"A-A dying wish, you said..."

Yeah, I never said it was a dying wish.

"Senior Brother was right... People from the next world really are all swindlers or liars..."

Well, that's not entirely wrong.

But is that really something you should say, when you were trying to kill someone just for hearing your ridiculous story?

"You ruffian who knows nothing of morality..."

But aren't you badly hurt? When are you going to pass out?

I was tired of listening to him whine, so I flicked finger wind at him and put him to sleep.

Then I approached to check his wound, just in case.

But the wound was shallower than I had expected.

'What? I definitely felt it go in properly.'

When I lifted his robes, something was glittering beneath his martial uniform.

Cold iron... That's cold iron.

Cold iron, a metal not as hard as black iron, but light and with excellent cutting power, making it prized by martial artists as a weapon material.

There were as many martial artists as grains of sand by a river who dreamed their whole lives of owning a weapon that contained cold iron.

And Zhongnan had made protective gear out of it and was wearing it.

'Fuck, and they call this a crisis for Zhongnan?'

Here I was, almost feeling guilty because I thought I was taking Zhongnan's last remaining, one and only hope.

Deciding there was no longer any need to feel burdened, I pressed his sleep acupoint deeply once more so he could not wake, then rose to return to my junior disciples.

But then.

STOP.

Strange. Why won't my body move?

Even when I tried to twist myself by force, my body would not budge.

When I turned my head again, I saw the cold-iron protective garment peeking out from between the man's torn clothes.

'You want me to take you with me?'

The cold-iron protective garment was desperately clinging to my ankle right now.

I firmly shook my head.

"No. You already have an owner, do you not? I am no thief."

At that, the cold-iron protective garment shook its head fiercely as well.

It said it had never once felt any sense of belonging in Zhongnan. The place it belonged was not Zhongnan, but the Taiyi Sect.

"Hoo... Even so, I cannot steal. Ahem, I am a Daoist, after all."

When I tried to turn away coldly, the cold-iron protective garment burst into pitiful tears.

Its crying was so loud that I worried the people of Zhongnan might come.

"Fine... Perhaps this, too, is fate."

Left with no choice, I approached the man and stripped off the cold-iron protective garment.

Yes, this really could not be helped. Even if it was only an object, it was seeking its rightful path... It really could not be helped...

Metals linked tightly by tiny chains wrapped all the way around the torso.

Judging from the uniform color of the metal, the entire protective garment seemed to have been made wholly of cold iron.

'Fuck, how many mansions is this one thing worth?'

With a heavy heart, I searched the man's breast as well. In case there was another fated connection.

But there were no glittering, precious connections, nor any connections like spiritual pills.

'Hm?'

There was only a dark, dingy wooden connection.

I picked it up carelessly.

'Dam Jungho.'

It seemed to be the man's name.

Since the identification tag did not cry, I put it back into the man's breast and turned away.

It was time to return to my junior disciples.

I had only taken a few steps.

RUSTLE.

My ears perked at the sound behind me.

I had pressed his sleep acupoint deeply, and he was already awake?

I hurriedly forced the cold-iron protective garment into my robes and turned my head.

But then.

RUSTLE, RUSTLE.

There, some new man was rummaging through Dam Jungho's breast.

"..."

In that instant, goosebumps rose all over me, and my heart dropped.

'What the hell is this bastard...? When did he get here?'

Not even a single ant had come near this area within my extended qi sense.

So what was that bastard?

That meant he had entered the radius while ignoring my qi sense.

"... Damn, not here either?"

The mysterious man muttered while searching Dam Jungho's breast.

He grabbed the identification tag, tossed it up and caught it a few times, then turned his head toward me.

And when his eyes met mine.

"You didn't happen to find anything like a ring here, did you?"

"..."

The bastard asked far too calmly.

When I said nothing, he nodded obediently and muttered to himself.

"Well, if you had it, I would've sensed it. ... Hoo, another miss. Tsk."

Ease could be felt from his entire body.

For a moment, I almost wondered if this was his own bedroom.

CRACK. CRACKLE.

Soon, the bastard sharpened his fingernails.

His delicate, jade-like fingers stretched long, and black nails grew out.

Then he tried to stab Dam Jungho in the neck.

Fuck, if that guy dies here, things will get troublesome.

I hurriedly drew the Black Dragon Sword and launched Sword Qi.

CLANG.

Sword Qi and fingernails had collided, so why did it sound like metal striking metal?

That question quickly made me think of certain beings, and I soon understood.

'The Demonic Cult...'

A fucking bastard had appeared.

* * *

"Hm?"

The bastard, struck by the Sword Qi before he knew it, widened his eyes and looked at me.

