Side Story 47. Red Eyes (5)

The first bead of Guihon Jade he had eaten.
A bead of Guihon Jade could be as small as a grain of rice or as large as an acorn.
One about the size of a bean could be called average.

The moment Jeok-yeom first ate one, he was able to slaughter Demon Cult masters through its power and flee.
That was how strong he had become in an instant.
After that, he lived among the Crimson Fighting Fiends, and Jeok-yeom met Shin-gwi, the leader of the Crimson Fighting Fiends.
Shin-gwi truly was like a god¹.

Shin-gwi entrusted a mission to a few of them, including Jeok-yeom.
In doing so, he gave him another bead of Guihon Jade.

Jeok-yeom consumed it on the spot.
Each time, he felt truly immense power.
As Jeok-yeom emitted streams of red light from his eyes and gave off a vicious aura, Shin-gwi watched him with a strange smile.
He promised that if Jeok-yeom completed the task, he would give him one more bead of Guihon Jade.
Then Jeok-yeom would grow even stronger.
He could become as strong as the executives of the Crimson Fighting Fiends, as strong as the close aides who served Shin-gwi.
Just imagining that filled Jeok-yeom with ecstasy.

And now, having received Shin-gwi’s command,
Jeok-yeom resolved to kill the two brats before his eyes.

Crack, crack.

Jeok-yeom set his own neck back into place.
Baek Sang-ye was greatly startled by that horrifying sight.

“Baek Sang-ye!”

Cheongho shouted her name.
Baek Sang-ye snapped back to her senses and swung the tree once more.
She had done the foolish thing of waiting until her opponent recovered.
A mistake came with a price.

Kwa-jajak!

The tree shattered apart.
Unlike before, Jeok-yeom wasn’t sent flying.
The formless energy he emitted was growing even more intense.
At that moment, Baek Sang-ye realized Jeok-yeom’s condition.

‘He’s even drawing on his True Origin Qi!’

Even if Crimson Fighting Fiends naturally possessed tremendous internal energy, this was going too far.
Jeok-yeom couldn’t control his own power.
Internal energy dense enough that it should have been formed into Aura Qi was scattering wildly and rampaging.

Amid the flying shards of wood, Jeok-yeom reached out his hand.
Its speed was almost unbelievable.
Baek Sang-ye, who had been pulling back, was seized by the collar.
If what he had grabbed had been her neck, it would have snapped and she would have died.
Her body was dragged forward by the collar.
Jeok-yeom’s left fist approached. It looked terribly slow.
If that fist reached her head, her skull would be crushed with ease.

Was this a flash of her life before death?
Thinking that, Baek Sang-ye felt something surge in her chest.
She had not learned martial arts just to be taken down this easily.
She raised her arm and covered her head.
She only had to sacrifice her arm and save her life.

Ka-ka-kak.

But Baek Sang-ye’s forearm didn’t break.
A kitchen knife was lodged in Jeok-yeom’s side.
Cheongho had stabbed him.
And that Cheongho was locked in a desperate struggle with Jeok-yeom’s left hand.
When it came to nimble movement, Cheongho was certainly the best among the trio.
He dodged this way and that, avoiding the hand trying to snatch him.
Even with a knife lodged in his side, Jeok-yeom’s momentum did not weaken at all.

Then, he suddenly stomped down.

Kwaang!

The internal energy contained in it was so fierce that the entire ground shook for an instant.
Jeok-yeom grabbed Cheongho by the throat after he lost his balance.
A crisis.
Cheongho and Baek Sang-ye’s lives were seized in the grip of a rampaging Crimson Fighting Fiend.

Heaven helped them.

Piiik.

A sharp whistle sounded, and someone appeared behind Jeok-yeom.
It was a young man holding a sword.
He was wearing the martial uniform of the Yellow Dragon Merchant Guild.
Jeok-yeom hurriedly threw Cheongho and Baek Sang-ye aside.
Because the swordsman who had appeared was swiftly attacking him.

“How dare you!”

Jeok-yeom turned back and swung his hand.
Crimson energy exploded from both of his hands.

Baek Sang-ye and Cheongho, who had rolled across the ground, sensed what was about to happen.

“N-no!”

Even if the Yellow Dragon Merchant Guild had hired martial artists, he did not seem likely to be such a remarkable master.
By contrast, the current Jeok-yeom was truly strong.
Unless one was a Transcendent master, one would not be able to face him.
The Yellow Dragon Merchant Guild martial artist would soon be torn to death.

