Chapter 191

Pyo Wol’s eyes were clearly different from those of ordinary martial artists.

They were perfectly still, making it impossible to read any emotion.

Woo Pyeong Dojang had mastered the Wudang Sect’s secret transmission, the Supreme Clarity Mind Method, making him more sensitive to sinister qi than anyone else. That was why he had reacted so sensitively to Soma’s qi. But unlike with Soma, he didn’t sense any sinister feeling from Pyo Wol.

At the very least, it was certain that Pyo Wol had not practiced an Evil Art. Or, he had reached a state so sublime that he could deceive his own eyes.

What reassured Woo Pyeong Dojang most of all was Pyo Wol’s connection to Jin Geum-woo.

He believed that someone who cherished their connection with Jin Geum-woo could not possibly be a wicked person.

It wouldn’t be too late to observe Pyo Wol’s actions a little longer before defining the relationship between them.

“Now, tell me your story. What is your relationship with Soma, and why did you fight with the Emei and Qingcheng Sects?”

Pyo Wol stared blankly at Woo Pyeong Dojang.

He had met countless people until now, but Woo Pyeong Dojang was the first to directly ask Pyo Wol about his circumstances.

Most people only stared at Pyo Wol with eyes full of fear, uninterested in the truth that lay beneath the surface.

Woo Pyeong Dojang, on the other hand, was making the minimum effort to understand the man named Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol told him about Soma’s past.

“Soma is a child who was abducted by the Small Thunder Sound Temple.”

“The Small Thunder Sound Temple?”

“Yes! He was abducted by the Small Thunder Sound Temple and raised as a weapon. The sinister qi you felt is likely because of that.”

“Hmm!”

Woo Pyeong Dojang’s expression grew more serious.

‘Could it be that the fall of the Small Thunder Sound Temple is also related to this man?’

The Small Thunder Sound Temple was, in name and reality, the hegemon of Tibet.

Most people in the Jianghu did not know much about the Small Thunder Sound Temple and thought of it only vaguely, but the Wudang Sect had long been aware of its danger.

They knew how powerful the Small Thunder Sound Temple’s forces were, and how cruel.

They had no choice but to pay attention, as many of the escort agencies and trading companies established by the Wudang Sect’s lay families traveled to and from Tibet. But the distance was too great for them to take any action.

Instead, they gathered information about the Small Thunder Sound Temple through the lay disciples who traveled to Tibet. But just a few months ago, they heard an unbelievable rumor from a trading company that had returned from Tibet.

The disciples of the Small Thunder Sound Temple had completely vanished from Tibet.

For some reason, the disciples of the Small Thunder Sound Temple were no longer seen, and a few brave martial artists who found this strange entered the Southern Wood Forest, where the temple was located.

What they saw in the Southern Wood Forest were the thoroughly destroyed ruins of the Small Thunder Sound Temple. There were no survivors.

Surprisingly, not a single one of the many monks had survived.

The martial artists could not hide their astonishment at the unbelievable sight. Through their mouths, the news of the Small Thunder Sound Temple’s annihilation spread throughout Tibet.

People thought that the Heavenly Dragon Temple or the Potala Palace must have stepped in to annihilate the Small Thunder Sound Temple. It was then that an incredible rumor spread among the people.

It was the story of a man from Sichuan Province who had annihilated the Small Thunder Sound Temple.

At first, people did not believe the rumor.

It was too absurd and lacked realism.

The rumor was passed on to the Wudang Sect through the mouths of merchants who traveled to and from Tibet.

It was difficult to ascertain its authenticity, and the rumor itself was so unrealistic that almost no one within the Wudang Sect believed it to be true.

Even Woo Pyeong Dojang himself had only remembered that such a rumor existed before meeting Pyo Wol; he had never once thought it could be real.

“If Soma was abducted by the Small Thunder Sound Temple, how was he freed? Did they let him go?”

“Impossible.”

“Then?”

“They never give up their possessions. As long as they breathe, they won’t give up anything.”

“Then how did Soma find his freedom?”

“Only the dead can lay no claim to any possession.”

