Chapter 38 Daily Diary (2)

Chapter 38 Daily Diary (2)

* * *

While Gu Yangji fought the Black Dragon Sect Master.

A man clad in black robes passed near Mount Zhongnan.

The characters embroidered on his fine silk Taoist robe read: Wudang.

Though not as renowned as the Shaolin Temple famous for its Northern Dipper, the Wudang Sect had gradually grown powerful since the Great Ming began making its name in Central China.

‘The deity the Wudang sect worships just happened to catch Emperor Yingluo’s fancy, I suppose.’

The man approached the guards protecting the village with a relaxed smile.

“Excuse me, where is this place?”

“……”

At his words, the guard scrutinized the man’s appearance and frowned.

It had been just over ten days since Boyeong Village was massacred by a single Taoist.

‘No matter how unfriendly he was, how could one mistake lead to killing everyone?’

Even now, recalling the monk’s actions filled him with dread, causing the guard’s shoulders to tremble.

Under normal circumstances, he would have bowed to Samcheong alongside the others, but not now.

“Turn around and leave.”

“Hm?”

Faced with the man’s questioning gaze, the guard snapped.

“I said turn around and go somewhere else!”

“……Huh.”

Beneath the hat, the man’s lips curved into a smile.

“Seeing how prickly you are even after seeing the shaman’s master, something must have happened.”

Besides, the scale of the wall built wasn’t that high.

Gaining confidence from that, the man removed his hat.

At that sight, the guard’s eyes widened.

“Huh, the Black Dragon Seal?!”

Clang.

As if echoing that word, the iron plate fastened to his forehead shook.

The characters ‘Black Dragon’ engraved in gold reflected the sunlight, blindingly bright.

Then the man’s identity could only be one.

The guard’s face turned deathly pale with terror.

“Red-Eyed Demon!”

“Is it not discourteous to casually address my pseudonym thus?”

Jik Hogwi, Baek Cheong-il, revealed a pure white smile.

A moment later.

Baek Cheong-il roughly tossed his blood-soaked robe onto a tree.

Then, remembering he’d tucked his pipe inside the robe, he gasped and pulled it out again.

Baek Cheong-il’s expression scowled.

“Tsk, it’s damp.”

Damn.

A hint of regret flashed across Baek Cheong-il’s face, but he didn’t dwell on it.

Just a little disappointment.

Baek Cheong-il pulled out a fire-drying agent from his bundle and tossed it onto the robe.

Whoosh!

The fire demon flared up instantly, engulfing the robe and instantly evaporating the moisture soaked into the fire-drying agent.

Until it consumed an entire village.

It took less than a single moment.

The fire demon roared wildly, devouring every last thatched cottage without leaving a trace.

Yet, as if still unsatisfied, the fire demon’s breath turned toward Baek Cheong-il.

At that moment, Baek Cheong-il swung his hand forcefully.

“Damn it! It’s hot, I tell you. “

Whoosh!

The flames faltered momentarily at Baek Cheong-il’s strike, bowing their heads.

The wind that had been there vanished.

By the time a breeze from somewhere else filled the void, Baek Cheong-il was already walking farther away.

”Boryeong Village is gone.”

Baek Cheong-il chuckled.

“Well, I don’t know who the bastard is, but he’s cut off our kids’ snack money.”

Though he still didn’t know the hermit’s true identity, Baek Cheong-il secretly thought the man was manly.

He was a hermit who should have forbidden killing, yet hadn’t he broken that rule to precisely prove his own righteousness?

Moreover, it was said he erected a stone monument at the site where Boyeong Village was wiped out.

‘Is he completely insane?’

Though he thought this, a puff of air escaped his mouth.

It felt like a complete backstab, causing a hollow laugh to burst out instead.

Baek Cheong-il’s eyes grew cold.

‘Did he take advantage of my absence? Could there have been a mole inside?’

But he would have prevented such a thing beforehand.

Baek Cheong-il walked, pondering if there had been any gaps in his defense.

Had it been three hours since he began deploying his footwork?

He spotted a carriage in the distance, kicking up dust as it raced toward him.

“…Huh?”

It appeared the merchant was frantically gathering expensive goods and fleeing without a driver, sparking interest in Baek Cheong-il’s eyes.

He felt a surge of expectation that this person might hold the answers to his questions.

Baek Cheong-il waved his hand up and down with a confident expression.

“Hey, you there…”

“What do you want!”

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

The carriage, drawn by two horses, was moving extremely fast, and the merchant didn’t even notice the Black Dragon man.

He just brushed it off, thinking some idle ruffian was trying to make trouble.

But Baek Cheong-il was a different kind of ruffian altogether.

Why is the Red-Eyed Demon called the Red-Eyed Demon?

“…You’re making me look bad.”

Leaning his upper body forward, Baek Cheong-il knelt on both knees and stared in the direction the carriage had vanished.

Then, suddenly, he unleashed the internal energy he had built up with the Black Dragon Vision all at once.

…Boom!

It pushed the ground aside, creating a large cloud of dust beneath his crushed foot.

Black Dragon Vision, Tiger King’s Might.

The energy erupting outward gradually solidified into a crimson form, enveloping Baek Cheong-il’s skin.

