Chapter 222: Chapter 222

The punitive force dispatched by the Murim Alliance—no, the Envoy Delegation…… no, the Traveling Party that had now become nothing at all—was heading smoothly toward Tae-won.

Unexpectedly, Flame Ghost Consort and Blood Battle did not even speak to the Escort Agency’s people or the Murim Alliance’s people, so there was no opportunity for conflict to arise.

However, because they came and sat beside me every time we ate, even the cart hands and escorts had started avoiding me now.

It did leave a small wound on my tender heart, but when had anyone ever cared about that?

In any case, there were no problems on the way to Jinzhong.

Every time we crossed a mountain, I occasionally sensed signs of people, but no one recklessly blocked our path.

It certainly seemed that a great many half-baked bandits had appeared. Every village we passed was full of gaunt people, and at the inns, there was nothing for sale except plain noodles.

‘Well, no matter how oblivious they are, the backs of their heads would prickle once they saw our group.’

The original members of the Envoy Delegation had already been extraordinary enough, but after Flame Ghost Consort and Blood Battle joined, we had turned into an utterly bizarre group.

Unless someone was fairly insane, there probably would not be anyone who would pick a fight with this group.

However, that did not mean there were no problems at all.

There was a small disturbance in Taigu, a large city we had to pass through to reach Jinzhong.

For some reason, my cheeks began to prickle, so I turned my head.

“Thump, thump. Can I finally establish justice now?”

Seeing the Black Path martial artists heading toward Tae-won lined up along the streets, and fights breaking out in groups at every road, Dang Seo-hui looked excited.

“Haa…….”

With no other choice, I entered the messiest-looking inn and took a separate seat with only Dang Seo-hui.

Naturally, Flame Ghost Consort and Blood Battle followed and sat down as well.

Fortunately, as long as I hid my sword, none of the weapons among our group were visible from the outside, so we were also in a situation where we could easily become prey.

“Young lady, you possess truly remarkable beauty!”

Sure enough, after seeing Flame Ghost Consort’s face, a man with a long saber slung over his shoulder suddenly approached and flicked Flame Ghost Consort’s chin with his hand.

“Oh my!”

Flame Ghost Consort showed startled eyes like a young girl and dyed her face red, and the Black Path man licked his lips as he watched her.

“Tonight, I would like to show you some passionate pleasures of cloud and rain……”

Do not do it, you dumbass. Your True Qi is going to get sucked dry…….

Without knowing that the woman he coveted was an unparalleled witch, the Black Path man was sticking his own head into a tiger’s jaws.

I turned to Dang Seo-hui and nodded.

“That one seems suitable enough.”

I held out the chopstick holder I had confiscated all this time, and Dang Seo-hui snorted through her nose and quickly pulled out a fistful of chopsticks.

No, what are you planning to make, a hedgehog?

Regardless of whether I looked at her in disbelief, Dang Seo-hui pointed at the man with a disciplined movement.

“Stop! You villain who defiles the order of the martial world! It would be better for your own well-being if you stopped……”

Just as Dang Seo-hui was about to recite a line that sounded as though she had seen it in a martial arts novel and throw her chopsticks.

THWACK! CRUNCH.

“Aaaaaaagh!”

A grotesque impact rang out, and the man twisted his body as he screamed.

Wow! How can an arm bend like that? Oh, it was so natural that I thought joints were originally supposed to move that way.

As the Black Path man, whose arms were bent in directions they should not move, gasped and choked, Flame Ghost Consort snapped her fingers and created a small flame.

“Pleasures of cloud and rain…… Hehe, how cute! But I am afraid not. Your True Qi looks far too filthy.”

Whoosh.

The flame that stretched from Flame Ghost Consort’s hand instantly spread over the man’s entire head.

Even while his arms were broken, the man flailed them around as if trying to put out the fire, but only the acrid smell of burning grew stronger. The flames showed no sign of weakening.

“Aaaaaaagh!”

The men who seemed to be his companions rushed in at the same time, striking his head and pouring water over it, but the flames did not vanish easily.

Only after burning away all of the man’s hair and then leaving red burn marks on his head did the fire subside.

“…….”

“……What in the world.”

“Gulp.”

It had only been a single move, but because it was so overwhelming, no one inside the inn could easily bring themselves to move.

Flame Ghost Consort, the cause of this whole mess, lightly pinched her nose with her slender fingers and made a tearful face.

“Phew…… The smell is awful. I do not think I can eat anymore.”

Do you think pretending to be a young girl at this point will work?

Despite my dumbfounded expression, Flame Ghost Consort opened her eyes wide as if she knew nothing and smiled brightly.

“It seemed like he liked things hot. This maiden also likes things very hot, you see? Ohoho.”

