Were my ears not working?
I was momentarily speechless as I heard the words coming from Jang Mun-ryang.
-Did you hear him say that he wanted to live?
I heard the same thing as Short Sword, it seemed. That mouth spoke with a heavy voice and a serious face, but desperation was hidden within it.
Actually, all of the other people associated with the golden-eyed man had been loyal to the point of giving up their lives.
Song Jwa-baek then spoke.
“What are you trying to do!?”
Hearing this, Jang Mun-ryang sighed.
“No matter how lost I was, to think that I taught my martial arts and cultivation techniques to such a man…”
“As if I asked you to give me your skills!”
“Huh! This young one does nothing but talk nonsense all the time! If you do not want to live a regretful life like mine, then you better start seeing things for what they are.”
“What now?”
This was slowly becoming a messy mood. I raised my hand to signal Song Jwa-baek to not step forward. As a result, he pounded his chest with his fist from frustration and took a step back.
Without taking my foot off, I continued.
“If I am not mistaken, it sounds like you want to cooperate… is that right?”
“You pretend, then I pretend, I see. Right.”
… odd.
Actually, I had a hard time believing how he was acting.
Especially since he was one of the Five Great Evils.
As someone at the top of Murim, his pride should be unassailable. Not even a normal man would act like this.
This was close to nonsensical.
Srng!
I reached my hand out to him.
Iron Sword flew from the wall and returned to my hand.
Tsk.
Song Jwa-baek bit his tongue at the sight of this.
Even if it wasn’t for the sixth one, it was possible to at least do this. I drew my sword from its sheath and aimed it at his throat.
“Why does this feel like some sort of trick?”
He looked at the tip of the sword that was touching his throat. He then raised his gaze to my face and said,
“I promise my cooperation, and this is how I am treated?”
“It’s simply because I cannot trust you.”
“Things have already ended up like this. What tricks can I even do now?”
“You’ve learned an important thing.”
He discovered I was the Little Immortal Swordsman and the Blood Demon.
If he contacted the golden-eyed man’s organization and passed on this information, everything would be exposed. There was no reason for me to take this risk.
“Didn’t I say that I have a heavy mouth?”
“How do we know if it is heavy or not?”
“I swear on the heavens and earth. I will take that secret to my grave.”
… this man was really…
He strongly desired to live, so I may have broken into a smile without realizing it. It really didn’t suit him to look so desperate.
“Since when did one say anything about swearing on the heavens? Let us not make a fuss and just die.”
Jwa-baek leaned against the wall and pretended to make a signal across his throat. Seeing this, Jang Mun-ryang was clearly displeased and spoke with a red face.
“What are you doing by interfering?”
“Me? Hmm… Well, I am the Right Guardian of the Blood Sect.”
“Right Guardian? You?”
Jang Mun-ryang snorted.
“You are smiling? This bastard really wants to be hit.”
“Brat. It won’t do you any good to act like that to me.”
“What nonsense….”
“The martial arts I passed down to you can’t be strengthened or understood without the help of a teacher. When you reach a point in the 8th level, you will start to feel parts of your body become paralyzed. When you reach the 10th, the yang qi will pierce your bones without some large sacrifices. Ultimately, your life will be as bad as any human’s.”
Jang Mun-ryang’s voice sounded bitter. No matter how you looked at it, it sounded like his own story.
I heard the words behind them, but Song Jwa-baek suddenly became serious.
-This is bad. To hear about potentially being crippled.
Indeed, Short Sword giggled as she deduced this properly.
Jwa-baek, who had entered the realm of a Super Master due to his talent, continued to practice Jang Mun-ryang’s martial arts.
In addition, perhaps due to a combination of his own internal qi and what he had gotten from Jang Mun-ryang, he had reached the 7th level in no time.
However, since he had just been told that there were side effects upon reaching the 8th level, it would be stranger for him to not have fears.
“T-that is a lie, right?”
“A lie? I don’t know what your current capabilities are. Still, even when you reach the 7th level, you will start feeling a tingling sensation inside your arms where the qi points connect. You will also feel pain each time you cultivate.”
“….”
Song Jwa-baek’s face turned stiff upon hearing this. It sounded like he was in trouble.
Jang Mun-ryang’s eyes lit up at this reaction.
“You people are pretty talented. Even if the internal cultivation skills were inherited, you still developed swiftly.”
Actually, Song Jwa-baek was no normal youth. He was, in fact, someone who was far superior to most.
