Chapter 1535 – 1535. The Ascent To Light
The protagonist of [Fallen Heavenly Demon] is a reincarnated Heavenly Demon.
After the Heavenly Demon dies, he meets King Yama and is cursed to be reincarnated. He cannot commit evil deeds and must only accumulate good deeds to live a proper life. However, he cannot be lazy and avoid doing good deeds either.
The moment he becomes lazy, a terrible headache will overwhelm him. To put it in perspective, the reincarnated Heavenly Demon was similar to Sun Wukong wearing the golden fillet.
And according to the original story, the reincarnated Heavenly Demon is born to a commoner who runs a small inn in Shaanxi and works as a server.
I had looked for the reincarnated Heavenly Demon before. But I couldn’t find him.
‘At that time, I thought the original story had gone wrong. Reincarnated Heavenly Demon Baek Mu-han. His world is different from the setting.’
But now, I don’t think the original story is wrong.
‘Gwanggeom Myeongwol, the first disciple of the Wudang Sect, appears in the early part of the original story. That means when I looked for him before, Baek Mu-han hadn’t even been born yet.’
If this is the starting point of [Fallen Heavenly Demon], Baek Mu-han is not strong. I could kill him in an instant. But I didn’t feel like killing Baek Mu-han.
‘Even if I kill Baek Mu-han, I won’t gain anything. Baek Mu-han has the Heavenly Demon Divine Art in his head. Baek Mu-han is the type of protagonist who suffers in the original story… It might be more beneficial to keep him alive for now.’
After considering everything, I decided that it would be more beneficial for me to keep Baek Mu-han alive.
‘Myeongwol. He’s an exception.’
He’s a supporting character who becomes Baek Mu-han’s friend, but he’s a supporting character who doesn’t really need to be there.
‘This mission cannot fail. Myeongwol must die.’
The Heavenly Demon Cult’s attention was focused on the Annihilation Squad. If I fail this mission now, having not made a significant contribution to the destruction of the Mount Hua Sect, I might be branded as incompetent. Then my chances of moving up would decrease.
I concealed my identity and boarded a carriage heading to Shaanxi, where Myeongwol and the reincarnated Heavenly Demon were. I wasn’t the only one on the carriage. There were also a wandering merchant with a bundle of brushes and some travelers. I pressed my bamboo hat down in the corner, and they greeted each other and started chatting.
“The Mount Hua Sect was destroyed by the Heavenly Demon Cult’s Annihilation Squad!”
“Hey, stop being so behind the times. Isn’t that something everyone knows?”
“How can you be so calm when the Mount Hua Sect has been destroyed?!”
“The Mount Hua Sect was destroyed, not us. Whether the Murim Alliance wins this war or the Heavenly Demon Cult wins, the only one who takes our taxes is His Majesty the Emperor.”
“Long live His Majesty the Emperor! Long live! Long live!”
The common people were not very agitated. As long as the imperial power was solid, it didn’t matter who won, whether it was the Heavenly Demon Cult or the Murim Alliance. At most, it was a minor matter of the administrators changing.
‘The common people are calm, it’s the people in the Murim who are tense.’
Especially the Murim Alliance, they were furious and running wild.
“I heard that the Murim Alliance’s elite combat units, the Heavenly Sword Squad, the Evil-Slaying Demon Subjugation Squad, the Gale Annihilation Unit, the Juwang Squad, and the Muyeong Squad, are chasing after the fleeing Annihilation Squad.”
“Those are the Murim Alliance’s elite forces, just hearing their names is terrifying. There will be a bloodbath.”
“The bloodbath has already happened. And now, a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood will be created.”
“Who do you think will win this war?”
“I think the Heavenly Demon Cult will win. The Mount Hua Sect and the Jongnam Sect, two of the Nine Great Sects, have been destroyed.”
“Hey. The Jongnam Sect still has some power left. I heard that there are still Plum Blossom Sword Masters left in the Mount Hua Sect within the Murim Alliance.”
“I heard that the Mount Hua Sect’s fundamental Self-Reliance Divine Art was taken by the Heavenly Demon Cult. The Jongnam Sect can rise again, but without the Self-Reliance Divine Art, the Mount Hua Sect can’t, can it?”
“Even without the Mount Hua Sect and the Jongnam Sect, the Murim Alliance is still strong. As it has in the past, the Murim Alliance will overcome this crisis!”
“You’re really praising the Murim Alliance too much. Do you work for the Murim Alliance?”
Heeheeheeheeheeheehee!
Suddenly, the horse pulling the carriage cried out and stopped running. The carriage stopped. It wasn’t going very fast, so the carriage didn’t overturn. It just shook violently.
“Aaaah!”
“Hey, you coachman! If you got paid, drive properly!”
“What’s going on all of a sudden?!”
The carriage didn’t move. The people in the carriage were looking at each other.
“Get out, you bastards!”
“I’ll count to ten. If you don’t come out before I count to ten… you’ll all die!”
“Hehe. Come out if you don’t want to die!”
Rough male voices rang out. The faces of the people in the carriage turned dark.
They had encountered bandits or robbers.
“I, it’s better to go out and see what’s going on.”
The people in the carriage hesitantly went outside.
I, who was wearing a bamboo hat and sitting in the corner, was the last to go outside. My heart was pounding with excitement at the special event that had occurred. An incident had happened where I could show off the skills of a Murim master.
They were bandits.
