Rebirth of the Heavenly Demon

Normally, I should have greeted Song Woo-gyeong first, but I didn’t do that today.

About half an hour after I arrived, Song Hwa-rin entered the room with a slightly surprised expression.

“You came to see me?”

She smelled nice, as if she had just washed. When I saw her in spring, she was like a spring flower, but now she was like the autumn sky.

“Shall we go out for a walk?”

After staring at me for a moment, she nodded.

We went outside together and strolled through the back garden. There was no one around as it was still early.

“Have you been well?”

She answered my question.

“Training, and more training. Just a repetition of such days. How about you?”

“I’m similar.”

“I heard about the Small Sword Division. They defeated the Beast Division?”

“We were lucky.”

“Is that really so?”

She stared at me intently. She had now fully accepted my change.

“Why did you act like a scoundrel? Did you want to break off our engagement?”

I thought that from her perspective, she might think this way.

“I wasn’t acting like a scoundrel; I was a scoundrel then.”

“And you changed after I hit you?”

“Yes.”

“You expect me to really believe that?”

“You have to believe it. Because it’s the truth.”

She stared at me and let out a light sigh.

“I don’t know what to think anymore.”

“There’s one thing I don’t know either.”

“What is it?”

“You said before, remember? That you had a reason for disliking the previous Alliance Leader.”

She chuckled.

“You’re asking again. Are you that curious?”

“Yes, I’m curious.”

“Why are you so curious? You have no connection to the Alliance Leader, right?”

It was difficult to find a rational answer that would make her understand. I was about to say that I had always respected him, but instead, I gave a reason that suddenly came to mind.

“There’s no particular reason. You know how it is? Once you’re curious about something, you keep getting more curious. It’s like I suddenly got fixated on it.”

She chuckled. It was a laugh I hadn’t seen in a long time. Or was it the first time?

Anyway, this answer seemed better than saying I respected him or something like that.

“It’s not such a grand reason. I should have just told you earlier.”

“It’s fine now too.”

She revealed her reason.

“There’s someone I dislike. That person really respected the previous Alliance Leader. Almost like a god. Because someone I dislike liked him so much, I ended up disliking him too. It’s a silly reason, isn’t it?”

“Who’s the person you dislike?”

A slight shadow crossed her face. It seemed she had her own circumstances.

“Let’s just leave it at that.”

“Alright, that’s enough. Thank you for telling me.”

“There’s nothing to thank me for such a small thing. But why did you come to see me?”

I guarantee that when she hears what I’m about to say, she’ll be really surprised.

I threw out words that were completely opposite to the good atmosphere we had until now.

“I came to challenge you to a duel.”

“What?”

Song Hwa-rin’s eyes widened. It was the first time I’d seen her so surprised since meeting her.

“Let’s have a match.”

She stared blankly for a moment before asking with a disbelieving expression.

“Are you serious?”

“I am serious.”

“Why?”

“Revenge for that day.”

Song Hwa-rin stared at me blankly.

The last thing she said to me when we parted before was that she couldn’t understand me.

But now I’ve come back and asked for a duel, so her confusion must be beyond words.

“Really, you…”

She seemed to be trying hard to understand me somehow.

But she absolutely won’t be able to understand. If I were her, I wouldn’t either.

She bit her lip slightly and agreed to the duel.

“Alright, let’s do it.”

We faced each other in the training ground. From a distance, Su-ran watched this sudden situation with worry.

“I don’t know what your intention is, but if we’re going to duel, let’s do it properly.”

“That’s exactly what I want.”

“With real swords?”

When I nodded, she flinched in surprise. She had asked just in case, but I had agreed to it.

A duel with real swords could lead to serious injury or even death if something went wrong. Moreover, this was our first duel. We had no idea what kind of swordsmanship the other used.

It was natural for her to be tense. If I was still the scoundrel from before, she would never have agreed. But now, for some reason, she felt it might be okay.

“Alright. But don’t get excited. Absolutely not!”

I nodded at her warning.

“I understand.”

She slowly drew her sword.

I also drew my sword and slowly approached.

Swish!

She lightly leaped forward and thrust her sword. It was a kind of probing attack.

Clang!

I lightly swung my sword to deflect it.

Again, the two swords clashed in the air.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

It was a light exchange of offense and defense. There was no need to rush in as if to kill from the start.

