Chapter 123: Ma Chulsoo (2)
“This is the place.”
The cave where Ma Chulsoo was hiding was quite well concealed.
“It’s bigger than I expected.”
“Yes. If properly repaired inside, it could even be used for secluded cultivation.”
Rather than being a lucky find… could it be that he knew about this place beforehand?
Well, whatever the case, I could just ask him directly.
As soon as I entered the cave entrance, I saw figures dressed entirely in black and three n and won who were bound by them.
Judging by their appearance, the black-clad figures were most likely newly inducted mbers of the Demonic Ghost Slaying Unit.
“These people…”
“They are Ma Chulsoo’s subordinates.”
“They're younger than I thought.”
As I examined the three individuals, I clapped my hands and exclaid loudly.
“Ah, right. They're seniors.”
“Seniors? What do you an?”
“There’s a story behind that.”
Brushing aside Jeolyeong’s confusion, I approached the seniors who had graduated from the Thousand-Day Pass and entered under Ma Chulsoo.
Even though they had been subdued with all their major veins sealed and were nearly exhausted—
They still gritted their teeth and glared at with hostility.
“I don’t know who you are… but you can’t lay a hand on our lord…”
“Such tearful loyalty.”
They probably thought I was one of Ma Jeongcheon’s people.
Still, wasn’t this a bit too much loyalty for soone who’d just been beaten by ?
“Can I et Ma Chulsoo if I go further in?”
Jeolyeong shook his head.
“There’s a temporary formation set up near the entrance. It’s of decent quality, so it’ll take so ti to dismantle.”
“Oh?”
“It seems to be the work of those people.”
To think they made such a desperate attempt to protect their lord.
‘The Three Attendants should really learn from this.’
Well, I’d like to believe they wouldn't fall behind in loyalty, but it’d be even better if they could show this kind of versatility.
“How long will it take to break it?”
“…Apologies. It’ll take at least half a day.”
“Withdraw the subordinates. I’ll break through it myself.”
“…?!”
From their perspective, I probably looked like just a promising young man with a good bloodline.
If they were from Cheon Jumun, they might know my true worth. But the newly established Demonic Ghost Slaying Unit wouldn’t have any idea what I was capable of.
‘The Six Phantasmal Shadow-Chasing Formation, huh? Not bad.’
I examined the unique energy flow of the formation swirling at the cave entrance.
It was one of the formations I had learned during my ti as Inner Administrator. If soone got caught in it the wrong way, their mind could be consud by the formation, making it difficult to return.
‘Still, it’s only at an interdiate level.’
After testing a few combinations of the Six Harmonies, I found the life point of the formation and shattered it.
Crack!
With a sound like breaking glass, the formation installed at the entrance was completely destroyed.
“No way! The Six Phantasmal Shadow-Chasing Formation… broken that easily?!”
The woman who seed to have set the formation let out a scream of disbelief.
Well, considering that the formation was usually used as a graduation test at the Thousand-Day Pass, her reaction made sense.
She must’ve been shocked to see soone who looked to be her age destroy it so easily.
Anyway.
“Well now, it’s been a while, Ma Chulsoo.”
I stepped into the darkness of the cave.
***
The cave where Ma Chulsoo was hiding was even more spacious than I had imagined.
The uneven and sloped ground made it a place where one could easily get injured.
‘There he is.’
I used Amtoogong (Silent Penetration Technique) to pinpoint the location of the person I assud was Ma Chulsoo.
‘He’s crouched down and resting. Is he hurt?’
Just by looking at him, I could tell he had the posture of soone who’d lost confidence.
Flinch.
As I deliberately made my footsteps louder, Ma Chulsoo finally sensed my presence and reached toward the sword beside him.
And the mont I called out to him—
“Hey.”
Flash!
Ma Chulsoo suddenly launched a surprise attack.
‘Tch, and this guy’s supposed to be the hope of the Ma Clan?’
I could’ve ended this in a single move, but I decided to go along with it for a bit to see how much he had improved.
Clang!
His first ambush was nullified by a quick draw of my sword, and imdiately, Ma Chulsoo unleashed a crimson Sword Qi, attacking with fierce montum.
‘Oh, Blood Dragon Heaven-Slaying Sword Art!’
A good choice.
