Chapter 231

The martial artists, all pumped up, cut through the night.

Cheon Yu-hak was chasing Follow Fragrance with the mysterious principles of the East that he couldn’t quite grasp. It was something Qing would eventually have to learn as well.

And then Cheon Yu-hak finally held up his fingers in front of a secluded wall of a deserted manor on the city’s outskirts.

“Is it here?”

“Yeah. Hmm. I don’t sense any other presence, though.”

Qing closed his eyes and concentrated on the surrounding sounds. With his superhuman hearing, all he could make out was the breathing of nearby ronin warriors; nothing else registered.

He measured the length of the manor’s wall from end to end, took a small leap to confirm the quaint structure of the main building and an annex, and then whispered again.

“I’ll jump over the wall with the people here all at once. Can you keep an eye out, just in case? You never know if they’ll make a run for it, be it themselves or some hidden accomplices.”

“Hmm. Wouldn’t it be better if I went with you? I can’t just let you go alone not knowing what’s inside.”

“Oh, I’ll be fine on my own. Speed is vital. I can outmaneuver even a rat. And if things get hairy, I need someone to call for help from my master.”

“Ahem. I hope I’m not troubling the lady for nothing.”

Cheon Yu-hak was still middle-aged, not yet a relic, and was clueless about Seomun Sulin’s glamorous past and true nature.

The past master had obfuscated his own shameful history, leaving him utterly uninformed about Seomun Sulin.

“So, where is he? The main house? The annex?”

“In the main house’s central room. If it looks dangerous, just quickly back out. Don’t do something foolish like showing mercy to those pathetic folks.”

This was the treatment given to ronin in the Central Plains.

However, even if they held a noble status, Cheon Yu-hak’s words wouldn’t change. Whether noble or not, the priority was to ensure his disciple’s safety.

“Alright, ronin! They say we’re about to bite the bait. We’re storming the main house, the central room. I’ll charge in from the front, Ma So-hyeop will come from behind, and Wang So-hyeop will flank from the right…”

It was a simple strategy without much complexity. But originally, the world had only six directions, so if you charged from all sides, the opponent had no choice but to burrow into the ground or ascend to the skies to escape.

Thus, Qing and the ronin scaled the wall.

It was just a small manor no bigger than a warehouse, with a yard overrun by weeds that wasn’t even wide.

As they crashed through the door to the central room, they found an old man nonchalantly seated, as if he had been expecting them despite the abrupt intrusion at night.

With his eyes glowing brightly, he spoke.

“Hmm. In the middle of the night—”

*Bang!* A horde of ronin crashed through the rear wall right at that moment.

It was Ma So-hyeop’s crew who had taken the back.

The old man let out an uninterested “Hmm,” and his expression remained unfazed as he cautiously lit up his gaze again.

“In the middle of the night—”

Suddenly, *Bang!* The old man’s words were cut off as ronin came rushing in from the right wall, lining up with swords drawn.

The old man brushed off debris that fell on him and calmly resumed speaking.

“When a person speaks—”

*Bang!* The remaining left wall broke down, and a collection of powerful ronin gathered to encircle the old man.

Qing thought to himself,

“Wait, this is a mess. Why aren’t they all charging in at once? Why make a ruckus in staggered turns?”

“……”

“……”

“……”

The old man seemed to be waiting for something. He finally eased into the main topic as if he was sure everyone had arrived.

“Ahem. So it seems the audacious ones want to come and bury Follow Fragrance.”

“Huh?”

Qing glanced at the faces of the two others.

“I thought it was meant to be a discreet operation.”

“Ahem.”

The old man burst into laughter.

“You ronin aren’t really up to any good, are you? Can’t even beat a couple of kids in a sword fight after taking Hwalhyeoldan.”

“Hwalhyeoldan!” “Hwalhyeoldan!” “Hwalhyeoldan!”

About three of them shouted simultaneously.