About 20 bandits were surrounding the carriage. They were armed to the teeth. They had traces of having learned martial arts, though they were crude.
The coachman had drawn his sword and was confronting the bandits. The bandits looked at the coachman and us as if we were pathetic. They were especially wary of me. It was probably because of my bamboo hat, black robe, and sword.
The coachman spoke to the one who seemed to be the leader of the bandits.
“This carriage is regularly operated by the Seolbaek Escort Agency. Did you know that when you attacked?!”
“We wouldn’t not know when the flag is clearly displayed. The reason you’re still alive is because of that flag. So let’s go easy on each other. We don’t want to commit murder. Lower your weapons and hand over what you have. Then we’ll let the horses and carriage go.”
“You crazy bastards! The Seolbaek Escort Agency will chase its enemies to the end! Do you think you can survive the Seolbaek Escort Agency’s pursuit?!”
“Why is a coachman talking so much? We’ll take care of that, so you guys just choose! Die all together! Or hand over your belongings!”
“Ugh…”
The coachman lowered his sword. He turned around and said to the people.
“There’s no other way… Everyone, lower your luggage. We have to live first, right? The Seolbaek Escort Agency will compensate us, so let’s listen to them for now.”
“I, if the Seolbaek Escort Agency will compensate us…”
“We have to live… That’s right. Living is the right thing to do…”
Everyone lowered their luggage to the ground and crouched down. There was quite a lot of luggage piled up. The bandits laughed gleefully.
“Hey, you. Why are you just standing there?”
The bandit leader gestured at me with his chin.
“Why should I listen to the words of those weaker than me?”
“Oh, you’re going to act like a Murim master? There was a guy like you before. A con man who was full of bravado and claimed to be a master from the Hwangbo family.”
“Oh. And then?”
“At first, we were fooled. That bastard was really good at talking. But when we thought about it, it was a bit strange. If he was a master, he would have killed us all in an instant, but that bastard just talked.”
“What did you do to the con man?”
“What do you think? We chopped him up and threw him to the dogs. That bastard begged for his life in a novel way before he died… I wonder how you’ll beg?”
“I am Joseon’s First Swordsman, Mujuk Yoo-jin. I’m a master on a different level than the con man you met.”
“Joseon’s First Swordsman? I’ve never heard of that, you bastard! I know you’re shitting your pants inside while pretending to be calm. If you had just quietly thrown away your weapon and laid down, you could have saved your life. I’ll make you fish food!”
“You’re sure I’m a con man. What’s the reason?”
“If you were a real master, you would have killed us as soon as you saw us! And more than anything, would a Murim master ride in a cheap carriage like this?! Enough talk! Kill that bastard!”
My right hand moved before the bandits could rush at me. I gently gripped the hilt of the sword at my waist and said.
“My other nickname is Joseon’s Quick-Draw Swordsman.”
“What?”
Clang.
I sheathed my sword.
Immediately after, a slash cut through the bandit leader’s right shoulder. His right shoulder slid down as if it were melting. The leader, not understanding the situation, stared blankly at his severed shoulder before looking behind him.
A huge tree, at least 10 times bigger than the leader’s body, was split in half.
“……”
“……”
In the suffocating silence, the bandits realized. That I was not a con man, but a real master. The bandits’ eyes darted around. They desperately sent signals to the leader, asking for a decision.
Then, a bandit who had been slowly backing away suddenly turned and started to run.
“Do you think you can run away? Foolish. You guys, watch carefully. This is the Dragon Soaring to Heaven style of Joseon’s Quick-Draw Swordsman.”
Clang.
The quick draw and sheathing happened in an instant, and a slash flew towards the fleeing bandit. The slash divided the bandit’s lower and upper body.
Clang.
Before his upper body hit the ground, a new sword aura split the bandit’s upper body in half.
Clangclangclangclangclang.
A series of quick draws followed.
A slash cut through the bandit’s upper body. When the slashes were finished, the bandit’s upper body was in pieces beyond recognition. Those who were there looked at the forest behind the bandit’s corpse.
The forest was a mess from the slashes. Fallen trees, overturned soil, and scattered leaves. It looked like the aftermath of a powerful tornado.
I said to the bandits who were pissing themselves.
“Just one.”
In the silence, only my voice rang out clearly.
“I’ll spare just one. Now, kill each other.”
It was obvious, but they didn’t immediately kill each other just because I told them to kill their comrades. There was no way they could easily betray their comrades with whom they had shared joys and sorrows. But they would betray each other. It was obvious what the bandits’ loyalty was like.
Clangclangclangclangclangclang.
Slashes flew towards the nearest bandits. Cutting off arms, legs, and torsos.
“If you don’t need my mercy, then so be it. Just die.”
My gaze turned to the leader. The leader flinched and then shouted.
“Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
It was a shout like a scream. The leader swung his sword with his only left arm. The head of the subordinate next to him fell off.
“Leader?! You bastard!”
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”
“I’m going to live! I’m going to live!”
The battle began. The bandits swung their weapons at each other. I watched the pathetic battle with my arms crossed.
The winner was surprisingly the one-armed leader.
“I, I survived! P, please spare me as you said!”
“I will spare you. But it seems like the heavens don’t want to spare you.”
“Huh?”
A blue lightning bolt fell from the clear sky onto the bandit leader.
I turned around and got into the carriage, saying.
“My time has been wasted because of these trash. Let’s get going.”
