Chapter 19: Chapter: Together to Ghost Valley (4)

༺ Third Chapter – Together to Ghost Valley (4) ༻

The two followed the direction where the girl had vanished.

Traces like footprints were faint, but they pressed on, even as a dense forest loomed before them.

And then, they encounter the Jiangshi.

Hop–

The creatures hopping about the withered bushes were clearly those who had lived here. Their attire was too shabby and unseemly to be martial artists of the Blood Cult or the Martial Arts Alliance.

“They’re really Jiangshi.”

Mok Riwon laughed bitterly.

He spat out the blood poison pill, and with one hand on his sword, said to Tang Hwa-seo.

“I’m sorry for being stubborn.”

“It’s fine. I didn’t dissuade you to the end because I also saw the reason in your words.”

Tang Hwa-seo said, smiling.

Even though she was proven correct and they ended up facing an enemy again, she wasn’t displeased.

“Still, isn’t it fortunate? There was no lost child here.”

Mok Riwon was moved by her words, and with a smile, he stepped forward and said.

“Please leave this to me. I’ll do it alone.”

“Will you be okay?”

“There’s not as much as I was worried about, and they don’t seem strong either.”

There were fifteen Jiangshi in total.

Their movements were linear and slow to the point that even a second-rate martial artist would likely be able to fight them.

Indeed, just like he had once heard from Mok Seon-oh.

“You are no longer ordinary people. It’s time to rest in peace.”

They were far too weak.

* * *

Slice–

Mok Riwon beheaded the first Jiangshi headed towards him.

It was a simple horizontal slash without fancy techniques or stances, yet it cleanly severed their necks.

When the next attack aimed for his back, Mok Riwon twisted his body with minimal movement and slit its throat.

Slice–

Mok Riwon’s expression was somber, or perhaps more accurately, sad.

There was one reason.

For the first time since he had learned to wield his sword, and the first time he had fought with his life on the line–

‘...There’s nothing.’

–He felt no killing intent from his opponent.

It wasn’t that they were good at hiding their killing intent, but they literally lacked any will to kill someone.

They just instinctively lunged at anyone who entered their radius, repeating this process as they fell apart.

He didn’t know whose intention it was.

Nor why they were abandoned here.

And that saddened him.Reêad latest novels at novelhall.com

–...Even if they are such pitiable people, the world does not listen to the voices of the weak.

As Mok Seon-oh had said, it was deeply saddening that their screams reached nowhere.

Slice–

The last Jiangshi’s head fell to the ground.

Mok Riwon caught his breath.

There was such an overwhelming difference in skill he didn’t even break a drop of sweat.

After finishing everything, Mok Riwon sheathed his sword and bowed his head. With his eyes closed, he conveyed an unspoken message.

‘Please rest now.”

It was a silent prayer.

In the forest where there was nothing but silence, Mok Riwon continued his prayer for a long while before reopening his eyes.

‘Master, I think I understand a little now.’

With this realization, he found the answer to the lingering question in the back of his mind – a clear, unwavering answer.

–Why must a hero be a martial artist?

‘Because the voice of the weak does not reach.’

–What is chivalry for?

‘To speak on behalf of those voices.’

And so, his way forward was clear.

‘To ensure there are fewer of those who fall because they lack strength.’

As expected, it was chivalry.

* * *

Tang Hwa-seo watched the entire process quietly.

It ended so easily that she couldn’t think of anything to say, so she just waited for him to finish his silent prayer.

Then, amidst the silence.

Thud–

Mok Riwon collapsed.

“...Young Hero!”

Tang Hwa-seo quickly ran to him to check his condition.

His complexion was deathly pale, his breath was ragged, and the tips of his eyebrows were trembling slightly.

What had suddenly happened?

While pondering this, she remembered something she had forgotten.

Though still dazed, Mok Riwon thought to himself.

‘It feels oddly ticklish and nice.’

‘If it weren’t for my poor condition, this would feel so comfortable and warm.’

