Dark and Light Martial Emperor

Chapter 184

The Thread Wasn’t Cut

Thud!

“Ugh!”

At the ground-shaking tremor, Pasaruk jolted back to his senses.

“Guh!”

As soon as his mind cleared, the pain surging through his entire body choked him.

“Aaaah!”

It hurt.

He had never experienced such excruciating pain before. Beneath the severed knee, bugs were crawling and gnawing at his flesh, and his mangled left hand was swollen and blue.

His danjeon was crushed, making it impossible to use internal energy, and his head spun from excessive blood loss. Yet, he could feel the pain vividly, leaving him at a loss for words.

‘It hurts! It hurts!’

Cold sweat dripped down his entire body.

Normally, in this condition, one should be dead. His naturally strong vitality had become a curse in this situation.

At that moment, a chilling voice rang out.

“Does it hurt?”

Pasaruk snapped his head up in shock.

Flash! Flash!

Before him stood a young man whose eyes glowed with a cold, blue light.

Blackish-gray chains crisscrossed his upper body in a diagonal pattern. A massive axe was slung over his shoulder, and the sight of a slender man carrying such a gigantic weapon evoked a sense of bizarre fear.

“Y-you are?!”

Yeon Hojeong slowly crouched down.

Pasaruk flinched in surprise.

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes, emitting a far more intense blue light than even Pasaruk’s mixed-blood eyes from the West, made him look like the grim reaper.

“Of course it hurts. I left you like this without doing anything to help you feel better.”

“You… you bastard!”

“Shall I slice you up some more?”

Pasaruk unconsciously held his breath.

Slice him up? Was that something a person could say to another person? Even during his time with the bandit gang, he had never spoken about slicing up someone.

It was a statement that clearly showed how the other person viewed him. Pasaruk’s face turned pale.

Yeon Hojeong smiled.

It was a ghostly smile.

“If you utter one more word of nonsense, I was planning to start by gouging out your eyes.”

“……!!”

“You’ve got an incredible survival instinct, haven’t you? Oh, or maybe not? You held on even when we stormed in.”

Pasaruk kept his mouth shut.

‘This guy is insane.’

He could tell from experience. Although he looked refined, like someone who had spent his life reading books, this guy was capable of grinding people down like butchered meat.

Someone like him shouldn’t be provoked. Gouge out his eyes? He’d be lucky if that’s all he did—he might even turn him into jerky while still alive.

“You understand the situation, don’t you?”

“……”

“Your group, Heilangdan, is entirely buried.”

Pasaruk swallowed hard without realizing it.

Yeon Hojeong tilted his head slightly to the side.

“No response, huh?”

It was a remark hard to decipher.

Pasaruk swallowed again and carefully opened his mouth.

“What… are you planning to do with me?”

Yeon Hojeong chuckled.

His tone was quite polite. When he fought Moyong Woo, every word he spat was rough, yet now, he was trying his best not to provoke his opponent.

He was truly a beast. If he had mastered such a high level of martial arts, his mental strength should have been formidable, but this guy was a bandit to his bones.

Thanks to that, he seemed much easier to deal with.

“What I do with you depends on what you’re willing to tell me.”

“……?”

“You’re well aware of your condition, aren’t you? Your vitality is astonishing. But no matter how tough you are, you won’t last long in this state.”

“……!”

“If you answer my questions properly, I’ll treat you and even give you a decent amount of money.”

Pasaruk’s eyes wavered.

“They’re offering treatment and money? Does that mean they’ll spare my life?”

‘No way!’

Having often deceived others through crafty negotiations, he knew exactly what was happening.

“Are you really going to do that?”

“Yes.”

“You said you’d treat me and give me money, but you never mentioned sparing my life.”

A slight smile played at the corners of Yeon Hojeong’s eyes.

“You’re sharp. I hadn’t thought that far. They say experience teaches well, and thanks to you, I’ve learned something valuable.”

