Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: One Clause of the Death Decree (4)
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“Follow me!”
Fox took the lead, charging ahead.
But the direction he was running in was toward the sea of flames. Straight toward the forest engulfed by Huarin.
“You idiot! Are you crazy?!”
Vanguard grabbed Fox by the shoulder. Or rather, he tried to, but quickly let go.
What was this? His bones felt as slender as a woman's.
“Vanguard, listen closely!”
Fox said with a serious expression.
Before they knew it, Jaja and Hanbi had come up and stood beside him.
They had been rushing down the mountain to surround Four Thousand Four when they witnessed something utterly absurd. Four Thousand Four bursting out like a wild boar... Naturally, they had no choice but to change direction.
“I want to break free from the Zhuge family!”
“Of course... Huh?!”
Vanguard realized something.
Four Thousand Four had created an opportunity for them. If they missed this chance, who knew when they could escape the Zhuge family again.
The Zhuge family's pursuit meant nothing without their surveillance. Even if they killed every last one of the Zhuge informants, the Heavenly Annihilation Division would have no reason to suspect Vanguard.
“Can we make it out?”
Vanguard asked urgently.
“We don't have time!”
Fox didn't give a detailed explanation. There was no time for that—they needed to move forward even one more step.
Shiiik!
Fox leaped into the sea of flames.
Vanguard followed right behind.
Huarin was known as the "inextinguishable fire." Once it touched something, it burned until the object was completely consumed. That's why it had been able to incinerate even the feathers of the Golden-Eyed Black Hawk, which no spear could pierce.
Jumping into that sea of flames now... they might touch the Huarin.
There was no way to tell which trees were burning from Huarin and which from ordinary flames. Even brushing against the wrong fire... In that case, stripping off their clothes would be the best option.
“This is insane.”
Jaja furrowed her brow deeply. But she had no choice. She chased after Vanguard, plunging into the flames.
One person commits suicide.
He does it with utter calm. He throws himself into a trap from which there's no escape.
Of course, there's a path within the trap.
'What kind of path?'
Zhuge Soso narrowed her eyes, staring at the sea of flames.
“You didn't need to come all the way here.”
Zhuge Myeong said, standing beside her.
“Hehe! Didn't Namso step in for a good reason? She must have felt uneasy this time too. What is it, your unease?”
Mian Sosal drew close as well.
Zhuge Soso let their words flow past her ears. She was focused on figuring out the path Four Thousand Four would take through the flames. There had to be some escape route.
“Let go of the Merchant Envoys.”
“Hehehe! Those guys—I was planning to give them a beating anyway. Cocky bastards!”
“No, no. Wait a minute.”
Zhuge Soso quickly corrected herself.
“Leave them be.”
“Leave them?”
“It might be good to have some bait drawing pursuers. The Merchant Envoys provide a plausible reason.”
“Fine.”
“How's the scent?”
She asked, looking at Mian Sosal.
“He's not dead yet. Hehehe! I expected him to pull some trick... but how is he surviving in those flames?”
Mian Sosal tilted his head.
Something writhed inside his right chest.
The Green Fragrance White Rat. It sniffed the scent emanating from Four Thousand Four and relayed information to Mian Sosal through its wriggling movements.
The Green Fragrance White Rat was still picking up the scent.
Four Thousand Four hadn't been engulfed by the flames. Flames had poured down from above his head. And not ordinary flames, but Huarin shards—fire that never went out once it touched you...
“How far away?”
“Still inside those flames.”
“Really? I thought he'd dodged by now... How is he avoiding it?”
“Hahaha! Even Namso misses things sometimes. Hahaha!”
Mian Sosal burst into laughter.
“Could I ask a favor?”
“Hahaha! Of course. I'm ready to grant any request from you, little sister.”
“Pour some oil.”
“...?”
Zhuge Soso pointed at the burning forest.
“Douse that place with oil. I'd love to see a Flame Hell.”
Mian Sosal's brow twitched.
Zhuge Soso wasn't a cruel woman. She was an exceptional one.
For such a woman to ask for oil on a burning forest... It didn't mean she wanted to kill Four Thousand Four for sure. She just wanted to see if he could endure even in a Flame Hell.
“We'll need a lot of oil... It might take about an hour to prepare.”
“That's plenty. That fire will burn all day.”
Zhuge Soso narrowed her eyes, gazing at the burning forest.
This assassin called Four Thousand Four gave her a peculiar feeling.
At first, she'd seen him as a worthless killer. The second time, as an exceptional assassin. She'd thought him the kind who could kill his target in any situation.
Now, he seemed like an assassin who couldn't be killed easily.
If he survived that forest... Was there even a way out of a woods smeared with Huarin? If so, he'd be the Heavenly Annihilation Division's ultimate masterpiece.
'If he dies, I'll be disappointed.'
She stared at the forest.
“Amazing!”
Fox let out an exclamation.
“Is... is this even possible?”
Vanguard said in astonishment.
There was a path in the burning forest. A path untouched by fire.
No, the entire forest was a sea of flames. Nothing was unburned. But amid it all, there were spots with less flame, places that still seemed intact. And those connected in a straight line, like a road.
