Chapter 324
324fury. What if
“apostle…….”
Ark muttered with a surprised expression, but then nodded..
It was decided that this was information that Blue Dragon Credit Union could and should know..
“Little is known about the Apostle of the Blood Cult. Each and every one of them is a tax saving expert. And the only known fact is that it first appeared fifty years ago in the war between the Blood Cult and the Murim Alliance..”
“……Are you saying it was the first time you saw a master??”
“That's right. Until then, no one knew about the apostle. Who knew that the Blood Cult had such a secret weapon??”
‘Baek Soo-ryong quietly gritted his teeth at the words ‘secret weapon’. Without realizing it, I clenched my fists so tightly that the blood stopped flowing..
“……Are you okay? I haven't been feeling well for a while now..”
Ark looked at the white water dragon's pale, stiff expression and asked worriedly..
Baek Soo-ryong smiled, pretending to be okay..
“I'm just a little tired. Please keep talking.”
Baek Su-ryong took a deep breath and controlled his wild emotions. You must remain calm. If you overreact more than this, the ark might find it strange..
‘Not sure yet.’
I felt lucky that I had suffered internal injuries. Even if you can't manage your facial expressions, you can make excuses..
Fortunately, the Ark was only concerned about Baeksu-ryong’s physical condition..
“If you're having a hard time, let me know. I can tell you the story next time.”
“It's nothing to worry about.”
“Stubbornness… … . Anyway, I participated in the last war..”
The war against blood religion fifty years ago.
Bangju, who was a young and energetic warrior at the time, joined the battlefield with his mentor, Sentai Bangju..
A low, calm voice calmly recalled those days..
“The Murim Alliance was optimistic about victory. Because the clan religion had been weakened by internal strife. There was information from Sejak that half of the elders were dead and the main branch of the Blood Cult was devastated. How could you miss this opportunity? The demoralized warriors of the political faction invaded Xinjiang, where the headquarters of the blood religion was located..”
Even though they are not included in the nine factions and the five major generations, sects and families that are renowned in a region also gathered together. Here, charlatans who reverence righteousness and integrity also joined..
The masters who were strong on their own, the masters of previous generations who had announced their retirement, and even the boy martial artists who had barely passed Jihak came a long way to fight together. Just sending them away was excruciating..
The spirit of the Jeongpa Murim gathered under the banner of Cheokma Murimsa was incredible. They marched without hesitation to destroy the blood religion. No one doubted victory.
“As I heard, blood relations are not normal. You could see the destroyed buildings even from afar. It felt like a huge earthquake and storm had swept through. The Taoists whispered that it was heavenly punishment. We climbed over the collapsed wall, shouting. On the other side, fanatics rushed in with their weapons in hand.…….”
Ark paused for a moment and took a sip of tea. He took a long breath and continued speaking..
“The smell of blood was everywhere. The battlefield turns even normal people into demons. Prisoners are dying next to me, limbs flying off from blind swords. It's a place where unimaginable and terrible things happen every day..”
“…….”
A scene that looks like hell unfolding in front of you.
The wrinkled eyes of the old man trembled as he looked through the past. I felt like I could see the faces of my dead friends..
“It wasn't a fight that could last long. So, we decided to form a small elite group and attack Gyojujeon from the east, west, south, and north at the same time. I was included in one of them too..”
Through the mouth of the ark, the secrets of war unknown to most martial people were being revealed..
“While the main force was attracting attention, we advanced toward Gyojujeon, where the Blood Demon was located. Unexpected formations, traps, poisons, and jiangshi stood in our way, but we broke through them all. Everyone is obsessed with evil. All I could think about was running to Gyojujeon and beheading the Blood Demon. By the time there were only about 100 pages left until Gyojujeon,…….”
An unfamiliar emotion appeared in Ark’s eyes as he paused for a moment..
horror. Surprisingly it was scary.
“The apostle blocked our path.”
“……Have you seen the apostle in person??”
Ark nodded heavily..
“There was only one I saw in person..”
“who was it?”
For a moment, Ark thought the question was a bit strange..
Who was it??
