novelraw Chapter 162 : Fated Existence
Chapter 162 : Fated Existence
Chapter 162: Fated Existence
The Evil Star (凶星) was an ominous star, not a person.
Then what, exactly, was this human-like form creeping and loitering before my eyes?
That was something I’d always been curious about, and it seemed Hwang Geolgae knew the answer.
“Tell me more.”
Without playing hard to get.
Swallowing that retort, I pressed for more information.
“Did this brat leave something with me or what? Why are you interrogating me like you have every right to?”
Hwang Geolgae muttered, gulping down from his bottle as if all the movement had left him parched.
“Because he was also a Heaven-Slaying Star. Naturally, I’m curious.”
I replied while staring quietly at the gently flickering red palm, without even drawing a single line of writing.
I’d even passed up a huge sum and obtained a royal decree for the Beggars’ Union, and all I got in return was the vague claim that the previous Heaven-Slaying Star had ties to the Demonic Cult.
This was too much of a tease.
“It’s not that easy to explain… especially to someone who doesn’t even know how ferocious that Heaven-Slaying Star was.”
Hwang Geolgae let out a sigh. The reason so little record remained of the previous Heaven-Slaying Star was because everything had been drowned in death before anything could be left behind.
“My master tried to stop it... and ended up suffering a terrible fate.”
“...He died a heroic death in battle?”
No wonder he seemed reluctant to talk about it—there was a story like that behind it.
“No, he fought for a bit and then ran away when he realized he couldn’t win.”
“…”
Truly a decision befitting the Beggars’ Union—practical and reasonable.
“Because of that, he was branded with disgrace. He spent years trying to wash it away.”
In the murim, fleeing in the face of public martial duty was considered the height of cowardice.
It felt like karmic retribution in a way. Hmm.
“But why do you keep digging? Is it really just curiosity? You're not hiding something from me…?”
Good grief, this old man had sharp instincts for someone so unbefitting of them.
“Come on, as if.”
I chuckled and denied it, but his eyebrow arched suspiciously.
“…You brat, you better speak while I’m asking nicely. What kind of mess did you make this time?”
With how many incidents I’ve caused, it seemed he didn’t even bother listening to my excuses anymore.
At this rate, claiming innocence wouldn’t help at all.
“There are a few small things, sure… but it’s not like it was bigger than this whole Imperial Palace mess, right?”
In the murim, there’s a saying: hide thirty percent of your skills.
Similarly, when lying, you should hide thirty percent falsehood within seventy percent truth.
Only then could you deceive someone like the Dragon Head Sect Leader.
“Hmph, I suppose… Humans do have their limits. No way you’ve caused something worse than this.”
Thankfully, Hwang Geolgae nodded as if no sane person could’ve done worse, then began chugging again.
“…”
‘…’
Looks like that massive blunder is ironically saving my skin now.
In any case, with the crisis seemingly averted, I continued asking about the previous Heaven-Slaying Star—the apparent owner of this hand.
“Master, you know the Ming Cult?”
“Ming Cult? That sounds like what those Demonic Cult bastards would call themselves. Call it the Demonic Cult. Demonic Cult.”
Hwang Geolgae twitched an eyebrow and immediately corrected my terminology.
‘Ming Cult… damn… this old man…’
Damn old man. For once, I fully agreed with that sentiment.
In any case, seeing him react like this to just the mention of the Demonic Cult only solidified my suspicion that the murderer was indeed the previous Heaven-Slaying Star.
“So, what happened to the former Heaven-Slaying Star who was part of the Demonic Cult?”
“What do you think? All Heaven-Slaying Stars end the same way.”
Hwang Geolgae twisted his cup with a bitter grin.
Once the Evil Star took root in your mind, everyone walked the same path. A fate inescapable—Heaven-Slaying Star’s curse.
“That one lasted a bit longer thanks to mastering demonic arts… but in the end, he lost his reason and went on a killing spree, turning all of murim against him and meeting a miserable end.”
No matter how much one struggled, the destiny was terrifying—dragging its host to ruin.
