Chapter 110 - Your Subordinate, Your Task to Win Over

The moment Black Kill's leader met the Wicked Laughing Demon's eyes, goosebumps rose all over his body. As they said, one villain recognized another. The sight was so chilling, so terrifying, that he even forgot the agonizing pain in his shoulder.

“I asked if it was you.”

Black Kill's leader had forgotten even the question, and the Wicked Laughing Demon did not wait for an answer.

ZING! THUD!

The Wicked Laughing Demon unleashed Blood Calamity Finger, piercing his other shoulder.

“Aaaaaaagh!”

Black Kill's leader screamed in agony. Martial artist or not, having his flesh pierced was more pain than he could bear.

Watching this, I hopped down from the wall and walked over to the Wicked Laughing Demon.

“Please don't kill him. I have questions.”

I looked down at Black Kill's leader and asked, “Who offered you a position in the Unorthodox Alliance?”

Of course, I knew who it was. But I needed to hear the name in the Wicked Laughing Demon's presence.

Black Kill's leader clenched his teeth as though determined never to answer.

“Would you move your foot, please?”

The Wicked Laughing Demon was still trampling his shoulder.

When he moved his foot, the pierced, crushed shoulder came into view. Forget martial arts—the man would not even be able to use chopsticks anymore.

I pressed the pressure points on both his shoulders to stop the bleeding and ease the pain. Then I made it clear that I was not treating him out of kindness.

“You can refuse to talk and die right here. But you've made a nuisance of yourself, so it'll be a painful death. Tell us, and I'll let you live.”

He glared at me, pain and distrust mingling in his eyes.

I did not rush him. He had only ended up like this because his opponents were the Wicked Laughing Demon and me. This man had weathered his share of hardships, too. He would not talk easily.

I picked up the hidden weapon he had dropped while trying to launch it: his signature Wind Wheel.

Its owner might be worthless, but the Wind Wheel itself was an excellent hidden weapon.

I threw it toward the wall.

SKRRRRR!

Spinning rapidly, the Wind Wheel scraped along the wall before returning to my hand. Deep gouges remained, as though some monstrous bird had raked its claws across the stone.

Black Kill's leader was astonished that I could wield it on my first try. The Wind Wheel was a dangerous weapon that could sever the fingers of anyone who handled it carelessly without knowing how to use it.

He asked in a trembling voice, “Who are you?”

“Feeling a little better now? You've even got the leisure to ask my name.”

“Who are you?!”

He shouted angrily. He had already concluded that he would not survive anyway.

“Geom Mugeuk.”

Hearing my name stunned him. Since I had come with the Wicked Laughing Demon, he could hardly doubt my identity.

I showed the Wind Wheel to the Wicked Laughing Demon.

“May I keep this?”

“I wouldn't take a hidden weapon like that even if you gave it to me.”

“Thank you.”

I put the Wind Wheel away. I could use it against opponents who weren't worth drawing my sword for, or give it to a subordinate who used hidden weapons. Either way, it was worth keeping.

I crouched beside Black Kill's leader again and silently looked down at him. His face was filled with despair and emptiness. Only moments ago, he had been dreaming of a glorious future, only to plummet into the abyss in an instant. How devastating must that loss have felt?

“As long as you're alive, another opportunity will come. Who knows? Tomorrow you might undergo complete bodily rebirth and become an unrivaled master, or meet a peerless beauty who changes your life. Just give me the name.”

Why wouldn't he want to live? Even with his shoulders shattered, it was only human to hope there might be some way to make a comeback.

“If I name him, he'll kill me.”

“If you name him, we'll kill him.”

“How can I trust you to let me live?”

“Sorry to say this, but you have no value to me whatsoever. What do I care whether you live or die?”

That seemed to sound more convincing to him. I could sense him deliberating. Then he gave a name.

“Naeng Yeop.”

Naeng Yeop, commander of the Ghost Hand Corps, the Unorthodox Alliance's most elite unit. He was the Alliance's most prominent martial master.

It was a lie. A lie born of Black Kill's leader's desire for revenge, hoping we would die trying to kill Naeng Yeop.

“Fine. You're free to lie, and I'm free to pull your arm off.”

I sprang to my feet, planted a foot on his shoulder, and began pulling his arm.

“Aaaaaaaaagh!”

I pulled with every intention of actually tearing it off.

CRACK, CRACK, CRACK.

