‘What’s even going through this guy’s head?“
I stop talking and look blankly at Master Baek Wei.
Suddenly I feel goosebumps rising on my body. It’s because I was dying to hear his thoughts. Even if that meant that I would have to torture, beat, and intimidate it out of him- I was just that curious. The reason why this is giving me goosebumps is because the man here standing before me is Master Baek Wei.
‘Human curiosity is so scary.’
Why do I understand the minds of ordinary people who work daily jobs but have a hard time understanding the minds of morons and mad ones?
I will never know.
After finishing the painting, Master Baek Wei hands it over to Chil Geom and then points to me with the brush.
“Low-Down Sect Leader, wasn’t the Taiji Fist created to make fun of the Cult? You seem to have obtained enlightenment regarding the combination of Yin and Yang. If that is the case, the terms of Yin and Yang Cultivation and the Sun and Moon Cultivation will be more appropriate, so keep that in mind. And just in case, I always ask friends in Kangho, including Leader….”
Master Baek Wei raises the brush and asks,
“Is there anyone who wants to compete with me?”
“….”
We are all at a loss for words. In this atmosphere, he suddenly wants to fight? But the guy continues to talk,
“It is fine even if it isn’t now. Everyone must be tired so we can do it next time. Any thoughts Sword Demon?”
Sword Demon doesn’t answer at all. And Master Baek Wei sighs like he just lost interest.
“It seems like everyone isn’t interested.”
Master baek Wei gets up with a look of disinterest, grabs the table with both hands and tosses it down. Curiously, the table falls down the hill on the side and crumbles into dust.
I open my eyes wide.
‘What martial arts is this?’
A table that turned into dust. I bring my gaze back up and see that Master Baek Wei and Chil Geom both vanished.
“Hmm.”
Come to think of it, that guy surely had quick footwork skills.
In this situation, it is strange for him to be interested in a fight. Even though he is a man who likes to compete by nature. I just stand there for a while getting lost in my thoughts.
‘Maybe…’
I have been just imagining nonsense.
If I want to subdue him, or break down his spirit, shouldn’t it be a fight with footwork and not martial arts? A battle of pride that would allow him to feel shame if he were to lose. Master Baek Wei is a crazy guy in his own rights.
I am curious about what the evil ones saw, so I end up asking,
“Did anyone watch them disappear?”
To which Ghost Demon says,
“With the table falling off, my gaze went towards the table too. And regarding martial arts, it felt like psychological warfare.”
Pervert Demon says,
“Right. I missed it too. I watched the table turn to dust.”
When I check the expression of Sword Demon, he says,
“Nothing. He tossed the table and normally backed off.”
“Oh. As I thought.”
It seems like Sword Demon kept his eye on the guy. This is why he is the eldest. Just in case, I ask the Four Great Evils,
“Even if there is a chance, if you meet him later, initiate the battle with footwork.”
“Why?”
I’m unable to find a reason.
“Just do it. He is insane so it’s better to do that than an armed battle. For now, let the madman do what he likes.”
It seems like he is confident in his footwork.
“What if we win the battle?”
The odds of that happening right now are slim, but I say what I think.
“He will be happy.”
“Happy to be defeated?”
I nod.
“Then do you think a guy like that will care about the sense of defeat? Instead, he will ask to fight again.”
“Well, now that you say it, he does seem like the type.”
After a while, we cleaned up the terrible battlefield. I killed them, so it’s only right that I clean up after myself.
After throwing everything into a pit, Sam Bok and the others take alcohol and scatter it all over.
As I pour a drink for myself, I speak to the dead,
“When alive, a prisoner and when dead, just a man living in Kangho. I have no ill feelings towards you people. Had I lost, I would be buried here. I like this and sprinkle alcohol for you. I hope that in the afterlife, you won’t be forced to listen to other’s commands. What good are your Cult’s teachings in front of death?”
I spill the alcohol in the bottle. And Nam Garak says,
“I came with my own determination, but we couldn’t fight together. How did you even get this strong so suddenly?”