If things got hot twice, we would be witnessing the return of fiery hell.

I sighed and turned my head.

……This time, Dang Seo-hui came into view, holding her chopsticks and wearing a resentful, aggrieved expression like a child whose toy had been stolen.

‘Oh no!’

If she went to the Black Thought Alliance and started doing strange things like “establishing justice” or “performing chivalrous deeds,” there would truly be a huge problem.

That was why I had been trying to drain her energy in advance……. But my entire plan had come to nothing.

Moreover, among those who had seen one move from Blood Battle and Flame Ghost Consort, there were no longer any who dared to attack us.

‘What do I do? I can’t go to another inn now.’

Why were there never any ruffians around at times like this, when they were usually so numerous?

Just as I was about to comfort Dang Seo-hui by saying we could aim for next time, Dang Seo-hui asked with her characteristic blank expression,

“If a villain deals with another villain…… is that also establishing justice?”

“Hmm…….”

Now I was curious too. When a chivalrous hero performed a chivalrous deed, it was called justice being served.

But if a villain performed a chivalrous deed, could that also be called justice being served?

While I fell into thought.

“Of course not. I was simply venting my anger. He touched my jade-like face with filthy hands.”

“I merely chased away a fly buzzing around me.”

Perhaps having heard Dang Seo-hui’s question, Flame Ghost Consort and Blood Battle answered in my place.

What wonderful things to teach a child. Damn it.

I observed those two lunatics for several days to find out what their intentions were in joining us, but they did nothing in particular.

I even pretended to sleep at night and waited to see if they might launch a surprise attack, and I remained on guard in case they picked fights or harmed anyone, but their behavior was not especially unusual.

It really seemed as if they were simply accompanying us.

Once I stopped paying attention to them, the road to Tae-won became unbearably boring, and I began thinking about martial arts that I had been putting off.

Although I could not train directly, I could still establish concepts or perform Mind-Image Training.

What I had recently been deeply immersed in was none other than the Void-Annihilation Fist.

It exerted power across space through will.

It was similar to Airborne Object Grasping, yet an entirely different concept of martial art.

Murong Gang had said he would teach me if I became a member of his clan, but that was not a realistic matter, so I had no choice but to think about it in my own way.

First, I thought about the principle.

If Airborne Object Grasping was considered an extension of materialized internal qi, then the Void-Annihilation Fist had to be approached through the concept of controlling external qi.

In other words, it meant controlling and moving energy that did not belong to a human through Intent.

‘But does that make any sense by common sense?’

From the perspective of a textbook common-sense person like me, it should have sounded like rice-husk-chewing nonsense. But because I had seen it with my own two eyes and been struck by it with my own body, no matter how much my head denied it, my body had no choice but to believe it.

I examined Murong Gang’s figure in my memories frame by frame as I studied the Void-Annihilation Fist.

‘What on earth is it?’

Even when I recalled it again, I could not get any sense of it at all.

An empty space with nothing in it suddenly distorted and formed into the shape of a huge palm.

However, I felt that its power alone was tremendous.

‘What if he had formed it into the shape of a sword and even sharpened an edge?’

Even if I had dodged, I would have been severely injured.

Thinking that made the martial art even more tempting.

‘Again.’

This time, I recalled not the visual image of the scene in my memory, but the image of its “sensation.”

In my previous life, every day had been a succession of horrible days because of this memory, which vividly recalled the moments of nightmares. I never thought the day would come when I would use that curse in this way.

Around the time I sank into that new feeling, a strangely odd fragment of sensation surfaced amid the flood of sensations.

I quickly rewound the memory from just before and focused on the sensation again.

Murong Gang was chasing after me like a madman.

I was fleeing for my life ahead of him.

Between us, an extremely faint and minute energy was overtaking me.

‘What is that?’

I paused the memory for a moment, then magnified that part and examined it.

A tiny dewdrop that contained a distortion of space, like the Void-Annihilation Fist.

A tiny dewdrop…….

A tiny dewdrop…….

‘……!’

In that instant, I realized it.

This was the clue that would uncover the secret of the Void-Annihilation Fist.

‘The problem is, what is this?’

I mobilized all the memories and records I had and even recalled every horrible experience I had with the Demonic Cult, but there was no one who used a similar energy.

I had found a clue, but because I did not know its identity, there was no method I could use.

I also thoroughly searched through Murong Gang’s teachings. And then…….

[An attempt to unite the Dao of martial arts and the Dao of nature into one. That is the Void-Annihilation Fist.]

Among the things Murong Gang had said, I found something strange.

It was the word “attempt.”

Murong Gang had said that the roots of the Dao of martial arts and the Dao of nature were the same.

Yet at the same time, he had used the word “attempt.”