“Let's go!”
Fox plunged into the flames without hesitation.
“No Huarin, right?”
“No. The flames on both sides are all from Huarin. The Huarin burns so fiercely that other fires can't invade it. So just be careful not to touch the flames.”
“W-what?!”
Vanguard, who had been stepping forward boldly, froze.
But in a burning forest, there was no room to stop. Even a brief pause would let the fire catch.
“How did he make a path through Huarin shards?”
“Four Thousand Four isn't an idiot!”
Fox said with a bright smile.
“He's not an idiot. He's a vicious murderer.”
The moment Vanguard said "murderer," Fox's face darkened briefly. But he soon smiled brightly again.
“Four Thousand Four did commit murder. He definitely killed people, but there must be a story behind it.”
“Killing a powerless old man, and there's a story? Heh!”
“Four Thousand Four can feel others' emotions. Joy, sorrow, anger... He has a wide capacity for empathy.”
“So?”
“It means he's not indifferent or numb to others' pain.”
“So he's not a demonic murderer.”
“Not the type driven by antisocial traits, personality disorders, or intense aggression?”
“Fox, I wish Four Thousand Four weren't a murderer too. But we can't deny that he killed.”
“Who's denying it? That's just how it is.”
The two conversed as they pushed through the flames.
“But what does it matter that he's not an idiot, or that he made a path with Huarin?”
“The poison technique that killed the Merchant Wanderers. Impressive, right?”
“Impressive.”
“Luring out the Zhuge family head. Standing like a bat in a corner of Thunder Prison. Strange, right?”
“Strange.”
“Who gave Four Thousand Four that information? Or did he know from the start?”
Four Thousand Four had known from the beginning.
To prepare for the Merchant Wanderers, he'd made the poison himself. A rare toxin that even Poison Gate couldn't obtain.
Four Thousand Four knew what interested the Zhuge family head. So he'd acted to pique that interest. To meet him.
He knew about the Zhuge family.
Things even Vanguard and the Heavenly Annihilation Division didn't know—Four Thousand Four did. A man freshly released from the Nineteen Hells, who'd lived with eyes closed and ears shut to the world.
Four Thousand Four was full of mysteries.
Yet... it seemed Fox had found a clue. He knew something about Four Thousand Four, whatever it was.
It wasn't just Vanguard. Everyone was curious about what Fox would say.
“What is it? Spit it out!”
Hanbi urged from the rear.
“All things in the world are mine, so there's nothing to claim as my own. I see all events in the world at a glance, so nothing piques my curiosity.”
“At the boundary between life and death, I shall courteously escort the departed.”
Jaja continued Fox's words.
“Soul Ferryman!”
Hanbi's eyes widened as he named the man.
“Is Four Thousand Four the Soul Ferryman?”
“No way. The Soul Ferryman's too old for that. I just thought there might be some connection between Four Thousand Four and the Soul Ferryman. Now I'm convinced.”
“...?”
“His handling of Huarin is better than mine.”
“Hm!”
“I couldn't make a path like this with Huarin. I just know how to use it. This is a feat only someone extremely skilled with poison powder can pull off.”
Fox called it a feat, not martial arts.
Feat... That's what the Soul Ferryman called it. All martial arts in the world were mere feats in King Yama's eyes.
“Heh! The Soul Ferryman. Never thought I'd hear that name here.”
They diligently pushed through the flames.
'You were quite the famous figure.'
Four Thousand Four grew melancholic.
Thinking of that old man always filled him with gloom.
The old man had said those words to him too—the ones Fox spoke, and Jaja continued.
All things in the world are mine, so there's nothing to claim as my own. Coveting possessions is utterly petty.
Good words.
I know all the world's events, so nothing specially intrigues me. Don't pay too much attention to worldly affairs.
Good words.
The problem was what Jaja had continued.
Escorting the departed at the boundary of the netherworld? Heh heh heh!
Why say it so complicatedly? It meant he'd kill. It meant he'd murder people.
The Soul Ferryman was the deadliest killer in human history.
The method the old man used to kill was the Death Decree. It recorded ways to kill without detection. Ways to escape without revealing identity even if caught in the act.
The Death Decree was a vile thing.
The Soul Ferryman was a demon you'd only meet in the afterlife.
Having met such a man... and inherited what he called "progress" from him.
Fox mentions the Soul Ferryman, Jaja speaks of him, Vanguard and Hanbi too.
They all knew the Soul Ferryman.
Soul Ferryman... shabby old man... I see. You were quite famous.
Four Thousand Four rose in the flames.
Huarin didn't touch him. Huarin protected him, keeping others away.
Huarin's flames would last a full day.
For him, it meant a rare moment of peace. A hellish inferno to others, but a comfortable sanctuary to him.
He walked the path Huarin had carved.
The technique to make a path with Huarin, concentrating poison powder on one person or dozens... Such sleight of hand wasn't in the Death Decree. The old man had taught him directly.
Damn... surviving on that old bastard's tricks.
Four Thousand Four walked through the flames.