Swordless Demonic Path

Chapter 197 : Scentless Flower (2)

Although it was not a fatal wound, it was the first time in a hundred years that he had seen so much blood.

"What is this?"

Although Jeokrin asked, Jin Sa-wol could not answer.

Just then, a heavy sound of *thump!* was heard, and the two Heavenly Armored Corpses, who had been standing like firewood, fell with their waists cut.

Jin Sa-wol, who had come to his senses at the sound, looked at Jeokrin, who was standing far away, with a hardened expression.

"I have no reason to tell you."

Jin Sa-wol also did not know what had happened. It just felt as if something had left his body.

Although blood was flowing from his whole body, strangely, there was no pain. Rather, it felt as if his mind had become clear.

Seeing his bent left arm, he put the sword in his mouth, grabbed his arm, and slowly straightened it.

*Thud!*

As the strange sound of the bone joints being set echoed, Jeokrin dropped his sword to the floor and stroked his beard.

Although the blood flowing from his body soaked his waist, he also had a face that did not know pain.

"It's a shame to kill you."

Jeokrin said as if whispering and smiled.

"I'll come back in half a year. You'll have to make a decision by then. Either follow me or die."

"What if I dislike both?"

"Don't worry. From half a year later, I will cut off all of your affection. I will not kill you, but I will destroy your surroundings. One by one, slowly in front of your eyes... If you realize you are alone, you will come to me."

"You were a more despicable bastard than I thought."

"Hahahaha!"

At Jin Sa-wol's words, Jeokrin laughed loudly, as if he were amused rather than offended.

Jin Sa-wol, in order to grasp the current situation, looked around and asked.

"Why half a year later?"

"Since you are rebelling against your grandfather like this, I'm thinking of going to see another grandson who listens well and is nice. It will probably take half a year to go and come back here."

At the words 'another grandson', Jin Sa-wol thought of Leng Yushan of the Ice Palace.

Jeokrin had intended to take all of Jin Sa-wol's internal energy with the Star-Absorbing Demonic Art when it was full.

'I might be able to achieve the realm I couldn't achieve because Simbeop committed suicide, thanks to you.'

"I'll come back."

Jeokrin laughed, revealing his teeth, and then flew up into the air and disappeared from Jin Sa-wol's sight in an instant.

A deep and heavy silence lingered in the space where Jeokrin had disappeared and then disappeared.

All of this felt like a passing wind or a dream.

No, it would have been better if everything were a dream.

As the strength in his hand holding the sword drained, he dropped the sword. As the strength in his legs disappeared, it seemed he would fall at any moment.

He barely put strength into his legs, approached the dead Son Ae-hwa, and sat down.

Son Ae-hwa's face, full of blood, was paler than the moonlight. When he held her in his arms, she was even colder.

The sticky blood that had flowed from Son Ae-hwa's neck soaked his hands.

His chest was hot, but he felt his head cool down. He could not distinguish whether this was sadness or anger.

"I'm sorry."

The only thing he could say now was 'I'm sorry'. Nothing else came to mind.

Hearing the sound of the fluttering wind, he turned his head and saw a blue cloth flying in the dark sky. It was a cloth flying from near the gisaeng house. Bi-sun and Jo-rim were there.

Thinking about it, he hadn't seen the two of them.

He focused on the cloth in front of him rather than the well-being of the two.

It was a wide and long, large cloth. From a distance, it would look like a blue snake flying.

The cloth, which was fluttering and flying in the air, landed in the form of a person in front of his eyes.

It was a sight as if a person were inside the cloth.

A sense of tension covered his whole body. If he were attacked by an enemy in this situation, he could not resist properly.

*Creak!*

He gritted his teeth and revealed a strong killing intent. It was a kind of warning to let the enemy know that he was not yet dead.

"I'm not an enemy."

A cool female voice flowed from inside the cloth.

Still, he could not withdraw his killing intent. If it wasn't an enemy, why had it appeared before his eyes?

The cloth lowered its voice and said again.