As I expected, her skill was considerable. Her footwork was nimble, and her techniques were sharp. The swordsmanship seemed familiar; perhaps the master who taught her was someone I knew.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

We gradually increased the speed while repeating offense and defense.

She might not realize it, but I was naturally drawing her into my pace. Since a single mistake could lead to a serious injury, I thoroughly controlled the entire duel from beginning to end.

I pushed her back, then was pushed back in turn. A risky attack led to a relaxed defense, and that relaxation turned into breathtaking danger again.

Under my meticulous calculation, she swung her sword frantically.

I pushed her to her limit. She wouldn’t even have time to think about how strong I had become. This was probably her first duel like this.

Finally, when I judged that she had reached her limit.

My sword, dodging her attack and diving in, flew towards her neck.

She tried to block it, but it was already too late.

“Ah!”

If it had continued, her neck would have been cut off, but my sword changed direction.

Thud! The sword handle struck her shoulder.

“Ugh.”

She staggered and swung her sword again to block the following attack.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

My fists struck her stomach and sides in succession, and the last two blows flew towards her face.

“Miss!”

When the startled Su-ran ran over, Song Hwa-rin had already fallen to the ground.

Su-ran hurriedly checked on Song Hwa-rin. Fortunately, she was still conscious. Su-ran shouted angrily.

“Are you crazy? How could you do this!”

“It was a fair duel. You’re not saying we should go easy on her because she’s a woman, are you?”

At my words, Su-ran frowned but couldn’t argue back.

I knew Su-ran was very angry, but I added one more thing. It was something I had to say, even if I didn’t want to.

“This is revenge for the beating I took last time.”

Su-ran’s face contorted even more. She looked like she wanted to rush at me right then.

At that moment, Song Hwa-rin grabbed her arm. When Su-ran turned to look, Song Hwa-rin shook her head. It meant not to do it.

“…I lost. And…”

She looked at me with half-open eyes while lying on the ground. It wasn’t a resentful gaze.

“…That last technique?”

Thankfully, she noticed.

I nodded with a meaningful smile.

I hadn’t just hit her to win.

While fighting, I noticed that her swordsmanship had a fatal weakness. And it was in her most important technique. I had properly broken through it and attacked.

If she doesn’t realize on her own that there’s a fatal weakness in her technique, she might die someday to an enemy who sees through this weakness.

Song Hwa-rin had felt it in my attack just now. How her technique, which she thought was perfect, was helplessly broken through. That it wasn’t just bad luck that she got hit.

“Later…”

She lost consciousness before finishing her words. Was she going to say let’s fight again? Or something else?

Su-ran carried her on her back and ran into the house. The sky might seem like it’s falling, but there’s no need to worry.

I knew exactly how hard to hit.

She’ll need to stay in bed for at least ten days, and her face will be swollen and look terrible for a while. But she’ll recover and get up without any problems.

Did I come for this duel to give her practical experience and show her the weakness in her technique?

Of course not.

This duel was entirely because of Ma Jeongsu.

Judging by the way he handles things, if I made a flimsy excuse and didn’t attend the banquet, he might come directly to the Song Clan home the next day.

Now, even if he comes, he won’t be able to try anything when he sees her in this condition.

If he still tries to make a move despite her being in this state, then I’ll find a way to get rid of him without thinking about the consequences. Whether the entire Heavenly Blade Sect comes rushing to Shandong or not, I’ll deal with that when the time comes.

Actually, the first method I thought of was to go to Song Woo-gyeong, tell him honestly, and have her evacuated far away.

But I thought she might refuse to go, and even if she did go, she might be in more danger out of my reach. He could send people to find out where she went.

Even if I gave another reason for not attending, he might persistently dig into it and find out it was a lie.

But if she’s really injured and bedridden like this, even he won’t be able to do anything.

The reason for the duel was also sufficient. Although I’ve come to my senses now, I was a former scoundrel taking revenge for being beaten before.

Anyway, I bought time in the best way I could.

I felt sorry for her and for Song Woo-gyeong because it was such a poor strategy. But within the given time, I couldn’t find a better strategy. I wasn’t Gal Saryang, after all.

Of course, all these worries might just be groundless.

He might have no ulterior motives or interest in Song Hwa-rin at all.

