Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Fate
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Se-ah’s mind was in turmoil as she listened to Yeon So-hyeon’s story.
His tale, a jumble of past and future, was bound to confuse her.
“You intend to carry out that righteous deed you have in mind, even if it means countless sacrifices in its wake?”
Se-ah had thought that any sacrifices would be limited to herself and those who shared her cause.
“Even if, because of your actions, unrelated innocents who have nothing to do with it end up dying?”
“That can’t possibly happen!”
At that response, So-hyeon turned to look at her.
“Eek?!”
Se-ah’s pupils dilated.
Her eyes filled with a stark white mask—clumsy and crooked, yet utterly chilling.
The masked Yeon So-hyeon slowly raised a hand.
“So that must be why. Those who cherished such pure kindness deep in their hearts ended up perishing alone.”
As he lifted his hand, a piercing winter wind brushed past it.
“In the end, to alter the mighty current of history’s great river, that much blood must flow.”
He swung his hand, and for some reason, the wind seemed to grow fiercer.
Se-ah shivered in the freezing gust.
“But those kind souls cannot bear to witness the immense slaughter of innocents required to twist that river’s flow.”
He tried to grasp the frigid wind, but it merely scattered and slipped away.
“And so, even if their names were left in infamy, sullied and reviled, they sacrificed only themselves.”
He slashed at the empty air and lowered his hand.
“Even though, in the end, nothing changed.”
The masked face tilted to the side.
“…Was that a futile sacrifice? Was it inevitably the sisters’ fate?”
Se-ah could no longer follow Yeon So-hyeon’s story.
“What is this tale…
But by then, Yeon So-hyeon was no longer there.
“In my childhood, I dreamed of changing the world, but I came to realize it was a misguided dream.”
His voice was utterly desolate.
“After that, I lived with the sole wish of embracing poverty and delighting in the Way.”
Se-ah hurriedly turned toward the source of the voice.
“?!”
So-hyeon was now standing atop the wall, gazing down at her.
She had no idea what trick Yeon So-hyeon had just performed.
Had the Swordless One of the Luoyang Sword Clan been concealing his martial prowess?
Yet she sensed a shadow far deeper than mere martial arts.
“But the status I was born into made embracing poverty impossible.”
Though the distance between them was great, for some reason, his voice sounded as if it were right beside her ear.
“So I pursued tranquility. I thought that if I discarded my desires again and again, I could become as free as the wind slipping through a net.”
A metallic scrape, like nails on eardrums, mingled in his voice.
“I failed.”
With exaggerated flair, he spread both arms toward the sky.
“I failed to change the fate I was born under. In the end, I knelt beneath the star that governs me.”
The gesture was like that of a stage actor—overly dramatic, yet not comical, stirring profound emotional tremors.
“…But your sisters’ fate has not yet been sealed.”
It was no longer the voice of the eldest young master.
It scarcely sounded human at all.
Composed entirely of thick metallic tones, it was rough and cruel, laced with a profound sadness.
“I shall observe the fate of you sisters.”
The mask had no visible eye holes.
Yet for some reason, Se-ah felt a gaze far sharper than staring into someone’s eyes from close range.
“I will watch whether your fate crosses mine, or perhaps even overlaps it.”
The figure in the white mask and scholar’s robes began to melt into the darkness.
“My path is the demonic realm beyond humanity, strewn with corpse mountains and seas of blood—the underworld demonic way.”
Like melting, like scattering, his form vanished into the thick darkness, into the winter wind sharp as blades.
“May we not meet upon it…”
Was that parting words a prayer laced with concern, or a sneer at fate?
Se-ah stared endlessly at the wall where the eldest young master had disappeared, as if entranced.
At last, the clouds parted, and moonlight bathed the roof tiles in gentle beauty.
Yet beneath that soft, warm glow, the eldest young master was nowhere to be seen.
* * *
For an organization like the Black Bone Gang, which dominated the back alleys, rapid losses in manpower were inevitable.
And yet, it was the easiest group in all of Luoyang to recruit new members for.
Luoyang was a massive, opulent commercial metropolis teeming with millions, its splendor upheld by an even vaster darkness.
In the slums lived numbers too vast for even the authorities to tally.
‘Want to survive in the slums? Then join us.’
The Black Bone Gang wasn’t the sort of outfit that required any special talents to join.
In fact, having one or two things missing was no issue.
It was preferable.
Lacking empathy, common sense, or mercy made recruitment far more favorable.
And such ‘deficient souls’ overflowed in the slums.
Everything else was irrelevant.
Once they joined and lived among their brothers and sisters, they naturally molded into fine Black Bone Gang members.
