Chapter 688: You Lose Your Wits Whenever You Enter This Room
Chapter 688: You Lose Your Wits Whenever You Enter This Room
“Father, did you call for me?”
An Hu-pyeong entered the main hall where the Sinhwa Guild Master conducted his affairs.
An Cheong-gwang, the Sinhwa Guild Master.
He was a truly legendary figure who had transformed the Sinhwa Guild from a minor local sect into a major power feared by everyone in the Unorthodox Path.
His martial arts were profound, and his personality was anything but ordinary. He was a man of immense grit who never failed to retaliate against those who crossed him, and he wouldn't so much as blink if a blade were held to his throat. Above all, he possessed a thirst for success stronger than anyone else's.
There were two guests in the hall. When An Hu-pyeong identified them, he flinched in surprise.
Whenever his father’s legendary rise was mentioned, two masters were always cited—the two protagonists who, alongside his father, had made the Sinhwa Guild what it was today.
The Yeomsa Sword and the Iron Cold Blade.
Had they not assisted his father as if his affairs were their own, the Sinhwa Guild could never have grown to this scale. Consequently, his father treated them with more respect than his own family.
And as long as his father’s ambitions remained in motion, there would be no "discarding the hounds after the hunt."
It was rare to see either of them, yet here they were, together in one place.
“Greetings, elders.”
An Hu-pyeong bowed to them politely.
The two masters gave a single nod, acknowledging his greeting with nothing but a cold gaze. Naturally, An Hu-pyeong felt a prickle of resentment at their attitude.
Regardless of my age, I am still the Young Guild Master.
Since it had been a while, couldn't they at least ask how he had been?
It wasn't that he hated them; he hated his father. Those two masters were inherently cold-hearted and wicked individuals. However, if his father truly cherished and trusted him, they wouldn't treat him with such indifference—if only out of respect for his father’s position.
Just how much must his father look down on him for these men to ignore him so blatantly?
An Cheong-gwang asked abruptly, “I heard you met the Heavenly Flower Pavilion Master?”
“Yes, I am just returning from meeting her.”
“Why did you meet someone I summoned as a judge?”
“Is she not the owner of the most famous courtesan house in the Central Plains? I assumed she must be an extraordinary person, so I visited her thinking there might be something to learn.”
An Hu-pyeong thoroughly hid his true intentions.
Honestly, he wanted to ask: Are you infatuated with that woman? Is that why you called a mere madam to be a judge?
But given his father’s temperament, such a question would surely invite a thunderous scolding. Moreover, saying that in front of the Yeomsa Sword and the Iron Cold Blade might actually get him killed.
“I heard you changed the final judge to the Heavenly Flower Pavilion Master, Father.”
He hoped his father would explain the reasoning behind the change.
“It is not your concern.”
This was exactly why he couldn't help but be suspicious and worried.
Not my concern? The guild’s assets are at stake. Does this place belong solely to you, Father?
Just then, a subordinate entered and reported.
“We have word that one of the participants in this tournament is from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”
An Cheong-gwang’s expression hardened instantly. The Yeomsa Sword and the Iron Cold Blade also exchanged sharp glances.
“Are you certain?”
“We are currently verifying through the Unorthodox Path Alliance.”
“Report back as soon as you find out.”
“Yes, sir.”
The subordinate rushed out.
An Cheong-gwang, turning back toward the two elders, issued an expulsion order to his son.
“You may leave now.”
An Hu-pyeong bowed politely and turned to leave, but he glanced back at his father at the door. His father was already deep in a serious conversation with the two masters.
What could be so serious?
If it were a martial arts tournament, he might understand, but wasn't this a beauty pageant?
What did it matter if a participant was from the Demonic Cult or the daughter of an Orthodox hero? It was just a festival for the entire Murim to enjoy.
When the tournament was first decided, his father had said:
— Through this tournament, there will be no one in the Central Plains who does not know the name of our guild.
If even the Demonic Cult participated, wouldn't that fulfill the purpose even better?
Yet the atmosphere was anything but festive.
Something is definitely happening that I don't know about.
When he stepped out of the main hall, Sa Chu, who had been waiting, delivered some news.
“Teacher Yong has arrived and went to see the Heavenly Flower Pavilion Master.”
An Hu-pyeong was startled by the unexpected news.
“Already? How?”
“The Guild Master summoned him, so Teacher Yong was already here at the headquarters.”
Usually, Teacher Yong stayed outside. But his father had already called him to the main base? This made An Hu-pyeong even more curious about what was going on.
“And yet he went there without even meeting me?”
“You know Teacher Yong’s personality.”