Isn't it a more appropriate question to ask how strong he was, what he looked like, and what martial arts he used??
But it wasn't that important.
‘It looks like the internal injuries are worse than I thought..’
Cold sweat was flowing from Baek Soo-ryong’s body..
His complexion was as pale as a corpse, and his lips were pale. Breathing was also irregular..
“you. I think I need to rest..”
“it's okay. And if you stop the story here, I won't be able to sleep tonight..”
“It's like a grandchild begging to hear old stories..”
The white water dragon did not laugh at the joke of the ark. Ark smiled awkwardly to himself and continued..
“He was the one wearing black lips. He was wearing a black robe that covered his entire body, and his face underneath the black lips was full of black marks..”
“……swordsman.”
“I've never seen such a swordsman in my life. Because he handled a single sword like a ghost. no, that's…….”
Ark thought for a moment, trying to find the right words..
“Should I say that the possessed sword seemed to be controlling people? It's hard to put into words..”
“…….”
“A senior who was called the Sword King at the time was defeated by him. From what I remember, it couldn't have been more than twenty..”
Ark took another sip of tea. The hand holding the teacup was trembling slightly..
Even though decades had passed, the fear of being an apostle was deeply imprinted..
“He didn't seem like a person at all. Even though he was bleeding profusely from the joint attacks of the Murim Alliance masters, and even though he was vomiting blood, he did not shed a single moan. It seemed like he couldn't feel the pain.”
“…….”
“Of the 100 people selected for the deadly battle, only about 10, including me, survived. Even that wasn't because we defeated him, it was because he retreated on his own. If he had fought until the end, he would have died too.…….”
A shameful story not recorded in the history of Moorim..
The Ark smiled emptyly and looked at the White Water Dragon..
“He was one of the apostles of the blood religion..”
“Ilsado…….”
Baek Soo-ryong’s expression became distorted. I could no longer deny Ilsado’s identity..
‘No. 1. You were Ilsado.’
A guy with kind eyes.
However, the boy's emotions were destroyed by himself, and he was eventually raised to become the clan's secret weapon..
-It's you who made me like this.
At most, one to two hours a day..
Baek Soo-ryong, who usually sleeps for a short period of time, still often has nightmares about his former students..
White Water Dragon asked with a pale face..
“……What happened after that??”
“After the apostle withdrew, we headed to Gyojujeon. Even if I had to die, I would die just to see the face of that proud blood demon..”
Blue veins appeared on the back of the wrinkled hand holding the baton. Ark's voice grew increasingly angry little by little..
“But when we arrived at Gyojujeon, the blood demon was sitting on the throne, dead..”
“……!!”
It was an amazing story that made me even forget for a moment about my former student..
“Who is the blood demon…….”
“What's even more surprising is that there were no signs of a fight nearby..”
Even if you search the whole world, you can't kill the blood demon so that it can't resist..
That meant only one thing..
Baek Soo-ryong widened his eyes as if he couldn't believe it..
“Are you saying that the blood demon committed suicide??”
“That's right.”
“The story is that they attacked and killed each other.…….”
“It's a lie. Who would want such an empty victory? As we each returned to our shrines, we desperately needed a heroic story..”
“…….”
Why is that blood demon?
All sorts of questions arose in my head, but only the blood demon, who had already died, knew the exact answer..
“The guy was smiling. He sat on the throne and looked down at us as if he were laughing at us who had risked our lives to get there. They played with us until we died..”
“…….”
After finishing the long story, Ark sighed wearily. His face looked a few years older..
“As I continued, the story became longer. Since you don't seem to be feeling well, I guess I'll just leave..”
Ark stood up and lightly tapped White Water Dragon on the shoulder. He guessed that Baek Soo-ryong must have been greatly shocked..
As a member of the Murim Alliance, how could it not be so? I needed time to organize my thoughts..
“Take good care of yourself.”
“……Please take a look.”
The white water dragon saw the ark off..
Even after the image of the ark disappeared down the hallway, he was still looking at the same place with unfocused eyes..
* * *
A blue halo was forming hazily around the edge of the moon..