Today, too, their ranks were swelling smoothly.
* * *
Amid the typical slum scenery found anywhere in Luoyang stood one of the Black Bone Gang’s branches.
They called it a branch with some pomp, but at best, it was a rat’s nest.
“Yawwn…”
Dengchi, guarding the entrance to that den, was yet another example of a fine member forged through the usual process.
His father had died at the hands of bandits while working for an escort agency (or so he’d heard).
While his mother struggled desperately to survive, he too had done his utmost alone and somehow endured.
In that process of growing up, he realized he possessed far less than others.
And that it was an unbreakable law.
So he joined the Black Bone Gang.
With his new brothers, he immersed himself in venting the pent-up rage and resentment of his life.
The skull tattoos etched into his body multiplied one by one.
He was grateful how perfectly this path suited his nature.
‘Just a few more merits, and it’s promotion. Heh heh, then I’ll take my new underlings and claim that girl next door first…’
He even had constructive future plans now.
Just imagining leading his growing band of subordinates through the streets made his chest swell with pride.
No one in the neighborhood would dare ignore him then.
Truth be told, he didn’t mind if they did a little.
That drew him even more.
The neighbor girl who always looked at him like filth—that’s why he wanted to crush her all the more.
“Is this the Black Bone Gang branch?”
He was in the midst of such fantasies with her, groin growing heavy,
when he waved his hand dismissively.
“Get lost.”
But the other was persistent.
“I asked if this is the Black Bone Gang branch?”
He sighed.
“Brat. We don’t take scrawny little shits like you. Beat it while I’m being nice.”
“I’m not exactly begging to be let in?”
The boy, head held stiffly high, shrugged.
Normally, he’d have beaten the crap out of anyone wearing a creepy mask like that on sight, but right now, he was in an exceptionally good mood.
“Fine. Big brother here will give you a special interview.”
He raised a fist thick with calluses from his joints.
“Endure just two hits. I’ll put in a special recommendation for ya.”
From beneath the moonlit white mask came overt mocking laughter.
“Told you, I’m not here to join. What a blockhead.”
“Fuckin’ punk, then what the hell are you?!”
Beneath the mask covering half his face, the boy’s mouth split wide, baring razor-sharp teeth.
“Eh? Uh… ?!”
Dengchi wanted to scream, but no sound came out.
Not only could he not speak— he couldn’t move his body at all.
He couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing.
“Since you’re a ‘gatekeeper’ too, I’ll kindly tell you…”
It had sidled up beside him unnoticed and now rose on tiptoe to whisper in his ear.
Its breath was a bone-chilling frost that flayed the skin.
“I’ve come to devour every last one of you.”
“...?!”
With a casual nudge, an irresistible force sent Dengchi flying.
He soared lightly through the entrance he’d been guarding, bounced two or three times down the filthy narrow corridor, and finally came to a stop.
“Ughh, uh…
The impact left him breathless.
Agony lanced into his brain.
As he writhed on the floor like a worm, grinding his back against it, it approached with light footsteps.
It looked down at him and smiled.
A smile pure and unblemished—yet its mouth bristled with needle-like fangs.
In that smile, he felt a terror unlike any he’d known before.
“Come now, sing us a song.”
“Ughh!”
Sing in this situation?
Soon enough, he would understand its words all too clearly through his own body.
“When it comes to singing, the most important thing is, first and foremost, breathing.”
Its hand crept stealthily toward his abdomen.
“And breathing starts right here.”
There was something almost playful about it, like performers on a stage.
“Now, take a deep breath in—”
The hand reached the center of his abdomen and plunged in without mercy.
“Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!”
The hand burrowing into his gut was terribly cold.
Then, something searingly hot began melting his innards.
“You’ve mastered the first stage perfectly!”
Corroded by the demonic qi of the Jeam Heavenly Scripture, Dengchi’s innards liquefied completely, and his movements ceased.
“Pity you won’t get to learn the second stage.”
It giggled, the mask shaking as it emitted an eerie laugh.
The imperfect mask, perfected into a demonic artifact through madness and grudge.
“W-what?!”
“Who’s there?!”
Startled by Dengchi’s death throes, Black Bone Gang members rushed out weapons in hand.
The scream had been so horrific that some tumbled out barefoot, straight from sleep.
But despite their haste, they all froze in the corridor.
“Uh, uhh?!”
They were struck speechless.
Their fallen comrade’s abdomen gaped open, melted innards and bubbling blood oozing thickly down the slanted hallway.
And the thing, as if freshly spawned from a nightmare, waved its gore-smeared hand in greeting.
“Hello, everyone. Fine night we’re having, isn’t it?”