Teong!

But the swordsman somehow deflected Jeok-yeom’s hand.
Jeok-yeom gritted his teeth, lowered his body, and charged.
He was aiming for the swordsman’s abdomen.

Then, something astonishing happened.
The swordsman lightly lifted himself into the air and stepped onto Jeok-yeom’s wrist.
His movements surpassed the level of an ordinary human.

Jeok-yeom was shocked and swung his arm wildly.
The swordsman’s sword traced a gentle arc.
For an instant, a brilliant light gathered on his blade.
It was unmistakably Sword Aura.

Slice.

Jeok-yeom’s right arm was cut off from the shoulder.
Blood sprayed out, and a tearing scream rang out.

“Kkuaaak! My arm, my arm!”

Jeok-yeom screamed as blood spurted out.
The streams of red light that had been flowing from his eyes had vanished before anyone knew it.
The shock of losing his right arm had calmed his madness.
He looked back and forth between his arm and the swordsman who had cut it off.
Then at Cheongho and Baek Sang-ye as well.

“W-what did I…”

As if he had suddenly come to his senses, he muttered that.
The madness from moments ago, when he had attacked Baek Sang-ye and Cheongho under Shin-gwi’s command, was nowhere to be seen.

“Uaaaak!”

Jeok-yeom turned and began to run.
Perhaps because he had lost one arm and found it hard to keep his balance, his retreating figure staggered awkwardly.

Piiiiik!

Instead of chasing Jeok-yeom, the swordsman blew his whistle.
He had chosen to protect Baek Sang-ye and Cheongho rather than pursue him.
And understandably so…

The swordsman’s eyes met Baek Sang-ye’s.

Baek Sang-ye’s mouth was already hanging wide open.
It was not because she was surprised by the martial arts of the swordsman who had easily subdued Jeok-yeom.
For the ‘him’ she knew, this level of martial might was only natural.

The swordsmanship that had cut Jeok-yeom was a supreme sword art counted among the finest even in the orthodox Murim.
There were hardly any who used it now, but.
There was no one in Murim who would dismiss the name Emperor Sword Form.

“U-uh… why are you here?”

Baek Sang-ye recognized him.
Namgung Shin, a descendant of the sealed Namgung Clan. A Transcendent swordsman.
And So-ryu’s fiancé.
So-ryu was like an older sister to Baek Sang-ye, so the way Baek Sang-ye addressed Namgung Shin was…

“Brother-in-law, why are you here!”

Namgung Shin made a troubled expression and quickly dropped to one knee.

“Your Highness!”
“……”

Baek Sang-ye, who had been in shock, felt a chill run down her spine at that moment.
When she turned her head, Cheongho was watching the two of them with a blank expression.

“…Your Highness?”

He muttered that and tilted his head.
Baek Sang-ye made a quick decision.

“Ahahaha, Brother-in-law, really, in front of others!”

Then she approached Namgung Shin and hugged him.
With a bewildered face, Namgung Shin accepted her embrace.

“How could you call me princess in front of my Senior Brother? Honestly, you’re so embarrassing. Hoho. Even if it’s a pet name, still.”
“Ah…”
“Senior Brother, this is my brother-in-law. He’s very affectionate, so he keeps calling me things like princess.”
“Th-that’s right.”

Namgung Shin barely managed to play along.
He was grown now, but he still carried the impression he had when he was young.
Blunt and fastidious.
Bold eyebrows and an imposing appearance.
He certainly did not seem like someone affectionate.

“…I see.”

But Cheongho accepted it.
Baek Sang-ye let out a sigh of relief.
Her identity had nearly been exposed.
In the past, she might not have cared.
After all, this sort of wandering through Murim had been nothing more than play to her.
But now, Baek Sang-ye’s relationships were not things she could easily discard.

“I am Cheongho.”
“I am Namgung Shin.”

Cheongho gave a fist-and-palm salute, and Namgung Shin introduced himself as well.
Then their gazes met.
Cheongho and Namgung Shin looked nothing alike.
And yet, for some reason, both felt they were very much alike, as if they had met a half-brother whose existence they had never known.

Namgung Shin unconsciously brought a hand to his chest.
A Blue Eye Stone had once been embedded in his chest.
Namgung Shin, who possessed the Silver Vein, the bloodline of the Heavenly Thunder White-Tailed Fox, felt his heart pound.

