Chapter 221: Chapter 221

I had agreed, but once I did, no one actually told me what to do.

Originally, Ak Byeong-bi, the leader, should have spoken, but for some reason, he merely clamped his mouth shut and glared at me as if he wanted to kill me, without taking any action.

I was thinking how fortunate it was that Ak Byeong-bi had at least not reached the realm of the Mind Sword.

“Oh my, are you planning to make this maiden walk?”

In the end, Flame Ghost Consort was the first to speak.

At her sly, shameless words, two escorts glanced at Ak Byeong-bi, then dismounted and handed over the horses they had been riding.

Flame Ghost Consort’s eyes curved like crescent moons.

“Oh my, how kind. I meant I wouldn’t mind riding together.”

Her behavior, with that strange gaze and smile, was certainly seductive enough, but the escorts instead tensed up and kept their distance from her.

No matter how peerlessly beautiful she was, she was a woman who had stained her hands with blood and remained utterly unfazed.

For men with ample experience in the martial world, she was naturally more than enough to be an object of caution.

“…….”

I approached the half-baked bandits still trembling on one side.

“Are you all right?”

“……Y-yes? Ah, yes, yes!”

Those men, who had practically had their names and life histories called out before King Yama himself, still seemed dazed and unable to come to their senses.

“I understand that a poor harvest has made life difficult, but banditry is not something just anyone can do.”

How many heads of households could simply stand by and watch their wives and children waste away day by day? Still, they had to be alive to try anything at all, didn’t they?

“Moreover, with a Black Path Alliance recently forming in Shanxi Province, there is now a higher chance that many of the people traveling back and forth will be martial artists. I think it would be best for you to leave the mountain.”

“O-of course. If you spare us, we’ll never commit banditry again.”

I looked at the half-baked bandits.

Every single one of them had sunken cheeks. It really did seem as if they had endured and endured until they finally went up the mountain and turned to banditry.

I took a pouch of silver coins from my robe and handed it to them.

However, the half-baked bandits showed no intention of accepting it and merely waved their hands.

“No, sir. No, no. We’ll never target another person’s bundles again.”

I forcibly pulled their hands over and placed the pouch in them.

“First, use this to feed your families.”

I had given them a fairly heavy pouch of silver, so it should be enough to fill not only the stomachs of the families of those here, but also the starving people in their village.

Looking at the half-baked bandits who could not quite bring themselves to grip the pouch in their hands, I added,

“Besides, there are dead people here, aren’t there? At the very least, you should hold even a modest funeral for them.”

“…….”

In the end, the half-baked bandit tightened his grip around the pouch.

A warm atmosphere was about to continue, but then he hesitantly opened his mouth.

“B-but…… actually, those people weren’t with us.”

“Hm?”

“They were companions of those two over there.”

“…….”

Since all their faces had been crushed and their heads burst open, I had not recognized them, but apparently, they had actually been companions of Flame Ghost Consort and Blood Battle.

“We sensed something strange as well, so we weren’t blocking the road, but then they suddenly started fighting among themselves, and ended up like that…….”

What was this?

No matter how atrocious a major figure of the Black Path might be, why would they suddenly beat their own companions to death?

And what was with dragging the half-baked bandits into it and staging a hostage situation?

“……Um, so you don’t have to give this to us…….”

The half-baked bandit read the atmosphere and held the money pouch out again.

I looked at him and said,

“……It’s fine. Take it and buy some rice for the starving people in your village.”

I immediately turned my gaze toward Flame Ghost Consort and Blood Battle.

Moreover, the price they had offered in exchange for not killing those half-baked bandits was simply allowing them to accompany us.

‘What are they scheming……?’

I could not understand what on earth they were thinking.

‘Could they be perverts who feel pleasure after turning people into companions and then killing them?’

Somehow, it felt plausible.

Was the Black Path called the Black Path for nothing?

They were the Black Path precisely because they lived however their instincts pleased, with no regard for common sense or anything else.

Moreover, those two were absolute lunatics even among such lunatics.

It would be entirely plausible for them to have perverse inclinations.

Just as an uneasy thought came to mind and my body shuddered, a clear voice rang out.

“Young Master! It seems we’re about to depart~!”

Flame Ghost Consort shouted at me as if she had been part of our group from the very beginning.

I shook off my throbbing thoughts and mounted my horse.

This was only the third time Ak Byeong-bi had seen Grand Strategist Jegal So-myeong from such a close distance since joining the Murim Alliance.

Moreover, the previous two times, he had been seated across the distance between tables and the far end of a table, unable to even dare think of approaching.

