I ran with a calm mind.
It wasn’t an easy task to catch up, but the more I ran the more it felt like I was getting faster. It felt like my organs, which were tangled up, were beginning to move back to their rightful place. And this is how I managed to chase after the guy.
I could even laugh while running.
The pain of my enemy is my pleasure. If me being in pain can make them suffer more, I can laugh while running through it. Moreover, if the enemy belongs to the Demonic side, then I can run through the central plains from start to end, skipping meals and even sleep.
After a while, the guy turns back and holds his hand out.
“Wait, wait.”
“Tired?”
I ask him as he is catching his breath.
“Fine. Get good rest.”
White Face Young Lord, who is preparing for a surprise attack because he is gasping for air, straightens his back and glares at me. But I remain calm as I say,
“What? Get rest.”
“Come on.”
The distance between us two is around 15m, so I grab onto the wooden sword and prepare to rush to him.
“I am coming.”
After catching his breath, White Face Young Lord begins to run again. I too spread-out light footwork without getting to draw my sword out. And as I run down fiercely, the situation feels a lot clearer and calmer. As I get faster than before, I can even speak comfortably while running shoulder to shoulder with him.
“Will you not run fast? Go fast! Now!”
Well, my purpose isn’t to kill him on the spot. If he is a warrior with good enough skills, there is a high chance that one wrong move to kill him will leave me with the wrong information. So, I will be beating the guy down. Suppressing that mind of his is even more important.
Again, he stops and inhales.
“….”
I wait with my arms crossed.
“Fine. Rest and then move.”
Only then did that idiot understand my motive and ask,
“So, the reason you are doing this to me, is to find out my base?”
I don’t have to think to answer this.
“Well, you can think of it like that.”
“You must be insane if you think I will show it to you.”
“Ah, I am fine either way. Guide me now. But do not do stupid things like taking me to the Demonic Cult instead of your base. I know where it is.”
He nods.
“Follow me. If I guide you there, I will not be safe either. I have no idea what your source of confidence is as the leader of a sect I never even heard of. But I will take you.”
And so, I follow White Face Young Lord with a calm expression.
I want to find out how to get rid of the withdrawal symptoms the others were going through. And I have to find out where he is getting his forces from, but the problem here is my anger. I have been really patient till now, but the human heart cannot be trusted.
I speak as I naturally walk with him.
“White Face, I can hear the sound of your head being used. It is hard to shake me off, and embarrassing to take me to the base, and it seems like you have no chance to win against me. What more can you be worried about?”
“Sect Leader, just what do you want?”
“What do I want? You are the ones who sent assassins to kill me. I must have looked funny for you people to order only one guy’s troops to come deal with us. Actually, we have a lot of idiots in the Low-Down Sect, so you can look down on those idiots, but you cannot underestimate their Sect Leader. And that is what I will make clear today.”
“That is why you are making this mess?”
“If I kill you here, no one will realize how scary I can be, so I won’t. That isn’t even the right thing to do.”
The White Face guy stops and looks at me as he sighs. I begin to look him in the eyes and he does the same.
“What is it? Change your mind?”
The guy continues to glare and then moves to the side. When the guy moved, it was like his body separated into two people looking exactly the same. And then the two moved to four.
I watch him with my arms crossed.
“Right, must be a part of the Illusion Demon’s side of the family.”
That didn’t mean that this guy was the Illusion Demon. Maybe the one who offered his daughter to the sect leader was one from the Illusion Demon’s side. If that guy had been wearing the original white mask, this Illusion Shadow Demon Arts would have felt a bit more effective. At some point the number of bodies increased.
White Face Young Lord seemed to use this only after being through enough. I continue to watch him with a calm mind. It wouldn’t be easy to find the real one now.
“… you made me use it.”
As expected, even his voice is resonating around the illusions.
So, I tell him,
“White Face, do not do anything stupid and let’s just move now.”
At that moment, all the illusions drew their swords and rushed for me but I just stood there and received the swords of the illusions.
It is unlikely for the one using this technique to attack first and reveal the main body. Four swords reached my body from the north, south, east, and west but they were illusions like I thought.
I look around as I say,
“Pity right? You didn’t think I would be still right? Bastard.”
Actually, the thing with illusions is that the swords cutting through the air neither make sound, nor do the flapping clothes. This was the weakness of this technique.
In order to use this perfectly, one has to also learn the assassin’s martial arts. At the very least, they have to combine both to make me run like a mad dog in a neighborhood.
But this guy wasn’t that strong.
I move like I am taking a calm walk and then catch the swords thrown at me. Still, the field the guy chose to fight in was nice.
There is no wind, it is flat ground, and there is a creek somewhere around which continuously creates the sound of flowing water. I walk around as I continue to slap the illusions and they begin to vanish.
Of course, if one was inexperienced they would swing their swords at the illusions and then be shocked when the real opponent strikes after spotting an opening.
Cacaccacacaca!
The moment I hear the sound of stones clashing in the sky I immediately pull my wooden sword out. He seemed to notice that I was trying to listen to the sounds. There was the sound of tiny iron stones hitting one another.
I move my wooden sword toward the vision ahead.
“Did you put marbles in the sword sheath? Fucking child. You did good.”
