The Benefactor
The moment the words left my mouth, a group of men rushed in from the cave entrance like the wind, instantly forming a tight perimeter around everyone inside.
The cave was already cramped, and with five formidable figures blocking the exit, there wasn't a single gap left to escape through.
And these five were no ordinary martial artists.
The man standing in the center, glaring at Yu Gwan-ji with terrifying eyes, was none other than Ha Seung-ji, the Sect Leader of the Kunlun Sect. The other four were undoubtedly figures of equal dread.
Judging by their robes and age, two of them appeared to be elders of a higher generation than the Sect Leader, while the other two seemed to be high-ranking first-generation disciples.
Though they might have paled in comparison to the Kunlun masters, Yeongho Bin and Namgung Eon had also returned, standing guard right behind them at the cave entrance.
No matter how swift and powerful Yu Gwan-ji was as a Dharma King of the Demonic Cult, escaping this place was an absolute impossibility.
"Ugh... Young Sect Leader. What on earth is the meaning of..."
The face of Yu Gwan-ji, which had remained calm and serene under any circumstance until now, was now utterly distorted.
What's wrong? Decided to finally drop that hollow, vacant look of yours?
The matter wasn't fully settled yet, but just seeing Yu Gwan-ji's utterly ruined expression felt like a massive weight lifting off my chest.
However, the real work began now.
"I am indeed the Young Sect Leader of the Sun and Moon Sect, but I have no idea who you are, sir, or why you have been addressing me as such."
"What nonsense is this?!"
"I am telling you, we have no such person among our ranks. My fellow sect members, speak up. Is this man one of ours?"
"No, My Lord."
"How could that possibly be?"
"I've never heard of us having such a lunatic in our sect."
"There you have it," I said.
Leaving Yu Gwan-ji to seethe, his face turning a spectacular shade of purple, I turned my head toward the Kunlun Sect members.
"I, Baek Yeon, Young Sect Leader of the Sun and Moon Sect, greet the Sect Leader and Elders of the Kunlun Sect. Please forgive the lack of proper etiquette given our current circumstances. As previously informed, that man is the very culprit who murdered your sect's disciples, Cheon-seung and Cheon-ho, along with another senior whose name I do not know."
When Yu Gwan-ji left us at the Kunlun Sacred Ground to go plot his schemes, I had racked my brain for a way out of this predicament.
I needed to shake off this lunatic, but I was also being pursued by the Kunlun Sect. Resolving both issues at once required a drastic measure.
After much deliberation, I had sent Yeongho Bin and Namgung Eon as messengers to the Kunlun Sect with a proposal.
We would lure the enemy who killed their disciples into the cave. All they had to do was station their experts nearby and ambush him.
When you think about it, Yu Gwan-ji acted entirely on his own when he killed those Kunlun disciples. I don't know why Kunlun is trying to capture me, but from their perspective, getting revenge on Yu Gwan-ji should be a far higher priority.
Though Baek So-cheong and the others were initially dumbfounded by my plan, they quickly agreed that there was no better alternative.
"Young Sect Leader! Do you truly think you will walk away unscathed after doing this? This is apostasy!"
"The affairs of our Sun and Moon Sect will be handled by myself and the Sect Leader. An outsider like you has no right to dictate what I do."
"Are you going to pretend you do not know me to the very end?!"
The only reason I could attempt this plan was because Yu Gwan-ji's true identity was completely unknown to the wider Murim.
Well, a part of it was known.
Specifically, as a lunatic with the character for 'madness' in his moniker.
"Your condition seems severe," I remarked. "To be unable to control your madness and fall into the delusion that you are a member of our sacred sect... *Tsk*."
"Aaargh! You wretched brat!"
From Yu Gwan-ji's perspective, it was enough to trigger a fresh fit of insanity, but what could he possibly do in this situation? He had absolutely no way to prove he was a member of the Sun and Moon Sect.
Thus, we decided that pinning everything on Gwangheo Sanin and thoroughly cutting ties with him was our best way out of this predicament.
Once the Kunlun experts took care of Yu Gwan-ji, we could resolve the rest through negotiations.
Negotiating with Kunlun was the tricky part... but thanks to this lunatic, it's going to be a breeze.
From Kunlun's perspective, not only did the Young Sect Leader of the Sun and Moon Sect help them capture the murderer of their disciples, but he had also saved the Sect Leader's daughter. How could they not be grateful?
No matter what I asked for, they would have no choice but to bend over backward to grant it.
"Could you... put me down?"
"Ah, of course."
Hearing the girl in my arms speak, I gently set her down on her feet. She wore the typical coy expression of a teenage girl, but her flushed cheeks suggested she was embarrassed about having been carried.
She stole a glance at me, but the moment our eyes met, she quickly looked away.
"Forgive my rudeness, Lady. It was unavoidable under the circumstances."
"No, it is fine. Thank you for saving me... Young Sect Leader."
"Think nothing of it."
In truth, the girl had been conscious ever since I checked her pulse back at the sacred ground. Of course, she had to keep pretending to be unconscious to avoid exposing herself to danger in front of Yu Gwan-ji.
Since she had heard our entire conversation—including me treating Yu Gwan-ji like a madman—she would surely speak in my favor to her father, the Kunlun Sect Leader.
"Yeon-ryeong! Are you hurt anywhere?"
"No, Father. The Young Sect Leader here protected me."
Exactly. Just like that.
Ha Seung-ji, whose face had been rigid with tension until then, visibly relaxed upon confirming his daughter's safety. He then drew the longsword at his waist and pointed it at Yu Gwan-ji.
"I had my suspicions, but it really is you, Gwangheo Sanin."
"Gwangheo Sanin... Even his moniker is extraordinary. *Tsk*!"
