A Dangerous Man of the Demonic Path

The camp went ice-cold at the man's appearance. The qi rolling off him was, in truth, as frigid as ice itself.

Of all the martial factions that appeared in his novel, the Ice Palace was one of the few Seo Joo-cheon had tried to give a slightly different flavor.

Centuries ago it had broken away from the North Sea Ice Palace and taken root on Mount Xiaowutai in Northern Zhili — the Demon Ice Palace. Because of that, the mountain had come to be known less by its original name than by another: the Ice Forest.

When a succession struggle between Jeong Geum-sik and Jeong Eun-sik, first son of Palace Master Jeong Ung, threw the Demon Ice Palace into turmoil, Jeong Geum-sik had walked out on his own and spent more than a decade roaming the jianghu. Those who took a blow from his Hanbing Palm sprayed blood like falling snow — and so he had earned the title Red Snow Ice Demon.

In the original work, The Greatest Lay Disciple Under Heaven, the brothers Jeong Geum-sik and Jeong Eun-sik were figures who appeared and made their mark during the Second Great War of the Martial World — the great clash of Orthodox and Demonic. Before that war they had never crossed paths with Jang Hyeon-nam.

The same was true of the Shaanxi Four Chivalrous Heroes. Those four had been written to die at the Namcheon Inn. A point of contact had never even existed.

For a man who shared not a single thread of connection with anyone in the party to appear so suddenly, this early, Seo Joo-cheon could not help but be thrown.

So now the characters from the novel are showing up at random, with no regard for the timeline. Maybe that's the difference between a novel and reality.

Once again, Seo Joo-cheon was forced to face the truth. This world was, without question, the setting he had created — and yet not everything in it moved according to the scenario.

"I came because I smelled food. Didn't mean to end up seeing blood."

Not a soul in the party recognized the Red Snow Ice Demon. Jeong Geum-sik was not a martial artist who went about announcing himself. Until he chose to reveal his art, no one ever knew who he was. Whenever anyone asked after his identity, he always introduced himself as a vagrant.

"These men were watching you. You ought to question them."

"They're already dead."

"Huh?"

Jeong Geum-sik clicked his tongue when he saw that the watchers he had dragged in had already swallowed poison and died.

"Assassins, were they?"

He ran his eyes over Seo Joo-cheon's party and muttered to himself.

"If types like these were tracking you, you lot don't seem like ordinary people either."

While he spoke he dropped himself down in front of the pot, as if the seat had always been his. Then he stared at the food simmering inside and swallowed, again and again.

Sang Ryo turned out the dead men's clothes, hunting for anything that might identify them. When he came up empty, he muttered under his breath.

"There's nothing on them that would tell us who they are. They look like assassins, but I can't understand why they'd be after us."

Jang Hyeon-nam answered him.

"It's obvious, isn't it? His men must have been tracking us."

Sang Ryo knew the "he" in that sentence meant Bulsama, and he nodded. For the moment, there was no other reason assassins would be hunting them.

Seo Joo-cheon and Hak Yu's eyes met for a brief instant, and both of them kept their mouths shut. They could hardly go exposing the assassins' true identities now. Unless it became a real problem, neither of them saw any need to say who those men had been.

"Just to be safe, I'll take a look through the woods," Sang Ryo said.

"No need. These three were all there were in this forest."

Even so, Sang Ryo went into the trees. Jang Hyeon-nam watched him disappear, then turned back to Jeong Geum-sik.

"Would you like something to eat?"

The man was staring at the bubbling pot as if he might dunk his entire head in it. There was no decent way not to offer.

"When a young brother offers, I can hardly refuse. My thanks."

He did not decline even once. He simply picked up a bowl from beside the pot. It was shameless, and yet somehow not the least bit unlikeable; the party could not help but chuckle.

Hak Yu, however, did not let his guard down. Anyone with the skill to dispose of the Slaughter King's men that cleanly was already a martial artist who had stepped into a true realm.

"Might I ask your honorable name?" Hak Yu said.

"Hahaha, old sir. No need to be so wary. I'm really just a man who got lost in the woods and followed the smell of food. And what kind of title would a mere vagrant have?"

"A vagrant?"

Having named himself one, Jeong Geum-sik grinned.

"Look at me. Do I look like a proper martial artist to you? I've been living as a vagrant for over a decade."

