TL: FoodieMonster007
The match was decided in a single exchange. The Pure Cultivation Sect Leader couldn't even accuse Baek Suryong of blindsiding him. The man had clearly warned him before making his move.
"H-How dare you ambush ?" he stamred.
The gap between their martial arts skills was simply too overwhelming, but he refused to acknowledge that. The Pure Cultivation Sect was a sect of considerable size in Xi'an. While he was nothing compared to the masters of Mount Hua and Zhongnan, he could proudly claim to be one of the top twenty martial artists among the other Xi'an sects.
Baek Suryong frowned. "What?"
"Who instigated you to do this? If you release now and confess obediently, I will show rcy and spare your life."
The Pure Cultivation Sect Leader forced out an air of dignity befitting his position. In truth, the current Pure Cultivation Sect was built from the blood and sweat of his grandfather and father. Compared to them, he was more interested in collecting art and indulging in luxury and pleasure than in martial arts, but most people were unaware of that.
"Do you think you'll be safe after hurting ?" he demanded. "Xi'an will be turned upside down. The martial artists of my sect and countless chivalrous heroes of the orthodox murim with whom I am acquainted will find you! Mount Hua, Zhongnan, and the Beggars' Gang will also co forward. Can you take them all?"
"Hah, what a fool. I see you still haven't grasped your situation." Baek Suryong looked at the Pure Cultivation Sect Leader with an expression of utter disbelief.
He calls himself the leader of a sect, yet he acts so high and mighty even when he is being held by the throat. Plus, this is the bastard who hired thugs to intimidate an old man over a single painting.
If Baek Suryong hadn't known what the Pure Cultivation Sect Leader had done, he might have been slightly impressed by the man's attempt at bullshitting. Now, however, he just looked like a hypocrite desperately trying to save face.
He said nothing more, but his expression grew colder by the second.
Sensing the impending danger, the Pure Cultivation Sect Leader's words started tumbling out faster. "D-Did soone pay you to do this? I'll give you double. No, triple, five tis the amount! First, let go and let's talk…"
"You really don't understand why I'm here, do you?" Baek Suryong sighed, then punched the Pure Cultivation Sect Leader in the stomach with his free hand.
"Kuheuk!" The Pure Cultivation Sect Leader writhed in agony. He weakly tried to swing his sword to cut off his opponent's arm, but it only sliced through empty air.
Releasing his killing intent, Baek Suryong slowly tightened his grip on the Pure Cultivation Sect Leader's neck. "If you spout nonsense one more ti, I'll gouge out your eyes and then yank off your limbs one at a ti. You only need a tongue to answer my questions. If you think I'm lying, the go ahead, keep talking shit."
"Uh, uuuuhh… S-Spare …" The Pure Cultivation Sect Leader's consciousness began to fade, and tears welled up in his eyes. As the fear that he might actually die finally seeped into his entire body, his lofty pride crumbled into pieces.
"Are you ordering around?"
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"Please… spare …"
Baek Suryong dumped the Pure Cultivation Sect Leader on the floor.
"Cough, cough!" After coughing for a long while, the Pure Cultivation Sect Leader knelt down on his own accord, trembling like soone possessed. He dared not even raise his head to et Baek Suryong's eyes.
It was shaful for a martial artist, but he, who had spent his whole life strutting around Xi'an, had never faced such a threat to his life.
Baek Suryong snorted. He's just a pampered young master who grew old without learning anything.
There was no need to torture such weak-willed trash. A few words were enough to make him submit.
"Let's start from the beginning. I'm going to ask you so questions, and you will answer without straying off-topic."
"Y-Yes, sir!" the Pure Cultivation Sect Leader nodded desperately. Although Baek Suryong was dressed as an ordinary scholar, he no longer thought of him as a scholar.
He's a demonic master, and a frighteningly powerful one at that! Perhaps one of the Ten Great Villains, or, judging by his cruel thods and skill, maybe even one of the most fearso Three Blights.
Baek Suryong got straight to the point. "The painting in the old bookstore. You know who painted it, right?"
"A-Artist Pung Wol painted it."
Baek Suryong tilted his head. "Just who is Artist Pung Wol?"
"He is a legendary painter who has now retired. Among collectors like us, paintings drawn by him are priceless…"
About a year ago, the Pure Cultivation Sect Leader learned about the portrait in the old bookstore on the outskirts of the city. A washed-up scholar who knew his love for paintings subtly told him about it, but even then he couldn't imagine that such a treasure would be displayed in a shabby place frequented only by poor scholars.
He visited the old bookstore just for fun, but the mont he saw the portrait, he fell in love at first sight. Although his martial arts were diocre, he had a good eye for art. Thanks to that, he realized that the style of painting matched Artist Pung Wol's other work.
"I tried to buy it for a fair price, honestly! But that stubborn old man just refused to sell… Kuheuk!" Grimacing from another punch to the gut, the Pure Cultivation Sect Leader looked up at Baek Suryong with fearful eyes. The ordinary-looking scholar was smiling coldly. "W-Why?" he asked, confused.
