Is it because I threatened him by mentioning prominent characters?
Even though I asked him to fight, the former Ghost Demon stayed still.
Did he fall into Qi Deviation after finally realizing why he was ugly? Or did he notice my skills to some extent?
This is someone else’s mind, so I have no idea.
Master Yukhap stares at me without saying anything, stares at his subordinates looking like he was gonna kill them, and then looks up and down at my awaiting men.
Then suddenly, Master Yukhap tells me in a blunt tone,
“…I lost today.”
“……?”
“You hide your skills really thoroughly. My men and I will leave. Will you let me go quietly?”
I shake my head as soon as I think,
‘This punk is spewing nonsense again.’
“How vague.”
“What’s vague?”
“That just means you’ll come back to bother us again. Do I look like I have a lot of free time?”
Master Yukhap looks around and says in a calm tone.
“If you let me go, I will try again in 10 years. If I violate the promise, I will meet the Three Disasters and face the misfortune of being beaten to death.”
“No. You were so laid back as if you could kill me anytime, but now you’re going to step down without losing anything? What, is ten years your dog’s name? I didn’t know Kangho’s Master Yukgap is so soft.”
Master Yukhap smiles bitterly.
“Should I cut off my pinky?”
“That won’t be necessary.”
I point to the Gold Silver Seven Insects.
“If a fight breaks out, all seven of them will die first. Even if you are lucky enough to escape, Master Yukhap, leave your subordinates behind. Then I’ll let you go.”
Master Yukhap looks at me.
“Meaning you’re going to kill all my subordinates?”
“Who knows?”
Truth is, I don’t give a damn about his men. I’m just curious about how Master Yukhap feels about his men. In my previous life, I killed them all before fighting Ghost Demon, so I couldn’t figure out what he thought of his men.
I ask, whirling Moonlight Dagger in my hand,
“So, what’s the verdict?”
After a while, Master Yukhap replies.
“If you intend to kill them, I can’t leave them here.”
The Gold Silver Seven Insects looks at Master Yukhap with surprised eyes.
“……!”
For a moment, I grinned.
‘Oh, how surprising. That’s unexpected.’
I get lost in thought for a moment as I look at Master Yukhap.
Is he useful if I keep him alive?
Would he be a useful ally when fighting the Demon Cult or the orthodox?
Does he torment the weak?
How did he become a public enemy?
In short, this guy is like General Wei Yan1, so I have no choice but to be deeply concerned.
It’s a waste to kill off a talent like him.
But too problematic to keep him alive.
We met as public enemies of the Alliance, so we don’t really know much about each other’s pasts.
I realize that worrying about this is the problem. If I have the ability to overpower Master Yukhap, what problem could there be?
After much thought, I made up my mind.
‘That’s right. Let’s think about it after I defeat him.’
Nodding my head, I say,
“Master Yukgap, I’m sure you have noticed that I am not under you.”
Master Yukhap replies,
“I’ve been trying to figure out your skills all this time, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t sense your Qi either. It was hard to gauge your inner Qi.”
Regardless of the past or present, Ghost Demon’s cautious personality still remains.
Master Yukhap says calmly,
“But I noticed one thing.”
“What is it?”
“You mastered both yin and yang martial arts.”
“Oh, interesting. How did you know that?”
I look at the Gold Silver Seven Insects.
“Did you pests notice?”
This time, the bugs respond with honorifics.
“We didn’t know.”
“We did not notice, Leader.”
As I retrieve Moonlight Dagger, I say,
“I see. It’s vague to kill you off, and it’s uncomfortable to let you go. It’s not easy to live in Kangho.”
I say with my hand on my chest,
“The peace of mind…”
Taking a deep breath and sighing, I grasp the table with Crescent Moon Ice Technique injected into my left hand. At that moment, the cold energy spread with a cracking sound and the Gold Silver Seven Insects sitting at the table are all pushed out at once.
Whirling Fiery Fowl Great Handprint in my right hand, I wield it like a thunderbolt to Master Yukhap. Master Yukhap immediately responds to my palm force and an explosion roars.
Boooooooooom!
The impact of the palm force in the center…
After being hit by the surging Crescent Moon Ice Technique, the Gold Silver Seven Insects flew off.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzt!
The pests are hurled from side to side and faint immediately as soon as they hit the wall.
I go outside as I talk to my men.
