Chapter 36
The woman who heard me wore a subtle expression.
“So you’re saying he looked dangerous, not me, so you knocked him out?”
“That’s right.”
“Even looking at this arm?”
She lifted her arm. It was the kind of arm that didn’t look like it could kill a single person. And yet my answer did not change. I gave a slight nod.
She was beautiful, and she looked fragile for it. Her features had the clean, striking lines of something painted by a master hand. But one thing was certain: whatever she looked like, she was not weak.
“You don’t look all that fragile.”
“You really do say interesting things.”
The woman looked at me with interest. Then, as if she’d made up her mind, she continued.
“I’m not usually the type to say this, but do you have time?”
“No. I don’t.”
“Good. Then how about tea—wait, what did you say?”
“I said I don’t have time.”
Her expression twisted, as if she were someone who had never been refused in her life.
“I’m honestly stunned.”
“Then be stunned. I’ve got somewhere to be.”
I turned and started walking toward the Murim Alliance. Or rather, I tried to. She stepped in front of me and went on.
“If you’re in a hurry, how about we meet next time? Tell me your name and where you live, and I’ll come find you.”
If anyone else had seen this, they’d have thought I was insane. She was that beautiful, and she clearly looked interested in me. But my answer was simple.
“Isn’t it rude to ask someone else’s name before giving your own?”
Click.
The woman ground her teeth, irritated. But soon enough, she smiled again.
“I’m the second daughter of the Daejuk Trading Company. Lee Hee-won.”
“Daejuk Trading Company?”
Lee Hee-won looked a little mollified when she saw my expression.
Daejuk Trading Company.
One of the Ten Great Trading Houses of the Central Plains. Naturally, for a Central Plains native to not know Daejuk Trading Company would be no different from being a spy.
But I knew. I knew that behind Daejuk Trading Company stood the Cheonma-singyo.
“So what’s your name?”
“I’m afraid it’s difficult to tell you.”
“What? Why?”
“People say that when a stranger asks for your personal information, there’s a high chance they’re a Taoist priest.”
She stared at me, dumbfounded. I passed her and kept walking.
“You’re crazy.”
“I do hear that often.”
Lee Hee-won didn’t stop me after that, and she didn’t speak to me again.
Given the flow of demonic energy, she really is one of them. The second daughter of Daejuk Trading Company is a demon?
I searched my memory. In my past life too, the second daughter of Daejuk Trading Company had been Lee Hee-won. But I had never once heard that she was a demon.
Why would a demon be in the Murim Alliance? And on the Murim Alliance Leader’s birthday, no less.
Once the Alliance Leader’s birthday was over, I’d need to look into Daejuk Trading Company too.
Lee Hee-won kept watching until Baek Mugeuk disappeared down the road.
She thought that people said the Central Plains was vast, but she had never imagined there would be such a lunatic in it.
“What the hell. That insane bastard.”
At that moment, a low voice came from behind her.
“Young miss. It’s time to go. The Murim Alliance Leader’s birthday celebration is about to begin.”
“Fine. Let’s move.”
And yet, for some reason, her feet wouldn’t budge easily. She stood there for a long moment, staring hard at the road where Baek Mugeuk had vanished.
“That guy from earlier. You know him?”
“Do you mean the man inside the inn, or the one who just left?”
“The one who just left.”
“I’ll collect information.”
“Do that.”
Lee Hee-won turned around. But there was no one there. Slowly, she started walking away.
The next time we meet, you’re going to tell me honestly who you are. Otherwise…
She clenched her fist tightly.
...you’ll surely die.
The moment her cold voice rang out, her figure vanished in an instant.
When I reached the Murim Alliance, there was, as expected, a long line already formed.
Can they even fit all those people in here? Just as the thought crossed my mind, someone tapped my shoulder.
“Nameless junior.”
When I turned my head, the face I saw was Namgung Gyeom, whom I had met in the Treasury of the Divine Thief.
“So now it’s Bright Destroying Sword?”
He still had those sharp eyes.
“You pretended otherwise, but I guess you got attached to Won Woo-hyeop.”
“What nonsense is that?”
“Nameless junior. Wasn’t that what Won Woo-hyeop called me?”
“...Shut up. I just didn’t remember your name.”
“Pretending it wasn’t intentional, huh.”
Namgung Gyeom glared at me with his eyes wide open. Then a voice came from behind him.
“Gyeom! What kind of manners are those with a guest of honor?”
“That brat a guest of honor? What a load of crap.”
“Mind your tongue. He is a guest of the Alliance Leader.”
