Chapter 158

Fanatic, Disciple, Wipe the Blood 3

Except for Leader Yoo Jeong-hong.

No disciple believed they could survive a fight against the Yeto Scholar.

Yet that very Yeto Scholar was utterly crushed by Fanaticism, literally.

From the Yeto Scholar’s body, now cold and stiff, red blood still flowed. The Yeto robe that had once wrapped his entire body was now mixed with blood, resembling the bizarre remains expelled by some unknown sea creature.

Kwangshin looked at Yoo Jeonghong.

“Jeonghong.”

“Yes, Senior.”

“We must clean the battlefield. Brooms, buckets, mops, dustpans, stretchers, mats. Bring every tool we can use to clean up the corpse.”

Yoo Jeong-hong smiled.

“Ah, Senior. The members will handle it.”

Kwang-shin raised his hand.

“No. The cleaning will be done by the guilty party.”

“Hmm.”

Kwang-shin said to Kwang-ma.

“You will personally clean up the corpse of the man who was once your master and wipe the blood remaining on the martial arts stage. No one is to help you. Just bring this bastard the cleaning tools. Since you’re alive and only eating our food, at least clean up and earn your keep.”

Gwangma glared at Gwangshin.

‘You want me to clean?’

Cheolmyeong-ho, flustered, alternated his gaze between Gwangshin and Gwangma. But he couldn’t dare interfere with what the master was ordering. He simply approached quietly, took the black iron umbrella Gwangshin was holding out, and then said.

“Master.”

Only then did Gwangshin glance at Cheolmyeong-ho and offer a faint smile.

“Myeong-ho, did you see well?”

Cheol Myeong-ho replied.

“Yes, I’ve learned a great deal. Thank you.”

Gwang-shin nodded.

“That’s a relief.”

Gwang-shin looked around and gestured.

“Junior members, stand down.”

Yoo Jeong-hong ordered the disciples to bring cleaning supplies as he led them away. Cheol Myeong-ho and Gwangma weren’t disciples of the Martial Arts Alliance to begin with. Since they were the sort Senior Gwangshin should teach himself, he had no intention of interfering at all.

After walking a few steps, Yoo Jeong-hong stopped. He gestured for the other members to go ahead, then turned to look at Gwang-shin.

Yoo Jeong-hong stared at Gwang-shin for a long moment. Only then did Gwang-shin turn his head, meeting Yoo Jeong-hong’s gaze.

Yu Zhenghong then smiled and silently presented a fist salute toward Guangxin.

‘Senior, thank you.’

In a way, it was no different from a proxy duel. Even Yoo Jeong-hong thought that if he had stepped forward himself, it would have been an even more chaotic fight.

Kwangshin fully understood Yoo Jeong-hong’s feelings, so he gestured as if to say, “Go ahead.”

The two understood each other’s thoughts perfectly well without needing to speak.

Shortly after, the Martial Alliance members placed cleaning tools on the martial arts stage and then disappeared.

Gwangshin, who had been blankly gazing at the martial arts alliance’s surroundings from the stage, turned his head to look at Gwangma.

“Clean it thoroughly.”

Guangma replied, glancing at the cleaning tools.

“Yes.”

Cheolmyeongho stood to one side, watching Gwangma.

Helping with the cleaning felt awkward, and just watching felt strange. Since Master Kwangshin hadn’t given him any orders, he stood quietly with his hands respectfully clasped together.

Kwangshin crossed his legs in the lotus position and closed his eyes, as if waiting for Kwangma’s cleanup to finish.

The removal of the demon’s corpse began.

.

.

.

Kwangma could only stare at the face of the dead Yeto scholar. A large hole gaped in his forehead. It was a gruesome sight, blood inevitably gushing out. Looking back, Kwangma had never cleaned up a corpse before.

Kill and leave—that was all he ever did.

I had never before examined a corpse so closely for so long as I did today. What was truly strange was that this corpse was the Grand Master of the Ten Thousand Horse Palace.

After placing the stretcher beside the corpse, he grabbed Yeto Seosang by the collar and pulled him up. Once again, blood gushed out in a torrent.

A sigh escaped the Madman’s lips.

Then, he suddenly looked at Gwangshin. He had let out a sigh without realizing it and found himself glancing at Gwangshin.

