Chapter 116

“A deal?”

Gu Cheong-won frowned and asked back.
He looked plainly bewildered, as if it had been a proposal he had not expected in the slightest.
Watching that reaction, I thought,

‘What matters starts now.’

What did Gu Cheong-won want most at this very moment?

In my previous life, it was about five years later that Gu Cheong-won and Geuk Mu-hyeok truly split apart.
There was still a long way to go, but Gu Cheong-won was already harboring other thoughts.
Hadn’t he indirectly admitted as much just now by saying I had insight?

The biggest obstacle in Gu Cheong-won’s path toward the successor’s position was Geuk Mu-hyeok.
They acted like affectionate martial brothers, but the two of them were destined to split.
And it was not simply because of Gu Cheong-won.
It was because Geuk Mu-hyeok’s sinister nature was on a completely different level from Gu Cheong-won’s.
He would use him for all he could, then try to cast him aside.

‘And what am I?’

“An uncertain variable. That’s how you see me, isn’t it? I keep increasing my presence by the day, and you don’t know what kind of move I’ll make next.”
“Is that how you think I see you, Sajae?”
“You want to confirm whether I’m aiming for the successor’s seat, and if I am, how much of a threat I’d be. Not because of Geuk Mu-hyeok, but by your own will.”
“…So?”
“So I thought I’d make you realize there’s no need to confirm it at all. In the end, what you want to hear is this, isn’t it? That I have no intention whatsoever of coveting the successor’s seat.”

Gu Cheong-won’s gaze changed.

“That can’t be the subject of a deal. Because for you, Seventh Sajae, that isn’t something you get to choose.”
“That’s what you think, Sahyung. Do you think Geuk Mu-hyeok doesn’t know what’s really in your heart? Isn’t that a little too naive?”
“Our trust isn’t so flimsy that it can be shaken by words like that.”
“He won’t see it that way.”
“Do you know Great Sahyung? You’ve never even met him.”
“Do you have to dip a finger in the sea to know it’s salty? Just from what he’s done to me so far, plus the rumors, I can size him up perfectly.”

I counted on my fingers as I went on.

“Cruel, suspicious, meticulous, sinister. Do you really think someone like that trusts you, Sahyung?”
“…….”

Gu Cheong-won probably knew it in his heart as well.
That what existed between the two of them was not trust.
That one day, he would have no choice but to clash head-on with that bastard.

“You’re too dangerous, Sajae.”
“The dangerous thing isn’t me. It’s the relationship between you and Great Sahyung.”
“Hoo. I’ll hear what it is you want first, Sajae.”

I smiled in satisfaction.
Things were flowing the way I wanted.

“There’s an item I want to obtain.”
“And why are you telling me that?”
“Don’t you run a secret auction house?”

Gu Cheong-won’s face stiffened.
That the Dark-Shadow Gu Clan ran a secret auction house was a rumor that circulated in whispers.
But very few people knew its true nature or who actually ran it.
If it became known that a drunken wastrel who played the flute and recited poetry personally handled its operations and had increased its profits severalfold compared to before, how many people would be shocked?
I only knew because of Gal So-ye. If not for that, I probably would have gone on without ever knowing until the end of this life.
Gu Cheong-won asked back in a low voice.

“Who told you that?”
“I can’t tell you that. Just know that my information network is useful.”
“…Since the tavern, Seventh Sajae, you’ve slipped past my expectations again and again.”
“It’ll probably be the same this time too. I need Defeated-Spirit Paste.”
“……!”

At last, Gu Cheong-won seemed struck speechless.
He could not speak for a while, then slowly continued.

“You do know what Defeated-Spirit Paste is, don’t you?”
“Of course.”
“This is something sought by people who handle soulless puppets. Seventh Sajae, don’t tell me you’ve laid your hands on that kind of art?”
“Come on. No way.”
“You’d do better not to make clumsy excuses. If you want Defeated-Spirit Paste, that means things have already progressed quite far. You’ve probably already finished treating the corpse with Five-Soul Essence.”

Gu Cheong-won’s eyes sharpened.

“What are you talking about? I don’t even know what Five-Soul Essence is. I’m trying to use it for personal reasons, and that’s because-”
“They say ten soulless puppets are enough to handle even a master in the Mid-Transcendent Peak Realm. You say you have no interest in the successor’s seat, yet you’re raising soulless puppets?”
“It’s not that I’m raising soulless puppets-”
“So all this time, you deceived me quite well while pretending to be innocent. I almost believed you, Sajae.”

He was not listening at all.

‘He’s worked up.’

This was different from what he had shown until now.
Was it because he was the kind of man who was obsessively fixated on the successor’s seat?

‘What the hell is it about that damned thing?’

What kind of story lay behind this for him to be so sensitive about the successor’s seat?

“It seems Seventh Junior Brother has been drawing a very grand plan. Taking control of the Illusory Hwang Clan and the Guardian Court, bringing down the Hundred-Succession Heuk Clan, were they all stepping stones laid for that moment?”
“Stepping stones, my ass. Listen to me. I’m trying to give Defeated-Spirit Paste to someone else!”
“…Someone else?”
“That’s right.”

