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Chapter 385. Ambush (3)
DRIP— DRIP—
Only the sound of falling blood drops filled the garden.
The golden radiance that had lit up the surroundings as bright as day might as well have been a lie — now that even the moonlight had vanished, the silence was consumed by thick darkness.
PLOP.
Curious about what could possibly live in a pond full of nothing but moss, a goldfish poked its head above the surface, surveyed the intruder, then ducked back under.
Е.num а́
I let out one small breath in the suffocating silence, then looked at Bang Sa-won's two legs.
Two shattered legs the man had severed with his own hands in order to reach me.
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Studying traces like these only made the enemy more opaque.
Martial arts were, fundamentally, a tool born of the will to survive.
Like more money, more power — stronger martial arts extended one's life.
The stronger the practitioner, the stronger the will to live.
Ẁ е̃.ḃ n о̂ v́el̄ Еǹum̊ а̇
But these people were different.
For them, greater strength and deeper inner arts were merely tools in service of something other than their own survival.
They used their own lives as casually as logs tossed into a fire to burn and vanish.
As though it were the most natural thing in the world.
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"Whew."
I exhaled a long breath, then fired a Great Yang Palm to dig a small pit.
Ê n ǔ m̄.a . і̂ d
I gathered every trace of what had been Bang Sa-won and placed them inside.
After roughly concealing the evidence, I looked around.
Among the broken bottles, one intact bottle remained.
I shook it — a decent amount of liquor sloshed inside.
If there was any chance another of them might appear, I shouldn't drink.
"......After all that carnage, who'd come?"
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The thought was brief and the action swift.
My mood was too foul — I needed to scrub my head clean somehow.
"Phew."
The liquor was brutally harsh.
No hint of bouquet — just a raw, punishing spirit made for one purpose: getting drunk.
Whether Bang Sa-won's impostor had been short on funds or the real Bang Sa-won simply favored rotgut, I couldn't say, but even during my Sojeong Squad days I'd never drunk anything this vicious.
Èñ ü m а̇
"......"
I considered tossing it, then tipped it into my mouth again.
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And for a chaser, I cursed the Phantom Five Demon who'd been impersonating Bang Sa-won.
"No wonder you couldn't keep your head straight, drinking swill like this. Pathetic bastard."
Jegal So-myeong's death was three days away.
And I had only caught two of the Phantom Five Demons so far.
Е nu m̃ā .іd̆
In this life where Je Geum-hak was gone, how would they come at us?
I considered who among the Seven Demon Wisdom Lords might replace Je Geum-hak, but no one immediately came to mind.
The reason Je Geum-hak had been able to take part in killing Jegal So-myeong was that his demonic qi didn't manifest outwardly — a rarity among demonic practitioners.
The other demon lords, who couldn't help but reveal their demonic qi one way or another, would be unable to infiltrate and kill Jegal So-myeong the way Je Geum-hak had.
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That meant the Phantom Five Demons alone would carry out the assassination......
With two of them dead, could the remaining three pull it off?
Е̌n̊ u̇ mа. i d
Or would they give up and withdraw?
I stared at the mound of blood-darkened earth.
"......"
I clung to a small hope for a moment, then shook my head.
There was no way those fiends would abandon a mission over a setback this minor.
If anything, they'd devise an even more ruthless approach.
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In that case, what I needed to do was clear.
Moving even one moment faster was the only way to prevent Jegal So-myeong's death.
Just as I broke the silence and was about to rise —
PRICKLE.
Every hair on my body stood on end, and my gaze snapped toward the front gate.
CREEEAK—
Е̂ ňů m̄a.ïd
"......!"
A presence that shouldn't have been there.
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The same aura I'd felt recently in the Black Forest.
A wretchedly unsettling energy that made my breath catch involuntarily.
THUD, THUD, THUD.
Footsteps that could have been concealed, deliberately sounded — a shadow approaching at a leisurely pace.
W̃ ėb ṅ o vе̊l Е_n̈ūm̃а̊
As though out for a stroll, it surveyed the crumbling garden here and there.
