Chapter 46

It was an early morning with rain falling.

At a shabby noodle stall, a man wearing a bamboo hat sat alone. Strangely, he had five bowls of steaming wheat noodles set out in front of him at once.

Someone was watching him from a distance.

That someone was me.

‘Found him.’

Last night, Myeong-ah had told me this.

Every early morning, she followed her older sister when she went out to work at the inn.

Once her sister went inside the inn, she had nowhere to go and wandered the streets, and every day at the same time there was a man who ate five bowls of noodles at the same stall.

Unlike her, hungry as she was, he had noodles piled up in front of him as he ate, so she often just stared blankly, envious.

But she said there was something strange.

Sometimes there had been a musty smell she could not place, and the scar on his face was thick and big.

Her eye level was low, so it seemed she had glimpsed his face from beneath the deeply pulled-down bamboo hat.

‘Is that man really the Longevity Cult Leader?’

If what Myeong-ah said was true, then that man was highly likely to be the Longevity Cult Leader.

‘Let me confirm it myself.’

Wearing a rain cloak, I slowly walked toward the stall.

As I did so, the man reached for the first bowl of noodles with his chopsticks.

Huruuk, the sound of noodles being slurped rang out.

“The rain makes the day rather chilly.”

Like a customer who had come simply to get out of the rain, I calmly sat down at the stall.

It was a seat one space away from the man, not right beside him.

It would have been better to sit closer to check whether a corpse stench came off him, but it was best not to let my guard down.

If this man really was the Longevity Cult Leader, he would be quite the master.

Not knowing what might happen, I had to secure at least a minimal distance to respond.

Tudududuk!

Rain drops shattered on the shabby wooden awning hanging over our heads.

Perhaps because it was raining.

I did not catch the musty smell Myeong-ah had mentioned.

“Huruuk.”

The man emptied the first bowl in an instant.

He began eating the second bowl right away, but for some reason he did not look like he was enjoying the food at all.

It felt like he was forcing the food down his throat out of obligation.

Pretending to know nothing, I opened my mouth.

“Wow, your stomach must be enormous. This is my first time seeing someone eat five bowls of noodles.”

Normally, when a stranger talks to you, you at least show some reaction.

But the man silently focused on his noodles as if he had heard nothing at all.

I spoke again.

“And yet you are eating in a way that looks strangely tasteless. Anyone watching would think you were choking down a funeral offering.”

At last, the man reacted.

His chopsticks stopped dead.

He spoke.

“Young hero, I would like to focus on eating, so could you be quiet?”

His voice carried a warning.

I shrugged my shoulders.

“Oh my, I forgot to place my order.”

The man slowly turned his head toward me. Because of the bamboo hat, his face could not be seen clearly.

Staring straight at me, the man lightly pushed one of the noodle bowls in front of him toward me.

The bowl of noodles spun as if alive and slid along the counter.

Without spilling a single drop of broth, it stopped precisely in front of me.

It was exquisite control.

“Oh, how kind of you. Boss, make up a bowl of noodles and give it to this gentleman.”

I took the bowl, hiding my true thoughts.

It was then.

From the rim of the bowl where the man’s fingers had touched, a very faint smell rose.

This was something I had smelled to the point of loathing in my previous life.

‘It is unmistakably corpse stench.’

I had not yet checked the scar, but I needed no further proof.

I was certain.

This man was none other than the Longevity Cult Leader, Ak Mu-jin.

Myeong-ah’s information had been accurate.

Inwardly, I clicked my tongue.

‘He really moves around alone.’

How can someone be this defenseless?

Even if he had taken off his mask, to eat noodles at some secluded stall at the same time every day without a single guard.

He was still the leader of a religious cult, in name if nothing else.

“This is my first time in Shufu, but the atmosphere is really strange. That Longevity Cult or whatever has the city completely in its grip. Their believers run wild and do whatever they please.”

Ak Mu-jin did not answer.

Showing no sign of tasting or feeling anything, he just silently sucked in the noodles.

“Why are you forcing it down like that? Five bowls, at that?”

“……”

“Eating like that will not bring the dead back to life.”

“…!”

Ak Mu-jin froze stiff.

A fierce killing intent surged from him in an instant.

“Who are you?”

“Let us say someone who is very interested in you.”

I answered with a faint grin.

At the same time, I was inwardly on edge, watching Ak Mu-jin’s movements closely.

They said Ak Mu-jin had a very hot temper.

Since I had touched his reverse scale, he would attack first and think later.

Tang!

Just like this.

When Ak Mu-jin slammed the counter, the noodle bowls bounced up.

Without delay, he smashed one of the bowls hanging in the air.

It came flying at a terrifying speed like a lump of iron, so I ducked my head to avoid it.

The bowl grazed the back of my head and shot past.

Tadadak!

Without giving me any time to breathe, Ak Mu-jin struck the remaining bowls one after another.

In the cramped space of the stall, the flurry of attacks was hard to evade.

Some I dodged, and others I caught with my arms as I twisted my body horizontally, then used that momentum to fling them back at Ak Mu-jin.

It was the subtle principle of Moving a Thousand Catties with Four Ounces.

Pagak!

Ak Mu-jin did not evade the bowls, instead shattering them with his bare fists.

The wooden bowls burst apart, sending white strands of noodles and hot broth spraying in all directions.

“Uwaah! A, a fight!”

“Run!”

With terrified cries, the customers sitting at the various stalls scattered like arrows.