And bathing the world in blood and screams was just the side effect.
“That’s why you must be careful. Don’t let your guard down. Accumulate virtue, train the Starfall Heart Cultivation Method, and keep weakening the Evil Star. If not…”
He trailed off, fingers twitching on his sword’s hilt, his face suddenly cold.
What kind of master threatens his disciple with a sword at the slightest provocation? It’s downright miserable.
No wonder I couldn’t bring myself to confide in him honestly.
“Master.”
“What now, brat.”
Now that the blade-flailing tantrum seemed to have passed, Hwang Geolgae sat himself down and began gnawing on dried squid as his snack.
Where did he even get that?
“What happens to a Heaven-Slaying Star after they die?”
I didn’t know anything about the afterlife. Frankly, life in murim now already felt like the afterlife to me. I didn’t know a damned thing about any of it.
“Clicking your tongue at your age... Why do you even ask that?”
Why? Because I was looking at something in front of me that seemed like the former Heaven-Slaying Star, unable to move on, bound by the Evil Star.
That meant if I failed to overcome it, I might end up just like that. Wouldn’t anyone be worried?
“I don’t really know either.”
“Oh, come on. You must know something…”
“Still, when I first met you and channeled qi into your body, I felt something.”
He must’ve meant that moment back in my beggar days, in that back alley.
He’d channeled his qi into me offhandedly, seen something inside, and had been certain ever since that I was a Heaven-Slaying Star.
“Do you remember how I said I never wanted to touch your body again?”
“Yeah. You said it was terrifying. That you saw something weird when you delved in.”
“Right. I saw it. The Evil Star burning ominously and dozens of eyes dripping blood-red tears.”
“…”
Damn. Just hearing that was chilling. And that was inside me?
“Unknown vengeful spirits were trapped there, wailing, writhing in agony. The bloodlust born from that whipped through everything. And from what I saw, those spirits might be…”
Could it be… the past Heaven-Slaying Stars, swallowed by the Evil Star?
“…”
Hwang Geolgae swallowed his words along with his drink, but I was starting to get the picture.
Accumulating virtue, refining the Starfall Heart Cultivation Method, and gradually weakening the Evil Star—
That wasn’t something I should try to do.
It was something I had to do. Desperately.
It was only now sinking into my skin.
“Master.”
“Yeah?”
“Well… should we train? The sword technique and the Starfall Heart Cultivation Method.”
“Ha ha, now do you understand why this old man kept yelling at you to train?”
Hwang Geolgae chuckled, set down his bottle, and stood up.
“You were partly taking it out on me though, weren’t you?”
“Well, that too.”
Apparently, it was because I had such a rotten attitude and a foul mouth.
Still, don’t admit it so readily, you child-abusing codger.
“Aren’t you even afraid of child protection laws?”
“What the hell is that?”
An era where violence and romance coexisted. The sweat that clung to my body now cooled coldly.
Though Hwang Geolgae swayed like usual, tipsy from drink, a sharp glint still flashed in his eyes.
In the murim, if you want to do good and avoid killing, you must be strong.
Mercy is a right granted only to the strong.
So I picked up my sword once again—crafted by a blacksmith with the sole purpose of cutting down people.
I knew how to vaguely see the lines in the grain. The secret was the will to kill someone.
“Master, please don’t misunderstand your disciple’s shouts.”
“Pfft, what now?”
“…Hyat!”
With killing intent exploding at the tip of my sword, I charged at the old man like I was going to murder him.
And from behind me, I could feel the sightless eyes of the Heaven-Slaying Star staring right through my back.
“Dog-Slaying Step!”
A colossal city gate with a yellow dragon writhing upward as if ascending.
The gatekeepers guarding the north, south, east, and west gates of Beijing were the face of the imperial army and had the duty to maintain dignity and solemnity at all times.
But today, for some reason, the heavily armed guards wore expressions full of confusion.
The reason was the horde of beggars rushing toward them from the distance.
“C-Commander. There’s a mob of beggars coming this way.”
“Hmmm.”