However ruthless his resolve, Black Kill's leader could not endure the pain of having his arm torn from his living body.

“Stop! Please, stop! Aaaagh! Seok Gwanchu! It's Seok Gwanchu!”

This time, I got the right answer. The mastermind behind this affair was Seok Gwanchu, the Unorthodox Alliance's Grand Elder.

“Is it really Seok Gwanchu?”

Black Kill's leader squeezed his eyes shut and said nothing.

Seok Gwanchu was a respected master of the older generation within the Unorthodox Alliance. Having spent so long in the Council of Elders, he had become an almost forgotten figure. No one could have imagined him entering a struggle for power.

Black Kill's leader, too, would never have decided to disband his organization and commit himself to the Alliance if someone of Seok Gwanchu's stature had not persuaded him.

“Keep your promise to spare me.”

“Of course...”

At that moment!

THUD!

Black Kill's leader's head shattered like a watermelon smashed against the ground.

The Wicked Laughing Demon's palm was pointed at him. He had killed him with Ultimate Demonic Rampage Palm.

I finished what I had been about to tell Black Kill's leader.

“Of course I can't keep it. The man standing on you is the Wicked Laughing Demon.”

The Wicked Laughing Demon said nothing. He paid no attention to the dead man.

Searching Black Kill's leader's robes, I found a thick envelope stuffed with high-value banknotes. When I counted them, they totaled a million taels. Since he had received the full amount in advance, it seemed the assassination's success had never mattered anyway.

I handed the money to the Wicked Laughing Demon.

“This was paid for a contract on your life, Laughing Demon. It belongs to you.”

He took only five hundred thousand taels for himself, then handed me the envelope containing the remaining five hundred thousand.

“We both nearly died, so we should split it equally. Don't refuse. Take it.”

“Then I'll accept it with thanks.”

The Wicked Laughing Demon was not excessively greedy for wealth. Had greed been added to his character, the man standing before me would have been someone else entirely.

The luggage Black Kill's leader had intended to take with him was full of treasures. Given his line of work, he seemed to have converted his money into valuable treasures and kept them himself rather than depositing it at a bank.

“These should fetch a fair amount. Have Blue Face sell them when he arrives.”

“You take them, Second Young Master.”

“You should keep these, Laughing Demon.”

“I lost the lightness-art race. Consider it your prize money.”

“It's far too large a prize. Having a drink with me would cost you much less.”

“A drink with me is worth more than that.”

I laughed cheerfully. I did not insist on refusing what he offered.

Go Wol had once told me that money bore no name tag. Its value was determined by how it was used each time.

The Wicked Laughing Demon asked me, “Are you certain Seok Gwanchu was behind this?”

“Isn't that why you killed him without asking anything else?”

“No. I simply couldn't stand the sight of him.”

I chuckled, thinking that probably was the truth.

“He didn't seem to be lying to me.”

“Seok Gwanchu. That's a name I haven't heard in a very long time. He must be about ninety. I can't understand why a man that old would covet leadership of the Unorthodox Alliance.”

“Seok Gwanchu has a grandson he dotes on. From what I've heard, he's very ambitious.”

“So it's affection for his own blood?”

“An old master's love for his family when death is near may be beyond our understanding. In any case, if Seok Gwanchu is behind this, he won't be easy to deal with.”

The Wicked Laughing Demon nodded in agreement. Yet the fact that his opponent was formidable actually delighted him. I could read immense joy through those tiny eyeholes.

An hour later, Yi An and Blue Face arrived.

“You must be tired from the trip, but let's take care of this before resting.”

I took Yi An to the marketplace.

We visited several places there and sold all of Black Kill's leader's treasures. Even selling them below market price brought in a staggering four hundred thousand taels.

“He could have lived comfortably on this money for the rest of his life. Why was he so greedy? He couldn't have spent even this much before he died.”

“Human greed has no end, does it?”

“Yi An, if I ever seem greedy, make sure you stop me. Mock me mercilessly: ‘If you were going to act like this, why did you criticize Black Kill's leader back then?’”

“I might be too busy being greedy myself.”

“You?”

“I feel it when I train. I'm a very greedy person. Every day, I'm tormented by the desire to reach complete mastery quickly and fight powerful opponents.”

“That's not your greed. It's the Heaven-Soaring Sword Art.”

“The sword art?”

