The Virtue Of Owning Nothing

This was merely a personal belief of mine……but Black Path martial artists obsessed with money generally met miserable ends. I wasn’t quite sure why.

Among the countless Black Path martial artists I’d encountered in my previous life, the handful of experts skilled enough to trade fierce blows with me had all shown little interest in money.

Perhaps that was because they were lunatics obsessed with martial arts instead of money?

In that sense, I’d already won this fight.

I didn’t know the Black Serpent Gate Master’s exact martial prowess, but there was no way a man obsessed with money could defeat a man obsessed with the sword.

All martial artists were lunatics, but even madness had its specialties and fields of expertise.

A man obsessed with money couldn’t hope to compare to someone like me, who was obsessed with becoming the Sword God.

As I grinned at the letter, Gongson Han spoke to me.

“Why the hell are you sitting there grinning like that?”

I casually ignored Gongson Han’s provocation and tucked the letter into my clothes.

“I’m going out tomorrow.”
“Where?”
“Do you know where Maengung Manor is?”

Gongson Han rested a hand on his chin and shifted his eyes around as though deep in thought.

“Maengung Manor, hmm……ah. I think I vaguely heard there was a manor by that name somewhere on the mountain behind us. Why?”
“Someone wants to meet me there tomorrow night.”
“Who?”

I looked Gongson Han straight in the eye.

“Our money-crazed Black Serpent Gate Master.”
“The Black Serpent Gate Master?”

Gongson Han practically jumped where he stood as though he’d seen a ghost.

It wasn’t particularly surprising to me, so I answered calmly.

“News about the Sword Hero Gate Master and Righteous Sword Gate Master must have reached him, so now he’s making his move. I’ll go alone, so hold down the fort while I’m gone.”
“You’re going alone? Are you insane?”
“You only just noticed?”
“…….”

Truthfully, with Gongson Han and So Geum-ho’s pathetic level of skill, bringing them along in a group wouldn’t help much anyway.

If we went charging in as a mob and started a war, the side that suffered the heavier losses would probably be ours, not the Black Serpent Gate.

In an instant, Gongson Han’s expression shifted from surprise to grim determination.

“Take Chief Steward So and me with you. I may not look like much, but my swordsmanship can hold its own anywhere.”
“Are you good in a fight?”
“I’m fairly good. And I’m quite fast on my feet, aren’t I?”
“Better than the Sword Hero Gate Master?”
“……Come on, of course not. Be reasonable…….”

Ttak!

I put an end to Gongson Han’s bravado with a single flick to the forehead, then casually shook out my hand.

“Then cut the bullshit and go train some more.”
“……Yes. But are you really going alone? Will you be all right?”
“You don’t trust me?”
“Yeah.”
“…….”

If nothing else, Gongson Han was remarkably honest whenever he opened his mouth.

“……If I can’t handle them, neither can you. So stop talking nonsense and get lost. I’m going to sleep.”
“Alright. Get some rest.”

Gongson Han closed the doors to the main hall and leisurely disappeared.

A faint headache suddenly came over me, so I closed my eyes, only for the faces of countless Black Path martial artists I’d met in my previous life to surface without warning.

It wasn’t exactly a welcome reunion, but every now and then I laughed to myself like a lunatic.

As soon as the sun began to set, I left the Sword Hero Gate and ran toward Maengung Manor.

Even as I used my lightness art to cover the long distance at speed, I organized everything I’d learned one piece at a time.

The organization was called the Black Serpent Gate.

They were obsessed with money, and although their forces were fairly large, their secretive and underhanded nature meant there wasn’t much publicly known about them.

The same went for their leader, the Black Serpent Gate Master. They controlled several subordinate factions and had recently expanded by taking tribute in exchange for martial arts. In short, the Black Serpent Gate was…….

a gathering of money-crazed bastards and unpleasant fuckers with a distinctly shady, reclusive streak.

Naturally, that made me suspect there was something wrong with the Black Serpent Gate Master’s personality as well.

Organizations generally tended to take after the person at the top.

Only after alternating between running and walking for roughly two hours did I finally reach Maengung Manor.

