Chapter 125

Dark red blood flowed in the room filled with the scent of medicinal herbs.

The owner of the blood was an old physician.

The old physician was dead, his eyes wide open.

A man cloaked entirely in black stood over the physician’s head.

It was Heuk Am.

He hadn’t come here simply to treat his wounds. The old physician’s house contained countless medicinal herbs he had collected throughout his life.

Among them were rare and precious herbs that were difficult to obtain.

Everything Heuk Am needed was here.

He knew that people were swarming outside, searching for him.

They were combing through Chengdu as if dragging a fine-meshed net across the ground. His safety could no longer be guaranteed.

“That bastard!”

Heuk Am thought of Jin Geum-woo, the cause of all this.

It was Jin Geum-woo who had instigated the Hao Clan and several others to pursue him.

Not content with interfering with his work on Mount Qingcheng, he was now tracking him in Chengdu.

Because of that one man, everything he had painstakingly planned was in ruins.

With the Qingcheng Sect now closed-off, he had achieved his initial goal, but that wasn’t enough to restore his shattered pride.

“I’ll make you regret ever daring to interfere with my work. Heh heh!”

Heuk Am let out a dark laugh as he laid out the medicinal herbs hanging on the wall onto the floor.

The physician’s corpse was right next to him, but he paid it no mind and began to pound the herbs in a small mortar.

Thump, thump!

The dull sound of stone echoed through the room.

Heuk Am finely ground the medicinal herbs into a powder, then mixed them according to his own secret transmission to create Dream Soul Powder.

Normally, Dream Soul Powder alone would have been enough. But he had no intention of being satisfied with just that.

To maximize its efficacy, he put it in a medicine pot and boiled it down. After cooling the reduced liquid, he formed it into pills.

In the end, Heuk Am had obtained twenty pills.

“The Soul-Seizing Eye, Gu Poison, and twenty Dream Soul Pills should be enough.”

Heuk Am laughed silently.

Now that his weapons were secured, it was time to move.

From now on, he would study the man named Jin Geum-woo.

He would thoroughly analyze and dissect him to find out how to inflict the most fatal blow.

For Jin Geum-woo, the real nightmare would begin then.

“Heh heh!”

With a dark laugh, Heuk Am vanished.

Ximen Pyeong frowned as he looked outside.

Not only Jin Geum-woo, but also Neung Sowoon, Won Gayoung, and Lee Soha were out tracking Heuk Am.

He wanted to join them, if only he could. But the wound he had received from Pyo Wol hadn’t healed, so he was still stuck in the inn.

“Damn it!”

Ximen Pyeong spat out a curse.

He had made a single mistake, failing to recognize someone. But the price of that mistake was too great.

“Night Lord!”

Ximen Pyeong ground his teeth as he thought of Pyo Wol.

If he had his way, he would run out and take revenge on the Night Lord right now. But he knew all too well that would only be an act of hastening his own death.

He had been helpless even when his body was whole. Now, he was injured. Rushing at Pyo Wol in this state would clearly only lead to another defeat.

Ximen Pyeong ground his teeth. But in reality, there was nothing he could do.

“Bring me wine here.”

He yelled at the innocent waiter.

The terrified waiter came trembling, carrying a bottle of wine.

Ximen Pyeong didn’t even bother pouring the wine into a cup; he just chugged it straight from the bottle.

“Damn it! Damn it!”

Even as he got drunk, his anger did not subside.

Instead, the rage he had suppressed deep within his heart surged up.

Ximen Pyeong drank continuously, and several empty wine bottles rolled around on the table.

Before long, Ximen Pyeong’s eyes lost their focus.

He had gotten drunk quickly from drinking too much wine too fast.

Just then, someone sat down in the seat next to Ximen Pyeong.

With unfocused eyes, Ximen Pyeong looked at the person who had sat beside him without permission. But his form was strange.

His face, his body, everything looked black.

“Hic! I must be too drunk.”

Ximen Pyeong rubbed his eyes with his hand. But he still couldn’t see the features of the person sitting next to him.

“What the?”

Only then did Ximen Pyeong feel that something was wrong.

At that moment, the eyes of the strange person sitting next to him gleamed strangely. Drunk as he was, Ximen Pyeong didn’t even think to react and just stared blankly into the strange person’s eyes.

His pupils, which had already lost focus from the alcohol, became even hazier.

“……”

It felt like he could hear a strange whisper. But he couldn’t tell what exactly was being said.

