Chapter 333: Golden Ghost Wolf King (1) |
After finishing the matter with the Brahma Heavenly Lust Demon, I left Silver Flower Pavilion.
“Let’s head to the next location immediately.”
“Pardon? Aren’t you rushing too much, Brother Cheon? We’ve come all the way to Hangzhou—wouldn’t it be fine to rest a little?”
Tang Sowol tilted her head as she spoke.
Her deep green hair swayed along with the motion. A timely breeze carried the faint fragrance lingering in her hair toward me.
When staying at the Tang Clan residence or whenever she had leisure, I had seen her apply fragrant oils to care for it.
But the scent that occasionally drifted from Tang Sowol was entirely different from the oils she usually used.
Wasn’t it said that the most terrifying poison is the one you knowingly drink despite knowing you’ll be addicted?
If so, then of all the poisons I knew, Tang Sowol’s scent was surely the most frightening.
It was quite literally a kind of poison.
In the past I hadn’t realized it, but after reaching the Flowering Stage and living within the Tang Clan, I had grown accustomed to poison arts without noticing.
Moreover, having undergone Transformation through Tang Sowol’s poison and gained immunity to myriad poisons along with sharpened senses toward toxins—
I could now roughly guess the nature of that body scent layered even beneath expensive oils.
Most likely, it was a fragrance that naturally leaked out as Tang Sowol—born with the Poison Spirit Constitution—instinctively harmonized the poison qi within her body.
This, at least, had not changed much from before my regression until now.
Whenever her scent brushed the tip of my nose, I found myself strangely reassured—so much so that even I was surprised.
Naturally, this was something I could never say aloud.
Even to Tang Sowol, admitting that her scent put my heart at ease would be… frankly, embarrassing.
So instead of saying anything, I stepped one pace closer.
“Hangzhou certainly has fine scenery and many places to enjoy. As long as we don’t wander too deep, there seem to be more inns than brothels.”
“Right? Then perhaps three days at least—?”
“So how about we all come together when we have more leisure?”
“…Alright.”
“More importantly, rumors about this martial challenge will begin to spread soon. I don’t want to give the remaining two too much time.”
The Brahma Heavenly Lust Demon had heard about my martial challenge first because a retired courtesan of Silver Flower Pavilion happened to live near the Conquering Asura Gate.
But by now, word must be spreading that I had half-destroyed the Conquering Asura Gate and subdued One-Saber Asura.
If the rumors were confined to Zhejiang Province rather than the entire Central Plains, they would spread quickly enough.
Even though I hadn’t crossed swords with the Brahma Heavenly Lust Demon, there had been witnesses who recognized me. The mere fact that I visited Silver Flower Pavilion would circulate.
Then naturally, those who thought, Next must be me, would prepare something out of guilty conscience.
There was no need to give them time to prepare while idling in Hangzhou.
Understanding my explanation, Tang Sowol pouted and nodded.
“Ugh. It’s a shame, but it can’t be helped. Come to think of it, hasn’t this happened rather often lately?”
“What do you mean?”
“Whenever I try to set a nice mood with Brother Cheon, you say you’re busy and postpone it.”
That left me with nothing to say.
Indeed, I had many things on my mind lately and might have neglected her somewhat.
As I hesitated awkwardly, Tang Sowol stepped closer.
Since I had already moved one step nearer, her additional step left our shoulders nearly pressed together.
Yet she calmly looked up at me from below, placed her hand atop her own head, and began measuring my height.
“It’s rather new to notice, but you’ve grown a lot, Brother Cheon. When we first met, if I hugged you like this, you’d fit snugly in my arms.”
“Your memory has been distorted. It’s true I was young then, but not to that extent.”
“Hehe. Back then, you insisted on speaking informally despite being so much younger. It seemed cheeky, yet also like you were trying so hard to appear like an adult to me. It was rather cute.”
So that was how she had seen me.
Come to think of it, when I was still at the age of study, she sometimes acted as though she were my older sister.
Even now, she occasionally implied that she was older than me.
“When you accused me of being a disguised old monster, I denied it absolutely—yet I disliked being treated as my age. I found that peculiar… but now I understand why.”
“Well. I only reached this point thanks to the help of many others.”
If not for Master Gakcheong and Abbot Jeong Hyeon, Strategist Zhuge Bu, and even the Flowing Cloud Sword Immortal—who came at Tang Jincheon’s request—
If obtaining the Demon Bell had been heaven-sent fortune, then the fact that several renowned figures of the martial world joined forces to complete the great method had allowed me, indirectly, to convey the tale from before my regression.
I could only be grateful.
As I nodded inwardly, Tang Sowol blinked as if struck by a thought.
“Oh? Come to think of it, according to what I saw in the great method… Brother Cheon, aren’t you actually a disguised old monster?”
“Not to that extent.”
“Hm. Then what would you consider the standard for an old monster?”
After a brief silence, I answered slowly.
“Senior Seo Mun-Hwarin?”
“Wow…”
“Wait. I take that back. Please keep that a secret from Senior Seo Mun-Hwarin.”
“My goodness, Brother Cheon. Were you looking at Sister Hwarin with such eyes?”
“It’s just that my memory from the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering is too vivid. Don’t misunderstand.”
“I must tell Sister Hwarin as soon as we return home—!”
Her lips curled mischievously. I could only let out a long sigh.
What did she want?