Of course, he knew it well. The man was impatient and reckless—completely uncontrollable, though his skills were undeniably top-tier.
The reason he was called "Teacher" was simply because he insisted on it.
His father had always believed the man would eventually cause a major disaster and thus never used him for important tasks, which was exactly how An Hu-pyeong had been able to join hands with him.
“I told you he’s a difficult man to control.”
That was why he had argued against summoning him.
An Hu-pyeong scowled and glared at Sa Chu.
“If you had done your job properly, there would have been no need to call him.”
Sa Chu bowed his head without making an excuse. He knew An Hu-pyeong well; the man viewed excuses as a challenge. In times like this, silence was the best policy.
An Hu-pyeong quickened his pace. Now was not the time to berate Sa Chu.
I have to see that annoying brat get thrashed with my own eyes.
Especially that one who was as handsome as a gigolo! That guy was the target today.
An Hu-pyeong strode toward the guest hall where the Heavenly Flower Pavilion Master was staying.
*
The words Teacher Yong heard most often were:
Even for the Unorthodox Faction, isn't this too much?
That sentence summed up his life.
He had committed acts without hesitation that would make even the most hardened villains of the Unorthodox Faction recoil.
Today, Teacher Yong was furious.
He had flown to the Sinhwa Guild the moment the Guild Master summoned him. He had arrived with high expectations, wondering what task he would be given, but two days had passed without him even seeing the Guild Master’s face.
Then, hearing that the Guild Master was meeting with the Yeomsa Sword and the Iron Cold Blade first made his blood boil.
“Leeches living off their old reputations!”
Once An Hu-pyeong took the position of Guild Master, he planned to deal with those two first. To ensure that, he had to fulfill the task the future Guild Master had entrusted to him.
Teacher Yong arrived at the guest hall where the Heavenly Flower Pavilion Master was staying.
Sa Chu had told him to "roughly" teach the most handsome of the guards a lesson.
Consider yourself unlucky today.
Because his definition of "roughly" was going to be quite violent today.
Teacher Yong slowly pushed open the door to the guest hall.
The scene inside unfolded before him.
The Extreme Evil Smiling Demon and the Heavenly Flower Pavilion Master were sitting side by side drinking tea, while the Faceless Guests were scattered throughout the room, resting.
The eyes of everyone inside turned toward Teacher Yong simultaneously.
Why did he do it? Truly, why?
Slide, click.
Teacher Yong closed the door again. He closed it quietly, like someone who had walked into the wrong room.
Standing outside the closed door, Teacher Yong asked himself:
Why did I close the door?
No one had drawn a weapon, and no one had even released killing intent. They had simply looked at him in a peaceful atmosphere.
Yet, unable to withstand those gazes, his hand had moved on its own to close the door.
Am I... afraid? No way!
This was a first for him, and he was bewildered.
It was then.
Thwack!
A dagger burst through the door.
The protruding blade stopped right in front of his left pupil. If it had come out just a fraction more, his eye would have been pierced.
Even as he stared at the blade in front of his eye, Teacher Yong did not step back. He instinctively sensed that the attack wasn't meant to kill him.
Thwack!
Another dagger pierced through beside it. This one, too, stopped precisely in front of his other pupil.
Still, Teacher Yong did not retreat.
Thwack!
Another dagger burst through and stopped at his throat, but he didn't move.
Thwack!
The final dagger stopped right in front of his heart.
All four daggers were aimed at his vitals.
They hadn't intended to kill him from the start. They were showing him that they could target his vitals with absolute precision.
A martial artist piercing a door with a dagger might not seem like much, but the technique displayed here was far beyond ordinary.
The daggers were perfectly level, having accurately calculated the position of his eyes and throat from behind the door. What was more astonishing was the precise distance control—they were just barely touching him.
Furthermore, the problem was that this wasn't one person throwing multiple daggers.
Each dagger was different.
Since no one would carry such a variety of daggers, it meant several people had each contributed a strike.
Could it be?
The fact that it looked as if a single person had thrown them meant their skills were not only exceptional but also perfectly uniform.
Sliiiide.
The protruding daggers were all withdrawn at once.
The slowly vanishing blades seemed to say:
Leave if you want to live.
Normally, he would have smashed the door down and stormed in.
How dare they pull this on me? He would have twisted and snapped the wrists of the bastards who threw those daggers. He had been told to just "teach them a lesson," but he would have broken them all.
That was the kind of man he was.
But his body wouldn't move. He didn't want to go in. Yet, he couldn't just turn back either.
To endure such humiliation? He had never done that in his life.
