The Weight of a Life, and a Monstrous Survivor
The Blood-Haired Mad Blade, Jeok Mumeong, who had bragged to the high heavens about being an Ultra-First-Class master.
When he collapsed hollowly like a dead tree, leaving a gaping hole right in the center of his chest, a deathly silence fell over the bandit stronghold's courtyard.
I looked around with a bored expression as the dust slowly settled in the air.
"Anyone else want to step up next?"
At my casual question, the sub-leader, Dokni, who had been staring blankly at Jeok Mumeong's corpse in a daze, snapped back to reality.
"H-Hieeeek...! M-Miss!! No, Goddess!!"
Dokni threw himself flat on the ground and began slamming his forehead against the dirt like a madman.
"Please spare my life! I swear I'll wash my hands of this and live a clean life from now on! In-in that tent over there, the silver and treasures our chief... no, that red-haired madman amassed over his lifetime are piled up like a mountain! It's all yours now, Goddess!"
I looked down at his pathetic display as he begged for his life with his nose scraping the dirt, a cold smirk playing on my lips.
"I believe I made myself quite clear earlier?"
"Y-Yes? Wh-what do you mean...?"
"I said we should place a bet on how many of you would walk out of here alive today with your useless dangles still attached."
At my words, Dokni froze with a blank expression, then slowly lowered his gaze to his crotch.
"...Huh?"
And in the next instant—
"Aaaaaaargh!!!"
Only then did Dokni finally check between his legs, and a scream that shook the entire stronghold ripped from his throat.
Blood was already geysering out from beneath his waistband like a fountain.
"Argh! My manhood!! Aaaaaargh!"
Clutching his spurting crotch, Dokni rolled around on the dirt floor, foaming at the mouth.
"Ugh, so noisy. You're ruining my appetite."
Frowning, I flicked my finger with a sharp *whoosh*, striking Dokni's muteness acupoint.
"Mmph!! Mmmph!!"
I kicked the instantly silenced Dokni into a corner with the toe of my boot, then turned my head toward the wooden palisade.
"Hey, Soso. How long are you going to keep hiding back there?"
"..."
"Your eyes are going to pop out of your head. Hurry up and get over here."
At my call, Soso, who had been staring with wide, round eyes, startled and came scurrying over.
"S-Sister... I mean, Sect Leader...!"
Rushing right up to me, Soso politely clasped her hands together, bowed deeply from the waist, and greeted me with utmost respect.
"M-My goodness... this lowly one failed to recognize how incredibly powerful our great Sect Leader truly is...! Please forgive my past insolence, I beg of you!"
"...Did you eat something weird?"
*Flick!*
"Ouch!"
I mercilessly flicked the forehead of Soso, who had suddenly switched to formal speech and full-on brown-nosing mode.
"Stop being creepy. Just act normal."
"That hurt! I mean, I was just so shocked, okay?!"
Soso huffed, rubbing her forehead with an aggrieved look.
"I mean, Sister! You did say earlier today that you inherited the legacy of the Musangsinnye, but you're usually so unreliable that I thought you were just bragging!"
"Why, you little brat..."
*Flick!*
"Ah!"
"You really ask for a beating every time you open your mouth."
Having been flicked twice in a row, Soso squeezed out a tear and took a step back.
I let out a sigh and gestured with my chin toward the stronghold's courtyard, which reeked of blood.
"Whatever, let's just clean up this mess."
"Ah! Clean up! I got it, I got it!"
The moment the words left my mouth, Soso's eyes sparkled.
Adjusting the bundle of stolen goods on her back, she asked with a bright, innocent smile:
"Should I run into that tent and loot all the silver and treasure that castrated guy mentioned?!"
I stared down at her in silence, my gaze dripping with sheer pathetic pity.
"..."
"Ah, ahaha! I know, I know! I was just saying that to lighten the gloomy mood! Geez, you can't even take a joke."
Shrinking under my silent pressure, Soso sheepishly stuck out her tongue and laughed.
"I-I'll go take care of the sisters who collapsed over there first! I'll cover them up with some clothes! Yes, ma'am!"
Soso quickly scurried off, gathering the outer robes and animal skins the bandits had discarded, and began gently covering the torn, bound bodies of the women on the ground.
I quietly looked down at the bandits foaming at the mouth across the dirt floor, and at Jeok Mumeong's corpse lying in the center with a hole through his chest.
"Hmm..."
Dragging them away with my own hands felt incredibly gross.
They were covered in blood, sweat, and all kinds of filth; I didn't want to touch them with even the tip of my finger.
Then, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
Ah, right. I have Telekinesis.
I had used it plenty of times to pull or push objects, but I had never tried using it directly on a person.
Still, there was no better technique for clearing away clutter like this.
As a test, I reached out toward the nearest fallen bandit, and his body slid smoothly across the ground before floating up.
"Oh."
It worked much better than I expected.
Amused, I flicked my fingers a few more times.
One by one, the unconscious bandits floated into the air, dragged along like a line of cargo suspended by invisible ropes.
*Thud. Thud. Thud.*
I tossed them into a corner one by one, stacking them up like a pile of firewood.