"I put all the children in the gisaeng house to sleep. They will wake up when time passes."

"Who are you?"

"I am..."

The voice paused for a moment.

He had a memory of meeting the cloth in the Demonic Cult. It was a mysterious person who had covered his sight and had disappeared with Cheon Yu-myeong.

For a moment, the person inside the cloth did not move. Then, as if she had made a decision, she flipped the blue cloth.

*Flutter!*

Her sky-blue hair, fluttering in the wind, flowed down long.

Her skin, like the moonlight, and her red lips sparkled, and her straight nose and long eyelashes trembled.

Her black pupils were like a clear lake, and they even gave a transparent feeling. She was a woman in her early to mid-twenties with a beauty that would make you feel as if you would be sucked into a mirror if you looked at it.

She wrapped the blue cloth around her like a cape. She, who was wearing a sky-blue dress, wrapped her body with the blue cloth and then took a step closer to Jin Sa-wol.

"Your father was killed by Jeokrin."

Although he heard her cool voice, he could not move. Because of the memory of his childhood.

The woman with the gentle hand who had held his hand was the woman standing before his eyes now.

It was a memory that had brushed past in a fleeting moment, like a torn piece of paper.

The woman said.

"Jeokrin tried to pull out your young eyes and tongue and make you a ghost. Your father stopped that, and because of that, he died. Jeokrin is a person who kills even his own child without forgiveness if they disobey his will."

"So?"

"Jeokrin became your father and acted as the Esoteric Cult Leader, and he became Cheon Yu-myeong and acted as the Demonic Cult Leader. In the much more distant past, he was a monk of Shaolin, and he was also an elder of the Martial Alliance. He has killed thousands and will kill thousands more in the future."

"What's the reason for telling me such useless things?"

"Useless... You're angry at me."

The woman looked at Jin Sa-wol for a moment. Jin Sa-wol, who had a face that resembled her, caught her eye through his disheveled hair.

"Don't resist Jeokrin and follow him. If you disobey Jeokrin's will, only corpses will be left around you. In the end, you will also die."

"Your name... was definitely Seo Yong-hwa. Is it a pseudonym? Or is that face a face-changing technique? Disguise? You also change your face frequently like Jeokrin, right?"

As he finally pulled out the memory of the past and said the name, Seo Yong-hwa's pupils shook greatly.

Although Seo Yong-hwa had embraced Jin Sa-wol several times in her heart, she could not. Just watching was the best she could do now.

"I am not Jeokrin. This appearance now is me."

At Seo Yong-hwa's answer, Jin Sa-wol nodded.

He judged that it was not a lie. And he thought that the reason she had appeared before his eyes like this was not to give a warning.

Jin Sa-wol withdrew his killing intent and said in a cold voice.

"I will kill Jeokrin. How... can I kill him?"

"You can kill Jeokrin?"

As the startled Seo Yong-hwa asked, Jin Sa-wol nodded with an unwavering gaze. In Seo Yong-hwa's eyes, that was confidence.

'They say blood can't be deceived, so he resembles him in being arrogant and haughty.'

Seo Yong-hwa let out a short breath and then said.

"There is no one who can beat Jeokrin. He is not a person. He can be called a monster. He has mastered all the martial arts of the Three Sovereigns. He has mastered the legendary Formless Divine Art of Shaolin, the Hegemonic Heaven Divine Art of the Demonic Cult, and the Six-Layer Demonic Art of the unorthodox faction.

Among them, the best is the Formless Divine Art of Shaolin. Because of that, he was able to unite the Hegemonic Heaven Divine Art and the Six-Layer Demonic Art, which have different colors. Jeokrin's internal energy is wider than the sea, and its depth cannot be fathomed, so he has no enemies in the world."

"Stop boasting and just tell me the weakness of that crazy bastard."

"The Baihui acupoint."

"That's ordinary."

The Baihui acupoint was a vital point for all people. It was a fatal vital point that could cause death with even a small shock.

