Chapter 118 - An Impudent, Beautiful Heart

"You were far prettier."

The Wicked Laughing Demon neatly leaped over the trap. The mistress of Thousand Flowers Pavilion beamed at his words.

"Don't say that. I was never that beautiful."

"Nonsense. You were far lovelier in my eyes."

Having weathered every imaginable ordeal, the Wicked Laughing Demon remained utterly unshaken even by a sudden ambush.

Still, his gaze was on Yi An. Indeed, anyone would have found it difficult to look away from a woman so beautiful.

Even now, the Wicked Laughing Demon had not recognized Yi An, who had come in with me.

It was the mistress of Thousand Flowers Pavilion who recognized her.

"Congratulations, Warrior Yi."

She was calm, as though she had known this would happen.

"Thank you, Mistress."

Hearing Yi An's voice, the Wicked Laughing Demon started in surprise. His eyes widened as he asked,

"Surely you aren't that ugly heart? Surely not?"

He was so astonished that he said "surely" twice.

Yi An smiled as she replied,

"Yes, I'm that heart who was ugly but had a knack for making you laugh."

The Wicked Laughing Demon sprang to his feet and approached Yi An, staring intently at her face from close range. Intimidated by the white mask, she trembled with fear.

He tilted his head.

"There's a slight resemblance, but you're not her. Definitely not her, are you?"

The Wicked Laughing Demon looked at me.

"Are you trying to make fun of me?"

"I did come to make fun of you, but she really is that heart."

"She is?"

He looked Yi An over again.

"Impossible. No, she absolutely isn't!"

Still vehemently denying it, he turned to the mistress behind him. With an expression confirming that it was true, she nodded once.

The Wicked Laughing Demon asked me,

"What on earth happened?"

"This is what she originally looked like. The side effects of her body-protection art made her so fat."

"She looked like this all along, and she worked as a bodyguard? That's the greatest waste of talent in the Cult's history!"

It was also the greatest compliment the Wicked Laughing Demon could give.

Yi An smiled at him.

"Well, I wanted to protect the Young Master."

Of course, I was the one who set the record straight.

"Do you think she did it because she wanted to? You know perfectly well how the Cult works."

"It's precisely because the Cult is so ruthless that we get to be a Demon Supreme and a successor. However..."

The Wicked Laughing Demon's gaze turned to Yi An.

"I suppose we must make an exception in this case."

A new admiration entered his gaze. It was not admiration for her beauty, but for her sacrifice.

The mistress went to Yi An and took both her hands.

"You're so beautiful. Congratulations."

"Thank you."

"Now, come with me. Let me put the finishing touches on you, Warrior Yi."

"Finishing touches?"

"You don't know how to apply makeup, do you?"

"... No."

Having spent her life as a bodyguard, when would she ever have properly put on makeup?

"There are times in life when you must fight with something other than a blade. For a woman, makeup is a weapon more powerful than a sword."

The mistress led her out by the hand. Yi An must have wanted to learn about makeup too, for she let herself be pulled along, pretending to give in.

"It's stuffy in here. Let's go out too."

"Very well."

I left the room with the Wicked Laughing Demon. The grounds around the mistress's residence were beautifully landscaped, making them a pleasant place for a stroll.

"Being with you, Second Young Master, truly is one astonishing experience after another."

"You must have been surprised. Even I was surprised, and I was the one who cured the side effects of her martial art."

But the astonishing experience he had just mentioned was not Yi An's transformation. He was referring to our recent battle.

"During that fight, I thought Baek Manggi might kill us."

I hadn't known he would be that strong either.

Yet the truly surprising thing was not Baek Manggi's strength. It was that the Wicked Laughing Demon was openly sharing his feelings.

"So did I."

"But you killed him, Second Young Master."

"Without your help, Laughing Demon, I would have been the one who died."

That was an undeniable fact.

The Wicked Laughing Demon stared at me.

"I think I know what you're thinking."

"What am I thinking?"

"That brat really is the one who killed the Soul-Seizing Demon!"

