Chapter 7 Demon Man (1)

Chapter 7: Demon Man (1)

Nine days after departing the Seonwoo family estate, we finally arrived at Guojing, the gateway to Yunnan Province.

By the time we arrived, it was already evening, so we decided to spend the night at an inn here and part ways with the ronin tomorrow.

After all, just two mountain passes beyond here lay the front lines.

Standing before the inn, gazing at the entrance, the ronin murmured with a look of awe.

“Who would’ve thought it’d take nine days to get this far.”

“It took us nine days just to get to a decent inn.”

“I’m moved right now. I feel like I might cry.”

I, who could be called the root cause of all this, couldn’t help but feel embarrassed and said to them.

“Come on, come on. Let’s go inside. Since today is the last day, have a drink. It’s on me.”

“Ooh! Just as I expected, Young Master Seonwoo! I had faith in you!”

“The son of a noble family truly has a big heart!”

Seeing them light up as if they’d been waiting for this, I couldn’t help but feel I’d been had.

By the end of our journey, we had grown quite close.

They were remarkably trustworthy for vagabonds, genuinely decent people, and since I wasn’t one to judge by status either, we’d opened up to each other without reservation.

It was bitterly ironic that I felt more affection for these men, whom I’d shared a mere nine days with, than for the people of the Sega clan I’d lived with for twenty years.

We roughly unpacked our belongings in the room and all gathered around the table on the first floor, waiting for food.

“So, Gong Moo-sa, once this job is done, are you going back home for good?”

Mr. Gong, with his unassuming demeanor, smiled at my question and answered. He was the one who had mentioned before that his wife couldn’t cook, so he only came home at night.

“Yes. With a wife and children to care for, I don’t think I can keep eating meals from the kitchen anymore.”

Then the warrior who grumbled about everything and lost his temper easily spoke up.

“Ugh! I told you so! A wandering warrior shouldn’t start a family!”

Hearing this, the jovial-looking Yang warrior beside them asked with a playful look on his face.

“Then why do you look so envious?”

“Me? Hmph! As if! Aren’t you the one who looks jealous?”

“See? You’re getting worked up again. When you’re hit with the truth, you can’t help but snap and lie.”

“Ah, I told you I’m not!”

As the quiet and gentle servant warrior smiled watching them, the leader-like warrior Jang called out to refocus their attention.

“Come on, come on! Today’s our last day with Master Sunwoo, so let’s drink until our noses are crooked!”

“Alright! Innkeeper! Bring us some liquor first!”

It was said that these five men, led by the Jiangxi warrior, had been traveling together for quite some time.

It seemed that this time, the married warrior with a wife and children would be leaving the group for good.

Since we were the only ones on the first floor of this remote place, it felt like we had the entire floor to ourselves as we were boisterously chatting away.

Suddenly, the inn door swung open, and a figure stepped inside.

“Oh my! Welcome! A lovely young lady has arrived!”

The innkeeper’s fuss made us naturally turn our gaze that way.

Then, our eyes widened in shock.

“Huh?”

“That young lady… isn’t she the one from back then?”

She was none other than the young lady named Cheongyeon who had been at the Seonwoo family estate not long ago.

With her bangs swept down to her nose, her distinctive appearance made her impossible to miss.

Her gaze, which had been scanning the inn, also fixed on us.

A moment of awkward silence hung between us as we stared at each other, then Master Jang whispered to me.

“Since you know her, why not invite her to join us?”

“Huh? Ah, yes. Let’s do that. Young Lady Cheongyeon! What a surprise to see you here!”

Running into a woman I knew at an inn—this situation was unprecedented in my two lifetimes and felt incredibly awkward.

But when I spoke to her, she began walking toward me as if it were nothing.

“Haha! If you don’t mind, come over here and join us… Oh, you’re already seated, ahaha.”

As I’d felt before, she was a young lady who acted without restraint.

With her eyes covered, it almost felt like she wasn’t even aware of the stares around her.

The vagabonds spoke to me warmly, as if trying to ease the awkwardness.

“Welcome, young lady. How serendipitous to meet again here.”

“We were planning to have a drink, but how about ordering food first?”

She answered their questions in a flat, unemotional tone.

