This Isn't Right (4)
“Haaah… Where in the world am I?”
I had been leaping aimlessly across the rooftops when suddenly—
“……!”
An intensely foul energy brushed past my senses.
I wasn't entirely sure if "energy" was even the right word for it. Calling it internal qi felt a bit ambiguous. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't normal, and in that split second, my instincts flared with absolute certainty.
This is without a doubt the Demonic Cult.
Whoosh—!
I immediately launched myself toward the foul aura. Before long, an enormous brick mansion loomed in the distance.
“There it is.”
Crash—!
The instant I smashed through the wall, a grotesque man entered my sight. Clenching my fist, I swung straight for him without a second of hesitation.
Ah, wait a moment.
I haven't even named this technique yet.
Ugh, whatever. I'll just blurt out the first thing that comes to mind.
“Heaven-Shattering Single Strike Fist!”
Crack—!
“Keh-hekkk!”
With a strangled shriek, the man was hurled across the room. At the same time, a heavy, solid impact shuddered through my arm. A thrill rippled across my entire body, and an involuntary grin spread wide across my face.
“Found you, Demonic Cult.”
He was a Westerner, but… well, at this point, I had learned to turn a blind eye to the details.
“M-Mu… myeong…”
“Hmm?”
A familiar voice brushed past my ear, drawing my gaze down toward my right.
It was that frivolous woman from earlier. But why on earth was she frothing at the mouth and collapsed on the floor? And why was she crying? Whatever had aggrieved her so deeply, tears streamed ceaselessly from the corners of her eyes.
“Hold on a moment.”
I approached her, laid her flat on her back, and took her pulse.
“……”
Her blood and qi circulation were bizarrely twisted. Poison? Poison was always a nuisance. Detoxification wasn't my specialty, and I had yet to reach the realm of Myriad Poison Immunity. In my current state, there was only one thing I could do: seal her acupoints so the toxic energy wouldn't spread.
“This will hurt, but bear with it.”
She gave a faint nod. I offered her a bright, reassuring smile, extended my index finger, and raised my hand.
The Quze point.
Tap.
The Neiguan point.
Tap.
The Hegu point. The Danzhong point. The Tianzong point.
Methodically, I drove my finger into her arm, hand, shoulder, and chest, step by step.
Tap.
“Oops.”
Misplaced that one.
“Hsss…”
Looks like she won't be able to use her left arm for a while. Well, surely she wouldn't hold a grudge against her savior. Better to keep quiet about it for now.
“You should feel a bit more comfortable now.”
I hoisted her up, set her down gently in a corner, and rose to my feet.
“Wait just a moment. I'll take you to an apothecary right away.”
Just as I turned to leave—
Whack!
“Whoa?!”
Something heavy grazed past my ribs. Pure reflex made me duck out of the way; had I not, it would have smashed square into my face. I glanced back to see what had embedded itself into the wall.
A boulder. And one roughly the size of a human head, at that.
From the direction the stone had flown, the man from before was staggering back to his feet.
“……?”
Something was off. Blackened veins bulged unnaturally across his previously intact face, and his eyeballs were dyed a vivid crimson. A thick, viscous fluid dripped from the corners of his mouth.
“K-Kuh-hurrrgh…”
Even the rasp scraping out of his throat no longer sounded human. A moment ago, he had at least possessed the shape of a man; now, he had degraded into an unsightly beast. Was this truly what the Demonic Cult looked like? Not that I had ever seen one in person to compare. Regardless of what he was, I knew one thing for certain: that creature could not be left to roam free.
“Kraaaagh!”
The transformed man lunged first. His speed was on a completely different level than before. Twisting my torso to dodge, I swept the edge of my palm in a knife-hand strike against his forearm.
Snap!
“Kieeegh!”
With the sickening crack of breaking bone, the creature shrieked. Yet, even with his arm dangling at an unnatural angle, he swung it right back toward me.
“Madman.”
I quickly leaned back to evade and widened the distance. Then, kicking off the ground, I closed the gap in an instant, diving deep into his guard to bury my fist into his lower abdomen.
Thud—!
With a sound like bursting flesh, his body folded in half.