"What's wrong? Did I do something bad?"

What the fuck is this son of a bitch saying?

I waved the tip of my sword in front of him.

"Step away from him."

The bastard looked back and forth between me and Dam Jungho, then tilted his head.

"Wasn't this man your enemy? That's why you stole his things too. No?"

I didn't steal it, you bastard! Say it properly!

It was a connection I could do nothing about.

There were deep circumstances I could have explained, but I did not bother answering.

My pride would not allow me to tell such a story to a demonic practitioner bastard.

I warned him again.

"I told you to step away."

At that, the bastard's innocent face transformed into something like a fiend in an instant.

It was not that his expression turned vicious, but that he truly changed like a monster in the blink of an...

"Don't order me around! Unless you want to die!!!"

That startled me.

At that hideous appearance, my heart dropped for an instant. I had never seen anything like this even in my past life.

Of course a Demonic Cult bastard would be like this. What bizarre martial art did he learn this time?

As I frowned, the bastard raised his hand.

"Ah! Sorry, I got a little excited. It's our first meeting, so forget that just now."

As if I could forget that. I'm afraid it will appear in my dreams.

At last, the bastard's face returned to its original innocent form.

"I heard you're the one who crippled Je Geumhak? That's why I'm letting you off this once. That bastard was damn annoying."

Did he truly not know that he himself was annoying too?

I drew up the Okcheong Heavenly Star Power and wrapped it around the Black Dragon Sword.

"I told you to step away. This is the last time."

At my hostile action, the guy tilted his head as if he truly could not understand.

"You already have the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk, so aren't you done here? Besides, you're not on Zhongnan's side either, are you?"

In that instant, my heart dropped at the bastard's words.

How much does this bastard know?

Could there be others besides this bastard who came inside?

Concern for my junior disciples surged in like a tide.

"How... do you know that?"

"Because I was watching. By the way, are you going to keep that thing on? My stomach's feeling pretty bad."

The bastard jerked his chin toward my Black Dragon Sword, now dyed golden.

Was he doing it on purpose? Or was he really not in his right mind?

Either way, I did not like it.

"Step away."

"Haa... Good grief. This is why I don't understand Jianghu bastards. Fine."

The bastard obediently stepped back.

Then he uttered something incomprehensible.

"Why is Lord Little Demon interested in a guy like you? You don't seem like much."

While the bastard spoke, I began estimating in my head.

Judging by how he was hostile to Je Geumhak, he was probably in a competitive relationship with him on a similar level.

If not, there would be no need for him to be hostile to Je Geumhak at all.

Therefore, the fact that this man kept Je Geumhak in check meant his martial prowess was also at a similar level to Je Geumhak's.

'Just my luck.'

Meeting this bastard in this situation was a problem, but the real problem was that I had never seen this man in my past life, so I had no idea what kind of bastard he was.

I had gone through hell to catch that bastard Je Geumhak.

'Maybe... my junior disciples should leave first.'

Had he read my thoughts?

The bastard chuckled.

"Don't tell me you're thinking of fighting me right now? Haha! Je Geumhak must have looked pretty easy to you."

As if something was so funny, the bastard pretended to hold back tears while studying me closely.

Then he squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.

"No! No! I promised not to cause trouble this time!"

After muttering to himself for a long while, he smiled broadly again.

Seriously, what the hell is this crazy bastard?

"There's something I'm curious about. Can you answer me?"

"No."

"Why?"

Fuck, do I really have to say that out loud?

"Je Geumhak came back with his head crushed, you see. Teacher is treating him now. But he said it's broken, so it'll be hard to fix."

The bastard circled both hands near his head as he described the extent of Je Geumhak's injuries.

He even looked extremely excited.

"But from what I heard from the Hidden Demon Squad kids, you crushed his head without laying a hand on him? It was the first time I heard there was something like that among the martial arts of the Central Plains."

Then the bastard's eyes flashed sharply for an instant.

"How did you do it?"

His gaze held truly pure curiosity. That made it even more dangerous.

"If you have no business here, piss off."

"You're not going to answer?"

The bastard stared fixedly behind me. As though something were there.

"Will you answer if all your junior disciples die?"

"... Do you want to die?"

I stirred up killing intent and fired it at the bastard. But the bastard stared at my face as though nothing had happened.

Then he suddenly burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! Interesting. As expected, you're worth Lord Little Demon's interest."

The son of a bitch nodded obediently.

"Well, what does it matter how you crushed his head? The result is what matters. Anyway, it was nice meeting you. Let's meet again next time. Definitely."

Just like when he appeared, the bastard vanished without a trace in an instant.

That fucker. Meet again, my ass.

I regret not carrying salt with me as a habit. From now on, I will make sure to carry salt.

