◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 511: Into the Darkness (6)
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Yong Soa was an unreal sort of person.
His clothes were always spotless, as though they shone, and his hair swayed softly.
His skin was untouched by grime, while his brows arched in graceful lines as though painted on.
Even the sharp bridge of his nose seemed to anchor the center of his face.
After several days in the Sword Tomb, most people still looked disheveled and filthy. Yet Yong Soa remained as unreal as ever, as though he had bathed and changed at a comfortable inn just yesterday.
Then, with that unreal appearance,
“They…”
he said something equally unreal.
“…are dead.”
“…”
The utterly unexpected words cut off my thoughts. For a moment, a ringing filled my ears, and reality felt distant.
My body seemed to float, and my mind began to fade.
Then I quickly came to my senses.
“Don’t give me that bullshit.”
I glared at Yong Soa more fiercely than ever.
“They’re dead?”
Yong Soa answered indifferently, as if my glare meant nothing to him.
“Yes.”
The internal energy in my dantian stirred on its own, ready to spread through my entire body.
The rage threatening to explode at any moment drove my body into motion.
“Didn’t you hear that Moyong Seol was with the Moyong Clan members?”
“I saw her myself.”
“And… she’s dead?”
Yong Soa and Moyong Seol had both been active in the Dragon-Phoenix Association.
Yet…
“You let her die?”
“That is a strange way to put it.”
“…”
“I clearly tried to stop them. They simply didn’t listen.”
He had tried to stop Moyong Seol.
That meant…
‘Yong Soa saw something concerning her.’
And despite that, Moyong Seol had gone inside.
‘Then…’
My heart sank.
Was Moyong Seol really dead?
If so, whose fault was her death?
Mine, for changing history?
Yong Soa’s, for failing to stop her?
Or Moyong Seol’s, for following her own will?
Leaving aside her importance as the Sword Empress, she had been someone significant to me in my past life.
I couldn’t believe she was dead.
“Are you sure she’s dead? Where? How?”
“What? What’s all this commotion?”
As my voice rose, members of the investigation team began gathering one after another.
I ignored them and pressed Yong Soa.
“Answer me. Where was it? When?”
“Why should I tell you that?”
“…”
His expression was indifferent. So was his gaze.
Nothing had changed from before, yet I could tell.
‘This bastard…’
He was hostile toward me.
I had known from the beginning that Yong Soa and I would not get along. Still, I hadn’t expected him to show such open hostility.
It wasn’t as though I had never considered that we might become enemies someday.
But it felt as though that day had come sooner than I expected, sending a chill through my chest.
“Answer me!”
That wasn’t what mattered right now.
“Hey! What are you doing to Yong Soa?!”
More people gathered.
They did not hide their hostility toward me as I gripped Yong Soa by the collar.
Perhaps some had yet to take the Heart-Calming Spirit Pellet. One immediately drew a sword.
“Let go of Yong Soa!”
I struck out with Great Yang Fist at the person who roughly seized my hand.
Bang!
The man flew ten feet away, and the investigation team members quickly assumed fighting stances.
“Is she really dead, or did you only see her in danger?”
“What difference does that make?”
Yong Soa lightly wrapped a hand around my clenched fist, looking increasingly annoyed.
Bang!
A harsh rebound ran through my hand, and my grip came loose.
I used White Phoenix Hand to seize him again, but he knocked my hand away once more with that strange gesture.
Bang!
“Tell me clearly. Did you see her in danger, or did you see her corpse?”
“You bastard!”
Yong Soa wasn’t the one who answered.
Other investigation team members began rushing at me.
“He’s trying to harm Yong Soa! Get him!”
“Who does some stray bastard think he is?!”
“A Taeul Sect wretch dares?!”
Countless martial artists charged at me as I tried to approach him again.
They were the Martial Alliance’s elite, people I would not have even dared look in the eye in my past life.
Every one of them was a monster whose martial prowess surpassed that of the entire Taeul Sect in my past life.
