Chapter 110
At Mado's words, Cho-hye put down her chopsticks.
Although her eyes were on the food, she gritted her teeth and said, "Master is right. I am not a beggar."
"We will leave tomorrow. Just for today... I will be indebted to you."
Mado spoke and then took Cho-hye to her room.
Baekji felt a pang of guilt.
The first time he had gotten a large sum of money was when he had robbed Bai Renguang's secret vault. After that, he took the money Ximen Suo had embezzled... and also took the assets of the Hongmeng Brothel.
'I also received money from the Elder of the Tang family. It wasn't much, but...'
It was all dirty money.
No, wait.
The money the Poison King gave was legitimate, wasn't it?
And the reward money received for handing over a public enemy of the martial world like Bai Renguang was something he naturally deserved...
But Mado's words kept striking a chord somewhere in his heart.
―You cannot eat delicious food with the price of blood!
Hearing those words, the pork seasoned with red spices looked like a lump of flesh soaked in blood.
His appetite completely vanished.
"Here, give me some alcohol."
This must be why people drink.
The waiter who brought the alcohol smiled.
"This is our inn's finest alcohol. Please enjoy it."
It was a smile full of pretense.
His desire to drink disappeared.
"That's enough. You drink it."
The waiter's smile faltered.
'Huh?'
Baekji looked out the window.
He could feel presences crouching in the darkness.
The Heaven-Shattering Demonic Saber lying on the table caught his eye.
Baekji muttered to himself as if talking to himself.
"What on earth is this confidence? She's Mado, the second in the ranking of the top ten masters. Besides, I showed you, didn't I? That I'm a master you can't touch... ah..."
The waiter hesitantly stepped back.
"You are not a waiter..."
Baekji said, looking at the people outside.
"And you are not people of the Alliance..."
A man walked out of the darkness and stood in front of the door.
He was a man dressed as a scholar, looking so sickly that it seemed he should be lying in bed.
"That is correct. I am a person from the Four Shrines Heaven."
He was a man whose thin voice strangely got on one's nerves.
"Four Shrines Heaven?"
"I am called the Sickly Scholar, who does odd jobs at the Four Shrines Heaven. The Heavenly Lord has ordered me to bring you."
"Heavenly Lord? Everyone is calling themselves heaven here and there."
"I would appreciate it if you watched your mouth. Even a master dies if stabbed by a sword."
The Sickly Scholar with the thin voice consistently used honorifics.
"Who are the brats who call themselves the masters of heaven with their own mouths telling me to watch my mouth?"
"..."
The man did not answer and looked at the food placed in front of Baekji.
Because Mado and Cho-hye had put down their chopsticks as soon as the food came out, no one had touched it.
It was as if they had avoided the poison by pure chance.
Baekji grumbled.
"You don't do this with food."
"As expected, you are amazing. To have noticed the poison at once... Ah, it is not a deadly poison. It is at a level that a master can burn away with internal energy."
"Why did you do this when you knew?"
"Rumors can often be exaggerated, can't they? It was also necessary to confirm the fact that the woman on this floor was Mado. To be honest, I was surprised. That Mado was such a beauty."
"Yes. I was surprised by that too. But why don't you come in and talk? You look sick, isn't it hard to stand there like that?"
The Sickly Scholar took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead, saying, "The fear in my heart is greater than the pain in my body, so I will just stand here."
"It's because my heart is not at ease."
"If you are concerned about my symptoms, you can come with me to see the Heavenly Lord."
"I have no intention of doing so."
"Then everyone here will die."
"Here?"
Baekji looked around.
There was only the waiter, the Sickly Scholar, and the group from the Four Shrines Heaven in the darkness.
The Sickly Scholar said, "It means that we will die."
"...?"
"Since we have failed to carry out the Heavenly Lord's order, shouldn't we die?"
Baekji was dumbfounded and asked. To think there was a brat who would threaten him with his own life...
"You're going to die too?"
"Probably... I think I will die after reporting my failure."
"So... you mean that if I don't go with you to the Four Shrines Heaven, you will all die?"
"That is correct. In other words... it also means that we will fight until we die. Isn't it the same whether we die this way or that way?"
That makes sense.
"Of course, since the opponent is a top ten master or the Alliance Leader's disciple, we will all die."
"The Lord of the Four Shrines Heaven is a bad person."
"We are not of the righteous path. To handle matters quickly and efficiently, we need to be a little tough."
"You seem quite smart, so you must hold a position. Don't you resent the Heavenly Lord who pushed you into a deadly situation?"
"That is true, but... I volunteered."
"You volunteered? You said you would die yourself?"
"I thought I would not die. Isn't it good to not die and also achieve merit?"
"Oh? What is the source of that confidence?"
"The Alliance Leader's disciple... it's a bit awkward to call you that. Since you are the Honored One of the Tang family and the Yang-Bai Merchant Sect, I will call you Honored One."
"Call me whatever is comfortable."
"I have discovered a very interesting part while looking at the Honored One's past actions."
"Me? You investigated my background?"
Baekji frowned.
"To the Four Shrines Heaven, the Blood Sect is a strong enemy. Because those brats are madmen who do not distinguish between righteous and evil. Since an enemy has appeared, shouldn't we naturally investigate? We have been following you since the rumor that the Blood Hand Grand Seal appeared at the White Mountain Sect."
"Yes..."
It meant that among the riffraff who had flocked to Zhaojia County after the Blood Hand Grand Seal appeared, there were also brats from the Four Shrines Heaven.
"Cough, cough!"
The Sickly Scholar covered his mouth with a handkerchief and coughed.
