Chapter 150 - The Good Must Die

Gi Bangin, the master of Villains' Valley, was seething with almost unbearable rage.

"You expect me to believe that?"

"What does belief have to do with it? It's simply what happened."

"The two greatest experts in Villains' Valley don't simply die at the same time."

Short and gloomy-eyed, Gi Bangin already possessed a qi presence that dampened people's spirits. Now that he was angry, the air around him grew so oppressive it was hard to breathe.

"Can you defeat the Grotesque Demon? Are you confident you can beat the Iron Chain Wielder? I'm not. Neither are you, are you? How am I supposed to believe the Wicked Laughing Demon killed them both? In the same place, no less! Together!"

"It wasn't because of the Wicked Laughing Demon. It was because of the Demonic Cult's Second Young Master."

"Listen to yourself!"

It was only natural that his voice rose. The valley master knew nothing of Geom Mugeuk's abilities. Only those who dealt in Murim's most closely guarded intelligence knew that his martial prowess far exceeded expectations. His true strength was not yet known to the world.

"And were they the only ones? Didn't I send the Seductress of Supreme Bliss, the Three Warriors of the Bloody Path, the Blood Wolf Saber, and the Divine Lord of Yama along with them? Yet you let them all be wiped out and came back alone!"

"I barely escaped with my life! I'm telling you, I almost died."

"Do you know something? Your story is so absurd that it almost sounds true. Surely you can't be stupid enough to offer such a ridiculous excuse."

The valley master simply could not believe what had happened. He had lost the two strongest of his trusted subordinates. He had sent them all out precisely so that no one would die.

"What were you doing while they were dying, Master Yang?"

"The Blood Heaven Saber Demon appeared just as I was about to intervene. That old man's internal energy was so profound that there was nothing I could do."

Yang Cheogi carefully concealed the fact that he had acted only after the Grotesque Demon and the Iron Chain Wielder were dead. The valley master would grow suspicious and investigate, but ultimately he would have no choice but to believe him. It was an undeniable fact that only Geom Mugeuk, the Wicked Laughing Demon, and the Blood Heaven Saber Demon had been there that day.

"I have ties to the leader of the Heavenly Mandate Society myself. Why would I ruin this operation? Please believe me."

The valley master regretted his decision. Had he known things would turn out this way, he would never have joined hands with the Society's leader. Only now did it occur to him that the sweet temptation the man had offered might be poison. Greed was always the root of disaster.

But the past was the past. The present problem was this: their deaths had put his position as valley master in jeopardy.

Of all the organizations in Murim, Villains' Valley changed leaders most frequently. It was full of people who bared their fangs the instant they sensed weakness in their leader.

'If you've been scheming to take my position, you won't have an easy death.'

Ordinarily, Gi Bangin would never have let such feelings show. He always smiled at enemies he intended to kill.

Today, however, he could not contain his anger.

"I can't stand the sight of your face. Leave. We'll speak again later."

"Very well."

As Yang Cheogi turned to leave, the valley master spoke.

"Do you know what my epithet was before I came here?"

"What was it?"

"The Hundred Evils. They called me that because I possessed every evil in the world."

"Did they?"

That indifferent response made the valley master even angrier. Whether Yang Cheogi realized it or not, he gave him something new to worry about.

"They'll suspect I've come here."

"What are you getting at? Are you saying they might invade my valley?"

"The possibility isn't out of the question."

In this way, Yang Cheogi forestalled any possibility that the valley master might try to kill him.

"You've cut off both our arms, so we'll have to fight with our feet alone. If your story is true, we're all dead now."

Of course, he did not mean it. If their absence were enough to bring down Villains' Valley, it would have vanished long ago. This place teemed with villains who had reached the end of the road.

No one in the martial world would immerse themselves in these filthy waters. No one ever had.

After Yang Cheogi left, the valley master summoned a subordinate and gave his orders.

"Investigate this matter thoroughly, and kill everyone who enters the valley from this moment onward. Tell everyone! I'll pay fifty thousand taels for each intruder's head."

* * *

After sending a dispatch to the Cult requesting the Drunken Demon and the Single Flower Sword Supreme, we headed straight for Villains' Valley.

Our lightness arts were faster than horses, so we raced there on foot.

Traveling with the Blood Heaven Saber Demon and the Wicked Laughing Demon? It was something I could never have imagined, either before my regression or after it.

I had traveled with the Wicked Laughing Demon before, but this was my first journey with the Blood Heaven Saber Demon. Along the way, I learned something new about him.

I had thought the Blood Heaven Saber Demon would enjoy nothing more than shutting himself in a room with a book. Surprisingly, there was scarcely a place in the Central Plains he hadn't visited. Whenever we reached an area he knew, he would stop running and tell us about it.

"Beyond that mountain lies a broad plain called Joya Plain. I fought five hundred exchanges there with the Rushing Torrent Wanderer, who challenged me. That was in the prime of my youth."