The atmosphere was impressive. Long walls stretched out on either side, while two gatekeepers in black martial robes stood armed at the wide-open gate in the center, and their looks were impressive in all the wrong ways.

They were ugly enough to make me wonder if I might actually be more handsome than I’d thought.

As I drew closer, one of the gatekeepers spoke in a deep voice.

“…………Who are you?”

I pulled out the letter I’d received earlier and held it out to the gatekeeper.

“I was summoned. Dokgo Mu-jin, Sect Master of the Dokgo Gate.”
“Dokgo Gate? What kind of shitty name is that?”
“Your face looks even shittier, so just open the gate unless you want to die right here.”

The gatekeeper shouted in a booming voice.

“We have a guest! Open the gate!”

The enormous gates opened to either side, revealing the manor grounds stretching wide beyond them.

I slowly walked inside under the gatekeeper’s guidance.

At the place he finally led me to, a massive man was viciously tearing into a roasted pig’s hind leg while holding a bottle of alcohol in his other hand.

He looked incredibly stupid at a glance.

He looked at least five times more brutal than the Sword Hero Gate Master and like he could eat twelve times more than the Righteous Sword Gate Master, and sure enough, he was tearing through an enormous amount of meat.

The man met my eyes, took another bite from the hind leg, then washed down the mouthful of meat with alcohol.

Without taking his eyes off me, the man ordered his subordinates,

“Bring more meat.”

A sudden certainty came over me. For starters, this bastard was not the Black Serpent Gate Master.

I could tell just by looking at him. There was no way the Sect Master of a successful Black Path organization could be this vulgar or this grotesquely fat.

Maybe if the place were called the Black Pig Gate (黑豚門) instead of the Black Serpent Gate…….

With my hands clasped behind my back, I stared for a long while at the man enthusiastically enjoying his meal.

‘What a pig of a pig bastard.’

The man was staring straight back at me, and as our staring contest continued……a young man emerged from deeper inside the manor carrying several roasted hind legs and two bottles of alcohol, then approached us.

Meanwhile, that wild-boar bastard let out a hearty belch before speaking to the approaching young man.

“Is that the bastard? The lunatic who went and killed both the Righteous Sword Gate Master and Sword Hero Gate Master?”

Unlike the massive man, the young man was remarkably skinny. He looked me up and down before answering.

“Ah, that’s him. I was the one who sent the letter. That’s Dokgo Mu-jin.”

Apparently, this young man was the rude bastard who had written that insolent letter. The massive man picked up the hind leg and pointed it at me.

“Dokgo Mu-jin. Come here. I’ll give some serious thought to whether I should kill you or let you live.”
“…….”

But having been born human, I couldn’t bring myself to obey a pig, so I remained silent and didn’t move an inch.

Just as the atmosphere began turning strange, a tall man in a black long robe appeared from behind the pig-like man and addressed me.

“Sect Master Dokgo. We are the leaders of the Long Serpent Gang and Heavy Serpent Gang, both subordinate to the Black Serpent Gate. We invited you here to have a conversation, so what is the meaning of this disrespect?”

The man who had abruptly appeared and introduced himself as the Long Serpent Gang Leader furrowed his brow.

I’d come because I’d been told the Sect Master was angry, only to find a couple of gang leaders throwing their weight around. What kind of bullshit situation was this?

Still, compared to the Heavy Serpent Gang Leader, the Long Serpent Gang Leader looked somewhat capable of conversation, so I asked him politely.

“……I came here because I have business with the Black Serpent Gate Master, so who the fuck are you two? Explain why you bastards are ordering a busy man around like this. If your reason isn’t convincing, I’ll kill you both right here with a single blow. That’s all.”

Apparently, I’d been mistaken about him being reasonable.

The Long Serpent Gang Leader and Heavy Serpent Gang Leader both stiffened before glaring at me with icy eyes.

The Long Serpent Gang Leader, whose mouth was unusually sharp, spoke to me.

“……You have business with our Sect Master? Are you insane?”

Why were so many people asking if I was insane today?

Of course, they weren’t entirely wrong, so I casually nodded. A man had to admit what was true.

The Heavy Serpent Gang Leader’s already vicious face twisted into something even uglier as he set down his bottle and meat and spoke.