A moment later, the moon peeked out from behind a cloud, and the figure — a masked man — emerged into the pale light.
Having finished looking around, the masked man saw my face and smirked.
"Were you not waiting for me?"
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If one had to name the first principle of assassination, it would be none other than secrecy.
Executing the operation so that no one notices, and departing before anyone knows.
Е́ ǹ ü m̃ а
And so I had been certain that if the remaining Phantom Five Demons sensed the battle at Chowol Manor, they would stay away.
I threw the same question that had rattled the previous two, aiming to unsettle him.
"This is my first time seeing one of the Phantom Five Demons speak."
I tightened my grip on the hilt, channeling the Three Forms of the White Moon Governing Heaven — ready to cut him down the moment his composure wavered.
But.
The man showed not a single crack.
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No — he spoke as though he'd already known, perfectly at ease.
"So you really did know about us."
"......!"
"The Demon Brain said as much. That you would be aware of our existence."
Why was the Demon Brain suddenly being brought up?
And they'd already known that I knew?
W̌ ѐ b̈ n о̃ v̀ ēl Е̃n̂ ůḿ ä
"Killing Yi-ryeong...... no, even Bang Sa-won was quite the surprise, though."
When I held my tongue, a question came from him instead.
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"Are you an illegitimate child of the Secret Demon Sect? Or simply a deserter?"
I almost spat a curse but clamped my mouth shut.
"You distinguished yourself greatly in the destruction of the Blood Demon Sect, I hear. Then you are indeed an heir of the Secret Demon Sect?"
I didn't fully understand how, but both this man and the Demon Brain seemed to have the wrong idea about me.
W ӗ bń о̆v еl̂ Ẽn u ḿ а́
That beast Naeng Ok-hwan had said something similar, now that I thought about it......
I'd done everything I could to keep information locked down, yet somehow intelligence had still seeped through to the Demonic Cult.
The question, then: was it better to let them know that I was an orthodox martial artist who despised them more than anyone?
Or was it better to exploit their confusion and extract information in return?
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The decision came fast.
"Why does that matter now?"
Ẃ е̇ b n̄.õve̊l̈ Е n̆ um а̂
I chose to make the most of their misunderstanding.
"......So it's true. You really are an heir of the destroyed Secret Demon Sect?"
Of all the misunderstandings to have, they thought I was the descendant of a ruined demonic sub-sect.
"I told you. Why does that matter?"
SHING—
I drew the Red Radiance Sword and raised my killing intent.
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GRROAARRR—
An ominous, sourceless scream bled into the air.
The Red Radiance Sword's crimson glow was the only sinister light illuminating the silent manor.
Yet the man showed no flicker of alarm, languidly stroking his chin.
"All this time, you hid yourself as an orthodox disciple? And now that the Divine Cult has appeared, you've come out for revenge?"
I weighed my response, then chose the easy route.
Е́ n̂ ùm ӓ
The Secret Demon Sect or Taeul Sect — both had been ruined by the Demonic Cult, so the sentiment was roughly the same.
"I'm sick to death of demonic cultist bastards. I want to burn every last one of them."
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"Hmm...... is that so? Have you no thought for the remaining heirs of the Secret Demon Sect?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You seem unfamiliar with the situation inside the Cult. It has already been one hundred fifty years since the Secret Demon Sect survived on the barest thread of its existence."
The man's gaze regarded me with empty detachment.
Е́n̆u_ṁа .їd̊
"The Demon Brain has said that now the Blood Demon Sect's betrayal has been settled, he intends to resurrect the Secret Demon Sect."
Piecing together the man's words, it seemed the Secret Demon Sect had been annihilated by the Blood Demon Sect for some reason.
And they believed me to be a fugitive heir.
Since the Blood Cult was the successor of the Blood Demon Sect, the narrative more or less fit.
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I deliberately let a sneer curl my lips.
"How can you ask me to trust people who betrayed us once before?"
Ѐň ǔ mа́.і́_d́
The man tilted his head.
"How strange. Have you forgotten that resistance against the Divine Cult ends only in death?"
His words didn't quite make sense. How could you revive a sect that had been destroyed?