“…Knock them out if they wake up.”
“Understood.”
While I head outside to the main hall So Gun-pyeong asks me,
“Shall we join you?”
“No, I’ll be on my own.”
“Yes.”
I go out to the inner courtyard and look at Master Yukhap.
“Master…”
“Was that really necessary?”
I answer as I am pulling out Black Hare’s Tooth.
“I’ll spare you. Let’s fight first. Don’t run away.”
Master Yukhap answers, pulling out his long sword.
“It won’t be easy.”
“Ah, that’s more like you.”
Unfortunately for Master Yukhap, I know his martial art skills because I’ve competed against Ghost Demon in my previous life. On the other hand, he knows nothing about my skills. Well, it’s not a big deal. The stronger opponent always wins the fight.
I extend my left hand to So Gun-pyeong who comes out to spectate the fight.
“Throw it, the Night Blade.”
I catch the flying Night Blade with my left hand and hold Black Hare’s Tooth on my right, confronting Master Yukhap in a circle form.
Master Yukhap asks me,
“Using double swords?”
“Shut up.”
“…….”
Since this guy knows that I am going to use Yin and Yang martial arts, I openly inject Crescent Moon Ice Technique and Fire Fowl Energy into the knife and swing around. The blade turns white then red, back and forth…
Wielding double swords, I go against Master Yukhap.
As we fought, I knew.
I haven’t recovered all my martial arts skills from my Crazy Demon days yet. This also applies to Master Yukhap, so he’s lacking compared to his Ghost Demon days.
Which of us recovered more of our skills from our prime times?
Of course, it’s me.
Furthermore, my martial arts routine is different.
I’ve been training Strolling Golden Turtle Technique calmly to avoid falling into Qi Deviation; hence my skills are still lower than when I was Crazy Demon, but the addition of Shadow Moon Martial Arts made my offense and defense combination more advanced.
While I deflect Master Yukhap’s sword, I counter with the double swords whenever there is an opening.
The sounds of iron clashing and the opposite sound of Qi overlapping caused quite the commotion.
Anyway, this is the situation…
The former Ghost Demon endured well. The depth of his inner Qi accumulated over the years is not shallow, and the Six Combination Technique (六合功) he uses is originally an intricate defense-type of martial art.
I don’t know the name of the martial arts in detail.
However, the term “Yukhap” refers to the East, West, North, South, Sky, and Land. He uses a unique sword technique that makes you wonder when he will go on offense as he defends so firmly.
In contrast to his nickname Ghost Demon, he uses an authentic inner Qi of a family clan. Unlike his solid defense and original martial art, he mainly preferred to have the Gold Silver Seven Insects make a sly attack to gain victory.
A combination of authenticity and wickedness.
That’s why I neutralized the Gold Silver Seven Insects before fighting Master Yukhap.
If I’d let them be, hidden weapons, poison, steel needles, whips, daggers, poisonous insects, would have intersected throughout the fight.
I mumble my thoughts since I was bored while cornering Master Yukhap.
“Master Yukhap, Master Yukgap, Master… Yukgap… Yukgap, fuck, moron.”
Dodging the sword aiming for my head, an explosive sound resonates when striking my double sword. The startled Master Yukhap steps back.
I laughed at Master Yukhap, who had stepped back excessively.
“…what a fuss. Is it silliness or a fuss, just pick one.”
“Can’t you just shut your mouth?”
“Shit. If I shut up, that’s not me.”
This is a fight to find my ego. As I resume my attack, as if I was a Tibet monk chanting the Buddhist scriptures, I chant.
“……If I shut up, that’s not me. I am me. You are you. Those who mumble are blessed. He who keeps his mouth shut will be engulfed by anger, Amitabha, jackass, degenerate….”
As I keep muttering while wielding my double swords, my hands and feet fumble clumsily.
‘Jeez, this is making me dizzy.’
A man who gets dizzy by his own rambling, that’s me.
But it’s okay.
What if I get dizzy?
That means this guy is on the verge of going crazy from getting dizzy.
The sixteenth verse of the third chapter of Crazy Demon Schemes2.
Make yourself dizzy first to make the enemy dizzy.
There is no man in Kangho who can withstand madness better than me. I ramble while I corner Master Yukhap until he rebrands himself as Master Yukgap. The moment I confirm that Master Yukhap’s complexion changed unrelated to his inner Qi, I speak calmly.
