Chapter 282 : Heavenly Demon Soul, Comes
Chapter 282: Heavenly Demon Soul, Comes
“Mountain has disappeared.”
Rain nodded at Water’s report. The two were periodically reporting on Mountain’s movements under Lee Jaseung’s orders.
“To where?”
Water shook her head and spoke.
“He shook off the surveillance intentionally.”
“It cannot be helped. Report it exactly as it happened.”
Rain was dejected for some reason and his voice was steeped in uncontrollable fatigue.
Rain knew that Mountain had noticed his betrayal. Mountain had simply known while pretending not to know. Seeing that he had now officially eluded his eyes, it seemed Mountain intended to do something important.
‘Whatever.’
He thought in a self-despairing manner but Rain soon frowned. He was ashamed of himself for having such irresponsible thoughts.
‘Seriously, things are in a sorry state.’
A blowing wind shook the hem of Rain’s clothes. The place where the two stood was the edge of a cliff that looked precarious to the eye. The mountain on the opposite side was covered in pure white snow.
“I don't know this Jianghu well. No, honestly, I don't know anything. Whether living like this is right.”
His sigh contained regret, which suited his usual atmosphere well.
“As expected, Senior is a tragic man.”
“Then what about you?”
“As for me, it is always a joyful life.”
After she finished speaking, Water smiled brightly. Looking at her smile, Rain suddenly had the thought. That perhaps she was the truly tragic person.
“I am the fool who thought I knew everything while knowing nothing.”
Water let out a sigh at Rain’s self-reproach.
“You want to curse me right now, do you not?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you know what kind of thoughts I had when I first entered this organization? I was confident that I could eventually annihilate this organization or take it over myself. That is why I intended to say this to my brother. Tell him not to worry about building up power. Tell him to focus only on achieving the peak mastery of the Nine Divine Demonic Arts.”
Water laughed loudly as if it were funny even after saying it.
“Hahahahaha.”
In conclusion, it was childish and too embarrassing to tell anyone. It was merely the vain dream of a greenhorn.
If you don't lose your dream, you can eventually achieve it?
Perhaps so. If it were a person as tenacious as Lee Jaseung. If it were a person capable of making such an effort that they could push through until they truly achieved their dream.
But to an ordinary person like himself, a dream was…… merely a hostage to desire and power. This Jianghu exploits the dreams of greenhorns. The purer the dream, the larger and harder the shackles that bind it become.
Greenhorns run here and there to somehow rescue it until they collapse from exhaustion, or they only realize after the hair on their heads has turned white that the hostage died long ago.
Regardless of Water’s frustration, Rain was overestimating her.
“You would have been fully capable of absorbing this organization.”
Water burst into laughter upon realizing that Rain’s words were sincere.
“Hahaha. This is exactly why I cannot hate you, Senior.”
“I sincerely think so. I have faith that you could do anything well.”
Water had a uniqueness that was different from others.
“You were deceived by me.”
“Deceived?”
“Yes. Because deceiving a naive person like Rain is an easy task.”
“I am not naive.”
“Every naive person in the Jianghu has that thought. That they are not naive.”
Water spoke to Rain, who was giving a hollow laugh.
“I think it is decided from the beginning. People like Senior or me who only have many thoughts and linger on the outside, and people like Lee Jaseung or Yao Hong who fight at the center. No matter how much we struggle, we can never enter that center.”
Rain nodded.
He thought her words were correct. He had always lingered on the outside. He thought that was the reason Mountain had made him his hands and feet.
Because he lingered on the outside.
Because a person who lingered on the outside would not stand at the center and target him. It was a fight that could not be won from the start.
He was lost in thought blankly like that.
“Senior.”
He turned his head at Water’s sudden words and looked at her.
It was then. Water suddenly kissed his lips.
Rain, who was too surprised, opened his eyes wide.
After the kiss, Water spoke with a smile.
“Between losers. Because there might not be a later for us.”
She looked down at the mountain in the distance again.
The one whose face turned red was actually Rain. His gaze followed where she was looking.
He saw a single wolf walking through the snow on the opposite mountain.
Rain could be certain. That Water was having the same thought as him right now.
That wolf, which looked terribly lonely, was just like himself.
Lately, he had been thinking that his end would not be good.
But at least right now, he had this thought.
That if it could be avoided, he hoped to avoid the worst.
If only he could survive…….