This could also be interpreted to mean that the Void-Annihilation Fist was not in a state of union with the Dao of nature.

‘If it had achieved union, there would have been no reason for him to play tag with me in the first place. He could already have been standing in front of me, or he could have subdued me.’

In that case, this “tiny dewdrop” was what Murong Gang had meant by an “attempt.”

The Dao of martial arts moved by Intent, and the Dao of nature flowed according to law.

Like Murong Gang, I gathered energy in my hand and materialized it.

A lump of energy with no intent whatsoever.

I put strong will into it and shot it out.

Pop.

The energy failed to advance even half a zhang and vanished with a small popping sound.

There was no distortion of space or change in the energy of nature like the Void-Annihilation Fist.

‘Well, is Intent something that can be shot just because you shoot it? If that were the case, I would have reached the realm of the Mind Sword……. Damn it! Did that man scam me with the Mind Sword?’

As suspicion led to more suspicion, everything about Murong Gang naturally became suspicious.

However, I did not think he would joke around about martial theory of all things.

Just as I was thinking frantically, Blood Battle approached me.

“What are you doing?”

Please stop sticking so close to me. People will think we are close if they see us.

I shrugged as if it were nothing important.

“I was simply bored.”

But then Blood Battle suddenly began grinning.

What? Was he even crazier than I thought……?

“To think you would practice Witchcraft inside a Murim Alliance Envoy Delegation. You truly are a fearless bastard.”

“Pardon?”

“……!”

Ak Byeong-bi, who had been some distance ahead, pricked up his ears at the word “Witchcraft” and turned around.

That bastard really has ears like a ghost.

Blood Battle clung to me persistently.

“Won’t you tell me who your master is?”

However, I had a feeling I might be able to obtain an important clue, so I grew slightly impatient.

“What do you mean? Witchcraft?”

“Hmph! You’re going to keep pretending you don’t know?”

“No, I’m asking because I really don’t know.”

“Hm?”

Blood Battle, who had been looking at me with suspicious eyes, briefly wore a stunned expression at my serious face, then abruptly turned his head away.

“You do not answer my questions, so why should I answer yours?”

What is with this man all of a sudden?

He is not a child.

Normally, I would not have even responded, but right now, my curiosity about the Void-Annihilation Fist was too strong.

“Then ask first. In exchange, you must answer my question as well.”

“Good.”

Blood Battle wore a smile of triumph, then suddenly sent me a Sound Transmission.

-How did you learn the Sword Demon’s martial arts?

As expected…… he knew.

Perhaps because he was considerate of my situation and sent a Sound Transmission, I answered obediently as well.

-I stole them.

“What?!”

No, why was he using Sound Transmission perfectly well and then suddenly shouting?

Because Blood Battle suddenly raised his voice, the cart hands and escorts were startled and stepped back.

Ak Byeong-bi was stroking his steel spear.

Still, perhaps because he was the Envoy Delegation Leader in his own way, he seemed to have at least some intention of protecting me.

I looked straight at Blood Battle.

“Now it is my turn. What exactly do you mean by Witchcraft?”

However, Blood Battle furrowed his brow.

“……You did not answer properly.”

“I did answer properly. If you cannot believe me, ask him yourself.”

“How am I supposed to know where that bastard is?”

“He will appear in the world before long.”

Blood Battle’s eyes flashed at my answer.

“Is that true? If it is a lie……”

“Come whenever you wish. Come to Murim Academy and say you have come to see Academy Representative Jin So-un.”

The Sword Demon told me to say that, so I was not lying.

And even if I told him to come, could Blood Battle even come to Murim Academy?

The Murim Alliance was right in front of it.

Blood Battle looked at me suspiciously, then eventually groaned and began to confess.

“……Was what you used not a trick commonly used in Witchcraft?”

“A trick?”

“Yes. Like this.”

Blood Battle opened his palm and shot energy into the forest.

A moment later, a strange phenomenon occurred inside the forest.

“Aaaaaaagh!”

It was a scream chilling enough to make one’s hair stand on end.

However, no matter how much I spread my sensory perception, I could not sense any presence in the forest.

“How did you do that?”

“I contained sound and burst it in another space.”

“You contained sound?”

“Yes. It is the method Witchcraft practitioners most often use when deceiving people.”

Thinking about it, the Blood Cult’s Spell Practitioners had deployed Illusion Formations even though they had been quite far away.

At first, I had thought they must have installed some kind of mechanism and left it at that. But thinking about it now, was that not extremely strange?

“Did you truly not know?”

“How could I, someone who walks the Righteous Path of an Orthodox Path sect, know such an Unorthodox Side Path?”

“Oh……!”

Blood Battle instead looked at me as though he found it fascinating.

“Why are you looking at me like that? It is quite uncomfortable.”