Pasaruk wasn’t fooled by his opponent. No, he couldn’t afford to trust him. Even if the opponent was sincere, he had to approach the negotiation assuming they weren’t.

One wrong move, and he could lose his life. His legs? Hands? Those were concerns for later. Survival was the priority.

“I’ll answer your question. But in return, you must treat me, give me enough money to live without worry, and… transport me to a safe place without causing me any harm.”

It was an incredibly audacious demand.

Yeon Hojeong scratched his cheek.

“Well, you’re so brazen that it’s almost intimidating.”

“If not, I won’t answer your question.”

That was impossible.

If Yeon Hojeong threatened to kill him without hearing the answer, everything Pasaruk had demanded so far would be meaningless. Even the slightest show of force from Yeon Hojeong would make Pasaruk bow his head.

But surprisingly, Yeon Hojeong nodded.

“Fine. If you answer honestly, I’ll give you money, treat you, and take you somewhere safe.”

“And you won’t come back to kill me later?”

“Do I look like the kind of person who would waste time just to kill some petty bandit like you?”

“……”

“Don’t worry. Unless we meet by chance while wandering in Jungwon, I have no intention of going out of my way to hunt down a dead man walking.”

Pasaruk let out a sigh of relief. He could sense the sincerity in Yeon Hojeong’s voice.

“……Alright. What’s your question?”

Such a loose tongue.

Yeon Hojeong had no doubt that the man would speak the truth.

“Why did you come?”

“……?”

“I heard your group was causing trouble in the northern regions of Xizang, Qinghai, and Gansu. What brought you all the way to Shandong to create chaos?”

Pasaruk swallowed hard again. His mouth was so dry that there was no more saliva to swallow.

“Do you know a man named Yeong Go-wi?”

“If his last name is Yeong, then he’s with the Haeryong Caravan?”

“That’s right. He’s the younger brother of the Haeryong Caravan’s leader. In the past, he stole goods from the caravan several times to trade with us.”

Yeon Hojeong nodded.

“And then?”

“He smuggled out red jade that couldn’t be taken out of Shandong Province. So we came ourselves. We brought two sacks of top-grade red jade…”

“Do you have a death wish?”

Pasaruk’s eyes widened. What did he mean by asking if he wanted to die out of the blue?

“Wh-why are you saying that?”

“Do I look like just another madman to you?”

“……?!”

“Trying to gauge your opponent with a lie that doesn’t even hold water… You’re something else. You’ve got guts. Even with your life on the line, you play tricks? I’m seeing you in a new light, Bandit Leader.”

“W-what are you talking about? I’m telling the truth! It’s the truth! If you let me face that, Yeong Go-wi…”

At that moment, Yeon Hojeong pulled out a small piece of paper from his pocket. Pasaruk, whose internal energy had been drained, couldn’t see the faint letters written on it.

“Pasaruk, Leader of Heilangdan. Formerly from Xiao Lei Yin Temple in Xizang. Banished for unknown reasons over ten years ago, after which you founded Heilangdan. Over the past ten years, you’ve built it into the largest bandit group outside of the Central Plains. Ruthless, cunning, and with a typical petty mind that overvalues himself.”

“……!”

“And yet, you brought a thousand men of Heilangdan into Shandong for just two sacks of red jade? The great leader of Heilangdan?”

Yeon Hojeong’s pupils, which had been gleaming bright blue, slowly turned red.

Fwoosh.

Pasaruk’s mouth fell open.

For a brief moment, Yeon Hojeong’s eyes emitted a fiery glow, embodying pure terror. Being bombarded with such intense killing intent in his current state, where he couldn’t even properly control his internal energy, made it hard for him to breathe.

Yeon Hojeong spoke.

Was it just his imagination? Pasaruk thought Yeon Hojeong’s fangs looked as long as those of a wild beast.

“I’m changing the terms of our deal.”

“Huff! Huff!”

“I’m going to kill you, no matter what.”

“Gah!”