* * *
Finally, it became the night before the final battle.
Tomorrow, the Heavenly Demon Soul would come.
Lee Jaseung stood alone on the highest roof of the Alliance Leader’s Hall.
Seol was taken to the hideout by Lee Jaseung himself a few days ago. Of course, Dan Woobin, Songhwa, and Dan Ah were with her.
His heart pained so much as he turned and left his daughter behind. Truly, his feet would not move.
He did not shed tears. Because Baek Seolyoung, who would be waiting at the Alliance now, would be shedding his share as well.
I will surely come to get you!
He would definitely place Seol in her arms again. Even if his arms were cut off and the bones of his entire body were crushed in this fight.
This Murim Alliance was empty. All the ordinary martial artists had been moved elsewhere for tomorrow’s fight.
The only people remaining were Baek Seolyoung, Yim Sayeon, and the three subordinates.
If he lived, everyone would survive, and if he died, everyone would die.
If he were killed, she, Baek Seolyoung, would be the first to be killed. No, perhaps she would be killed before his eyes after he was neutralized.
And then Yim Sayeon and the subordinates would be killed. Because they would not kneel before the Heavenly Demon Soul to ask to be spared.
To save everyone, he had to win against the Heavenly Demon Soul.
But…… could he really win against the Heavenly Demon Soul when he had not reached the Mind Sword Realm?
Lee Jaseung clenched both fists.
Now there was only one thing to trust.
Effort.
The efforts he had made until now. The training sessions where he had shed blood and sweat.
He had lived with the mindset that effort does not betray.
Lee Jaseung made a request to effort. It was the first request he had ever made.
Please, you cannot betray me, at least not this time.
* * *
Finally, the day dawned.
Lee Jaseung prepared for the fight calmly.
He wore the heart protector and checked his daggers. He packed Asura and the Dream Phantom Dagger, and strapped the auxiliary daggers, Ten Thousand Blood and Demonic Wind, to both legs.
Over the heart protector, he wrapped a leather belt for holding daggers. Twenty daggers for throwing were slotted into it. They were proper daggers made by a craftsman of the Black Way Alliance, and he always used them whenever there was an important fight.
He also packed several medicines to use in case of emergency. Medicine for internal and external injuries, and even a spiritual pill to recover inner Qi. Of course, there was no possibility that he would be able to use these while fighting the Heavenly Demon Soul, but still, no one knew what kind of fight it would be.
After finishing preparations, he spent time having a meal and drinking tea with Baek Seolyoung.
Times that might be the last.
Lee Jaseung shared many conversations with her.
They were mainly stories about trivial daily life, with the stories from their first meeting to the present being the main focus.
Whether it was Baek Seolyoung’s joke saying ‘I am saying this only now, but give me back my iron chest’, or the speculation about how fate would have changed if they had entered the room next door at the inn that day, or Baek Seolyoung being horrified at Lee Jaseung’s words that he wanted their second child to be a son and attacking him using ‘the nerve of a man who was not even by her side when she gave birth’ as a weakness, or Lee Jaseung’s answer that it would not be easy when she said she should introduce a decent woman to Mujin.
However, in those long conversations, there were no stories about the fight with the Heavenly Demon Soul or its outcome.
Lee Jaseung, who said he should make a wooden bed for Seol using the woodworking skills he learned, turned his head toward the window.
As his gaze deepened, Baek Seolyoung’s heart sank. She realized that Lee Jaseung had detected the presence of the Heavenly Demon Soul.
Lee Jaseung rose from his seat and spoke.
“I will be back.”
“Have a safe trip.”
Her words were more polite and affectionate than ever.
The gazes of the two intertwined in the air.
Because it felt like tears would pour out at any moment just by looking at Lee Jaseung, Baek Seolyoung immediately bid her farewell.
She hugged Lee Jaseung tightly and whispered.
“Seol’s father, please stay strong.”
The moment he heard those words, Lee Jaseung’s heart surged.
“Let us make the bed together later.”
Baek Seolyoung replied with a smile.
“Alright.”
Her tears only flowed down after Lee Jaseung left the room.
Yim Sayeon was standing in front of the door. She too had detected that the Heavenly Demon Soul was coming.
“I’ll be in your care.”
Yim Sayeon said with a smile.
“Likewise.”
It was the phrase that could best express the feelings of the two.
