Chapter 312: Black-Clothed Men (1)
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“Won-ah!”
The black shadow on the wall that I had seen from afar was Zhuge Won. Zhuge Won was tied to a pole.
Zhuge Yan recognized him and hurriedly approached, untying the knot on the pole. Laying Zhuge Won down, signs of having been beaten were visible alongside sealed numbing acupoints.
Most likely, Zhuge Gyeom would have killed Zhuge Won along with Zhuge Yan after killing me. Fortunately, because I won, Zhuge Won was able to survive as well.
“Mm.”
Noticing that the lower abdomen area of Zhuge Won’s martial attire was torn, I touched it with my hand. Roughly as expected, his dantian was torn to shreds. From now on, he would never be able to learn martial arts for the rest of his life.
“His dantian is destroyed.”
“It’s all right. As long as he is alive. As long as one is alive, there is hope.”
Zhuge Yan spoke calmly. Rather than being unable to empathize with the sense of loss from losing one’s dantian because she was not a martial artist, it seemed she genuinely thought that way.
As long as one is alive, as long as one is alive, a way to live will somehow appear. That was something I could deeply relate to as well.
“Haa.”
Zhuge Yan placed her hand on Zhuge Won’s neck, and upon confirming that his pulse was normal, she slumped to the ground. It seemed her tension had eased.
“Thank you. I do not know what words to say to our benefactor. Beyond simply getting us out, you even eliminated the person who would pursue us.”
“Indeed. Having done something not even in our contract, it is too much of a loss for me.”
“I am not someone so ignorant of human decency.”
Zhuge Yan drew a piece of paper from her chest pocket. It was the contract of which we each held a copy.
She immediately tore it continuously and tossed it to the ground.
“Even without such a contract, I must repay my debt of gratitude to you. It is like an obligation.”
Zhuge Yan spoke. As expected, she was a decisive person. She even spoke boldly of repaying a debt of gratitude.
“It seems you don’t particularly dislike me.”
“I did dislike you. Because you kept blocking my path. But how could I dislike you, who saved me at this point?”
Humans were originally like that. There were no eternal allies, nor eternal enemies.
“What do you plan to do with them?”
Zhuge Yan pointed at the prostrate Zhuge Clan martial artists.
“Well. For now, I will just seal their acupoints.”
I was not sure how to handle them either. There was no way they had volunteered to learn the Blood Explosive Art, but there was no telling what would happen once they woke up. I approached them for now and sealed the acupoints of those lying face down one by one. I restricted their internal energy.
“By the way, truly. The cleanup won’t be easy.”
I looked at Zhuge Yan. Zhuge Yan blinked her eyes.
“What cleanup?”
“The Zhuge Clan, I mean. Since the Clan Head has vanished like this.”
“Why are you looking at me when saying that?”
“Aren’t you going to do the cleanup?”
“Why would I do it?”
Zhuge Yan furrowed her brows. Because it was a gaze of genuine incomprehension, I was bewildered as well.
“In a way, isn’t this an opportunity? Right now, you can reshape the Zhuge Clan to your liking.”
“No matter how much I received treatment equivalent to the direct line, my origin is from a collateral branch. There is no way that wouldn’t grate on the elders’ eyes. In the end, I would become a puppet and meet an unpleasant end.”
It was a coolheaded analysis. Indeed, bloodline was something so irrational yet important.
“And I don’t particularly like the Zhuge Clan. How could I like the clan that killed my parents?”
“……Is that so?”
“Did I not tell you? I am from a rebel collateral branch.”
Zhuge Yan spoke flatly. If she was from a rebel collateral branch, it would certainly be unreasonable for her to take control of the traditionally prestigious Zhuge Clan. Rather, having risen even to head of the external division was only possible because Zhuge Gyeom was backing her.
“There are probably many smart people among the elders as well, so if they halt all the actions the current Clan Head has taken and enter closed-door seclusion, they should be able to make a comeback within thirty years.”
“Will it take as long as thirty years?”
“Because creating those strange energies and formations cost an immense amount of money. I don’t even know how many pillars of the Zhuge Clan were blown away.”
“To that extent?”
“There is no field that costs as much money as formations. The same goes for those people.”
“Those people were bought with money as well, then. Not orphaned adoptions.”
“That is what I know.”
Where did they buy them from? Even at a glance, it did not seem they were brought from a normal place.
“So, you two intend to leave the Zhuge Clan then?”
“I told you. I will entrust myself to the New Justice Association.”
“You said you would temporarily take refuge to avoid the Zhuge Clan’s eyes. Now, there is no need for that.”
“Because that is the only way I can repay the favor. It is not like I have money.”
I was about to say she didn’t need to repay it, but stopped myself. In fact, it was somewhat regrettable to let go of a talent like Zhuge Yan.
Though she was somewhat venomous—no, very venomous—that was something I could moderate as her superior. Clearly, Zhuge Gyeom’s influence had played a major role in making Zhuge Yan venomous.
“Then do so.”
“Good.”
Zhuge Yan nodded as if taking it for granted that I would accept her. In fact, thinking reasonably, there was no reason not to accept Zhuge Yan.
“Then for now, until these fellows wake up……”
I stopped mid-sentence. A powerful energy was approaching from beyond the wall. As if Peng Chae-hyang felt it too, her expression stiffened. It was that powerful an aura.
Soon, amid a gale of wind, black-clothed men stood with the moonlight at their backs. The moment I saw them, I gasped for breath.
The atmosphere emanating from them, the patterns on their clothing. All remained vividly in my memory.
