“I’m not surprised anymore.”
I look impassively at Baek So-ah and Heuk So-ryeong, who fainted without my permission.
Though I have thrashed several She-Devils (女魔頭) known for their evil deeds in my Crazy Demon days, I never killed any women weaker than me.
Furthermore, fainting in their weakest state possible is testing my conscience.
Suddenly, I recall the faces of the She-Devils and compare them to the two unconscious women.
Evildoers do not come in genders.
However, the common characteristic of She-Devils is the fact that their faces show that they have no luck. Most of the time, the allure was replaced where luck should be.
Rather than their allure coming from being man-crazed, it is instead caused by the martial arts they master.
She-Devils who master the Yang Energy Conversion Technique, such as Switching Yang To Yin, often maintain their youth by forcibly sucking the essence of teenagers and youngsters.
The problem is, they are also adept masters who’ve fought for a long time during my Crazy Demon days, so they are opponents I can’t let my guard down on.
I inspect them closely when I suspect the unconscious Baek So-ah and Heuk So-ryeong to be younger versions of the She-Devils I knew from my previous life. I would beat them to death right here and now if they are indeed them.
“Not you.”
I grab Baek So-ah and Heuk So-ryeong by the collar, sit down, and give each a slap.
Slap! Slap!
“Today’s your lucky day.”
The two knocked-out people slowly come to their senses.
Outside, people are still heading for the fighting pit crying “Fire,” but there are no risks of a big fire breakout. The fighting pit is an independent building, and the lower center arena is sunken.
As soon as they open their eyes, they begin crying again.
“Stop crying.”
I go to the corner and tell them this as I give my face a light wash.
“You better shut your mouth before I throw you into the fire pit.”
After washing my face, I sit on a chair in front of the bed, staring at the two.
I’m a kind man, so I explain to them the story of the fire show.
“The Narak Society is gone. Dong Bang-yeon, Pyeong Gun-sa, Ouyang Bok are dead. And many others too. If you don’t want to go up to heaven and set up a cotton cloud rainbow gambling house with the dead guys in heaven, answer my questions well. Got it?”
Freed from their pressure points, the two respond shortly.
“Yes.”
“I promised Ouyang Bok like a man. If I win against the whole Narak Society, I will own everything that belongs to the Narak Society. As you can see, I won, and Ouyang Bok ascended as soon as he asked for a winner’s tip. I’m concerned. He should stop gambling in heaven. You guys should pay a silent prayer to Ouyang Bok.”
“…….”
I fiddle around for Moonlight Dagger and say.
“Do I have to take the knife out for you to pray?”
“We’ll do it.”
I watch the two pay silent tribute with closed eyes. Heuk So-ryeong is trembling, and Baek So-ah has a runny nose with her eyes closed.
“Now open your eyes.”
I ask the two who opened their eyes.
“I’m sure he’s off to a good place, right?
Heuk So-ryeong and Baek So-ah answer me simultaneously.
“Yes.”
I reply to them in a deadpan.
“No, that won’t happen.”
“…….”
“You can only go to a good place if you extort from one or two people. How can he be off in a good place? Am I right?”
“That’s right.”
“Since he died in a fire, he must have gone straight to the inferno. Tomorrow, my men will bring carts and carriages. Tell my men where Ouyang Bok hid his fortune and have your cooperation to smoothly retrieve Narak Society’s funds. Can you do that?”
“Yes, we can.”
“Great. Rest up. If you seize the chance to run away just because your pressure points are worn off… Rainbow gambling house, got it?”
Baek So-ah then asks.
“Isn’t there a fire outside?”
“Fire? I see. I’ll keep the fire under control.”
“Can’t you just release us?”
“Shut up. Controlling the fire comes first.”
Standing up, I pull back the curtains of the Phoenix guest room and leave. Naturally, the flames are only flaming up in the fighting pit. Walking down and spectating the chaotic street, I enter the empty Narak Inn.
I can’t see errand boy Jo-pal, and the white wine I didn’t touch is still there. Of course, all the Narak Society fighters are all missing.
