The Demon-Head of Yichang
Flames roaring up from every corner of the battlefield. Blades swinging without rest. And with every strike, flesh cruelly hewn away.
"It's a battlefield."
Seo Yugyeom, who had plated the braised pork in a matter of seconds, let out a long breath.
It had been a full month since he began living as a cook.
In truth, for a while after the Vice Master had departed, he had stayed on guard against Salmak. It was not an organization that gave up easily.
But no more assassins ever came.
Knowing Salmak's ways as he did, Seo Yugyeom surmised that the Vice Master must have sacrificed something within the organization to settle the matter. Just as Seo Yugyeom himself had, the Vice Master, too, must have truly regarded him as a disciple.
When Seo Yugyeom had been glaring at the braised pork for quite some time, Jin Seongun poked his face into the kitchen and said, "Get to work."
"……Just let me catch my breath. Just a moment."
The customers kept pouring in without end.
Working through the mountain of orders, Seo Yugyeom felt as though he were fighting waves that kept rolling in no matter how many he cut down.
Handing the plate of braised pork to Jin Seongun, Seo Yugyeom asked, "That customer before was another braised pork order, right? How's the response?"
Instead of answering, Jin Seongun raised his thumb. Not once had a single customer found fault with Seo Yugyeom's cooking.
Even in Jin Seongun's eyes, his cooking was flawless.
And yet Seo Yugyeom watched the departing plate of braised pork with eyes that seemed almost dissatisfied.
Another day's business ended in roaring success.
Thanks to asking the Merchant Guild to bring in larger quantities of liquor and ingredients every day, running out of supplies first had become a rare occurrence.
"Good work today."
The two men sat facing each other in the now-empty inn.
Weathering a ferocious day and then sharing a bottle at its tail end had become their nightly routine.
Jukyeopcheong liquor filled each other's cups. The lingering scent of food in the inn mingled with the sweet aroma of the drink, easing the mind.
"By the way, I hear there's something called the Prosperity Association?"
Seo Yugyeom no longer hid his face. With his days of being hunted by Salmak over, he roamed the streets freely.
Among the chatter, talk of the Prosperity Association came up again and again. Listening closely, it seemed they had been mercilessly tormenting the local merchants for a long while.
Seo Yugyeom asked in a deceptively casual tone, "Killing all of them. That was you, wasn't it?"
He was certain of it in his heart. Jin Seongun had settled here, and the Prosperity Association had been tormenting Jin Seongun.
Seo Yugyeom had witnessed Jin Seongun's martial prowess with his own eyes. It was not a level that the small-time villains of Yichang could ever hope to handle.
Jin Seongun nodded readily. He had already told Seo Yugyeom the secret of his own origins with Salmak, so there was little left to hide.
"I hear the Prosperity Leader's father is the Southern Black Lotus Lord."
"Is he that famous?"
In truth, Jin Seongun was a complete novice when it came to the Hubei martial world. He had only come from a distant land and opened his inn not long ago.
Seo Yugyeom, on the other hand, had lived as an assassin and was well versed in information.
"Hubei Province isn't small. There's the Wudang Sect, the Zhuge Clan, and even the home base of the Martial Alliance itself. And lurking in the shadows are branch offices of Salmak, the Haomen, and the like."
"I see."
"Establishing yourself in the Black Dao within a province like that is no easy feat. As far as I know, the Southern Black Lotus Lord is a master who has reached the Transcendental Realm. And his temperament is bound to be absolutely vicious."
Seo Yugyeom said this with a playful grin. Even for Jin Seongun, wouldn't the words Transcendental Realm master give him at least a flicker of unease?
Contrary to his expectations, Jin Seongun nodded with his usual dry expression and said, "Then what should I do?"
"What do you mean, what should you do?"
"I killed his son, so wouldn't he come for revenge? I don't know how formidable a Transcendental Realm master truly is, but if a former special-grade assassin of Salmak speaks of one that way, he must be strong."
Seo Yugyeom clicked his tongue quietly.
What was a Transcendental Realm master? Even among colossal powers like the Nine Great Sects and the Five Noble Clans, such beings numbered few.
A master received with honor anywhere under heaven — even in the Imperial Palace itself.
A Peak Realm master alone was already famous nationwide among those who mattered, and a Transcendental Realm master was a being who could single-handedly cut down a dozen or more Peak Realm masters.
"Of course it varies with each one's martial arts and temperament. But the Transcendental masters of the assassin sects who fight from the shadows, or of the Sichuan Tang Clan with their poisons and hidden weapons, could casually kill dozens of Peak Realm masters on their own."
"Oh……"
Jin Seongun let out a low murmur of admiration. He was expressing genuine surprise in his own way, which only left Seo Yugyeom dumbfounded.