Guangxin sat cross-legged, eyes quietly closed.

Cheolmyeongho, with nothing to do, knelt beside him, eyes closed.

Fortunately, the fanatic said nothing about the sigh.

The madman spread a mat on the stretcher and began wiping the Yeto Scholar’s head with a rag. But when blood still flowed out, he simply wrapped the rag tightly around the scholar’s head. Then he placed the corpse on the stretcher and started cleaning the floor. He dipped a mop into the water bucket, soaked it, and looked at the stage floor.

If he scrubbed like this, it would turn into a sea of blood.

The madman set down the mop again and picked up a dry hand towel, beginning to wipe away the blood himself. Once the towel was thoroughly soaked with blood, he wrung it out over the empty bucket. The stench of blood was inescapable.

‘Why the hell am I doing this?’

After wiping all the blood with the hand towel, he scrubbed the stage floor with the mop.

Cleaning up the bloodstains was no easy task. The moisture mixed with the blood, causing it to splatter everywhere, and as he scrubbed with the mop, it felt like he was just making things dirtier.

This was the result of a man named Gwangma having never cleaned before.

In an instant, the madman’s hands, knees, and clothing were drenched in blood.

By the time he finished cleaning, forced to endure the smell of blood, half an hour had already slipped away.

After putting away the cleaning tools, the Madman said to the Cultist.

“It’s done.”

Guangxin opened his eyes and looked at the Madman.

“In the realm of the blind, neither masters of the dark arts nor prisoners require burial rites. However, since there is no suitable place to dispose of them, most are handled at the incineration facility. After transferring the bodies to the incinerator with their names, return here. But the madman must go to the public bathhouse to wash off the blood. Change your clothes too.”

“Understood.”

Cheol Myeong-ho and Gwang-ma carried the stretcher and moved toward the incineration facility.

A short while later, when Cheol Myeong-ho returned first, Gwang-sin gestured toward the stage and asked.

“Myeong-ho, can you still smell the blood?”

Cheolmyeongho sniffed on the stage before responding.

“Yes, it’s still there.”

“How long will it take for this to disappear?”

“Probably a few days. If the wind blows and it rains once, it should disappear.”

Suddenly, Cheolmyeong-ho looked at Gwangshin.

Wouldn’t the Master be better at detecting smells? That thought crossed his mind.

Considering how meticulously clean his master’s usual quarters were, he knew his master always cleaned them himself.

Cheolmyeongho asked cautiously.

“Can’t you smell the blood?”

Gwangshin replied.

“It’s coming. But it’s not the scent of a Yeto scholar’s blood. It’s just that my own body always seems to smell of blood, so I can’t tell the difference.”

“Ah…”

Kwangshin looked at Cheolmyeongho and gave a bitter smile.

“But you must live a life where you can tell the difference.”

“Yes, Master.”

Cheolmyeongho felt a fresh pang of sorrow in his heart.

He didn’t know the details of Gwangshin’s story, but he could clearly sense that Gwangshin was always sad.

Cheolmyeongho let out a short sigh, then went to the bloodstained spot and rubbed the floor with his foot.

Then Gwang-shin spoke.

“Go inside, rest, and then do your evening training. I’ll wait for the Demon King.”

“Ah, understood, Master. Right then.”

Cheol Myeong-ho bowed to Gwang-shin, then quietly descended from the martial arts platform. A short while later, Gwang-ma, having thoroughly washed the blood from his body and changed into the new clothes Mang-won had given him, ascended the platform.

Kwangshin sat alone in the lotus position.

As Gwangma approached, he said,

“I’ve washed and returned.”

Gwangshin pointed to the opposite side, and Gwangma sat there.

“This is your first time cleaning up a corpse, isn’t it? It took you half an hour just to mop the floor.”

“Yes, it was my first time.”

“With your skill, you could have killed someone with a single punch. But disposing of that body takes this long.”

The Madman retorted.

“Yes.”

“How long do you think it will take to erase that blood from the hearts and memories of the family who disposed of that corpse?”

Madman’s words carried no reproach.

Therefore, the Madman also answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Probably a lifetime.”

“Indeed. A lifetime it will be. The families of those you killed will feel the same.”