If he just left, what would he say to the Young Guild Master? What if rumors spread through the guild that he had turned back out of fear?
He should have left when his instincts first warned him.
His survival instinct could not overcome the habits of the life he had led.
He opened the door again, walked inside, and shouted boldly, “Are you bastards wearing veils like a bunch of girls?”
But Teacher Yong flinched and his eyes widened at the sight inside.
Huh?
The people inside were not wearing veils. Instead of veils, they were wearing pure white masks.
Creeeeeak.
The white mask closing the door behind him was smiling.
*
When An Hu-pyeong arrived at the guest hall, he expected to hear screams of agony, but it was surprisingly quiet.
“Surely... he didn't kill them, did he?”
Sa Chu answered An Hu-pyeong’s concern. “Just in case, I told him they were the Guild Master’s guests.”
An Hu-pyeong felt relieved at those words. Teacher Yong was reckless, but even he feared his father.
An Hu-pyeong was looking forward to it.
The sight of that guard collapsed on the floor with a swollen face and broken teeth.
You were smiling so arrogantly, weren't you? Let's see if you're smiling today.
And he planned to personally rip off and shred that damn veil—unless Teacher Yong had already done so.
With that thought, An Hu-pyeong pushed open the guest hall door and entered.
“Since you’ve arrived, you should have seen me first instead of—”
An Hu-pyeong stopped mid-sentence. Teacher Yong, who he assumed would be there, was nowhere to be found.
The Heavenly Flower Pavilion Master was drinking tea, and the Extreme Evil Smiling Demon, who had been looking out the window, turned to look at him. The rest of the Faceless Guests were scattered around the room. Some were maintaining their weapons, some were resting in chairs, and one was even folding clothes.
Seeing them spending such a peaceful moment, An Hu-pyeong turned to Sa Chu and asked with his eyes:
What happened? Didn't you say Teacher Yong came here first?
Sa Chu looked just as confused.
An Hu-pyeong turned back and asked the Heavenly Flower Pavilion Master, “Did someone come by here?”
The Heavenly Flower Pavilion Master shook her head. “No, no one has come.”
Right, if he had come, these guys wouldn't be so fine.
An Hu-pyeong’s gaze shifted to the Smiling Demon.
The man who had been standing by the window was now standing behind the Heavenly Flower Pavilion Master, watching him.
The other Faceless Guests were also staring at him. No one was smiling.
Mere guards!
It felt incredibly unpleasant to be stared at so intently by these people when he was the Young Guild Master of the Sinhwa Guild.
Moreover, their eyes held neither respect nor fear. It was an unsettling gaze, as if they were looking at an animal trapped in a cage.
Where the hell did he go without breaking these guys?
Meanwhile, Sa Chu was examining the door.
He had noticed marks on the door when they entered. He checked the inside as well, and there were identical marks in the same spots.
Those are marks from blade penetrations!
Realizing those marks hadn't been there when he first visited, the hair on his arms stood on end.
Could it be? He was here?
He looked around. Not a single piece of furniture was broken. A fight had broken out with him, and the room was this pristine?
Crucially, not a single person in the room was injured. There wasn't even a scratch.
And Teacher Yong was a master.
But that was the very reason for his growing dread.
That ill-tempered, impatient man wouldn't have said he was coming and then failed to show up.
If—by some miracle—they killed Teacher Yong... where is the body?
This was the Sinhwa Guild. It was hard to believe they could kill him without anyone getting hurt, but how could they have disposed of the body?
Just then, Sa Chu looked at a Faceless Guest standing near him.
The Faceless Guest was staring directly at him. The one standing behind him had a similar look in his eyes.
The moment he saw those strangely indescribable eyes, a chill ran down his spine, and he knew instinctively.
These crazy bastards killed Teacher Yong!
An Hu-pyeong walked toward him and said, “What are you doing? You seem to lose your wits every time you enter this room.”
An Hu-pyeong left the room without even a goodbye to the Heavenly Flower Pavilion Master. Just as Sa Chu was about to follow him out—!
The Smiling Demon slowly raised a hand and made a "shhh" gesture.
Sa Chu’s heart sank.
He knows that I know.
In the next instant, the rest of the Faceless Guests raised their fingers in unison.
Shhh!
Every single one of them was making the "shhh" gesture while looking at him. It was the most terrifying and bizarre sight he had ever seen in his life.
From behind him, An Hu-pyeong barked, “You said you couldn't even beat them, so why are you standing there staring!”
Sa Chu reflexively looked back at An Hu-pyeong, then quickly looked back into the guest hall.
As if nothing had happened, the people inside were drinking tea, folding clothes, and yawning, going about their business.