I’m just preparing.

When dealing with evil people, I always prepare and prepare again.

The damage from not being careful in advance would be far greater and more fatal compared to this effort.

***

I returned straight home.

There was one more thing I had to take care of before going to the banquet.

If my goal was to kill Ma Jeongsu, this task would be a bit easier. No matter how difficult the opponent, it was in the area I was best at.

But taking what he had was certainly more difficult than that. After always having Gal Saryang handle complicated and difficult tasks, trying to handle it myself made me sweat.

Still, I’ll manage it. He came to us, took our money, and swaggered about, so I have to pay him back in kind.

I’m certain that messing with his money will be far more effective than killing one of the three who came with him.

When the money disappears, they’ll be bewildered. Internal divisions and cracks will appear.

That’s the power of money. A devilish power that can ultimately separate even the closest of people.

The question is, where is the money being kept, and who is managing it?

Ma Jeongsu? Flower Fan Elder? Si Gon? That mysterious woman?

First, I ruled out Flower Fan Elder. Not only was he old, but he was also an outsider. Ma Jeongsu wouldn’t have entrusted the money to an outsider.

For the same reason, if we exclude the mysterious woman, then could it be Si Gon?

Although it was a friendly competition, he was a martial artist representing the Heavenly Blade Sect. He’s the typical martial artist. He doesn’t seem to have much to do with managing money, does he?

Then is Ma Jeongsu managing it directly?

That seemed the most likely possibility.

Gwangdu came running to my room at my call.

“You called for me?”

“There’s something I need to find out.”

Seeing my serious expression, Gwangdu tensed up.

“What is it?”

“You’ve heard too, right? That the blood relative of the Heavenly Blade Sect leader is down here in Shandong.”

“Of course.”

The guy lowered his voice, looking around.

“I heard he extorted money from the sect leaders of Shandong?”

I also lowered my voice and asked.

“This is my room, why are we whispering?”

Then Gwangdu whispered.

“What if it reaches that guy’s ears? It would be a big deal, right? He’s the bloodline of the Martial Righteous Alliance Leader, and the Heavenly Blade Sect is one of the Five Great Sects of the Central Plains.”

“Then you’re in big trouble.”

“Why?”

“Because you have to go investigate those guys right now.”

Gwangdu blinked and looked at me. As I always say, I really like Gwangdu’s expression at times like this.

“You’re serious.”

“Originally, the best way to forget about woman problems is through work.”

“I might be able to forget about a hundred women, but…”

I chuckled and raised my voice again.

“It’s nothing serious, so relax.”

Putting aside the playfulness, Gwangdu asked seriously.

“What do I need to do?”

“He’s planning to build a martial arts school in Jinan. You go to Jinan right now and find out everything related to that. Where it’s being built, who’s in charge of the construction, when it starts, find out everything you can. There must be things we need to know besides what he told us.”

I told Gwangdu about what Ma Jeongsu had said about establishing the martial arts school during the first gathering. And I gave him two thousand taels separately, telling him to use it if he needed money.

“This much?”

“If you need to use it, don’t hesitate, just use it without question.”

“Yes.”

“And you need to return as quickly as possible.”

“Understood.”

When it comes to blending in with people and finding things out, I can trust Gwangdu. His innate likability is natural. Moreover, he had an instinctive cleverness for avoiding danger.

Feeling a bit reluctant to just send him off, I jokingly said.

“Should I send Do Soon with you?”

“No.”

It was an unexpectedly firm rejection without hesitation.

“Why? Have you already moved on?”

“No. My heart still pounds and hurts every time I see her.”

“Then why?”

“I can’t let what little affection she might have left for me disappear completely. It might be a love I never really got to start properly, but I don’t want it to end miserably.”

I nodded, saying it was a wise thought.

“Well, I’ll be going then.”

“Go on horseback.”

Gwangdu’s eyes sparkled as he said.

“Yes, this time I’ll return as a master of horsemanship, no, as a centaur!”

After sending Gwangdu off, I left the house heading towards the Yang Minor Faction where the banquet was being held.

There are many reasons why I dislike banquets, but here’s another one.

Banquets make people let their guard down.

Knowing this, I’ll make efforts to turn this banquet into a golden opportunity for me.

Now, I’m doing my best like this, but what about you?