The stall owner flattened himself under the counter.

In an instant, only Ak Mu-jin, myself, and the ever-louder sound of the rain remained in the narrow alley.

I was wearing a rain cloak, but Ak Mu-jin was not.

The falling rain flowed down along his bamboo hat.

“I asked who you are.”

His low, dry voice cut through the curtain of rain.

I answered in a tone befitting a seventeen-year-old Baek Su-gyeong.

“I know the reason you founded the Longevity Cult. So I came to help you.”

“…You have mistaken your man.”

“No, I have the right one. There is only one practitioner of the Rotting Corpse Body Art in Shufu.”

“……”

No sooner had my words left my mouth than Ak Mu-jin charged.

‘As expected, I can’t conversate with him.’

If a secret is exposed to this extent, normal people would be greatly shaken.

They would toss out a few more questions to guess the other party’s identity.

But Ak Mu-jin was not that type of person.

He evidently planned to knock me down first and talk afterward.

‘Not that I did not expect that.’

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the unmasked Ak Mu-jin and the masked ‘Cult Leader’ Ak Mu-jin were different people.

The one I truly had to speak with was Ak Mu-jin as the cult leader.

Seeking out the unmasked Ak Mu-jin had been a set-up precisely for that.

‘Let us see how far his Rotting Corpse Body Art has progressed.’

Once the groundwork is properly laid, I must thoroughly break Ak Mu-jin.

Before that, it would be good to roughly gauge how hard his body is and whether he has any weaknesses.

Cheolpeok Cheolpeok Cheolpeok!

The sound of Ak Mu-jin’s feet pounding the rain-soaked ground stabbed into my ears.

His attack surged in almost at the same time.

I dodged with Whirling Wind Fluttering Leaf Steps and counterattacked instead.

Bbak!

My fist slammed into his chest.

But the one who grimaced was me.

It was because of the power of the Rotting Corpse Body Art, which toughened the body.

With my current martial level, it seemed difficult to inflict significant damage bare-handed.

Hwoong!

Ak Mu-jin’s headlong attacks repeatedly split the falling rain.

If I met them head-on, my bones might very well break.

I did not take them head-on, instead dodging or deflecting them as much as possible.

Ak Mu-jin was not yet going all out either, so it was barely manageable to endure.

However, like this, I could hardly figure out anything about the Rotting Corpse Body Art.

At the very least, I needed to know what level of force it could withstand.

I carefully waited for an opening.

When Ak Mu-jin showed a gap, I dove into his chest and drove a palm strike in.

The attack carried no less than half a year’s worth of Perfect Demonic Qi, yet the result was anticlimactic.

Ak Mu-jin took no damage at all. On the contrary, he tried to wrap both arms around me as if he had been waiting for this.

‘Yikes.’

In a hurry, I unleashed the Soul-Extinguishing Flash Step.

In an instant, I slipped out beyond the reach of Ak Mu-jin’s arms.

‘This time it’ll be a full year’s worth.’

After exchanging attack and defense, I landed a second strike.

Still I could not deal any damage. It was like pounding a boulder.

‘Even this does not work, is that it?’

By now, I had grasped things to some extent.

With my current strength, it was difficult to break through the Rotting Corpse Body Art head-on.

But I had no intention of giving up here.

‘Time to make a final attempt.’

Boldly turning my body, I ran deeper into the narrow alley.

Ak Mu-jin immediately gave chase.

His fist energy surged toward my back.

The only place to evade was downward.

While still running, I boldly dropped to my knees on the ground, slick with pooled rainwater.

Chwaaak!

My body slid across the wet ground, letting Ak Mu-jin’s fist qi pass overhead, and at the same time I kicked off from the ground.

Toward the alley wall.

Tat!

My foot landed on the wall, pushed off, and I spun my body in midair.

Then I whipped the instep of my foot toward Ak Mu-jin’s temple.

Ppaak!

He barely managed to raise his arm and block it, but I could tell.

The corner of his mouth, visible beneath the bamboo hat, twisted ever so slightly.

He had taken a hit!

I landed lightly and straightened my posture.

Catching my breath, I spoke to Ak Mu-jin.

“Let us stop here.”

“I have no such intention.”

Ak Mu-jin’s momentum grew extremely intense.

It had been a probing battle of sorts for him as well until now.

As he was about to move again, I spoke.

“Let us settle this at the Longevity Cult.”

“…?”

A silence that seemed to demand an explanation.

“You have a very grand goal, do you not? But do you really think you can achieve it? That old man will not even blink.”

Ak Mu-jin slowly lifted his bamboo hat.

Between the two sharp eyes staring at me, I could see a thick scar running across his face.

“What could you possibly know?”

“I know enough. I told you, I am very interested in you. Gather the Longevity Cult believers. I will make you see, clear as day, just how futile your goal is in front of them.”

“It is an offer not worth listening to.”

Contrary to his words, Ak Mu-jin did not attack any further.

This was proof that he was shaken.

Instead of answering, I took something from my breast and tossed it at his feet.

What fell onto the rain-soaked ground with a dull metallic sound was an identity token engraved with the ghastly face of a demon.

“…!”

“Let us go to the Longevity Cult compound around sunset today. You must have many questions, but you will learn everything then.”

I turned my body and left the alley.

Even until then, Ak Mu-jin just stared blankly down at the identity token lying on the ground.

‘Now all the groundwork is laid.’

Most likely tonight.

The Heretical Cult subjugation mission would be able to be completed.