Chapter 73 - Who Are You Here For?
Due to an unexpected delay in their schedule, the group ended up camping overnight.
True to the Okhwa Palace Lord's word, the three palanquin bearers took care of every single chore.
They gathered dry firewood to build a fire, prepared dinner, and even set up bedding. Oepari fidgeted restlessly, stealing glances around. And once the meal was done, the bearers scattered to take watch shifts among themselves.
Their movements were as reverent as a ritual honed over long years, as if they'd been doing this forever.
Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.
As the flames spat and the night deepened, the late winter chill settled over them.
Muheo hugged his arms and leaned toward the bonfire.
"Ugh... so damn cold. Who the hell dragged us into this mess?"
Of course, it wasn't ideal weather for camping, but a master like Muheo had no business shivering like this.
Yet he kept grumbling anyway.
"Aigoo, freezing my ass off. Why's it gotta be this cold?"
"Old man. If you're that cold, get in the carriage."
Only after Jin Muhon spoke up did Muheo finally quit his whining.
"Hayeon's resting in there. A master can't steal his disciple's spot."
"Then shut up."
"...Fine."
Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.
At last, silence blanketed the area.
The bonfire's glow softly pushed back the darkness, flickering. Even to Jin Muhon's eyes, the profile of the Okhwa Palace Lord bathed in that light was stunningly beautiful.
How could someone her age look like that?
Her ageless face held a dignity deeper than the years themselves.
The two women who seemed to be her disciples wore face veils, likely to ward off flies.
At some point, Muheo had started staring blankly at the Okhwa Palace Lord.
She had to know, but her gaze never left the flames.
"You don't ask."
The Okhwa Palace Lord spoke softly.
Muheo startled, eyes widening.
"Ask what?"
Forgotten were his earlier barbs and curses; he replied to her as gently as he had that day, twenty-some years ago, when he was twenty.
She let out a small chuckle and lifted her eyes.
Not to him, but toward Jin Muhon.
"Not you, old man."
"......"
Muheo scowled but didn't erupt like before.
The thrill of reuniting after fifty years had faded, and he was no longer the hot-headed young Taoist who'd been publicly humiliated before crowds.
Jin Muhon's impassive eyes turned to the Okhwa Palace Lord.
'Her body's here, but her mind's elsewhere. A man with quite the story.'
In truth, Jin Muhon was focused on other matters.
Whenever he had a moment, he sifted through the Haomen Lord's memories to grasp the current state of the Murim world.
"What'd you say?"
Looking at Jin Muhon, utterly unmoved by her beauty, the Okhwa Palace Lord smiled faintly.
"You're unaffected by the Heavenly Allure Physique."
Jin Muhon furrowed his brow slightly.
"Heavenly Allure Physique? Ah."
The Haomen Lord's info surfaced late in his mind.
A constitution granting peerless beauty and a demonic charm that ensnared men.
Rare as it was, Okhwa Palace had artificially cultivated it through forbidden methods. Countless lives gambled away, succeeding perhaps once every few generations.
That was the secret behind the elderly Okhwa Palace Lord's enduring allure.
"Okhwa Palace has long settled in lands scarce on men. Labor was always short."
"So you leaned into beauty to lure them in."
"Exactly. Men fell for our women, flocked here, and served loyally till death. But not you, it seems."
Jin Muhon chuckled dryly.
A fitting chat for passing the time around a campfire.
"I get bored easily."
Her smile deepened at his reply.
In the firelight, her flushed face seemed to waft a pleasant scent.
"Hey! Is that an illusion spell?!"
Muheo waved his hand and recoiled.
Neither Jin Muhon nor the Okhwa Palace Lord paid him any mind.
"Of all the men I've met, only two showed no reaction to the Heavenly Allure Physique. One was such an oddity I shrugged it off, but you... you're a surprise."
Whoever that first one was, she smiled sweetly at the memory.
Curious what man could draw such a smile from her, Jin Muhon spoke.
"Who was he?"
"The foremost of the Four Freaks of the World, the origin of the title itself. None other than Sword Emperor Dan Ri-ye of the Four Emperors."
"Hm..."
Jin Muhon nodded.
Four Emperors Dan Ri-ye, Dao Destroyer Muheo the Wudang's top sword, and Okhwa Palace Lord Buso-yong.
Each dubbed freaks, yet linked—clearly connected somehow.
Muheo had been childhood friends with Dan Ri-ye, after all.
"And the last one? Doing well?"
The final freak among them.
The former chief of the Golden Battlefield, called the Merchant Ghost.
No recent info even in the Haomen Lord's memories, so Jin Muhon asked just in case.
"Hohoho! The money ghost? No word of his death, so he's probably living fat somewhere."
Her smile vanished abruptly as she fixed Jin Muhon with a steady gaze.
The playfulness gone, the Palace Lord's aura filled the space.
"I said it lightly, but this is serious for my palace. To us, you're practically a natural enemy, Jin family head."
The corner of Jin Muhon's mouth twitched up.
"Who knows. If Okhwa Palace doesn't mess with me first, I won't have to lift a finger."
"When do worldly affairs go so smoothly? The Murim world's unpredictable, after all."
"True enough."
"Who could've foreseen the world's Sword Emperor begging me for help?"
"......"
Sword Emperor.
Elder patriarch of the Nangong family, hailed as the world's greatest swordsman.
Even Wudang's sect leader had asked Jin Muhon to handle him.
Meaning he outranked even Muheo.
"It's odd, yeah."
"Very odd."
Peerless in skill and family power, he wasn't one to seek aid.