Rather than the flashy Blood Flow Demonic Spirit Sword Art, the Blood Dragon Heaven-Slaying Sword Art that could imdiately suppress the opponent was more appropriate for this situation.
‘Not bad! You’ve improved a lot!’
I was impressed as I deflected Ma Chulsoo’s sharp strikes.
At this level, he had already passed the peak of First-rate Martial Artist and was approaching Master Level.
If he had t the early version of from my previous life, I might’ve been the one on the losing end.
But still—
“Huff, huff!”
After just a few swings, Ma Chulsoo was already out of breath, panting heavily.
His blazing sword aura was still there, but his arms and legs holding the blade were shaking uncontrollably.
‘So his stamina was already at rock bottom. I guess it can’t be helped.’
After being ambushed by Ma Jeongcheon and constantly on the run, he probably hadn’t had proper rest.
Both his body and mind were at their limits.
‘At least he doesn’t seem to have any serious injuries.’
At this rate, subduing him wouldn’t be too difficult.
“I will never…”
“Hm?”
“I will never… be defeated by the likes of Ma Jeongcheon!”
‘Did he mistake for soone sent by Ma Jeongcheon?’
Claaang!
With a smirk, I received his charging strike head-on.
As the two waves of Sword Qi collided, Ma Chulsoo’s movent ca to an abrupt halt.
“Calm down, Ma Chulsoo.”
“You bastard!”
I injected a special redy into Ma Chulsoo, who had lost his mind halfway.
“Where the hell did you leave Yeonghee and hole yourself up in a place like this?”
The response to the redy was instant.
“…You son of a bitch, Jin Yeomyung! My little sister’s na isn’t Yeonghee, it’s Yeonhee… Wait, what did you say?”
Blank stare!
Suddenly regaining his clarity, Ma Chulsoo opened his mouth wide and looked at in disbelief.
“J-Jin Yeomyung?”
Ma Chulsoo was too stunned to speak for a while after I suddenly appeared.
The shock must’ve been so great that he could do nothing but stare at blankly, practically frozen like a stone statue.
His reaction was so over the top that I got a little annoyed.
“Hey, are you going to snap out of it anyti soon?”
“A-Ah! R-Right!”
Only then did Ma Chulsoo start nodding and co to his senses.
“Jin Yeomyung, how are you even here?!”
“Took you long enough to ask.”
Clicking my tongue, I pointed my thumb toward the outside of the cave.
“Let’s get out of here first. We need to do sothing about your beggar-like appearance.”
“My lord! You’re safe!”
“Myyy loooord!”
As Ma Chulsoo and I erged together, his subordinates—who had been freed from their restraints—ran to him in tears.
‘…Touching, sure, but this is kind of making jealous.’
It would be nice if my own subordinates reacted like that.
Just as Ma Chulsoo, now reassured that I wasn’t an enemy, tried to speak to again—
“Hold on.”
“What now?”
I firmly stopped him from getting any closer.
“Let’s wash, change, eat, and then start talking.”
“……”
After being on the run for days, his cheeks had hollowed from hunger, his clothes were in tatters unfit even to be used as rags, and his skin was grimy with layers of filth.
Even soone from the Beggars’ Sect would cringe at that appearance. Only then did Ma Chulsoo and his subordinates realize the state they were in.
“Y-You’re right.”
So they washed themselves at the nearby stream, changed into the spare clothes prepared by Gu Chil, and devoured the provisions like starving beasts. Only after all that were Ma Chulsoo and his n in a condition to talk.
“There’s no trace of pursuit from the Ma Clan. You can eat in peace.”
“R-Right… Thanks.”
Ma Chulsoo blushed as he cautiously put a rice cake into his mouth.
Gu Chil curled his lips into a smirk.
“For soone who just ate like a starving beast…”
“Shut it, Byeok Cheon-un. You’ve always been clueless, haven’t you?”
The fact that it wasn’t , but Jeolyeong who said that was honestly a bit surprising.
Once the conversation could finally begin—
“How did you know where I was or what was going on?”
I answered honestly.
Well, partially.
“Ma Jinseong told . He asked to help you.”
Ma Chulsoo stamred at the unexpected reply.
“M-Ma Jinseong did?”
“He seems to respect you quite a bit.”