I just stare at him. He couldn’t possibly know what happened to me.
“Right. After being hit here and there I had to get stronger. Are you injured?”
Nam Garak laughs.
“Well, I need to do something to get hurt.”
He looks around a bit dejected at the pile of dirt.
“Well, Leader.”
“Yes.”
“You did good coming. It is nice to see your face.”
“I don’t know if the news got to the Alliance Leader.”
I giggle with Nam Garak.
But it isn’t until after I sit on the ground that the fatigue sets in.
It is only then that the others sit down and the members of Nam Garak’s troops, who were struggling to move, also sit around. They didn’t fight, but they all swiftly ran here to fight the Demonic Cult, so they too must be exhausted.
Everyone sat with tired looks and passed the alcohol bottles. The act of drinking alcohol soothed the heart for a moment. The alcohol soaked the throats of those around.
I don’t know what everyone is thinking about, but we all pour the alcohol to the dead and then continue to share it. Suddenly, I am curious about how the Heavenly Kings would be treated after this, so I ask Sword Demon,
“Senior, what will happen to the Heavenly Kings who lost their troops and ran back to the Cult? Will they get beaten to death by the Cult Leader?’
Sword Demon answers,
“Well. Who knows what that man thinks.”
I look at the third young lord. The third young lord gives the same answer.
“Who knows. I don’t.”
I nod.
“…. No one knows.”
Suddenly, I feel sorry for the Heavenly Kings. As one can see, they had amazing martial arts. Two had yin qi and the other two had flame yang qi.
This means…
Even if they get absorbed into the Heavenly Pearl, it won’t be good for me. And even if they survive, it still won’t be good for me.
Being involved with the Demonic Cult makes my life so tiring.
Returning to the main Cult, the Four Heavenly Kings were on their knees.
In the midst of the silence, the four of them lowered their heads when they heard footsteps.
When the Cult Leader took his place and tapped the armrest with his finger, the four of them raised their heads.
And he looked at the faces of the four of them with his chin resting in his hand.
“The reason why you have King attached to your name is because of your growth. You stand side by side with those called Kings of Sword. It is to show that there are many talented people in the Cult who still remain standing after battling and defeating countless others.”
The four of them answer at the same time.
“Yes, Cult Leader.”
“I heard about the situation, and you couldn’t get the sword back. You couldn’t kill them and couldn’t bring the third young lord back either. For what reason are you even breathing?”
The four of them have nothing to say.
“We will take any punishment.”
The Cult Leader speaks while staring outside.
“Woo Sa”
“Yes, Leader.”
A middle-aged man comes in a red robe and enters the hall approaching the Leader.
And the Cult Leader tells Woo Sa,
“You must have an idea. Say what you want to say to the four, I will listen to it.”
The guy lowers his head and turns to the four of them.
“Right. I will say what I think.”
And the four of them respond calmly.
“We will listen.”
And the calm tone continues.
“Just because you surrounded them, doesn’t mean that there was no way out for them. After all, he isn’t the type to run. If there are troops being taken, there should have been attackers and assassins being sent out in rotation to last for 3 days and nights to prevent them from being able to rest. With so many troops already lost, did you think it would make sense to send only one person at a time to fight?”
“No.”
“Cut off their water supply and force a tactical battle to prevent them from being able to get their needed supply. Black Lone King, you aren’t one to disregard this type of strategy.”
To which the man responds,
“There was opposition from the elders.”
“Your position isn’t one below the elders, and if there was any protest, you should have just killed them first.”
The guy bows his head.
“If the same things happen, I will act accordingly.”
Woo Sa continues,
“Do you think we would have suffered such a defeat if you had spent 3 days trying to do this and adjust the camp before the fight? Let the White Heavenly King answer.”
He looks at Woo Sa.
“Yes, we expected to lose.”
“Reason?”
