Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Neither Righteous Faction Nor Demonic Cult, So I Took to the Mountains
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Don't worry, it's just ordinary bandits.
I hate the Righteous Faction bastards.
I hate their hypocrisy and their empty rituals.
'And the Murim Alliance is utterly rotten too.'
Anyway, I just hate them.
Honestly, whenever I get a chance, my mind fills with thoughts of how to screw them over.
Yu So-myung was the same.
When I first disguised myself as a woodcutter and ran into her, I could tell right away she was a promising talent from the Righteous Faction.
That's why I lured her in, messed with her, and toyed with her.
Teasing the Righteous Faction guys and treating them like fools was one of my nasty hobbies.
"...H-Hey!"
"?"
The moment I dropped the young clan leader Yu Jin-myung off at the medicine hall, he called out to me.
Curious what he wanted so urgently while dying, I turned around and...
"S-So-myung..."
"......"
"P-Please... save So-myung..."
Even with his eyes half-rolled back from the pain, Yu Jin-myung was worrying about his little sister.
Impressive.
I've suffered internal injuries myself, so I know—the agony of your guts rupturing and wounds tearing is beyond imagination. Your mind goes white, and you lose all reason.
Even for blood kin, he's just some guy to me. I couldn't understand enduring that torment to entrust his sister to a stranger.
"Haa..."
I hate the Righteous Faction.
I hate their rotten bastards even more than the decent fools right in front of me.
'...You're a bandit! Why butt into a fight between warriors—what are you hoping to gain—!'
The types who worry more about others' safety than their own.
The types who choose to take the loss themselves rather than harm others.
The types who can't stand by when they see injustice.
I hate those kinds of people.
My soul is pitch-black and cowardly from the very bottom...
I know I'll never be like them...
That's why I hate them.
But...
"Don't worry, young clan leader."
"Aa..."
"I do hate Righteous Faction bastards..."
If it's the level of disgust that would make a Righteous Faction guy frown...
"But I hate Demonic Cult bastards even more."
With Demonic Cult scum, I won't feel satisfied until I've killed them on sight.
I took to the mountains because I hated both Righteous Faction and Demonic Cult...
But things have turned out like this, so I'll just do what satisfies me.
**
I've seen plenty of Righteous Faction warriors in my life.
Righteous Faction warriors build their internal energy steadily with orthodox techniques and train their martial arts diligently, giving them an indescribable stability and solidity.
However... the biggest flaw I've noticed watching them...
Is their weakness to improvisation.
Bodies accustomed to sparring and duels can't possibly be comfortable in life-or-death struggles.
Especially the young promising talents who lack experience.
That's why they sometimes fall for an opponent's shallow tricks and lose duels easily.
Yu So-myung was no different.
She must have put up a decent fight, but... by the time I arrived, she was already defeated and collapsed.
Nice timing. If I'd been even a little later, I'd have let this novel's heroine slip away so pathetically.
Relieved in my heart, I...
Chaeng-!
Blocked the attack from the demonic bastard called Wi Yong-myung with my battered sword.
"Why the tears, little miss?"
"...Huff, y-you..."
"Protection fee, double double. Okay?"
"......"
Tears streaming down her face, Yu So-myung spoke in a quiet voice.
"...I have no idea what you've been saying since earlier."
"Just nod. Then..."
"Then...?"
"I'll save you."
"...!"
The protection fee I first offered her was ten gold nyang.
Double double makes it eighty now.
Even if life is precious, eighty gold nyang was quite excessive...
But she nodded desperately.
Was it because she didn't understand "double double," or did she really believe I could save her?
"Okay, that's good enough."
With her permission, I shoved aside the sword blocking Wi Yong-myung's fist and struck his temple with the hilt.
Ppak-!
"Arghhh-!"
Wracked with pain, the guy clutched his forehead and staggered back.
"You bastard..."
Even in his urgency, I could see him trying to gauge my level. Yeah, good luck with that.
"I've been wondering since earlier... who the hell are you?"
"Ah, gramps. Shut up for a sec. I'm trying to give a quote here."
"...What?"
This situation wouldn't end just by killing the old demonic bastard in front of me. All over the Shaanxi Yu Clan estate, local skirmishes were breaking out between the traitors and the loyalists.
Ignoring Wi Yong-myung's bewildered look, I looked, listened, and sensed my surroundings.
The ones faintly emanating demonic qi... were overwhelming the others.
In the end, they'd be pushed back by sheer numbers.
