“Join my sect.”
‘…?!’
His eyes became wide with shock at my proposal.
Saving his life aside, it seemed that he didn’t expect an offer for him to join the Blood Sect.
Song Jwa-baek was also a bit surprised and spoke in shock.
“C-come to our sect? How can you trust someone…”
“It isn’t a matter of trust.”
Jang Mun-ryang was one of the Five Great Evils.
Even if you never encountered them, their name alone would fill many people with fear.
If such a person entered our sect, the effect on the world would not be limited to just one or two things.
Jang Mun-ryang was wide-eyed and said to me.
“… even if I was insane, I aimed for your life. And you want me to come into your sect?”
“If what you say is true, then wasn’t it done not of your own will?”
“Right, but…”
“Then come to our sect. Even if your life is saved, do you think that lord person would leave you alone after you’ve become weak?”
“….”
He fell silent at my words and sighed.
I probably should have been aware of it too.
Besides, even if he wasn’t necessarily respectable, he was still one of the Five Great Evils. He must have accumulated a lot of karma until now. How many enemies would hunt for him once news of his weakness spread?
“I don’t think you will lose anything from this. If you join the sect, you will get a wall protecting you. It will also be better than looking for the lord’s descendants alone.”
Hearing my words, Jang Mun-ryang stuck his tongue out.
“… I cannot tell if you are someone with a big heart or just clever.”
“Let’s call me both.”
It was all in my own interest that I suggested he join us. Although he might be aware of it, his internal qi’s recovery speed was beyond normal.
I didn’t know if this was the effect of his material art.
If we supported him with elixirs and gave him enough time to polish his body, there was a chance he might end up stronger than before. If that happened, the strength of our sect would grow incomparably from its current state.
It was enough to almost make me laugh out loud.
-Well, a guy like you…
Short Sword began to speak.
Well, I don’t have plans to run a business that will just give me a loss. However, the outcome depended on his choice.
Jang Mun-ryang silently stared at me with a worried look before finally speaking.
“It’s not like I have any better options for which I can refuse this.”
Chak!
I cut the rope tied around him and said with a smile.
“Congratulations on becoming a member of our sect.”
It had been three days since then.
Our original plan had been to go directly to King Pyung’s tomb.
However, we ended up staying in this village for a while due to various things.
To be precise, I was waiting for Cheol Su-ryeon’s reply.
The person named Yang Jong said that he would return in five days to convey her intentions. Today was the fifth day.
“What happened to your ability to understand?”
“No! When I go from this stage to the next, I still feel pain even if I disperse the qi. What do you expect me to do?!”
“What is this jerk trying to say to his teacher!”
Snap!
“Ahooo! Why do you keep hitting me on the head?”
“I hit you because you have a bad head. I thought you were a little smart, but you are more than just a bit dull.”
“Dull? Dull? Who is! The one who taught me had done it strangely and then said such things…”
Snap!
“DO NOT HIT ME!”
The yelling from the two people in the next room was hurting my ears. This cycle between Jang Mun-ryang and Song Jwa-baek repeated for three days.
It wasn’t even because they had become a real master and disciple pair. They were just doing this every day.
Still, they were a lot better than the first day.
The first day I had asked him to teach Jwa-baek, his expression seemed to say that he would rather have died. Still, things were going well.
-That’s right, he’s holding on to the last lifeline.
As Short Sword said, Song Jwa-baek needed Jang Mun-ryang’s help to inherit the Dead Shadow Arts. Like it or not, he had to acknowledge that man as his teacher.
-Are you really going to confirm it?
We had to try it.
If what Jang Mun-ryang said was true, then this information was crucial.
I placed the water I had prepared into a brass basin. Over the few days we had stayed here for three days, Jang Mun-ryang had told us of many things, and this was one of them.
If this was true, then this would be the best information from everything I heard from Jang Mun-ryang.
-Sh!
After pulling out Short Sword, I placed it on my left wrist. Without hesitation, I cut it lightly above the water to let the blood flow and watched it carefully.