“So you are the rumored Leader of the New Justice Association.”
A man’s voice was heard. Regrettably, the voice was not one I had heard before. Although I was not the kind of obsessive person who went around remembering the voices of other people, I remembered that person’s voice.
Because they were the ones who had searched for the Divine Demon Pill from me. That meant they were also the ones who had killed me in my previous life.
“Demonic Cult.”
“I would be grateful if you called us the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”
Certainly they possessed demonic qi, but it gave off a slightly different feeling from Gwan Seo-ye’s side. It was a heavily impure demonic qi. Because I possessed the Heavenly Demon’s energy, I could sense it.
They were likely the faction Gwan Seo-ye had mentioned, who pursued pure power and were not even recognized as the Demonic Cult among the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult factions.
“Why have you come here?”
I asked warily. I had figured I would meet them someday, but I had not expected it to be now.
“Ah. We did not come because we wished to antagonize the New Justice Association Leader. We came because we have our own business to attend to. Business entirely unrelated to the New Justice Association Leader, in fact.”
“Unrelated business, so do not pay mind?”
“Haha. I never spoke that aggressively, though.”
Naturally, my words were not going to come out pleasantly. After all, they were the people who had killed me in my previous life.
“Well, there is nothing to hide. We simply came to collect these children. It would become somewhat troublesome if people like those from the Palace of Heavenly Worship investigated these children later.”
“If you mean these children.”
I looked around. They were the ones sprawled around whose acupoints I had sealed.
“It was you lot.”
It was them. The ones who supplied such children to Zhuge Gyeom were none other than the Demonic Cult. I wondered just how cornered Zhuge Gyeom had been to make deals with such a Demonic Cult.
“Collection, you say.”
“The New Justice Association Leader is rather opposed to the Palace of Heavenly Worship, so I believe there is no particular reason for you to hinder us.”
The black-clothed man spoke. I nodded my head.
“That is true.”
“Then will you step aside? We will quietly collect them and leave.”
It was truly amusing. In my previous life, they had held a sword to my neck and intimidated me, yet once I became the New Justice Association Leader, people could not be more polite. Even though I was far younger now than back then.
“And if I refuse?”
I glared at them.
“What will you do?”
A chilly wind blew. The black-clothed men fell quiet, stepped down from the wall, and walked steadily toward us.
“As expected of an orthodox martial artist, your hostility toward our Heavenly Demon Divine Cult is immense. Even though we are not particularly hostile toward orthodox martial artists.”
The man spoke. And at that moment, a voice transmission sounded in my ear.
―Heavenly Demon of the Torofan branch. Please do not act like this between fellow demonic practitioners. Would it not be rather awkward for you if I revealed that here?
I let out a scoffing laugh. Pretending to care for me on the surface while speaking different words behind my back. It was the height of insidious cunning.
“Are you threatening me?”
“A threat? By no means.”
“Go on, tell them. Where is it?”
I glared at them and released my energy. It was the Heavenly Demon’s aura. The eyes of the black-clothed men widened.
“……Is it really all right for you to expose your energy so recklessly like this?”
The man who had threatened me was flustered. He had naturally assumed that I was hiding the fact that I was the Heavenly Demon from others while serving as the New Justice Association Leader.
Of course, I hid it from many people. But Peng Chae-hyang already knew. That was enough. Zhuge Yan did not matter anyway. She was not a martial artist.
“Pay the price for threatening me.”
I drew Bright Elegance. The black-clothed men also drew their swords with tense gazes.
“We told you we have no intention of antagonizing you.”
“Then I will ask only one thing.”
“I shall answer with utmost sincerity.”
“Is the Divine Demon Pill completed?”
The man’s complexion changed. The other black-clothed men seemed to be hearing the term for the first time. Even without knowing the full details, one could tell it was a critically important secret on their level. That was why they had searched so desperately for it.
“……I do not know where you heard of that.”
“Do I have to explain every single thing like that to you?”
“There is no need for that, but.”
The man’s eyes sank deeply.
“You should not have brought up those words.”
After saying those words, the man chanted something. Immediately, the light in the eyes of the black-clothed men vanished. Just like the Zhuge Clan adopted sons earlier, they appeared to have lost their reason.
The black-clothed men who had lost the light in their eyes naturally surrounded me. They stood in bizarre positions. It was as if they formed a human formation.
I tried to emit the Heavenly Demon’s aura to subjugate them, but because their demonic qi was so impure, it did not even take effect.
“Strike.”
The man spoke in a low voice. The black-clothed men attacked in unison.
No matter how impure it was, the power of the demonic qi they displayed was truly tremendous. To the point where one wondered if they had mixed energy centered purely on power rather than original, pure demonic qi.
There were roughly eight black-clothed men. Occupying eight cardinal directions, they smoothly exchanged positions with one another, pressing in on me.
Because the orthodox path rarely practiced or favored the concept of one versus many, it was a concept of combat I was experiencing for the first time.
If eight people exchanged directions while fighting against one person, one would expect confusion and entanglement, but because they possessed no reason, there was no disorder. It was truly an inorganic movement. Rather, it was I who was confounded by that inorganic movement.
Because they naturally performed actions that a human would never do, I ended up being on guard.
And there were stances and subtleties rarely seen in the orthodox sects. Demonic Cult, Demonic Cult. I had only heard the words, but this was my first time directly facing them. Because against those with genuine demonic qi, I had brought them to their knees without much of a fight.
‘……They are strong.’
Though it was our first encounter, I thought that they might actually be more troublesome than the Palace of Heavenly Worship.