Chapter 140: Delicate Jade Hands
Where does a person's sense of guilt co from?
Killing an enemy who cos charging at you versus cutting their throat to silence them after they've already been completely subdued.
The two were clearly different. Even in the modern world, the forr was classified as self-defense, and the latter as involuntary manslaughter.
Thud, roll.
A head, still frozen in a horrified expression, rolled across the dirt floor.
There was no other choice. He had tried to shout a secret that would’ve caused massive trouble if overheard by the Murim Alliance mbers rushing in.
“He did deserve to die, but still...”
Even so, the unpleasant feeling creeping in was likely because I had a bit of a guilty conscience myself.
As Hwang Geolgae once said, in the end, deciding what’s good or evil lies in my own heart.
Ironically, perhaps the very fact that I could feel this sting of conscience was why Hwang Geolgae hadn’t killed
and chose to spare my life.
Anyway, since I had taken a life for my own safety, I figured I should do so serious soul-searching and reflection...
“Eh, fuck it. Things happen.”
...but I decided not to.
Co to think of it, this was the Central Plains Murim, where people’s heads flew off like bundles of straw on the daily.
Other martial artists were lopping off heads and spraying blood all the ti anyway.
“Yeah, sotis it be like that.”
Besides, killing soone dangerous enough to unleash the Blood ridian might not have been a bad choice for the peace of the Central Plains.
I nodded to myself, coming to a rough compromise.
“Satisfied.”
Though the fact that this damned bastard was satisfied with the outco still irked .
But it was already over. Nothing I could do now.
I gathered the blazing white qi and swept his remains out of sight.
“Master Dan Mujin! Are you alright? I heard you fought Gwang Hyeolso... Oh my god, your arm!”
She covered her mouth and grimaced upon seeing my slightly dangling arm.
“If only I had arrived just a bit sooner...”
“It’s fine. I’ll sleep a few nights with so spit on it, and I’ll be good.”
“...That’s ridiculous. Let
give you the ergency dicine from my clan. It’s effective.”
She pulled out a round pill from her robe.
“Not for —give it to Jo Harang over there. She doesn’t look good.”
I gestured toward her, her face having turned an unhealthy shade of gray, probably from internal injuries.
“But your condition right now—”
“I’m really fine. Please help her, Vice Captain.”
“...Alright.”
It had been a while since we last t, and she seed strangely more worried about
than usual.
Seeing Jo Harang groaning, I had to ask multiple tis for her help before Murong Cheonghye reluctantly moved her feet.
Ah, co to think of it—I didn’t get to ask why she called
Mujin-ah earlier.
“Tch, seeing the face... he really was that demonic Gwang Hyeolso, huh? Master, do you realize who you just caught?”
Then, Captain Jeok Unyeop, who seed to have followed the vice captain, looked over Gwang Hyeolso’s face and spoke to
in disbelief.
“Truly incredible. And now he’s the Left Blood Law of the Blood Cult, isn’t he? That’s a huge accomplishnt, Master.”
Apparently, I had done sothing amazing for the peace of the Murim.
He always seed to be suffering from the Evil-Slaying Demoness, but it turned out this old man actually had a sense of justice and cared for Murim’s well-being.
“But how did you catch him? Don’t tell
you reached Peak Mastery while we weren’t looking?”
“No, I just got lucky.”
“Heh, co now. How does soone catch such a big shot just by getting lucky? Whisper the real story to .”
If I actually whispered the truth, we’d have one more headless body lying around.
“Jo Harang of Divine Wind helped a lot. Plus, the guy seed off—so yes, I really was lucky.”
Trying to gloss over it with humility and sharing credit, I noticed Jeok Unyeop giving
a look that said, Oh really?
“Usually folks try to hog the glory in monts like this, but just like Vice Captain Murong Cheonghye said—you’re different.”
Praising my character, he patted
firmly on the shoulder, as if I were so comndable youth.
“Why not join the Demon-Slaying Unit? I’ll personally take care of your promotion.”
“Ah, that’s a bit...”
Having to stay with that suffocating sister figure all the ti? That’d be the death of .
“Then how about the Chivalrous Unit?”
A martial artist in Chivalrous Unit attire chid in, asking what I thought of joining them.
Apparently, he’d been impressed by my actions since the Dragon-Phoenix Tournant.
“No thanks, that too.”
The thing with the Murim Alliance’s combat divisions was... they mostly involved cutting people down.
Smaller matters were handled by the respective sects themselves, and they only stepped in for major incidents.
In other words, if what I did was like working in a general civil complaint office, they were like the violent cris unit... no, the national investigation bureau scouring the entire Central Plains.
