Chapter 229 - Have You Come to Collect the Life Debt?

A man stepped out of a carriage.

He had a trim physique and a cold countenance. The expression about someone not bleeding a single drop even if stabbed might have been coined for him, so perfectly did his impassive face suit him. He was chilling yet immaculate.

The man entered the estate through its wide-open gates. A plaque at the entrance read Great Night Gang.

A horrific sight unfolded inside.

More than a hundred corpses lay scattered everywhere. The Great Night Gang's members had been massacred. Among the bodies, martial artists in matching red uniforms searched for survivors and killed them.

It was a terrible scene reminiscent of a battlefield, yet the man walked on without so much as a blink.

Blood flowing across the ground splashed onto his shoes and trousers, but he paid it no mind.

If anything, the sight of him walking through a sea of blood suited him perfectly. His very stride radiated presence—a terrifying presence that suggested no one could bar his path unless he chose to stop.

The man was Yelü Han, second-in-command of the Unorthodox Alliance.

The red-clad martial artists who had massacred everyone here belonged to the Ultimate Corps, the Unorthodox Alliance's most elite organization, commanded by Yelü Han.

They bowed respectfully whenever he passed. Every one of them exuded an extraordinary force of presence.

Yelü Han entered the main hall.

Jong Sim, leader of the Great Night Gang, sat slumped in a large chair at its center. Severely wounded, he was drenched in blood. Corpses of Ultimate Corps warriors lay scattered around him as well.

"You bastard!"

The gang leader roared. But the outburst jolted his wounded insides, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"How could you! How could you do this!"

In contrast to the agitated gang leader, Yelü Han was utterly calm.

He walked toward a corner where an Ultimate Corps warrior still clung to life, breathing painfully. His injuries were too severe; he was already beyond saving.

Without hesitation, Yelü Han placed a palm against his chest.

The warrior soon breathed his last as though falling asleep. The gang leader's voice came from behind.

"I might as well say it now. Your face always gave me the creeps and made me feel sick."

Yelü Han showed no flicker of emotion.

"You always hid your feelings."

The gang leader had never sensed any emotion from Yelü Han. He had never seen him happy, sad, or angry.

"Do you even have human feelings inside that body?"

Yelü Han rose, answering calmly.

"Must I?"

His deep, pleasant voice rang through the hall.

"What?"

"These human feelings you speak of. Must I have them?"

He asked so brazenly that the gang leader did not know what to say.

"It is rather bewildering to hear that from you. You have hardly lived a humane life yourself."

"Shut up!"

The old man shouted, then coughed up blood again. Dark red blood soaked his clothes.

"Even so, I never framed an entire gang and wiped it out."

Today, his gang had been annihilated on charges of plotting a rebellion in collusion with the Orthodox Martial Alliance. The evidence was clear. A letter he had never written had surfaced in his own handwriting. An enormous sum supposedly received from the Orthodox Martial Alliance, money he knew nothing about, had been deposited at a money house. There was evidence that he had leaked the Unorthodox Alliance's secrets, testimony to that effect, and witnesses who had seen him holding secret discussions with people from the Orthodox Martial Alliance. Even to his own eyes, he was plainly a traitor.

"At least tell me the reason. Why?"

The gang leader was certain Yelü Han was the one who had trapped him.

"You have forgotten."

The gang leader flinched at his words. Yelü Han spoke as though he had made a grave mistake.

"Forgotten what?"

"You once told me that behaving that way could make others feel uncomfortable."

The gang leader had no memory of saying such a thing. Had he? His recollection was hazy.

"You could never hold back what you wanted to say. Someone who lives in Murim yet cannot control his emotions? I loathe such people."

"And?"

Yelü Han said no more.

Shock struck the gang leader.

"You mean that is the only reason?"

"I kill someone I loathe. Do I need a more compelling reason?"

The gang leader roared.

"You mad bastard!"

While he raged, Yelü Han remained calm.

"There are as many people in this world as grains of sand. Why should I journey alongside someone I dislike?"

Fine. The gang leader understood that much. He did not, really, but let him pretend he did. This part, however, he could not understand at all.

"Then you should have killed only me!"