‘…?!’
What was this now?
The wound wasn’t healing?
-For real?
The recovery speed should have been accelerated, but the wound wasn’t healing. Normally, the cut would have healed quickly without a trace, but the blood simply continued to flow.
This time I held Short Sword across my right wrist and cut it.
Shhh!
It didn’t take long for the wound to disappear. This was the normal reaction of my body now, but it still felt odd to me.
I couldn’t believe the wound would stop healing if it became wet.
Shh!
I wiped the still-open wound with a dry towel and continued to watch it.
Before long, the now-dry wound began to heal and slowly recover.
‘… Ah!’
Jang Mun-ryang was telling the truth then. He told me that he was first told after receiving the healing ability to refrain from getting wet.
‘This is why.’
Now all of the questions were solved.
When we first found Jang Mun-ryang after he had been burned by the explosion, he couldn’t recover despite being alive.
However, his recovery powers reactivated once his wet body dried up.
That said, water was the enemy of this healing ability.
-Wonhwi. But that goes for you too.
… right.
As Short Sword said, this wasn’t just their weakness.
This weakness applied to me too. If I fought in the rain and got injured, a slit throat would kill me just as fast.
-Still, it turned out well. If you both have the same weakness, it cannot be used as an advantage.
She was right.
If such a scenario happened, I would need to hide since my ability would no longer work. Instead, it would become an exploitable weakness.
-It is good.
Yes.
This was definitely good information. However, if others came to know of this, I would be simply displaying my weakness.
It would be better to inform select people in the sect and let them respond. However, it was still shocking.
-Wonhwi. Come to think of it, doesn’t it seem like the Revolting Mother knows of this weakness?
That’s right.
Her subordinate, Yang Jong, did say it.
He said that the person they called Lord could not overcome something, and that was why he was looking for the five yokai swords.
Then what the hell was within King Pyung’s tomb.
If water was really a weakness, then was there something in there that could overcome it?
-Then you need to get to it first!
Short Sword’s words held some truth.
If there was something there that could help, I would have the upper hand should I ever have a fight against the Lord.
But I wasn’t sure yet.
-Why?
Would someone like the Lord be this clumsy?
-About what?
Think about it.
This weakness to water could be fatal.
However, if we actually thought about it, it was only an obstacle to recovery, not a hindrance to martial arts.
We would just be the same as everyone else.
-That is true. Is there something else?
There could be.
Something other than water might be the fatal weakness of this man and his organization. There was something that they severely lacked that was making him move carefully around this weakness to water.
I think I need to talk with the Revolting Mother.
-Do you need to take that risk?
It shouldn’t be too much of a risk.
-There’s no such thing as an easy solution. Ugh. Still, how could we not know of this? Wonwhi, you need to be careful during rainy days.
Rainy days? Ah!
Wait.
-What is it?
Think about it. I remembered what the real Cheon Mu-seong had said before he died. There was an eyewitness to the incident where Kunlun was annihilated.
I was quite shocked when I heard this from him.
The man with the golden eye would have noticed the flow of energy, so it would be strange if he missed a witness.
-Then your skills would also be affected in addition to its effects on your recovery.
That could be it.
It might not be because of heavy rain. I would need to use the golden eye when it rained to confirm it, but I don’t have a way to find out about it now.
-Wouldn’t it be fine to just dunk your head into some water in a big basin and check, Wonwhi?
Ah! Iron Sword’s suggestion was good.
I guess I needed to try it.
I needed to talk to the guest house owner and ask for a bathtub.
Kiik!
At that moment, someone opened the door and came inside. It was Sima Young.
As soon as she entered, she saw the bloody cloth and rushed to me.
“Young lord, are you alright? Are you hurt somewhere?”
“I am fine.”
“You are really fine? Let me take a look!”
She looked at my wrist, but no wounds were left.
“What is this blood?”
“This…”
How should I explain this?