“Hah. Why Grandfather would….”
The one who had come out behind Namgung Gyeom was his older brother, Namgung Mu, who had once been the Murim Alliance Leader in my past life. He approached me with a genial smile and held out his hand.
“Bright Destroying Sword. Please understand. My younger brother is still immature.”
“Namgung Mu.”
“Oh. You know me?”
Jianlong, Namgung Mu. How could I not know him? Even without my past life’s memories, not knowing his name in the current martial world would make no sense.
He was known as an unprecedented genius.
“How could I not know Jianlong?”
I took his hand. He laughed heartily and continued.
“Jianlong, is it? That’s too flattering a title. I was only lucky. If anything, I think Bright Destroying Sword sounds even better. A sword that cuts through the darkness! Truly an impressive title.”
“Mine is the one that’s too flattering.”
Once we were done coating each other’s faces in gold,
Namgung Mu tightened his grip.
Jianlong or whatever, this is how men are. Still, I really didn’t want to play these childish power games.
Which was a ridiculous thing to say, because I was exactly that kind of childish man too.
I squeezed back hard. Namgung Mu’s mouth curled upward, and he began to push his internal energy against mine.
I met it in turn.
I had never seen Namgung Mu at this age before. But I had crossed swords with the Namgung Mu of my past life many times. Naturally, I won every single one of those times.
Even so, the energy surging through his hand now was more than enough to justify the title of Jianlong. No, perhaps it was insulting to reduce him to something as small as a mere sword dragon.
It was Namgung Gyeom’s voice that broke the silence.
“Could both of you stop?”
At that, Namgung Mu and I withdrew our energy.
“I could feel it even during my spar with the Alliance Leader, but Baek Mugeuk, you truly are extraordinary!”
“The Alliance Leader was being very generous.”
Namgung Mu stared at his own hand with an admiring look. Seeing that, Namgung Gyeom shook his head in disgust and moved off first.
“Oh. Gyeom, let’s go together. Bright Destroying Sword, come on, let’s hurry after him!”
Namgung Mu also quickly set off after Namgung Gyeom. Watching the two of them, I couldn’t help thinking, Who’s the older brother here?
The Namgung brothers led me to the Alliance Leader Hall. According to Namgung Mu, the Murim Alliance Leader’s birthday celebration always took place there, and soon we arrived at the entrance.
The Alliance Leader Hall, which would normally be shut tight, stood wide open.
Given the sheer number of people, it seemed the hall and even the corridor were being used as part of the banquet space.
“There really are a lot of people.”
“It is the Alliance Leader’s birthday, after all.”
I turned toward the honored seat in the Alliance Leader Hall. There were so many people it wasn’t easy to spot Namgung Cheon.
When I finally found him, he was surrounded by people from the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Clans, greeting them and receiving gifts.
Well, it was more or less exactly the kind of atmosphere I’d expected.
“Alliance Leader! This is a bellflower root that blooms only once every ten thousand years! Congratulations on your birthday!”
“Thank you.”
It was the same dull exchange over and over.
Watching from a distance, I opened my mouth with a tired expression.
“I meant to at least greet him before leaving, but that doesn’t look easy.”
“What do you mean? Please wait a moment. The Alliance Leader said to make sure we bring Bright Destroying Sword over.”
Namgung Mu smiled and looked toward Namgung Cheon. Judging by the movement of his throat, he seemed to be sending a voice transmission.
And then, at that very moment—
“Have you come?”
Namgung Cheon’s voice rang through the entire Alliance Leader Hall. All eyes turned to me.
The noisy hall fell silent in an instant.
“Make a path for them.”
At Namgung Cheon’s single command, a passage quickly opened from the corridor all the way to his seat. It was as if a wall made of people were shifting apart.
“Come this way, Bright Destroying Sword.”
“Haah….”
A sigh escaped me before I knew it.
I don’t like being the center of attention in the first place. But what could I do?
The supreme figure of the righteous faction was calling for me.
With every step I took, everyone’s gaze shifted toward me.
And at the end of that path stood Namgung Cheon.
For the first time, I had this thought.
So this is what a giant of the righteous faction looks like.
In my past life, I had been called the strongest under heaven, but no one ever called me a giant. Which made sense, really, because I had never earned anyone’s respect.
I had never built a faction of my own, and because of that, I had never wielded influence either. Maybe that was why I had failed to defeat Tiger Mask.
I had always been struggling alone.
“Why have you come so late? I’ve been waiting for a long time.”