I hesitated for a moment.
Could I really tell him that Ak Mu-jin had learned the Corpse-Body Reinforcement Art?

‘Let’s only reveal just enough.’

“The former Ghost-Face Unit Leader.”
“You mean Ak Mu-jin? The one under your management, Seventh Sajae?”
“Yes.”

It seemed he knew who that was.
Then again, a few months ago the Elder Council Lord had raised all sorts of hell about killing him, so there was no way he would not know.

“Ak Mu-jin has circumstances that absolutely require Defeated-Spirit Paste. It’s not related to soulless puppets.”
“What circumstances?”
“It’s a bit hard to explain in detail.”
“It makes no sense at all. What possible reason could he have for needing Defeated-Spirit Paste? The former Ghost-Face Unit Leader isn’t raising soulless puppets.”
“He’s not, but it’s similar. He’s in danger of becoming something like one himself. More exactly, his body gets a bit tougher, but he gives off a rotten smell, so he can’t come down from the mountain.”
“…Did he perhaps learn some wicked art?”
“Well, something like that.”

Gu Cheong-won narrowed his eyes.

“Let’s say that’s true. But for such a trivial reason, you’d personally go around trying to obtain Defeated-Spirit Paste, Sajae?”
“How is that trivial? It’s a matter involving a person’s life and rights.”

I explained it step by step.
Why Ak Mu-jin had returned to the cult, and how I had coaxed him into it.

“Unit Leader Ak came back because of me, so if I turn my back on him, who’s going to help him? If not for a reason like this, why would I come all the way out here, awkwardly sharing a table and then even coming out for this tea, with Third Senior Brother, whom I hadn’t exchanged a single word with before?”
“…Really?”
“I’m telling you, yes. Have you spent your whole life being fooled?”
“It hasn’t been a life rich in trust.”

Gu Cheong-won gave a bitter smile.
Somehow, it felt like I was finally getting through to him.
I quickly pressed on.

“I dislike Geuk Mu-hyeok. No, I loathe him. If you cripple my dantian right now, you’ll probably get a few words of praise from him. But what meaning would that have?”
“…….”
“Wouldn’t it be far better to cooperate with me instead? Because on your own, Third Senior Brother, you won’t be any match for Geuk Mu-hyeok.”
“There’s some sense in that.”

Gu Cheong-won nodded heavily.
At last, I had persuaded him!

“Good. Then the Defeated-Spirit Paste-”
“But it’s still too early to discuss a deal.”
“…What?”
“I need to confirm with my own eyes whether you have the qualifications to make such a deal, Sajae.”
“You mean… you want to fight?”
“Simply put, yes.”

I shook my head.
What the hell did conversation even mean to these people of the Demon Cult?
Why did every conversation and every attempt at persuasion always end in a fight?

“Well, you’re not suggesting a duel to the death or anything, are you?”
“That depends on how long you hold out, Sajae. The battle ends the moment I acknowledge you.”

Gu Cheong-won flicked his sleeve.
Puh-eong!
From who knew where, a bundle of orange silk shot out without restraint.
In the blink of an eye, the pavilion vanished.
In a vast open space.
The only thing visible was an orange silk curtain surrounding me on all sides.

‘Illusion art?’

The young master of the Dark-Shadow Gu Clan, famed for hidden weapons and concealment arts, was using illusion arts?

“It’s Vermilion Illusion Silk. It compensates for the Gu Clan’s weak martial arts.”

By the time his voice reached me, Gu Cheong-won had already vanished.
It seemed he had hidden himself somewhere behind the curtain of Vermilion Illusion Silk.

‘Where is he?’

I spread out my senses.
Perhaps because of the illusion art, I couldn’t sense anything. Or perhaps it was because Gu Cheong-won’s martial level was far higher than mine.
I swept my gaze across the curtain and deliberately spoke.
I was hoping I might at least pin down the direction.

“Third Sahyung, did you always like tricks like this?”
“My apologies.”

An unexpected answer came back.

“The Gu Clan is a place that amounts to nothing if not for petty little tricks like these.”
“……?”

Something about his tone was strange.
It was almost as if it was steeped in disillusionment.
He seemed not to regard his own clan with much pride.

“It won’t be easy, so be careful.”

Instead of answering, I frowned.
Because my little scheme of locating Gu Cheong-won by his voice had failed.
His voice had not come from one place, but from several places in sequence.
Either he was moving continuously, or it was because of the illusion art.
It had to be one of the two.

‘Focus.’

What made a master of hidden weapons frightening was that their attacks were impossible to predict.
You never knew when, from where, what would come flying at you, or how.
There were dozens, hundreds of kinds of hidden weapons alone.
And because each was used differently, their trajectories, sounds, and force all varied.
That made them extremely difficult to deal with.

