◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 457: The Seed of Evil (5)
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It came to him like nothing more than a dream.
Like a strange dream in which a white snake devoured a red frog.
A fortune-teller might have offered some made-up interpretation, but if he told an ordinary person about it, at most they would say, “I see… So did you finish today’s training?”
That was why he could not tell anyone.
No, he could not.
Because it was only a dream.
And yet…
It would come without warning at moments he could not predict, then remain silent for a very long time.
Sometimes it filled his vision for ages. Other times, it showed him only a fleeting instant.
‘It feels awful…’
Another dream that had suddenly come to him today.
A dream in which every building in his clan burned and everyone died.
If he told anyone about it, they would surely look uncomfortable.
After all, his clan had done nothing wrong.
“Young Master, is something worrying you?”
The child was more perceptive and affectionate than others. He had learned to read people’s feelings much earlier than children his age.
So he considered their feelings.
“No. I just had a strange dream… Watch out.”
Crash!
Just before he pulled the maid away, he suddenly saw a flowerpot on top of the cabinet fall and shatter into pieces.
“Oh, that startled me… How did you know, Young Master?”
He knew that vision had been nothing more than a dream, but he moved without thinking in case the maid was hurt.
“It just… It had looked unsteady for a while.”
“I’ll clean it up right away. Still, this is worrying. It seems you haven’t been sleeping properly lately… Ow!”
A shard of broken pottery cut the maid’s slender finger, and fresh blood ran down it.
“…”
He had not seen that.
It had not come to him in a dream.
“Are you all right?”
“Oh, you helped me avoid it as if you already knew it would happen, but I still hurt myself because I was so clumsy. Haha!”
“…”
Even seeing the flowerpot break had been nothing more than coincidence.
That was why he said nothing unnecessary about the dream he had seen during the night.
He had been taught that a man must take responsibility for his words.
Even at his age, he understood that no one could escape responsibility.
“Young Master… You’re only five years old.”
Well, he was a little too young.
The attentive care of his clan, their warm gazes, and the devoted love of his parents.
In such a good environment, bad dreams quickly faded away.
He would improve himself day after day for the people he loved, then one day make his clan’s name known throughout the martial world.
When he thought of the duty he had to fulfill, there was no time to let bad dreams that came only now and then consume his mind.
“Your talent is a gift from heaven. And those chosen by heaven must use their strength to help others.”
“I’ll remember that, Father.”
Once his father’s warm hand stroked his head, the bad dreams quickly faded.
“A White Snake has been found on Heavenly Dragon Mountain!”
“How could such a spirit beast be discovered by people?”
Even when something he vaguely remembered seeing came to pass in reality…
“It was poisoned to death after devouring a Black Frog.”
“…”
He did not connect scenes that had been nothing more than dreams to reality.
They were only coincidences.
The dreams had never matched reality perfectly.
“How strange.”
He simply dismissed it as something unusual.
Then…
“Y-Young Master!!!”
That mere dream…
“The Sect Leader… P-please hide… Cough!”
…came to him as certain reality.
#
My mind, which had been focused solely on Yong Soa, went blank.
‘Why is there demonic qi…?’
It was not a mistake.
It was unmistakably demonic qi.
“Have you learned the Yang Family Qi Art?”
At that moment, Yong Soa emerged from the flames that had engulfed him as though stepping through a painting.
“You truly are impossible to predict.”
The Thirteen Taiji Stances thrust toward me in a fierce barrage.
Bang!
I hurriedly raised the Scarlet Radiance Sword to block, but he immediately twisted his sword and drove it toward my chest.
I retreated two steps and used the Ascending Heaven Dagger and Scarlet Radiance Sword to deflect the Whirlwind Sword Art’s path, but I could not turn it away completely.
Riiip!
The sword tore through my martial robe, leaving a long, shallow wound before rising as though it would sever my arm.
“Have you run out of the predictions you prepared? Or have you stopped calculating altogether?”
I could not begin to guess how he had noticed.
“…”
Just as he said, I could no longer calculate his moves.
Even when I tried, I could not focus.
I had no idea what was happening at Geoncheong Hall.