Just as I send the errand boy Il-bo to the Black Rabbit Union, errand boy Jo-pal must’ve gone to the Nanming Society with Ouyang Bok’s letter.
I roll up my sleeves and murmur.
“Shall we look at the King of Gamble’s residence?”
I head inside, passing through a narrow hallway, to the kitchen, the errand boy’s room, and the warehouse, before arriving at the end of the hallway.
A thick iron door that did not match the guest inn was blatantly standing there.
I didn’t take the keys from the corpses in the fighting pit, so instead, I unsheathe the Moonlight Dagger and heat it up using the Fire Chicken. As it glows red, I press Moonlight Dagger into the keyhole, step back and kick down the iron door.
Bang!
It is a large room similar in size to the guest inn. Looking around in this place, I note that his place as the King of Gamble is nothing more than a prison. The owner did not leave the house because he was protecting the money tucked away in the back.
“The King of Gamble lived a useless life.”
The inside is full of all kinds of expensive-looking furniture and collections.
How can an inn owner collect these luxury items? I have no particular interest in antiques or items of aesthetic value, so I stop looking.
As I go to the desk that Ouyang Bok used, I find a half-written letter.
「Narak Society has been attacked by some crazy lunatic. I couldn’t predict his martial arts skills, tricks don’t work on him either, and he knows much about Narak Society. All this time, I have been devoted to the Nanming Society orders without requesting aid」
That is all written on the letter, and an ink line is also drawn in the center.
Suddenly, as I look at the right wall of the desk, I spot six portraits. The portraits are unfamiliar faces from the first to the fifth, but I can immediately recognize the last portrait.
The Nanming Society Leader, Nam Ga-rak (南佳峈).
The Narak Society seems to have sponsored six previous Nanming Society Leaders.
I stare at Nam Ga-rak’s portrait for a moment. Of course, I know his name and face well, but I have never engaged with him in person, so I have to rely on information and memory.
“He was doing well and suddenly died in the hands of a master. Who was it again? It wasn’t the Crazy Monk… Ah, it was to the Nameless (無名) Assassin.”
The culprit who killed Nam Ga-rak was quite lowkey, so it remained an unsolved mystery for a long time. Still, having lost their leader, the Nanming Society identified the culprit to be an assassin faction called the Spright Clan (一葦渡江) and declared an all-out war.
The Nanming Society was ruined shortly after.
However, there are more rumors about the Nanming Society circulating in Kangho.
It is partly due to the Spright Clan, who gained victory after incurring a great loss. The Nanming Society also fought a ridiculously intense war against the fairly powerful Spright Clan.
Since they are lunatics who fight until their faction is annihilated, I must reconsider how I should deal with the Nanming Society.
The case of the Spright Clan killing the Nanming Society Leader is useless right now because the incident only takes place in a few years.
I remove the portrait of Nan Ga-rak from the wall. I take down all the other portraits, smash them on the ground, and look at the wall. Near the center, covered by the six portraits, there is a metal door that seems like a secret safe.
It is a strange door that has no keyholes or locks. I look at the walls and ceilings, follow an imaginary line, and glance at the desk again. This is a systemic device connected to the desk that is designed to be opened at the same time.
I open the desk drawer one by one, close them back, and try to lift the inkstone on the desk but get no reaction. When I gently press the inkstone, I feel a pretty significant resistance.
I press the inkstone with appropriate strength and add palm force.
Immediately, a rattling sound rings out from somewhere.
When I go to the wall and push the metal door, another mechanical sound follows as the iron door opens outward with a click.
“……!”
Swoosh — I step aside as soon as I hear the sound of the wind. A metal needle from the inside of the metal door fires and shoots across to the opposite wall.
Thud!
What on Earth did he hide to prepare this shit?
When I peek inside from a distance away, to my surprise, I can see a clean-cut, thin metal piece. I can’t touch it recklessly, so I bring a lamp from the desk and light up the inside.
“Hmm…”
I thought that it was gold, but it’s black in color.
The surface looks rough and hard.
