Chapter 16
“...Why are you like this, seriously? I’m the Lust Demon.”
Wi Ilcheong said incredulously.
“Is there any woman who’s spent even one night with me and then forgotten me?”
“...You crazy bastard. They should call you the Mad Demon.”
“...I’m serious.”
“Anyway, explain the escape route. What’s the plan?”
At Dokgo Ryeong’s question, Wi Ilcheong pointed out the window.
“The encirclement isn’t complete yet. While Miss Baekri and I draw their attention, you should get far away with Coachman Heo.”
“Where are we meeting again?”
“There’s a hut near the Pajeo River where the boatmen gather. Coachman Heo will take you there. We’ll meet again at the hut.”
“...”
At the mention of the Pajeo River, Dokgo Ryeong let out a hollow laugh.
“Hah... So it’s the Pajeo River again.”
“...Is something wrong?”
“No, nothing. It sounds like a nasty joke, but you didn’t know when you said it, did you?”
Dokgo Ryeong looked out the window.
As she focused on the scene outside, she saw people who looked like martial artists from the Murong Clan slipping out of the inn one by one.
“...Where’s Heo Gwan-yeong? Is he here?”
“I’m right here.”
“Shit! You scared me!”
“...”
The moment she asked for Heo Gwan-yeong, he appeared, hanging upside down from the inn’s ceiling.
“Sorry for startling you, Miss Dokgo.”
“...Shit, everyone and their dog knows I’m a Dokgo.”
“...I am, after all, a member of the Hao Sect.”
“Shut up. So you’re the one escorting me out?”
“Yes. I may not look it, but I’m confident in my stealth and lightness skills.”
“So you’re good at escaping. What about your martial arts?”
“...I can handle most martial artists, but someone as skilled as the Second Young Master would be difficult.”
“...Then we’d better avoid a fight if we can. Got it.”
When Dokgo Ryeong turned around, Baekri Sohyeon had already finished getting dressed and was walking over to her.
When Baekri Sohyeon reached for Dokgo Ryeong’s hand, Dokgo Ryeong pulled away.
“...You were touching the Lust Demon with that just now, weren’t you?”
“...I wiped it off.”
“Wiped what off?”
“...The white stuff?”
“Shit, don’t hold my hand. No, now that I think about it... Hey, Lust Demon.”
When Dokgo Ryeong called out to him, Wi Ilcheong answered.
“Yes, Miss Dokgo.”
“You bastard, now that I think about it, why were you having sex just then?”
“...When we meet again, I think we’ll need to have a serious talk about your choice of words, Miss Dokgo.”
“Cut the crap. You still felt like taking a woman to bed at a time like this?”
“It was because I was in bed with Miss Baekri that I noticed.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
Wi Ilcheong cleared his throat.
“Ahem... Well... When I stay at an inn and people find out who I am, someone always tries to peek in on me in the middle of the night.”
“...But those Murong Clan bastards didn’t come peeking?”
“...Right. That’s how I noticed.”
“Good grief, damn it...”
The longer Dokgo Ryeong spent with Wi Ilcheong, the more she wondered whether trusting this bastard and going all the way to Tianzhu was really the right call.
“Anyway, Pajeo River, right? Let’s meet there.”
“...Yes, Miss Dokgo.”
“And, Dummy.”
“...Sohyeon-unnie.”
“...”
Dokgo Ryeong considered calling her what she wanted for a moment, then swallowed the words that had risen to the tip of her tongue.
“...That’s still a little much for me. Anyway, Dummy, if things look dangerous, get out of there right away.”
“...Are you worried about me?”
“Worried about you? If someone I know dies, I get bad dreams. That’s all.”
“Heehee... Ryeong-unnie...”
“Hey! Stop hugging me!”
“Heehee...”
Baekri Sohyeon hugged Dokgo Ryeong for a moment, rubbing her cheek against hers.
Ignoring Dokgo Ryeong’s grimace, Baekri Sohyeon kept nuzzling her cheek before speaking.
“...When we meet again, I’ll teach you the Four-Day Sword Technique.”
“I’m not calling you unnie.”
“I’ll teach you anyway.”
Dokgo Ryeong looked at Baekri Sohyeon for a moment, then chuckled.
“...All right. Teach me when we meet again.”
“...Okay.”
“Let’s go, Hao Sect.”
“...Please call me Heo Gwan-yeong. At the very least, Coachman Heo would be better.”
“All right, Coachman Heo.”
Heo Gwan-yeong crouched down and offered his back. Dokgo Ryeong climbed onto it naturally and wrapped her arms around him.
“Shall we go?”
“Hey, Dummy.”
“...Yeah?”
“Make sure you come back alive.”