‘This isn’t demonic qi at the level I encountered in Mukrim.’
It was demonic qi on the level of a Demon Bloodline within the Demonic Cult.
The Mount Mao Sect did not have the strength to resist it.
No, even if every Black Officer who had come to wipe out the Mount Mao Sect joined forces, they would not stand a chance.
I erupted with the Sunfire Monkey’s energy and widened the distance between us.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Yong Soa retreated from me, brushed aside the Sunfire Monkey’s energy, and blocked the route toward the Eight Directions Stone Heaven Golden Lock Formation.
‘Fuck…’
He knew that once I created distance, I would head for Geoncheong Hall.
“Do you think you can escape?”
My teeth ground together.
“Can’t you feel that energy?”
Yong Soa’s eyes turned toward Geoncheong Hall without emotion, then returned to me.
“If you’re that worried, leave now.”
I could not believe him.
“You’re still going to kill Sect Leader Gu Songbaek in the middle of this?”
A rare flicker of emotion appeared on Yong Soa’s face.
“Because that… is the most important thing.”
There was only one thing I could say to someone who intended to kill Gu Songbaek regardless of whether a demonic being had appeared.
“You fucking lunatic…”
I tensed my calves.
“Don’t think you can shake me off.”
It felt as though a massive Great Wall had risen around me.
The more suffocating it became, the more impatience surged through me.
What would happen if I broke through that wall?
Would he try to stop me?
Or would he go after Gu Songbaek?
Unlike him, I could not see the future. I was being forced to choose which despair I would face.
Just as I had been in my previous life.
I did not want to choose either, but even when the choice was forced on me…
I always had to bear the responsibility.
That was the duty of the powerless.
The cruel rule forced upon the weak.
“Suck my…”
The moment I let that rule consume me…
I would end up responsible for every despair I had failed to choose.
“…dick!!!”
An immense blaze burst from the Scarlet Radiance Sword.
Heat and shockwaves spread so broadly that space itself seemed to warp, then shot straight at Yong Soa.
Kwakakakakwang!
Air currents began tracing taiji patterns around the tip of Yong Soa’s Whirlwind Sword Art.
The blazing flames I had detonated by pouring in internal energy scattered in the direction his sword guided them.
Softness Overcomes Hardness.
When the principles of nature reached an extreme, they instead became unnatural.
The flames that should have turned my opponent into a living inferno scattered along the taiji currents.
Brilliant sparks bloomed everywhere like New Year’s fireworks. Yong Soa rendered every shockwave harmless, then immediately launched a palm strike.
Rumble!
Had he foreseen that I would unleash the Mad Heaven Divine Palm?
Kwakakakakakakakwang!
Just as it had on Demon Spirit Plateau, the Mad Heaven Divine Palm, which should have surged forward in a straight line, abruptly changed direction like water in a winding stream.
Then came the Mysterious Heaven Seven Stars Sword, deployed to stop me as I charged forward.
Screeech!
The Whirlwind Sword Art, its trajectory twisted after striking the Devouring Gauntlet, sliced through my thigh.
Shhk!
I used the method Moyong Gang had used. With the momentum of Cloud-Turning Flying Body, I kicked off the air, smashed through the wall, and surged forward.
Yong Soa’s emotionless voice reached me through the heat, flames, and explosions.
“Fool.”
His Whirlwind Sword Art drove toward my heart.
As if he had been waiting for it.
Stab!
Blood sprayed with the sound of flesh being pierced.
My blood, which had hung above his head, stained his martial robe once more.
The Whirlwind Sword Art, wrapped in sword qi, was caught in my hand.
I had covered my hand with internal energy as well, but I could not stop it from being torn apart.
Shnk!
The Whirlwind Sword Art passed through my hand and stabbed near my heart, but thankfully, the Heavenly Silkworm Treasure Robe stopped it from piercing my heart.
Stopping it was one thing. It still hurt like hell.
“You… son of a bitch!”
I cursed, flung his sword aside, and used the recoil to kick off the air again.
“!”
Yong Soa’s eyes lifted slightly as he prepared to defend.
“Eat shit!”
I threw myself straight into the Eight Directions Stone Heaven Golden Lock Formation.