Shudder!

In that moment, Woo Pyeong Dojang felt goosebumps rise all over his body.

What Pyo Wol was saying was clear.

He had truly annihilated the Small Thunder Sound Temple.

‘My god! Is that even possible?’

A single individual annihilating a massive power like the Small Thunder Sound Temple by himself? That was something even the Wudang Sect’s greatest expert, Sangjin Jin-in, could not do.

Sangjin Jin-in was an expert a generation above Woo Pyeong Dojang and had mastered all of the Wudang Sect’s Sword Arts. But even Sangjin Jin-in would shake his head and say it was impossible if asked to face the Small Thunder Sound Temple.

Woo Pyeong Dojang’s face hardened like a stone.

Until now, he had managed to feign a certain degree of composure, but he no longer had the nerve for it.

Only then did he think he understood why the man before him was called the Reaper in Sichuan Province.

If he truly possessed the martial might to annihilate the Small Thunder Sound Temple on his own, it wouldn’t be strange for him to have the alias of Reaper.

Moreover, he already had a record of single-handedly forcing the Emei and Qingcheng Sects to become closed-off. He had achieved a feat that ordinary martial artists could not even dare to imagine.

‘A man like this has emerged in the Jianghu? And because of Jin Geum-woo?’

Woo Pyeong Dojang squeezed his eyes shut without realizing it.

There were many suspicious aspects to Jin Geum-woo’s death.

Just imagining that some kind of conspiracy was involved in Jin Geum-woo’s death, and that Pyo Wol would find out about it, was enough to strike him with terror.

Woo Pyeong Dojang tried to regain his composure. But from the moment he learned even a fraction of Pyo Wol’s true nature, that was already an impossible task.

Pyo Wol’s pale, handsome face no longer looked beautiful. It was as if a giant serpent had opened its maw wide, about to devour him.

“Th-then… was the annihilation of the Small… Thunder Sound Temple because of Soma?”

“Soma is one of the reasons.”

“Does that mean there were other reasons?”

“Ask Won Gayoung when you meet her later.”

“Won Gayoung, you mean Hwan-geom Seon-ja?”

“That’s right!”

“I’m afraid that will be impossible.”

“Why?”

“She is also dead.”

“……”

At the unexpected words, Pyo Wol blinked.

Pyo Wol was a man whose emotions were rarely stirred, but Won Gayoung’s death was unexpected even for him.

“Won Gayoung, Neung Sowoon, and all those who shared Jin Geum-woo’s ideals have lost their lives.”

“The culprit?”

“Unknown.”

Woo Pyeong Dojang quietly shook his head.

Pyo Wol closed his eyes and muttered.

“Someone buried it.”

“……”

Woo Pyeong Dojang kept his mouth shut.

He had the same thought as Pyo Wol, but he did not voice it.

The words of a first-rate disciple of the Wudang Sect carried great weight. Especially when dealing with an outsider like Pyo Wol, he must not reveal all his thoughts.

Pyo Wol cast his gaze out the window.

Countless people were passing by on the street.

People talking, people fighting, people laughing.

Their expressions were as varied as their numbers. Pyo Wol thought that they were alive.

Not just because they were breathing and moving.

But because they had a purpose for breathing, a reason for moving.

Some for their own glory, others for their families; their reasons for living were also diverse.

But he had nothing of the sort.

He lived simply because he was born, because he did not want to die.

He had no one to share his life with like them, and even fewer with whom he could open his heart.

A great wall was erected in his heart.

It forbade the intrusion of any outsider within its walls.

He had lived like that for fifteen years, and he would continue to live like that in the future.

The only one who had managed to squeeze through a small crack in that great wall was Jin Geum-woo. Even if he himself had not permitted it.

And that Jin Geum-woo was dead.

There would probably never be anyone who would try to delve into his heart more than Jin Geum-woo had.

Pyo Wol felt a deep solitude.

He usually didn’t feel anything, but today, he felt particularly lonely.

This loneliness would probably never disappear.

Eternal solitude.

Endless loneliness.

Anyone other than Pyo Wol would have surely despaired and crumbled.