"Someday, when I get the chance, I'd like to measure the size of that gallbladder of yours."
"Isn't that moment now?"
With that, Jin Seongun reached for the Black Gao Sword.
That 'moment' referred to the time Seo Yugyeom had been consumed by the impulse of the Heavenly Killing Star, swallowed whole by bloodlust.
Seo Yugyeom had himself said that if he ever became like that, Jin Seongun should cut him down.
"You insane bastard."
Clicking his tongue, Seo Yugyeom refilled Jin Seongun's cup. In any case, he had never known a moment in life so comfortable, and lately he was deeply fond of this daily routine.
That was when it happened.
The gazes of both men turned to the door at the same time.
Seo Yugyeom, born with the Heavenly Killing Star, a former special-grade assassin.
Jin Seongun, born with the Heavenly Martial Star, disciple of the Martial Gods.
Both possessed senses of perception that exceeded their own realms.
"You heard it too?"
"Shall we go?"
Jin Seongun strapped the Black Gao Sword to his waist, and Seo Yugyeom, after a moment's hesitation, picked up the Heavenly Killing Short Saber.
There were fish scales stuck to the blade, but cutting with it like this would make wounds fester — all the more effective, really.
Following their senses, the two men detected the clash of blades and small bursts of released energy.
Where they arrived, a band of men stood locked in confrontation.
Every last one of them was a martial artist, so the ordinary townsfolk had long since fled.
"Looks like a fight broke out. You know anyone over there?"
Where Seo Yugyeom pointed stood Oh Jeong-san, leader of the Jingzhou Merchant Guild, along with his vice-leader, Jang Tae-seok.
Gripping a sword marked with the Taiji emblem, Oh Jeong-san glared straight ahead and asked, "What is this farce?"
Oh Jeong-san asked in a low voice. He, too, was a master who had reached the Peak Realm — someone entitled to carry himself with a measure of authority.
But the man facing him seemed not the least bit afraid, snorting derisively as he replied, "A father comes to learn the truth of his son's death, and you would block him? Is that the righteousness of the White Dao?"
Cheol U-myeong, leader of the Black Snake Troop of the Southern Black Lotus.
He had come here to Yichang on the orders of the Southern Black Lotus Lord, Jo Raeak.
After all, nominally, the Prosperity Leader had died at the hands of an unknown Demon-Head. As a father, the Southern Black Lotus Lord had every right to seek the truth of his son's death.
And the White Dao, which prized just causes above all, could not stand in the way of that — so long as the Southern Black Lotus's warriors did not torment the common folk.
Oh Jeong-san had nothing to say and held his tongue for a moment.
Then, watching from afar, Seo Yugyeom remarked, "He just lost the war of words."
There were many masters among those gathered, so their eyes turned toward Seo Yugyeom — whereupon he promptly hid behind Jin Seongun. Suddenly the center of every gaze, Jin Seongun scratched his cheek with a finger.
Having spotted Jin Seongun, Oh Jeong-san grew oddly anxious. That Demon-Head was Jin Seongun himself. If the Southern Black Lotus learned of it, there would be another uproar.
Jin Seongun, the martial artist who killed the son. Jo Raeak, the father who seeks revenge.
There could be no clearer justification than that, and the Wudang Sect's room to intervene would shrink dramatically.
After a moment's deliberation, Oh Jeong-san spoke in a resolute tone. "The Demon-Head has already fled."
"I heard the last person he fought was you. If he had to flee from a nobody like you, wouldn't it be embarrassing to even call him a Demon-Head?"
At that, the Southern Black Lotus warriors snickered.
Watching from a distance, Seo Yugyeom chimed in as well. "Ooh."
As expected, the Black Dao knew how to fight with words.
How could a Taoist of the White Dao, raised and trained in upright surroundings, ever beat that man with his mouth alone?
Seo Yugyeom murmured low to Jin Seongun. "Don't waste your breath on talk. Tell them to settle it with blades. You can't win with words against that lot anyway."
"……Stay still."
Regardless, Seo Yugyeom simply looked entertained.
Around then, Oh Jeong-san, his face somewhat flushed, subtly raised his energy.
As if he had been waiting for exactly that, the Black Snake Troop Leader broke into a sly grin and, instead of drawing his sword, slid it back into its sheath. "That's it — cut me down. Then I'll simply be the envoy of a father who lost his son, dead at the hands of an unfilial Wudang Taoist who came merely to investigate."
The world would point its fingers at Oh Jeong-san.
Oh Jeong-san let out a deep breath and forced his heart to steady.
Then the Black Snake Troop Leader, wearing an expression of admiration, smiled genially and said, "We'll only conduct our investigation and be on our way, so let's not stir up pointless trouble. What did the Demon-Head look like?"
"I'd rather not say."