“Since we can’t linger in Hangzhou, at least make the journey enjoyable. For instance… carry me on your back the entire way.”
I didn’t know who the next target was, but it certainly wasn’t a day’s walk away.
At least two days. Perhaps three or four.
Was she asking me to carry her that entire time?
By now, most martial artists would recognize my face. To wander around in such a peculiar sight—
It wouldn’t take long for rumors to spread across Zhejiang Province. But—
“You said it yourself, Tang Sowol. Don’t regret it.”
“…Pardon? What do you mean—”
“Come. Get on.”
“Ah… alright.”
Though puzzled, she climbed onto my back as I lowered myself.
Given the posture, various parts of our bodies naturally pressed together.
But at this point, neither of us made a fuss over that.
“…Have you grown even more?”
“Th-that would be the results of my research on the Pungyu Pill, perhaps. The toxicity is still too strong for anyone but me, but I’ve grasped the direction.”
“Good grief.”
“Still, I never imagined that Brother Cheon, with that stoic face, was paying such close attention to my body.”
“You’re no different. I heard everything. You recognized me inside the Demon Bell just by the shape of my muscles over my clothes.”
“W-who told you that?!”
“That’s a secret.”
She tapped my head repeatedly, trying to find the informant, while I teased her.
After some time, Twin-Ghost Killing Sword returned with information from a nearby Black Lotus Sect branch.
He wore a bizarre expression, as if he had seen a creature with a duck’s beak and a raccoon’s body.
“What are you doing?”
“The person going to make contact was later than expected. I grew bored.”
“No, it’s only been about one hour… Ah.”
When I answered shamelessly, Twin-Ghost Killing Sword flinched mid-reply.
He glanced at the sword hanging from my waist and nodded.
“My apologies. I was late.”
“As long as you know.”
The conversation continued calmly.
Only Tang Sowol, face flushed, buried her head at the nape of my neck to hide her expression.
I finally realized something.
I never cared much about others’ gazes.
Tang Sowol, on the other hand, wasn’t especially sensitive to public opinion…
But she was normal enough to feel embarrassed at a normal level.
Pretending not to notice her trembling after belatedly realizing her mistake, I asked:
“So? Who’s closest?”
“Golden Ghost Wolf King, Do Geumjin. His estate is the nearest.”
“Golden Ghost Wolf King.”
He was quite famous—both before my regression and now.
A self-made man who began as a wandering mercenary and rose to the Flowering Stage.
Though incomparable to the Black Lotus Sect Lord who founded the Black Lotus Sect, he had organized mercenaries and brokered their services, taking commissions.
They said that with enough money, one could hire the Golden Ghost Wolf King… though his price was absurd.
Still, the mere fact that one could move an absolute master with money was unusual.
Occasionally he accepted requests from high officials or great merchant guilds, sweeping in enormous sums of gold.
Among Flowering Stage warriors, only two could be hired with money: the King of Assassins and the Golden Ghost Wolf King.
The former had died by my hand.
So only the Golden Ghost Wolf King remained.
“His price must have risen.”
“Do you intend to hire him with money?”
“Perhaps.”
True to his title, the Golden Ghost Wolf King was mad about money.
If One-Saber Asura had been a relatively ordinary unorthodox warrior—greedy in moderation, maintaining local influence, building his own faction—
The Golden Ghost Wolf King was obsessed with wealth to a degree that even fellow unorthodox warriors found insane.
On the surface, he brokered mercenaries.
Behind the scenes, he was entangled in gambling dens, loan-sharking, human trafficking, and all manner of filth.
Before my regression, I had hired him with money.
By then, nearly half of the orthodox Flowering Stage masters had died, so he demanded several times his usual price.
Still, when the Murim Alliance and the Black Lotus Sect joined hands, it was not an impossible sum.
The Black Lotus Sect Lord and Sama Yuryeon had wept tears of blood after being extorted of vast gold, but in the end, they secured his promise to fight against the Demonic Cult.
The only minor problem was that the very next day, he visited the Heavenly Demon to negotiate whether they would hire him instead—and returned with only his head twisted around.
He had likely planned to take money from both sides, pretend to fight the Demonic Cult while acting as a spy, and then side with whoever seemed likely to win.
For small-scale matters, perhaps he could be trusted.
But for something as massive and dangerous as a war against the Demonic Cult—
In other words, where even greater sums of money were at stake—
He was absolutely untrustworthy.
That was the Golden Ghost Wolf King I knew.
“First, we’ll talk.”
“That seems best. The danger of the Demonic Cult and the strength of the Heavenly Demon aren’t widely known yet, so there should be room to negotiate.”
Twin-Ghost Killing Sword muttered something while nodding, but it was meaningless, so I let it pass.
A warrior’s conversation was conducted with swords.
Wasn’t that the common sense of the martial world?
As I organized my thoughts and nodded inwardly, Tang Sowol whispered softly near my ear.
“Um… Brother Cheon? Are you truly going to visit the Golden Ghost Wolf King like this? I did suggest it first, but perhaps you could set me down now… Since you said you’d start with conversation, wouldn’t first impressions matter?”
“Don’t worry. I’m a man who keeps his word once spoken.”
“Why only at times like this…!”
Perhaps she realized I was serious.
Tang Sowol bit at the nape of my neck in protest.
But ever since my Transformation, I had not neglected external training for moments like this.
“That tickles.”
“Y-you!”
Tang Sowol struggled.
But nothing happened.