Chapter 220
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 220
Chapter Title: In the Same Boat as Wu and Yue (3)
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Today's booze-up was the third one.
Having rented out the entire top floor of a super-luxurious brothel where no one could eavesdrop, and even sealing off the vents meticulously.
"You've got money to burn."
"I've got a bit."
I arranged a private meeting with Blood Fang.
Precisely speaking.
"Kyau!"
"Th-this wolf, do something ab── Gah!"
it was a gathering that included Wolfy and the fox too.
Maybe because of the clear hierarchy between spirit beast and yokai, the moment Wolfy bared his fangs at the nape of Hoyeonhwa's human-form neck, she instantly turned back into a fox.
And then they tussled again.
Watching the beasts play with relaxed amusement, I poured liquor into Blood Fang's cup across from me.
"You're awfully laid-back."
"Because I lack confidence in winning."
"Full of bravado, aren't you."
Well, last time and now too.
I genuinely lacked confidence in beating him.
Impenetrable Net is divine, and I'm invincible.
If I seriously tried to run?
There probably wouldn't be anyone in the world who could catch me.
When it came to lightness skills and movement arts, I could boldly claim to be the Supreme Under Heaven.
Even if there were Fast Gang in this era, I'd surely be their chief. That's me.
"Right. I remember now. You're that guy who was belting out the Hong Sundok merchant song, aren't you?"
"Ugh, shit."
Goosebumps erupted all over my body.
That old monster.
Still going around spouting that crap?
"Slander, pure fiction. I swear on my manhood, I have zero interest in Hong Sundok, not even a single grain of rice."
"Why the hell bring that up, you filthy bastard."
Blood Fang grimaced and downed his drink in one gulp.
Then he promptly extended his finger and released some poison qi.
"Want to do a life-and-death pact or something?"
"Nah, just gotta put what I learned to use."
Pop.
He shot me a look like What kind of asshole is this? which I brushed off lightly, then posed my question again.
"So, what's Hong Sundok's deal?"
"No idea."
"?"
Did he sense my contemptuous gaze?
"The Blood Cult isn't the blood-crazed bunch you imagine. It's a gathering of lunatics pursuing strength, each with their own stories."
"That's why I'm asking what those stories are."
"I said I don't know. Never pried."
"Then how'd you know the Poison Demon elder's from the Tang Family?"
"He told me."
"……."
This guy wasn't just a pants CEO.
The whole organization seemed like a pile of loose powder.
"Didn't have to be called Blood Cult. White Lotus Cult, Ming Cult, even something bland like Yellow Turban Party would've worked. What's in a name?"
"For a group practicing blood-manipulating martial arts?"
"Well, can't deny my art is rooted in blood."
Cheon Siu chuckled wryly and raised his cup.
Half doubting if we needed to keep talking, half curious if something deeper might slip out, we clinked glasses.
"It was my master's idea to name it Blood Cult."
"You had a master."
"Probably still wandering the Central Plains, pretending to be the cult leader. Not important, though."
Watching him poke at the snacks with his chopsticks.
"That's monkey butt, you know."
"……Crazy Central Plains bastards."
Even dealing with the world's scum, one must uphold basic human decency.
Maybe thanks to my kind advice to avoid my own mistakes, Cheon Siu's mouth loosened up after that.
"Anyway, I just made promises with people. Poison Demon spilled his story, Lust Demon was less forthcoming—wish he hadn't been. Wonder how that guy's doing."
"Living the life of wine, women, song, and food."
"You nabbed him? Jade Transformation Preservation?"
"Told him I'd cut off his junk and make him cultivate it himself. He gave up clean."
"Heh."
Cheon Siu let out a dry laugh.
"Ghost Demon's promise with Hong Sundok was similar to mine. Closest to my goals, actually—a woman."
"Goals?"
"Central Plains' downfall, end of the old era, establishing new order."
"Bunch of crazy reds."
Blood Cult's personal color was red, as expected.
Just a bunch of red-filled lunatics.
In Blood Fang's visage, I saw the mustachioed Heavenly Demon Stalin mercilessly wielding Capitalist Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
Anyway.
Once my questions wrapped up there.
Cheon Siu naturally made his pitch.
"Join hands with me?"
Did my body emit pheromones attracting ruthless types like Demonic Cult or Blood Cult?
"Why should I?"
"Not asking you to commit to the grand cause. Just share one promise."
"Right, your unique heart image is that kind."
Oddly, his heart image specialized in tongue-work over combat utility.
In summary.