The soft hair that brushed against his cheeks smelled different from his own, and the feeling of someone embracing him tightly seemed to relax his tension.

A faint smile appeared on Mok Riwon’s lips.

It was during the peak of his comfort that he realized something.

‘The Young Lady’s scent.’

The sweet fragrance that always gently lingered around when he was with Tang Hwa-seo.

His smile widened upon realizing this was her scent.

“Suck–”

The sound came again, along with the sensation at his fingertips.

That was the last thing he felt.

Feeling gradually more comfortable, he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Beside a stream at the end of Blood Valley was a woman soaked in sweat and a man lying on the ground.

The woman, still unable to catch her breath, checked the man’s complexion.

She scooped water from the stream, letting it flow into his mouth, and wiped the sweat from his face with a piece of cloth. As the tension finally seemed to ease, she stretched her body and relaxed.

Upon steadying her breath, an angry expression emerged on her face.

However, she did not seem to harbor the intention to harm the man.

Lifting her right hand, the woman placed it on the man’s cheek and began to pinch, pulling it strongly.

Her lips moved as if scolding him, but whether he knew it or not, the man continued to smile faintly, lost in sleep.

There was someone watching all of this from afar.

It was the same girl whom Mok Riwon and Tang Hwa-seo had seen earlier in the village of Blood Valley.

“Ku ku, the fellow really sleeps well.”

The laughter sounded like something the elderly would make.

Her shaking shoulders indicated just how pleased she was feeling.

Rip–

The girl placed her hand over her face and peeled off the skin.

What was unveiled was the face of an attractive old woman.

“Now, take care of this for me.”

The old woman handed the mask made of human skin to the masked individual standing guard beside her. The young man accepted it and then asked the elder a question.

“Is it fine?”

“What are you referring to?”

“Haven’t you lost the Man-faced Spider? And the Jiangshi too...”

“It’s fine. The Man-faced Spider was originally something I raised to strengthen myself, and the Jiangshi was a nuisance I merely left alone. Instead, didn’t I witness something interesting?”

The elderly woman said this while looking fondly towards Mok Riwon in the distance.

“That Mok Family bastard really made someone just like himself.”

The masked man quietly bowed his head at the old woman’s words.

“Yes, it seems the Sword Star has accomplished yet another remarkable feat.”

“Sword Star, what nonsense.”

She chuckled.

“He’s just a senseless old man.”

Then she straightened her back with a cracking sound, and turned around with her hands clasped behind her back.

“Let’s go. We’ve done what we came here for.”

“Does that mean...”

“We will not touch him.”

The masked individual looked in Mok Riwon’s direction after hearing those words.

‘Has he passed the test?’

Should he be considered lucky, or was he simply that special?

The masked man knew.

How strict the standards of the old woman walking away with her hands clasped behind her back were.

Although she appeared like an ordinary grandmother one could see anywhere, he was well aware of how fearsome she truly was.

Killing Star, Yeom So-so.

One of the Ten Grand Masters of the Orthodox Faction, distinguished as one of the Four Stars, Six Kings.

A dark star, revered as a hero while living the life of an assassin who punishes the wicked in the darkness of night.

On the day the Bloodied History ended, she was one of the ten who decided the fate of that man born under the Heaven-Slaying Star.

–I will observe this child when he grows up. If I see that he has even a speck of evil in him once he steps into the martial world, I will personally take his life.

Those were the words uttered by Yeom So-so that day.

Seeing her turn around like this must mean that this man named Mok RIwon had caught her eye.

“What are you doing? Why aren’t you coming?”

“I am on my way.”

At her urging, the masked man brushed aside those thoughts and walked after Yeom So-so.

They continued walking.

After a lengthy climb from the entrance of the cave housing the Man-faced Spider, a crevice appeared.

Upon emerging from it and crossing another forest path, a place revealed itself as the fog dissipated.

Killing Valley.

In the shadows of this martial world, the darkest star once more hid itself in the background of a land filled with poison qi, lying in wait for its next prey.

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