“I see. Well, let
know if you ever change your mind.”
I nodded as if I understood, then brushed off the persistent recruiters and walked away.
“Jeez, why are they so eager?”
I heard the pay wasn’t even that good. People took those jobs for honor and duty.
“That’s because you keep accomplishing things every ti the captains see you. Of course they want you.”
Ilhong suddenly appeared beside , speaking as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
From afar, I hadn’t noticed, but up close I could see her eyes were a little swollen.
“Wait... did you cry?”
“Wh-what? Don’t be silly. I’m not a kid.”
Maybe by Murim standards she wasn’t, but by my eyes, she definitely still was.
“Then what happened to your face?”
“I don’t know, maybe from running around like crazy.”
Yeah, let’s go with that.
I sniffed slightly.
“Anyway, Captain, promise
one thing.”
“What?”
“Don’t ever tell
to run away and then stay behind to fight alone again.”
I had pushed her out in the heat of the mont, but apparently that had left her feeling pretty hurt.
“Hey, I wasn’t alone. Jo Harang was with —”
“You promised!”
“...Y-yeah. Alright.”
When the Hao Sect was annihilated and she was the only one who survived—maybe sothing similar happened back then.
Seeing
in that situation probably triggered those mories.
‘But I’m not her family, am I?’
Two people left all alone in this world, with no family or relatives.
After years of sticking together, perhaps we had slowly beco sothing like that to each other.
Maybe that’s why, when Gwang Hyeolso tried to cut down Ilhong, that murderous rage surged within .
“Aha.”
People always see the speck in others’ eyes but miss the plank in their own.
Maybe I, too, was slowly changing bit by bit.
A few days after the coffin sent from the Eon Clan had been dealt with. At the Murim Alliance’s main office in Shaanxi.
The captain and vice captain of the Demon-Slaying Unit were listening to an autopsy report from an inspector.
“It’s quite shocking. The corpse brought in by the Eon Clan’s martial artist and Master Dan Mujin—turns out it really was a Jiangshi.”
It ant the Jiangshi Arts, once thought completely erased by the Jinju Eon Clan long ago, had now returned.
And in the worst possible form—under the control of the Blood Cult.
“And just as the Eon Clan warned, its durability is extraordinary. We don’t know what materials or techniques were used, but it’s hard as... uh, Vice Captain Murong Cheonghye?”
Despite the inspector’s bombshell report, Murong Cheonghye stared blankly into space, seemingly entranced.
“Vice Captain, are you listening?”
“Evil-Slaying Demoness, pull yourself together.”
Murong Cheonghye had been gazing blankly at Ilhong, who clung to Mujin like a companion, before finally snapping out of it and turning her head.
“Good grief. Do you have a thing for that young man or what? You’re making it frustrating for everyone watching. If so, just go snatch him already.”
“No, it’s not like that... ugh.”
It wasn’t like that at all. It was just that seeing soone clinging so tightly to a youth who might be her younger brother had caught her attention.
‘Ilhong, was it? She’s clinging like soone who just experienced a major trauma.’
So people, after going through sothing traumatic, instinctively cling to soone else.
But aside from that, there was another issue at hand.
‘How are two n that close...?’
Before, she hadn’t paid much attention—who he was close to didn’t matter. She just saw him as a brave young man.
But now, thinking he might be her younger brother made her suddenly anxious.
Moreover, if I recall correctly, that Divine Wind girl—Jo Harang—she too sotis looked at him with a gaze that went beyond re trust.
“I need to find a job and visit their office as soon as possible…”
By coincidence, all three of them worked out of the sa Troubleshooter Office.
Once the Jiangshi case brought in by the Eon Clan was wrapped up, she found herself thinking she must visit Beijing no matter what.
“Evil-Slaying Demoness, I hate to say it, but you’re looking at him like a sister-in-law right now.”
“…You're misunderstanding.”
Preferably, as soon as possible.
“You always leave a strong impression on .”
This was a eting of the high officials of the Murim Alliance, gathered to discuss the recent events and assign rit-based rewards.
The Alliance Leader Namgung Soseon praised the swift reporting by the Jinju Eon Clan, then turned his gaze to
and said those words.
As his intrigued gaze fell on , I could feel everyone else’s eyes turning my way as well.
“Well, I am kind of amazing.”
As I shalessly accepted the praise, the faces around
shifted into expressions of disbelief.
Those who knew
wore looks that said, “There he goes again.”
“Click-click, always the sa with you.”
Apparently pleased with my bold response, the Alliance Leader gave a strange smile.