I honestly couldn’t understand why, though.
“That Jinseong… Still, even if that’s true, you’ve got no reason to help , do you?”
I shrugged and replied.
“Partly, I wanted to build up a little debt. I figured, if I lent a hand to a rat cornered with nowhere to run, I might get quite a lot back for it.”
“W-What did you just say?!”
Ma Chulsoo shot up, pointing a finger at .
“D-Don’t talk nonsense! I’m grateful you saved … but I haven’t fallen so far that I’d hand over my clan’s assets to the Demonic Heaven’s Jin Clan!”
“Hmph, so you're refusing my hand?”
“I’d rather die than owe you anything more!”
“Really? Then go ahead and die.”
I got up without hesitation.
“Huh?”
Toward the panicked Ma Chulsoo, I muttered coldly.
“I ca all this way to throw you a lifeline when you were dangling off a cliff… and all you care about is your pride.”
“J-Jin Yeomyung?”
“Let’s go, everyone. He said he’d rather die, so let’s leave him alone. He’ll get killed soon enough by whoever Ma Jeongcheon sends next.”
Ignoring Jeolyeong’s masked eyes silently asking if I was serious, I turned to leave.
“W-Waaaait a second!”
Halt.
Maybe he sensed my sincerity from my deanor, because Ma Chulsoo urgently reached out and grabbed my waist.
“What now?”
“I-I spoke too harshly.”
“……”
“Couldn’t we have a more constructive conversation instead?”
Yeah… The fact that he could clean up his own ss this quickly ant that, while he had a short temper, he wasn’t stupid.
Lucky for that my bluff worked.
“Alright.”
We sat back down at the negotiation table.
Having barely escaped crisis, Ma Chulsoo pressed his hand to his forehead like he had a headache.
“Let be honest, Jin Yeomyung. I’ve got nothing I can give you right now.”
“I know.”
By the current standards, Ma Chulsoo was at a level where even a Beggars’ Sect mber would pity him enough to throw a scrap.
“Even if I manage to return safely to the clan, it’ll be the sa. The elders who support won’t give you anything material.”
“That, I also know.”
Seeing calmly nod, Ma Chulsoo couldn’t help but explode.
“Then what the hell do you want? Don’t tell —it’s the Blood Dragon Demonic Clan’s martial arts? I’d rather die than hand those over!”
It was true.
The only tangible thing I could gain from this hobo-like Ma Chulsoo was his martial arts.
However—
“You’re mistaken about one thing, Ma Chulsoo.”
“What?”
“I don’t want anything material from you.”
Ma Chulsoo’s face made it perfectly clear that he thought I was talking nonsense.
“…Then what do you want?”
From the very beginning, there was only one thing I wanted from Ma Chulsoo.
“If you drive out Ma Jeongcheon and beco the Young Clan Leader of the Blood Dragon Demonic Clan, then issue a formal statent of support for the current Young Cult Leader.”
“W-What did you just say?!”
“That’s the only thing I want.”
A statent of support for the Young Cult Leader, Cheon Yura.
To be honest, if he could beco the Young Clan Leader in this situation, he could say that statent a hundred tis over and it’d still be worth it.
“Wait, did you just say… Young Clan Leader?”
Ma Chulsoo finally grasped the full aning of my words and gaped in shock.
“That’s right. I’m going to make you the Young Clan Leader of the Blood Dragon Demonic Clan.”
“W-Whether that’s even possible aside… that’s all you want in return?”
“If you go beyond just a statent and actively cooperate with the Young Cult Leader, that’d be even better.”
Calm words—but filled with firm conviction.
“You… You’re really insane.”
Ma Chulsoo looked at with trembling eyes.
“To go that far for soone you care about…”
“So? Are you going to accept it or not? Just so you know, once I start this, I won’t stop. I’ll do whatever it takes to see you seated as the Young Clan Leader.”
In any case, Ma Chulsoo had no way of resolving this situation on his own.
After a brief mont of contemplation, Ma Chulsoo nodded.
“Fine. I’ve got no reason to refuse.”
“Then we’ve got a deal. I’m counting on you, Ma Chulsoo.”
In our past lives, we were political enemies. But now, for the first ti, Ma Chulsoo and I shook hands.
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