“If you want a clean death, you’d better tell the truth. The moment even a tiny lie slips out of that disgusting mouth of yours…”

Yeon Hojeong smiled faintly.

The terrifying killing intent filled the entire warehouse.

“Then, I won’t kill you. I’ll let you live out your full life instead.”

It was a truly chilling threat.

Not kill him? Pasaruk wasn’t foolish enough to interpret that as a promise to let him live comfortably.

Tsutsutsutsu.

The fiery red killing intent seeped into every pore of his body.

“Why did you come to Shandong?”

Pasaruk’s mouth opened on its own. It was an irresistible force.

“I-I was asked to.”

“By whom?”

“The King of Duels, Yangcheon.”

At that moment, the light in Yeon Hojeong’s eyes grew even more intense.

‘Yangcheon!’

The Thirteen Seats of the Celestial Heavens.

The thirteen most powerful masters in the Central Plains martial world.

Among them, aside from the three who could be considered newcomers, the other ten were revered as the Celestial Emperors.

Yangcheon, the King of Duels, was one of those Celestial Emperors. Though well past the age of sixty, he was the foremost expert in practical hand-to-hand combat, known for his destructive power.

And he was the most formidable foe Yeon Hojeong had defeated before unifying the underworld.

‘They were asked by Yangcheon? These bastards?’

Impossible.

Yangcheon was ambitious, self-righteous, and had a cruel nature. He wasn’t the type of person who would ask anyone for a favor. Giving orders, maybe.

Yeon Hojeong clenched his fist tightly.

“Who is backing you?”

“W-what?!”

“I asked who is supporting you from behind.”

“Ugh!”

“It’s not just one person, is it? It’s a group. Some organization from outside the Central Plains is backing you.”

Pasaruk’s eyes trembled violently.

Yeon Hojeong quickly read the fear and uncertainty in Pasaruk’s gaze and expression.

Pasaruk was no different from the other scum of the underworld. Reading the mind of someone like him was easier than emptying a cup of wine.

“It’s not Xiao Lei Yin Temple, is it? Now that I think about it, that would be strange. Xiao Lei Yin Temple is one of the strongest in the outer regions. There’s no way they would just stand by and watch a banished disciple engage in banditry.”

“……!”

“Who is it? Who’s backing you?”

“Th-that…!”

Yeon Hojeong shouted furiously.

“Speak clearly!”

Pasaruk squeezed his eyes shut, unable to help himself.

“I-I don’t know!”

“What?”

“I-I really don’t know who they are! But…”

“But?”

“I just know… they’re incredibly strong and ruthless.”

“How would you know that? Did you meet them?”

“Yes.”

“……You met them?”

Of course, he would have met them. This cowardly man wouldn’t have acted without knowing the strength of the other party.

But aside from that, Yeon Hojeong was shocked.

He had his suspicions. He had considered the possibility, however slight, that these people might be connected to some organization from outside the Central Plains.

But that thought had been just a hope. The chances of it being true were slim, but he had hoped it would be, because that would make them easier to find.

And it seemed that hope was real.

“Their name.”

“What?”

“The name of that organization.”

“I-I don’t know! I really don’t know! They never once mentioned their organization’s name!”

The killing intent around Yeon Hojeong grew even thicker.

Pasaruk hurriedly continued.

“But! They had a distinctive trait!”

“A trait? What was it?”

“They wore… something like a strange blood-red hood! Every one of them I met wore it!”

“……!!”

“It felt… like they were part of some religious sect. I’m telling the truth!”

Yeon Hojeong slowly stood up.

Woong! Wooooong!

The warehouse walls seemed to shake and tremble.

“A religious sect?”

“Yes!”

“……I see.”

Yeon Hojeong raised his head and looked up at the ceiling.

On his face, a mix of pure joy and intense rage was evident.

Brrrrr.

His tightly clenched fist trembled as if it might shatter at any moment.

Yeon Hojeong’s mouth slowly opened.

“…I’ve found them.”