Many warriors wore shocked expressions, so Qing thought, “Ah, it’s a rather famous medicine, isn’t it? In a bad way?”

“Isn’t that old man a bit too relaxed? What’s the realm of his mastery for him to be so carefree? Could he be somewhere around the Transcending Realm?”

“Hehe, you’re a fun little brat. I am Gyeongdamgan. Yep, you guys from the Zhengpai Sect are calling me Ji-tan Gwangma, right?”

“Ji-tan Gwangma!” “The villain of the Blood Sect!”

However, Qing couldn’t join in the chorus due to the alert from the mission panel that was flashing in his peripheral vision.

“Oh, so that’s why it’s been quiet.”

Distracted, Qing reluctantly opened up the mission panel.

It was another warning mentioning the Blood Sect, stating that the murderous Heaven’s Kill should take them all out. Checked off at the end.

The mission scrolling was noisy without any real substance, and Qing was already familiar with that.

“Whatever, I’ll do it my way.”

Qing dismissed the mission panel.

“So, are you a famous figure? Brother Woo, do you know him?”

“He’s the leader of the Blood Sect…”

“Is that all?”

“He’s said to be a madman on a rampage.”

“Well, his nickname is Gwangma, so that fits.”

The ronin’s knowledge was broad, having picked bits and pieces around, but they were lacking in depth.

Ji-tan Gwangma. A villain of the Blood Sect—used Demonic Arts.

Bad temperament and disgusting. The end.

With the Blood Sect alone being notoriously bad, he used Demonic Arts and was unpleasant, which meant he’d only heard the name once.

Qing missed Je-gal Lee-hyun.

If only he were here, he’d be spewing out the cultivation levels and related anecdotes, all from the origin of the nickname.

Gyeongdamgan seemed overly confident, and upon mentioning the Blood Sect, the ronin became tense, swallowing nervously and sweating profusely.

But wouldn’t a gathering of masters be able to handle a single leader?

This is not good.

Qing steered the atmosphere back.

“Hey, old man. You not assessing the situation? Can’t you see we’re surrounding you? You think in a group you can belittle ronin? Just how much can a handful of you be so relaxed? You think a master can withstand a blade?”

That was the interpretation.

“Aren’t you belittling the ronin? Even masters can be taken down by a sword, so don’t act all chill.”

The ronin’s morale flared up again.

But Gyeongdamgan only chuckled unpleasantly.

“Still, I can take at least half with me on my way out. So what, you thought you guys were precious lives? Hmm. What’s this? Why are you naturally included?”

“Because I’m a ronin too?”

“A Disciple of Divine Maiden Sect is from the ronin, huh? Alright, then you probably know what’s up. If we all pile in together, you might just win, but do you really think that’s going to happen?”

Qing boldly replied.

“There’s honor among ronin!”

And with that, the ronin’s spirits soared; their hearts aflame for the first time.

“Right!”

“Honor among ronin is a real thing!”

A fierce glint shone in the eyes of the ronin.

It wasn’t just mere shouting; at that moment, their hearts truly burned with passion.

“Honor, huh? Then, how about this.” Gyeongdamgan snapped his fingers.

“Ack!” “Ugh…” “Aah…”

Suddenly, the ronin dropped to the ground.

All of them clasped their chests and let out painful moans, their faces pale while choking out strangled gasps.

The only ones standing there were Qing and one ronin, making Gyeongdamgan click his tongue.

“Well, that’s what happens when you blindly swallow medicine given by a stranger without suspicion. If it had contained solitude, what were you planning to do?”

“Solitude?”

“You don’t even know what it is? Since you don’t, I’ll enlighten you. Solitude is, well… it’s a parasite. Depending on its owner’s command, it can unleash poison too.”

Qing suppressed his curses inwardly.

“Damn it, the Martial World is full of nonsense.”

“Remote-control parasites? What even are those?”

Just how do they exist?

Are they controlled via mental waves or something?

