Chapter 116
Chapter 116
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 116
Chapter Title: I'll Give You Three Months (3)
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"Father...?"
Elder Yi found Peng Wol's murmuring groan to be utterly enchanting. Privately, he was a reliable father; publicly, he was the pillar of the righteous faction as the Peng family head, now on the brink of death. It was only natural for him to despair.
But it was unexpected. For Young Ho-kyeong to fail to finish off Peng Mu-do and drag him all the way here... Peng Mu-do's skills must have exceeded expectations.
'But that's as far as it goes.'
He never imagined Peng Mu-do could endure even the Mountain Sundering Poison, but now, the man emanated only the faintest trace of energy.
Kill Peng Mu-do, then the brat in front of him. The Peng family's forces would drop by more than half with just one man gone.
'A frightening one...'
He knew it the moment their palms clashed. A novice who had mastered peerless martial arts but hadn't yet grasped how to unleash their full power. That was Kang Yun.
Against a half-baked fighter who could only suppress him forcibly with superior inner energy, Elder Yi figured it wouldn't even waste his time.
He'd grown terrifyingly during the fight, far beyond expectations, but with ruthless intent, he could surely be killed.
Yet even Peng Wol's full-force Venom Fang Twin Legs, unleashed without mercy, barely scratched him.
'He's clearly not beyond first-rate...!'
Every time crisis struck, without even realizing it himself, he unleashed pinnacle-level martial arts.
He had to die.
Left alive, this one would become an absolute master in decades, a dire threat to the Demonic Cult.
'Hm?'
Suddenly, Kang Yun's eyes flicked elsewhere.
In the heat of a life-or-death duel, that gaze turned to...
'The Young Cult Leader?'
Did they know each other?
Daring to avert his eyes from a superior master was suicidal, but since it was toward the Young Cult Leader, Elder Yi hesitated for a split second.
Thanks to that, the opponent who should have had his neck snapped in an instant safely turned his gaze back to Elder Yi.
But that gaze wasn't fully focused on him.
He could dodge a lethal strike even now, but it wasn't the eyes of one locked on his foe.
'So he does know the Young Cult Leader...'
An ominous premonition stirred in Elder Yi.
With the Young Cult Leader's wisdom and temperament, she would have guessed his intentions the moment Peng Mu-do ended up like that and swiftly severed his neck without mercy.
Not out of personal will, but because it benefited the Demonic Cult.
Yet the fact that she kept stalling even after arriving here filled Elder Yi with unease.
[Why are you here?]
[That's what I want to ask you. What exactly is your cult doing here?]
Young Ho-kyeong had told me to visit the Demonic Cult soon. That implied no disputes from them for the foreseeable future, whenever I showed up.
'And after saying that, they stab me in the back like this?'
The Demonic Cult—and Young Ho-kyeong—owed me no oaths, but it still grated.
I didn't care if they toppled some righteous faction elsewhere, but there was a woman collapsing right in front of me.
[Do I need to explain the Demonic Cult's affairs to an outsider like you?]
Though we'd entered a standoff, I berated myself for glancing away and refocused on the elder.
In the jianghu's life-or-death clashes, your neck could fly in the blink of an eye.
[Didn't you claim to be carrying out the Blood Demon's orders? Are you lying to me?]
[Not at all. I'm still fulfilling my master's command right now.]
Everything I did was my master's order.
Master only wanted me to ascend to immortality, and for that, I was scouring for women to circulate the Ascending Immortal Art with all night.
I shot back shamelessly.
[On the contrary, I was going to say your cult's little event is hindering my master's command.]
If I leveraged master's name right, maybe I could drive out Young Ho-kyeong and the Demonic Cultists?
But I soon realized I'd underestimated a martial artist's pride.
[Don't delude yourself. We welcome the Blood Demon's aid for our cult's prosperity, but if you think we peek at your master's mood for every trivial matter, you're mistaken.]
[...]
[Think you can intimidate our cult with the Blood Demon's name? He's strong, of course, but do you believe he could single-handedly halt our cult's plans?]
To avoid detection of our sound transmission, Young Ho-kyeong's expression remained serene, but her voice dripped with thick fury.
"Young Cult Leader, to let this happen... it's all my failing."
"..."
"We'll talk later."
"Young Cult Leader...?"
The elder's sudden words made Peng Wol and the Peng family folk buzz, eyes locking onto Young Ho-kyeong.
Realizing the female expert who'd shredded Peng Mu-do was the Demonic Cult's Young Cult Leader, the rear ranks grew grim—you could feel it without looking.
But Young Ho-kyeong, directly named, wore a displeased frown.
A possibility flashed in my mind.
What if Young Ho-kyeong wasn't involved in this?
[Young Cult Leader, this situation... you didn't know about it either?]
[...]
Yes.
She admitted it grudgingly in an unhappy tone.
According to her, Elder Yi was the one behind it; she'd tagged along for other reasons and got dragged into fighting on impulse.
'So even that old coot can't fully steer this situation?'
No matter how much he looked like the ringleader, without proof, Elder Yi couldn't step up to lead.
It'd be as good as confessing he was the mastermind.
[Then, Young Cult Leader, let the Peng family go.]