“...Yeah, Ryeong-unnie.”
“Let’s go.”
“...Yes.”
Heo Gwan-yeong sprang away with Dokgo Ryeong on his back.
Watching them go, Wi Ilcheong grumbled.
“I’m the one who made the deal with Miss Dokgo, yet somehow Miss Baekri is closer to her than I am.”
“...Is it some kind of bond between women?”
“Maybe I should be born a woman in my next life, too.”
“Heehee, yeah...”
That was the end of their conversation.
As if they no longer had any reason to hide it, a blatant aura spread from outside, and the Lust Demon drew his sword.
Clang.
Seeing the flexible sword trailing along the floor like a whip, Baekri Sohyeon also drew the sword at her waist.
“Miss Baekri.”
“...Yeah.”
“When I give you the signal, you must escape immediately.”
“...Okay.”
“Hero Noh Sun-pyeong is strong. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to hold him off.”
“...”
Baekri Sohyeon raised her sword without answering and assumed her ready stance.
A little while later.
Knock, knock.
“Young Hero Wi, are you in there?”
“...I am, Senior Noh.”
“May I come in?”
“...Weren’t you planning to come in regardless?”
“Hahaha... Fair enough.”
Crash!
Noh Sun-pyeong smashed through the inn’s wall and entered.
“I’m so worked up that I can’t hide my aura... You would’ve noticed long ago, wouldn’t you?”
“...Is this because of the Second Young Master?”
“Hm?”
“...Is the great Murong Clan really trying to hound me just because I spoke harshly to the Second Young Master once? The title of an orthodox sect hardly suits you.”
“Heh... Hahaha! Ah... I see. You could certainly misunderstand it that way.”
“...Misunderstand?”
When Wi Ilcheong frowned, Noh Sun-pyeong smiled warmly.
“Did you think you could keep it hidden?”
“...What are you talking about?”
“I know you’re traveling with the daughter of that bastard, the Mad Demon.”
!!
At those words, cold sweat ran down Wi Ilcheong’s back.
If the Murong Clan were picking a fight merely because the Second Young Master’s pride had been wounded, Wi Ilcheong had thought they wouldn’t resort to assassins.
At worst, he’d expected to face a little trouble and nothing more.
But if they’d come for the Mad Demon’s daughter, that was another matter entirely.
The head every martial artist in the Murong Clan wanted was that of ‘Mad Demon Dokgo Jin.’
Even their brief encounter had been enough for Wi Ilcheong to feel how bitter the enmity between the two men was.
“...We’re screwed.”
Wi Ilcheong glanced at Baekri Sohyeon and sent her a message by voice transmission.
[Look for an opening and escape when you can.]
Baekri Sohyeon looked into Wi Ilcheong’s eyes and gave a slight nod.
Just then, Noh Sun-pyeong spoke again.
“So... Young Hero Wi. No, Lust Demon.”
“...”
“Where is that bastard’s daughter? I don’t see her...”
A savage killing intent began to rise from Noh Sun-pyeong’s body.
Creak. Creak.
His tangible killing intent shook the entire inn as it pressed down on Wi Ilcheong.
“Hand that girl over, and I promise you: I won’t lay a hair on your other companions. In fact, I promise to treat you as benefactors of the Murong Clan.”
“...That’s a tempting offer.”
“You’re more reasonable than I expected.”
“But I must refuse.”
In an instant, the tension that had begun to ease turned icy once more.
“I’m a man who’s never once broken a promise to a woman.”
“...They call it the Lust Demon’s Remedy, don’t they?”
“I’m honored you know of it, Senior Noh.”
“You’re dumber than I thought.”
“I hear that a lot.”
“...”
Noh Sun-pyeong’s aura vanished in an instant.
Then a cold order came from his lips.
“Take both of them alive. I’ll personally interrogate them until they tell me where that girl is.”
””Yes, sir!!!”””
As the Murong Clan’s martial artists drew their weapons, Wi Ilcheong swept his sword across the inn’s floor, drawing a line.
Whoosh!
“If you cross this line, I can’t guarantee your safety.”
Looking at the Murong Clan’s martial artists as they hesitated and sized one another up, Wi Ilcheong added,
“So please, make the wise choice.”
The Murong Clan’s martial artists faltered, but a moment later, someone shouted.
“Attack!!!”
As the Murong Clan’s martial artists charged across the line, Wi Ilcheong drew up his inner energy.
“...I told you.”
Then he poured all that inner energy into his sword and swung it in a great arc.
Drawing on the immense inner energy he’d gained through the Su Nü Jing, Wi Ilcheong had created a unique martial art that only he could use.
“Butterfly Soaring (胡蝶飛上).”