"Come now, don't be childish. The faster we finish and go home, the better it is for you too, no?"
At the Black Snake Troop Leader's words, Oh Jeong-san answered with a sour face. "He was a bit taller than me, with red hair."
"Likely he trained in Demonic Arts, then."
"Strangely enough, he appeared to be barely twenty. As if he had achieved rejuvenation, his skill was wholly unlike his appearance."
"Not rejuvenation — that's simply a trait of Demonic Arts. From that damned Heavenly Demon Cult, is he? His weapon?"
"A great saber."
He had deliberately mixed truth and falsehood in equal measure.
The Black Snake Troop Leader nodded with apparent satisfaction. "Quite detailed."
"I have children of my own. Unorthodox or not, I understand how you feel, so I extended the barest courtesy a human being owes another. But—"
Oh Jeong-san suddenly channeled his internal power into his voice and roared. It would reach not only the martial artists present, but even the townsfolk who had already fled.
"If you commit any foulness during your investigation, if you torment a single innocent soul, I will not stand idle as a man of the White Dao. Make no mistake — the Wudang Sect and the Martial Alliance will be watching you closely."
"Oh my, how terrifying. One might almost mistake you for a direct disciple of the Wudang Sect."
It was a pointed jab at Oh Jeong-san's status as a merely secular disciple, but he would not be shaken twice.
Oh Jeong-san broke into a broad smile. "If you're so confident, by all means — give it a try."
The two groups, locked in their contest of wills for a long while, soon dispersed.
Oh Jeong-san deliberately did not spare even a single glance toward Jin Seongun and Seo Yugyeom. There was no need to plant needless suspicion in the Black Snake Troop Leader's mind.
Jin Seongun and Seo Yugyeom likewise headed back toward the inn.
Walking through the night alleys, now quiet thanks to the martial artists' rampage, Seo Yugyeom lowered his voice. "Pathetic. This is why they say the White Dao and the Black Dao are all talk and shine. Back when I was an assassin, we'd ditch all the useless blathering and finish it in one stroke — swish."
"Miss those days, do you?"
"Ahem. As if that were possible."
As they walked side by side, Jin Seongun asked, "What kind of people did you usually kill?"
It was a matter that had weighed on his mind all along. Whatever the circumstances, if blood of the innocent had stained his hands countless times, that past would not simply vanish.
Sensing what Jin Seongun worried about, Seo Yugyeom answered in an even tone. "All of them were martial artists. Salmak has its grades too — we didn't kill just anyone. Honestly, I feel no guilt. The moment you set foot in the martial world, you can never escape the cycle of karma. Those were people who took up the blade knowing that full well. They simply had bad luck."
Jin Seongun nodded. Somehow, his heart felt a little lighter.
Then, just as they neared the inn —
"Hey, you there."
A thick, threatening voice. Warriors of the Southern Black Lotus.
Of course, Jin Seongun and Seo Yugyeom had sensed their presence long before, so they were not startled.
Seo Yugyeom answered with deliberately widened eyes. "Hm? Us?"
"Yeah, you. Didn't you keep muttering something or other while the Troop Leader and that Merchant Guild leader were talking earlier?"
"Hm, did I?"
Seo Yugyeom tilted his head back and forth. The men drew closer, their air resembling stray dogs that had scented prey.
Without warning, one man placed a hand squarely on Seo Yugyeom's shoulder and said, "Looking at your face, you must be popular at the brothels. How about you come have some fun with us — we'll introduce you to a decent house while we're at it?"
It was the same old Black Dao playbook.
They had been told not to touch the common folk, so instead they would head to the brothels and throw their weight around under the Southern Black Lotus's name.
Brothels were, by their nature, closely tied to the Black Dao, and no matter how they were victimized, they could not raise their voices.
Not only did they drink without paying, but beating or toying with the courtesans was routine. Occasionally, a madam or another patron who could not stomach the commotion would spit out a word or two, and it would come to blows.
And of course, the other party would end up dead or crippled. Setting aside their martial skill, the Black Dao's hands were generally cruel, and if their victim had no martial training, they grew all the more vicious.
When Seo Yugyeom said nothing, the Black Dao thug forced a grave expression and lowered his voice. "What's with that face? Come on, don't be a killjoy, man. You know damn well which girl is the finest in Yichang, don't you?"
Saying this, the thug wore a lewd grin and even gave the hand on Seo Yugyeom's shoulder a subtle squeeze.
Staring at the man's face from mere inches away, the Heavenly Killing Short Saber leapt unbidden into Seo Yugyeom's mind.
Before long, Seo Yugyeom looked down at the Black Dao thug's hand resting on his shoulder, then tapped the back of it lightly with his index finger and said, "Shall we deal with this pork hock first, then?"
Beside him, Jin Seongun pressed a hand to his forehead.