There Must Be a Reason He's That Arrogant
The crowd reeled in shock. They burst into a frenzy, as if someone had kicked a hornet's nest, each of them driving their blood-spirit energy as they ripped their weapons free.
Tension flashed across Dong Pil's and Mok Geom-in's faces. Attacks came pouring in from every side, crashing down like a wave meant to sweep a mountain away.
There was no need for either of them to step in. Yi Yeok launched himself forward and plunged straight into the crowd.
A moment later, fewer than ten people were left standing. Everyone else had been hurled over the cliff, and none of those who fell would be coming back up. The survivors had already lost the will to fight.
Dong Pil and Mok Geom-in, who had not even needed to lift a hand, trembled all the same. They were terrified that Yi Yeok, flushed with the thrill of it, might toss the two of them over the edge as well. He was more than capable of it.
"Money's a mirage. Isn't it stupid to kill and be killed over something you can't take with you when you die? Look at me. I'm not shackled by any of that."
Dong Pil and Mok Geom-in choked down the laughter that nearly burst out of them.
A madman. And a madman like that just killed all these people?
"Senior Brother, I am a disciple of Pyeongheung Sect. I have nothing to do with Sungwol Sect. Please, if you would only spare my life..."
Before the man could finish, Yi Yeok flung him over the cliff with complete indifference, the way one might pick up an annoying stone at one's feet and toss it aside.
The moment the rest understood that Yi Yeok had no intention of letting them live, they broke and fled in a scramble. He pursued them with ghostly speed, and wherever he passed, one body after another dropped over the edge.
At last he came to a stop before Ju Jin, who still had not recovered and lay face-down on the ground.
"Brother Ju. Did it really have to come to this?"
Ju Jin looked up at him with desperate eyes.
"Please... spare me..."
"You looked down on me and tried to use me. You used a hidden weapon. You tried to bury the whole thing. And you didn't even stop your fellow disciples."
"My life... please..."
"If you'd left out even one of those, nobody would have had to die. All these deaths are on you, Brother Ju. You admit that, don't you? Then you'll have to pay for it."
"I beg you... mercy..."
Yi Yeok kicked him over the cliff.
"As requested, I showed mercy and gave you a clean death. Live honestly. Remember it well in your next life."
A long while later, the sound of Ju Jin reaching the bottom and shattering rose from far below.
Eagle Sorrow Gorge sank into perfect silence.
Unbothered, Yi Yeok swept roughly half the silver and spirit stones on the table into his Qiankun Ring and held the rest out to Dong Pil and Mok Geom-in.
"That's your share, Seniors. Split it however you like."
Neither of them dared reach for it.
"Junior Brother Yi... wasn't this going too far?"
"What did I do?"
"You killed all these people."
"I killed them?"
Yi Yeok asked it back as if he were genuinely puzzled.
"Didn't they jump of their own accord?"
Dong Pil opened his mouth, shut it, and could not get another word out. Mok Geom-in stepped in.
"Junior Brother Yi, this is more than we can bear. It isn't like before, some internal affair of Nokhyeon Sect. Several of the nearby sects are tangled up in this."
Yi Yeok picked up the life-and-death contracts piled on the table.
"Isn't this the proof? They all came here staking their lives, ready to die. And then they chose death themselves."
Mok Geom-in clutched his head, as if the frustration were too much to hold.
"The higher-ups know about wagers like this and turn a blind eye. But this time the sects will not stay quiet. Even the Sect Master won't be able to shoulder it."
Dong Pil nodded along.
"He's right. So many people died, and only the three of us from Nokhyeon Sect walked away. Anyone looking at it will think we killed them."
"I get what you're saying."
Only then did the two of them breathe out in relief. Yi Yeok seemed, at last, to understand the situation.
"Then I'll kill you two as well. You won't have anything left to worry about, and I can take the blame by myself. Good idea, right?"
A chill ran down their spines. Dong Pil barely managed to speak, his voice shaking.
"W-well, now that I think about it, Junior Brother Yi is right. Anyone who entered a contest this dangerous ought to have been prepared to die. Besides, who would believe the three of us killed over a hundred people?"
Then a voice cut in from nowhere.
"Huh? Where'd everybody go?"
Bang Cheon was walking over with a completely lost look on his face.
"Where have you been?"
Bang Cheon's face went red, and he dropped his voice to a whisper.
"Th-the truth is... I wet my pants a little... so I went to wash them and let them dry..."