But I wasn’t afraid anymore.
I was no longer the person I had been.
Nor was I the fool who hesitated before the death of someone precious to me.
Even as a sword thrust toward me, I did not draw my own sword.
Instead, I filled Lotus with internal energy and twisted the blade.
Creeeak!
The sword warped with a bizarre metallic screech. I used Myriad Blossoms Invincible Fist against its stunned wielder.
Bang, bang, bang!
I grabbed another person rushing in from the opposite side and unleashed Snow Flower.
Thud!
Two more charged me at once, and I unleashed Phantom Shadow Kick at them.
Thud!
I had poured energy into the attack, but the force seemed not to have been delivered properly. The martial artist gritted their teeth and rose again.
When I pushed Taeul Eighty Thousand Divine Steps to its limit, several afterimages confused everyone’s eyes.
Perhaps because they had seen four or five martial artists sent flying, even more people began rushing me.
“What is this?!”
“Get him!”
Not only the investigation team, but the Nine Sects One Gang members who had joined them and all their followers blocked my path in layers as if I had murdered their families.
Bang, bang, bang!
I shoved people aside, then shoved aside more, but the distance between Yong Soa and me only grew.
‘Damn it…’
In my past life, in this life, and at this very moment.
He wore that indifferent expression as if none of this had anything to do with him.
That sight brought back memories I didn’t want to recall.
Shing!
I drew my sword.
“I need to hear what Yong Soa has to say… so all of you, get out of my way.”
As I began releasing killing intent in earnest, the martial artists instinctively flinched and stepped back.
Yet Yong Soa was still far away.
Countless martial artists stood between us.
They showed me the distance between him and me.
No matter how strong I became or how high I rose, I was still far from reaching him.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
“Jin Sowoon! Stop this at once!”
Even people from the various sects who had been with the investigation team leader appeared.
They had welcomed the Heart-Calming Spirit Pellet I brought more eagerly than anyone.
The people who had not even treated me as human in my past life now looked at me like an enemy they could never forgive.
“Your name has gained some fame, and now you think you’re above everyone.”
I wasn’t disappointed. I had never expected anything from them.
“You dare cause trouble within the Alliance’s investigation team? Do you wish to face the ultimate punishment?!”
Still, I wanted to avoid a situation where the investigation team leader appeared.
That might truly become insubordination.
Could I reach Yong Soa in time?
Could I hear what he had to say before the leader arrived?
Just as I tightened my grip on my sword to shake off the helplessness creeping over me,
“Argh!”
“Ghk?!”
“Ugh!”
Cries rang out from one side of the crowd.
At the same time, people split to either side, and a group stepped forward.
“W-What are you doing?!”
“You’re the ones I should ask. What are you doing?”
It was the temporary Yuseong Hall members, including Dang Seohui and Ilgak.
Dang Seohui held needles in her hand, while golden qi surged through Ilgak’s hands.
Seeing the people they had passed lying motionless in awkward positions, it was clear Dang Seohui had used a paralyzing poison.
Whenever the needles in her hand moved, people all flinched at once.
“You’re threatening a Hall Master of the Martial Alliance. Is there a Hall Master-level person here?”
“Dang Seohui! Do you know who I am?!”
Dang Seohui nodded slightly at the middle-aged man wearing robes marked with the emblem of Mount Cang Sect.
“It’s been a long time, Group Leader Taesong.”
“Uh…? Ah? Y-Yes. You remember me.”
“I greeted you when I was four years old.”
Her hand naturally pointed forward.
“But Group Leader Taesong has no right to threaten a Hall Master of the Martial Alliance. Am I wrong?”
“…That is!”
“The Yuseong Hall Master currently has business with an investigation team ‘member.’ Is that a problem? Or are all the people here…”
Dang Seohui’s eyes turned cold.
“Daring to commit insubordination?”
“…”
The heat that had filled the area instantly cooled.
Everyone who had been hostile toward me looked at me with the same expression.