Sometimes he told us about his battles.

"That village has a sect made up entirely of women. Both its leader and her chief disciple fell for me."

He also told utterly unbelievable stories like that with a perfectly straight face. At that moment, the Wicked Laughing Demon and I simultaneously sent each other the same message through sound transmission: "He's lying."

"Beyond there, you enter the Unorthodox Alliance's sphere of influence. Eight hundred li in that direction lies the Orthodox Martial Alliance's territory."

He was also well versed in the terrain and the state of affairs in Murim.

Many times, when his stories overlapped with things I knew, I wanted to chime in, but I had to restrain myself.

"By the way, was your internal energy always this profound?"

Seeing that I kept pace with them without falling behind at all, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon looked puzzled.

"I took an elixir that a very esteemed person gave me as a gift."

I meant the Divine Pill Beyond Heaven that he had given me some time ago.

"That alone wouldn't give you this much internal energy."

"When I fought the Seductress of Supreme Bliss, I absorbed that vile woman's internal energy."

Of course, I had encountered several other fortuitous opportunities as well, but I did not list them all.

"Ah, heaven truly is helping you."

"Then please lend me a little help yourselves."

At that, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon and the Wicked Laughing Demon suddenly took off again.

To think they could coordinate so perfectly despite disliking each other, all for the sole purpose of teasing me. Perhaps they didn't dislike each other quite so much after all.

I chased after them, shouting,

"Where do you think you're running off to? You're both slower than me!"

* * *

We ran and ran until we reached the entrance to Villains' Valley.

In the distance, the Single Flower Sword Supreme and the Drunken Demon were already waiting. Having only seen them swimming drunkenly or tending flowers in a garden, I found them quite different out here.

The Drunken Demon stood with his arms folded, gazing up at the sky. There was something lonely yet striking about him. The Sword Supreme, standing in spotless white with a sword at her waist, looked proud and elegant. Both had an extraordinary air.

"Brother!"

The Drunken Demon's face lit up when I addressed him as Brother even in the presence of the other Demon Supremes.

"My little brother!"

I focused on my relationship with the Drunken Demon without worrying about the others.

"Thank you for coming, Brother."

Being needlessly self-conscious because of my relationships with the other Demon Supremes would be discourteous to both him and them.

I was someone who called the Drunken Demon Brother and was called little brother in return. I believed that making it clear exactly who I was would allow me to build my other relationships properly too.

"Yeo Bin won't interrupt my closed-door training unless it's something important, but she brought me the news. She said my little brother wanted my help. How on earth did you get her on your side?"

All I'd done was look after his health. That meant Yeo Bin was the one truly on his side.

Since I couldn't answer that way, I smiled instead.

"When this is over, I'll buy you a drink."

I immediately greeted the Single Flower Sword Supreme respectfully as well.

"Your beauty shines even brighter out here."

"I think this every time, but your flattery pleases me most. I heard you fought some men from Villains' Valley. Were you hurt?"

"No. The Saber Demon arrived at the crucial moment."

The Single Flower Sword Supreme looked at the Blood Heaven Saber Demon.

"Perhaps he was waiting. For the crucial moment."

He gave her an incredulous look.

"That's right. I hid and waited. When would the crucial moment come? I ought to appear once they're in a little more danger."

"Still, I'm glad you arrived in time. Well done."

For some reason, the Single Flower Sword Supreme ended the exchange on a kind note. The Blood Heaven Saber Demon sent me a look that said, What's gotten into that woman? But how was I supposed to know her mind?

Perhaps the Drunken Demon had spoken well of him on their way here. If so, today might mark the beginning of their reconciliation.

The Single Flower Sword Supreme turned back to me.

"So? The man behind it all has taken refuge here?"

"Yes. I checked again through Heaven-Reaching Pavilion. They've confirmed that he entered Villains' Valley."

"This place is quite troublesome."

"Fortunately, the Laughing Demon knows Villains' Valley well."

"Does he?"

Her gaze turned to the Wicked Laughing Demon. His bloodstained mask told her just how desperate the earlier situation had been.

He inclined his head slightly, and she exchanged greetings with him. While she treated the Drunken Demon like a friend, she and the Wicked Laughing Demon maintained formal courtesy with each other.

They seemed to regard each other as entirely different species, but in fact, it was the Single Flower Sword Supreme who had led me to form a bond with the Wicked Laughing Demon. When we were installing Cheong Seon as the Soul-Seizing Demon, she had told me he had voted in favor. That was why I had sought him out.

"Our target is Yang Cheogi. The villains here have committed crimes deserving of death, but there's no need to stage an unnecessary massacre. Just think of it as eliminating those who stand in our way."

They all nodded in understanding.