I took out the Moonlight Dagger to gouge out the unidentifiable piece of metal and bring it to the desk. Making sure that the surface is not poisoned, I use the tip of Moonlight Dagger to draw on the metal surface.
Although I have drawn it as finely as if I am engraving letters, the tip of Moonlight Dagger can not penetrate its surface.
“It’s darksteel (玄鐵).”
Though Ouyang Bok had already paid a hefty amount of money to the Nanming Society, he didn’t seem to have any intention of presenting darksteel to them. I am curious about where he got this, but the owner is already deceased.
I carry the darksteel out of the safe door onto the desk. I can spot a small booklet and a black ring inside, but I want to look at the darksteel first.
Something comes to mind, so when I try to carve it into a shape, it becomes a black, long sword (長劍).
It is incredible.
I am not surprised that it was a long sword made out of darksteel, but I am more curious about how it was molded.
What kind of master in this world can make a sword out of darksteel?
Forget my Crazy Demon days, even the top masters who were stronger than I couldn’t even break darksteel into pieces.
Perhaps Ouyang Bok wanted to mold this into a new weapon.
However, the reason why it was only kept here will forever be a mystery.
I’m not a blacksmith, but this looked at least a few centuries old. There is a perception that weapons made of darksteel are indestructible, but I throw away that misconception after seeing this. Nothing in this world is indestructible.
Perhaps the owner of the long sword was a great master.
However, when that solid, long sword broke, the sword owner died. This indicates the faith and belief you held are broken. Only then did I somehow understand what Crazy Monk had said to me.
“If you break your faith, you’re a dead man, so you don’t have to worry.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just like what I said.”
Instead, it sounded as if weapons would hinder the process of gaining further martial art knowledge. I finally realized that Crazy Monk’s words should be interpreted differently depending on my experience and skills. Perhaps I couldn’t understand half of Crazy Monk’s words in my past life.
I take out the booklet and ring from the metal door, place them on the desk, and start reading the booklet.
Generational Swordsman (一代劍豪) Grandmaster Ouyang (歐陽武極).
Grandmaster Heavy Sword (武極重劍)
I smile as soon as I see the following sentence.
「Grandmaster Ouyang has lost to me seven times, who had no prestige. He was a prideful man, but the stronger party won nonetheless. I knew I would win before the fight, so I was nonchalant. However, Grandmaster Ouyang could not accept this. He didn’t even ask for the cause of defeat. I understand the Kangho warriors’ mindset, but how do I explain that he couldn’t move on to the next stage because of that mindset? When I pointed out his flaws, I got the answer that it was too late to learn again. I beg to differ. How can one be late and early when it comes to learning? I know things don’t always go their way. When I honestly told him not many have competed against me in Kangho, he was even more shocked. I didn’t mean to put him into Qi Deviation, but Grandmaster Ouyang only trained with his own sword for a long time, and mind training and swordsmanship are subpar methods. This is often the case for Kangho warriors. I briefly summarize the martial arts technique of Grandmaster Ouyang that I faced at his dying request, who couldn’t overcome his wounded heart. The people who obtained this sword method should only use this with good intentions. I guarantee you will end up miserable if you use this for the wrong reasons.
Ki Sung-ja (記性子).」
I already noticed that it is a booklet written by Ki Sung-ja while reading, as it contains the same tone as the author of the Strolling Golden Turtle Technique’s manual.
The reason why Ouyang Bok hid it is simple.
Ki Sung-ja’s martial arts teachings are too profound.
Knowing it was out of his abilities, Ouyang Bok won’t understand what it meant even if he read it. Furthermore, it is clear that the prophecy that he would be miserable if used for the wrong reasons weighed on his mind.
However, no one understands Ki Sung-ja more than I do in this present Kangho.
Therefore, the Grandmaster Ouyang Technique is a sword method only I can clearly understand in the world.
Suddenly, I think.
I can’t believe he challenged Ki Sung-ja seven times, the person who invented the Strolling Golden Turtle Technique…
Grandmaster Ouyang, just how strong were you at that time?
