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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Bloodied Gates
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'This is a map used by the Heart Demon followers. You'll be able to find the mountain paths with it.'
I clutched it and ran like a madman.
Just before setting off for Cheonsubakryeonsa, the last conversation I'd had with Gam Seoin came back to me.
'You're telling me I have to go this far, winding around like this for such a long distance?'
Even at a glance, it was more than three times the straight-line distance.
'There's no other choice. You must absolutely avoid the main roads where people pass frequently.'
'Why?'
'Considering the Moyong Family's wealth, they wouldn't have just paid off the Hao Clan—they'd have promised rewards to peddlers, beggars, and the like as well.'
The situation was more serious than I'd thought.
Gam Seoin added,
'And there are no escorts from our side along the route to Cheonsubakryeonsa.'
'Any special reason?'
'Our Eighth Elder's faction is a drop in the bucket compared to the other three brothers' forces. Rather than attaching a half-baked escort team to you and leaving a huge trail, it's safer for you to move alone in hiding.'
I had no idea how many ridges I'd crossed.
It had been like this for a week now.
Amid my ragged breathing, I spat out a curse.
"Why the hell am I going through all this shit just to enjoy some glory and wealth…"
The mountain paths slick with morning dew were far too slippery.
The mud was soggy, and the grass felt oiled.
"Ugh."
My legs slipped out from under me.
My face scraped against thorny bushes as I tumbled three and a half rolls before slamming my head into a tree stump and finally stopping.
The moment I stopped rolling, I hurriedly checked my belongings.
"Phew, didn't lose anything."
Only after confirming the silver tiger token Gam Seoin had given me to show at Cheonsubakryeonsa did I let out a sigh of relief.
If I lost it in these mountains, I'd never find it.
"I guarantee you, if this were my old body, it would've snapped a hundred times over."
[Of course. Though it was reconstructed based on your previous impure, weak host body, it's still been rebuilt as the Heavenly Demon's prime physique, so…]
As if he'd been waiting, Moomyeong's voice echoed in my head.
"Shut up. You whisper about your grievances in my ear every damn day, thinking I'll like hearing that crap."
[I thought you would.]
"…Just stop talking."
With that, I descended and climbed along the ridges for a good while longer.
Panting, I pulled the map from my mud-soaked clothes.
I'd run day and night with barely any sleep.
At my current level, if I got surrounded by organized assassins, I'd be dead for sure.
I kept moving toward Cheonsubakryeonsa without rest.
Gam Seoin had said that once I arrived at Cheonsubakryeonsa—a neutral zone beyond anyone's influence in the jianghu—he could finally relax.
I'd run for days on end.
"This is it?"
Just to be safe, I hid in the brush and checked several times.
Lifting my head from the map, I saw far off in the distance a plaque faintly reading "Cheonsubakryeonsa."
"I made it…!"
Stumbling, I pushed through the underbrush. The peddler walking the road shrieked in terror when I burst out from the remote bushes.
-Clatter.
The bundle on his back scattered across the ground.
"But I still made it without dying."
Even back when I was scraping by at the bottom of the capital, I'd heard about Cheonsubakryeonsa.
It was an academy established mainly by the Nine Great Sects and One Gang, who pursued the pinnacle of martial arts, for the harmony of the murim and the advancement of jianghu martial prowess.
Thus, Cheonsubakryeonsa wasn't affiliated with any specific sect but operated like a neutral zone, free from anyone's influence, governed by its own independent rules—a separate world within the murim.
In short, for me in my current precarious position, it was the perfect refuge.
And it was also the first place where I could receive proper instruction in martial arts.
'Finally, for me!'
I'd trembled in fear of death every day, running ceaselessly day and night.
Seeing the Cheonsubakryeonsa sign at the end of it all, a wave of relief washed over me—I'd survived.
My whole body felt like it was melting from exhaustion.
I wanted to flash the silver tiger token as quickly as possible, complete the entry procedures, and rest.
"Let's hurry."
With a light heart, I quickened my steps—and.
-Squelch.
A kitchen knife pierced through my gut.
"…?"
I looked down.
The blade tip protruding from my stomach felt utterly alien.
"Gah… damn it."
I vomited up a gush of blood.
I turned my head to look behind me.
"Moyong Family bastard, Moyong Bi, right?"
It was that same peddler who'd dropped his bundle when I burst out earlier.
With a thud, the peddler's hand clamped onto my shoulder.
Everything after that happened in an instant.