He was sitting before such a fearsome person, yet he could not stop the question from bursting out.

[Is this…… disciplinary action?]

The order to go as part of an envoy delegation to the Black Thought Alliance.

Ak Byeong-bi even forgot that the person sitting before him was Jegal So-myeong of Mantongbu, and asked a question he himself considered rude.

Rustle.

Jegal So-myeong, who had been drinking tea, moved his wrinkled eyelids and gazed at Ak Byeong-bi.

In that instant, Ak Byeong-bi shuddered at the feeling that everything inside him had been seen through.

[Why do you think so?]

Because these were the words of a man who sat at an unfathomable height and moved the world, even a simple question carried a different weight.

Ak Byeong-bi swallowed thickly in a fear he had never felt in his life.

Since he had already asked the question first, he could not take it back now.

He barely squeezed out his voice and answered.

[Because the mission of forming an alliance with the Black Thought Alliance is certain to fail…… no, because it appears highly likely to fail.]

[Hmm…….]

Jegal So-myeong briefly closed his eyes and savored the fragrance of the tea.

At length, he slowly raised his head.

[I know. I know it will fail.]

Even though he had not drawn up his energy at all, an indescribably immense pressure emanated from Jegal So-myeong.

That was because each and every one of his words concerned the safety of the world.

[And the Alliance will not judge you for something whose failure is only natural.]

There could not possibly be any hidden conspiracy in Jegal So-myeong’s words.

He was a cold, ruthless man who favored no faction within the Alliance.

He was so cold-hearted that he was harsh even toward his own clan.

Even so, Ak Byeong-bi still could not understand why he, a member of the Execution Pavilion, specifically had to go to the Black Thought Alliance.

When Ak Byeong-bi’s gaze still wavered in confusion, Jegal So-myeong added,

[Hmm……. Think of that part as disciplinary action. Regardless of the result, it is true that you provoked Jin So-un and privatized the authority of the Execution Pavilion.]

Gulp.

Jegal So-myeong’s eyes seemed to become daggers and pierce Ak Byeong-bi’s entire body.

As expected, Jegal So-myeong knew everything.

[I have appointed you as the head of the envoy delegation, but there is not much for you to do. Try negotiating moderately, and if it does not work, simply return.]

But was this not too serious a matter to let pass like this?

While Ak Byeong-bi was thinking that, Jegal So-myeong continued.

[However, after leaving the Murim Alliance, if that fellow Jin So-un wants to do something, follow him exactly. That is precisely why I chose you.]

[…….]

Ak Byeong-bi, who had been recalling his private audience with Jegal So-myeong, squeezed his eyes shut.

‘What on earth is the Grand Strategist thinking?’

The result of moving according to Jin So-un’s intentions, as ordered by the Grand Strategist, was precisely Blood Battle and the unknown woman joining them.

He could not understand Jegal So-myeong’s intentions at all.

If he had wanted a figurehead delegation leader, there should have been many other candidates.

There must also have been people favorable toward Jin So-un, rather than someone like Ak Byeong-bi, who bore a grudge against him…….

‘Could it be…… that this, too, had a hidden intention?’

Was the order to obey Jin So-un’s thoughts unconditionally not, in other words, an order to judge what sort of hidden motives he possessed?

And by observing those hidden motives, he might also learn whether Jin So-un was a Black Path spy who had entered while concealing his intentions.

Thinking about it, it was simple.

The reason a member of the Execution Pavilion, which had made an enemy of the Black Path, was included in the envoy delegation.

In the end, was it not a special order to find the spy?

‘I see!’

Ak Byeong-bi turned his head and looked at Jin So-un.

Even with major figures of the Black Path beside him, Jin So-un seemed utterly unbothered.

Could someone possibly act so naturally unless he had shared joys and hardships with the Black Path since childhood?

Moreover, when Jin So-un had fought Blood Battle, Blood Battle had seemed to recognize the sword art Jin So-un used.

Even with just these clues, there was no end to the suspicion.

Perhaps sensing Ak Byeong-bi’s suspicious gaze, Jin So-un pointed at the woman and said,

“Delegation Leader, could it be that you’ve taken a liking to this lady?”

“Oh my?”

Ak Byeong-bi could not hide his dumbfounded expression.

“……What nonsense are you spouting?”

Jin So-un shrugged and replied,

“You keep looking this way. If I may offer some advice, I would like to tell you to give up. She is an extremely frightening person.”

“Y-you! I’ll kill you!”

Ak Byeong-bi ground his teeth, but Jin So-un and the woman seemed completely unconcerned.