But the content was anything but ordinary.

“I’m thinking of volunteering for the front lines. I’ll order the food a little later.”

Huh? What?

Blinking in surprise, we asked again.

“…What did you just say?”

“You’re saying you’re volunteering for the front lines?”

“No, why on earth?”

It was quite shocking.

Even ordinary martial artists weren’t well-informed about the realities of the front lines, but they knew the death rate was incredibly high.

Because of this, even renowned heroes with high reputations were reluctant to go to the front lines these days. How desperate must the Martial Arts Alliance be to send official conscription notices to the martial arts sects of Guizhou Province?

‘But she’s volunteering to go there? And alone, as a woman?’

Knowing the reality of that place all too well, I simply couldn’t understand it.

I even worried she might be acting on some misguided heroism, doing something she’d regret.

My concern prompted me to ask her.

“Miss… Why exactly are you volunteering to go there?”

But instead of answering my question, she stared at me intently and asked,

“You’ve… lost a lot of weight, haven’t you?”

“Huh? Ah! Hahaha! Well, I suppose living on the front lines made me lose weight! I guess you noticed, Young Lady.”

“Yes, you’ve become quite thin.”

“Ahahaha! You flatter me! It’s not that bad.”

Hearing that I’d lost weight always gave me a thrill.

Feeling elated, I casually brushed aside the fact that I hadn’t answered the question I’d just asked.

Then the ronin listening nearby chimed in to praise me too.

“Master Seonwoo worked incredibly hard! Truly remarkable. It was a precious time that showed us nothing in this world is impossible!”

“I never noticed before since we’re always together, but now that you’ve lost weight, Master Seonwoo, you’re quite the handsome fellow! You’ve become a real looker!”

“Wahahaha! I have heard that I look rather handsome when I lose weight!”

At that moment, Miss Cheongyeon quietly rose from her seat, left a single remark, and walked out.

“I’ll be stepping out for a bit.”

Though I thought she looked strangely listless, it was beyond me—someone who knew little about women—to guess what was troubling her.

Soon, the drinks arrived, and I pushed thoughts of her to the back of my mind.

***

Hae Cheongyeon stepped outside the inn where Seonwoojin and the ronin were boisterously chatting.

The sky had already grown dim, and the dense forests visible around her appeared like black shadows.

Suddenly, she thought back to leaving the Seonwoo family.

When he’d declared he’d go support the front lines, his friend, Jegal Seoyul, had screamed in horror.

‘Whaaat?! That’s insane! Are you out of your mind?! Even I couldn’t follow you there! What if Master Ha finds out?!’

‘Father will understand.’

“He won’t understand—he’ll just give up on you!”

“Anyway.”

Her tastes and actions were always unique, and once she got fixated on something, she was reckless and unstoppable. So far, no matter what she did, her father and the rest of the family had simply given up, accepting it as her nature.

But she knew very well that going to the front lines wasn’t that simple.

This time, if she got caught, she could really be confined at home.

But,

there was no helping it.

“Huuu.”

She let out a long sigh and recalled the first time she saw Seon Woo-jin.

She had been truly shocked.

How could a living person look so exactly like her handmade doll ‘Mandu’?

The doll-like appearance, the seemingly coincidental move he showed her, and the past she discovered after investigating him. None of it could have sparked her curiosity more.

And the moment he declared he’d run all the way to Yunnan and started sprinting, Hae Cheong-yeon, watching him out of sheer curiosity, nearly had a heart attack.

That adorable, wobbly figure.

And that unrealistic stamina, collapsing before even reaching half the distance?

It was utterly unbearable.

How could she possibly let such an adorable creature be killed by the Blood Cult’s demons!

She could never accept such a horrific reality.

Therefore, she had to protect him herself.

It was her duty as the pioneer who had witnessed the hidden cuteness of the world.

That’s why she had followed him all the way here…

Here, there was no longer the ‘dumpling’ doll she knew.

It was still somewhat cute, but it was just an ordinary martial artist you might see anywhere.

Even the bandits—didn’t he seem to have dealt with them?

She hadn’t quite understood it back then, but seeing him now, it seemed possible.