Blood Battle nodded as if to say, “I see,” then answered,

“That means you were instinctively drawn to the arts of the Unorthodox Side Path, does it not? As expected, the Joint Successor of the Black Path Alliance is truly different.”

Fuck, I am not!

Murong Gang was someone who walked the Righteous Path of an Orthodox Path sect……. Hm, was he not?

I suppose he could not exactly be called someone who walked the Righteous Path.

It was fortunate he had been born into the Murong Clan. That man was originally someone who would have been more than enough to become a public enemy of the martial world.

“Then can only sound be contained within that energy?”

“Hmm…….”

As if he had never thought about it, Blood Battle fell into thought for quite a while.

Then, a clear voice came from the other side.

“Young Master is truly an interesting person. To think you would speak of containing something else within energy……. Would you perhaps like to discuss martial theory with me in detail tonight?”

Before I knew it, Flame Ghost Consort had placed her fingers on my shoulder.

At her words, whose intention was obvious, I expressed a clear refusal.

“No need. Remove this hand as well.”

“Oh dear…… I thought the Joint Successor of the Black Path Alliance would naturally have deep knowledge of the Yin-Yang Union Art as well.”

Stop bringing up just anything and attaching the words “martial art” to it.

And why do you keep acting as though we are close? It makes me uncomfortable.

At this rate, I would truly have nothing to say even if Ak Byeong-bi saw me as a Black Path spy.

Regardless of whether Flame Ghost Consort made a gloomy expression, I looked at Blood Battle. Having finished thinking, he shook his head.

“There is no need to deliberately contain anything. The more energy is processed, the more its original characteristics disappear.”

“Its original characteristics disappear…….”

For some reason, the last words Blood Battle left behind kept circling in my head.

At that moment, an escort suggested to Ak Byeong-bi,

“Even if it means going around a little, I think it would be better to take this road. I hear Gakmun Stronghold has been making quite a commotion lately.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. They say many other Traveling Parties are using this road as well.”

Just as Ak Byeong-bi was about to respond to the escort’s words.

Blood Battle, who had been talking with me, shouted in a fairly loud voice.

“I would like to go this way.”

“Pardon?”

Everyone’s gaze moved along his finger.

“…….”

No one could easily open their mouth.

The place Blood Battle pointed toward was where the noisy Gakmun Stronghold was said to be located.

Since this had never happened before, the escort seemed unable to hide his bewildered expression.

“But Gakmun Stronghold……”

“Would it not be strange for a Murim Alliance Envoy Delegation to go around just to avoid a single Mountain Stronghold? Is that not so, Delegation Leader?”

He is even talking to Ak Byeong-bi, whom both sides had subtly been avoiding…….

‘What exactly is he trying to do?’

Given Ak Byeong-bi’s personality, he was not someone who would endure hearing such words.

At the same time, now that the world-famous Blood Battle had spoken, he would not think of yielding his own opinion either.

……In the end, a fight would break out.

I began calculating who I should attack first if a fight broke out, Blood Battle or Flame Ghost Consort.

In any case, I was an elite of an Orthodox Path sect, so I had to establish “justice.”

Yes, of course.

While I was thinking that.

-What do you want to do?

Ak Byeong-bi’s Sound Transmission suddenly reached me.

What?

Why is he acting like this all of a sudden?

Until now, the only choice he had given me on the journey was “when I would drink water.”

……And now he is asking such an important question?

While I was bewildered, I heard something even more absurd.

-I will follow your opinion.

Fuck, Blood Battle alone is enough to make my head throb. Now I cannot tell what Ak Byeong-bi is thinking either. Truly.

I clutched my throbbing head and answered.

“Let’s just go around. Even meeting a Mountain Stronghold would be troublesome.”

When I indicated the opposite side with my chin, Blood Battle crossed his arms and said,

“I want to go this way.”

“Then you and your companion can go that way.”

“In that case, you will have broken your promise to accompany me, so I suppose I must kill all of you instead.”

Fuck, what is he trying to do?

I suppressed my expression as much as possible to keep it from crumpling and looked at Ak Byeong-bi.

“Delegation Leader, I think it would be better to do as the elder says after all.”

No matter how frightening Gakmun Stronghold was, it was still probably less frightening than Blood Battle.

Blood Battle broke people, after all.

At my quick change of stance, Blood Battle smiled as if satisfied.

And Ak Byeong-bi’s gaze twisted strangely.

-So that is how it is after all…….

Ak Byeong-bi ended the incomprehensible Sound Transmission and abruptly turned his body.

Dragging along a lunatic and an Ideological Inquisitor made it feel as though my lifespan was being shaved away day by day.

Damn it, just wait until I get back.

I will wring something out of them equal to the lifespan they have shaved off me.