Thanks to his special body and development, their speed in gathering qi and cultivating was faster than normal.
[This…]
Song Jwa-baek sent a message as he felt anxious, but I motioned for him to be calm.
Even if what was being said was true, getting excited and falling into the opponent’s hands would only lead to more concessions.
I looked down at Jang Mun-ryang.
“You speak about having a heavy mouth, but it cannot be as heavy as a dead one, right?”
The atmosphere changed as he hurriedly said.
“Showing you the cards means that I am giving you priority. I will give you information up front for you to trust me.’
“Information?”
“That’s right. Since you don’t trust me yet, wouldn’t it be better to discard some cards?”
It looked like we could talk now.
“Your treatment will depend on what your move will be.”
“There are important things the lord is looking for.”
Jang Mun-ryang spoke in a low voice.
“Important things?”
“That’s right. They’ve been trying very hard to get their hands on those things. One of them is in your hand, so you would also continue to get targeted.”
Out of curiosity, I asked him.
“Are you speaking of the Blood Demon Sword?”
Hearing this, he frowned slightly.
It seemed that he didn’t know that I already knew this.
When I talked about this before, I didn’t mention the sword, so he must have thought that I didn’t have information on it.
“The card you wanted to show is one I already knew.”
When I stated this clearly, he cleared his throat.
“Hmm. That much can be inferred. Words, though, should be heard until the end. I never said that it is the sword alone.”
“There are five of them.”
‘…?!’
His eyes now shuddered.
He was taken aback for a moment and then said.
“Not just any five swords….”
“Yokai swords, five of them.”
‘…!!!’
His eyes now widened in shock.
He looked at me incredulously and asked.
“No! How do you people know that?”
“I don’t know if I should say that. What kind of advance payment is this when I already know what you wanted to say?”
“You, what are you?”
I could only wonder how embarrassing it must be to have this information already known.
I simply snorted and said,
“Let me ask then, after collecting all five swords, what does your lord plan to do?”
To this, he hesitated for a moment and then said,
“… I don’t know.”
“What? You don’t know?”
“Those who know why he is looking for the five swords are only a handful of men within the organization.”
So even someone from the Five Great Evils was not privy to his plans?
Anyone else would disclose their secrets to someone with this level of martial arts. That meant he wasn’t sure of his loyalty.
Or did he not believe in people without regard to their strength?
“This organization is one which is driven by specific orders. That is why….”
“Which means those with full knowledge are rare.”
“Right.”
I guessed as much.
This was an advantage for an organization driven by power. Even if one of them was captured or killed, no information would get leaked.
This must have been a measure taken to make it difficult for any information to become known.
Like now.
Still, I thought he was in a high position, but this was disappointing.
“Then you are useless.”
“…”
He was momentarily speechless as I said this but then spoke seriously.
“I wasn’t planning to say this, but… save me…”
“…”
Was this really someone that the people called an Evil?
Or did he still have some blade fragments stuck in his head?
He was asking so openly to be saved. His desperation was beyond begging and was almost a skill.
-Why be so obsessed with life? Is it because living is better than holding pride?
Well, that could be it.
I also prioritized my life over pride.
But this was a bit different.
“… what is your reason for doing this?”
“I want to live, should there be another reason?”
“Do you think I can trust you just for that alone?”
In response to the question, Jang Mun-ryang looked at me seriously and said,
“Let’s just call this atonement.”
“For?”
What was he trying to atone for?
“Are you saying that you are regretting what you have done?”
“Would you believe it if I said so?”
“What?”
His eyes were stained red, just like a killer’s. Come to think of it, they told me that the first thing he did once he regained his senses was to cry.
I did think it was strange, but I wasn’t sure what he was crying for.
And he continued,
“The Lord asked for it. If someone succeeded in my martial arts, then I would need to let go of my obsessions. However, I couldn’t do it. In return for that…”
“You lost it?”
I remembered what he said,
He did say if someone reached the 10th level of his martial arts, they would need to abandon their internal qi. If not, the yang qi would rage out of control and even affect the bones.
“Right. Insane. It was an insane thing.”
He looked at his hand and spoke as his voice cracked.
“As a murderer, I have killed countless people from both Murim and the normal world. Even my own sajaes were hurt with these hands.”
A tear fell from his right eye. It was filled with regret for what he did.
Even Song Jwa-baek, who wanted him dead, was silent at this. Perhaps because he thought he might end up going through the same thing.