"I was far too offended for that."

"Even so... you killed all those innocent people over something so trivial?"

The gang leader let out an anguished sigh.

Tears streamed from his eyes. Had some great grudge brought this upon him, it would have felt less unjust. He would have felt less guilty toward his family and his gang's warriors. His entire family wiped out over a single remark he could not even remember?

The gang leader spoke in a self-mocking tone.

"I suppose this is all fate."

"You may wish to blame fate, but this is your fault. The fault of an insensitive man who dismisses another's feelings as 'trivial.'"

The gang leader beckoned him closer.

"There is something I must tell you before I die."

Had he sensed death approaching? The anger vanished from his face.

Yelü Han approached him.

Closer. Closer still. The gang leader beckoned with difficulty.

Yelü Han willingly granted his final request.

The distance between them narrowed.

WHOOSH!

The gang leader unleashed a palm strike with every last bit of his internal energy. His feeble gestures moments before had been an act to set up this one move.

A flash!

SHICK!

But Yelü Han's sword was faster. It moved with such speed and precision that it was invisible to the eye.

The gang leader's severed head rolled across the floor. Looking down at it, Yelü Han spoke coldly.

"You old fool. Did you really think I did this for such a reason?"

Leaving behind words that would deny the gang leader peace even in death, Yelü Han went outside.

Just as he emerged, rain began to fall.

SHHHHH!

Yelü Han stood beneath the eaves for a moment, looking up at the pouring rain.

A man ran through the rain to hand him a cloak. He was Cha Hwan, his entire body covered in dragon tattoos—the last surviving man of the four.

Though dragon tattoos covered his body, the animal he brought to mind was a black panther. Dark skin, a sleek physique, and even the whites of his eyes, strikingly prominent against that dark skin.

But he was a man who wanted to be a dragon rather than a panther. He prided himself on being the most loyal of the four. He also believed Yelü Han kept only him at his side because he recognized that loyalty.

"Never mind. Let me feel the rain for once."

Yelü Han walked into the rain, and Cha Hwan followed without a word. Behind them, the Ultimate Corps warriors fell into line and followed.

* * *

I arrived at the safe house with the Wicked Laughing Demon.

Go Wol was waiting for us with fresh news.

"Something troubling is happening within the Unorthodox Alliance."

"What is it?"

"The Great Night Gang was recently wiped out."

"By whom?"

"The Great Night Gang committed treason by conspiring with the Orthodox Martial Alliance. The evidence was clear, and in the process of arresting them, the Ultimate Corps under Yelü Han annihilated them. I believe Yelü Han orchestrated the whole affair."

Go Wol had read the situation accurately.

Yelü Han had wiped out the Great Night Gang before my regression, too. But the timing had changed. Events destined to happen still happened, yet their timing or causes sometimes shifted subtly.

"Why do you think so?"

"First, from what I know of the Great Night Gang's leader, he would never betray the leader of the Unorthodox Alliance."

And Go Wol had another, decisive reason for his suspicions.

"The timing is suspicious. Do you know when the Unorthodox Alliance received the tip and began investigating the Great Night Gang?"

"When?"

"When Ae Cha died."

It was suspicious timing indeed.

Go Wol's assessment was this:

"When two of his four trusted subordinates died, Yelü Han seems to have become convinced someone was interfering."

"Don't tell me..."

"Yes. He seems to believe the alliance leader is behind it."

That was truly unexpected.

"So he struck the Great Night Gang in retaliation?"

"Its leader was famously loyal to the alliance leader. Yelü Han was warning him what would happen if he meddled with him."

It was a perfectly plausible theory.

It was an open secret that Yelü Han coveted the alliance leader's seat. The current leader was too powerful for him to dare reach for it, but things would change once Bi Sain occupied it.

There was even widespread talk that the leader of the Unorthodox Alliance would have to kill Yelü Han before handing his position to Bi Sain.

With the two maintaining a taut balance of power, each keeping the other in check...

"Yelü Han seems to believe the alliance leader has begun cutting off his limbs to secure Bi Sain's succession."

Something that would eventually have happened had happened early because of our actions.