So Hae Cheong-yeon, who had been burning with passion after finally finding a target for her long-lost drive, could only feel crushed.

He sighed deeply and muttered.

“Should I go back?”

Even for her, who didn’t care about others’ opinions, turning back now after coming this far felt a bit embarrassing.

But going back to the front lines when there was no reason to go in the first place seemed even more out of the question.

She had to think about her worried family, didn’t she?

“Alright, let’s go back tomorrow.”

She finally made up her mind.

Just as she was about to reenter the inn,

A sudden scream pierced the air.

“Aaaargh!”

“Aaah! Help…! Eeeeeek!”

What was that?

It was nearby.

It seemed to be coming from the house just beyond the thicket I’d seen when I entered earlier.

And that second scream—it didn’t even finish its sentence before cutting off.

It seemed like someone, or something, had just attacked people right now.

Ha Cheong-yeon immediately darted in that direction.

“Who the hell is it?!”

He was shouting to alert the opponent as he darted forward.

Something burst through the thicket and leaped toward him.

Whoosh!

It was a sudden, silent ambush, but Hae Cheong-yeon didn’t panic.

“Haah!”

The sword light she swung flashed like a spider’s web, slicing through the darkness.

Shwaaah!

Her opponent was not a beast, but a man.

And not just any human—a man completely unarmed, not even in a defensive stance.

Just as she thought she could reduce him to mincemeat in a single strike, the sound and sensation that reached Hae Cheong-yeon were entirely different from what she expected.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

He had clearly struck the opponent’s body, yet his sword had bounced off with a metallic clang.

Unbelievably, the man was deflecting his sword with his bare hands and charging forward.

“What?!”

Startled, Hae Cheong-yeon barely managed to block the opponent’s swinging arm by placing his sword against it.

Clang!

“Aaargh!”

Though clearly a human arm and sword had collided, the impact felt like striking a metal rod.

Haecheongyeon’s body was sent flying backward helplessly.

Whoosh!

She immediately regained her posture mid-air and landed.

Her opponent had also landed, reacting to the blow from her sword. In the darkness, Hae Cheong-yeon could now make out the figure more clearly.

Then, unusually for her, she gasped in shock.

“Pervert?!”

The man was completely naked.

A pervert-like man grotesquely flaunting an enormous, dangling member. It was a horrific sight that would make most women scream and close their eyes just from the appearance alone.

But Hae Cheong-yeon was no ordinary woman, and now was not the time for that.

The creature was lunging at her again.

“Kyaaaah!”

A cry like that of a beast, and movements equally feral.

“Haah!”

Haecheongyeon focused all her senses and began swinging her sword. Sword energy of the highest, first-rate caliber shot out in streaks.

Shwaaah!

But the result was no different from before.

Clang! Clang! Clang-clang! Clang!

The creature’s bare body was deflecting not only her sword energy but the sword itself.

“This can’t be!”

She gasped in shock and hurriedly stepped back.

Then, a battle cry rang out from the side.

“Who the hell are you?! Haah!”

It was the vagabond who had been inside the inn with Seonwoojin.

The man who had seemed unusually cheerful.

He was charging at the monster, swinging his sword.

Startled, Hae Cheong-yeon shouted.

“No! That guy!”

But it was already too late.

Clang! Splash!

“Guh!”

The monster’s hand, which had easily parried the blow with its head, had pierced straight through his chest.

Instant death.

Blood seemed to surge backward.

Her vision, which rarely lost its composure, saw only the creature’s exposed neck.

Losing her mind, she struck down at his neck with all her might.

“Haah!”

Clang!

But its neck remained uncut.

Only her hand tingled from the powerful vibration.

“Ugh!”

That was when it happened.

The creature reached its hand behind its neck and grabbed her sword by the hilt.

Then it turned its head and looked at her.

For some reason, his eyes were tightly shut, but his mouth alone seemed to be smiling.

“Ah, no! Yi-eok!”

Startled, Hae Cheong-yeon pulled back on the sword with all her might, but it wouldn’t budge an inch.

As the man aimed the hand he’d pulled from the ronin’s chest at her again, despair filled her eyes.

“Aaaah…”

The hand that had pierced the ronin’s chest was now flying toward her own.

Shwaaah!