“Oi, Master Yukhap…”
The former Ghost Demon looks at me with a puzzled expression while wielding a sword.
I shoot the freezing Waning Moon Energy on Night Blade ahead, and attack by piercing through with Fiery Fowl in Black Hare’s Tooth. While rotating my body, I wield the double swords and recite it again.
“Master Yukhap… You look pale. Your energy and blood is a mess. This is an early sign of Qi Deviation. If you don’t surrender now, something bad will happen. This is a critical situation so I’m calling you Master Yukhap. Master Yukgap…”
At that moment, the former Ghost Demon steps back, vomiting dark red blood from his mouth.
Blergh…
“What?”
It seems his Qi and blood is indeed a mess. I corner Master Yukhap. Master Yukhap, that used to deflect my sword with vigor, became feather light like a bamboo stick.
In fact, I am almost about to fall into Qi Deviation from running my mouth….
It must have been hard for Ghost Demon to hold out, too.
I stab the stumbling Master Yukhap in the shoulder, slash his forearm, stab his thigh, cut his side, and kick him.
As blood splatters, Master Yukhap spins around in the air. I chase after him, kicking Master Yukhap’s sword away, let go of Night Blade, and jab Master Yukhap’s whole body with Waning Moon Finger Technique.
Hit, hit, hit, hit, hit, hit!
With his whole body frozen, Master Yukhap looks up at me with a blank expression.
“…….”
I look down at Master Yukhap and whisper,
“Master Yukgap, I’ll call a doctor and treat you, so please wait. You can’t die.”
I reach out and flick Master Yukhap out of consciousness.
Flick!
Complete darkness.
Feeling his body restrained, the former Ghost Demon Master Yukhap opens his eyes. The blaring sunlight makes him squint his eyes. He remembers what happened just before he fainted in bated breath.
‘Low-Down Sect Leader.’
Master Yukhap moves his eyes around to inspect his surroundings. His subordinates were hung upside down all over the plum tree.
‘We’re captured.’
Then, people approach as he hears someone’s voice.
“Master Yukhap is awake.”
“How is he?”
“He’s not in a critical state anymore.”
“Good.”
Master Yukhap tries to move, but his whole body is tied and bound to the bed. Furthermore, every time he moves, his knife wounds feel like they are on fire.
‘Let’s just breathe out and wait…’
A man wearing a white hood appears in Master Yukhap’s sight. Next to him is the one Low-Down Sect Leader called “Sung-tae.” A conversation ensues between the two.
The man, who covered most of his face with a white hood, says as if to record it.
“His fever has gone down a lot.”
Next to him, the man named Sung-tae writes down on a paper that appears to be a questionnaire in his hand with a thin brush
“Yes, the fever has gone down a lot.”
“Sword wounds all over his body, four places, here, there, here, here.”
“Here, he was slashed by a sword.”
“He also got hit by Ice Technique. Severe internal injuries.”
“You mean he’s shaking, so it means he incurred severe internal wounds.”
“Condition: critical.”
“Me?”
“Not you.”
“I see.”
“You’re done writing, right? Then go to Doctor, Doctor, Doctor Moyong and go get a prescription.”
“I understand.”
“Tell him not to come, if he’s busy. This guy is not my subordinate. If he dies, then it can’t be helped.”
“All right. I’ll be back.”
“Don’t go now. Eat up before you go.”
“Ah, I’m hungry.”
Master Yukhap breathes heavily and stares at the man with a white hood. The man lowers the white hood that is covering his mouth and asks Master Yukhap.
“Sir, what? Drink more lukewarm water, and you need to quit smoking to recover quickly. Take note.”
Master Yuk-Hap watches the Low-Down Sect Leader unveil his hood. As soon as he sees Low-Down Sect Leader’s face, he feels dizzy.
“…….”
Low-Down Sect Leader suddenly grips his wounded shoulder tightly and says,
“I’ll save you, so hang in there. Yukgap…”
“……Urghh.”
Master Yukhap didn’t say his shoulder hurt. There was no energy left in his body. Meanwhile, Low-Down Sect Leader lowers his head and whispers,
“You can’t die without my permission. All right? I’ll do everything in my power to heal you. Low-Down Sect’s quack doc, that’s me.”
Master Yukhap faints once again while listening to Low-Down Sect Leader’s whisper.
Editor’s Note