It was also a point called the Heavenly Gate, where the sky and humans were connected. There was also a legend that one could become an immortal when the Heavenly Gate opened, and it was a point that all martial artists knew.

"Although it's ordinary, it's a place that cannot be subdued."

As she said, the Baihui acupoint was the most difficult place to hit. Especially if it were an absolute master like Jeokrin, it was a position that could not even be approached.

Jeokrin was not a great person who would kindly expose his weakness.

And the Baihui acupoint was also his own weakness.

In the end, it was no different from saying to kill him with strength.

Seo Yong-hwa approached the dead young men and collected their corpses with her cape.

"Why do you follow a person like Jeokrin?"

When Jin Sa-wol asked, Seo Yong-hwa tied the cloth containing the corpses and then answered.

"Because he's family."

"You call a guy who killed his son and is trying to kill his grandson family?"

Seo Yong-hwa's answer was absurd and dumbfounding. Seo Yong-hwa, as if she had expected it, said again.

"He's my adoptive father."

At the words 'adoptive father', Jin Sa-wol's eyes widened as if he were surprised. But that was only for a very short time.

"When I was young and on the verge of death, he took me in, gave me affection, and raised me. I have to repay that kindness."

"Even so, he's the guy who killed your husband."

At the word 'husband', Seo Yong-hwa and Jin Sa-wol looked at each other's faces for a moment. They both knew. The fact that they were mother and son...

But there was no such thing as a tearful reunion of mother and son.

"You're still young. You're young, so you wouldn't know. What a loveless marriage and a loveless life are... And a loveless..."

Although the word 'son' was about to come out, Seo Yong-hwa swallowed her words. There was no such thing as a loveless child.

How surprised had she been when she had first seen Jin Sa-wol, thinking that her son, who she had thought had died in the Esoteric Cult, was alive?

Seo Yong-hwa suddenly examined Son Ae-hwa, who was in Jin Sa-wol's arms.

"That child seems to be a precious person to you."

"Don't be interested in me."

At Jin Sa-wol's cold words, Seo Yong-hwa turned her head as if she were disappointed. She jumped over the wall, holding the luggage containing the Heavenly Armored Corpse's corpse.

***

Although Jin Sa-wol was the one with the severe injury, the person who could not come to his senses was Woo Jeong-bong.

Although a day had passed since Woo Jeong-bong had fallen, he had not yet woken up.

Song Ha-sang, who had come out of the room where Woo Jeong-bong was lying, said to Namgung Ji, who was standing in the yard.

"He has found stability, so don't worry too much. He will open his eyes this evening or tomorrow morning."

"Thank you."

At Namgung Ji's answer, Song Ha-sang showed a smile and then entered Bi-sun and Jo-rim's room.

The two, who had opened their eyes in the morning, had looked for Jin Sa-wol, but they could not meet him because he was in the middle of qi circulation. Now they were waiting for Jin Sa-wol.

"I can't guess what happened at all."

"That's right."

The two recalled yesterday's events. A cloth had come down from the sky, and immediately after, they had lost consciousness and fallen, and when they had opened their eyes, they were in this room.

So they couldn't help but be frustrated.

Namgung Ji, who had opened the door, came in.

"Are you two okay?"

"Of course."

"I'm fine."

At the two's answers, Namgung Ji let out a long sigh as if it were a relief. Soon, a person in his early thirties came into the room with Jo Geom-ok. It was Eun Cheol-sam, the first pavilion master of the Inspection Pavilion.

"Yesterday, assassins entered the inn and killed the Inspection Pavilion Master. They also killed the warriors of the Inspection Pavilion. Do you two remember anything?"

"No."

"Nothing."

Bi-sun and Jo-rim shook their heads at Jo Geom-ok and Eun Cheol-sam. The expressions of the two were as if they really knew nothing.

Eun Cheol-sam said.

"Yesterday, there were two Mr. Jins. A real one and a fake one. The fake one killed the Inspection Pavilion Master."

"It's the God of Death."

Jo Geom-ok said with a face full of conviction.

(End of Chapter)