Chapter 162
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 162
Chapter Title: Essence of the Death Verdict (2)
"Gasp!"
Four Thousand Four jolted upright, his heart pounding as if it had stopped.
This was an unfamiliar place. An unfamiliar room, an unfamiliar bed, unfamiliar furnishings... He lay in an unfamiliar spot.
Yet Four Thousand Four couldn't even register that he was in a strange place.
Warm Guidance!
Moments ago, in that hazy space between dream and reality, he'd heard the words so clearly.
It was a tremendous shock.
Greater than being stabbed by a sword, greater than losing a limb.
The Death Verdict had crumbled. Everything he'd learned from Master Noksa had collapsed. The core principle of the Death Verdict—to gently guide those on the brink of death—had shattered without a trace.
When life hung by a thread, when the soul had already stepped onto the path to the afterlife but the body clung on... In such cases, the inheritor of the Death Verdict willingly lent a hand.
It wasn't arbitrary murder for just anyone.
If there was even the slightest hope of survival for the person, they never touched them. Even if death loomed but the person still clung to the will to live, they stayed away.
They only guided those whose souls had already crossed the threshold to the underworld.
This wasn't mere perception. It was conviction. A righteous reason for killing that let him stand tall amid the world's scorn.
But now, all those reasons, that conviction, had come crashing down.
'I... I guided them warmly!'
He gasped for air, desperately reassuring himself. But deep in his heart, the nagging doubt sprouted like bamboo shoots in May—that he'd never truly followed Warm Guidance.
He prided himself on granting peace in the final moment, even to a body abandoned by its soul. No pain in the instant of death. It happened in a flash, without suffering.
He'd infused mercy into his touch.
So why this inexpressible unease? Why the cold sweat trickling from his forehead and down his spine?
Warm Guidance! Warm Guidance! Warm Guidance!
'Damn it, Warm Guidance!'
Four Thousand Four clenched his fists tight.
The Death Verdict had no such term as Warm Guidance. He'd never heard it from Master Noksa. Yet, like the intricate formations or obscure martial arts that had flashed in his dream, it had surged into his mind.
"Hah!"
Four Thousand Four took a deep breath and gathered his wits. Only then did he look around.
'Where is this? Right... I took the drug... and was dragged somewhere. But it's far too luxurious.'
He fiddled with the smooth silk blanket, soft as a woman's skin.
When he'd swallowed the drug, he'd imagined being hauled to some dank hole. A gloomy pit like the Nineteen Hells. And maybe, just maybe, he'd meet his master there.
Four Thousand Four pushed back the covers and stepped down from the bed.
"Heh heh! Heh heh heh!"
The old man chuckled pointlessly, like a fool with no reason for it.
A sword was handed to Four Thousand Four. All his possessions were returned intact. The only difference was that his ragged, sweat-stained prison garb had been replaced with a crisp new blue uniform.
"Do you know who I am?"
"No, sir."
"I know you."
"..."
"Not fair, huh? The old man's got the young pup figured out, but the pup's blind to the old dog."
"Are Vanguard and Hanbi safe?"
"What, afraid this geezer boiled 'em down for broth 'cause they looked so tender?"
"..."
Talking with the old man eased Four Thousand Four's mind.
The old man kept tossing out empty jokes. Chuckling for no reason at all.
Was it those quirks that calmed him? No. It was the aura the old man exuded. In his presence, the strife of the martial world felt like it might fade away entirely.
The old man had a gift for putting people at ease.
"Well now, seems you've got your head on straight... Ready to kill some folks?"
The old man spoke of murder.
Yet it felt odd. When others mentioned killing, his face would naturally twist in disgust. But the old man's words landed like dismantling a sandcastle—nothing more.
"Bring 'em in!"
The old man spoke without waiting for a reply.
Clunk!
The door opened, and a burly guard entered carrying two new birdcages.
Thud!
The cages were set before Four Thousand Four.
Both held parrots. One large, one small. The big one looked vigorous and full of life; the little one seemed sickly, nodding off drowsily.
"Let's kill one. Which'll it be?"
"Why do I have to kill it?"
"Why? 'Cause I'm bored, that's why. Don't know bored? Bored as hell right now. So let's get a taste for blood."
Four Thousand Four stared at the old man without answering.
The old man still radiated calm. In front of him, any words seemed permissible. Any prank, even murder, felt forgivable.
Yet the old man was debating taking a life.
"Gonna go for that one? Looks lively—should feel nice in the hand."
The old man eyed the slightly larger parrot.
"I want to know why you're doing this to me."
"Heh heh! Since when do you need a reason to kill? Aren't you the murder ghost? Murder Ghost. Eats killing like rice. Word is, even Vanguard's guts are rotting thanks to you. Couldn't hold back your killer urges mid-mission, huh?"
"..."
Four Thousand Four started to speak, then just swallowed hard.