The tattered martial robes he wore were exactly the sort vagrants favored.

"Hey, kid. You're a cute one. What's your name?"

It was a coarse, rough way of talking that suited a wanderer down to the ground. No heir of a great house, and no proper martial artist, would have spoken like that even as an act.

"I'm Yu Seong. What's your name, mister wanderer?"

"Me? Just call me Uncle Jeong. I forgot my name a long time ago."

"I still can't call you Uncle Jeong. I'll call you Mister Wanderer."

"The little one's got manners. Fine. Call me that."

Watching Jeong Geum-sik talk so freely and openly with Yu Seong, Seo Joo-cheon smiled to himself. Of all the characters he had created, this one was the cheerful, thoroughly manly sort. Seeing him up close, that temperament came through in every word and gesture. He was a martial artist who crossed the jianghu without a care in the world, and there was nothing held back about him.

Jang Hyeon-nam seemed to take a liking to the man's spirit. He sat down beside him and started eating.

Sang Ryo came back from the woods and, wary that the stranger might yet try something, did not let his attention slip even while he ate. Ham Cheon-yeong and Dokgo Ho-in were no less on their guard. A man who had suddenly dragged assassins out of the forest was not someone they could look at with innocent eyes. None of them believed his appearance was a coincidence.

Jang Hyeon-nam asked him,

"How did you come to be in this forest?"

"Until recently I was in the Shaanxi Xingdusi. I was on my way to answer an invitation from a sect in Xi'an. Then I heard a man who was raping and murdering women was traveling the same road, so I went after him — and that's how I ended up here."

Jeong Geum-sik's arrival had already been strange enough. What he said next was something none of them had expected.

"Is that true?"

Jang Hyeon-nam asked, startled.

"It is. Starting from the Shaanxi Xingdusi border, through Dongcheon and on toward Xi'an, women have been raped and murdered one after another. I've been hunting the culprit. Truth is, I got named as the criminal myself and dragged to the yamen, so I got angry and decided I'd catch the bastard with my own hands."

Sitting across from them, Seo Joo-cheon listened — and was surprised.

Huh? So this is how it connects?

In the original novel, Jang Hyeon-nam ran into a single incident on the road to the Jang Family Clan: a string of rapes and murders. He would chase the trail and uncover the culprit's identity. It had been a small event Seo Joo-cheon had arranged to raise Jang Hyeon-nam's name. They had not encountered anything of the kind on the way here, and he had begun to think the whole affair might simply be buried in this world.

He had never imagined it would surface with Jeong Geum-sik's arrival.

At first these little variations in the story had not sat well with him. Lately, though, he had started to find them entertaining.

Originally the rapes and murders didn't start at the Shaanxi Xingdusi border at all. They began in Hapyeong, on the Shanxi frontier. A variable crept in here.

This was reality. A variable of that size he could accept. A story crowded with realistic contingencies would always sit closer to the real world than a stage that moved in perfect lockstep with his scenario.

Seo Joo-cheon noticed, too, that he now thought of Gansu as the Shaanxi Xingdusi without the slightest resistance — and realized he had fully immersed himself in the period.

"Oh! Then you are a true chivalrous hero!"

Moved by the thought of Jeong Geum-sik hunting the culprit for so long, Jang Hyeon-nam let out a cry of admiration.

"Hahaha! If I'm a hero, then there's not a man left in this world who isn't. I just couldn't stand watching that kind of scum, so I stepped in. That's all."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"That's easy to say and hard to do. Tracking him this far is already remarkable."

"No need to dress it up. The road I was already taking just happened to overlap with his, so I followed."

Curiosity lit Jang Hyeon-nam's eyes.

"And did you find him?"

"The man's meticulous. He doesn't leave traces. Finding a single lead was no small labor."

"I cannot help but admire your efforts."

Jang Hyeon-nam kept marveling, sinking deeper into the tale. Seeing him listen with such genuine interest, Jeong Geum-sik warmed to it as well and dropped his voice like a storyteller settling in.

"At first I looked for him among the unorthodox and the demonic. Even after I'd been on the receiving end of that kind of prejudice myself, I still had it in me. That's why I couldn't find him for so long. But I finally got a hold of something."

"Oh! Is that so?"

Jang Hyeon-nam's eyes shone as he looked at him.

"I've finally got the shape of it. By tomorrow I should be able to catch ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up to him."

