Childhood Friend of the Zenith – 419 (Part 2)



419 (Part 2)

If the Master hadn’t appeared I might have been killed by Dangdeok who had regained his senses.

I truly felt grateful for this but it seemed the Master didn’t believe it.

“There won’t be a second time.”

This time his tone pierced through me more coldly than usual.

“What I mean is if you ignore my warning and suffer a great misfortune this will be the last time I save you. I have many expectations of you but I have no intention of taking a fool who can’t even distinguish such trivial matters as my disciple.”

The words came in cold as if they were the truth and they were particularly harsh.

However there was nothing wrong with what he said so I nodded and replied.

“I understand.”

Upon hearing my response the Master immediately leaped away without leaving a word and vanished from sight.

He seemed determined to keep his promise of not getting involved in the aftermath.

I could have asked what had happened but how could he leave so resolutely?

He was a person I couldn’t understand.

Did he really have no interest in anything other than martial arts?

At that level it was truly madness.

I quietly watched the direction in which the Master had disappeared and then turned my head.

It was the direction where Dangdeok lay.

I moved my steps.

Regardless of what happened to the Master I couldn’t forget my main objective.

With each step pain surged through me.

Although the Master had tried to restore my condition the backlash from the martial arts had not completely subsided.

Enduring that pain I finally reached Dangdeok.

I knelt down and reached out to him as I quietly looked down at the unconscious Dangdeok.

As I reached out my worries remained.

‘Will this work?’

No matter how much Dangdeok had lost consciousness just before dying.

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I was also in a state of confusion and I wondered if it would be possible to corrupt Dangdeok who seemed resistant to demonic qi.

My worries were immense but even if this didn’t work.

‘If it doesn’t work I can just kill him.’

Thinking that killing him and cleaning up would be enough I didn’t stop reaching out.

At last my hand touched Dangdeok’s back.

I immediately expelled demonic qi into his heart.

****************************

I walked through the grass parting the bushes.

The insects that had been crying loudly fell silent the moment I approached.

Perhaps it was because the demonic qi or killing intent on my body hadn’t been completely erased.

Or maybe it was due to the aura I was emanating.

It was probably the latter.

Although I wasn’t far away as I neared my destination a metallic scent began to invade my nostrils.

I frowned at the sensation.

‘This is…’

The smell of blood.

The pungent scent of blood was wafting from afar.

I pushed through the darkness that obscured my vision and headed toward the source of the smell.

Only upon reaching my destination did I understand why the scent of blood was so thick.

The area was drenched in blood.

“Oh. You came?”

Someone stood over a pool of artificially created blood greeting me.

It was Baekryeon-geom.

“…”

I couldn’t say a word upon seeing her.

Contrary to her cheerful greeting her appearance was quite gruesome.

Corpses that looked like they had been slaughtered lay scattered around and the blood that flowed from them soaked the surroundings.

Blood dripped from the tip of Baekryeon-geom’s sword and her once-white clothes were stained in various places.

With a light smear of blood on her pale cheeks Baekryeon-geom smiled exuding an unsettling madness.

Seeing her smile at me in that state only intensified that feeling.

When I had asked her to deal with the bandits Baekryeon-geom had readily accepted questioning whether that was enough.

The bandits belonged to the unorthodox sects so there was ample justification.

It seemed Baekryeon-geom had taken care of the surrounding bandits as per my request.

Perhaps because my expression wasn’t good Baekryeon-geom awkwardly smiled at me.

“Does it look a bit rough? Is it unpleasant to see?”

It wasn’t a pleasant sight but my discomfort wasn’t for that reason.

“Not particularly. I just thought it would take a while to get rid of the smell of blood.”

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“Ah…?”

If she had killed them cleanly it would have been better; leaving such a mess made it difficult to clean up…

With Baekryeon-geom’s skills she could have easily done it.

I wondered why she had done it so violently.

In response to my question Baekryeon-geom answered.

“They had foul mouths so I unconsciously got a bit angry?”

“…Hmm.”

Did the bandits say something wrong in front of Baekryeon-geom? I had brought her along precisely to ask her to handle such matters but the outcome was more brutal than I had anticipated.

‘In any case.’

Should I be glad that it turned out as I wished?

“But Yangcheon.”

“Yes.”

As I tried to think positively Baekryeon-geom asked me a question with a puzzled expression.

“Who is that friend?”

She pointed at Dangdeok behind me.

Dangdeok was hidden under the blood-soaked cloak I had prepared.

“He’s my guard.”

“Guard?”

“Yes. Lady Mi sent another guard.”

“Ah…! Lady Mi.”

Upon hearing my words Dangsoyeol nodded repeatedly without any suspicion.

Given Baekryeon-geom’s situation using Lady Mi as a cover was the best approach.

The only thing to be cautious about was… the reaction of Dangdeok behind me.

– Stay still.

I cautioned myself against the emotions I felt from behind.

I could sense Dangdeok trembling with clenched fists.

It must be because of Dangsoyeol.

Dangsoyeol was a descendant of the Tang Clan the very clan Dangdeok wanted to kill the most.

If I had any questions about that it would be.

‘Could it be… that the Poison King was unaware?’

Although the plan for the birth of the Cheonmu Body ended with the Poison King Dangbiseong I didn’t think the descendants today knew nothing about it.

Even if his ambition was to elevate the Tang Clan to the top there was no guarantee that his descendants shared the same sentiment.

As I pondered this deeply I found myself questioning Dangsoyeol as well.

I wondered about the future of Dangsoyeol who would become the Poison King.

Currently Dangsoyeol was merely a prodigy with decent talent.

However the title he would be known by in the future was entirely different.

The Myriad Poison Immunity of the Poison King.

A level of Myriad Poison Immunity that even the Poison King Dangbiseong could not reach.

It was achieved by the future Dangsoyeol and I couldn’t help but feel a slight doubt.

The Dangsoyeol I saw did not seem to possess the talent to reach such a level.

He wasn’t bad but compared to the monsters around him he seemed somewhat lacking.

To put it precisely it would be unreasonable to call him a genius.

For someone like Dangsoyeol to achieve that solely through effort… it seemed too high a bar.

Thus the question arose.

Recalling the absurd test of the Cheonmu Body birth plan.

I wondered if the Dangsoyeol before me truly reached that level solely through effort…

That unsettling question lingered in my mind.

I saw Dangsoyeol tilting his head as if to ask why I was looking at him that way.

I shook my head.

No matter how rotten the Tang Clan was I didn’t think it was as rotten as my imagination suggested.

No.

It had to be that way.