But I had to be careful.
“I don’t think you were insane at the Yangtze.”
He had seemed rational then. How could a mad or insane man even make such a plan?
He snorted at this and said,
“I was fine because my killing heart didn’t explode.”
“What does that mean?”
“Still, my mind isn’t entirely mine. It has been that way since I met that monster.”
“… you are talking about this so-called lord?”
He nodded his confirmation at this, and I could feel a strange sense of anger growing within him.
“How did you meet him?”
“He came to see me as I was going insane due to the side effects of my martial arts. I remembered losing to him in a fight.”
No matter how insane he was, that Lord managed to subdue someone of this caliber. This meant that the golden-eyed man had gone past rational limits.
Perhaps even crossed the wall within the wall.
Jang Mun-ryang mumbled this as if it was absurd.
“From that time, I managed to regain my senses. I even listened to his orders without realizing why. I followed him even though I was aware of my actions. I would follow him without question as if it was normal.”
… was he brainwashed?
-Brainwashed?
It meant that someone else manipulated his mind through either medicine or suggestive techniques, like a hallucination.
Judging by what Jang Mun-ryang told me, he was clearly brainwashed, but the skill behind it must have been quite high.
It was very similar to…
-Baek Ryeon-ha.
That’s right.
Even Baek Ryeon-ha was unaware that she was being controlled. She even moved according to the enemy’s wishes.
[I cannot believe a warrior of his level could be brainwashed.]
Sima Young told me this.
I was suspicious too.
Even a warrior at a super master level would have strong levels of internal qi and mental strength. How much more would someone who belonged in the top five have?
-It isn’t like it’s impossible.
At that moment, True Evil Sword’s voice rang in my head.
‘Not impossible?’
-Especially since he was insane from the start.
‘That’s right, but…’
-There is nothing easier than brainwashing someone whose mind has already collapsed. The first one I know of since I was used to driving men to extreme pain, weakening them before enslaving them.
The Palace Princess.
Someone skilled with sorcery and suggestion.
True Evil Sword, who was by the side of such a master, would know about this more.
She could even move by herself and dominate others.
-Hmm. Those good old days.
Stop with your reminiscing.
Anyways, there was a good chance if it was as she said.
Even a superhuman warrior could be brainwashed for an extended period of time if their mind was unstable.
I stared blankly at the man.
“So you are sane now?”
He calmly replied.
“Do you not see?”
“Will you no longer follow his words?”
“Didn’t I say it wasn’t according to my will?”
He gritted his teeth in anger. Looking at this, that anger wasn’t false.
He then said.
“I don’t know how much you already know, but I will teach you everything I know. Methods such as a way to contact people to receive orders as well as their status.”
“Status?”
“There are those directly under the lord who are his henchmen. Under them are twelve who also receive the title of Lord.”
Come to think of it, Gu Jae-yang, the Blood Killing King, was also called the Blood Lord.
According to this system, Gu Jae-yang also held a high rank.
Of course, if Jang Mun-ryang was correct, then the man with the golden eye didn’t seem to share much information with his subordinates besides his three henchmen.
But at least there’s some useful information now.
“You know that too? The tricks…”
He then stopped.
“Make a pact with me before that.”
“A pact?”
“Spare me.”
‘…’
He seemed desperate.
He was desperately hoping for the right words to come out of my mouth.
“You really seem desperate to live.”
Hearing this, he glanced at Song Jwa-baek and said,
“Even if it wasn’t under my own will, I can’t let the successor to this martial art die before it is perfected. Besides, I also need to find the lord’s blood.”
“… blood?”
This was confusing.
Did he wish to make the man repay for what had happened with his blood?
I wondered if this was due to his will to live or if this was his aim in surviving. Perhaps he had a desire for revenge, but this was too much.
I bent down and placed my hand on his stomach, prompting him to ask.
“What are you trying to do?”
… this man didn’t even know the state of his body.
-What is it?
I was scanning his dantian to wonder if the seal had been released. Of course, since he had given Song Jwa-baek his internal qi, his dantian should be empty.
However, his internal qi was slowly refilling his dantian even without cultivation.
It was odd.
After standing up, I said,
“You want to live?”
“My mouth is heavy.”
“So you are selling information about your previous organization in exchange for your life?”
“…Didn’t I tell you I didn’t move according to my own will?”
Well.
“Fine, then I will make a proposal.”
“A proposal?”
I raised my eyebrows at him and said,
“Join my sect.”