The woman even wrapped her arms around her own body and acted coquettish.

“Young Master! What do you mean by that? This maiden is very weak and delicate…….”

Jin So-un did not lose and retorted,

“What kind of absurd joke is that?”

“Oh my! Did you catch me?”

Just look at that. How could an elite of a renowned Orthodox Path sect exchange jokes with the Black Path?

‘I will definitely tear off your mask on this journey!’

As Ak Byeong-bi was grinding his teeth, an escort approached him and handed him a water flask.

“……What is this?”

“Well, your face is red, so I thought you seemed hot.”

“No!”

“……Ah, yes…….”

-What exactly are you thinking?

At first, I obediently answered Ak Byeong-bi’s questions.

-Isn’t it impossible to simply let people die?

-This envoy delegation is a Murim Alliance envoy delegation! It is not something the Black Path should be involved in!

And soon, I realized that he was not asking because he was truly curious, but because he wanted to give me grief.

-Come to think of it, you seemed to know Blood Battle’s identity as well. How did you know?

-Were you a Black Path spy after all?

-Why aren’t you answering?

-You were a Black Path spy after all, weren’t you? Right?

Ah, this was driving me insane.

If a person was not answering, he should think there was a reason I was not answering. Why was he still pestering me for an answer that was not going to come?

I abruptly turned my head and looked at Ak Byeong-bi.

“If you are that dissatisfied with them following us, tell them directly!”

Because my voice was quite loud, the gazes of Flame Ghost Consort and Blood Battle gathered in this direction.

“……!”

Ak Byeong-bi glared at me as if he would kill me, then soon urged his horse forward.

Just then, Dang Seo-hui trotted over to my side.

“……Are those two the axis of evil? If I kill them, will justice stand in the martial world?”

Haa……. What is wrong with you now?

I cautioned Dang Seo-hui.

“Never! Never! Never! Make the first move against those two. Never! Never! Never!”

Blood Battle aside, Flame Ghost Consort was a terrible matchup for Dang Seo-hui.

Flame Ghost Consort’s Fire Qi, which she used by accumulating Yang Qi through the Yin-Yang Great Art, differed in trajectory from ordinary Yang-based martial arts.

Because she absorbed only the hottest energy of men, her firepower itself was stronger than existing Yang Qi martial arts, and the energy operated within her was also so powerful that most poisons would be burned away completely.

She was, in the truest sense, the Tang Clan’s natural enemy incarnate.

As for Blood Battle…… there was no need to even say it.

He must have already achieved immunity to all poisons.

“……Why can’t I perform a chivalrous deed?”

Dang Seo-hui puffed out her cheeks with a blank expression.

“……Let’s find a suitable half-baked fool once we get to an inn.”

We could simply find someone suitable to serve as a chopstick target, right?

Fortunately, Flame Ghost Consort’s appearance was the sort of face that was perfect for attracting idiots.

After throwing chopsticks a few times and saying a few lines, Dang Seo-hui would probably lose interest in this whole thing too.

Children were originally like that, weren’t they?

Of course, the fact that this child was two years older than me was a little strange.

At this point, I could no longer tell whether I had joined an envoy delegation or had gone on a picnic while bringing along disobedient children of every age group.

At least Il-myeong was somewhat normal among them, so that was a relief.

I was grateful enough that he did not recklessly show hostility toward Blood Battle and Flame Ghost Consort.

‘But where did that man go?’

The bald head that usually trailed behind Ak Byeong-bi was nowhere to be seen, so I looked around. Then, was that not a flash of light reflected by the sun from the rear?

He was riding his horse beside Flame Ghost Consort and Blood Battle.

‘What is he doing?’

I sharpened my hearing and focused on what they were saying.

“……And so, the Buddha abandoned all the wealth, honor, and splendor of the secular world, sat beneath the bodhi tree, and entered meditation. After that…….”

What are you doing?

Proselytizing in the middle of this?

To major figures of the Black Path, no less?

When I looked at him, Il-myeong, whose eyes met mine, smiled as brightly as his shining head.

“Ah! Benefactor Jin. We were just sharing a good story. Would Benefactor Jin also like to listen? I heard from Junior Brother Il-gak that your faith is lacking.”

It was so absurd that even Flame Ghost Consort and Blood Battle were looking at Il-myeong as if he were a madman.

Wow, to receive that kind of gaze from those mad people…… As expected, Shaolin’s foremost prodigy was different.

Haa…….

They said sighing too much makes your fortune leave you.

At this rate, I might lose even the tiny amount of fortune I have left.