novelraw Chapter 7 : Inner Demon
Chapter 7 : Inner Demon
Chapter 7: Inner Demon
After leaving Elder Un behind, Hwa Pyeong, who had been standing there restlessly like a puppy that needed to go, asked me.
“So, what happened? Did you get the money? Hey, you even pulled one over on the Golden Sword Merchant Association? A kid serving the association leader came scurrying over to tell me. Wow, Seo Hyowon is famous for never taking a loss, but you sure have a way with things.”
“Hwa Pyeong. No matter what, I am not giving any money to you.”
“Wow, you didn't fall for it. Stubborn, truly stubborn. I should have known from the moment this cheapskate came to the gambling house and fought tooth and nail to win money before leaving.”
Giving a smirk, I finally handed Elder Hwa’s slush fund over to Hwa Pyeong. I didn't particularly have a use for it right now anyway.
‘Though I don't know about later.’
I gave the back of the bastard’s head a smack for no reason as he smiled while taking the money. A crisp 'thwack' sound spread out like a wooden fish being struck.
“Don't spend too much of that. Give me a bottle of liquor before I go. That man Elder Un is a bit strange, so check in on him once in a while to see if he’s alright. Got it?”
“Why are you hitting me and acting out? My, dear customer. To think you'd trust a cat with a fish. Aren't you going to stay the night? There must be beggars everywhere outside.”
Beggars everywhere outside. They were likely Elder Hwa’s disciples. I expected as much.
‘Beggars, those bastards. They have nothing better to do, so they sure move fast.’
Hwa Pyeong, who had been grumbling and swearing all sorts of things, brought a bottle and threw it to me. I lightly caught the white liquor bottle and drank it straight.
As expected, it was cheap stuff.
The intoxication in my head kept egging me on. Let’s kill Elder Hwa right now, let’s overturn the Beggar Sect…
‘Not a chance. Where do you think you’re trying to pull a fast one?’
Throughout history, alcohol has been a friend to all. But right now, it was like an enemy to me. I could use inner Qi to wipe the alcohol from my body.
But why would I drink if I were going to do that?
Looking at myself objectively, I was no different from a madman. Thinking about it again, I had never seen a sane person among the peerless experts I had met.
As I was about to leave the gambling house, I turned back for a moment to look at Hwa Pyeong. The rude bastard raised his middle finger at me.
— That’s a curse I learned from the far east, you country bumpkin.
It was the same curse he had thrown at Baek Cheon at the very end.
“…Do I look any different? Everyone I meet keeps asking me.”
“Ah, did you get a girl or something? Asking if you’ve changed. I guess a retard has become a super retard. If you have time to say things like that, swing your sword one more time and survive.”
I guess pleasantries really aren't necessary between us.
A time when deep darkness had settled. I left the gambling house.
* * *
The night sky where the moonlight shone heartlessly.
Seonchil, Elder Hwa’s first disciple, watched Successor from atop a tree as he exited the gambling house through the Cloud Blossom Pavilion.
His two cheeks were flushed red as if he were slightly drunk, and he flailed both arms as if he were constantly performing the Drunken Eight Immortals Steps. He looked like a common drunkard one could see anywhere on the street.
‘Is he crazy?’
Does he even know what kind of situation he is in? If he knew, he wouldn't be leisurely guzzling liquor like that.
Himself included, Elder Hwa’s disciples were hiding here, aiming for the Successor’s life. Did the Successor actually bring the ledger from the gambling house?
“Senior, is it possible even for a Successor? How could he get past that Elder Un? He is an expert who ranks within the top ten even within the sect.”
Behind him, in the forest of countless trees, those holding old knives, clubs, or long poles asked Seonchil, as they held the same doubt.
“It seems the Master judged incorrectly this time. He appears to have been caught up in the Successor’s reckless behavior. Look at that pathetic sight. Did he even meet Elder Un?”
Realistically, killing the Successor was impossible. There was no justification. For talking back to Elder Hwa?
The position of the Successor was higher than an Elder. Unless it was the Great Elder or the Chief, it was difficult to restrain him.
‘So we take him to the Great Elder.’
To the right hand of the true Martial God who would terminate this false peace.
And in an instant, Wang Cho’s head turned toward Seonchil, and the Successor’s eerie silver pupils pierced right through him.
At the same time, the Successor’s body blurred, and suddenly a sword flashing in the starlight appeared before his eyes.
“Bullshit.”
Slash!
With a short last word, Seonchil’s body collapsed.
* * *
A familiar sensation was felt from the sword. The blood that had splattered with a 'splat' soaked my old hemp clothes, adding a layer of crimson paint.
the disgusting stench of blood kept tickling the tip of my nose. Grabbing my spinning head and swinging my sword into the air, another figure fell fruitlessly from a tree.
When I spread my senses, I felt many monkeys with knives in the trees that filled the surroundings. I also felt their emotions, stained with tension and fear.
“Heh, since you’re up in the trees, you look just like monkeys. A monkey's butt is red, if it's red it's an apple, apples are delicious… ah, I don't really like apples.”
In an instant, I kicked off the branch I was on and ascended to the neighboring tree.
A second grade beggar, trembling with fear, swung a club at me haphazardly, and I thrust my fist through a gap in that loose pole technique.
“Kugh!”
I looked down at the beggar who was falling like a falling flower while spraying red blood from his mouth.
After dodging the spear thrust by a third grade beggar who had climbed the tree I was in, I immediately used the Beggar Sect’s Shouting Branch Sword Technique to cut the bastard’s arm and kicked him in the stomach to send him flying.
