Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"N-no...!"

'What in the world is this?'

Even at this very moment, the three Elders were locked in fierce combat not far away.

For the sake of those venerable figures of the Moon Vein, the mission had to be completed quickly — an urgent situation by any measure.

But the calm, blunt manner of the Yul Family's second young master had shaken the Vice Captain's already precarious composure to its very core.

He needed a supreme art with the elemental affinity to wield extreme yin qi.

If the annihilation of the Taewon Yul Family was truly the Infernal King Unit's independent decision, the Moon Vein would be excluded from vengeance.

Swear upon the forebears of the Ancestral Hall that no one in the Sun and Moon Gate, the Gate Master included, would oppress, restrain, or threaten his life.

'And then he'll "grace us" with his enrollment as a disciple...?'

Not "I wish to enroll."

Not "I would like to enroll" — but he would grace them with his enrollment?

What in heaven's name kind of deranged talk was this?

Even in her stupefaction, the Vice Captain could perceive one thing with absolute clarity.

That the pale-faced young whelp before her eyes was daring to look down upon the Sun and Moon Gate and the Moon Vein.

"You—!"

Just as the Vice Captain, whose pride in the Moon Vein ran exceptionally deep, was about to unleash a fiery rebuke —

"Done!"

"C-Captain?!"

The Ice Jade Unit Captain abruptly cut her off, stepped forward, and delivered a decisive affirmation without hesitation.

The Vice Captain, her rising fury forgotten, blurted out a shrill protest — only to have a raised hand clamp her mouth shut entirely.

That unyielding, utterly non-negotiable stance left her closest aide's face contorted into a shape beyond description.

But the Ice Jade Unit Captain, whose keen mind had already finished every calculation of gain and loss, paid not the slightest heed to such a trivial reaction.

"Everything will be as you wish. I, the Ice Jade Unit Captain, can personally guarantee it."

"A guarantee."

"It sounds absurd coming from my own mouth, but my standing within the Sun and Moon Gate is far from low. Yet if even that is not enough to reassure you, I will request the three Elders over there to add their guarantee as well."

'She's going this far to accommodate him...?'

With the other side taking such a posture, even the one who had been rattling off unreasonable demands found himself pausing to reconsider.

He had, after all, deliberately piled on the most provocative and exacting conditions he could think of.

And yet, after such a brief deliberation, she was swallowing every last one of his demands?

Even after he had made it explicitly clear that the Nine Yin Severed Meridians were no longer what they had been?

'Surely she doesn't disbelieve what I said?'

"I believe every word you've spoken."

"......"

Just as suspicion began to stir in the face of a response far more accommodating than anticipated —

The Ice Jade Unit Captain, swiftly detecting the shift in his mood, hastened to offer what amounted to an explanation.

"The mere fact that you wield that degree of yin-cold qi in a male body tells me that some extraordinary transformation must have occurred over the past five years."

"......"

"So even if you say the Nine Yin Severed Meridians have become Five Yin Severed Meridians and that you can now harness them, there's nothing strange about it. I can't begin to guess by what miraculous means you achieved such a thing, though."

"......"

"You said you've learned martial arts but have no master or sect, and that you're willing to enter ours. With talent and achievement like this, one of the Elders of our Vein — or perhaps even the Moon Master herself — might take you as a personal disciple."

A statement that invoked even the Moon Master — the head of the Moon Vein — without the slightest hesitation.

"Senior Sister! That's going too far...!"

"Can't you shut your mouth?! Do you not understand why the Elders are buying us precious time even now?!"

"...!"

The Vice Captain, her face twisted with displeasure, had tried once more to object — but under the Captain's terrifying glare, delivered with enough menace to slap her across the face, she was forced to drop her gaze to the floor.

"Young master. We're running out of time. No matter how extraordinary the Elders may be as supreme masters, they cannot prevail against that many Mount Hua Plum Blossom Swordsmen."

"......"

"Young master...!"

As the Elders — their reserves finally flagging — began losing ground against the Plum Blossom Swordsmen's combined assault, the Ice Jade Unit Captain pressed for a decision in a desperate tone.

At last, Yul Hwi — who had been boring into her eyes, searching for the truth behind her words — slowly inclined his head.

"Very well. Let's do that."

"Ah! A wise choice! Truly...!"

Relief at having accomplished her mission lit up the Ice Jade Unit Captain's face —

Only for Yul Hwi to douse it without hesitation in a splash of cold parting words.

"I trust you didn't just swear upon your own ancestors and spout lies. Even the most degenerate wretches of the Unorthodox faction — rock-bottom scum that they are — don't pull that kind of stunt."

"......"

"You — how dare you speak to the Captain like—"

"I'll create an opening for your retreat. About ten li south of the south gate, there's a small Shrine of the War God. Let's meet again there."

The instant the Vice Captain, her patience finally exhausted, was about to lay hands on him —

Yul Hwi cut himself off mid-sentence, stepped aside, and vanished into thin air.

"Wh— what?!"

"...!"

"Wh-where did he...?"

She had not even blinked, and the man had disappeared as if by a trick.

Left behind in the wake of his evaporation, the two women could only clench their fists against the clammy sweat involuntarily slicking their palms.

SHRIEK—!

GUH—!

"When did he get all the way over there...!"

"......"

And once more, sporadic death cries and screams erupted from the Plum Blossom Swordsmen's rear.