Naturally, I spoke as if I were hearing the name for the very first time.
Gwangheo Sanin's widespread notoriety was a massive help. Confirming the man's identity seemed to convince the Kunlun Sect Leader that such a lunatic was indeed capable of committing these atrocities.
Though he tried not to show it, the Sect Leader was clearly furious that his daughter had been kidnapped right under his nose, even when he knew Gwangheo Sanin was plotting something.
Yes, direct that anger to the right place. Right at that guy.
"Aaaaaargh!"
Huh?
But Gwangheo Sanin—no, Yu Gwan-ji—let out a bizarre shriek and lunged straight at me, drawing the saber at his waist. The Kunlun Sect Leader and elders moved to stop him, but they were already a step too late.
I could have dodged his strike, but doing so might have put the Sect Leader's daughter, who was standing right next to me, in mortal danger.
Left with no choice, I gripped the hilt of the Heavenly Slayer Demonic Saber.
Rumble...
I circulated the Dark Demon Inward-Facing Heart Sutra, just as I had practiced tirelessly since entering the Kunlun Sacred Ground. I channeled my internal energy, which was now nearly perfected after the realignment of my Conception Vessel.
This was no time to hold back. I unleashed the power of the Heavenly Killer Star, swinging my saber to meet Yu Gwan-ji's strike.
Perhaps due to my crimson eyes, the blood-red saber Qi erupting from the Heavenly Slayer Demonic Saber carried an overwhelming pressure, looking like a living entity spewing fresh blood.
CLANG!!!
Gwangheo Sanin's saber clashed with mine in midair, unleashing a deafening roar. But that wasn't the only sound that echoed through the cave.
"Ah..."
"Oh...!"
An exclamation of awe escaped Ha Seung-ji's lips as he rushed forward, and the girl beside me let out a soft gasp.
But the most spectacular sight was Yu Gwan-ji's expression.
"W-What?"
He clearly hadn't expected his attack to be blocked. The sheer shock on his face stemmed from realizing how unbelievably far my martial realm had progressed in less than ten days.
To be honest, even I hadn't expected to reach this level in a mere seven days. Coming all the way to the Kunlun Sacred Ground had definitely paid off. I even felt a tiny bit of gratitude toward Yu Gwan-ji for instilling the sense of crisis that pushed me to focus so intensely on my training.
In any case.
Slash!
Because I blocked Yu Gwan-ji's strike, I successfully bought enough time for Ha Seung-ji to close the distance.
The moment Yu Gwan-ji entered his range, Ha Seung-ji swung his longsword at an invisible speed. The power of his sword technique was in no way inferior to Yu Gwan-ji's.
Even with his stance broken, Yu Gwan-ji somehow managed to dodge the lightning-fast attack. But right behind Ha Seung-ji, the Kunlun elders were already pressing in.
So, one of our Sun and Moon Sect's Dharma Kings meets his end here.
While losing one of the Sect's top powerhouses was a shame, I honestly felt no pity for him. He brought this upon himself, and the world would be a much better place without a lunatic like him anyway.
But then...
"!!"
Had I underestimated Yu Gwan-ji's skill?
Faced with the relentless onslaught of the Kunlun Sect Leader and elders, Yu Gwan-ji did not panic. He evaded their strikes by a hair's breadth with profound, uncanny movements.
His body seemed to stumble, yet in the blink of an eye, he reappeared two paces behind Ha Seung-ji. With a few more steps, he was right in front of one of the elders.
The Kunlun elder gritted his teeth and swung his sword, but Yu Gwan-ji simply tilted his head to dodge, launching himself backward with terrifying speed.
It was a lightfoot movement technique of an unbelievably high caliber.
Having already slipped past Ha Seung-ji and the two elders, he shot like an arrow toward the cave's sole exit.
The only ones blocking his path now were Yeongho Bin and Namgung Eon.
"Yeongho! Namgung! Fall back!"
I shouted urgently.
Yu Gwan-ji was thoroughly enraged after being humiliated by me, and I feared the two of them might get seriously hurt if they tried to force a confrontation.
As they stepped aside at my command, nothing stood in Yu Gwan-ji's way. Before leaping out of the cave, he turned his head to look at me.
I couldn't tell what he wanted to say, but his gaze was profoundly ominous.
"Pursue him!"
At the Sect Leader's command, the elders and other disciples rushed out after Yu Gwan-ji. However, given his peerless lightfoot technique, catching him would be an exercise in futility.
In fact, his escape was likely due to a calculated plan rather than just his lightfoot skills. If the Kunlun Sect Leader and elders had maintained their initial perimeter, escaping would have been impossible, no matter how fast he was.
But the moment he lunged at me, their formation broke, and Yu Gwan-ji seized that exact window to slip away. He truly was a formidable foe.
"Young Sect Leader! Are you hurt?"
"I am perfectly fine."
Following Baek So-cheong, Yeongho Bin and Namgung Eon rushed over to check on me, sighing in relief when they saw I was unharmed.
Only our group of four and the Kunlun Sect Leader and his daughter remained inside the cave.
Though the plan to eliminate Yu Gwan-ji using Kunlun had succeeded, the real hurdle was about to begin.
The question is, what kind of man is Ha Seung-ji?
Depending on his personality, he might not believe my claim that Yu Gwan-ji had nothing to do with the Sun and Moon Sect. He might even suspect that I had planned this entire ordeal with Yu Gwan-ji from the start. And I couldn't forget that they had originally intended to kidnap me, either.
"Hmm..."
Ha Seung-ji stared at his daughter with a grave expression.
"*Sniff... Hic...* My daughter..."
And then, a moment later...
"Thank you... Thank you so much for saving my daughter..."
Thick, heavy tears began to pour from his eyes like rain.