“It was a mistake to treat the former Left Guardian with such courtesy as Woo Sa said, but well, there was no way to stop the martial arts of Low-Down Sect Leader. His skill slaughtered a large number of troops all at once. Even if they were bullied for 3 days, we might have been hurt too. The attention of the attacks was focused on the guardian, so no one thought the Low-Down Sect Leader would be such an essential figure for turning the tide of the battle.”
Woo sa asks,
“And why is that? Red King speak.”
“I apologize for speaking like this, but the martial arts of Low-Down Sect Leader were similar to the ones of Cult Leader. He blatantly dealt with Yin and Yang Qi and used Taiji and then chaos ensued. All the troops tried to stop him, but it had little effect on what was already done. The damage we took was unexpected. It would have been difficult to survive had the shield troops not protected us and the elders didn’t use their qi to save us.”
And the last one says,
“There wasn’t a big difference between our military strength, but it’s because of this unforeseen variable that caused us to be blindsided. As we already mentioned, the former Left Guardian didn’t avoid a one-on-one fight and was tired from the consecutive battles, it was all happening as planned.”
The Cult Leader responds.
“I see. Woo Sa, if you had been there how would you have reacted?”
He says,
“I think I would have failed like them. I wouldn’t have paid any mind to the Low-Down Sect Leader either.”
The Cult Leader replies,
“Stop defending these four and speak the truth.”
With a thin smile he responds.
“Cult Leader, there is something about the words of the four Heavenly Kings. It seems that they watched it happen, but it is questionable why they left the situation at that. If it was me, I wouldn’t have given them any chance at all. With the chance of taking advantage of the situation, the troops should have been spread out.”
The Cult Leader nods and looks at Black Lone King.
“Recreate what happened then.”
Receiving the order, the man gets up with a pale look.
“Yes.”
Gulping, he stands there, and Woo Sa says,
“Lone King, why are you like this? Explain how the Low-Down Sect Leader acted in as much detail as possible.”
Heavenly King gets up.
“I apologize but I will try to do it.”
Woo Sa nods.
“So.”
With cloth wrapped around his palm, he sighs briefly with a pale look, then stands to the side with his hands stretched out.
The reason why he changed direction and held the stance is because he couldn’t dare do it while facing the Cult Leader. And he followed the Taiji arts.
Reporting the problem as it was, was the rule. So, they had no choice but to move like Low-Down Sect Leader. He wanted to explain with his mouth, but he couldn’t speak as he was afraid of the Cult Leader.
With his hands held out, he began to move like waves.
“What are you doing?”
To that, he gulps and says,
“Showing as it was.”
“He moved that slowly?”
“Yes.”
The other three kings look blankly at him as he demonstrates, and he copies the arts in a pitiful manner. The others feel this inexplicable sense of sadness noticing the Cult Leader observing them. It was all the more embarrassing because this was all true.
Woo Sa says,
“How long are you going to do that?”
To which he responds,
“… So, after turning around at this time, the force of red combined with white, with this metal ringing sound. It was too late by then. Had the Low-Down Sect Leader let it go right then, the elders and us all would have died. But he threw it at the place the troops had gathered, probably judging that this was a threat to him too. And then….”
Suddenly he looks at Woo Sa with puzzled look and the man asks,
“What? Speak.”
“I don’t remember. I found out later that I escaped with the help of White Heavenly King.”
Woo Sa sighs and bows facing the Cult Leader.
“I apologize. Cult Leader, not just them, but I too made mistakes…”
The Cult Leader resting his chin in his hand asks the four,
“What kind of martial arts is this?”
“No explanation.”
The Cult Leader says resting his chin,
“You deliberately participated in slow psychological warfare. There are a lot of such men in Kangho. Martial arts alone will never guarantee a win. However, your mistakes all started due to the respect and consideration you were still showing to the Left Guardian. Remember that you could have died because of that. To think you had to back down… I can laugh for days.”
At the words of the Cult Leader, all of them bow to the ground. Alone, the Cult Leader laughs in an awkward manner like this was his first time laughing.
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