Chapter 68: Divine Thief and the Mad Physician (3)
Chapter 68: Divine Thief and the Mad Physician (3)
An inn beneath Mount Song.
There, out of nowhere, I declared that I was buying everyone a drink and won the whole crowd over. Then I spent quite a while showing off my gift of the gab.
"So~ the truth is, Divine Thief had a crippled shoulder, so he could only use his legs—and that's how he became Divine Thief. He was born into a martial family, and yet he couldn't use a weapon, only his legs. So he learned to steal like the cripple he was!"
"Gwahahaha! Brother, so Divine Thief has long legs?"
"That's right. Thanks to those long legs, he's always one step ahead of everyone else when he uses footwork, and the more you chase him when he uses his movement technique, the farther away he gets. What else could he do but become Divine Thief?"
"Then the bastard wouldn't even have the arm strength to hold his woman! Since all he's got are long legs!"
"That's exactly what I'm saying."
Maybe it was because I was paying for the drinks. Even though my story wasn't particularly funny, the inn's patrons were all flushed with liquor and in high spirits, laughing uproariously together.
As expected, in this era, liquor and a purse full of money had tremendous power.
I slipped an arm around Seol Yu-ran's waist and pressed myself close to her as she quietly drank beside me.
With her white hair, blue eyes, and even her outrageously voluptuous figure, Seol Yu-ran was more than enough to draw every eye in the inn, men's and women's alike.
"A real man seduces a woman as boldly as I do! Can a man who does nothing but steal in such a petty way really call himself one?"
"Gwahahaha! Is that your wife, brother? She's truly lovely. If I were a younger man, I'd have confessed my feelings even knowing she belonged to someone."
"Don't cross the line. If you lay a hand on my wife, I'll challenge you to a fight to the death."
"...Ah. I'm sorry. I'll apologize."
There was one fellow who seemed intent on crossing the line, so I gave him a cold look and chased him off. But for the most part, the night passed merrily. Since I was buying everyone drinks, there was no reason to spoil the mood, was there?
The only thing the men I'd made uncomfortable by giving them a cold look could do was spitefully order expensive drinks.
At any rate, thanks to all the money I'd thrown around, another cheerful night passed.
After buying drinks for everyone and watching them all get dead drunk, I finally left the inn in the middle of the night. With not a single cloud in the night sky, the moon shone bright and alone, driving back the darkness.
Its gentle glow was no match for the sun, its natural rival, but the moonlight was more than bright enough to light our way home.
Thanks to my Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity, I couldn't feel the effects of the liquor, but I deliberately pretended to be drunk. I staggered and let Seol Yu-ran support me.
Even as she supported me, her hand seemed to be subtly groping me.
"Disciple. Do you really think that Divine Thief fellow will come looking for us if you do this? It's already been three days, and there's been no sign of him. He may have left Henan by now."
"They say it's darkest beneath the lamp. He's definitely still in Henan."
Divine Thief, Dokgo Ja-hwi, was a scion of a prestigious family, in his own way. He'd run away from home and become a disciple of the One-Person Inheritance school, the Shadowless Thief Gate, eventually rising to become Divine Thief, but his identity token was still very useful.
If the authorities chasing criminals inside the city caught sight of him, he could use the Dokgo Clan's identity token to get out of trouble. On top of that, he was meticulous: whenever he stole something, he left a hideout both at the place where he carried out the theft and somewhere outside it.
He prepared one safe house where he could live comfortably, and another hideout where he could stay as Divine Thief.
In case he was ever discovered, he could lure his pursuers to one place, shake them off, and then head to the other.
Though, when I said hideout, I meant nothing more than some secluded place like a cave or a valley.
At any rate, he used the fact that it was darkest beneath the lamp to his advantage. Whenever he planned to steal something big, he would stay at the place for three months beforehand, then remain there for three months after the theft. So he was probably still here.
"Did you say he was born with narrow shoulders?"
"Yes. You could say his upper body has a woman's bone structure. It wouldn't really matter if he learned martial arts from a female expert, but the problem is that his lower body is manly."
"I see. His upper body is feminine, while his lower body is masculine. No wonder he couldn't find a martial art that suited him."
That was why he'd given up on training his upper body altogether, focusing only on kicks, footwork, and movement techniques. Then, after someone noticed his talent for movement techniques, he became a disciple of the Shadowless Thief Gate and eventually Divine Thief.
The problem was that his inferiority complex never went away. I remembered reading that, later on, before he became the Strange Demon among the Ten Demons, he had killed without hesitation anyone who insulted him as Divine Thief.
He could get away with it because he was the most important client of the Moon Killing Sect, one of the Three Great Assassination Sects of the Central Plains.
Like any proper thief, he'd stolen a great deal of money, most of which went toward improving himself and paying the Moon Killing Sect for its services.
All the women in the Rivers and Lakes were candidates to become my wives, so a man who commissioned the assassination of female martial artists was someone I absolutely couldn't leave alone. The Moon Killing Sect was no different.
'I was originally planning to go after him and kill him after acquiring the Sorcery Brand. But now I can put him to use in my deal with Buddha's Son.'
Since I was going to kill the man anyway, being put to use before he died might make for a satisfying death for Dokgo Ja-hwi too.
