Chapter 317: Black-Clothed Men (6)
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“……This is unexpected.”
Ma Cheon-wi murmured in a dumbfounded voice. Before my arm, blade met blade, trembling violently. The sound of unprecedented colossal forces colliding was that quiet.
The one who moved first was Su Je-heon. When Su Je-heon forcefully cast his sword aside and aimed for Ma Cheon-wi’s neck, Ma Cheon-wi tilted his neck back and flung his body backward.
“It seems some explanation is needed.”
“I have no obligation to provide one.”
“That is true as well. But isn’t there such a thing as the code of the jianghu?”
“Since when was the Demonic Cult a member of the jianghu?”
Su Je-heon bared his teeth. Ma Cheon-wi burst into a hearty laugh.
“What hurtful words. Has not the orthodox path firmly received the support of the imperial family until now because our existence was there? Was that not why, whenever lackeys of our cult appeared, the orthodox sects exaggerated their disposal? Knowing better than anyone that without us, the orthodox path is merely a group of ruffians to be disposed of by the imperial family. In a way, exterminating us is committing the folly of losing lips only for the teeth to grow cold.”
“True orthodox martial artists do not think of such things. We merely carry through our own justice. We do not cling desperately to survival like you lot.”
True orthodox martial artists. Hearing that phrase from Su Je-heon’s mouth felt somewhat peculiar. Because in my heart, he was one of the orthodox martial artists I opposed the most.
And being indebted to such a person just now was also one of the bewildering factors.
“……What is this?”
I looked at Su Je-heon.
“What is what?”
Su Je-heon answered without looking at me. Through the clash just now, he had realized Ma Cheon-wi was an extraordinary person.
“Why did you help me? No, rather, why are you here? Shouldn’t you be in Beijing?”
“Aren’t you looking down on us too much? We too have eyes in the Central Plains. From the Beggars’ Gang to the imperial palace’s intelligence network. Could we really not know that the Demonic Cult was casting a Heavenly Net toward you?”
“Honestly, even if we knew that, I thought there was no obligation between us to save each other.”
“Complaining even when saved, I see.”
“It is a pure question.”
“Though we have parted ways now, fundamentally, aren’t you an orthodox martial artist and they the Demonic Cult? Naturally, I had to help.”
I felt a slight prick of conscience at those words. Having just arrived, it seemed Su Je-heon had not heard Ma Cheon-wi address me as the Heavenly Demon.
“Oho.”
Ma Cheon-wi looked at me with an implicit gaze. He seemed to judge the current situation to be amusing.
“For the Alliance Leader, the head of the orthodox path in his own right, to be so dark to the political situation, the day of demonic dominance over all under heaven seems not far off.”
“A running dog of the Demonic Cult speaks well with an open mouth.”
“Still, as a fellow swordsman, it is an honor. To meet one of the Five Great Sword Masters Under Heaven of the orthodox path. I am……”
“I know. Sword Demon Ma Cheon-wi.”
Ma Cheon-wi knowing Su Je-heon was no great surprise, but Su Je-heon knowing Ma Cheon-wi was quite surprising. Ma Cheon-wi’s eyes widened in surprise as well.
“I told you. Do not look down on me too much. It seems that applies to you as well.”
Su Je-heon spoke while looking at Ma Cheon-wi. Ma Cheon-wi chuckled heartily.
“I suppose I must apologize for that. Because I had thought you were a washed-up has-been who had strayed from the center of the martial world.”
“For me to stray from the center of the martial world, what nonsense is that? I have never left it.”
“Has-beens usually make such delusions.”
Shaking his head as if words were useless, Su Je-heon spoke toward me once again.
“By the way, for fellows who were cooped up inside the Hundred Thousand Mountains to emerge like this. What sort of magic did you cast this time?”
“It seems I scratched a rather sensitive spot.”
“A sensitive spot?”
“There is something called the Divine Demon Pill.”
At my words, Ma Cheon-wi’s expression stiffened. He seemed not to have expected me to speak directly to Su Je-heon like this. Seeing his composure so transparently, I had deliberately spoken.
“I had intended to protect your awkward secret, however.”
“You planned to use it when it was most fatal. Do you think I wouldn’t know that?”
I snorted. Ma Cheon-wi shut his mouth. Even to himself, it was too shallow a trick, which was likely why he could not speak.
“If that is the case, I have no choice either.”
Ma Cheon-wi twisted the corner of his lips.
“Alliance Leader. Do you perchance know? The true identity of the person you call the future of the orthodox path.”
“What deceitful tongue are you trying to wag again?”
Su Je-heon was wary. Ma Cheon-wi looked back and forth between me and Su Je-heon. He wore an expression dying of curiosity to see Su Je-heon’s reaction after revealing the secret.
“That person is the Heavenly Demon who governs a branch different from ours. Though his disposition is different, he too is a person of the Demonic Cult that the Alliance Leader so detests.”
Ma Cheon-wi spoke with a smile.
“……What nonsense is that?”
I wondered if Su Je-heon, having had better intelligence than expected, had already known, but that did not seem to be the case. Su Je-heon looked at me as if hearing it for the first time.
I merely shrugged my shoulders. If it was going to be known anyway, I thought there was no need to hide it.
“It is as he says.”
“This is, somewhat shocking indeed.”
Su Je-heon spoke in a dazed voice. However, phrasing made all the difference. While there was no need to lie, there was no need to invite unnecessary misunderstandings either.
“It just so happened that I came to possess the Heavenly Demon’s energy, and things ended up like this. That does not mean I am moving with thoughts of overthrowing the orthodox path or anything of the sort.”
“I am confounded.”
“I suppose so. That cannot be helped.”
“Then are you an enemy of the orthodox path?”
“No.”