This must have been odd since she was unaware of my recovery skills as well as the test I did. I just needed a way to dismiss this.
“I suffered an internal injury a short while ago. This came up as I was treating it.”
“What? For that…”
Right, the blood was clear.
If I had coughed up the blood, the color would be a bit black. She might end up thinking too far into this, so I changed the subject.
I placed the bloody cloth aside and asked Sima Young.
“Have you checked?”
“Yes. The young lady had sent me a message saying they had safely entered Wuhan.”
“… thank goodness.”
Yong Yong had left for the Murim Alliance three days ago. In case anything happened, I had placed some people from the Beggars Union there.
-Your sister is a bit stubborn.
That’s right.
Deep down, I had hoped that she would follow my words after knowing my secrets.
I had asked her to go to the Dual Martial Troops or move with me, but she had gone ahead after saying she needed to finish the mission.
I only saw her as a young child, but she was all grown now.
[I have thought about it a lot, but I don’t think it matters what the past was. It doesn’t matter how we live. Now I understand everything about my brother.]
Yong-yong said that she would do what she wanted.
She also cleverly said that if she was ever in danger, her brother should save her. I could say nothing to that. As her brother, it was difficult for me to stop her from doing what she wanted.
The only thing I could do was make sure that the child wouldn’t get hurt, even if anyone went out of their way to try.
“The young lady is smart, too. She will do well.”
Sima Young tapped my back to comfort me.
I smiled at her in gratitude. However, the hand stroking mine then sneaked into my shirt before I realized it.
‘…?!’
“Young lord.”
“Uh?”
“There are other worries I have aside from that.”
“… what is it?”
“Why does it feel like a lot of young women are being seduced by the young lord? This is the same too.”
Sima Young reached inside my shirt and pulled something out. They were plagues of the Namgung Family and the Eon family that had been given to me before the ladies left.
They said they were blessed and gave me a chance to find them later. However, Namgung Ga-hwi then said something to me before she left.
[I think this is the first time I want to covet someone else’s thing.]
Sima Young had also heard it.
Thanks to that, she had been pouting for three days now. Even if we ended up clashing with the Murim Alliance, she would probably go to subjugate the Namgung family first. That being said, they weren’t empty words.
Tear!
Sima Young suddenly tore off her human skin mask and untied her hair.
“I will no longer wear man’s clothing from now on.”
“Um… that’s fine.”
Her desire to prevent women from trying to seduce me seemed firm. Since her face wasn’t known to many people, it wouldn’t be a problem either.
At that moment, Sima Young’s hand went under my clothes again. This time, she wasn’t rummaging through my pockets but was touching my skin.
“What are you…”
“Shh.”
Sima Young brought her index finger to my lips and spoke in a whispered voice.
“I don’t think the young lord is much distracted, but there is a slight chance.”
“Chance?”
“I read in a book that men lose sight when frustrated.”
… what book was this?
Was she reading such a book for the past three days and decided to act like this? Sima Young’s eyes were strange as she looked at me.
“Young lord, shouldn’t we move this out of the way soon?”
Did she want to do something we wouldn’t normally do?
She then licked her lips like Baek Hye-hyang would.
The move was quite alluring, which made me gulp.
There was no man who would not fall for a woman with Sima Young’s beauty. This was doubly true if she wanted to seduce someone.
It was the suddenness of it that was shocking.
“Young… in the room beside us….”
“Be quiet. All you need to do is keep quiet.”
Sima Young smiled at this and began to undress. Iron Sword then chimed in.
-It seemed like that book was a nice book.
Not you.
-Seems like things are getting steamy here. Make some room.
-Hehehe. Let’s see how well you do.
-What is happening? Take me out of the sheath right now! Right now!
The swords were becoming rowdy.
I grabbed Sima Young’s wrist as she tried to remove her dress, making her frown.
“… You don’t want to?”
I took a deep breath, exhaled, and then said.
“Let’s just put the swords into the sheath first.”