I mouth the words “Ho, ah, hap, eh” while trying to move and swing the wooden sword lightly as if cutting down plum blossoms by doing a sword dance.
When I dance while holding the sword, I swear it has its own charm. I think of rushing as I practice.
“Not bad. It was good to train.”
I swing the wooden sword while spitting out words which made no sense. Muffled sounds could be heard.
“Well, the weather seems to be getting hot again.”
I use the Three Style Sword Attack and try to thrust the sword in with a bizarre movement which no sect would have.
“Rains down and then stops and then it rains all day.”
I move my feet recklessly around as I thrust the sword moving my hips to the side.
“Be damned man, I am tired of it all. It is my time. Hungry despite eating? You must have a beggar in your stomach, a bastard who can only spit on the ground, bastard spits around. Fucking….”
I continue to mumble nonsense and then a thought comes to mind. For a moment it feels like I went back to my days as a server, and it gives me the creeps.
“Illusion Shadow Demonic Arts is scary. For a moment I thought I was a server.”
“….”
Suddenly the illusions vanish with the real one alone and he is staring at me.
“Low-Down Sect Leader.”
“What?”
“I clearly feel the difference. I will guide you now.”
I nod.
“Right. You are doing the right thing. Guide me and do not try to mess around. My mind is in a calm state now, so do not try to make me angry. Before sending you to where Yeop Ya-hyung is, learn to act in line. Remember that your life remains if I am sane, alright?”
He nods his head and turns to walk.
I manage to close the distance and stand right next to him. This startles the guy, and he has to take a deep breath.
“Fuck.”
I put my wooden sword inside and speak normally.
“So White Face, let’s talk while walking. Is the grandfather of yours the Illusion Demon? Among the families who gave their daughters to the Cult Leader. I think, the….”
While I am talking I stretch my hand out and grab the left arm of White Face and infuse the Full Moon Ice Arts.
“….!”
The guy is shocked at his left arm which froze in an instant. He does all he can to release the coldness around. After making sure he doesn’t infuse Qi to release it, I get ready to punch him in the face with my left hand.
Puack!
At that moment, he tried to defend himself with his left hand, but it was already frozen.
The moment when this idiot’s Qi slowly starts dispersing, I switch my right hand into absorbing his Qi and then thrust my fist into his face, chest and stab him in the stomach.
Puak! Puak! Puak!
“Kuak!”
I glare into his red eyes as I continue to absorb his internal Qi.
“… do you think I am funny to deal with?”
At the confirmation that his dantian was being drained out of internal Qi, he screams.
“KWAAAAAAAK!”
I cover his mouth with my left hand.
“Be quiet, it will all end soon.”
I grab him by the collar, lift him high up, and then slam his body down to the ground making him cough up blood. I make sure to tilt my head to not be touched by his blood and continue my task.
“Be quiet now.”
I shut his mouth. I have to concentrate because if I lose concentration then White Face Young Lord will die.
What had changed in this duration were those eyes of his. It was as if a vast lake turned into a small stream of waterfall.
And I make eye contact with him as I say,
“White Face. Do not die, kid. If you think you are going to die, ask for help. That way we can get you to live.”
When I let go of his mouth, he speaks in a frail manner.
“Save… me.”
After tilting my head, I continue to absorb the same.
“Wait a minute. People don’t die that easily. Not yet.”
I take my hands back as soon as I see his skin crack like a desert ground. White Face passes out with blood leaking down his lips.
I put my hand on his neck to check his pulse.
“Woah, almost got you killed.”
I have to slap the guy in the face to get him back and say,
“If you do not open your eyes now, I will send you to Yeop Ya-hyung.”
The moment I say it, the guy opens his eyes and I bend down to get down to his eye level.
“Why are you looking at me like this? You either must be out of your mind, or have enough energy to get hit again, right?”
I get ready to flick him on his forehead until he speaks.
“Sect Leader, spare me.”
Tapping his face ever so lightly on the forehead, I ask,
“Spare you?”
“Please. I lost, right?”
I lower my head down to whisper.
“Hmm, firstly there is something I am curious about. Please answer carefully. If you mess with the answer, I will be beating you to death. So, think carefully.”
“….”
Clearing my throat, I ask him.
“… how does it feel to be weak?”
His eyes shuddered at my nonsensical question to him.
“How are you feeling? Wouldn’t it be that you were never weak? Isn’t this your first time experiencing this? I am curious now, so please answer quickly. We have almost run out of Qi now. I mean, you are sick. Which means you cannot even take down the sickest person in Low-Down Sect. Have you ever imagined yourself to be weak? Young lord?”
The guy is so pale that falling limp any moment wouldn’t be shocking.
I grab him by the collar and say in a cold tone,
“Yah, you fucking trash. Who told you to lose your sanity! Answer me. I am more curious about this than your base.”
In an instant, he passes out with his eyes closed.
“No? This bastard. He didn’t even answer….”
I sit close to his head and continue to stare at him. Until he recovers from fainting..
I think to wait and stare because if he comes back to his senses, I can ask him right then. Whenever I become bored, I shake him.
“Look here, how does it feel to be weak?”
Yet, no answer.