[And the price?]
She asked as if she'd been waiting.
[As you see, our cult has already struck the Peng family. The righteous-demonic war is inevitable anyway.]
And if it was coming regardless, from the Demonic Cult's view, they had to snuff out Peng Mu-do especially.
Peng Mu-do dies?
Frankly, it could be appealing.
Without him, Yang Ha-jeong's a widow, and guilt-free sex opens up.
'But even so...'
I'm not that scum.
I'd bungled things chasing greed, but Peng Mu-do was fundamentally decent.
I dangled the bait most likely to perk her ears.
[If the righteous-demonic war breaks out, I'll persuade my master to join it.]
Her desire for me stemmed partly from my potential, but mostly from my connection to master.
Even retreating now, war wouldn't erupt immediately; if Peng Mu-do survived, it could end in mere negotiations.
Officially, this Demonic Cult plot was "some rogue members' deviation."
Most jianghu folk wouldn't know, but Sword Saint—preaching evil purge—knew full well the evil factions' might.
'He'll avoid war as long as righteous power hasn't grown enough.'
Even if war came, master's gain allying with evil far outweighed Sword Saint's losses embedding with righteous.
But Young Ho-kyeong didn't coolly accept.
[And my personal compensation?]
[...]
What do you want?
I sighed at her response and dove into negotiations.
Unable to yield easily, our sound-transmitted talks dragged on.
By now, everyone here knew we were communicating—Demonic Cult and Peng alike stared breathlessly our way.
"Peng family head."
"..."
"What?"
Peng Mu-do answered Young Ho-kyeong's call in a feeble voice. He could barely hold himself up.
"Seems there was a misunderstanding on both sides. We're planning to withdraw. Any objections?"
"..."
Elder Yi's head whipped around as he glared at me.
Ah, wanna smack his nape.
"Young Cult Leader...!"
"Our cult has no intent to clash with the Peng family. This was some cultists' scheme; I'll report to the Cult Leader for fitting punishment."
Pure nonsense, but with Peng forces outnumbered, they knew swallowing it was gain. They'd grind teeth inwardly, sure.
Meanwhile, Elder Yi just resentfully called her name a few times, unable to say overriding her to slaughter all was right.
"..."
"We accept."
As if the blade-point standoff moments ago was a lie, the clash between the two forces ended with a few words.
No need to say the ambushed Peng side took far heavier damage—this grudge would resurface someday.
Peng folk, including me, gathered casualties and returned to the Peng family.
Seemed the Demonic Cult's plan was to pose as officials, split and pummel their forces. And kill their biggest nuisance, Peng Mu-do, to boot.
Yang Ha-jeong had collapsed from clashing with Elder Yi while guarding retainers, demonic energy roiling her internals too fiercely.
'The physician will handle it well, right?'
I wanted to watch over her, but sticking around suspiciously wasn't wise, so I returned to my quarters.
The Peng family buzzed with their own physicians and outside healers summoned, but my room stayed quiet.
My wounds were mere shallow cuts—no treatment needed beyond salve.
I'll Give You Three Months.
Lying on the bed, I recalled Young Ho-kyeong's terms.
Come to the Demonic Cult's stronghold in Xinjiang within three months.
I flat-out refused.
Not just popping in for points—a whole month stay was impossible.
Tang Hye-won's due date was months away. I couldn't be tied down a full month.
After fierce protests, I bargained the deadline to six months.
Stay stretched to a month and a half as trade-off.
'Gotta head back soon...'
Planned to leave tomorrow, but Yang Ha-jeong nagged at me.
Sword Saint had reached Xi'an, so no worries there... but maybe linger more?
Delay too long, though, and Tang Hye-won or Peng Yeon-hwa would sulk hard.
Especially since my presence wouldn't speed her recovery anyway.
[Young hero, are you asleep?]
No lights in the dark room, yet a woman's voice called from outside.
Probably a maid.
"What's the matter?"
[It's just...]
Hearing the rundown, I followed the maid urgently to Yang Ha-jeong's quarters.
Her complexion, stable earlier, had worsened again.
I asked the attending physician beside her.
"What happened? You said I could help—what do you mean?"
Peng physicians weren't mere acupuncturists or herbalists; they were versed in treating internal injuries.
"We heard you possess Demonic Cult inner arts, young hero."
Per the physician, the demonic energy buildup was extraordinary, ravaging her channels severely.
My infused energy had only been a stopgap, nowhere near curing the root.
Suppressing murderous urge toward Elder Yi who'd wrought this, I listened quietly.
"No way to control power forced into another's body, but if you infuse your energy and guide her circulation therapy, the lady's condition should improve vastly."
I accepted without hesitation.
With her unconscious, unable to fight the demonic energy herself, no other choice.
The physician thanked me, left for other patients, and I—with one maid—began circulation, pumping my accumulated energy into Yang Ha-jeong.
Circulation therapy basically heightened recovery by cycling qi, but infusing another to mimic it was a common variant.
'Hm?'
While recovering my energy via circulation after channeling it through her pulse gate, a forgotten fact resurfaced.
'A way to control power infused into another's body? That's...'
I glanced down at my crotch.
'Right there?'