Boom!
Following the formation’s footwork path, I headed straight for Geoncheong Hall.
“Urgh.”
Pain flared in my chest. When I touched the wound, I found it was quite deep.
The thought that my heart would have been pierced without the Heavenly Silkworm Treasure Robe sent a chill down my spine.
“Those fucking eyes… He really meant to kill me. That lunatic.”
He had none of the hesitation a human would normally feel.
A White Path martial artist who valued chivalry should have felt some guilt, yet there had not been even the slightest hesitation in his sword.
“What the hell did Wudang Sect raise?”
In my previous life, Yong Soa had felt like someone beyond my reach. In this life, he did not even feel human.
“Lunatic… He’s completely insane…”
But I had no time to vent my anger at Yong Soa.
The closer I came to Geoncheong Hall, the denser the demonic qi became.
The distinctive savage energy within it clearly belonged to the Mad Demon Sect, a Demon Bloodline within the Demonic Cult.
What could possibly make a demonic being of that level fall from a clear sky?
‘…The Demon-Subduing Madman.’
It was a seed the Demonic Cult had planted in the Central Plains.
The Demon Spirit Flower, which was supposed to bloom only during the Orthodox-Demonic War, had awakened for some reason.
The string of events I had not understood began to make some sense.
One of the Black Officers had carried a Demon Spirit Flower.
Those who carried Demon Spirit Flowers forgot that they were demonic beings and worked for the Demonic Cult.
Because they forgot that they were demonic beings, they had no reason to be wary of themselves.
Without knowing it, they worked for the Demonic Cult.
Perhaps one of the Black Officers had placed the Mount Mao Sect on the Death List. Perhaps that same person had put the operation into motion.
That would explain everything.
If the Inspectorate or someone else had noticed something was wrong and stopped the operation midway through, an investigation might have uncovered the Black Officer who had manipulated the Death List.
Of course, that Black Officer would have died desperately insisting on their innocence.
Without anyone ever discovering that they were a demonic being.
That was how the Demon-Subduing Madman was used.
Things had reached this point because of Yong Soa.
Yong Soa, who should have been watching the Black Officers, had decided he had to kill Gu Songbaek because of the future he saw.
“Fuck… Does he really see the future properly…?”
Then a thought suddenly came to me.
‘Then did Yong Soa not know there was a demonic being among the Black Officers?’
I searched my memories and recalled Yong Soa’s expression when he first sensed the demonic qi.
He had looked too surprised for someone who knew in advance, yet his choice made no sense if he did not know.
If he had known beforehand… shouldn’t he have dealt with the demonic being before Gu Songbaek?
‘Then why…?’
Knowing Yong Soa’s personality, it made no sense that he would have known and left it alive.
Yes, it made absolutely no sense.
Then, if that was the case…
‘What if he didn’t know?’
Another possibility revealed itself.
It was not that he knew a demonic being was hidden among the Black Officers and still made the absurd choice to kill Gu Songbaek.
If he truly had not known…
“Ha… I never thought I’d meet someone whose thought process was as impossible to understand as Jwa Daegi’s.”
Just then…
Bang! Bang!
The impacts from behind rattled my nerves.
Yong Soa was smashing through the Eight Directions Stone Heaven Golden Lock Formation, whether he was trying to stop me or kill Gu Songbaek.
Ahead of me…
“Huh? J-Jin Sowoon?!”
A group of Black Officers had gathered, intending to pass through the Eight Directions Stone Heaven Golden Lock Formation and head to Geoncheong Hall.
“Kill him!”
I set aside my thoughts about Yong Soa.
Stopping the demonic being at Geoncheong Hall came first.
Shrrrriing.
The Scarlet Radiance Sword spread out like a fan.
Hum!
The Scarlet Radiance Sword, filled with sword qi, divided into dozens, then hundreds, and rained down over the Black Officers’ heads.
Aaargh!
Aaargh!
Blood burst like fountains, but before it could even touch my martial robe…
I crossed the Eight Directions Stone Heaven Golden Lock Formation like a single arrow.
‘Hold on a little longer…!’
The heat in my chest grew fiercer while my mind settled cold as ice.
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