“Didn’t they say you were a demonic practitioner?”
“If possessing demonic qi makes one a demonic practitioner, then that is not wrong.”
Su Je-heon seemed genuinely bewildered. He fundamentally could not understand that the values of the orthodox path and the combination of a demonic practitioner could coexist.
“I can hardly understand your words at all.”
“There is nothing I can do for you there.”
“My plans will get tangled if this happens.”
“What plans?”
“This does not seem to be the place to discuss them.”
Su Je-heon stepped far away from me. Somehow, Ma Cheon-wi, Su Je-heon, and I stood in a triangular formation.
“It has become quite awkward. I had not come for this in the first place.”
“Indeed. Alliance Leader, what will you do? Right now, it is an opportunity to kill with a borrowed knife and remove an eyesore while demonic practitioners whom you detest fight each other.”
“……”
Su Je-heon could not answer. It seemed cognitive dissonance had set in.
Having clearly flown from Hebei to Hubei to help me, suddenly hearing that I was a demonic practitioner left him at a loss for what to do.
“I’m going crazy.”
“Deputy Palace Master. This one thing I can say with certainty.”
I opened my mouth.
“At least I do not seek to damage the values of the orthodox path. I am merely putting into practice what I learned at Wudang. It is simply that I possess demonic qi.”
“Possessing demonic qi and that being possible? Then what difference is there between the orthodox sects and the Demonic Cult?”
“There is no difference. It merely depends on a person’s mindset.”
“Nonsense.”
Su Je-heon recoiled in disgust. It was a theory I had only just formulated myself. Had we not simply fallen into the words of Demonic Cult or orthodox path, and the imperial court’s scheme that elaborately manipulated them?
In the first place, the notion that the orthodox sects were good and the Demonic Cult was evil was something created by the empire. Having believed that all his life, Su Je-heon was reacting like that right now.
“Believing it is the Deputy Palace Master’s freedom. But you must have seen how I have acted until now. Judge based on that.”
I disliked the person named Su Je-heon as well. But disliking Su Je-heon and what was needed right now were separate matters.
That was related to the responsibility of the position of New Justice Association Leader, which I had repeatedly stressed to Peng Chae-hyang. As the head of an organization, one had to be able to make decisions completely contrary to one’s personal feelings.
“Naturally, I am doing so as well. I even thought you were the future of the orthodox path. But hearing today that you are a demonic practitioner, I am too confounded.”
“To be honest, suddenly calling me the future of the orthodox path is something I do not understand either.”
“Because that was my personal thought.”
I could not understand Su Je-heon’s way of thinking. But there was no need for me to understand that way of thinking. Acknowledging differences. That was human limitation and strength.
“In any case, please help me for now. Frankly speaking, I do not believe I have an obligation to make the Alliance Leader—no, Deputy Palace Master—understand personally. Because we have been enemies until now. However, apart from the person named Su Je-heon, you hold the title of Deputy Palace Master of the Palace of Heavenly Worship, and apart from the person named Muk Hui-yeong, I hold the title of New Justice Association Leader. Prioritizing the title of New Justice Association Leader, I am requesting cooperation from you.”
“My opinion differs somewhat on that. Though I hold the title of Deputy Palace Master of the Palace of Heavenly Worship, I have never once laid down the person named Su Je-heon.”
“No one can say which is the correct answer. So, what will you do?”
I asked. I already knew the answer. A person’s perception did not change so easily.
I did not know why I had become the future of the orthodox path in Su Je-heon’s perception, but suddenly turning from that into a demonic practitioner who must be eradicated was no easy feat.
However, Ma Cheon-wi, who was looking at us with an anxious expression over there, was already a target to be eradicated from Su Je-heon’s perspective.
“……It seems we will need to have a long conversation.”
“As much as you wish.”
I smiled. Su Je-heon turned his body toward Ma Cheon-wi. Ma Cheon-wi gave a bitter smile.
“Haha. The Heavenly Demon is not a mere martial artist. With such depth of scheming as well, I cannot help but be on guard.”
Ma Cheon-wi sheathed his sword. Fire burned in Su Je-heon’s eyes.
“When did I say I would let you go?”
“Just how many subordinates do you think are behind me right now? You wouldn’t be ignorant of that. Right now, I merely came alone for a moment.”
Ma Cheon-wi spoke nonchalantly. It was certainly considerably rough compared to how he treated me. It seemed that even across different branches, the Heavenly Demon was a being to be treated with courtesy.
“In any case, if the Palace of Heavenly Worship and the New Justice Association have begun conversing, it is a variable for us as well, so I must return quickly. Heavenly Demon. It was an honor to meet you.”
Ma Cheon-wi bowed his head to me. Su Je-heon looked at Ma Cheon-wi and me with a bizarre expression.
“Then.”
Ma Cheon-wi vanished while kicking up a whirlwind. It was still rapid speed. Knowing that pursuing would be too late, Su Je-heon stared blankly as Ma Cheon-wi showed his back and disappeared.
Soon, once Ma Cheon-wi vanished completely from view, Su Je-heon slowly turned his head toward me.
“It seems we have quite a lot to discuss, don’t you think?”
“It seems so. First of all, thank you for saving me.”
“No. I will receive your thanks later. Because depending on how our conversation flows, I might kill you.”
Su Je-heon spoke coldly. I nodded my head. That was certainly true. Su Je-heon was not yet persuaded by me.
Could I shatter the deeply rooted preconceptions of a person named Su Je-heon? Though I had spoken confidently, honestly, I could not guarantee it.
“For now, my father is here. May we talk after escorting my father to a safe place?”
“That person is your father. Very well.”
Looking at my father sitting far away, Su Je-heon nodded.
Right now was perhaps a greater crisis than when meeting Ma Cheon-wi.