‘Mincheol.’
CRUNCH.
Chief Baek called to while smoking a cigarette, right as I was tearing a malicious ghost’s neck apart.
‘What.’
A sharp tone slipped out on its own. Soul fragnts scattered from my grip and whipped through the air.
‘Hey. Doesn’t it wear you out, living like that?’
Chief Baek narrowed his eyes at in the ss of a space.
‘Take it down a notch, you bastard. Keep this up and you’ll die first.’
Inside the ruined building, I finished up and dusted myself off.
The suit I’d gotten tailored was already wrecked beyond saving.
‘If “taking it down a notch” would’ve done the job, I would’ve done that a long ti ago.’
‘Creepy bastard....... That’s why those heretic fucks call you a rabid dog.’
‘They don’t know how to judge people, that’s all. Where else are you going to find soone this gentlemanly?’
‘Crazy bastard.’
Chief Baek laughed at .
‘Says the guy who yanked out every last tooth from a heretic and held a ritual with them.’
‘It was a thod required by circumstances.’
‘Bullshit.’
TAP TAP.
He flicked the cigarette he’d been smoking onto the floor.
—KYAAAAAA—!!!
The mont the ember died, the malicious ghosts in the space shrieked.
‘No matter how many tis I hear it, it’s loud....... God, I hate that sound.’
Chief Baek frowned at the screaming.
‘.......’
I just stared at them with a blank face.
‘Relax your eyes, you bastard. What are you going to do with that anger on things that are already dead?’
Chief Baek scolded , but that didn’t make the tension leave my gaze.
‘Dead or alive. Does that really matter?’
He’d taught not to assign aning to sothing whose life was already over, but—
‘Punishnt you didn’t receive while alive should be paid even after death.’
If nothing else, I couldn’t accept that.
Tsk.
Chief Baek clicked his tongue at what I said.
‘There’s no reason you have to be the one handing down that judgnt, is there?’
Even if punishnt had to be delivered, it wasn’t my job.
Not mine, not his—arguing罪 over the dead wasn’t the living’s place.
Chief Baek had said it a hundred tis, a thousand tis.
But—
‘Even so, sobody has to do it.’
It was work sobody had to do.
That’s what I’d always thought.
Not just heretics.
If a criminal reached death without paying,
shouldn’t sobody make that debt co due?
‘There is no god in this world.’
There was no god to weigh sin. So if nobody else would do it, I would.
That had been the thinking of the reckless kid I’d been back then.
‘Ha.’
And Chief Baek always spat out the sa line.
‘You were born with eyes like that, and you’re telling you don’t believe in gods? I don’t get it.’
He chuckled as he spoke.
‘Cut it out. If you keep acting so damn absolute, soday you’ll get punished.’
Punished for not believing in a god?
Don’t make laugh.
‘If it’s that kind of punishnt, bring it on.’
Life itself had already been punishnt.
Sothing like that, I could take as much as anyone wanted to pile on.
In the wreckage, I laughed hard.
Believing it. Swearing it.
That gods didn’t exist.
*****
‘That dog of a bastard.’
I clenched my fist and put strength into my eyes.
In the corner, a man sobbed alone in injustice.
The so-called martial hall master who had ambushed in the county.
His soul—
was there as a malicious ghost.
The main cause was injustice. Resentnt that rough, that violently unstable, was usually rooted in injustice.
An unjust death.
—My son...... my son.......
When soone left behind what never should have been left behind.
Or—
—I wanted to live....... I wanted to live....... I didn’t do it.......
When soone simply wanted to live so badly it drove the mind to the edge.
The mont those tangled emotions exploded at death and began to warp the soul—
that was when they ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) curdled into malice and stained it.
That was how a malicious ghost was born.
And—
It’s a malicious ghost.
That man was already one.
—Huuuh....... Khhuhhuhhuhhh.......
I watched him trying to hold back his crying. It hadn’t been long since he turned—his shape was still fresh.
[KID.]
Yoo Cheongil called to .
[Kill your emotions. It’s starting to show.]
A warning. I steadied myself.
If it was starting to show, it ant my qi. My qi was beginning to tremble in step with my emotions.
[Take a deep breath. If it leaks out, you’ll get caught.]
SSSSSHHH—.
I cald my breathing with his words.
[What are you so angry about?]
Yoo Cheongil spoke like he genuinely didn’t understand.
What am I angry about?
I couldn’t understand him instead.
Does he not know?
He killed soone who shouldn’t have been killed.
I was staring at a life stolen for the sake of greed.
And he was asking why I was angry?
Is it because this is the Central Plains?
Or was I the one being too sensitive?
It wasn’t good.
If Chief Baek saw this, he would’ve started screaming again.
Stop sticking your nose in.
Their lives were theirs—there was no space for to wedge myself into.
We just had to do our job.
He’d said it until his mouth wore out.
Ah, damn it.
Just like always, habits didn’t change easily.
And look—here I was again.
What do I do?
My insides boiled. I’d lived tangled up with the dead.
So my feelings toward people who treated the living like trash weren’t exactly gentle.
That’s why...
I’d tried to live without seeing anything, pretending I hadn’t seen it, so I wouldn’t stick my nose in.
But—
“What about my dad—!”
I’d already seen sothing I couldn’t unsee.
So I couldn’t.
What do I do?
I turned my eyes to Yoo Cheongil.
[Hm?]
Our eyes t. I asked him with my gaze.
What should I do?