-Squelch, squelch, squelch, squelch.
The knife stabbed through my gut.
Only after three stabs did I fully grasp the situation.
Desperately, I shielded my stomach with both arms.
Even then, two more slashes grazed my forearms before plunging into my gut.
-Thud, thump.
The kitchen knives that missed my stomach embedded into both my arms.
Blood splattered the ground.
I flailed several times, trying to block the blade with my palms.
My palms tore and split open.
After seven attempts, I finally grabbed the incoming blade with my bare hand.
"Urgh… uuurgh!"
My pant legs were instantly soaked with blood pouring from my gut and clenched fist. Drip, drip.
The ground pooled with my blood like a bucket had been overturned.
With one hand, I shoved the peddler's face away.
I could see my blood-smeared fingers.
Between my fingers, as his cheek pressed against them, blood-soaked eyes glared at me, twitching wildly.
"Grk!"
The blade dug into my grip.
Still, I couldn't let go.
The moment I did, the stabbing that had paused would resume.
"Heh heh, how's it taste? Nice and spicy, right?"
The peddler trembled, spittle flying from a face mixed with excitement, joy, and fear.
"Ha, haha! They said you'd come to Cheonsubakryeonsa! The reward's all mine!"
The peddler struggled to wrench the knife from my grasp.
His frenzied state didn't look like a trained assassin at all.
He was chillingly ordinary.
Just a plain peddler, through and through.
The only difference was his greed for money.
So close our noses nearly touched, I could feel his raw emotions through his eyes.
"Grrk."
A burning sensation throbbed through my stabbed arms and gut.
His brutish body towered over mine, overwhelmingly huge.
There was only one way for me to overpower this giant in one go.
It was like using a cattle knife to kill a chicken—or a machete for an earthworm—but I had no choice.
"Hey."
"Die already, you brat. Booze and girls are waiting for this body at the brothel."
"Hey, look at me."
Blood trickled from my mouth as I gasped.
It might be an overkill solution.
But there were no other options.
And in my eyes, sparks were flying.
Anyone who dared try to kill me—man, woman, young or old—wouldn't be left alive.
Anyone who ever tried to take my life, I'd tear apart in revenge.
Gender, age—none of it mattered.
This would be my goal, my guiding principle from now on.
No more just taking it lying down.
"As thanks for feeding me this knife, I'll show you something special."
"What?"
-Kreee!
The moment I finished speaking, my eyes flushed red.
The meager inner energy I'd gained from the Nine Golden Seals writhed as fuel. The amount was small, but enough for one technique.
"Keep your eyes wide open."
Crimson snakes coiled around my fists.
That was when it happened.
[No.]
"What?"
The crimson snakes gathering in my hands scattered sharply.
My reddened eyes reverted to black.
The condensing inner energy dispersed like flour in water, seeping back into my body.
My feverish head rapidly cooled.
With my bloodied face, I muttered,
"What the hell are you doing?"
[The inner energy hastily gained from the inner core isn't stabilized. Using it could lead to qi deviation.]
"You lunatic, in this situation…!"
I was so stunned I couldn't speak.
[I'll handle the injuries somehow…]
"Who the hell do you think you are?!"
-Thud.
The man's pot-lid fist smashed into my face.
I tumbled away.
-Ptui.
Along with blood-mixed spit, one of my molars rolled across the dirt.
Both arms were rags.
My gut had avoided vital spots but bore clear stab wounds—twice.
My pants were soaked through with blood.
I clutched my stomach, desperately stemming the flow.
Crawling across the ground, leaving a trail of blood to put as much distance as possible between us.
This is weird.
Even so, it's broad daylight.
Why is the road so deserted?
Damn it.
My head's spinning.
"Heh heh, why're you looking around? Sorry, but no one's gonna help you."
"What?"
Gripping his knife tighter, the peddler strode toward me.
"Cheonsubakryeonsa's infamous for enforcing its rules sword-sharp—even on those who so much as touch their territory with a finger. Who'd wanna pass by and get caught up in that?"
I'd thought his boldness in broad daylight was excessive, but I hadn't known about that.
"Damn it, you handle that knife like it's not your first time. You're no ordinary peddler, huh?"
I babbled nonsense to cling to my fading consciousness amid the stench of blood.
"There're plenty of rich bastards in the world who hate getting their hands dirty. Heh heh. This side gig pays pretty well now and then."
Lost in old memories, he muttered with a sleazy grin.