“Martial arts of the highest order, like the Heaven-Soaring Sword Art, tempt and provoke their practitioners. You know what happens if you let yourself be consumed by them, don't you?”

Yi An nodded. She was so intelligent that she must have understood what I meant.

I took her to Continent Bank.

Of the nine hundred thousand taels I had acquired this time, I deposited six hundred thousand in my name and gave Yi An three hundred thousand to deposit. Even three hundred taels was a large sum, so she was aghast when I gave her three hundred thousand.

“Young Master, I absolutely cannot accept this money!”

“I'm not giving it to you to buy drinks.”

“Then what is it for?”

“Later, when you're running the Ghost Shadow Squad, there will be times you'll need to spend money on your subordinates. Use it then.”

“But isn't this far too much?”

“You need to know how to handle large sums, too.”

“I've never had this much money in my life.”

“Now anyone trying to bribe you will need at least three hundred thousand taels, won't they?”

“No matter how poor I was, that amount wouldn't win me over.”

“Then how much would?”

Yi An seemed to think for a moment, then held up three fingers.

“Three million taels?”

She shook her head.

“Oh, thirty million?”

She shook her head again.

“... Thirty thousand? Surely not three thousand?”

Only then did she smile and answer.

“Three hundred million taels. Go find it. If you want to buy me, all you need is three hundred million taels.”

“Even all the money in the world wouldn't add up to that.”

“That's what I'm worth.”

We looked at each other and chuckled. Honestly, it felt good. Someone no amount of money could buy was staking everything on me.

“If you have any left over, buy yourself something good to eat.”

“I'll make sure there's plenty left.”

“You can leave all of it unspent.”

On our way back, I casually asked Yi An, “What do you think of Blue Face?”

“He seems like a good person.”

“No, I mean as your subordinate.”

“What?”

Yi An was startled.

“My subordinate?”

“Blue Face, leader of the Ghost Shadow Squad's First Team. He'd be dependable—a good fit. The organization is named for a ghost's shadow, and he's Blue Face, wearing a blue mask. They go well together, don't they?”

I said this because I knew how loyal Blue Face was.

“Whether he fits isn't the issue! He's aiming to become the next Demon Supreme. And he really is the strongest candidate.”

But he would never become a Demon Supreme in his lifetime. The Wicked Laughing Demon would survive far too long for that.

Wouldn't a life starting as a team leader in the Ghost Shadow Squad be far better than spending his entire life tending to that ill-tempered Wicked Laughing Demon?

He could become a team leader, then the squad commander, and who knew what else afterward?

His current life was destined for a stifling ending, but a new life would leave the ending open.

“If it feels too daunting, just ask him to serve as a team leader in the early days, until the Ghost Shadow Squad finds its footing.”

“Would he do it?”

“There's no reason he wouldn't.”

“Oh, but still...”

“Yi An. Do you think a team leader of the Ghost Shadow Squad ranks below a Demon Supreme's successor?”

“... Of course they do, don't they?”

“Yi An!”

“Yes!”

“As my direct subordinate and commander of the Ghost Shadow Squad, you stand above a Demon Supreme's successor. Because I am going to become the Heavenly Demon.”

Sensing that I meant it sincerely, Yi An bowed her head.

“I'm sorry. I certainly didn't mean any disrespect toward you, Young Master. It's just that Demon Supremes still feel so intimidating to me.”

“I know. From now on, change your frame of reference. Then making Blue Face a team leader won't seem so daunting.”

“Yes.”

“And right now, Blue Face is likely to refuse. We can't force him. The Wicked Laughing Demon won't give permission easily, either. We'll have to take our time and work at it.”

You probably don't yet know just how difficult it is to win someone's heart.

“He'll be your subordinate, so you make the effort to win him over.”

“Yes.”

With that, we returned to Black Kill's leader's hideout.

The Wicked Laughing Demon, who had been waiting for me, asked about our next move.

“What do you intend to do now?”

“If we confront Seok Gwanchu directly, war could break out between the Cult and the Unorthodox Alliance. So I intend to put someone else at the forefront of the fight.”

“Who?”

“Bi Sain.”

As the Unorthodox Alliance's successor, Bi Sain was the ideal person to put at the forefront against Seok Gwanchu.

Looking steadily at the Wicked Laughing Demon, I said quietly, “You and I are going to intervene in deciding the Unorthodox Alliance's succession.”