"Let's go. Quickly. We need to escort the Elders and withdraw."

The Ice Jade Unit Captain, the first to collect herself, spat out a curt breath and put greater force into her forward stride.

'He's not someone to be taken lightly.'

Even so, her mind was rapidly filling — every gap packed tight — with thoughts about the conversation just exchanged, his audacious demands, and the unidentifiable martial arts he was now displaying once more.

***

"Ptui!"

TAP, TAP—! TAP—!

His footsteps, sprinting at full speed with no thought of covering his tracks, felt noticeably heavier than before.

The thick phlegm that had pooled in his mouth was entirely a dark, blackish red.

'Did I push too hard?'

It could not be helped.

No matter that the Phantom Slaughter Demonic Art had reached the seventh stage and he had gained insights into extreme yin qi — his opponents had been the entire corps of Mount Hua's Plum Blossom Swordsmen.

Moreover, as if determined to repay the earlier humiliation, they had swiftly countered with their sword formation the second time, which meant that even after exploiting the freshly thickened steam, he had to content himself with sending a mere five more to their graves.

Had he pressed for more, he would have been trapped within the Plum Blossom Sword Formation and met his death without question.

Still — seeing that the Sun and Moon Gate Elders who had made contact through the Ice Jade Unit Captain had immediately pulled out, it seemed his terms had at least been approved up to that point.

Despite having sustained moderate internal injuries, he was now hurrying to the agreed-upon location — the Shrine of the War God.

Mount Hua's Plum Blossom Swordsmen, after all, were still roughly half alive.

'This isn't the time to grow complacent just because I've gained extreme yin qi.'

And paradoxically, this harsh reality served to cool the heart that had been threatening to swell with elation.

Whether because of the change in body or not, emotional fluctuations had grown noticeably more frequent ever since he had taken the Yul surname.

Until yesterday, he had been diligently suppressing them in an effort to reclaim his original nature as an assassin. But —

'Now that I've decided to enter the Sun and Moon Gate, everything about me has to change too.'

He was now in a position to pursue a sturdy shield, a powerful elemental martial art of yin-cold qi, and — down the road — a formidable faction to wield as his instrument.

So an emotionless demeanor and ruthless temperament unbefitting his age would obviously become a liability within the Sun and Moon Gate — breeding suspicion and multiplying his enemies.

'Think of it as playing a role — the groundwork I need to lay.'

Fortunately, he had a method for this that was not particularly difficult.

Not every one of his thousand killing missions in his previous life had been midnight assassinations.

Sometimes he had posed as a porter, sometimes as a wily merchant, sometimes as a gambler perpetually soaked in liquor.

Having a career of slipping into various guises to target his prey at their most vulnerable, if he treated this, too, as a performance in pursuit of his goal, it would not be so terribly hard.

With the Shrine of the War God's ramshackle silhouette coming into view, a mere four breaths of running remained.

"Ha! Nearly got caught and killed by those topknot bastards!"

In just those few breaths, the face that had always been steeped in an inscrutable coldness began to radiate a lively vigor befitting a young man of his age.

With an arrogance that went well beyond mere pride — and a sharp wariness made plainly visible.

***

"Ahem!"

"Hack! Hack!"

"E-Elders...!"

"Oh dear!"

He had deliberately made a loud commotion at the entrance so they would hear him coming.

Yet no one had emerged, so the interior he stepped into was thick with a palpably grim and heavy atmosphere.

'Looks like they're the ones who overdid it.'

The three old women who had been driving back Mount Hua's elite with their spine-chilling yin-cold qi arts —

The formidable masters the Ice Jade Unit Captain had been addressing as Elders were now lying sprawled on the dirty wooden floor, every last one of them, without a single exception.

The one in the middle lay with her eyes closed, motionless as a corpse.

The two flanking her were busy coughing up blood-flecked sputum in turns.

'If things go well, all three might die.'

As Yul Hwi found himself weighing which outcome — their survival or their death — would be more beneficial to him, he stood at yet another crossroads.

"Oh! Y-you've come!"

"......Uh, yeah."

Just then, the Sixth Elder — who had been writhing in pain on the left — spotted him and bared a set of bloodstained teeth in a wide grin.

A welcome that was not particularly welcome, given the ghastly sight that greeted him.

But having already decided what kind of character to play, Yul Hwi's next move projected a very natural arrogance.

"So, can you actually make it to the Sun and Moon Gate in this state? Those annoying topknot bastards will come swarming again before long......"

"What?! You didn't shake them off properly?!"

"......You started off all 'young master' this and 'young master' that with the polite speech, and now it's straight to informal address. How natural."

"GRRR! Is that what matters right now?! You clearly said you'd handle those wretched bastards!"

As the Vice Captain — who had been carefully wiping the blood from the Elders' mouths — exploded in a fit of temper, Yul Hwi fired back with a ready snort.

"I did? When?"

"What...?"

"I can't fathom how 'I'll create an opening for your retreat' — a gesture of goodwill — got twisted around like that."

"Grr...!"

"Don't tell me you don't even realize who's responsible for you making it this far in one piece? Hah...... I'm starting to think I picked the wrong side."

"...!"

The Vice Captain's face flushed a deep crimson, yet she could not muster a single word of rebuttal. At her bristling reaction, Yul Hwi feigned utter indifference and took two steps back.

"If you're going to bare your fangs at me like that, then I see no reason to accompany you to the Sun and Moon Gate."