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"You dare lie to even now? You tried to buy it fair price? Admit it, you planned to rip him off and take it for cheap, didn't you?"
"That's not…"
"Tell how much you offered. Didn't you just say yourself it was a priceless treasure? If it's not an amount that surprises , I can rip that mouth of yours off, right?"
"I-I'm sorry… The truth is…" the Pure Cultivation Sect Leader quickly apologized.
Baek Suryong shook his head. It's obvious even without looking. He must have tried to forcibly take it for cheap, claiming it was too precious a treasure for an old man who didn't know its value to possess.
Indeed, the Pure Cultivation Sect Leader had sent people several tis afterwards, expressing his intention to buy the painting, but he was refused every ti. Angered, he hired the thugs and ordered them to visit the old bookstore every day, disrupting the old man's business so it couldn't operate properly and threatening him into selling the painting.
"You call yourself an orthodox sect, yet you behave worse than unorthodox scum."
"……" The Pure Cultivation Sect Leader wanted to retort, "Aren't you the sa kind of scum?" but didn't dare voice his true feelings and lowered his head deeply.
Baek Suryong fell into deep thought. No wonder it didn't seem like an ordinary painting.
Even to him, who had no knowledge of art, the portrait of the Ice Moon Goddess was extraordinarily lifelike, like seeing her younger self in person.
"Tell everything you know about Artist Pung Wol," he demanded.
The Pure Cultivation Sect Leader imdiately spilled out everything he knew about the artist Pung Wol. The painter was a master who ranked in the top three painters in the world, but after retiring, he no longer produced any new art.
The martial artists the painter interacted with in his youth included the current sect leaders and elders of the Mount Hua Sect and the Zhongnan Sect, demonstrating his wide network of connections, and he himself was said to be a considerable martial artist.
Most importantly, he currently lived in seclusion in a mansion in Xi'an.
Good, at least he's in the sa city. That saves so trouble.
"…He is also known as a rather powerful sorcerer. One reason his works are famous is that they are steeped in sorcery."
"Sorcery?"
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"It's just a rumor, but they say that those who see the portraits of won he painted et that beauty in their dreams and do this and that…"
SLAP!
The Pure Cultivation Sect Leader's head snapped sideways as Baek Suryong struck him across the face. Even his molars felt like they had been loosened. "W-Why… All of a sudden…"
"Shut up, you pervert bastard."
Baek Suryong glared at the Pure Cultivation Sect Leader with murderous eyes. So the reason this bastard tried to seize Master Eun's portrait was to et her in his dreams and do this and that to her? He should be grateful that I only loosened a few teeth and not cracked his skull.
"Anything else you know?" he snarled, furrowing his brows and scowling.
The Pure Cultivation Sect Leader flinched and trembled with terror. "T-That's everything I know…"
"Hmm… I have a favor to ask you."
Although Baek Suryong had frad it as a favor, the Pure Cultivation Sect Leader knew that it was an order.
A feeling of relief washed over him. If this scary man wanted sothing from him, that ant at least he wouldn't kill him.
"Pl-Please speak," he stamred.
Baek Suryong grabbed the edge of his human skin mask and peeled it back slightly, but not enough to reveal anything.
The Pure Cultivation Sect Leader's eyes widened in shock.
"A human skin mask! So that appearance was…"
"Kekeke. Consider yourself fortunate. If you had seen this old man's true face, you would already be dead." Baek Suryong scraped his vocal cords to produce an old man's voice. It was a very simple technique for him.
"…!!"
"The reason I showed you this is to let you know it's useless to try looking for this old man. This face is fake anyway, so you will never find in your lifeti."
"I-I would never think of it!"
The Pure Cultivation Sect Leader ant what he said. He had absolutely no desire ever to get involved with this demonic master ever again. He was fundantally a timid man, after all.
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"Kekeke. Good that you understand quickly. I'll get right to the point. I like the painting in the old bookstore. but I have other pressing business and don't have the leisure to carry it around with right now. It would be inconvenient if blood got on it, you see."
"B-Blood…"
What on earth is this demonic master planning to do out in the jianghu?
A blood-soaked tapestry materialized in the Pure Cultivation Sect Leader's imagination.
"Kekeke. Do you want to know where I'm heading?"
"N-No, sir. Absolutely not."
Baek Suryong pressed the slightly peeled human skin mask back. Now ca the important part. Exuding killing intent, he warned, "Until I return, you will watch over that painting for ."
"Yes…?"
"Do not lay a single fingertip on it, leave it exactly as it is in the old bookstore, but guard it secretly so that no other thief steals it."
"Such a…"
"If the painting is gone when this old man returns, or if the owner of the old bookstore has changed…" Baek Suryong's eyes flashed crimson as he activated the Blood Demon Eyes.
"……" The Pure Cultivation Sect Leader's pupils glazed over from fear.
"…I will return and tear your limbs apart before killing you."