"Reminds me of last year around this time—some rich man's daughter. The money was good, but…"
"Shut up."
"What?"
The peddler's eyes turned icy.
Propping myself with my palms, I barely raised my torso and leaned against Cheonsubakryeonsa's main gate.
"I thought maybe you were like the old me—someone thrashing to survive somehow. But now I'm sure. Sure, there're lots of bad guys and ones who deserve to die in this world."
I spat each word through labored breaths.
"You really need to die."
"Oh yeah? Then I'll rip that mouth of yours first. I don't know what game you're playing to stay so cocky even now!"
The peddler advanced, gripping the knife reverse-style.
Gasping, I continued.
"In those Cheonsubakryeonsa rules you mentioned—slicing down anyone who crosses even a finger into their territory—is there no punishment for outright murder like this?"
"So that's what you've been banking on to stay so defiant."
The peddler scoffed in disbelief.
"That'd be summary execution. So what? You think this is inside Cheonsubakryeonsa?"
"Obviously, since I'm leaning on the main gate, this is outside."
"So?"
I laughed.
"I sure hope the Cheonsubakryeonsa folks are as sensitive about their territory as you say."
"…?"
The peddler stared blankly at me.
I nodded toward it.
His gaze followed to my hand.
"…"
My bloodied arm had slipped through the gap under Cheonsubakryeonsa's main gate, reaching inside.
"You… you bastard!"
With a scream, the peddler lunged, knife in hand.
But before he could take two steps,
-Pffft.
A whoosh like air escaping, and the peddler's head flew off.
A beat later, blood sprayed from the stump.
"Hoo, hoo…"
I'd lost too much blood.
My vision blurred as I saw a figure looking down at me.
Fresh blood dripped like dew from their right hand.
Now for the real problem.
"Out of curiosity, even with Cheonsubakryeonsa's strict rules, they wouldn't execute someone who was just ambushed one-sidedly, right?"
Swish, swish.
The figure swung their sword through the air to shake off the blood.
"…right?"
I corrected to polite speech.
Yet the blade tip still pointed at my throat.
"The recommendation letter from the Moyong Family's Eighth Elder should have arrived in advance."
I slowly reached into my robes and pulled out the silver tiger token.
"My name is Moyong Bi. From the Moyong Fami—"
I'd lost too much blood.
My grip weakened.
-Clink.
The blood-slick silver tiger token dropped to the ground.
A pale hand picked it up.
It was an exceptionally white hand.
In my hazy vision, I saw a silver sword at their waist.
The scabbard bore an engraved plum blossom.
Blood speckled the plum blossoms.
Blood kept leaking from my gut without stop.
A sudden thought crossed my mind.
How many times had I brushed death in this past week?
I didn't know anymore.
Meticulously, from within the torn clothes covering the wounds, the injuries began stitching themselves together, as if forcibly sewn.
But I barely noticed.
I was exhausted.
In my dazed mind, I blurted out a thought.
"This shit's really getting fucking tiresome."
"What?"
The figure's silver eyes blinked.
My head spun.
"I can't keep living like this. I shouted about achieving fame and glory, but honestly, I don't want anything grand. I just…"
Too much blood had poured out.
"Life in the Moyong Family was so young I don't even remember what I ate, so that doesn't count…"
My memories jumbled chaotically.
I rambled incoherently.
"I just wanted to stuff myself full of meat once."
It was a memory from shortly after settling in the countryside.
The kid next door bragged about eating beef.
He went on forever, then asked if I even understood the taste he was describing.
I pretended to gag, saying that crap tasted bad anyway.
Then I went home and cried.
"That day still pops into my head out of nowhere."
"…"
The silver eyes just listened silently.
Head bowed, I muttered.
"I get so tired sometimes I wanna just let it all go. But I've still got too many regrets… I wanted to eat meat."
-Clink.
The sound of a sword being sheathed.
"You can eat all the meat you want at Cheonsubakryeonsa. And…"
It was a clear, resonant voice.
The sunlight under the blue sky was blindingly intense.
I couldn't make out the face of the figure looking down at me, head bowed.
Only the gleaming silver eyes in the shadow etched clearly into my mind.
"Life has an end someday. But not today."
"Heh heh, as if life goes how we want. Unless you're a god, who can decide that?"
"I do."
"What?"
-Clink, and the plum blossom-embossed sword was placed on the ground.
"The Huashan Sect's Shinsinwi, Eunseolryeong, has decided so right now."
The Heavenly Demon Copies Martial Arts