Yet he'd secretly contacted the Okhwa Palace Lord—something was definitely up.
"He's as proud as he is strong. He's overcome every trial with his own power alone. For him to ask for help... something huge must've hit his family."
"Maybe he just missed you."
"Hohoho! He once harbored feelings for me, but the Sword Emperor masters his heart. Worlds apart from some people."
She glanced at Muheo, off to the side.
He bellowed.
"What'd I do?!"
"Hmph! Feeling guilty? I never named you."
"You—urk?"
Muheo, mid-rant, tilted his head and looked back.
The Okhwa Palace Lord frowned, adding a rebuke.
"Turning away 'cause you're losing... Hm?"
She too turned her head.
The dark woods.
A faint bloody scent rode the wind from the direction the bearers guarded.
Jin Muhon, sensing the anomaly early, quietly summoned his blood mist.
"Gasp?!"
"Ah!"
Oepari and the veiled women gasped in surprise.
Red mist crept up around the campsite.
The Okhwa Palace Lord eyed Jin Muhon meaningfully.
"Your signature technique?"
Jin Muhon rose slowly, Sword Emperor's Blade in hand, without answering.
"Doesn't seem like nothing."
"Who knows. Could be folks here for you."
"We'll see."
Unidentified presences approached.
About ten of them.
Skilled enough to silently kill the bearers.
Oepari and the veiled women panicked visibly, scanning around.
Jin Muhon and the Okhwa Palace Lord, meanwhile, chatted casually as if undisturbed.
"Hayeon!"
Meanwhile, Muheo shot forward with lightness skill and flung open the carriage door.
"Yawn—yes?"
"Out here, now! Grab your sword!"
"Huh?"
"Hurry!"
Jin Hayeon, who'd dozed off early from the cold, scrambled out sword in hand.
The sinister aura closing in turned her face pale.
"M-Master?"
"Don't worry. Stick close to me."
"Yes!"
The Okhwa Palace Lord watched them a moment.
"Muheo really cherishes his disciple."
"Seems so."
"Enviable."
Shiiik—
As she spoke, she thrust her sword.
A streak of sword qi shot into the dark like a meteor.
Kwaaaaang—!
A massive shockwave erupted from the woods.
Power beyond what her graceful form suggested.
Her eyes gleamed.
"Not amateurs."
"Palace Lord. You on bad terms with the Demonic Cult?"
"Demonic Cult...?"
She turned to Jin Muhon, baffled.
He nodded toward the darkness.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Ten men in black uniforms and cloaks emerged from the gloom.
Wide-brimmed hats hid their faces.
Yet Jin Muhon recognized them instantly.
Muheo did too.
"Demonic qi! Demonic Cult bastards!"
One hat-wearing man slowly turned his hat, scanning the group.
It trembled faintly and stopped on Jin Muhon.
The Okhwa Palace Lord and veiled women stared at him in shock.
Jin Muhon's face muscles twitched, reverting to his true features.
"Knew it!"
Even surrounded by demonic adepts, the Okhwa Palace Lord spoke with glee.
Then, a grating voice like scraping metal issued from under a hat.
"What brings the Vice Cult Leader here...?"
"Huh?"
Jin Muhon tilted his head.
"Not here for me?"
The hatted man stepped back.
"We came for business with the Okhwa Palace Lord. Had we known you were here... we'd have picked another day."
"What? Business with me? Wait—Jin family head. What'd he call you? Vice Cult Leader?"
Confusion crossed her face for the first time.
Just as Muheo said, they reeked of repulsive demonic qi. Why target her?
But more baffling was their address for Jin Muhon.
"......"
Jin Muhon stared silently at the hatted men.
She scrutinized his firelit face.
Impassive, yet those cold, ruthless eyes.
An eerie aura without raising any energy.
A name finally surfaced in her mind.
"They said the Demonic Cult's Vice Cult Leader was chased from the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains... Don't tell me you're... the Sword Demon...?"
Jin Muhon stepped forward, nodding.
"That's right."
He swung his sword lightly.
Jet-black sword gang cleaved the dark. No sound, yet it reached the hatted man in an instant.
Kwaaaaang—!
The man skidded back with the shockwave.
Two deep furrows gouged the ground.
No mid-tier Demonic Cult adept could block it.
Yet he rose slowly, blood streaming from under his hat.
The bisected hat fell with a thud.
"Ah!"
"Gah!"
Moonlight revealed a grotesque face.
Blackened and dead, worm-like veins bulging everywhere.
Worst, his eyes.
Blood-red pupils gleamed ominously, nightmare fuel.
His lips curled up slyly.
"Vice Cult Leader. As impulsive as ever."
Jin Muhon focused, piercing the man's eyes.
Like Dan Ri-ye's blood jade, the pupils writhed.
Beyond them, another presence watched him.
'Divide Soul. Interesting.'
"Hand over the Okhwa Palace Lord, and we'll leave quietly."
Jin Muhon grinned.
"Dunno. That'd need someone else's permission, not mine."
"......?"
Kuuung—!
Muheo stomped hard.
Nearby trees shook, shedding leaves.
He too had mastered the Dual Intent Divine Art.
Not to Jin Muhon's level, but his skills had soared remarkably.
"No way! Can't allow that!"
"......"
The man's red pupils blazed.
"A pity. I didn't want to clash with you, Vice Cult Leader."
Jin Muhon sidestepped casually.
"Told you, not me."
He glanced back at Muheo.
"Old man. That guy's smitten with the Palace Lord at first sight."
"Raaah!"
Muheo became a streak of light and shot forward.