“…Brother-in-law, why are you here?”

Only after Baek Sang-ye asked that question did Namgung Shin come to his senses.

“I am on a mission. No, I’m on a mission.”
“A mission? From the Murim Alliance?”

Namgung Shin looked around.
No one had approached yet.

“Yes. More importantly, why are you here?”

In truth, Namgung Shin was just as surprised.
He had been acting as a martial artist of the Yellow Dragon Merchant Guild for some kind of mission.
But to think he would meet Baek Sang-ye here.
Although Baek Sang-ye had changed her appearance through disguise arts, Namgung Shin still recognized her.
They had already met several times, after all.

“I entered Azure Forest, so I’m carrying out a mission here too.”
“You’re also after that…”

Baek Sang-ye did not mention Guihon Jade directly, but Namgung Shin realized it at once.
Then he made a troubled expression.

“This place is dangerous. Much blood will be spilled.”
“I learned that clearly from what just happened.”

Baek Sang-ye had been greatly shocked as well.
She had expected a fight to break out, but she had not thought blood would be shed this suddenly.

“This competition must be stopped.”

And she was certain.
She did not know what Seok Sung had been thinking when he opened a competition like this.
But using Guihon Jade privately was clearly forbidden by national law.

“We must stop the competition, force Seok Sung to kneel, and hold him accountable for the crime of insulting the Great Ming Code.”

He might have prepared this competition in order to draw blood.
As an imperial princess, and as a Daoist of Azure Forest, Baek Sang-ye judged that she could not tolerate it.
But Namgung Shin made a troubled expression.

“…That is not easy.”
“Why? Is Seok Sung using powerful people to protect himself?”

Seok Sung was a man of enormous wealth.
And enormous wealth could make even officials bow and scrape.
Even if they reported him to the constables, nothing would likely come of it.
But for Baek Sang-ye, who was unmistakably an imperial princess, that was an obstacle she could overcome.

“That is not the issue.”

But Namgung Shin said it flatly.

“The competition cannot be stopped.”
“……”

Baek Sang-ye was a little flustered. Even she had never seen Namgung Shin speak this firmly before.

“Do you know… where my sister is?”
“Hm.”
“Did she perhaps come this way too?”

Namgung Shin didn’t answer.
He was the type to clearly separate public and private matters.
He upheld that principle even with Baek Sang-ye.
That was why she liked Namgung Shin, but.

“…You may receive contact soon.”

He muttered that apologetically.
Namgung Shin wiped the blood from his blade and sheathed it.

“I will be sure to capture and interrogate that Crimson Fighting Fiend from just now. Do not worry too much.”
“Yes…”

Baek Sang-ye, now a little gloomy, expressed her gratitude once more.

“Thank you again for saving us.”

Namgung Shin left with a bitter smile.

Cheongho and Baek Sang-ye could only watch him go.
Why had that Crimson Fighting Fiend gone berserk like that?
If they captured and interrogated him, they would learn the reason.
For now, they had no choice but to wait for that.

Seok Sung looked at the corpse brought before him.

“Who killed him?”
“He was already dead when we found him.”

The corpse lying on the straw mat before Seok Sung was missing one arm.
It was Jeok-yeom’s corpse.
The Crimson Fighting Fiend who should have been captured and interrogated had been found dead.

“I’m asking who killed him!”

Seok Sung roared in a resounding voice.
But the inner steward of the Yellow Dragon Merchant Guild, hearing that roar, only broke out in a cold sweat.

“With martial artists guarding the place like that, what bastard cut open his belly and cleaned things up!”

Jeok-yeom’s belly had been cut open.
Seok Sung knew it was evidence that someone had retrieved the Guihon Jade.

In other words, Jeok-yeom had been ‘disposed of’ by someone.
Probably by another Crimson Fighting Fiend.
That meant the Crimson Fighting Fiend had broken through the Yellow Dragon Merchant Guild’s security and recovered Jeok-yeom’s Guihon Jade.

“Haha!”

Seok Sung burst out laughing instead.

“Fine. In any case, we only need to catch the head.”

The corpse before him was likely no more than a limb of the Crimson Fighting Fiends.
Seok Sung stomped hard on the dead Jeok-yeom’s head.

“Now I’ll take the field myself.”

The steward trembled in fear.