Baekji said with a look of pity, "The wind is still cold... why don't you come in and talk?"
"It is fine for now. If I go in and you suddenly change your mind and strike me down, wouldn't that be a bigger problem? Of course, according to what I am about to say, the possibility is slim, but..."
"Ahem... the possibility of me killing you is slim?"
"That is what I am about to say. As I followed the Honored One's actions, I discovered a very interesting fact."
"What is it?"
"The Honored One does not use his own hands to kill people."
"..."
"He even spared the opponents he should have killed. So I had a strange thought. Is it not that he doesn't kill... but that he can't kill?"
The Sickly Scholar spoke and then looked at Baekji with a tense face.
"Why are you looking at me with that face?"
"It is a world where even a Shaolin monk kills people at the drop of a hat. In such a world, not being able to kill people is a great weakness. No one likes to have their weakness exposed."
"Ahem. And yet you're blabbering on so well."
"Seeing you spare even the Blood Fiend who had become a Blood Demon, I became quite certain."
Ugh... the dark history I want to erase... I didn't spare him, I missed him.
Baekji said, "You've had all sorts of absurd thoughts. To say that I can't kill people..."
Was there any brat in the entire martial world who would make such an absurd deduction?
That brat, who looked like he would fall over if the wind blew, either had a very overactive imagination or was slightly crazy...
That's right, he must have gone slightly mad from suffering from his illness.
"So... since you think I won't kill you, you'll use your lives as a weapon to threaten me and take me away... how truly absurd."
"Absolute masters certainly have a different side from ordinary people."
The Sickly Scholar was good with words.
He subtly aroused curiosity.
When Baekji stared at him, the Sickly Scholar continued.
"Take Mado, for example... isn't it interesting that an absolute master is ignorant of the ways of the world?"
Baekji became curious as to where that brat's information came from.
How could he have grasped Mado's true nature when she had only been out in the world for a few days?
Did he have eyes and ears attached to my side?
"Among the top ten masters, the 'Shadowless Saber' is said to always give a warning before killing someone. After killing, he sets up a memorial tablet next to the corpse and even burns incense. An ordinary person cannot think of such a thing. It is an action that can only be done by someone who has reached the absolute realm, where there is no one in the world who can handle them."
"Hmm. So the 'Shadowless Saber' is like that..."
"One absolute master I know is very fond of his 'zhiji' (bosom friend). If there is someone with whom he can discuss martial arts, he will befriend them even if they are an enemy. If he really has to fight, he is a person who drinks with them for three days and then draws his sword."
"...Is that your Heavenly Lord?"
The Sickly Scholar nodded.
"That is what the Black Path is like. Unlike the Righteous Path, they do not get caught up in background and befriend people based on who they are."
"So you're telling me to go and drink with the Lord of the Four Shrines Heaven?"
"I am confident that if the two of you meet, you will become 'zhiji' bosom friend regardless of age."
The Sickly Scholar bowed and then took something out of his bosom.
"It is nothing much, but I have prepared some travel expenses. It should be enough for you to use on your way."
The waiter went out and received the envelope that the Sickly Scholar was holding.
When Baekji opened it, it was a ten-thousand-tael bank note.
"Hmm..."
Normally, he would have been very happy, but since he had just been hit by Mado, he felt uneasy about accepting the money of the Black Path.
Moreover, it was also annoying that the brat called the Sickly Scholar had figured him out so well.
Baekji put the bank note in the envelope and handed it to the waiter.
The waiter hesitated to receive it, glancing at the Sickly Scholar.
The Sickly Scholar said, "I unintentionally overheard what Mado said just now. I was moved by her clear and noble attitude towards money. But not everyone can live like that, can they?"
Ah, that brat is really good with words.
"People think that the Black Path extorts merchants and plunders the weak, but that is not the case. The Four Shrines Heaven operates legitimate businesses such as mines and merchant guilds, and even cultivates salt fields. Of course..."
The Sickly Scholar coughed for a moment and then continued.
"There are cases where the brats at the bottom do things that are against the way in the marketplace... but it is the way of humans to have a dark side if there is a bright side. Just as fish cannot live if the water is too clear, the world can only run smoothly if there is a moderate amount of darkness."
The Sickly Scholar glanced at the second floor where Mado was and said, "Actually, the money of the White Path is not much different from that of the Black Path. It is the same in that it is stained with the smell of blood. Rather, this money is clean. Because it was obtained as a reward for a just fight."
Then he looked back and waved his hand.
From the darkness, men in black clothes dragged a few people.
There were five or six men and one woman he knew.
"As we were preparing a place, a few people were in the way. We are not on very good terms with the Martial Alliance, but we respected the Honored One's preference and did not lay a finger on them."
The men were the Martial Alliance members who had reserved inns and taverns on the way for Baekji.
The Sickly Scholar pointed at Hongyan and said, "This person's background is quite interesting. As I said, we are men who befriend anyone as long as our hearts connect... so we have treated her with courtesy."
It seemed he knew that Hongyan was from the Demonic Cult.
"I think I have said all I have to say. If you have any questions, please ask."
The Sickly Scholar, after performing a well-orchestrated play, took a step back, bowed his head, and showed his respect.
Swords were touching the necks of the Alliance's hostages and Hongyan.
It meant that they would slit their throats at any moment.
Baekji smiled.
"Amazing. Amazing... to have figured me out so well..."
Could he even find out the fact that he had undergone 'rejuvenation'?
Baekji looked at Hongyan for a moment and then turned his gaze to the sick scholar.
"I said I can't kill people, right? But... if I break your jaw, will you live or die?"
(End of Chapter)