* * *

"Haa."

After the son of a bitch disappeared, my legs somehow gave out, and I sank down onto the ground.

'His eyes were truly insane.'

My head was so tangled it felt like it might burst.

Starting with how the bastard had pierced through my qi sense, and what the bastard had been searching for.

And even how many Demonic Cult bastards had spread throughout the Central Plains.

Among them, the biggest problem lay in what the bastard had said.

["Why is Lord Little Demon interested in a guy like you? You don't seem like much."]

Since I had a rough idea who "Little Demon" referred to, I felt dizzy.

I had vaguely guessed it after the incident with Je Geumhak last time, but now I was completely certain.

'The bastard among bastards is interested in me right now.'

On top of that, he was spreading his interest far and wide like a tender young girl fallen into first love.

Otherwise, how could every demonic practitioner bastard I had met recently know about me?

'A demonic practitioner with a maiden's heart...'

Just imagining it was horrifying.

I had heard that unwanted attention from the opposite sex was unbearably burdensome,

but that could not compare to the attention of a hateful man of the same sex.

On top of that, had that son of a bitch not even placed the Demon God's curse on me while killing me in my past life?

"... But when did I meet him in this life?"

No matter how much I searched through my memories, the only points of contact with him that came to mind were a few scenes from my past life.

The memory of him sweeping through Murim Alliance units like a storm during the Orthodox-Demonic Great War.

The memory of him making the experts of the Orthodox faction spill blood from their Seven Voids by flicking them with a single finger.

The memory of him walking as though out for a stroll while creating mountains of corpses and rivers of blood.

And finally, the memory of him killing me.

'Looking back, he really is a horrifying son of a bitch.'

I searched through all those memories so horrifying that I wondered if he was even human, but in this life, I was certain I had no memory of meeting him.

"What the hell is going on?"

For now, I brushed myself off and got up.

Because now was not a good time to keep thinking.

First, I checked Dam Jungho.

I was worried the bastard might have poisoned him or something in the meantime.

"Ugh..."

Perhaps because some time had passed, he tried to wake, so I pressed his sleep acupoint again and put him deeply to sleep.

Perhaps because I felt I had saved this man's life, the cold-iron protective garment seemed to leave Zhongnan with a slightly lighter heart as well.

That crazy bastard from earlier would not come back to kill Dam Jungho again while I was gone, would he?

But even if he did, what could I do? I could only earnestly hope he would not.

I returned to the cave where the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk had appeared.

When I cleared away the stones and earth from the entrance I had collapsed and entered,

swords were flying toward me.

"Die...! Eldest Senior Brother!"

"Haa, haa! You scared me."

The junior disciples who had tried to attack at once, thinking I was an intruder, each let out a long sigh of relief.

"Did you collect all the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk?"

"... Ah, yes. We finished just now."

"Are you all right, Senior Brother? Did you meet someone dangerous?"

"..."

Should I tell them about the Demonic Cult bastard I had just met?

And about that bastard Kwak Gung, who was supposedly interested in me?

Soon, I shook my head.

Even if I told them, they would not believe it easily, and if they did believe it, that would be a problem in its own way.

When one thinks of an enormous enemy beyond one's reach, one's own achievements can feel far too insignificant.

The greatest hindrance to martial arts training is impatience.

"Nothing happened. I was putting a Big Dipper swordsman to sleep."

This much was enough.

My junior disciples would grow stronger.

They only had to climb their own steps one by one.

"..."

"..."

While I was thinking that,

I raised my head to check the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk, and saw the kids' eyes had turned somewhat insolent.

What's with these guys now?

"... Come on, Eldest Senior Brother, seriously... Haa... Hah!"

Starting with Geumpyo, Eunho also began laughing loudly.

Saryeon relaxed her stiff expression and let out a small chuckle too.

What is this atmosphere?

"Senior Brother, come on, a Big Dipper swordsman?!"

"He says it was a Big Dipper swordsman. Hahaha."

They... don't believe me?

When I frowned, Geumpyo stepped forward and sternly stopped the jeering Eunho and Saryeon.

"Eunho, stop it."

Yes, Geumpyo, at least I can trust...

"Eldest Senior Brother says he was a Big Dipper swordsman. Then he was a Big Dipper swordsman."

"Hahaha! That's right. If he says he was a Big Dipper swordsman, then he was a Big Dipper swordsman. But... a Biiig Dipper swordsman? A Biiig Dipper swordsman?"

Just then, Dongryong scurried over and tugged at my sleeve.

"Eldest Senior Brother, I believe you. I'm sure he really was a Big Dipper swordsman."

Heh, these brats... They must be very hungry for training.