“K-Kiiiik…!”
The pause was only fleeting. His bent frame snapped back upright like a coiled spring, baring wicked fangs. He tried to tear into my throat, and I barely managed to block him with my forearm.
Chomp!
The sharp pain of teeth sinking into my flesh made me wince involuntarily.
“Ugh.”
Using my free hand, I shoved his face away with all my might and rode the recoil to leap backward.
“Whew, you fight dirty, don't you?”
Catching my breath for a brief second, I sprang forward once more. In that tiny sliver of time as the distance closed, I lowered my stance and gathered every shred of internal qi into my fingertips.
“Ssssshhhh.”
Clenching my fist tight, I gritted my teeth and let it fly.
“Single-Strike Heaven-Shattering Fist!”
Wait, hold on. Wasn't that a different name from before?
Boom—!
My fist pierced cleanly into his solar plexus.
“Kuh-euk……”
With a choked gasp, his body went completely limp.
Only then did I let out a ragged breath and unclench my fist. He was no longer moving. He was truly dead.
“……”
Did he… really die?
My mind blanked for a moment. Soon after, both of my hands began to tremble faintly. It wasn't exhaustion. It was… how should I put it? The sudden, crushing realization that I had just killed a human being struck me with raw fear.
Whether in wuxia or fantasy, I had read countless depictions of people killing each other. Naturally, none of it had ever stirred anything inside me. Who would feel anything over words on a page? But reality was different. The man collapsed before me was no longer among the living, and I had become a murderer.
I had always told myself that in the Murim, where the strong prey upon the weak, this was simply what one had to do to survive. What a vague, arrogant conviction that had been.
Grind.
I gritted my teeth. Was this truly what I had wanted? Who knew. Still, I had to adapt quickly. If I didn't want to die myself, that is.
Turning around, I walked toward the woman lying in the corner. She remained slumped and motionless, but the silver lining was that her faint breathing still lingered. I gathered her gently into my arms.
“Let's go.”
“……”
No response came. Even if I had halted the poison's spread, her qi and blood channels were already twisted. I had dulled the pain, but there was no telling by how much. First, I needed to find a physician.
Swish!
I quickly scaled the wall and leapt onto the rooftops. The moment I vaulted into the air, I caught sight of the coachman who had given me a ride, lying below in a pool of coughed-up blood. Heath, was it? Under the moonlight, his blue eyes were already vacant and dull. He was unmistakably dead. Surrounding his body were several grotesque figures.
Don't tell me everyone in this manor belonged to the Demonic Cult?
“……”
I looked down at the woman in my arms. Even unconscious, her brow was furrowed tight, betraying the agony she was enduring.
Save this woman first. Then come back.
My eyes fluttered open slowly. The first thing I saw was a dilapidated wooden ceiling. My body felt weightless and floating, as if soaked in the aftermath of a vicious hangover.
What happened? I was certain I had met Mumyeong… Was it a dream? It felt far too vivid for that. Vala's neck snapping at that grotesque angle. The wall bursting open with a thunderous roar. Even Mumyeong's gentle smile directed at me—all of it.
With great effort, I surveyed my surroundings. It was a rustic, weathered room I had never seen before. Far removed from the opulent bedchambers of an aristocratic manor, the air smelled of dry wood and damp soil. Where on earth was I? And where had Heath gone?
“You've awakened rather quickly.”
An androgynous voice brushed past my ears. Turning my head, I saw a woman draped in the vestments of a saintess approaching. Long, cascading silver hair frame a complexion so pale it looked almost translucent. Strangely, her eyes were shut tight. Can she even see where she's going like that?
“Who… are you?”
My voice scraped out, hoarse and cracked.
“I am Serena, the saintess who tends to the shrine in this vicinity.” Serena sat quietly beside the bed. “You were brought here at dawn on the back of a young man. You were on the verge of death; it took quite a bit of effort to purify you in time.”
“Purify…?”
“Yes. A heretic curse had seeped deep into your body. Had you arrived even a moment later, I wouldn't have been able to save you.”
The breath hitched in my throat. A heretic curse? In an instant, Vala's parting words echoed through my memory.