As I was sorting the bandits to one side, Jeok Mumeong's corpse—with its hollow chest exposed—slowly floated into the air, and my fingertips trembled ever so slightly.
...It's my first time.
Come to think of it, killing someone with my own hands was a first for me, spanning both my past and present lives.
On my first day out in the Jianghu, I had fought the Black Mountain bandits while saving the Moyong siblings, but back then, I had only knocked them out without taking any lives.
But today, witnessing the hellish landscape of this horrific stronghold, I couldn't control the surging killing intent and ended up blasting a wind-hole straight through a man's heart.
The sensation of my first kill was bizarrely foreign, yet strangely vivid.
But I soon bit my lip and hardened my gaze.
No. Trash like this doesn't qualify as human.
These bastards trampled on women, mocked their cries, and broke the powerless like toys. This isn't murder; it's cleaning. I just swept out a beast's cage.
Having steeled my resolve, I tossed Jeok Mumeong's corpse aside and brushed the dust off my fingertips. Then, I turned toward the tent.
"Hey, Soso. What about the women from earlier?"
"Ah! I dressed them first and gathered them to one side. I let them rest a bit too!"
"Is that so? Then let's check inside. Since it's the chief's tent, there must be something."
"Hehe, yes, ma'am!"
Leaving behind the victims trembling in the corner, we headed toward the largest and most luxurious tent at the back of the stronghold, the one Jeok Mumeong had walked out of.
The way it was draped in animal skins was just as vulgar as its owner's taste.
"Sister, I'll go in first and sweep the place clean!"
As Soso, blinded by greed, dashed into the tent, I stood outside with my arms crossed, relaxed.
And a moment later—
"Kyaaaaaah!"
Soso's ear-splitting shriek erupted from inside the tent.
Don't tell me...?
Without hesitation, I roughly yanked the tent flap aside and lunged inside.
"Soso! Get back!"
The frost-like Qi of the Jade-Bound Ice Heart Finger condensed at my fingertips.
I took a stance, ready to blast whatever figure was inside at any second, but in the next moment, a deflated sound escaped my lips.
"Uh...?"
The scene inside the tent was completely different from what I had expected.
On a wide cot in the center, someone was curled up, shivering violently.
Soso stood frozen, pointing in that direction with her mouth agape.
I dispersed the Qi at my fingertips and cautiously approached. Looking closely, the situation became clear in an instant.
Curled up stark naked, without a single thread on, was a figure so delicate and beautiful that it was impossible to look away. Across her pale skin, vivid red and blue bruises and handprints were left behind, as if she had been ruthlessly violated just moments ago.
"What... was there another woman kidnapped by the bandits?"
As I muttered quietly, Soso, standing beside me, pointed downward with a trembling finger.
"U-Um, Sister... look at that."
"What? What is it?"
"Down there! Look down there!"
Frowning, I lowered my gaze toward the beauty's lower half. And then, I froze solid.
Wh-what the fuck... What is that?!
A curse slipped out of my mouth involuntarily.
Between the delicate, decadent beauty's legs, instead of the pussy that should have been there, a monstrous cock that completely shattered my common sense was proudly situated.
In terms of both girth and length, it didn't look like it would lose to any average man's.
Wait a minute. That bastard Jeok Mumeong... don't tell me.
While his underlings were violating women outside, the chief himself was doing this inside, which meant...
He wasn't bloodthirsty; he was just a fucking gay bastard obsessed with ass! Wow, I'm so glad I killed him. What a piece of trash, muddying the waters of the Jianghu.
While I pressed a hand to my forehead, utterly dumbfounded by his nauseating preferences, the beauty trembling on the bed sensed my presence and slowly raised his head.
His red, tear-rimmed eyes looked so sorrowful that, even knowing he was a man, I flinched for a moment.
"Excuse me... by any chance..."
The voice that flowed out was as slender and clear as his appearance.
"What... became of that beast, Jeok Mumeong?"
"He's dead. I just killed him."
When I replied shortly, the youth's eyes shook violently.
After a look of disbelief crossed his face, he stumbled down from the bed and fell to his knees before me.
"Sob... Thank you, young lady. You have avenged me... and saved me from that horrible beast. I will never forget this debt of gratitude, even in death."
Even as he bowed flat on the ground, the monstrous thing dangling between his legs showed no intention of hiding its presence.
"..."
For a moment, I lost track of where to look and shut my mouth.
In the end, with a disgusted face, I jerked my head away and nudged Soso in the ribs.
"Hey, Soso."
"Y-Yes?!"
"Cover him up with something. Animal skins, clothes, whatever. Just cover him up first and bring him out."
"What?! Me?!"
"Yeah. You."
"Ah, Sister!"
"Stop whining. Just wrap him in an outer robe and bring him out. Got it?"
Leaving behind Soso, who was jumping up and down in protest, I stepped out of the tent first.
Immediately, Soso's scream erupted from behind me.
"Close your eyes! No, wait! Where on earth am I supposed to cover first?!"
That desperate cry echoed hollowly over the blood-scented night air of the bandit stronghold.