Suddenly, the madman let out a long sigh, then shifted into a kneeling position and clenched his jaw tightly.

He had realized he might die at the hands of the fanatic right here.

Gauging the meaning of the exchange, he concluded that if Gangsaeng deemed him beyond redemption, he would kill him right here.

Kwangma had already been stripped of his inner strength.

Even though there was a difference in strength between the grandmasters, he hadn’t imagined that Master To would lose so hopelessly.

Therefore, there was absolutely no chance he could escape Gwangsin’s grasp.

If they intended to kill him, he could only die.

Kwangshin asked.

“So you had no family.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Not even once?”

“It just turned out that way when I was born.”

“If you have no family, there would be no great joy nor great sorrow, so I understand your indifference to matters of life and death.”

“Yes.”

Kwang-shin said.

“If I were to die at the hands of the Grand Master of the Ten Thousand Horses Palace.”

Suddenly, the Demon King lifted his head and stared at Gwangshin.

‘You’re going to die at the hands of the Grand Master? After killing me so brutally?’

As Gwangma stared in puzzlement, Gwangshin asked.

“Do you know who the Grand Master I speak of is?”

After a moment’s thought, the Mad Demon replied.

“Are you referring to the Master of the Demon Path?”

“A demonic gentleman, huh…”

Kwang-shin snorted derisively before continuing.

“Anyway, if I die, do you think you’ll be able to live out the rest of your life peacefully with Myeongho? I want to hear your honest answer.”

“I don’t really know.”

I heard Myeongho is an orphan too, and so are you. Are you saying orphans can’t even get along? When I die, you two and the senior brother will remain. Shouldn’t those left behind live in harmony? Unlike the senior brother, you two have no family, do you? No matter how quickly you recover your martial arts, defeating the senior brother in the future will be impossible.

If I die and you start causing trouble again like before, you’ll eventually fall into the hands of the senior brother. He’ll tear your body apart with his brain qi until you die. Probably no one will even need to hold a funeral for you. Your body will simply vanish.”

The Madman retorted.

“If my senior dies.”

“Why am I your senior? I never taught you martial arts, yet I said I would take you as a disciple.”

“If my master dies, I will avenge him.”

“That’s not because I’d regret my death, but because you’re mistakenly thinking your fate is to die gloriously in battle. Do you even know what kind of man that demonic scholar is?”

“I know roughly.”

“Is he perhaps the leader of the Grand Masters?”

“He didn’t act like a leader, but no master dared treat the Demon Cultist with disrespect.”

“I see. Yet you claim your skill alone can avenge me?”

Kwangma looked at Kwangshin.

Kwangshin spoke.

“That won’t happen. The outcome will be like that of the Yeto Scholar. He’ll be lying somewhere, blood spilled. That corpse’s nickname will be ‘Madman.’ In life, he only did wicked deeds, and even with the brothers he gained late in life, he was estranged. So, with no one to bury him, that corpse will become food for wild beasts.

This is the final scene of your life you so desire.”

“My sins are great. If that is my fate, I shall accept it.”

Kwangshin rose, approached Kwangma kneeling before him, and stroked his head.

“You poor thing, you think you’re fearless, don’t you?”

“I am not afraid.”

“Is that the truth?”

“Yes.”

“To me, you’re a coward who lacks the courage to start a family. You’d never have the guts to take a wife and raise children with her.

Because if something were to happen to a child in this harsh world, your heart would be torn apart. It’s not something you, who never had a family to begin with, could bear. You just go around killing other people’s families and boast that you’re a man without fear. That is your true nature.”

Madman, flood. That’s what you are. You don’t realize that countless people in this world, weaker than you, live far braver lives than you do.”

Kwangshin lightly tapped Kwangma’s cheek once, then headed straight for the lodgings.

As Madness knelt and looked back, Fanatic pointed toward the spot where the Yeta Scholar had been while walking away.

“He was a fearless man. Just like you.”

Kwangma, who had thought he would die right there.

As Gwangshin grew distant, Gwangma asked.

“Why did you spare me?”

After a moment, Gwangshin, walking with his back turned, replied in a subdued tone.

“How could a master kill his disciple?”

The Madman watched in silence until the fanatic vanished from sight. The disciple remained on the stage even as the surroundings grew pitch black.