It resembled the skin of a tiger, renowned for its resistance to fire.

And that wasn’t all.

“There― STOP!”

Baek Cheong-il’s roar was as thunderous as an artillery shell, and each step he took covered a distance easily surpassing three paces of an ordinary man.

Even as he moved, his speed steadily increased—how could anyone overlook him?

The merchant belatedly recognized Baek Cheong-il’s identity and turned ashen.

‘That… that’s the Red Tiger!’

But stopping now would mean he was no one to be trifled with.

A venomous glint began to darken the merchant’s face.

Crack!

The merchant swung his whip and didn’t look back.

He feared he might freeze in terror if he saw him again.

But did the merchant know?

That Baek Cheong-il hadn’t even used his full strength yet.

“You dog.”

The wind pushing in made his words slightly slurred.

Annoyance filled Baek Cheong-il’s eyes.

“You’re dog food.”

Thud!

Baek Cheong-il stomped hard on the ground.

* * *

“Kwaaang, kwaaang!”

Gu Yang-jeok kicked the dog as he entered through the main gate.

Though his internal energy was somewhat depleted from the fierce battle against dozens of opponents, stopping now would mean forfeiting his advantage.

‘Even if that beggar is friendly now… I can’t guarantee he won’t covet the scraps later.’

Just during the Nine Dragons War, hadn’t he been a nuisance, constantly bragging about cutting off the heads of the Three Evils of Shaanxi?

Gu Yangji kicked the growling dog again.

“How dare a dog bark at a human?”

Swoosh, thud!

As Gu Yangji raised his foot once more, the dog flopped backward, belly exposed.

Now that’s more like a dog.

Gu Yangji stroked the dog’s head again, subtly applying pressure.

Having properly broken its spirit like this, it wouldn’t dare bark or bite at people anymore.

Gu Yangji’s gaze, which had lingered on the dog, shifted toward the interior of the Shaanxi Branch.

“Where should we start searching?”

Even trying to distinguish by scent was difficult with the rain still falling, and the sound was also extremely quiet.

As if the entire Black Dragon Guard had just been wiped out in the fight moments ago.

‘Trying to show off in front of a caterpillar.’

Gu Yangjeok searched here and there with a disgusted expression.

He even tapped places with particularly heavy fingerprints with his fist.

As Gu Yangjeok leisurely wandered between the buildings, he suddenly swung his fist at the right wall.

Thud!

That single punch killed the warrior hiding behind the paulownia wood wall.

It was truly instantaneous.

Yet, Gu Yangjeok’s face showed little satisfaction.

No matter how he thought about it… this wasn’t a natural scene.

It wasn’t like hunting moles; why would they hide each martial artist separately?

‘Hiding a single tree in the forest…’

As Gu Yangjeok continued his train of thought, a sudden realization struck him: something far greater was at play.

‘They say one virtuous person is worth a hundred villains.’

Then what about one fool versus one Black Dragon Sect?

Gu Yangji headed toward a place emitting a particularly strange odor.

Acrid.

Dry.

A smell reminiscent of Ha Jin’ak.

As he approached, Gu Yangji’s face gradually contorted with rage.

“Damn bastards.”

Even after spitting out the curse, the rage within Gu Yangjie showed no sign of abating.

The Black Dragon Sect—at least its Shaanxi branch—had crossed the line.

The bare minimum of righteousness and principle that formed the martial world.

The Black Dragon Sect was trying to disrupt that.

“Do you bastards have any pride as martial artists?!”

At those words, a martial artist leapt out from the darkness.

His face bore a clear sneer.

“We sold that long ago.”

Behind him, three martial artists appeared.

Gu Yangji knew their names.

The Black Shadow Four Killers.

They were the elite dispatched from the Black Dragon Sect headquarters to the Shaanxi branch.

Deep disgust flashed across Gu Yangji’s face.

“The Black Shadow Four Killers? I know a little about them. They’re just lowly insects who can’t even be called proper warriors, just crawling around in the dark.”

At the word “insects,” the Black Shadow Four Killers burst into raucous laughter.

“Heh heh heh, not just a little—you know them very well indeed.”

“But your voice sounds quite young?”

So even assassins have their own experiences, it seems.

When Gu Yangjeok silently rolled up the scroll, Heuk Yeong Sasal eyed him suspiciously.

“I saw the sword energy outside.”

“But you know, you have to hit it too, right?”

“Shut up.”

Gu Yangjeok, who had cut him off mid-sentence, maintained a calm demeanor.

” Speak one at a time. It hurts my ears.“

”What’s he talking about?“

”No, it seems long explanations won’t be necessary anyway.“

Gu Yangji’s voice stretched thin.

”If it’s known that you remained silent despite knowing about a private gunpowder storehouse, not an official one, you won’t escape unscathed either.”

“……”

At those words, Heo Yeong-sa-sal’s previously slack expression instantly turned cold and sharp.

“You know without looking inside?”

“I know.”

Gu Yang-jeok raised the blade of his sword upward and checked if any other righteous faction members were nearby.

‘If there aren’t any, then where… should I speak honestly?’

Heiyang Shasha’s eyes widened at what Gu Yangjie said next.

“That you’re all fools.”