"What do you mean, 'put things back'?"
"Perhaps everything that was lost, and more besides."
I probed further, hoping to uncover some piece of the future I didn't know — but no new intelligence emerged.
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The man appraised me from head to toe with a loaded gaze.
"Are you inclined to return to the Cult?"
Feeling I'd done enough to allay his suspicions, I asked what I truly wanted to know.
"If so...... do I simply follow you?"
"Hmm......"
"Or does this mission require assistance?"
Ĕ ń ũ m̌а .і d̊
"Do you know what the mission is?"
I remembered it precisely.
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In my past life, the operation name Je Geum-hak had designated was 'Turtle Hunt.'
When I told him, the man suddenly erupted in wild laughter.
"Hahah!"
What in the......
Ẃ е b̃n о vѐ l Е n ǔ m̌ a
His unexpected reaction made my brow furrow deeply.
"Ah, my apologies. It's just so astonishing and wondrous. The Demon Brain is truly......"
He seemed to have laughed so hard his eyes watered, and he brushed a knuckle across the corner of his eye.
Then, in a voice far colder than before, he murmured.
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"The Demon Brain said this: if I make an offer and he agrees to help, asking about the mission......"
His eyes glinted with fanatical light.
Е̂ ñ ú mа̊ . і d
"Kill him."
A voice colder than ice.
When I said nothing, he let a mocking smile slip.
"Astonishing, is it not? Heir of the destroyed Secret Demon Sect."
At his signal —
TAP— TAP— TAP— TAP—
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Black shadows began descending all across the manor.
I had no idea what was happening or how it had come to this, but my thoughts flew to Dang Seo-hui, whom I'd sent to guard Jegal So-myeong.
What if, in trying to change history, I'd driven an innocent person to her death?
'Except for that bastard Yong So-ah, of course.'
I looked at the masked man and beckoned with a finger.
"If you're going to do it, make it quick. There's someone I'm worried about."
Е n̄ û mà. і d
***
The Grand Strategist's quarters were situated near the Mantongbu.
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It was no grand pavilion — the Mantongbu worked such frequent overtime that a space for catching brief naps was essential.
The Grand Strategist had intended to use the sleeping quarters shared by the Mantongbu's scholars.
But.
"No, you can't...... I mean, it would be beneath the Grand Strategist's dignity."
E̊nùm̂ а̂
"Haha...... surely! You'd find it uncomfortable......"
It was the scholars who were horrified.
They already spent all day face-to-face with their superiors, enduring every uncomfortable moment. The last thing they'd tolerate was sharing their nap space with the ultimate boss.
The scholars banded together and drew up plans for a small, private pavilion. With a speed of execution unmatched in their careers, a modest pavilion with an adjoining pond was built near the Mantongbu.
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And before that pond, Yong So-ah stood, gazing impassively at the pavilion.
Inside, a tenacious tug-of-war was underway.
Е n u̇ m̀а
"What do you think you're doing?! Get out this instant!"
Jegal So-myeong — who rarely raised his voice over anything — was roaring.
Yet the small shadow illuminated by the flickering candlelight was undaunted, shouting back with brazen defiance.
"Grandfather always said to watch and copy everything the best person does...... sir."
"I'll wring that damned Poison King's neck one of these days!"
"Just...... go about your business as usual...... sir."
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"......"
When Jegal So-myeong's candlelit silhouette trembled violently, Yong So-ah tilted his head.
'Is that the wind? It shouldn't be.'
Then the door burst open, and a small figure in a blue-green robe was flung — no, flew — out of the pavilion.
Teetering on the edge of a hard landing, the figure executed a peculiar mid-air maneuver, righted itself, and slid to a graceful stop on the ground.
SKKRRTT—
E ńùm̂ а . іd̀
A furious bellow followed from inside.
"Set foot in here once more, and I will see to it that you never step inside the Mantongbu again! Mark my words!!"
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SLAM—!
The door shut with bone-rattling finality.
Having stuck the landing, Dang Seo-hui drooped with dejection and stared at the darkened pavilion.
"Hmm...... this way, I can't become a true chivalrous hero......"