‘I slipped a little something into your food.’
So that was a curse.
“Wh-What about that man? The man who brought me here, where is he…”
“Who can say? He rushed back out almost immediately…” Serena's closed eyes curved gently, as though she were smiling. “You two must share a special bond. You kept murmuring that name over and over.”
“Pardon? A name…?”
“Mumyeong… was it? Quite an unusual name.”
Heat surged into my cheeks all at once. What? It wasn't Heath who carried me here? And I was muttering that man's name?
“Th-That wasn't really…”
“Ah, forgive me. I didn't mean to tease,” Serena said with a soft chuckle.
The excuses caught in my throat, refusing to surface. So it wasn't a dream after all. Mumyeong truly had saved my life. A dull, tender ache tightened in one side of my chest.
“How is your body feeling?”
“Pardon? Ah, I'm alri—”
I stopped mid-sentence. There was no strength in my left arm whatsoever. I tried lifting my left hand with the opposite arm, but the moment I let go, it drooped limply, refusing to obey my command.
“What happened to my arm?”
“Well… now that is strange. I cannot say for certain.” Serena tilted her head slightly. “I am positive I purified all the heretical mana… It is likely a temporary symptom. With time, it should return to normal.”
“Ah, yes…”
“Just in case, let me immobilize it for you.” Serena wrapped clean white cloth around my arm several times, binding it firmly like a splint. “Please refrain from straining it for the time being.”
“Thank you.”
After offering my thanks, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed.
“I'm going to step outside for some fresh air.”
“Already? Will you be all right?”
“Yes, I just want to walk a little.”
Serena didn't press me further, simply nodding in quiet assent. I pushed open the weathered door and stepped outside. A brisk wind grazed my cheeks.
“Phew…”
If not for Mumyeong, I truly would have lost my life. Not some fantasy trope where you die and retry from a checkpoint, but genuine, irreversible death. A cold shiver crept down my spine. Thinking about it only deepened my gratitude toward him. Still, it was bizarre. Mumyeong had leapt from the carriage and vanished into thin air back then. How had he known to come all the way to the Rupert estate?
Lost in thought as I walked, I soon found myself in the middle of a bustling town square. Just then—
“Out of the way!”
“Clear the road! Quickly!”
“……?”
Accompanied by thunderous shouts, soldiers clad in armor bearing the Rupert crest surged past in a hurried rush. There had to be at least a dozen of them. What was happening? The moment the question crossed my mind, Vala's face flashed unbidden in my thoughts. An ominous premonition seized me, and my feet began moving toward the commotion of their own accord.
The destination the soldiers were rushing toward was, sure enough, Rupert Manor. Yet the grand iron gates hung askew, half-crushed, and the high stone walls surrounding the estate had collapsed in several places. Dark red streaks of blood were splattered across the cracked masonry.
“This is your final warning! Put that man down this instant!”
“The rest of you, get inside and find the Baron! Hurry!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Good heavens, what in the world happened?”
“Did that one man do all of this by himself?”
“Urrrk—!”
The soldiers' furious bellows mingled with the panicked murmurs of the crowd. A few onlookers were even retching on the curb. Craning my neck, I peered through the sea of whispering spectators, and then a familiar silhouette caught my eye.
Disheveled, waist-length black hair. Tattered rags that looked ready to fall apart at any second. And, standing there drenched in blood from head to toe for reasons unknown, was Mumyeong.
The real horror lay at his feet.
“Heath……?”
Heath, who had gone missing, was kneeling before Mumyeong with his head hung low.
“W-Wait… Pl-Please, move, let me through…” My voice trembled as it spilled out. “Let me through, I said!”
Screaming in sheer desperation, I shoved my way through the throng. Only after tearing past the wall of people did the horrific scene come into clear, agonizing focus.
“M-Mumyeong? Why are you holding Heath like…”
“……”
Heath offered no resistance whatsoever. He hung completely limp, his head clutched firmly in Mumyeong's grasp.
“Mumyeong!”
In that terrible instant—
Craaack—
Mumyeong snapped Heath's neck straight backward.
“……Huh?”
Without a single flicker of emotion.
Without the slightest hesitation.