Form an unbreakable vow, fulfill each other's requests.
Like with the prospective father-in-law elder.
He wanted "power to destroy Sichuan Tang," and this guy offered slitting Mire's belly.
In return, he asked for cooperation on Ghost Demon's jiangshi research, which the elder fulfilled dutifully.
"How'd you know about the imugi in Yunnan?"
"Just promising means nothing. I foresee the most likely future where I can fulfill theirs."
"Whoa, bullshit."
Total scam.
"So, your answer?"
"Obviously no. Who knows what you'll demand."
"Nothing that'll hurt you."
"Probably something like helping hit the Nangong Family, right?"
"Spot on."
Expected.
He must've sensed the Nangong patriarch's presence in the brothel too.
I'd keenly felt the gap between early Profound Realm and mid-Profound, so how much more for him.
But.
"Pass."
"Why? You clearly hold a grudge against Nangong too."
"Not about ganging up on the patriarch?"
"Figured solo might be tough."
Tsk.
Mindset straight out of Blood Fang playbook.
I calmly refilled my cup.
And.
"I'll challenge him alone, so you just block any cheap shots coming my way. At Escape Demon level, acting all scared? Tsk."
Temporary alliance over.
Got everything I needed.
Still.
He didn't seem total human scum.
So I'll slot you as an acquaintance—no, too much.
Close buddy category it is.
Geum Sihyeon's garbled interpretation of the room's message amid spacetime storm boils down to this original.
[If any dare challenge Nangong, come to Tianzhu Mountain summit. I shall show you the might of Nangong's sword.]
'Take off your rank insignia and follow me to the rooftop' wasn't entirely wrong, but it was a declaration nonetheless.
No matter the whispers behind his back, as long as he lived, none could tarnish Nangong's name—that fierce resolve.
It also bore his wife's fury over the Sima Family massacre.
But the Sima Family, reliant on marriage without self-strengthening, was just another group doomed by the era's tides.
Nangong Heun held no regrets there.
Now filling his mind.
That sword strike from the brothel.
He wanted to face it for real.
That was all.
Thus, he'd provocatively posted the notice, shooed away dissuading clan members, and sat cross-legged in meditation atop Tianzhu summit alone.
If they came, good.
If not, they'd kneel to Nangong's name by default—not bad.
Then, in his qi sense.
Two presences registered.
One early Profound Realm.
One Peak Realm... seemingly, yet its depth unfathomable, eerie.
Which one?
Nangong Heun opened his eyes to see, alongside a sharp-faced man with a long scar on his cheek.
"A masked man."
Undoubtedly.
The man matched the description of the one who broke Poison King.
Surprisingly, the approaching one was the masked man.
Not Profound—the something at Peak Realm's edge.
"Wiji Hyeon of the World's End Scholarly Sect pays respects to the Nangong patriarch."
Seemingly polite, yet his cupped-fist salute felt like greeting a peer—Nangong Heun felt a peculiar thrill.
"Wiji Hyeon... relation to Sword Demon Wiji Ryang?"
"Disciple and foster son."
As he smoothly lied off his tongue, Cheon Siu shook his head faintly, but.
Nangong Heun's eyes sparkled like he'd found a fun toy.
"Come to challenge?"
"Here to challenge, but a bit unsure."
His head-scratching wasn't repulsive; Nangong Heun felt admiration for such a martial artist popping up.
"Care for a little wager?"
Until the man abruptly twisted the world's laws with his heart image.
Cheon Siu's eyes widened in shock.
"Y-you thieving bastard...!"
His crude curse rang out, but.
It didn't reach between Wiji Hyeon──
Geum Sihyeon and Nangong Heun.
Causal Binding.
Where there's cause, there's effect; bind our worlds and wills to share the same path.
⟨ Causal Binding ⟩
"Patriarch hopes I challenge you, right?"
"Indeed."
Feeling the world subtly warp, Nangong Heun agreed readily.
"Then, I wish for us to seal our internal energy and duel life-or-death. How's that?"
"That master's spitting image in his disciple. Same antics. Fine."
"Then, we've exchanged requests."
As Geum Sihyeon's words ended.
The churning world fragments embedded one by one into Geum Sihyeon's and Nangong Heun's hearts.
A powerful taboo unbreakable save by fulfilling the promise.
Geum Sihyeon keeps his promise to challenge Nangong Heun.
Nangong Heun keeps his to fight Geum Sihyeon with sealed internal energy.
The promise from their heart images gripped their lives tightly.