"Think about how you'll do it. Tsk! You gotta feel the thrill in the moment... but you're nitpicking and killing my buzz!"
The old man rose from his seat.
Two birdcages sat before Four Thousand Four.
He stared piercingly at the parrots. He didn't question why he had to kill them. He focused on which one and how.
The big one was healthy, as the old man said.
No reason to kill it.
The small one was ill. Its eyes half-closed in a daze. It shuddered now and then.
Its time had come.
Yet... Four Thousand Four suddenly recalled the old man's words. Ready to kill?
These parrots were people.
The old man was speaking of humans through the parrots. Speaking of his Death Verdict.
By the Death Verdict, he should kill the small one.
Now, the question was how close to death it truly was.
Whoosh!
Four Thousand Four reached out, opened the cage door, and lifted out the small parrot.
As if sensing its doom, the bird trembled violently.
Four Thousand Four placed it in his left hand and gently stroked its feathers with his right.
There was nothing to do!
Those thoughts that had flickered midway... all sorts of formations, diagrams, unheard-of martial arts, strange terms like Righteous Heavenly Annihilation... They were all inscribed in the Death Verdict.
'Demon Horn Seal...'
The moment it surfaced in his mind, a technique sealed the memory away.
He'd read and memorized the Death Verdict, but the Demon Horn Seal kept him from recalling it.
The seal was unraveling, thanks to the White Demon Horse.
No, now through Righteous Heavenly Annihilation. Since even the term Demon Horn Seal had emerged, it was mostly undone.
His memories were fully reviving.
Shadowless Step was a technique he'd trained countless times.
Shadowless Step manifested in his kills. In the Nineteen Hells, he'd followed sounds, located foes by ear alone and slain them—but Shadowless Step lay within.
Why had the Death Verdict been fitted with the Demon Horn Seal?
Someone had tampered with it. His master had said little about the Death Verdict... so Master Noksa likely didn't know of the seal either.
'Warm Guidance... who are you?'
Four Thousand Four thought of the old man.
The small parrot died in his hand. But he did nothing.
Just stroked its feathers, creating as peaceful an environment as possible... That was all he could do for the dying bird.
This clearly violated the Death Verdict.
He'd guided death passively, but the Death Verdict demanded active intervention.
The sudden thought: Warm Guidance meant watching over death.
The Death Verdict intervened aggressively to induce peace and swiftness.
Warm Guidance and the Death Verdict's deaths were polar opposites for the dying.
Warm Guidance opposed the Death Verdict.
The Death Verdict mocked Warm Guidance.
Master Noksa and the old man urging parrot kills held opposing views.
Whoosh!
Four Thousand Four placed the dead parrot back in its cage.
It was gone... but the bird would rest easiest in the place it'd known in life.
"Huh? Already dead? How'd it feel?"
"Who are you?"
"You'd know the name if I told you?"
"..."
"I've got one day left. One day. Long if long, short if short. What should an old man do with it?"
Tsk!
Four Thousand Four probed the old man's energy meridians.
The old man brimmed with vitality. Ancient as he looked, he was spry as youth. No reason he'd die. So what did this "one day" mean?
'If his life has but one day left...'
"Let's take a walk."
"A walk, eh? Not bad. Breathe fresh air, see dirt and trees and sky. Peek at pretty girls' skirts. Ha, you said it—let's go. Up you get."
"Pardon?"
"What're you waiting for? Walk time."
"Ah, yes."
Four Thousand Four stood, caught off guard, following the old man.
The old man walked in silence. But it wasn't mere strolling. He caressed trees, stroked grass blades—with the tender touch of a grandparent for a beloved child.
The world felt cozy.
'Warm Guidance! It's Warm Guidance!'
The old man was demonstrating Warm Guidance.
It infused life with vigor. Gave strength to the dying. Not easing them to death, but letting them linger in comfort.
Yes. The old man was transmitting Warm Guidance right now.
"Who are you?"
Four Thousand Four asked again.
"That mouth of yours never shuts. Kid, I've been out of the jianghu for thirty years. Before you were born, I washed my hands clean. Who'm I supposed to tell you I am?"
"Who are you?"
"Heh heh! Lemme think... who was I? Gotta answer when asked... Harmonious Hand... Yeah, they called me Harmonious Hand. Ring a bell?"
"..."
"See? Told ya you wouldn't know."
"What's your connection to the Death Verdict?"
Four Thousand Four asked about the Death Verdict instead of Heavenly Annihilation Division.
The old man seemed deeply tied to it. At least, he knew of it.
But,
"?!"
The old man spat on the ground.
"You little shit, why bring up that filth? Ugh, ears are itching now. No words? Then shut it and follow quietly!"
The old man scratched his ear and strode ahead.
'As I thought...'
Four Thousand Four narrowed his eyes.
The old man and the Death Verdict were connected.
Master Noksa and the old man too.
And that connection was likely one of enmity.