Chapter 99 - Gathering Clouds

Shifting Shadow truly had not known that the Weapon Monster had entered the Murim Alliance, either. Had Mad Cloud not told him, he probably would have remained unaware of the man's presence for quite some time, or been unable to identify him.

Mad Cloud stared into Shifting Shadow's eyes a moment longer before speaking again.

"I'll believe you. But if you're lying..."

"If I am?"

"I'll kill you."

"Ha ha ha, ho ho. Now that's something to look forward to."

Shifting Shadow meant that, too. Although he felt he could not defeat Mad Cloud, he also felt that he could.

No one stood unrivaled in Murim. Mad Cloud had only now drawn his sword in this harsh world after letting it rust within the organization. Shifting Shadow did not think he would fall to him. Murim was not a place where martial prowess alone guaranteed victory...

If he could not win, he need only arrange things so that he could, and then fight. That was why he looked forward to it—to the battle with Mad Cloud that might someday come...

Once again, Shifting Shadow let out that bizarre laugh, neither recognizably male nor female.

"Ha ha, ho ho."

Apparently seeing no need for further conversation, Mad Cloud brushed past Shifting Shadow and headed toward the opening the latter had left open. As he went, he said,

"From this moment on, I command the Outer Shadows here."

"As you wish."

His feminine voice already restored, Shifting Shadow replied with a bright smile. Mad Cloud had come on Mubon's orders, so his word was law here for now. Of course, the real power in Zhengzhou would remain in Shifting Shadow's hands.

Still, there was something he wanted to know.

Just what would Mad Cloud do to catch the Weapon Monster?

"What do you intend to do next?"

At Shifting Shadow's question, Mad Cloud stopped just before the opening. The rippling wall made him appear to move, but he was unmistakably standing still.

"Enter the tournament."

With those words, Mad Cloud vanished from Site One.

"Enter the tournament? The All-Under-Heaven Youth Sparring Tournament?"

Who?

"Mad Cloud? In person? Ha... Hahahahaha! Wonderful. Wonderful! Hohohohoho!"

Whatever he found so amusing, Shifting Shadow threw his head back and laughed like a madman.

For a long time afterward, his bizarre laughter, neither recognizably male nor female, echoed through Site One. Not that anyone could hear it.

Spring will come, the cruelest and most beautiful of the seasons. And the travelers buried in the earth will come again, suffused through flowers and leaves.

- Thomas Clayton Wolfe, American writer

A city that never slept.

Perhaps every city was the same when spring came, but here in Zhengzhou, night disappeared as well. Everyone who had huddled indoors all winter burst outside at once, roaming the streets day and night.

Of all the cities under heaven, Zhengzhou was surely the brightest and busiest now. For it was not only the city's own residents filling its streets. Young talents of Murim were gathering like clouds from all nine provinces, hoping to make their names as martial artists.

So many people had flooded in that the inns and restaurants had long since filled to capacity. The taverns went without saying. Anywhere that offered shelter from the slightly chilly spring breeze was packed.

And still, more people kept pouring in.

Where, then, would those who had failed to find lodging go? Somehow, they had to hold out until the day of the All-Under-Heaven Youth Sparring Tournament, the very event keeping Zhengzhou's lights burning through the night.

Some paid a premium for temporary lodgings in private homes. Others escaped the night dew in brothels and pleasure houses, surrounded by the scent of women's flesh and face powder.

And those still left over?

They slept rough. As always, the street was the last resort.

Sprawl out wherever you pleased, and there was your bed. It was spring, after all—not cold enough to freeze to death.

They were warriors of Murim. In that windswept, dusty world, what did a little wind and dust on the street matter?

But that was how the people sleeping rough saw it. Reality was different. At night, disputes over patches of street broke out regularly among the homeless martial artists. Ordinarily, all such troublemakers should have been hauled off to the authorities, but these were exceptional times. Besides, most of those sleeping outside were martial artists, making it difficult for the officials to intervene.

The Murim Alliance was therefore sending warriors out even at this late hour to restore order to Zhengzhou's chaotic streets. Of course, even the Alliance lacked the manpower to resolve everything.

To make matters worse, some of the Alliance's honored guests, invited by Murim Tablet, were venturing out for nighttime strolls through the disorderly city...

Truly, a sleepless city of chaos...

Dong Bongsu, too, was among those taking a stroll to relieve their boredom in chaotic Zhengzhou. Needless to say, however, his purpose was entirely different from that of the other visitors.

Two hours earlier.

After first showing Dong Bongsu to the Guest Pavilion, Eulji Tae headed alone to Heavenly Unity Hall. Strictly speaking, Dong Bongsu was not a guest of the Alliance, but a personal guest of the Weapon Monster.

