Chapter 6
[The Ma-ryeonghwa Clan (魔靈花家).]
For the first time, complicated emotions surfaced on Brother Eleven’s face.
He couldn’t quite swallow the rage boiling up from deep within.
With reddened eyes, Brother Eleven glared at me.
“Did Cheongrin tell you about my family?”
His lowered voice sounded as if restrained sobs were mixed into it.
I nodded briefly.
Before sending Brother Eleven into the Demonic Cult, I had investigated his background.
That was how I had guessed his connection to the Ma-ryeonghwa Clan.
“The Ma-ryeonghwa Clan is an extremely secretive family. Even you haven’t found the ones who killed your family yet, have you?”
“……”
Brother Eleven’s lower lip trembled. His silence was an answer.
“I can find them for you.”
“……With a body confined like yours?”
“I’m not the only one who’s confined. You’re being restrained too.”
I meant the poison lingering inside his body.
The timing at which the Sangcheon Hall provided antidotes was irregular. That meant he hadn’t been able to travel far from Cheonsan all this time.
To gain more information, he needed more freedom of movement.
Brother Eleven twisted his lips open.
“I see.”
At that point, his heart was practically in my grasp.
“To create a perfect antidote will take some time. So….”
I took a note out of my sleeve and placed it atop letters carved with a dagger.
“With this, you’ll be able to move around more freely.”
Brother Eleven’s gaze shifted to the note I had placed down.
“What’s written there are the locations where antidotes provided to Sangcheon Hall’s agents are stored.”
This was information compiled based on data from ten years ago.
“Some of them will still be in use. Just don’t steal too much, or they’ll notice. Take only a reasonable amount.”
“……”
Without a word, Brother Eleven slipped the note into his clothes.
“So the deal is done now, right?”
“For now.”
Brother Eleven replied as he poured tea into my cup.
Even so, judging by how his tone had grown more polite than before, he clearly understood the situation.
He might have the information I wanted, but I held the initiative in this transaction.
Since he’d be curious about the Ma-ryeonghwa Clan, Brother Eleven would have no choice but to assist me for the time being.
Only then did I leisurely raise my teacup.
“And I’d also like information on Wi Cheonso, the Third Young Master of the Demonic Cult. His origins, achievements to date, and movements—everything.”
“Is it because the Third Young Master saved you?”
“Yes. There’s no such thing as coincidence.”
There must have been a reason he’d been lurking near the Yeomhwa Clan.
“Wi Cheonso rose to the position of Third Young Master three years ago. How he became the Cult Leader’s disciple, or where he came from—even I don’t know. Everything else is information others know as well.”
“For example?”
“That he’s a blood-crazed killing demon. That he hunts traitors just to spill blood, and that he beheaded his bride on their wedding night because she was too noisy.”
That must have been why Yeom Riri had described him as dangerous.
“Tell me everything you know about him.”
“Understood.”
Though our relationship wasn’t built on trust, we each wanted something. For now, Brother Eleven wouldn’t betray me.
By this point, our first contact could be considered a success.
It was time to return to the Yeomhwa Clan.
“Oh, right. You’ve had someone watching me, haven’t you?”
I asked as I handed the dagger back to him.
“……”
His silence was confirmation.
“You must have eyes in the Yeomhwa Clan too. I figured as much. Then I have a favor….”
Brother Eleven frowned.
“If something happens to me, help make sure I return home safely.”
“You really learned from Cheongrin—using people comes naturally to you.”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
Leaving his grumbling behind, I pulled my wind-cloak low.
When I stepped outside Sohongru, a chill clung to my face.
Ten years…
When I first heard it, it felt abstract. After meeting Brother Eleven, the passage of time felt real.
Still, I couldn’t believe that Baek-ah was gone from this world.
Swallowing my bitterness, I melted into the crowd.
About two sijin had passed already, so I should be able to reach the Yeomhwa Clan with time to spare.
As I turned into an alley to take a less crowded route—
“Ah!”
A scream rang out nearby.
A burly man in a blue robe was knocking over street vendors as he charged in my direction.
I thought he might be a thief, but his footwork—and the massive blade in his hand—were anything but ordinary.
Men in black martial attire chased after him.
When the burly man spread his palm toward them, a black vortex bloomed in his hand as if a hidden mechanism had opened.
In that instant, vitality poured out of the men in black like smoke and was sucked into the center of his palm.
“Ugh!”
One man doubled over, and another collapsed to the ground. Their life force flowed directly into the burly man’s qi and blood.
In moments, his presence swelled severalfold.
His eyes turned blood-red, and the killing intent radiating from his blade grew even more savage.
‘Life-Draining Art (Heupsaenggong)!’
A demonic art that steals vitality to gain power.
I remembered it from afar, having once witnessed this distinctive technique during my days in the Sangcheon Hall.
‘So that brute is Heuknyeongdomo—the Soul-Devouring Blade Demon, vice commander of the Parryeong Unit!’
I didn’t know why he was being pursued, but I had a bad feeling.
I turned to leave in a hurry—but his eyes found me.
The gaze of a predator spotting prey. I sensed that the meager vitality in this body had become his next snack.
As expected, he kicked off the ground and lunged at me.
Damn it!
Using an ordinary footwork technique, I barely avoided his first strike, but the second came dangerously close.
His coarse breath brushed my nape.
“Not bad. But you won’t dodge this one.”
The Soul-Devouring Blade Demon charged with a vicious grin.
A frontal clash was impossible. My internal energy was still far too weak.
Still, his movements were large and linear—there was a way to bring him down.
Activating a movement technique, I leapt up, stepped on his shoulder, and twisted my direction.
For an instant, an opening appeared.
Just as I channeled internal power into my hand and struck for the back of his head—
Whoosh.
With astonishing reflexes, he tried to snatch my arm.
I twisted free by a hair’s breadth, but the brute force left my arm numb.
‘I thought he was just strong—his reflexes are sharp too!’
Before I could reposition to find another opening, his blade flew toward me.
An almost unavoidable trajectory.
I hastily pulled a rope half a jang (about 1.5 meters) long from my pouch, gripped it with both hands, and met the attack with infused internal power.
The rope snapped taut, carving red marks into my palms.
At the same time, the Soul-Devouring Blade Demon bulged his shoulders. Black energy unfurled from his back.
My body was dragged toward it.
‘Danger!’
I tried to leap away from its range, but his hand was faster.
“I told you! You couldn’t dodge it!”
From his palm, the black vortex shot toward me.
It was the Life-Draining Art.
‘If I don’t escape now, even my true energy will be taken!’
At that critical moment—
The instant I widened my eyes, time froze.
The Soul-Devouring Blade Demon and I were trapped in a gray stillness where darkness and light intertwined.
My heart thundered as if it would burst; my lungs screamed.
If I didn’t move now, death was inevitable.
Summoning my last strength, I twisted my body and slipped out of the Life-Draining Art’s range.
Time began to flow again.
Pain surged into my body, blood rushing upward.
…Kgh.
My legs gave way, and my body staggered.
The Soul-Devouring Blade Demon, looking bewildered, gathered the energy in his palm and charged at me again.
Gripping the rope with both hands, I took up a fighting stance.
This time, I would bring him down for sure.
Just as I was about to use the assassination techniques I’d learned in the Sangcheon Hall—
Someone grabbed my waist.
A powerful arm pulled me in, lifting me into the air as if spinning me.
A black sleeve embroidered with a brilliant red dragon pattern filled my vision as my body landed a jang away.
It all happened in an instant.
It took me a moment to realize that a man with a solid body was supporting me.
A low, cold chuckle brushed past my ear.
“Heh.”