"Oh! Can you tell us who the culprit is?"

Instead of answering, Jeong Geum-sik scooped every last bit of remaining food from the pot into his bowl.

"Where is the young brother headed?"

And with that, he turned the subject as naturally as breathing.

"Ah — I'm going to the Jang Family Clan, and Hero Po over there is entering the Yongcheon Sect."

Jeong Geum-sik, who had been all but burying his face in his rice, jerked his head up.

"Hm? Then the young brother is Jang Hyeon-nam, the Sword Hero Dragon, lay disciple of Wudang?"

"Ah. I'm not the Sword Hero Dragon — but my name is Jang Hyeon-nam, yes."

"Hahaha. Sword Hero Dragon is the title they've hung on you. Fellow martial artists must have coined it after seeing your deeds."

Titles were often given only after a man had already made his name, and it was not uncommon for the man himself to be the last to hear of it.

"That's far too generous a title for me. Sword Hero Dragon, of all things."

The words were humble, but his face looked rather pleased. The contrast was unmistakable.

Only then did Jang Hyeon-nam realize they had not even exchanged names. He clasped his fists in a formal salute.

"Ah. Forgive my late introduction. I am Jang Hyeon-nam, a lay disciple of the Wudang Sect."

With Jang Hyeon-nam observing the courtesies so properly, Jeong Geum-sik had no choice but to return the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cupped-fist salute.

"The vagrant Jeong Rang."

Seo Joo-cheon laughed inwardly. When he hid his identity, he operated under the name Wolf.

"Wolf, is it."

Sang Ryo muttered the name under his breath. Sensing that Sang Ryo was about to stare him down and start asking questions, Jeong Geum-sik changed the subject at once.

"Then you must be the First Hero of the Shaanxi Four Chivalrous Heroes — the most famous name of late."

Seo Joo-cheon smiled and offered a cupped-fist salute of his own.

"I am called Po Un. And whatever rumors you've heard, they're all exaggerated. Pay them no mind."

"Bwahaha! This is an honor. I never thought this Jeong would get to meet Hero ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Po, the First Hero."

Then he looked at Ham Cheon-yeong and Dokgo Ho-in beside Seo Joo-cheon and made another fist.

"Oh. My greetings to the Shaanxi Four Chivalrous Heroes. Hero Ham, the Peacock Unorthodox Saber. Hero Dokgo, the One-Armed Flash Emperor."

Jeong Geum-sik made a cheerful show of it, offering the salute toward Ham Cheon-yeong, Dokgo Ho-in, and Kang Chu-mi in turn. His eyes lingered on Kang Chu-mi's ravishing figure, and he let out a breath of frank admiration.

"What a feast for the eyes. To see Heroine Kang, the Whip-Flying Nüwa, in the flesh."

He knew their new titles exactly, and he showed them a fair measure of respect. Ham Cheon-yeong and Dokgo Ho-in felt their wariness ease, if only a little.

"The tale of how you drove off Bulsama and saved the disciples of the Mount Hua Sect is the talk of the entire martial world right now."

"Drove off? We barely escaped with our lives."

Seo Joo-cheon offered the modest correction, but Jeong Geum-sik shook his head.

"No need for humility. I heard it from a martial artist who fought there himself. If I'd been there, I would have fought Bulsama too. A shame I missed it."

If he truly had been at the Namcheon Inn, the fight with Bulsama would have been considerably easier. Jeong Geum-sik, the Red Snow Ice Demon, was one of the Three Great Eccentrics of the Martial World, a man whose prowess stood on the same level as Bulsama's.

He broke off mid-thought and turned the subject again. He had a somewhat scattershot way of talking.

"Ah — you said you were going to the Yongcheon Sect?"

"That's right."

"I'm headed to the Yongcheon Sect myself."

"Is that so?"

Seo Joo-cheon already knew as much, so he arranged his face into a suitably surprised expression.

"What business takes Hero Po to the Yongcheon Sect?"

"The Yongcheon Sect invited us as hall chiefs."

"Ah. Same as me."

Seo Joo-cheon smiled at that.

Not as a hall chief. They would have invited him as a Guest Elder.

The Yongcheon Sect's method of strengthening its forces was to invite outfits like the Shaanxi Four Evils in as hall chiefs. True powerhouses of the jianghu, though, they invited as Guest Elders.