By the time they passed through Martial Harmony Gate and entered the Alliance, night had already fallen, and outsiders were strictly forbidden from entering Heavenly Unity Hall. Although Eulji Tae was the Unit Leader of the Murim Defense Corps, he could not take Dong Bongsu inside.

In the end, they agreed to visit the Weapon Monster after daybreak, and Eulji Tae entered the inner compound alone.

Afterward, Dong Bongsu left the Guest Pavilion for a short stroll through the Alliance's outer compound. With the temporary identification badge and entry pass Eulji Tae had left him, no one barred his way.

He explored every corner of the outer compound, committing to memory every person he encountered along the way.

All of this was a kind of "map exploration."

It was the very first thing most gamers did upon entering an unfamiliar dungeon or hunting ground.

Dong Bongsu was no gaming expert, but he instinctively behaved like a seasoned player. In truth, just as in a game, the first principle of hunting was to familiarize yourself with the terrain surrounding your prey's habitat. In that respect, the two had much in common.

And above all else...

To him, this itself was a game.

New Murim Online.

Another world now engraved upon his soul, a hunting ground, and a goal.

This city, Zhengzhou, was nothing less than a new "hunting field" in New Murim Online.

Quite a few people besides Dong Bongsu were strolling freely through the Alliance grounds. Some were heading out through Martial Harmony Gate toward Zhengzhou's bustling streets. Once he had more or less finished exploring the outer compound, he mingled with them and followed them naturally out of the Alliance.

The identification badge pinned to his left breast—the one Eulji Tae had attached before leaving—allowed him to go anywhere except the Alliance's inner compound. It was a travel pass of sorts.

Map exploration was not limited to dungeons. If the Murim Alliance was a dungeon, then the city of Zhengzhou was the "field." It was best to learn the city's layout thoroughly as well, in case anything happened.

The next step was to identify the "mobs" roaming that field, and finally its "boss mobs."

Especially now that his level had risen considerably, identifying the boss mobs alone might be enough.

He had gone through this entire process when he first arrived in Datong, too. And the strongest expert he had met there—the boss mob, in gaming terms—had been the Weapon Monster.

Here in Zhengzhou, most of the boss mobs would be concentrated inside the Alliance's inner compound, within the dungeon. But there was a good chance that a few additional ones had been deployed to the field for this "All-Under-Heaven Youth Sparring Tournament event."

Dong Bongsu had ventured into the field to find them.

Had this been an actual online game, a single "Alt + Tab" would have let him size them all up...

But this was the real Murim, after all.

He was inside New Murim Online.

And Dong Bongsu liked it all the more for that.

Just as he had found the Weapon Monster in Datong, Dong Bongsu roamed Zhengzhou, carefully scanning the city once again.

Most of those sprawled about were weaklings. Ill-mannered house cats, at that... creatures who had yet to realize they were no longer at home. Having caught nothing but house mice scurrying beneath the eaves, they knew nothing of the world's dangers and glared indiscriminately at everyone they saw.

Those domesticated cats were not what Dong Bongsu was looking for.

He needed predators, carnivores, or ravenous devourers.

He kept exploring. Not for the crude killing intent of neighborhood cats, but for the refined instincts of the great felines. Or an unusual, exceptional case like Jong Jihang would do. That would be even better.

Any worthy prey was welcome.

In fact, several potential quarries had stirred his qi senses. But they were not the prey he wanted here in New Murim Online.

His Spirit Eye had not reacted.

This was the greatest change he had undergone since coming to this world. A mere predator was now far removed from what he considered prey. Being a predator alone no longer made someone an appetizing target. They had to be strong.

Strong and cruel. Failing that...

They had to at least be strong. If they were insanely strong...

That alone made them the finest prey. Now, at least.

He, too, was gradually discovering the thrill of fighting, the pleasure of combat itself. His recent battle with Timur Khan had given him a taste of something new: the exhilaration of an intensely fierce battle, a struggle between life and death.

It had been exquisite.

Dong Bongsu was searching for such a target—an opponent who might offer him that again.

Lv. 35.

Had he grown too strong?

The hour of the boar—9 p.m. to 11 p.m.—by which the guards at Martial Harmony Gate had warned him to return was nearly over, yet he had not met a single such person.

He had passed many strong people... but found no one strong enough to whet his appetite.

Even now, his Spirit Eye remained utterly still.

'Will I have to look among those who came in response to the Murim Alliance's missives after all?'

That was how strong Dong Bongsu had become.

Though he had found no truly exciting prey, he thought this was fine in its own way.