“We were willing to take you in because you seemed capable, but you’ve finally crossed the line.”
“You were going to take me in?”
“That’s right. We’re not completely unreasonable people.”
“Are there conditions?”

When I showed a hint of interest, the tension in both men’s heated expressions eased slightly.

This time, the Long Serpent Gang Leader spoke with a faint smile.

“You killed the Sword Hero Gate Master and Righteous Sword Gate Master, so naturally you’ll have to take over their role. Pay tribute to us, and we’ll hold back our Sect Master’s wrath.”
“Ah.”
“What do you say?”
“And if I refuse?”

The Long Serpent Gang Leader pressed a finger against his temple.

“……You’ll disappear from this place without anyone ever hearing of it. Refrain from asking pointless questions.”

So……in short, these bastards were forcing me into the incredible choice of either paying up or ascending to heaven.

Why the hell were all these bastards so obsessed with money?

I’d tried to resolve things through conversation, but unfortunately, that no longer seemed possible.

I didn’t have any money to begin with, much less money to hand over because someone forced me to.

Anyway, I had no money. Even if I had some, I didn’t, and if I didn’t, then I definitely didn’t. Once I mentally reduced myself to someone poorer than even a Beggars’ Union beggar, my heart became remarkably peaceful.

Perhaps this was what it felt like to embrace the virtue of owning nothing. Maybe that was why Buddhists were all so calm.

As my heart grew peaceful, my tongue loosened as well, and a stream of aimless bullshit began pouring out.

“Then I’ll offer the two of you a choice as well.”
“…….”

I took the Demon Wail Sword from my shoulder, planted it in the ground, and offered them some serious advice.

“Either both of you die here, or you get on your knees right now. Choose.”
“…….”

A sneer rose naturally to my lips.

“Unfortunately, I don’t take money. I have no worldly desires, you see. Still, in my boundless generosity, I might consider it if you offer me your entire fortunes. Ah, where else could you find such a magnanimous man? Don’t you agree?”

Apparently, they didn’t. Rage returned to both men’s faces as they grabbed their respective weapons and charged at me.

I calmly thrust out both palms and met their simultaneous attack head-on.

Kwaaaaaang!

A thought suddenly occurred to me.

The Black Serpent Gate Master’s reaction might be rather entertaining if I presented the Heavy Serpent Gang Leader and Long Serpent Gang Leader to him as gifts.

A broad-minded man generous enough to give gifts even to his enemies.

Imagining the Black Serpent Gate Master losing his temper left me feeling both exhilarated and refreshed.

After unleashing my palm force, I somersaulted once through the air, landed immediately, and grabbed the Demon Wail Sword first.

The instant I gripped the Demon Wail planted in the ground, a chilling sensation ran through me. I gathered strength in my legs, leapt high into the air, and looked down.

“…….”

Sure enough, the Heavy Serpent Gang Leader was charging toward me with ferocious momentum.

The two men were complete opposites not only in appearance, but also in how they fought and the styles they preferred.

The Heavy Serpent Gang Leader fought recklessly, swinging a crudely carved wooden club with brute force, while the Long Serpent Gang Leader rapidly wielded a strangely curved saber and slowly pressured his opponent.

In other words, it was like a wild boar teaming up with a fox.

Ironically, their completely opposing fighting styles made for a fairly effective coordinated attack.

Whenever the Heavy Serpent Gang Leader overcommitted and created an opening, the Long Serpent Gang Leader stepped in with his curved saber. And whenever I looked ready to deal with that saber, the Heavy Serpent Gang Leader came charging in and brought his club crashing down.

The moment I landed, I stomped the ground once, smashed aside the Heavy Serpent Gang Leader’s opening club strike with the Demon Wail Sword, and unleashed palm force toward his face.

But the Long Serpent Gang Leader intervened before I even noticed him, splitting apart the gray palm force with his curved saber before rapidly crossing his arms back and forth and unleashing some damned nonsense that I couldn’t tell was saber art or sheer bullshit.

But if I lost in a contest of bullshit, I wouldn’t be me.

I knocked aside and blocked the curved saber as it came rushing at me from every direction, then the instant the Long Serpent Gang Leader’s movements grew unnecessarily large, I kicked him hard in the shin.