Was I seeking an answer, or was I seeking empathy?
I sent him a look I couldn’t fully na. I thought he would already understand my heart.
[Ha.]
As expected, Yoo Cheongil let out a hollow laugh while looking at .
[You rotten brat. What are you asking for? You’re wearing the eyes of soone who already decided.]
“.......”
[Do whatever you want. Even if I tell you not to, you’re the kind of bastard who won’t listen. I already know that.]
KRRRICK.
I turned.
He was right.
Either way...
I had no intention of listening to anyone.
That’s how it had been in my previous life, too.
I hadn’t listened to the words of my benefactor.
I hadn’t listened to Grandmother.
I’ll do what I want.
I’ll just do whatever the hell I feel like.
That’s what rabid dog Kim Mincheol did.
And Moon Knight Bang Sungyeon probably wouldn’t be any different.
*****
Half a day had passed since Seongheon collapsed. He still hadn’t woken up, and Mount Hua Sect was still loud.
And amid that, news spread that the Plum Blossom Commander had finally forced information out of a HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE person—directions leading to their base.
With eyes full of rage, he said:
“I cannot forgive them. No matter what it takes, we must tear out their roots. This will be our last chance.”
He sharpened his sword. The battle aura I felt from him spread across Mount Hua Sect.
“It wasn’t enough that they dared set foot in Shaanxi—they even hard the Sect Master. Even if I have to offer my life, I will execute them.”
As the Plum Blossom Commander burned with heat, the elders spoke.
“......But Commander. Are you truly planning to depart today?”
“It’s dangerous. No matter how strong you are, the Sect Master is unconscious—”
“That’s why we must step forward.”
The Commander said with a hardened face.
“With the Sect Master absent, we cannot know what they might be plotting. In tis like this, it’s right that we strike first. We finally obtained information—how can we simply let it go?”
“......A strike is fine, but the force seems far too small.”
“That’s right. A strike with fewer than ten people?”
Eight.
That was the total, from what the Plum Blossom Commander had nad.
“We must do it before they realize. A larger number only makes it easier to be noticed. That’s why I assembled only elites.”
“......Are you truly confident?”
“I am.”
The Plum Blossom Commander spoke with faintly shining eyes.
“Seniors, I only ask that you trust . I will take vengeance for Mount Hua and for the Sect Master.”
The elders grew quieter. The Plum Blossom Commander’s eyes were firm.
And I rely watched from behind.
Silently. I held not only the Plum Blossom Commander, but two of the elders in my gaze.
Old n who quietly ride the mood.
Two old n—each showing a trace of HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE aura.
What I wondered was—
Do the three of them know?
Were those three in a relationship where each knew the others were spies?
That was the question that idly surfaced.
The eting ended quickly.
There wasn’t much else to discuss.
Because the answer was already decided.
They had the enemy’s location, and they had combat power. If they didn’t know what the bastards were planning, striking first was an option.
And the one stepping up to do it was even the second-in-command of Mount Hua—Plum Blossom Commander.
“Moon Knight.”
Once we were outside, the Plum Blossom Commander approached .
“I’m sorry again that things turned out like this so suddenly.”
“It’s all right.”
“Is your condition all right? If you’re unwell, you may remain at Mount Hua and wait.”
He said it with an apologetic face. Inside, I let out a quiet snort.
As if you an it.
If I don’t go, this won’t work—don’t say things that stupid.
“No. If I said I’d help, I should see it through to the end. Besides, I have a debt to repay, don’t I?”
It was about Strange Demon.
At that, the Plum Blossom Commander nodded.
“......All right. Then I ask for your help. I, too, will do my part as Commander.”
“Understood.”
The Small Moon Unit Leader nodded.
“Then I’ll see you at the designated location in half a shichen.”
After saying it, the Plum Blossom Commander vanished.
“.......”
Watching him go, I cooled my eyes into sothing cold.
In one shichen.
I repeated the ti to myself and moved.
[......Child of the Bang Clan.]
Seongheon’s living spirit spoke to .
I know.
I didn’t answer. I knew what Seongheon wanted.
And it was sothing I’d been keeping in mind, too.
“You can’t go in here— Ah.”
When I arrived at the building, a disciple out front tried to stop , then imdiately stepped aside after recognizing .
“May I enter?”
“......Go in.”
“Excuse .”
I went inside. The mont I stepped into the building, eyes pinned to . Mount Hua disciples stood guard inside.
It might seem strange that so many people were cramd into such a small space.
But the person inside was Seongheon—so it made sense.
The disciples made room when they saw . Very few were allowed to see Seongheon, but I was among them.
“I’ll be going in for a mont.”
I made my presence known carefully and opened the door.
It went without saying, but I didn’t co to see Seongheon.
He was already behind as a living spirit—why would I need to look at his body?
The person I ca to see wasn’t Seongheon.
“......Are you okay?”
“.......”
Soone sitting in front of Seongheon’s body, lying as if dead.
A woman who didn’t move, who only sat there—Yuyeon.
I hadn’t seen Yuyeon since Seongheon collapsed, and Seongheon had kept asking for it.
So I went out of my way to find her.
“Hey.”
Still no reaction.
I called again.
“Are you okay...?”
“.......”
Only then did Yuyeon slowly turn her eyes to .
“......!”
The instant our eyes t, her body trembled.
There was no emotion in Yuyeon’s eyes. Dull, cold eyes.
Those eyes, empty of feeling—
made my body stiffen before I could stop it.
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