"How does my disciple know all this?"
"I just happened to have a Fortuitous Encounter that revealed the secrets of heaven."
"...Isn't that far too big a secret to talk about so casually?"
What did it matter? She was my woman, after all.
I gave her my answer with a bright smile.
"What would I have to hide from my woman? If you ask, I'll answer everything, so ask me whatever you want."
"Hmm. Is that so? Then I'll think of some questions to ask you later."
Seol Yu-ran let out a quiet laugh and turned to face forward. She didn't seem to realize it herself, but the corners of her mouth were curled up in a sly smile. It seemed to make her quite happy that I trusted her.
If I'd known this would happen, perhaps I should have told her sooner.
We were on our way to the room at the guest inn we'd booked just below Mount Song, with my wife and master supporting me. Before long, Seol Yu-ran's and my steps began to slow.
[Master.]
[Yes. It seems they're here.]
I sensed a concealed presence. No, truthfully, it wasn't even necessary to say that I sensed them.
True to their Second-rate skill, they were circulating their inner power to strengthen their bodies, and they were doing a good job of concealing it.
But they had no idea how to control the faint trace of power leaking out of them. How could they possibly avoid being noticed?
[Twenty-three Second-rate, and ten First-rate. I never knew the Moon Killing Sect had this kind of strength.]
Ten First-rate fighters amounted to the strength of a fairly substantial mid-sized sect. The fact that they'd sent that kind of force merely to assassinate two people meant the Moon Killing Sect's headquarters had an even greater reserve of power.
[Well, they are one of the Three Great Assassination Sects of the Central Plains, after all. But it seems they haven't found out about your realm yet, Master.]
[It does seem that way. They must think you, known lately as the Fist Hero, are at the Peak Realm, and sent five First-rate to make sure of it. As for me, they probably take me for a mere concubine and sent twenty-three Second-rate fighters.]
[Then I'll get started.]
[Let's make them pay for their carelessness.]
Once we'd made our decision, it took no time at all to act.
Though Seol Yu-ran was unarmed, she was a Peak Realm master who wielded Ice Art. For her, a lack of weapons was no concern when facing weaker opponents—she could create as many ice swords, with durability close to cold iron, as she wanted.
I immediately used Thunder Flow Steps.
I charged recklessly at a Second-rate martial artist caught by my Qi Perception, smashed through the building wall with the edge of my hand, and pierced the chest of the assassin on the other side.
As if the assassin's heart bursting had been the signal, assassins came pouring out in a rush.
"Kill the Fist Hero."
At the sound of that chilling voice, the Second-rate assassins rushed at Seol Yu-ran, while the First-rate assassins charged at me.
At first glance, it looked like they were blindly swarming us to beat us to death. But since only five First-rate assassins had appeared, the others were probably hiding, waiting for an opening.
I released the yin energy I'd been steadily storing in my dantian. Guided by the circulation method of the Ice White Divine Art, the yin energy transformed into Yin Cold Qi and took the form of an Ice Art technique that enveloped my body.
The Ice Art changed into the shape of a wolf, replacing my nerves with something like them.
My five senses grew as keen as a beast's, and a form of Yin Cold Qi, compressed over my body until it was tougher than cold iron, took shape.
Ice White Divine Art
—Ice Wolf Body Transformation
I accelerated my movements, unleashing a technique too precious to waste on these men.
With the acceleration of Thunder Flow Steps added to the acceleration from Ice Wolf Body Transformation, I slit the throats of three First-rate assassins in a single move. The two First-rate assassins charged at me, trying to exploit that fleeting opening, but I ignored them.
Clang!
It was an unbelievable sound—the clash of soft flesh against a dagger as hard as steel.
Perhaps their minds had gone blank for an instant; the two men froze. I slit their throats as well.
I sensed the men who'd been hiding and waiting for an opening falter in confusion, but I pretended not to notice and went to help Seol Yu-ran.
The twenty-three Second-rate assassins couldn't even conceal their presence. Even as her sword dance hacked them to pieces, they desperately tried to break through.
When a snowflake bloomed, two men were cut in half at the waist. When a second bloomed, five more were cut down. But the snowflakes of Seol Yu-ran, who wielded the Plum Blossom Sword Technique with yin energy accumulated through the Ice White Divine Art, did not end there.
Plum blossoms bloomed one after another, spreading in a riot of petals as they sliced through the men, one by one.
A storm of blood ought to have swept through the scene. Yet, at the moment they were cut, the blood froze in the extreme cold, becoming red granules that formed a crimson mist.
'Beautiful.'
I knew that having such a thought wasn't normal by modern standards.
Thinking it beautiful to see white flowers bloom with poise in a blood-red mist was probably wrong of me as a human being.
'But isn't it only natural for a martial artist?'
In these Rivers and Lakes, where blades flew in every direction, there was nothing wrong with a martial artist finding a blood blossom beautiful.
By then, Seol Yu-ran had finished her sword dance and turned toward me.
Twenty-one of the Second-rate assassins had already died by her hand. We'd left one survivor behind so we could interrogate him and extract information. We planned to get information from the men we were about to capture now, but it never hurt to have a backup.
"You let five First-rate assassins escape."
"Yes."
I grinned.
"Everything's going according to plan."