“Since the mont you called that Thunder Sword an old man full of greed, I thought you were sothing special.”
“…Ahem.”
I an, that ti I just lost my temper. Why bring that up now?
“Do you plan to say the sa about
soday?”
“…No, I don’t think I will.”
I do have so sense and reason, you know. That guy Murong Cheon kind of deserved it. Usually, I’m respectful to elders and behave with manners.
“No, it’s a good thing. It’s rare to find soone who can speak their mind, even in front of those with more power or martial rank. Keep that spirit going.”
He wanted
to remain the kind of guy who says what needs to be said, regardless of who’s listening.
It’s not like I was burning with righteous indignation or anything, but…
Judging by the smile creeping across his face, I guess he found watching Murong Cheon get roasted rather satisfying.
“Well, anyway. This is for you.”
He pushed over a heavy chest.
He said it contained the reward for everything—taking the Blood Cult head on the cliff, transporting the Jiangshi, and slaying the Left Blood Law.
Click.
“Really, you should open that when no one else is around.”
As I opened it to check the contents, the Alliance Leader scolded
like I was being too carefree.
“Oooh.”
It should’ve glimred silver, but the chest was full of nothing but a rich, dull yellow glow.
From mounds of gold coins to thick gold ingots.
“Wow, what’s all this?”
It was the harvest mont. Just lifting it told
how heavy it was.
For a second, I considered stopping by a trading post and exchanging it for a promissory note, but I rembered how brutal the brokerage fees get when crossing regions, so I decided to carry it as-is.
“At this weight, I could carry it on my back.”
If it were just luggage, I’d grumble, but a box of money? I’d gladly carry it on my shoulders.
“By the way, about that Blood-Asura Heaven-Slaying Jiangshi…”
“Yes, what would you like to know?”
In this world, the one who gives money is king.
I bowed slightly and said as much.
“How did you cut it down? The coroners were amazed—said not even Sword Qi could penetrate its body.”
Word of the Jiangshi’s abnormal toughness was apparently spreading through the Murim Alliance.
“I just sliced through it gently, and it cut cleanly.”
“…Hmmm.”
I was just telling it as it happened, but Namgung Soseon’s expression turned increasingly complex.
“Well then, that’s it for now.”
Better get out before he digs deeper.
I hoisted the chest and quickly bowed my farewell.
The Eon Clan’s request and the transport to the Murim Alliance were officially completed as of today.
“It’s still hard to believe, Master Dan Mujin.”
So said Eon Wolyeong, smiling in disbelief as she handed
the paynt.
“What’s so surprising?”
“Oh, nothing. I just didn’t think you’d say the sa thing to the Alliance Leader that you said to the Clan Head.”
That line about “I just sliced it gently, and it ca right off,” huh.
To be fair, it wasn’t entirely wrong—aside from seeing the cut line, that’s about what happened.
“Regardless, the Eon Clan owes you a great debt, Master.”
“Ah, it’s nothing. I’m just doing my job and getting paid.”
I waved a hand like it was no big deal, stuffing the paynt into my robe.
Hmm, this one’s pretty hefty too.
“No, it’s more than just money. Without you, that thing that burst out of the basent that day would’ve…”
The entire Jinju Eon Clan could’ve been wiped out by a single Jiangshi.
Thinking of that, she couldn’t bring herself to finish her sentence.
Honestly, even such sincere thanks already filled my heart. She might not know it, but she had more than repaid
already.
“So, in the spirit of gratitude, I have sothing to tell you.”
“What is it?”
When I asked, she hesitated briefly before mustering up the courage to speak.
“There’s… a certain energy clinging to you. I can’t explain exactly what it is.”
She fixed her gaze over my shoulder and released her spiritual sight.
Like she was engaged in a staring contest with sothing invisible.
“And for so reason… it seems to have gotten a bit stronger than before.”
“…Huh? What’s gotten stronger?”
What’s with this woman lately? Her face already looks pale enough to spook soone.
Could it be that with high-level Jiangshi Arts, you start sensing things that shouldn’t be sensed?
“Anyway, just be caref—ugh, sorry! I can’t hold it any longer!”
Her face turned completely white.
She broke off her eerie staring contest with thin air and hurriedly turned away, unable to take it any longer.
“What the hell is going on?”
Why does she always leave
feeling creeped out?
Once again, she tossed so cryptic remark and ran off.
And just like last ti, the Salsungi twitched and squird, as if gloating over its victory.
A red hand waved at the fleeing girl as if to say goodbye.
Not a pale, delicate hand with two slender knuckles like usual.
No, it was a red and beautiful—hand.
“…Huh?”
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