The strange person made Ximen Pyeong ingest something.

In his mind, he thought he should resist, but his drunken body was already beyond his control.

Thud!

Ximen Pyeong suddenly slammed his head onto the table.

On the surface, it looked as if he had simply gotten completely drunk and passed out.

“Ugh!”

It was a long time later that Ximen Pyeong regained consciousness.

All the other customers had left, and only he remained in the inn. It seemed the waiter, too afraid to wake him, had gone home.

Ximen Pyeong looked around with blurry eyes.

At that moment, an intense desire surged up from deep within his chest.

The thought of wanting to embrace a woman instantly dominated his mind.

Ximen Pyeong staggered to his feet.

A place with many women, where they could be easily embraced.

As it happened, Ximen Pyeong knew just such a place.

He walked alone through the dark streets.

After walking for a long time, he arrived at a red-light district that never slept.

Choosing one of the establishments, Ximen Pyeong entered.

There was no hesitation in his steps.

“Welco—”

The steward, who had been greeting him cheerfully, suddenly put on a wary expression. He had recognized Ximen Pyeong’s face.

“Young Hero Ximen, what brings you here?”

It was Ximen Pyeong who had caused a ruckus here just a few days ago.

Because of him, the owner, Su-hyang, and several others had suffered. If Pyo Wol hadn’t appeared then, they would not have escaped the disaster.

The place Ximen Pyeong had come to was none other than the Celestial Fragrance Pavilion.

The steward of the Celestial Fragrance Pavilion looked at Ximen Pyeong with wary eyes.

‘Of all times to show up.’

Ximen Pyeong was a promising young martial artist in the Jianghu.

If he caused a disturbance in the brothel, there was no way to stop him.

Although the brothel had strong men, there was no way they could stop Ximen Pyeong, who was called the Little Fist King.

“Young Hero Ximen! The brothel is about to close for the night. Perhaps you should go to another brothel…”

“Bring me Su-hyang.”

“Pardon?”

The steward’s eyes widened at Ximen Pyeong’s unexpected words.

Ximen Pyeong said it once more.

“I said, bring me Su-hyang.”

“Oh my! Young Hero Ximen. Why are you doing this? You know our owner does not receive guests, don’t you?”

“So you’re saying you can’t bring her?”

“The owner is currently out.”

“Then call her back.”

“Young Hero Ximen!”

“Are you disrespecting me too?”

“Pardon? What do you mean?”

“Are you acting cocky because you trust the Night Lord?”

The steward’s face turned deathly pale at the absurd accusation.

“How could I ever… to Young Hero Ximen…”

“Then what are you doing, not bringing her?”

Ximen Pyeong’s eyes were bloodshot.

They weren’t red simply from drunkenness. Something more than that existed in Ximen Pyeong’s eyes.

The steward, who had dealt with drunks for a long time, instinctively saw through this fact. But he tried his best to speak calmly.

“You seem to be very drunk. For today, if you would just go back… Gack!”

Crack!

In that instant, Ximen Pyeong’s fist struck the steward’s head.

The steward’s neck snapped, and he died instantly.

“Aack!”

“M-murder!”

The courtesans who had opened the door and were watching the argument between the steward and Ximen Pyeong screamed.

“Good heavens!”

“The st-steward…”

The faces of the brothel’s strong men, who had rushed over at the screams, turned deathly pale.

Ximen Pyeong’s gaze turned to the strong men.

“Are you looking down on me too?”

“How could we?”

“N-no, sir.”

The strong men hastily made excuses, but it was useless.

Splat!

Two punches from Ximen Pyeong and their heads burst open.

“Where are you hiding?”

Ximen Pyeong looked around as he stepped past the strong men’s corpses.

Sniff, sniff!

He sniffed the air like an animal. His appearance was by no means that of a normal person.

“What do we do?”

“R-run!”

The courtesans and customers all rushed outside at once and fled.

The chaos reached its peak as they got tangled up and fell over each other.

“Shut up!”

Ximen Pyeong stepped on those people as he moved.

His steps, imbued with internal energy, broke people’s arms and legs, and ruptured their internal organs.

A scene from hell unfolded inside the brothel.

Sniff, sniff!

Ximen Pyeong continuously sniffed the air. And at a certain moment, his eyes turned even more ferocious.

Crash!

Ximen Pyeong threw his body through a window.

In an instant, he leaped over a dozen zhang and arrived at the Celestial Fragrance Pavilion’s annex.