"Ah damn... this is a hassle."
"Figures that was just luck, and you're all talk. Fine, then I'll come at you."
Whoong-.
Demonic qi gathered in Elder Wi's fist again. At a glance, an ominous energy swirled around it, gradually turning pitch-black and red.
He leaped at me in that menacing form.
Anyone could see it was a dangerous, urgent situation...
"Yu little miss."
"You...! Not now—watch the front...!"
I turned my back to her and looked at Yu So-myung behind me.
"Forget what I said earlier."
Kwaang-!
At that instant, his black strike engulfed me.
Sand and dust billowed from the impact, the ground cracked, and the deafening roar shook heaven and earth.
Satisfied with his blow, Elder Wi withdrew his fist with a vile smirk.
"Not focusing in the middle of battle...? You idiot... ......!!!!"
But...
"After quoting it, double double won't cut it. Let's make it double double double. Nod if you agree."
Even then, money mattered more to me.
Opportunities to make money don't come often to a bandit. When they do, grabbing a big haul is more important than life itself. Obviously.
With one hand holding my sword up to block his strike, Yu So-myung dazedly nodded as she watched me.
Only after seeing that did I...
"Okay, no take-backs. Take-backs mean you marry me."
...finally move properly.
**
Yu So-myung had thought she got captured by the bandits today because of their despicable tricks.
Naturally, she had no doubt she'd win in a proper sword duel against mere bandits.
Bandits, unorthodox sects, assassins, etc.... All the unorthodox folk she'd seen in her life were pathetic.
They weren't even worthy of being called warriors. Just people a bit more skilled than commoners.
That's how all unorthodox groups were treated in the jianghu, and Yu So-myung thought no differently.
But the scene before her now...
Chaeng-! Chaeng-!!
...what in the world was this?
Wi Yong-myung.
He was one of the Shaanxi Yu Clan's elders, one of their top five powerhouses.
With demonic qi infused, swinging sword and fist, Yu So-myung had no way to handle him.
Whoong-! Kwaang.
Even now, his attacks were all threatening. Each one felt potentially lethal...
But...
"Ughhh...!!!!"
"You need to try harder. Ganbare."
The bandit was handling Wi Yong-myung leisurely, like he was indulging a child's sparring match.
He wasn't pushing him to death's door. But... he was effortlessly blocking every single one of Wi Yong-myung's powerful fists.
And with just that single rusted, toothless sword...
"Are you mocking me right now-!!"
Enraged at being looked down on, Wi Yong-myung swung his fists even faster.
But the bandit matched those movements even more fluidly... even more swiftly... wielding sword and body.
Watching him, Yu So-myung thought he was like...
'Wind.'
Yes, wind.
Like the wind.
**
Why.
Why won't my fists connect?
As an elder of the Shaanxi Yu Clan wielding a sword, Wi Yong-myung's true confidence lay in his fists. Moreover, he'd raised his internal energy with a demonic art personally taught by the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult—so why...?
Taeng-!
Of course, his fists weren't completely missing. But...
Taeng-!
Again. He twisted the sword sideways, using the flat to deflect the punch aside.
Even...
Taeng-!
"Yu little miss. See, this is the trick to 'catching'—when the opponent's fist comes flying, receive it and redirect to the side. Guys who use fists love this."
"Eeee-!!"
He explained it step by step to Yu So-myung, like he was teaching a class.
Furious, Wi Yong-myung increased his speed to corner him...
Chaeng-!!
But the guy leisurely matched the pace and parried.
The fact that he wasn't counterattacking at all only infuriated Wi Yong-myung more.
"Uwaaaa-!! Mocking me again-! Again-!!"
And that surge of emotion...
Twitch.
Made the demonic qi growing inside him swell even further.
Hatred and resentment.
Those were the nutrients that fed the demon.
Srrrr... Shoooooo-!!
"Graaaaaahhh-!!"
Finally, demonic qi ballooned beyond what Wi Yong-myung's body could handle. His form grew enormous, turning pitch-black and red, no longer human.
"Ah, no..."
"What is..."
It was a sight that stunned everyone around.
Demonic Bloom.
Something you wouldn't see easily unless you were on the front lines facing the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
But...
"Ha, finally. Man, you old coot are so damn slow."
The bandit reacted to that astonishing scene like it was nothing.
No, like he'd been waiting for it, he simply gripped his sword and walked toward the Demonic Bloom-transformed Wi Yong-myung.