Their gazes were cold and contemptuous, as if they were looking at someone who had committed a wrongdoing and was trying to evade blame.
Strangely enough…
‘Senior Dang… no, our Deputy Hall Master.’
I felt reassured.
“If that isn’t the case, everyone should leave.”
“Tch.”
She was only one person, yet the cold gazes of hundreds no longer bothered me because of her.
Usually, I thought she did nothing but follow her instincts and cry out for candied fruit…
“I subdued seven people on the way here.”
“…”
I didn’t think she was someone who only cried out for candied fruit and acted without thinking…
“One, two… three, four… Mm, it was seven.”
The warmth welling in my chest quietly faded.
“…Surely it doesn’t count if I didn’t kill them?”
Her face darkened as if she had encountered the greatest problem of her life.
She looked more serious than when she had scolded everyone while defending me earlier.
That hurt a little…
#
Waiting for a predetermined despair.
It was not something a human could do.
Yong Soa could be certain of that much.
No human could calmly accept a future where despair was certain.
Whenever despair took one step closer, humans tried to retreat ten steps.
That was why Yong Soa did not easily speak aloud of what he saw.
He had barely created a history of lesser evil.
If it were ruined, there would no longer be any hope in the martial world.
Yong Soa hated uncertainty and despised meaningless struggling.
Trying to fulfill one’s hopes without knowing what future might unfold was no different from searching for a needle in a pile of straw while holding a torch.
There had once been a time when he was fascinated by the struggles of such a person.
‘Jin Sowoon.’
An irritating, uncomfortable existence that filled him with revulsion and resentment.
He had once placed his hopes in the changes that person brought about.
But after helplessly witnessing Myoin, the Senior Nun, die and the Left Buddha Society scatter in all directions due to internal conflict, he became certain once again.
No matter what happened from now on,
he would never again introduce uncertainty into a predetermined history.
“Tell me. Where is the Moyong Clan?”
No matter what damage it caused.
“Yong Soa!”
No matter what sacrifices it required.
“Yong Soa.”
Dang Seohui stepped forward.
“I heard it from Jin Sowoon. Are you really… going to let Moyong Seol die?”
“She is already dead.”
“…!”
Dang Seohui’s eyes widened.
“Why go looking for someone who is already dead?”
“Did you let her die?”
“I tried to stop her.”
Yong Soa looked toward Jin Sowoon.
“But she didn’t listen.”
The area around Jin Sowoon’s eyes twitched beneath that indifferent gaze.
“So it happened.”
Jin Sowoon finally lost his patience and looked ready to lunge forward.
“Do you wish to at least confirm her corpse?”
“…You bastard.”
Yong Soa’s expression did not change even at the curse.
“Even if it costs you your lives?”
“What does that mean?”
“I can tell you, if you want. But… do you intend to come with him?”
Yong Soa’s gaze moved between Dang Seohui and Jin Sowoon.
Dang Seohui stood proudly beside Jin Sowoon.
“I am already the Deputy Hall Master of Yuseong Hall.”
“I see. …So that is how it is.”
Yong Soa spread out a map.
Then he pointed to an area that was not marked on it.
“If you go here, you will see what you seek.”
“Fuck, you should’ve said that earlier!”
Jin Sowoon started running as he cursed.
“We’ll talk again later.”
Dang Seohui and the Yuseong Hall members quickly followed after him.
A little later, Namgung San approached.
“What? I came out because I heard Jin Sowoon and Dang Seohui were here. Did they already leave?”
Yong Soa resolved that he would not introduce uncertainty into the history of lesser evil he would create from now on.
“San, do you know any talented people from the Tang Clan?”
“Other than Dang Seohui? There’s a kid named Dang Junghak. I heard that if not for Dang Seohui, he would have been called the Tang Clan’s greatest genius. But why?”
“In case something happens to the White-Handed Divine Maiden.”
“…W-What do you mean by that?”
No matter what damage it caused.
No matter what sacrifices it required.
He would eliminate uncertainty without fail.
Yong Soa made that vow.
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