“Ugh!”

At the same moment the Long Serpent Gang Leader grunted, the Heavy Serpent Gang Leader appeared behind him and charged in with heavy steps, swinging his club.

I twisted my body just enough to casually evade the Heavy Serpent Gang Leader’s attack. The instant his wildly swung club was carried by its own momentum into the ground, I seized the Long Serpent Gang Leader’s right arm and violently twisted it until it broke.

“Kraah!”

The attack completely destroyed the Long Serpent Gang Leader’s balance. I didn’t waste the fleeting opening and smashed the back of his neck with the Demon Wail.

Kuuuuuung!

The instant the blow landed, I turned around and raised the Demon Wail vertically.

Sure enough, the club sweeping toward me horizontally struck the Demon Wail with a sharp Tang! and stopped.

Behind me, I vaguely heard the Long Serpent Gang Leader crash into a wall, but that wasn’t my problem.

I couldn’t tell whether the sound was his neck breaking or the wall collapsing, but that wasn’t my problem either.

As we glared at each other with our weapons locked……the Heavy Serpent Gang Leader’s expression was quite a sight.

All his earlier bravado was gone, replaced entirely by anxiety and tension.

His stamina seemed to have bottomed out as well, judging by his ragged breathing. In contrast, both my body and mind were perfectly calm.

At this point, the outcome had practically been decided.

I smiled at the Heavy Serpent Gang Leader, whose face said he couldn’t believe any of this was happening.

“……Heavy Serpent Gang Leader. Why did you have to ignore my kindness and make such a damn fuss? I even gave you a choice.”
“…….”

The Heavy Serpent Gang Leader’s face gradually turned pale, as though he could no longer bear the pressure.

But I wasn’t about to show mercy now. I’d given them more than enough chances. The Heavy Serpent Gang Leader and Long Serpent Gang Leader had kicked every one of them aside, so there was nothing I could do.

Paaaaang!

Just as I was about to finish the fight, the Heavy Serpent Gang Leader suddenly thrust out his right palm and opened some distance between us.

Was he planning to keep fighting? If so, all the better for me.

When I charged again and thrust the Demon Wail toward him, the Heavy Serpent Gang Leader desperately flailed his club as though screaming through the motion itself.

“Someone kill that bastard! Now!”

That crazy wild boar was shouting something utterly ridiculous. But on the Black Path, sometimes even ridiculous orders worked.

The idiots around us actually obeyed the Heavy Serpent Gang Leader, who looked seconds away from death, and began reaching for the swords at their waists.

I looked around and gave them a serious warning.

“Don’t interfere. If even one of you draws a sword, I’ll slaughter every last one of you right here.”

Had I become more frightening to them than the Heavy Serpent Gang Leader by this point?

The men’s expressions stiffened, and they stopped reaching for their swords. The Heavy Serpent Gang Leader roared,

“You bastards!”

Taang!

I swung the Demon Wail Sword hard and forced the Heavy Serpent Gang Leader back, then recalled the principles of the Iron Sword and settled into a sword-drawing stance.

“Phew…….”

Truthfully, there was no need to draw the Demon Wail Sword just to kill someone like the Heavy Serpent Gang Leader.

But right now, I needed to plant fear of me into every man here besides the Heavy Serpent Gang Leader.

Before the Heavy Serpent Gang Leader could even assume a defensive stance, I unleashed One Flash without hesitation.

The instant I drew the sword, pitch-black sword qi shot forward and sliced straight through the Heavy Serpent Gang Leader’s neck. Spirits swarmed out from the sword qi and devoured every drop of the blood spraying high into the air.

Truthfully, this was the first time in this life that I’d properly wielded the Demon Wail Sword. As expected, the sight was still difficult to get used to.

Still, perhaps thanks to all my training, I was just barely able to remain sane.

Before those deranged spirits could tear further into the Heavy Serpent Gang Leader’s corpse and run wild, I immediately sealed them back inside the Demon Wail Sword.

When I looked around……the men’s eyes were already filled with fear of me, as though they had witnessed a demon.

That’s right. A demon.

It was an identity I’d nearly forgotten lately.

For the first time in a long while, I stood beneath the moonlight as the demon of the sword.