"There's one more thing I'd like to say about Yang Cheogi. Our goal is to take him alive, but his martial arts are exceptionally powerful. If capturing him proves impractical, you may kill him. Capture him if possible; I'm certainly not asking you to risk yourselves to take him alive at all costs. Everyone here's safety comes first, without exception."

The Drunken Demon turned to the Single Flower Sword Supreme.

"Who among us is my little brother so worried about?"

"His drunken elder brother, surely?"

"Ah, me?"

Even for Demon Supremes, invading Villains' Valley could be a daunting, unwelcome task. Yet none of them showed any such feelings. They didn't even joke about the favor they were doing me. I believed that was their way of caring for me. It was a kindness I must never forget.

"Thank you for coming all this way for me. Being able to carry out a mission with four Demon Supremes is truly a tremendous honor. I won't forget today. If we had a painter, we could have him paint us together... Ah, where are you going? Hear me out before you leave! Let me come with you!"

I followed the Demon Supremes, who had gone on ahead, into Villains' Valley.

A short way inside, we found a warning written in red.

—The good must die.

The Drunken Demon looked around at us.

"Fortunately, none of us is going to die."

Everyone laughed together.

"I'm in danger."

When I protested this injustice, the Wicked Laughing Demon said,

"By that sign's standards, the Second Young Master is the safest person here."

The looks they gave me suggested they all agreed. Only the Drunken Demon took my side.

"I believe in my little brother's innocence. My little brother is the kindest soul in the world."

"That just makes me sound more like a villain!"

The Blood Heaven Saber Demon, who had been listening, could no longer hold back.

"I'm sick to death of hearing 'my little brother' this and 'my little brother' that."

Afraid he might start needlessly sparring with the Drunken Demon, I quickly answered him myself.

"Exactly. How are those of us without brothers supposed to bear the heartache?"

The Drunken Demon laughed and took a sip of liquor. I had been watching him since we first met, and he was definitely drinking less than before.

I sent him a sound transmission.

"You've really cut back. Well done, Brother."

"Thank you for noticing."

I couldn't quite bring myself to have that conversation in front of the other Demon Supremes.

How long had we been walking?

We encountered a man carrying a basket of medicinal herbs on his back. He bowed to us and was just about to pass by when—

WHOOSH! THUD!

The Wicked Laughing Demon's Blood Calamity Finger pierced his forehead, and he crumpled to the ground.

"He's a scout guarding the entrance. When someone enters, he takes a shortcut to report it. Besides him, there are..."

WHOOSH! SWISH!

Before he could mention the men hiding in a tree and behind a rock, the Single Flower Sword Supreme released sword qi, and the Blood Heaven Saber Demon unleashed saber qi.

The man in the tree fell dead. The rock split in two, and the man behind it met the same fate. Moving with the Demon Supremes required no words. They understood at once.

"It's been a very long time since I last came here, but nothing has changed. Three men guarded this spot back then too."

I smiled at the Wicked Laughing Demon's words.

"Isn't the Cult the same? There doesn't seem to be much difference between now and several decades ago."

The Drunken Demon took a sip of liquor and said,

"That's why my little brother wants to establish a new Demonic Path, isn't it?"

Instead of answering, I smiled and looked at the Demon Supremes. I was growing closer to them, but I still didn't know how much they would understand the Demonic Path I sought.

A little farther in, we saw several thatched cottages, with rice paddies and fields before them. There were fruit trees, cattle, and pigs too. It looked no different from any ordinary village.

But fearsome traps lay beside the fields, and poisonous insects swarmed in the beds of brilliant flowers.

Poisonous bees flew at us from somewhere, but a bee could never sting a Demon Supreme in the first place. A single wave of a hand swept them all away.

Without someone who knew this place as well as the Wicked Laughing Demon, getting this far would have been much more difficult. Paths lay where there seemed to be none, and traps lurked along routes that looked safe.

He guided us along shortcuts, avoiding the traps.

At last, a village came into view in the distance—the first we had seen since entering Villains' Valley.

"There are some fairly dangerous traps scattered between here and that tree at the village entrance. Let's just leap over them."

The four Demon Supremes and I launched ourselves into the air together.

We crossed in a single leap a distance that an ordinary expert could never clear. Elegant yet spectacular, these were lightness arts of the highest order, beyond anyone else's ability to imitate.

TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP!

We landed simultaneously in a straight line.

The instant our feet touched the ground, sword qi, saber qi, finger force, and palm force flew in every direction. The enemies lying in ambush around us tumbled down without managing a single attack. Though we hadn't assigned targets beforehand, none of the attacks overlapped. These were the Cult's Demon Supremes.

"Now, let's go in."

The Blood Heaven Saber Demon stood on my left, the Single Flower Sword Supreme on my right. Beyond them, at either end, stood the Wicked Laughing Demon and the Drunken Demon.

With the strongest wings in the world at my sides, I walked into the village of villains.