A beautiful woman was standing in front of the annex.

It was Su-hyang, who had rushed out, startled by the screams coming from the main building.

“Ah!”

Su-hyang saw Ximen Pyeong and stepped back in alarm.

“What is all this chaos?”

Jin Geum-woo and Neung Sowoon couldn’t get their bearings.

Riots had suddenly broken out all over Chengdu.

Flames shot up from all four rooms, and groups of martial artists started causing trouble simultaneously, as if by prior arrangement.

“It’s him.”

The moment the riots broke out, Jin Geum-woo instinctively knew that Heuk Am had made his move.

Jin Geum-woo gritted his teeth.

They had put all their effort into finding Heuk Am, yet he had escaped their search net and turned numerous people into his puppets.

Recognizing the gravity of the situation, Hong Yushin of the Hao Clan dispatched the Inspectors, and Yoo Shinpoong also moved with his niece, Lee Soha, to subdue the rioting martial artists.

Jin Geum-woo muttered.

“This is strange! Is this kind of riot all he wants? It doesn’t make sense.”

“The encirclement must be closing in, so he probably just did something rash out of desperation.”

Neung Sowoon said as if it were no big deal.

Although the riots had broken out suddenly, she said this because the martial artists’ skill level was not very high, so they could be quickly suppressed.

It was then.

“We’re in big trouble.”

Won Gayoung ran over, her face deathly pale.

“What’s wrong?”

“Pyeong…”

“Pyeong? Ximen Pyeong? What about him?”

Neung Sowoon asked urgently. But Won Gayoung was out of breath from running and couldn’t answer quickly.

Jin Geum-woo looked in the direction Won Gayoung had run from.

He could see a place where new flames were rising.

Without a second thought, Jin Geum-woo ran towards the rising flames. Won Gayoung and Neung Sowoon followed behind him.

“Good heavens!”

The three of them stared at the place where the flames were rising with blank expressions.

A brothel was burning. But what they saw was not just mere flames.

A man could be seen standing motionlessly between the collapsed walls.

The man, standing as if he had lost his mind while holding the corpse of a woman, was none other than Ximen Pyeong.

With unfocused eyes, he was staring blankly at the sky.

“Pyeong!”

Ximen Pyeong showed no reaction to Jin Geum-woo’s call.

He looked like a person who had lost his soul.

The moment they saw Ximen Pyeong’s state, Jin Geum-woo and Neung Sowoon realized.

“Good heavens!”

“He must have fallen for that man’s evil arts!”

The two looked at each other’s faces.

They had to somehow subdue Ximen Pyeong without harming him and return him to his original state. They were only concerned for Ximen Pyeong’s well-being and didn’t even spare a glance for the woman he was holding.

They just vaguely guessed she might be a courtesan since it was a brothel.

“Pyeong! Calm down and come here.”

Neung Sowoon was cautiously approaching Ximen Pyeong when it happened.

Shhh!

A chilling sound of something slicing through the air rang out.

Startled, Jin Geum-woo, Neung Sowoon, and the others snapped their heads up. What entered their vision was the sight of a silver thread cutting through the night sky like a meteor.

The silver thread instantly wrapped around Ximen Pyeong’s neck.

“No!”

Jin Geum-woo shouted in alarm and ran towards Ximen Pyeong.

Slice!

In that instant, Ximen Pyeong’s neck was sliced off like tofu.

The sight of Ximen Pyeong’s head rolling on the ground felt somehow unreal.

“Pyeong!”

“You bastard!”

Neung Sowoon and Won Gayoung let out screams. But the decapitated Ximen Pyeong could not answer.

Ximen Pyeong’s headless body collapsed.

A man appeared where he fell.

A man who appeared without any sign or presence.

The man with an exceptionally pale face and demonic good looks was none other than Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol silently took the woman’s corpse from Ximen Pyeong and held it.

A face pale without a trace of blood, and a cold body temperature.

The woman was already dead.

“Su-hyang!”

Pyo Wol called the woman’s name.

There was no reply.

She had taken her own life before she could be shamed by Ximen Pyeong.

Pyo Wol gently laid Su-hyang’s body on the ground and said,

“I had a fleeting, foolish dream. A dream of creating my own small world. But even that is not permitted to me. I realize it now. That kind of happiness doesn’t suit me.”

“You…”

Pyo Wol raised his head and looked at Jin Geum-woo.

“Congratulations! For dragging me back into this world.”