"Uh, uuuuhh…" The Pure Cultivation Sect Leader's mind went blank, absolute terror engraved onto his psyche. Prostrating himself on the floor, he sobbed, "Y-Yes, sir. I will guard it without fail! I will do as you command, so please, just spare my life…"
"…I will return at a later date."
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The voice ca from far away, but the Pure Cultivation Sect Leader waited for a while before he dared to lift his head again. The demonic master who had made him quake in fright was long gone.
Dashing out of his room, he summoned his sect's martial artists and commanded, "Starting tomorrow, no, starting right now, all of you will patrol the area around the old bookstore and watch for any suspicious persons approaching!"
"…?" The martial artists of the Pure Cultivation Sect blinked in bewildernt at their Sect Leader's unexpected display of panic.
"That should stop him from trying anything funny for a while."
As Baek Suryong left the Pure Cultivation Sect for his next destination, his steps were noticeably lighter. In his past life, he had dealt with demonic masters on a daily basis. Imitating them was effortless.
Elder, the thugs won't dare harass you anymore.
A satisfied smile ford on Baek Suryong's lips as he thought of the old man at the bookstore, but as he approached his destination, he gradually scrunched his face in revulsion.
No matter how many tis I et them, I can't get used to this damn stench.
In his hands, he carried a bundle of leftover food bought from a late-night restaurant. Drawn by the enticing aroma, beggars sward around him as soon as he stepped under the bridge.
"Food!"
"Did you bring that for us?"
"Hehe, bless you!"
Baek Suryong smiled awkwardly at the beggars who had instantly surrounded him as if trapping him in a formation. "Sorry for visiting at this late hour. I brought this for all of you to share."
Erging from his shack, the Xi'an Branch Manager exclaid with a deeply moved expression, "As expected of our bruh…! Mmph!"
A dumpling zood through the air like a hidden weapon and landed squarely in the Branch Manager's mouth.
The one who had thrown it was Baek Suryong.
Goddamnit, enough with the brother talk already!
Quickly entering the Branch Manager's shack, Baek Suryong got straight to the point. "I need information."
"Haha! Ask away! It's not like we're strangers!"
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Please, I wish we were. Sighing inwardly, Baek Suryong asked the Branch Manager about Artist Pung Wol.
"Artist Pung Wol, you say? Regarding him…"
The Branch Manager's story was almost identical to the version he had heard from the Pure Cultivation Sect Leader. He had gone to the Beggars' Gang to double-check the information because he didn't fully trust the Pure Cultivation Sect Leader, but it seed that the asshole hadn't lied.
Hmm… Could Pung Wol be Moon Yul's artist pen na?
According to the old man at the bookstore, it wasn't Moon Yul but his acquaintance Pung Wol who painted the picture. He appeared certain that Moon Yul did not have the artistic talent to be a painter.
Still, Baek Suryong didn't rule out the possibility that Moon Yul was Artist Pung Wol.
"Branch Manager, do you know Artist Pung Wol's real na?"
The Branch Manager shook his head while stuffing the dumplings Baek Suryong brought into his mouth. "No, and probably almost no one knows it. He's quite the eccentric figure."
There were many eccentrics and unusual characters in the murim. People who beca famous not because of their martial arts, but by being absolute weirdos. Artist Pung Wol was such a person.
Nodding, Baek Suryong continued, "You ntioned that he retired and currently lives in seclusion. Can I et him?"
He couldn't just barge in unannounced like he did at the Pure Cultivation Sect. From what he had heard, this man didn't seem like the most easy-going person.
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"Well… He's not the type to grant etings just because soone is famous…" The Branch Manager shook his head, frowning. Suddenly, though, he clapped his hands as if he had just rembered sothing. "Ah! Co to think of it, there is one way you can et him without much difficulty."
"How?"
The Branch Manager grinned slyly. "Everyone knows how much Artist Pung Wol loves beauties. Inviting beautiful people to his mansion to eat and chitchat is said to be his greatest pleasure in life."
Baek Suryong blinked, dumbfounded. "Beauties… Are you telling to cross-dress?"
"Haha!" The Branch Manager chuckled. "That wouldn't be bad either, but there's no need for that. When I say beauty, I an regardless of gender."
If that's the case… then it's a simple matter of taking off the human skin mask… but still…
"…Does he ever do strange things to the beauties who visit his house?"
"If he did that, he would have been branded a pervert and beco a public enemy of the murim long ago. He just eats with beauties, talks, and gives gifts when he's in a good mood. That's all."
Although Baek Suryong looked ordinary at the mont thanks to the human skin mask, the Branch Chief couldn't help but feel envious. He had seen the portrait of the Azure Dragon Hero and was familiar with the unforgettable visage hidden beneath the disguise.
"Artist Pung Wol turns away even powerful figures who offer a thousand gold for his ti, but you could probably get in easily, Brother."
Baek Suryong nodded nonchalantly. "Well, I suppose handsoness is a good trait to have."
He wasn't bragging. Nope, not at all.
Translator's Note: There will only be 1 chapter tomorrow as it's polling day.
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