The Wicked Laughing Demon laughed loudly.

"Wrong. Didn't I tell you before? I already believe that. That belief was why I fought Baek Manggi. Otherwise, I would have left without looking back."

"You trusted me? Enough to stake your life on it?"

After a brief pause, he answered,

"I suppose I did."

We walked in silence for a while. Facing life and death together had taken us through powerful emotional upheavals. When the Wicked Laughing Demon's mask had nearly been sliced apart, I had been truly furious.

That was when I first realized how deeply I felt about him. It seemed he had experienced something similar.

Then the Wicked Laughing Demon suddenly picked up a fallen twig and drew a long line on the ground.

"How far have we come now?"

I took the twig he offered and drew a mark at the point we had once called the survival line.

"I think we've come this far."

It was the very point I had told him he must reach for me to spare him.

In that instant, I saw it.

Through the eyeholes of his white mask, I saw him smile. A genuine smile.

He smiled without a sound, and it was not a smile born of anger. Purely and naturally, he simply smiled.

I had never seen that smile even in my life before my regression. Astonishingly, I was seeing it now, at the end of this journey.

"Of course, the line will move depending on what you and I do from now on. It might go farther this way, or return to where we started."

"What happens if we reach the very end?"

"We'll become true friends. We'll eat together and drink together. Enjoy ourselves together and fight with each other. If one of us is in danger, the other will come to the rescue. And when one of us dies first, the other will pour liquor over his grave."

"All unnecessary, insincere, and burdensome activities."

"Once you actually try them, they're not such a big deal."

I did not even expect that much from the Wicked Laughing Demon. My original goal had been to reach a point where we were neither enemies nor allies. At the very least, this journey seemed to have more than fulfilled that goal.

Just then, Blue Face appeared where we were. He handed what he had brought to the Wicked Laughing Demon.

It was a white mask.

"Here, as promised."

The Wicked Laughing Demon handed me the mask Blue Face had brought.

On the day we fought Baek Manggi, he had said he would give me a new mask. He had not forgotten his promise.

"Thank you."

I tried on the new mask. It was definitely lighter and more comfortable.

"This is nice. It doesn't seem like it'll get very sweaty either."

"Blue Face made it himself. He made my mask as well."

"You're remarkably skilled with your hands."

Blue Face bowed his head slightly at my praise.

Just then, two people walked over.

It was Yi An and the mistress, returning from applying makeup. Not only I, but the Wicked Laughing Demon and Blue Face were startled as well.

With makeup on, Yi An looked like an entirely different woman. She was alluring and sensual, striking and glamorous.

"Warrior Yi is naturally so dignified that I tried creating a different look."

It truly felt as though we were looking at another peerless beauty. Makeup was a woman's weapon? Then we were looking at the finest sword under heaven.

"From now on, I'll call you the pretty heart instead of the ugly heart."

The Wicked Laughing Demon seemed quietly pleased with Yi An's transformation too.

Then the mistress casually remarked,

"She really is prettier than I was in my youth, isn't she?"

At that, the Wicked Laughing Demon said coldly to Yi An,

"Make sure you pay for that carriage!"

Meanwhile, once their conversation revealed that the beauty before him was Yi An, Blue Face was utterly astonished.

"This is Warrior Yi?"

Yi An smiled at the startled man.

"Yes, Blue Face. It's me."

"Are you really Warrior Yi?"

He was so surprised that I could imagine his expression behind the mask. Usually, he was extremely cautious in his movements and sparing with his words before the Wicked Laughing Demon, but he had forgotten that the man was even there.

Belatedly realizing it, Blue Face stepped back.

Then Yi An cautiously asked me,

"Could I wear that mask?"

Remembering the stares she had endured on our way here, I could understand her. She was not the sort to enjoy that attention.

"I don't mind, but you should ask the Laughing Demon for permission. He's the one who gave it to me."

Yi An asked the Wicked Laughing Demon,

"May I wear that mask?"

"No!"

Then I won't be able to see that pretty face! I suspected that was surely what he was thinking.

"Why not?"