The spear he dropped began to fall slowly to my feet.
In the slightly slowed time unique to a martial arts expert, I heard the sound of the spearman wailing in pain.
As soon as the rustling sound of treading on leaves struck my sensitive ears, I caught the spear the third grade beggar had dropped, held it in a reverse grip, and thrust it backward.
A 'crack' sound of a bone being pierced echoed delightfully. Judging by the sound, it seemed like a rib.
When I regained my senses, no one was approaching me anymore. It was a situation where they were surrounding me and throwing hidden weapons.
I burst into laughter. To try and kidnap the successor of the Beggar Sect on this dark night?
And by members of the same Beggar Sect, no less.
Thinking about it again, this was the essence of the Jianghu. Whether you held a wooden fish and recited Buddhist scriptures or stayed in the mountains claiming to cultivate the Way.
In the end, it was the same to get blood on your hands and accumulate the karma of murder. It was merely a terrible self-consolation and brainwashing regarding one's actions.
Sensing an Inner Demon that I hadn't experienced in my previous life made me feel truly strange. This was because the very act of recognizing it as an Inner Demon was different from a normal situation.
My vision was entirely silver.
Is this Qi deviation?
Thinking about it, this was just the Sun-Drenched Moonlight. It didn't originally affect the vision, but it was a reaction from forcing my entry.
“Where is Elder Hwa? Why is the great Elder not stepping up himself? Ah, who is the mastermind? Elder Hwa is not a person who would cause such an incident. Is it the Trackless Divine Beggar?”
“What are you saying? Successor, have you gone mad?”
I wiped the blood from my sword with my sleeve. Lifting my creaking head to look at the sky, there was nothing.
No stars, no moon. Not even the Martial God who used to look down upon the world.
I rubbed my eyes, which were blurring with drowsiness. When I opened them again, the sky was not dark but glowing.
The sight of people treading on leaves with Grass Hopping Steps here and there caught my vision. Dozens of beggars rushed toward me while emitting a tickling killing intent.
I didn't bother responding to them and hopped down from the tree. I stepped on the head of the spearman who was still screaming to put him at ease.
Identifying the face of the bastard who was trying to plunge a sword into me while falling in a straight line from the tree, I gave a bright smile.
“Flatfish. You were alive.”
I also emitted Sword Qi and parried Flatfish’s sword which was aimed at my crown.
I was about to cut the throat of the man who lost his balance and was exposing his hatred, but I flinched for a moment and thrust my sword behind me.
With a 'clang' sound, the pole of some old man clashed with my sword. His white beard fluttered here and there, and I just hated the sight of it.
It was Seo Hwang, a sixth grade beggar and a confidant of Elder Hwa. I remembered him having learned the Thirty Six Paths of the Dog Beating Staff Technique.
Since it was a quite tricky martial art, I dove straight into Seo Hwang’s bosom the moment his pole was swung.
Seo Hwang moved back to match my distance as if he knew I would dive in. Is he a veteran of a hundred battles?
Since he looked older than Elder Hwa, the inner Qi he possessed must also be great.
As the trajectories of the sword and pole became messily entangled, Elder Hwa’s disciples aimed for my back in an instant.
I immediately turned my body, cut the arm of the bastard swinging a club closest to me, and emitted a half moon shaped Sword Qi to separate the upper and lower bodies of the disciples, including Flatfish, degrading them to mere commoners.
With a 'boom' sound, an agonizing pain exploded in my back. It was Seo Hwang’s pole.
I blocked it with my protective Qi, but I couldn't deflect it all.
As I turned my body while stumbling, Seo Hwang’s ugly face, distorted with anger, repeatedly switched between red and white due to the Qi deviation and the Sun-Drenched Moonlight.
“Has the world gone mad? Or have I gone mad. That is always the problem. Seo Hwang, wow. You old bastard, did you like switching to Baek Cheon’s side? But I can’t let that happen. I am a person who can't stand to see others succeed after all.”
Closing and opening my eyes for a moment, I saw familiar faces. Seo Hwang, standing in the middle of several faces, muttered, “Has he gone mad?”
I toyed with the White Sword at my waist. It still possessed its pure white appearance.
“Axe Demon of the Green Forest, Matchless in a Single Strike, Master of Puppet Jade… where is the Trackless Divine Beggar? A lowly beggar asks the great leaders of the Dark Heaven Society, the virtuous heroes who betrayed their own sects.”
“…Successor. Is it Qi deviation? Your eyes are red and white. What did you do?”
I felt as if my blood vessels were being blocked. Why was I so reckless? My head throbbed from being alone in a ruined world.
Huh, was it not just me and Baek Cheon in the world? What are these stones?
I immediately lowered my stance and lunged my sword toward Seo Hwang.
The Sword Qi scattered from the blade drifted around Seo Hwang and me like starlight.
In an instant, my sword shattered Seo Hwang’s pole and pierced his heart.
Sun-Drenched Moonlight Fast Sword Form, Moonlight Flash. It was an instant death.
And a moment later, a black hem fluttered and taunted my eyes. After shaking the hilt roughly to flick the blood off the blade, I let out a laugh.
It was because a hole had been pierced near the heart of the man who had suddenly grabbed my collar. Because of that, my blurred mind began to return to normal.
“…Grand Elder, Trackless Divine Beggar.”
The Vice Leader who died by having his heart pierced by my palm and finger technique.
And at the same time, unbelievable words flowed from his tightly bitten lips.
“Hungry God, do you want to die?”