Baek Su-ryong looked up at the cloudy moon and was lost in thought..
“…….”
I vaguely thought they were all dead too..
Even without directly confirming the death.
What kind of complacent thinking is this?.
‘No, I guess I didn't want to think about it..’
Baek Soo-ryong knew his own personality well..
It makes no sense that we never expected something like this..
He must have been thinking of the ‘possibility’ in his subconscious mind..
There may come a day when we will have to point our swords at our former disciples again..
eat.
Baek Soo-ryong laughed self-deprecatingly..
“What a coward. Now that it's clear, there's nowhere to run.”
Old Disciples Are Alive.
Although there was only one person who had heard from Ark, Baek Su-ryong guessed that the others were alive as well..
‘can i kill them.’
If I had been in a past life, I wouldn't have even worried about it..
Because he was a human being who did anything to survive..
No matter who the opponent was, if he threatened me and tried to kill me, I would kill him without mercy..
But can it still be like that?.
-Instructor!
-teacher!
The faces of the former disciples of the blood religion and the disciples of the Blue Dragon Academy appeared overlapping..
Baek Soo-ryong laughed. I smiled while looking at my trembling fingertips..
“haha…….”
A low, empty laugh was scattered fleetingly through the night air..
“Why are you shaking alone?.”
It was Namgungsu. Baek Soo-ryong turned his head and said to Nam Gung-su who had come up to the roof..
“Namgungsu. What if? This is really just in case.”
“…….”
“Because of you, my student’s life was ruined. What will you do if that guy comes to see you later and blames you??”
“What are you talking about suddenly??”
Namgungsu narrowed his eyebrows and asked back..
Baek Soo-ryong said with a playful smile..
“Why, it could be so. Like learning a martial art I didn't want and becoming addicted to it, being whipped as a child remained a terrible memory for the rest of my life, or coming to hate a teacher who lied to the point that I wanted to kill him... … . Was the last one a bit harsh??”
“…….”
I didn't ask because I wanted the right answer..
It was just something I blurted out randomly because I was feeling stuffy..
But Namgungsu was listening to those words with a serious expression..
Baek Soo-ryong waved his hand and laughed..
“This is just something I tried. Don't take it too seriously.”
“If it were me, I would teach again..”
“what?”
“If something goes wrong with a student due to my fault, I should take responsibility as a teacher. That's re-teaching properly..”
“……If that's impossible?”
Baek Soo-ryong asked with a distorted expression..
The blood religion subjected the children to all kinds of brainwashing, insinuations, and prohibitions..
These were children who would learn martial arts to compete for the best in the world..
Beings who could pose a tremendous threat to the church if they betrayed them..
So we made the children lose their emotions and instilled only loyalty to the blood religion..
They could not pass on their martial arts skills to others, nor could they abolish their martial arts skills or commit suicide..
Over a long period of time, it was a gold engraved on their bodies and souls..
‘teach again?’
It's impossible. Even if Baek Su-ryong uses any method he knows, it is impossible..
There's no way those guys will accept me again..
“It's impossible... … . Have you tried it??”
“…….”
“That's strange. The Baek Su-ryong I know is not the kind of person to say that..”
“Easier said than done…….”
“White Water Dragon.”
Namgungsu decisively interrupted Baeksuryong. In the darkness, his golden eyes burned like a flame..
“Did you think it was easy to become a one-time instructor? I don't know where the accident occurred, but if you did something wrong, take responsibility..”
“…….”
“Let me know if you need advice. As a senior, I will give you some advice..”
“Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk…….”
Baek Soo-ryong suddenly shook his shoulders and laughed..
I didn't get the answer from Namgungsu's words..
Still, as we talked, my mind became a little clearer..
“You're right. If you are a teacher, you have to take responsibility. in any way…….”
The answer may be surprisingly simple.
Take responsibility for mistakes made in the past.
To do that…….
“We'll have to meet again first..”
You will meet old disciples.
I still can't think of anything, what to say when we meet, what to do,.
Still we will meet.
We must meet.
After I made up my mind, the trembling in my fingertips seemed to have subsided a little..
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