“That’s because the Alliance Leader…!”
I nearly snapped at his words without thinking. But this was the Murim Alliance Leader’s occasion.
Forcing my expression into something manageable, I replied through voice transmission.
You summoned me late.
You needed time to rest too, didn’t you? That’s why I called you late.
At the Alliance Leader’s words, I gave an awkward smile and folded my hands in a respectful bow.
“Baek Mugeuk of the Baek Family greets the Murim Alliance Leader.”
“You.”
“Yes?”
Namgung Cheon’s face grew grave. Then he spoke slowly.
“Do you dislike the title Bright Destroying Sword?”
“Huh?”
“Isn’t that right? Everyone here knows I gave you the title Bright Destroying Sword, so why did you not use it when introducing yourself?”
At his words, I could feel the atmosphere in the Alliance Leader Hall go cold.
What the hell was this all of a sudden?
Was I supposed to tack on the title and introduce myself again right now?
When I was starting to feel genuinely flustered,
“I’m joking. Come in, Bright Destroying Sword.”
A curved smile appeared on his lips. At the same time, a voice transmission from Namgung Cheon reached me.
I’ll let the matter in the rear garden go at that.
I nearly laughed in disbelief after hearing that.
He was still holding that over me. What a petty old man.
“More importantly, what is in your hand?”
“This?”
Namgung Cheon’s gaze fell on the bamboo-leaf liquor in my hand.
“Since it’s the Alliance Leader’s birthday, I prepared some alcohol.”
“Alcohol?”
“Yes. Bamboo-leaf liquor.”
At my words, someone I couldn’t identify muttered under their breath.
“Bamboo-leaf liquor for a man of such standing….”
It was only one voice, but everyone in the hall seemed to be thinking the same thing. I didn’t care.
I reached for a nearby wine cup.
The cup lifted lightly into the air and came flying toward me.
“Void Seizing Objectsmanship at such a young age?”
Voices of admiration rose from all around. And reasonably so. It was impossible to perform void-seizing objectsmanship at the peak level in the ordinary sense.
Though, to be precise, it wasn’t impossible. If one could control qi perfectly, regardless of enlightenment, then it could be done.
Drip.
“I thought carefully about what would suit the Murim Alliance Leader best as a gift.”
I stepped closer to Namgung Cheon and handed him the cup filled with liquor.
“There was only one thing that came to mind. This bamboo-leaf liquor.”
Namgung Cheon accepted the cup and asked me,
“Why bamboo-leaf liquor?”
“I told the Alliance Leader in the rear garden.”
I took a breath and went on.
“That there is no longer any righteous chivalry in the righteous faction.”
At my words, silence fell over the entire Alliance Leader Hall. Before long, angry voices began to erupt.
“What is this man saying!”
“What kind of place does he think this is to speak such nonsense!”
But I didn’t stop. The moment I opened my mouth, the hall fell quiet once more.
“Those who possess chivalry are poor and die young. That’s why I brought bamboo-leaf liquor. To honor them with the drink they would have been used to.”
Namgung Cheon’s eyes turned fierce at my words.
Meanwhile, the righteous sect members listening looked as though they’d been gravely insulted and were ready to draw their weapons at any moment.
“Baek Mugeuk. You won’t regret what you just said, will you?”
“No. I won’t.”
Namgung Cheon raised the cup at my answer and poured it into his mouth.
Then he frowned deeply.
“Hah. Right. So this is what bamboo-leaf liquor tasted like.”
He stared at the cup as if remembering the past, then turned back to me.
You made perfect preparations, didn’t you?
Preparations?
Didn’t you say there would be something interesting?
Namgung Cheon, having sent that transmission, rose from his throne.
“I too drank a great deal of bamboo-leaf liquor before I came here. I’d almost forgotten that for a while. Baek Mugeuk, I’ll give you the answer I couldn’t give you that day.”
A powerful aura poured from Namgung Cheon’s body. No, it was more accurate to say it erupted from him like a storm.
The many martial artists packed into the Alliance Leader Hall began to contort their faces as though breathing had become difficult.
“I, the Murim Alliance Leader, Namgung Cheon, will once again reclaim righteous chivalry at the very front lines of the righteous martial world.”
The Alliance Leader’s fierce roar shook the entire hall, and his sword shot free like a bolt of lightning. Then countless strands of sword energy poured out along the blade like a raging storm.
The martial artists struck by Namgung Cheon’s sword energy died without even a scream.
“And that begins today.”
Terror began to fill the eyes of everyone in the Alliance Leader Hall.