Yim Sayeon entered the room where Baek Seolyoung was. She would comfort her while he was fighting.
Lee Jaseung moved his steps again.
As he walked out, Mujin was standing at the end of the hallway.
“I heard that some amazing new girls have arrived at the Baekseon Pavilion, do you want to go with me?”
“Just the two of us?”
“If you want to take along Ma Young-gi, who competes for the best in the world at having a loose mouth, or Dan Woobin, who has no secrets from Lady Song, it is fine to go together.”
“Hahaha.”
He thought it was an encouragement typical of Mujin.
Lee Jaseung tapped his shoulder once.
“Alright, let us go just the two of us.”
“I shall make a reservation.”
As he turned the hallway and came out, Ma Young-gi was standing there this time.
“I am not such a loose-mouthed bastard.”
It seemed he had heard all of Mujin’s words.
“I know.”
“Last time, Mujin ratted out to Lady Song that Dan Woobin went to a courtesan house. He teases me for being loose-mouthed just because I told him about that.”
“Dan Woobin went to a courtesan house huh.”
“He went a total of three times, and the courtesan house mentioned that day was the third one he visited.”
“Hm, so he went three times.”
Lee Jaseung moved his steps after nodding silently. He forced himself to hold back the laughter that was about to break out.
Ma Young-gi shouted from behind.
“Regardless, it is a misunderstanding. So I will tell them to make the reservation for three people. I will absolutely not tell Dan Woobin.”
“Hahaha.”
Lee Jaseung ended up bursting into laughter at the thought that Dan Woobin would somehow be the first to know.
As he left the building, Mook Young’s voice transmission reached him.
— Please come back safely.
He sent the voice transmission as always. In his heart, he wanted to reveal himself before Lee Jaseung.
But he did not want to act differently from usual for no reason.
Just like always.
— I will.
After walking a few more steps, Lee Jaseung sent a voice transmission back. He had wanted to play a Ma Young-gi style prank for no reason.
— I don't hold grudges.
— …Yes.
— Your voice is small?
— Yes! The Alliance Leader absolutely does not hold grudges. It is not a grudge, it is just that you have a good memory. It is a misunderstanding. Just like Ma Young-gi is misunderstood for being loose-mouthed.
Lee Jaseung laughed loudly once again as he walked.
“Hahaha.”
Lee Jaseung came outside and stood in the center of the largest open space of the Murim Alliance.
Soon after, Cheon Myeongin, or rather the Heavenly Demon Soul, walked in toward that spot.
As soon as it saw Lee Jaseung, the Heavenly Demon Soul spoke.
“You did not keep the promise I see.”
“It was not a promise, but a one-sided threat.”
“You had no intention of keeping it from the start, did you?”
“If so?”
“I apologize, but I am a person who faithfully keeps promises.”
“A person you say?”
At the provocative point asking if it was a person, the Heavenly Demon Soul’s expression hardened.
Watching Lee Jaseung slowly draw his dagger, the Heavenly Demon Soul asked.
“Why do you not ask?”
“Ask what?”
“What my purpose is. For what reason I told you to achieve the peak mastery of the Nine Divine Demonic Arts.”
“I am not curious.”
At the blatant disregard shown to its face, the Heavenly Demon Soul’s face crumpled.
Lee Jaseung stared at it and spoke.
“What kind of great reason could a thing like you have? You either want to possess this Jianghu or throw it away.”
At those words, a glint flashed in the two black eyes of the Heavenly Demon Soul.
Lee Jaseung was confident. Momentum exists in every fight. The more disadvantageous the fight, the more one must not lose momentum.
“How can that soul run wild like this when the Heavenly Demon is gone? Crawl out right now. I will send you to your master.”
The provocation worked properly.
Black smoke flowed out from every hole in the entire body of Cheon Myeongin, who was distorted with rage.
The smoke surrounded Cheon Myeongin’s body and then it became hard like armor.
It was not completely separated, but even a part of it revealed its form to the outside.
Everyone was watching from the buildings of the Murim Alliance far away.
Baek Seolyoung, Yim Sayeon, Mujin, Ma Young-gi, Mook Young.
Everyone was watching.
Because he had not achieved the Mind Sword Realm, there was no hope in this fight.
But because it was Lee Jaseung, because he was the one they trusted more than anyone else, everyone was wishing desperately.
In that way, the fight that staked everyone’s fate began.