Whiik!
Then, without warning, something came flying at me.
I ducked my head by reflex. A thin willow-leaf throwing knife passed over the back of my head.
Then hidden weapons came rushing in from all sides.
Willow-leaf throwing knives, coin darts, mother-and-child pellets, and various other hidden weapons whose names I didn’t know.
Most of them I either dodged well or knocked aside with the cold-iron dagger.
But there were some I couldn’t avoid.
With so many different kinds coming in at different angles and speeds, and sometimes several of them flying at me at once, it couldn’t be helped.
Because of that, my ear was cut, and one of the child pellets from a mother-and-child pellet embedded itself in my side.
My injuries were steadily increasing in real time.

“My, that must hurt.”

A voice sounded directly behind me.
I turned around by reflex.
I caught a faint glimpse of Gu Cheong-won. He retreated and vanished behind the Vermilion Illusion Silk again.

“Where are you looking?”

This time Gu Cheong-won appeared on my right, then vanished again.
A snort of laughter slipped out.
So he was really playing with me.

‘This won’t do.’

At this rate, I would either hit the limit of True Blood Severed Meridians, or my internal energy would run dry before that.
If that happened, the Defeated-Spirit Paste would be out of reach.
In the worst case, my dantian would be shattered, or I would die.

To end this situation, I had to find Gu Cheong-won’s location. Only then could I grab him by the collar or stick a blade in him.
But as things stood, that was difficult.
It felt like I might be able to find him if I narrowed my senses the way I had with the Heavenly Demon not long ago, but even that was only possible if I could first estimate his general location.
In that case, there was only one method.

‘Memorize it.’

There was something I had been feeling for a while now.
That the flow of the hidden weapons flying at me felt somehow regular.
How to put it, it was as if they had pitch and rhythm, like a melody.
Gu Cheong-won playing the flute.
There was something about it that called that performance to mind.

‘Between the first and second. And between the second and third.’

As I kept dealing with the relentless barrage, I reconstructed Gu Cheong-won’s attacks from the beginning.
Meanwhile, my wounds kept increasing.
The only comfort was that none of them were fatal yet.

‘Wait. Three, two, three, one.’

I caught the rhythm.

‘Left middle, right upper, center.’

I began estimating the directions.

‘Right side?’

Spat!
A hidden weapon grazed exactly past the place I had predicted.
A thrill ran through me for an instant.
I had uncovered the pattern!
Now all that remained was pinpointing Gu Cheong-won’s location.

Predicting the next point of attack and then the one after that, I narrowed my senses toward those directions.
A hidden weapon lodged in my left arm, and my calf was torn open.
But I kept narrowing them, and narrowed them again.

Then the world grew still.
A sensation as though all my senses were awakening.
I noticed the Vermilion Illusion Silk trembling ever so slightly.
The instant a hidden weapon pierced through the curtain, a tiny ripple formed.
I ‘felt’ that point.

‘There!’

Faintly, but I caught Gu Cheong-won’s presence.
In the instant right after he had thrown a hidden weapon and before he moved to the next position.
As I knocked aside the hidden weapons with the cold-iron dagger, I used Soul-Extinguishing Flash Step.
My destination was the place Gu Cheong-won was moving to.
At that moment, the Vermilion Illusion Silk rippled.
It seemed he had realized that I had found his position.
But it was already too late.
Once shaken, an illusion art could be broken.

Chwaaaak-!
I slashed the cold-iron dagger vertically.
The Vermilion Illusion Silk split apart to the left and right.
Behind that curtain stood Gu Cheong-won.

Three meters.
One and a half meters.
Three feet.
And half an inch.

A single point.
As if I meant to kill him, I thrust the cold-iron dagger toward Gu Cheong-won’s heart. It was the principle of Insect Courage.

Gu Cheong-won’s eyes widened as if he couldn’t believe it.
An instant later.
Kkaaang!
A violent clash rang out.
Tszuzut, my shoes carved the character two into the floor as I was pushed back roughly three meters.
The same went for Gu Cheong-won.
Not as far as me, but he too stood two steps behind where he had originally been.

“……!”

Gu Cheong-won’s face was colored with utter shock.
In front of his heart was a Luohan coin bound with Aura Qi. With a hidden weapon that was meant to be thrown, he had blocked a killing strike in that split second.

‘I figured as much.’

Gu Cheong-won was roughly at the mid-stage of the Transcendent Peak Realm.
There was no way he would go down that easily.
I forced down the blood surging up my throat and asked,

“Do I not qualify?”
“…Not at all.”

Gu Cheong-won shook his head.
He stared at me with complicated eyes.
I smiled faintly.

“Why? Do you think it would be better to just kill me right now instead?”
“A little. I hadn’t realized Seventh Junior Brother was this capable… But.”

Saaa-
The Vermilion Illusion Silk vanished, and I returned to the pavilion once more.
Gu Cheong-won continued in a low voice.

“I’ll keep my promise. Three days from now, I’ll come to your residence, Sajae.”
“Good.”

And just like that, I was able to secure Defeated-Spirit Paste.
Getting injured had been worth it.
There was no real need to mention that I got scolded like mad by Ju Ok-hwa.

Three days passed quickly.
Gu Cheong-won appeared as promised.

“Let’s go.”
“To where?”
“The auction house.”

I blinked.