W̄ е̌ b̆ no v̇ е̌ ľ Е n̆ú m̀å
Yong So-ah, who had watched the entire sequence from start to finish, opened his mouth.
"......Why are you doing this? The Grand Strategist is not a plaything."
At Yong So-ah's question, Dang Seo-hui looked up at him.
Then she abruptly turned her head, walked over to the pond, and crouched down.
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Cheeks puffed with displeasure, she picked up a small twig and began swirling the water.
After a moment of silence, she asked quietly.
Ẅēb̄n o̊v̊ ѐ l̊ Е ṅ ũm̌ȧ
"Why is Yong So-ah...... here?"
The counter-question might have been annoying, but Yong So-ah answered readily.
"He is an uncertainty. His impulsive plans are a destabilizing element for the future."
Dang Seo-hui's deft flicks of the twig drew the goldfish toward her. One fish rode the thin branch out of the water, gaping stupidly on dry land.
Watching, Yong So-ah gave a light flick of his finger.
The goldfish frolicking atop the twig lost its balance and tumbled off.
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SPLASH—
The goldfish dropped back into the pond.
Dang Seo-hui shot Yong So-ah a sharp glare.
But his gaze and voice remained impassive.
"Even the smallest creature has a life. Tormenting it is not right."
"......"
Е̄n̄u mа
Still crouched, still staring at the pond.
From behind her small frame, a question threaded with transparent bewilderment drifted toward her.
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"Why are you doing something pointless?"
Pointless.
Dang Seo-hui squeezed the twig tighter.
"I admit that Junior Jin is an uncertainty."
E̊ n̈ū m̂ а
She refused to give up, stirring the pond once more.
"But Junior Jin's plans have always produced the best possible outcomes — outcomes no one imagined."
"......"
Soon her hand went still, and her slender but firm voice continued.
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"Uncertainty invites imperfection."
"......"
Ẇеb̈ǹӧ v̆ еl̀ Е n u m̈а̊
Dang Seo-hui looked up squarely at Yong So-ah.
"Are you certain?"
Yong So-ah did not avert his gaze from that direct stare.
"I am not uncertain."
"Were you certain at Demon Spirit Plateau, at the Regular Exam, at the Black Forest?"
Certain...... certainty, certainty.
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At Dang Seo-hui's words, Yong So-ah regarded her in silence, then spoke.
"Even in those moments, I was 'not uncertain.'"
"I accept that. But it is a fact that Jin So-un produced a better answer."
"......"
Dang Seo-hui, who had been swirling the pond, now picked up a fist-sized pebble and began tapping it with the twig.
Then she struck the airborne stone with a clean downward stroke. Cracks spread instantly across the pebble, breaking it into tiny fragments that fell neatly into her palm.
Е̂n ú m̌_ӓ.і̆_d̆
RATTLE, RATTLE.
Rolling the pieces in her hand like a child who'd found a toy, Dang Seo-hui smiled softly.
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"And...... it's fun playing with Junior Jin."
"Is this merely for entertainment?"
Dang Seo-hui shook her head.
"I don't think what Junior Jin does is so point......"
W е́ bn̈óv ѐ l Е̂ṅu mа̃.
Mid-sentence, her gaze snapped toward one pocket of darkness.
An instant later, Yong So-ah's eyes followed hers.
What Dang Seo-hui had sensed, Yong So-ah had sensed too.
"......A rare, filthy sort of energy."
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RATTLE, RATTLE.
The pebbles playing in Dang Seo-hui's palm were growing smaller and smaller.
Wе̄b̂n оvѐl Е n u m̌ а̂.
"For them to come all the way here...... dangerous ones."
"Agreed."
"Do you also agree that Junior Jin's thinking was correct?"
"......"
Even in the face of danger, Dang Seo-hui looked up at Yong So-ah — but he didn't turn his head.
Facing the wretched, insidious energy, Dang Seo-hui drew herself up straight and settled into her stance.
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And without forgetting, she dropped one more remark.
"That's unlike you, Yong So-ah. Cowardly."
Yong So-ah still said nothing.
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