"This is a golden opportunity. If we can make good use of the situation, we will not have to worry about the aftermath of killing Yelü Han."

A situation we had never imagined awaited us.

"You mean we kill Yelü Han and make Bi Sain the man who killed him?"

"Exactly. It would not be a bad outcome for Bi Sain, either. His position as successor would be firmly established, and our operation would succeed."

I looked at the Wicked Laughing Demon, who had been listening with us. He had remained silent, but his eyes said he would follow my wishes however things unfolded.

Then our next step was clear.

"First, I should meet my friend. Though I don't know whether he still considers me one."

* * *

Bi Sain was eating at an upscale inn he frequented.

His face was still hideous. Slashed, crushed, distorted—an appearance that sent a chill through your heart merely to look at it. Yet he seemed somewhat brighter than he had before becoming the successor, when he had exuded such a dark, heavy air.

The Thirteen Wolves of the Unorthodox Path ate around him while guarding him.

A sound transmission reached Bi Sain.

"Have you been well?"

His chopsticks paused briefly, then resumed moving.

"You really are fearless, coming all the way to our alliance's headquarters."

His words were curt, but his tone was gentle. He owed me his life. Without me, he would never have become the successor, either.

"There is something I wish to discuss with you in private."

"Say it here. Do you have any idea how difficult it is for the Unorthodox Alliance's successor to go out alone?"

"Someday, you will live a life where you need only speak for everything to happen. So do something difficult while you still can. Meet me at midnight on the summit behind the Unorthodox Alliance."

Before leaving the inn, I saw a faint smile on Bi Sain's lips. I could not say whether it was a friend's smile, but at least it was not an enemy's.

* * *

I stood atop the mountain overlooking the Unorthodox Alliance's headquarters.

Before my regression, while wandering in search of the materials for the great ritual, I had stood here and looked down at the alliance. I had stood in this very spot thinking that once I regressed, everything would be resolved.

Then Bi Sain's voice came from behind me.

"What is so important that you had to call me out this late at night? You could have used sound transmission at the inn."

I answered without turning.

"I was afraid you might overturn the table."

"Everyone knows I have a foul temper. It would have been fine."

Bi Sain stood beside me.

"How can you not turn around? What if I pushed you from behind?"

"Hadn't we grown close enough not to worry about such things?"

When I looked at him, Bi Sain snorted.

"That's not it. You're so relaxed because even if you fell, you could land without a scratch."

"That is also true."

I smiled at him, and he turned his gaze toward the alliance buildings in the distance.

"Have you come to collect the life debt?"

"Why stop at the life debt? I should collect the succession debt, too."

"What do you want?"

"Will you grant me anything?"

"If it is within my power."

I looked at him. Bi Sain looked back.

"Let's kill Yelü Han."

My sudden words startled him.

"I knew long ago that you were strange, but I never realized you were such a hopelessly insane bastard."

After a brief silence, he asked,

"Are you declaring war on us?"

"If I were, I would not be having this conversation with you. I came to kill Yelü Han."

"Why do you want to kill him?"

"The grudges he nurtured with blood have wound their way to me."

Knowing full well what sort of man Yelü Han was, Bi Sain asked no more. The man had made far more than one or two enemies.

"Once you become alliance leader, Yelü Han will certainly come for your seat. That is why the current leader must be pondering when to eliminate him. And if he isn't thinking that?"

"If he isn't?"

"Then he has chosen Yelü Han as his successor. He would be handing you the seat knowing you will die."

"!"

He said nothing. His feelings would be complicated. Yelü Han was an enemy he had to kill to become alliance leader, but at the same time, he was the greatest force sustaining the Unorthodox Alliance.

"His attack on the Great Night Gang was merely a preliminary skirmish before he strikes at you."

Bi Sain could not deny it. The gang leader's death must have been a great shock to both him and the alliance leader.

"Do you remember? I said that someday, when I became the Heavenly Demon and you became leader of the Unorthodox Alliance, we should meet again and shake hands as we reminisced about those days."

I gazed into Bi Sain's conflicted eyes. I knew full well this was not a decision he could make easily. But my success or failure depended on it, too.

"I want to shake hands with you, not Yelü Han."