweat.

“It does not seem like a joke when it comes from the Fifth Young Master.”

“I told you—it depends on how you take it. So, can I leave now?”

“The matter has been roughly handled, so you may go.”

“What was so busy?”

“It seems the Alliance Lord and the Murim Alliance Leader may meet once.”

With interest written across his face, Youngho stared at Nam A-pyeong as if urging him to continue.

“The rest will be settled between the parties involved. I know nothing further.”

“Then I’ll be on my way. I’ve already packed my things.”

“Do you require an escort?”

“No need.”

“Very well.”

‘Of course, she means it.’

“By the way, how long are you going to stay up there?”

When Youngho looked toward the ceiling, the sound of someone clearing their throat came from above.

“Ahem. Sharp eyes, indeed.”

As Nam A-pyeong descended from the ceiling to the floor, Youngho did not bother hiding his look of exasperation.

“It’s that you can’t hide.”

“And don’t forget to grant my request.”

“A promise will be kept.”

“Your words come easily.”

Youngho summoned Horyeung, ordered the party to gather their belongings, and immediately left the Gold-Blood Hall.

Like performers in a perfectly synchronized play, Youngho’s group moved in flawless unison.

Watching them depart, Nam A-pyeong and Yeo Jeonghye could only feel regret that there was nothing more left to squeeze out of him.

Youngho’s party immediately set off toward their next destination.

“Luoyang was struck?”

At the man’s undisguised shock, the man in black nodded again.

“Yes. It seems the Fist King of Shaolin stepped in.”

“Shaolin’s intelligence network alone wouldn’t have been enough… Did the Beggars’ Sect move as well?”

“That appears to be the case.”

“Interesting.”

The man in black standing directly before him swallowed unconsciously.

Had anyone else shown interest, he might have been less shaken. Even if it had been a Guardian. But the one before him was none other than Pungwol, the head of the Demonic Cult.

In the Jianghu, he was called the Demon Brain, yet because he rarely revealed himself, some called him a coward while others called him cautious.

But the man in black knew. Every one of those claims was wrong.

Pungwol did not refrain from appearing because he was a coward, nor because he was cautious. The reason he had never moved personally until now was simple—there had been no need.

Pungwol valued efficiency. That was why he had not stepped forward.

And he must not step forward. The Demon Brain was an entirely different figure from the Heavenly Demon. That was precisely why he was more terrifying.

If the Heavenly Demon was a passing natural disaster, then the Demon Brain could be described as a mass of human malice.

Everyone possessed malice. But the Demon Brain’s was not accidental or incidental.

It was calculated—thoroughly calculated—malice, like that of a devil.

He was one who obsessively dug into people’s deepest wounds, cruel, merciless, and without the slightest opening.

The man in black believed that if the Demon Brain ever stepped outside Cheonsan, a storm of blood would sweep through the Jianghu.

“Luoyang was struck….”

After muttering to himself for a while, Pungwol finally addressed the man in black.

“What of Yeonhui and Cheongsal?”

“They are presumed dead.”

Pungwol’s eyebrow twitched.

“Presumed?”

“My apologies for the lack of certainty. The Murim Alliance intervened….”

“Tch.”

Clicking his tongue once, Pungwol sank back into thought.

‘They broke my formation? No—before that, they even discovered it?’

The formation Pungwol had ordered placed where the Poison Jiangshi were stationed had been constructed in complexity, yet once its principle was understood, it could be unraveled quickly.

However, in exchange, it was extremely difficult to find. To be precise, one could sense the existence of the formation itself, but locating the specific point required to dismantle it was exceedingly difficult.

Every formation possessed a Directional Axis. He had crafted it so that identifying the Directional Axis would be difficult, yet they had broken even that?

“Did I underestimate those beggars and bald monks?”

Or perhaps, since they had broken his formation, the Zhuge Clan might have stepped in.

That would mean the Orthodox Sect had either known from the beginning—or had known for quite some time—that the Demonic Cult was producing Jiangshi.

As expected of the backbone of the Orthodox Sect representing the Central Plains. Yet if that were the case, too many things felt strange.

“Did Yeonhui—no, the Poison Demon—not request any reinforcements?”

“This is also an assumption, but….”

“Speak.”

“It appears they were struck down within a single night.”

Even as he spoke with a puzzled expression, Pungwol let out a hollow chuckle, as if incredulous himself.

“So you’re saying my formation was broken in a single night.”

“That is not what I meant—”

“That will do. I am not a fool. Even if my pride is wounded, this is my mistake. It seems those Orthodox Sect bastards were not complete idiots.”

Once again, the man in black silently gave thanks to the Heavenly Demon that his superior was Pungwol.

“Bring me all information. Not only about the cave vicinity—investigate thoroughly what happened in Luoyang that day and report everything to me.”

“……Please allow me a little time.”

The subordinate who had received the order departed swiftly, and Pungwol fell into contemplation once more.

“Is this the strength of the Central Plains?”

He had believed the Jiangshi production site would never be discovered. It was a natural assumption for Pungwol—and for anyone within the Divine Cult.

It was a formation created by the Demon Brain. Although the one who deployed it in Luoyang was someone else, it was still the Demon Brain’s formation.

Yet the Orthodox Sect had ultimately discovered the site where Jiangshi were being manufactured.

Interesting. Truly interesting.

At some point, Pungwol’s heart—long grown cold—began to beat faintly once more.

As warmth slowly returned to it, the Demon Brain felt that he was alive.

How long had it been since he had felt such excitement? Such competitive fervor?

“To think a heart that only beat when preparing for war would beat again….”

Even with its current strength alone, the Divine Cult could already overwhelm the Central Plains.

They had merely sought to create Jiangshi because they disliked the prospect of excessive casualties—to reduce losses even slightly, to save as many believers’ lives as possible.

Ordinarily, even if the Jiangshi production plan had failed, he would not have paid it much heed. But Pungwol’s instincts told him otherwise.

This wave would not end so simply. It would become an even greater surge—one that would crack the wall known as the Divine Cult.

“Good… very good.”

Pungwol bared his white teeth and burst into maniacal laughter.