Upon further thought, one of the few who seemed fine had obviously taken a part of the Parasitic Sect’s goods and left behind half a dose.

Ah, so that’s where they planted the parasite.

“So, little brat. You just mentioned honor among ronin. Are you really planning to let them die like this?”

“Damn it, you old coward. So why not fight it out then? Just one-on-one. Deal?”

As Qing leveled his sword, Gyeongdamgan shook his head.

“Hehe, just so you know, if I die, all the solitude will die with me. The poison stored inside them would burst all at once. What do you think will happen then?”

“Seriously, how come you have such convenient abilities? What should we do now?”

“I might change my mind and let it go, or you’d have to call a physician and get it extracted. Just know that once you go for extraction, the poison will burst immediately.”

“So you’re saying you’ll dangle their lives over me?”

“Hehe, I love doing that sort of thing. So I’ll give you one too. If you swallow it willingly, these useless ronin will live. So tell me, will you be looking out for honor? Or will you be dying defending it?”

As he tossed out a blob resembling a parasite, Qing focused on it, seeing something wriggle inside a translucent membrane.

But Qing had eaten plenty of bugs.

It was actually wrapped neatly for consumption, so he even thought it was quite considerate of them.

Besides, Qing had never worried about the repercussions of eating bugs before.

“It spews poison from inside?”

“Then, that’s just great protein!”

Qing was now quite confident in his Blood Poison Body constitution.

If it’s harmful, it would just block it out completely.

It was a rather convenient ability his body had of being a cheat.

“Hah, I’ll swallow it, so stop tormenting me. Quickly. I’m about to suffocate.”

As he finished speaking, the groaning stopped instantly, replaced by panting and heavy breathing.

“Oh? You’re gonna swallow? You really grasp the meaning behind this, right? Your remaining life hangs entirely on me now.”

“In exchange, let’s pull the parasites out from these warriors. I’ll—I’ll take their place.”

Qing spoke fiercely, sounding like a master con artist.

“Young Lady, don’t!”

“Seomun Young Lady…!”

Voices of despair blocked his way.

But weren’t there fewer voices this time?

Just sneaky little punks, aren’t they?

They talk about honor among ronin but prioritize their lives. That’s what this is about, huh?

“I still need to live, you see. This is reality, not some noble tale.”

Truthfully, Qing wasn’t particularly optimistic either.

“I’m fine. As long as I can ensure you all come out alive.”

“Why do you—aaargh—why would you go so far?”

“Because we’re all ronin, aren’t we? Honor. I’ve stated it, right?”

The ronin couldn’t lift their heads, feeling shame as they grappled with his words.

Claiming honor, they couldn’t even bring themselves to say they’d rather die.

“Now, let the others go.”

“Hehe, why would I? Are you really that valuable? Just for a foggy face, you expect me to give up all these lives? So calculating—”

Gyeongdamgan’s words were abruptly cut off.

Of course, anyone would lose their words when confronted by beauty emitting brilliant light.

“Honestly, I don’t get why everyone’s in a frenzy over just a covered face. I mean, a beautiful woman is worth more than twenty dark guys, right?”

This made Gyeongdamgan burst into a mad laugh.

That laugh meant he was losing it completely.

“Heh heh heh! This is a masterpiece! But what now? Didn’t you say you’d swallow and save those guys, but you didn’t say you’d let them go?”

“You’re being stingy—”

“Your mouth is still alive. My proposal remains unchanged. If you swallow the solitude, I’ll spare these ronin’s lives; otherwise, they’re dead.”

“Damn it. Just hand it over.”

As the parasite-like thing flew through the air, Qing snatched it without hesitation and gulped it down right away.

The ronin let out a collective, heart-wrenching sigh.

But Qing, being someone who never feared poison, didn’t mind. The only thing worrying him was one point.

“If the poison has no effect, what will happen to me?”

“Will I die or not?”

“I can’t be flatlining; I need to play along, and then sneak up on him.”

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