At first, seeing the dust cloud, they thought some foreign tribe was raiding.
Of course, that wouldn’t happen here, not in this central region.
“Judging by the markings on their belts… they’re Beggars’ Union.”
Using his inner energy-enhanced eyesight, the commander confirmed their identity with a low murmur.
“There’s way too many of them. And filthy, too. Shouldn’t we stop them?”
“Haven’t you seen the imperial decree issued recently? Just let them be…”
Normally, Beijing, as the seat of the imperial capital, punished disturbances with brutal beatings.
But just recently, the Son of Heaven himself had retracted his previous order and allowed the Beggars’ Union to enter.
No one knew what wind had blown through his heart, but this must be its aftermath.
“Let’s go. We’re stepping into the imperial capital with pride.”
“The same ragtag beggars from years ago…”
“They’ve returned without dying!”
Still, the commander couldn’t help but deeply wonder—just who had managed to change the inscrutable will of the Son of Heaven?
And at the same time—
After the Beggars’ Union had retreated due to a certain incident, the Rogues’ Guild, which had built an exclusive intelligence network in Beijing, went into a frenzy upon hearing news of their return.
Rogues’ Guild operatives stationed across the city scrambled to report the news as quickly as possible.
Eventually, the information reached Hong Hyehyang of the Mysterious Pavilion, disguised as a brothel in the city.
“The Beggars’ Union came…? In a mob?”
“Yes! I just saw them myself.”
“There were tons of them, but wasn’t the Beggars’ Union banned from entering the imperial capital?”
Hearing the astonished voices of her subordinates, the long, curving eyebrows of the Pavilion Master arched.
The Son of Heaven had changed his mind.
How many people in Beijing had the ability to pull something like that off?
She had already gathered some information on the suspicious old man who hid behind the name Hwang Geolgae.
And also, on that unusual disciple of his.
She’d been distracted by other matters and neglected imperial palace affairs lately…
“So he did something after all, that brat.”
Her eyes quietly turned toward the direction of a certain office.
With her family name and burdens cast off, Tang Yeo-hye moved swiftly and lightly.
Having covered the distance from Beijing to Shaanxi in one go using her movement arts, Tang Yeo-hye of Venom Valley, made her way to the meeting point indicated by the Murim Alliance’s branch office—on her way to meet Murong Cheonghye.
When she entered a certain inn, a metallic scent of blood stabbed at her nose.
And there stood Murong Cheonghye, holding a sword dripping with blood, exuding the full aura of the infamous Evil-Slaying Demoness.
“Uh, Murong Cheonghye, what exactly is going on here?”
Even someone as famously gutsy as Tang Yeo-hye from Venom Valley knew to tread carefully before someone fiercer and more merciless—her future superior.
“If I had to say… it’s a scene of annihilation.”
“…”
At Murong Cheonghye’s calm reply, her face paled.
“I had to cut them down before they sent the letter.”
Letter, she said.
“For it to need silencing to that extent… who were they sending it to…?”
Tang Yeo-hye asked, locking eyes with the Vice Captain of the Demon-Slaying Unit.
“Probably the Demonic Cult.”
“…!”
Tang Yeo-hye’s eyes widened.
The mighty sects ruling over the Ten Thousand Great Mountains—unlike the hidden Blood Cult, the Demonic Cult still thrived in open power.
A clash would surely bring a bloody storm, which is why even the Murim Alliance avoided confrontation with them.
“I think I’ll just go back.”
“You can’t, Tang Yeo-hye. We’ve already accepted your enrollment. I look forward to working with you.”
But the Vice Captain grinned like a fiendish demoness and blocked her exit.
“And you, aren’t you quite close with my dongsae… I mean, with Dan Mujin Master? I’m curious about your relationship. I’d like to hear all about it.”
“…”
She took a seat, clearly planning to interrogate her thoroughly.
Something about her demeanor now gave off a strange “sister-in-law” vibe, and Tang Yeo-hye began to sweat nervously.
‘I think I just stepped into something bad.’
They say leaving home only brings hardship.
She already wanted to go back home.