"You'll rub off that carefully applied makeup. Think of who did it for you."

The Wicked Laughing Demon gave nothing but the right answers to the very end. Pleased, the mistress lightly pinched his arm. She was probably the only person in the world who could pinch him.

"Wear it if you wish."

"Thank you."

Yi An was delighted to have his permission. She took the mask from me and put it over her face.

Looking at me, she asked,

"How is it?"

"How do you think? It's a betrayal of beauty and a cause for despair among the men of the world."

"You told me I should be happy, didn't you? I think I'll be happier with this."

I walked over and pushed Yi An's mask up onto the top of her head.

"When it's just us, wear it comfortably like this. That way, your mask will be looking up at the sky."

"I like that."

Perhaps deciding to go all the way now that she had started, Yi An asked Blue Face,

"Would a beauty trap work on you?"

Not understanding what she meant, Blue Face could not answer for a moment. I could guess what she was leading up to.

"With you, it would work on anyone. You'd make even a monk who'd spent a hundred years meditating before a wall break his vows."

"You're exaggerating terribly!"

"Just wait and see whether I'm wrong."

Yi An spoke to Blue Face again.

"What I said just now was a joke. I'd like to invite you to lead the first team in the organization I'm going to establish."

Blue Face was startled by the unexpected offer. While he hesitated, unsure how to answer, the Wicked Laughing Demon spoke.

"I go to the trouble of giving you a mask, and the first thing you do after putting it on is try to steal my man."

"Please don't misunderstand. Blue Face was my first choice even before I received the mask."

"You're asking him to give up becoming a Demon Supreme to become a team leader. Do you understand that?"

"Yes!"

"Does Blue Face look like such a fool to you?"

"No. I thought he was someone with the courage to throw himself into a new life at least once."

"When it comes to courage, you take first place, you impudent heart! Saying such things right in front of me."

"I went for it because I trust the Young Master. I'm sorry."

She bowed respectfully to the Wicked Laughing Demon.

I saw it.

The conflict in Blue Face's eyes. Yes, any man would be torn if such a beautiful leader asked him to join her.

But it occurred to me that this beauty might also become an obstacle. Some might have joined Yi An before the procedure, yet now refuse because they did not want to look like shallow men who were joining only because she had become beautiful.

"Please do give it some thought."

Blue Face nodded slightly.

Even seeing that, the Wicked Laughing Demon said nothing more. He looked like someone who, even if Blue Face chose to leave, would simply call him a fool and let him go. If he did that, the line I had drawn in my heart would move farther to the right.

The Wicked Laughing Demon said to me,

"Second Young Master. Let's head back now."

"Go on ahead. I'll spend a little time having fun with my pretty heart before returning."

This was not for my sake, but Yi An's. Having shed her old skin, she ought to spread her wings and fly a little before going home.

The mistress saw exactly what I was thinking.

"You're such a good person, Second Young Master."

The Wicked Laughing Demon replied,

"Don't be fooled. The Second Young Master is a villain among villains. Can't you see his mask? He was born wearing one. There are two masked people standing over there right now."

The mistress smiled.

"That's why they suit each other so well."

I was turning to leave with Yi An when I turned back to the Wicked Laughing Demon.

"Thank you so much for showing me such a wonderful world. Please show me again next time."

Before we parted, the mistress said,

"Second Young Master, please take good care of my dear brother from now on."

Normally, this would have been the moment for Yi An to ask him to take good care of her Young Master. Yet the mistress was entrusting the Wicked Laughing Demon to me, playfully but earnestly.

Had she seen something in the relationship between him and me?

At least one thing was certain. There was only one person in this world who truly cared for and understood him: the mistress of Thousand Flowers Pavilion.

I smiled and said loudly,

"Of course. For your sake, Mistress, I'll take good care of the Laughing Demon from now on."

Leaving the incredulous Wicked Laughing Demon behind, I took Yi An's hand and turned away.

"Let's go, Yi An. Let's see the Central Plains."

From now on, a world utterly different from the one you have known will unfold before you.