Yi Yeok burst out laughing, utterly dumbfounded.
Dong Pil divided the silver and spirit stones he had taken from Yi Yeok and passed Mok Geom-in his share.
"Given how things have turned out, there's nothing else for it."
Mok Geom-in hesitated a moment, then picked up the money. Refuse it, and he might well be the next one thrown off the cliff.
Bang Cheon blinked at them, still bewildered.
"Is it all over now?"
Yi Yeok laughed, broad and easy.
"Yeah. It's over."
He took out a few of the spirit stones he had just won and held them out.
"Your share."
Bang Cheon accepted them, beaming.
"As expected — so long as the sun rises in the east, Senior Brother is certain to win."
"Let's head back."
Yi Yeok summoned his Blood Spirit Sword, rose into the air with Bang Cheon, and vanished.
"This has gotten far too big. We need to think about a way out."
Mok Geom-in spoke with his brow drawn tight. Dong Pil let out a stifled sigh.
"A way out? We were involved. That's a fact. We even split the silver and the spirit stones. It's impossible to pull our feet out now."
Mok Geom-in said nothing. Dong Pil went on.
"If that man sets his mind to it, he can kill us too. Either way, the danger is the same. Better to stand with Yi Yeok — a fellow disciple, and a man the Supreme Elder trusts."
"...That bastard is definitely insane!"
"Yes. But what can we do? Looking at it now, it seems the story about him visiting the Black Peak Gang was true after all."
"Right. How is this even possible? Isn't his strength absurd?"
Dong Pil nodded.
"I know. Is he actually a true genius? But if he really were a genius, a mid-rank immortal sect would have claimed him long ago. Why would he bother joining Nokhyeon Sect?"
Mok Geom-in sank into thought for a moment, and then his eyes flashed.
"What if he's deliberately trying to make himself more famous? Then his goal would be..."
"A high-rank immortal sect!"
"Otherwise there's no explaining why he acts so recklessly. If all of this is only to catch the eye of a high-rank immortal sect, then it makes sense."
"If that's the case, he isn't alone. There might be an enormous power behind him."
"Right. That would also explain why he carries himself as if no one under heaven is worth his notice."
The two of them turned Yi Yeok's identity over and over, and the longer they did, the more the ground seemed to drop out from under them.
The next morning, the great hall of Nokhyeon Sect.
Sect Master So Cheon-jeon was bewildered. When the sect held friendly sparring with other sects, it was customary for inner disciples to attend in great numbers.
This time was different. From Yangcheon Sect, only Sect Master Dong Hyo, two inner elders, and three disciples had come. Sungwol Sect had brought no more than four disciples of its own.
Worse than the numbers was the air. A murderous tension wrapped the great hall.
So Cheon-jeon forced a smile and opened his mouth.
"Sect Master Dong, you don't seem to be in good spirits today. Has something happened?"
He had meant to ease the mood, but not a single person answered. Then an urgent report came from the door.
"Sect Master, the Sect Masters of Pyeongheung and Yong-a have arrived."
So Cheon-jeon started at the unexpected news. Yangcheon Sect and Sungwol Sect had been expected. A visit from Pyeongheung Sect and Yong-a Sect had not been expected at all.
He had no time to think. A group burst in, and a voice thick with rage rang through the hall.
"So Cheon-jeon! You've grown arrogant beyond all measure!"
The Yong-a Sect Master, clad in robes of gold, shouted it in a fury. So Cheon-jeon made no effort to hide his displeasure, and his brow drew tight.
"Sect Master of Yong-a, what exactly are you saying?"
"Yesterday the disciples under you held a lightness-art wager at Eagle Sorrow Gorge with the disciples of our sects. And the Nokhyeon disciples came back perfectly unharmed?"
A sense of foreboding settled over So Cheon-jeon.
"What are you trying to say?"
Dong Hyo stepped forward.
"The disciples of all four of our sects are lying as corpses at the bottom of Eagle Sorrow Gorge."
So Cheon-jeon went pale with shock.
"Surely you don't mean... this was the work of our disciples? You can't be serious."
The Yong-a Sect Master roared.
"Everyone else is dead, and only your Nokhyeon disciples came back alive — how could I not be serious?"
So Cheon-jeon understood then that the situation was far worse than he had imagined. If the sect masters were telling the truth, there was only one disciple worth suspecting.
Yi Yeok.
So Cheon-jeon shuddered before he knew it. That brat was nothing short of a calamity upon Nokhyeon Sect!