But Pyo Wol did not despair, did not crumble, did not become frustrated.

Instead, he focused on what he had to do.

“Any information on the one who killed Jin Geum-woo?”

“None!”

“Nothing at all?”

“Not a single thing…”

Woo Pyeong Dojang, who had been answering nonchalantly, flinched.

He had seen the arc spreading across Pyo Wol’s lips.

A chilling smile that revealed his white teeth.

Woo Pyeong Dojang felt as if a demon had materialized before his eyes.

A bewitching demon, beautiful yet sinister…

Unusually long eyebrows.

The deep, black eyes nestled beneath them.

And the crimson light that occasionally showed through.

Without realizing it, Woo Pyeong Dojang gripped his Pine Pattern Ancient Sword.

‘I must strike now.’

A sense of crisis he had never experienced in his life was sounding an alarm.

The dangerous aura emanating from the man before him was paralyzing his senses.

The thought that if he couldn’t strike him now, he would never be able to, dominated his mind.

But Woo Pyeong Dojang could not draw his sword.

A small hand had been placed over his.

Regaining his senses at the warm touch, he saw that Tae-gwang had taken his hand and was shaking his head.

Tae-gwang was speaking with his eyes.

Don’t do it.

Only then did Woo Pyeong Dojang come to his senses.

And he realized.

He had been bewitched by the strange aura Pyo Wol was emitting.

He couldn’t believe that he, who had mastered the martial arts of the Wudang Sect, the leader of the orthodox Xuanmen, had lost his center, bewitched by an aura emitted by another.

That was how dangerous the strange aura Pyo Wol emitted was.

Woo Pyeong Dojang realized that Pyo Wol was a far more deadly existence than he had anticipated.

“You… what do you intend to do?”

“He called me his friend.”

“Friend?”

“Yes! Friend. But I never once gave him a definite answer. I don’t trust anyone. Especially not the word ‘friend’…”

“Why?”

“Because the living cannot be trusted.”

“……”

At Pyo Wol’s answer, Woo Pyeong Dojang was at a loss for words.

He had met countless people until now, but Pyo Wol was the first to distrust others so intensely.

‘Just what kind of environment must one grow up in to become like this?’

He couldn’t imagine what kind of environment a person had to be exposed to to develop such a severe case of distrust.

The Wudang Sect, where he had spent his entire life, was a place full of righteousness.

Of course, a few Daoists did betray and deceive, but not to the extent of causing such distrust in humanity itself.

Pyo Wol continued.

“I regret that thought now.”

“A man like you feels regret?”

“I just found out myself. The fact that I, too, can feel regret. He kept sending me letters. I didn’t even read the letters he sent, just put them in a drawer. Still, he kept sending them. Even though he knew he wouldn’t get a reply, he kept on.”

“……”

“Why did he do that? Why did he keep sending letters when he knew he wouldn’t get a reply? Calling me a friend, someone he had only known for a month or two.”

Woo Pyeong Dojang could not answer.

He, too, was curious about what was in Jin Geum-woo’s heart to make him send those letters. But no matter how much he thought, he could not understand his heart.

It was Pyo Wol who answered.

“It was because he had no one to trust. He couldn’t trust the friends he had made over a lifetime, nor the people who surrounded him. It was because I, a mere stranger, was more trustworthy than those he had been close to his entire life.”

“……”

“He must have been that lonely. He needed someone to listen to him. Someone who would listen to his cries just as they were…”

That was why he sent the letters.

Hoping that Pyo Wol would listen to him, even if he didn’t reply.

Not because Pyo Wol was a true friend, but because he wanted him to become one.

That was how desperately Jin Geum-woo kept sending letters to Pyo Wol.

“And I kept ignoring him. For the first time in my life, someone tried to rely on me like that, and I brutally ignored him.”

He couldn’t imagine how lonely Jin Geum-woo must have been in the final moments of his life.

Perhaps he had died resenting him for not answering until the very end.

“It’s late, but I’m going to answer that friend now. That what you tried to do was never in vain. That your life was not wrong.”