A scene he’d once witnessed in the mountains: countless butterflies taking flight.
Hundreds of sword beams, capable of cutting through every one of those butterflies, burst from Wi Ilcheong’s hand.
“Ten Thousand Flashes (萬閃).”
Slash.
With a chilling sound of severing.
The inn was sliced diagonally in two.
Then came screams and a spray of blood.
“Aaaah!!”
“My arm... My arm...!!!”
“Guh...!!”
The upper half of the inn, sliced diagonally, tilted and collapsed.
After glancing up at the night sky now suddenly exposed above him, Noh Sun-pyeong smiled at Wi Ilcheong.
“You’re better than I expected, Young Hero Wi.”
“...No one has died. If you withdraw now...”
“Withdraw? The Murong Clan?”
Noh Sun-pyeong drew his sword and shouted, his eyes bloodshot.
“If I don’t avenge what happened thirty years ago, I’m no man! How could I back down here?!”
As Noh Sun-pyeong looked ready to charge at any moment, Wi Ilcheong tightened his grip on his sword hilt.
“...Miss Baekri. Now.”
“...Yeah.”
“Go on ahead. This may take a while.”
“...Don’t get hurt, Brother Wi.”
“Yes.”
Just as Baekri Sohyeon was about to leap through the window, someone else stepped in her way.
“Where are you hurrying off to, pretty miss?”
It was Murong Jun, the Murong Clan’s Second Young Master.
When he brought his sword down, Baekri Sohyeon hurriedly blocked his slash.
Clang!
“...Move.”
“No. More importantly, how dare a lowborn bitch order me around?!”
When Murong Jun swung his sword at Baekri Sohyeon’s neck, she finally counterattacked.
Whoosh!
“Gah!”
As the sharp thrust grazed his cheek, Murong Jun retreated and raised a hand to his face.
Seeing the blood on his hand, Murong Jun spoke to Baekri Sohyeon.
“Oh... You’re not half bad.”
“...Move aside now. Otherwise...”
Baekri Sohyeon drew her sword back as if pulling a bowstring, took her ready stance, and warned him.
“...You’ll get hurt.”
“Heh heh heh... I promise you this: I won’t let you die peacefully alongside the Mad Demon’s daughter!”
As Murong Jun charged at her, Baekri Sohyeon charged at him as well.
*
Heo Gwan-yeong raced through the dark mountain trail.
“You bastard! Stop shaking me so much, ugh...!”
“Please don’t throw up on my back.”
“Then move... more carefully... Ugh...!”
“Oh, please...!”
For Heo Gwan-yeong and Dokgo Ryeong, who had begun their escape, the biggest problem wasn’t the Murong Clan’s pursuers.
It was Dokgo Ryeong’s hangover.
“Ugh... Shit. I’m going to die before we even run into those Murong Clan bastards.”
“Try using your inner energy to drive out the alcohol.”
“If I knew how, I would’ve done it already. Ugh...!”
When Dokgo Ryeong frantically started hitting the back of Heo Gwan-yeong’s head, he finally put her down.
“Blaaagh!”
“...Please don’t drink so much when you can’t handle your liquor.”
Heo Gwan-yeong patted her back with a sympathetic look.
After emptying her stomach, Dokgo Ryeong wiped her mouth with her sleeve and looked at Heo Gwan-yeong, looking a little more refreshed than before.
“...Water.”
“...Here you are.”
Heo Gwan-yeong handed her a canteen. Dokgo Ryeong gulped down the water, then handed it back to him.
“Ahh... I feel like I might live after all. Let’s go again.”
“...Yes. Ah... Wait a moment.”
“What is it?”
“...A messenger bird is coming.”
“Huh?”
How could a messenger bird possibly fly in the middle of the night?
At Heo Gwan-yeong’s words, Dokgo Ryeong looked up. An owl flew down from the sky and landed on his arm.
“...Figures you creepy bastards would use an owl instead of a messenger pigeon.”
“...They’re pretty fast, actually. And cute, too.”
“You know what hyo-su is, right? Displaying someone’s severed head.”
“We know. The ‘hyo’ in hyo-su is the same character, 梟, as the ‘owl’ hyo.”
“...Doesn’t that bother you?”
“Since owls are considered omens of ill fortune, no one bothers them. It’s one of the Hao Sect’s survival tricks.”
“...You creepy bastards. Check the letter.”
“...Yes.”
After removing the paper tied to the owl’s leg, Heo Gwan-yeong went to a spot where the moonlight shone clearly and checked the letter.
“Hah... Miss Dokgo, we’re screwed.”
“...Why this time?”
“The Murim Alliance has put a bounty on your head.”
“...”