The Secret of the Demonic Sword

‘……Wait, hold on a second.’

Wasn’t the Mad-Blood Demonic Sword currently at the Demonic Cult’s headquarters?

Hadn’t the Second Young Master, Tak Bo-myeong, broken the cult’s rules to unseal the Mad-Blood Demonic Sword? The subordinates who had participated in that act were even dragged into the Thunder Dungeon one after another.

As if sensing Seol Ah-heon’s doubt, Baek Geon-ha kindly provided an explanation.

[That one is a fake.]

“……Excuse me?”

[The Mad-Blood Demonic Sword Tak Bo-myeong found is a counterfeit.]

“What?!”

“Your voice is too loud.”

Seol Ah-heon quickly shut his mouth. Even so, the shock was written clearly across his face. Baek Geon-ha openly mocked him.

“I suppose you didn’t know this?”

“……No.”

“Well, it’s not like it was just you. Even that dullard didn’t know.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the transmission (Jeon-eum) echoed again.

[Tak Bo-myeong has never been able to tell a gem from a pebble. That’s why he’s suffering such a humiliation.]

“…….”

[He likely still believes that what he found is the Mad-Blood Demonic Sword. But he is wrong. That thing is nothing more than a replica.]

Even while delivering such a long explanation, Baek Geon-ha’s lips did not move an inch. He only wore a deep, knowing smirk.

Baek Geon-ha recalled the memory with amusement.

When he first heard the intelligence that Tak Bo-myeong had obtained the Mad-Blood Demonic Sword, he had one thought: I must have it. He couldn’t leave such a divine weapon in the hands of someone else.

However, since dealing with his two senior brothers was the priority, he attacked Tak Bo-myeong using the unsealing of the sword against cult regulations as a pretext. But during the process of having “deep conversations” with Tak Bo-myeong’s subordinates, he discovered something suspicious.

It seemed the sword Tak Bo-myeong found was not the genuine article.

Interested in the truth, Baek Geon-ha began an investigation. He managed to access the secret archives, which only the Young Cult Leader and the Elders could enter, and decoded the records regarding the Mad-Blood Demonic Sword.

The result: there were multiple counterfeits of the sword.

[A clever strategy. If you mix it among fakes, finding the real one becomes nearly impossible.]

The judgment of the 4th Heavenly Demon was correct. However, the fact that the real Mad-Blood Demonic Sword was sealed at Mount Emei was unexpected.

Then again, in the distant past, the Cult did not shun the Murim as it does now. It was said they interacted, even if only slightly, with both the Orthodox and Unorthodox factions.

In particular, the 4th Heavenly Demon was rumored to have a deep connection with the Sect Leader of the Emei Sect. He might have requested the seal personally.

And the Emei Sect Leader certainly wouldn’t have missed the opportunity to seal the Mad-Blood Demonic Sword, which had brought a blood-red wind to the Murim.

[Mount Emei, being a sacred mountain, is also the perfect place to suppress the demonic energy of the sword.]

Based on the brief records, he reconstructed the events of seven hundred years ago.

Perhaps there were errors in his assumptions. It was impossible to perfectly grasp the distant past through a few lines of text. Regardless, the important thing was…

[The one who becomes the true master of the Mad-Blood Demonic Sword is me.]

Baek Geon-ha’s voice resonated inside Seol Ah-heon’s head.

Seol Ah-heon couldn’t bring himself to deny those words. Had it been spoken aloud, he might have doubted his ears, but this was a transmission carrying the crystal-clear weight of Baek Geon-ha’s will.

‘……As if he wasn’t crazy enough, now he wants to wield a demonic sword?’

This was terrible news that felt like a blow to the back of the head—a looming threat to the entire world.

Seol Ah-heon’s complexion turned as dull as gray plaster. Watching that change, Baek Geon-ha smiled playfully.

“Why the long face?”

“Well, that’s because…….”

Seol Ah-heon didn’t know how to send a transmission back. So, he simply spoke aloud.

“I’m afraid you might harm me with it, Young Master.”

“There’s nothing you can do about it even if you worry now, is there?”

“I suppose that’s true.”

‘He doesn’t even offer an empty promise that he won’t hurt me.’

Knowing Baek Geon-ha’s personality, it wasn’t surprising. Nor was it surprising that he coveted the demonic sword.

He had wondered why the man was heading to Sichuan personally instead of sending subordinates. It turned out the business was indeed worth the trip.

But as the truth was revealed, a new question surfaced.

‘……Then what about Tak Bo-myeong’s subordinates who were tortured?’

Let’s say it’s the rule of this world that subordinates are punished for the leader’s mistakes. However, according to this story, Tak Bo-myeong didn’t actually unseal the real sword.

Of course, the mere attempt was a violation of the cult’s laws, so punishment was expected, but it felt excessive. The sentence for someone who steals a house shouldn’t be the same as someone who fails to break in.

But this was a world where the fist was closer than the law. In the end, Tak Bo-myeong, his subordinates, and the entire Tak family had suffered a punishment far greater than their crime.

‘Baek Geon-ha really sent his senior brother to the grave like this.’

Since he had dealt a massive blow to Tak Bo-myeong without even needing a complex scheme, it was a huge windfall for Baek Geon-ha. No wonder he was generous enough to buy clothes and a horse—he must have been in a great mood.

Baek Geon-ha sent a transmission that sounded almost like a song.

[That is why I should at least offer a prayer. It’s thanks to the Buddha hiding it so well that I am able to obtain the Mad-Blood Demonic Sword.]

“…….”

If the monks from earlier had heard this, they would have tried to crack Baek Geon-ha’s skull with their wooden gongs.

In that regard, Seol Ah-heon felt it was a relief that Baek Geon-ha was such a disgustingly good actor.

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

Thanks to their fast pace, the group arrived at a village before the sun had completely set.

It was a small village, but it had an inn. Baek Geon-ha opened the door and entered without hesitation. A pleasant-looking owner greeted him.

“Welcome, guest!”

“Do you have three rooms?”

“Oh, I am so sorry. We only have one room left.”

Baek Geon-ha glanced up toward the second floor for a moment.

“I see three.”

“Ah, two of them are already occupied. If the three of you would consider sharing one room…….”

Baek Geon-ha held out some money. Seeing it, the owner’s eyes widened as much as the gold.

“Please wait a moment. I will have it ready immediately!”

“Mmm. Before that, bring us the most edible dish in this house.”

“Yes!”

The power of money was truly great. Rooms that didn’t exist appeared, and a delicious dinner manifested.

The dish the owner brought was Twice-Cooked Pork (Hoegwayuk). The tenderly boiled meat was soaked in a moist, spicy sauce. It was so good he wondered how they achieved such a flavor without chemical seasonings.

Seol Ah-heon’s chopsticks began to move faster. Truly, only delicious food could make one forget the day’s hardships. He had to eat well to have strength for tomorrow.

In the middle of his focused meal…

‘Huh?’

Someone approached.

Looking up, it was a woman dressed in flowing, celestial robes. There were three people sitting around the table, but her gaze was fixed solely on Baek Geon-ha.

He didn’t even bother suspecting if she was a master who had seen through Baek Geon-ha’s identity. The situation was just too familiar. This had happened every single day at every inn they’d visited. Women would seduce the peerless beauty, and Baek Geon-ha would willingly comply.

‘But Baek Geon-ha isn’t a peerless beauty right now?’

He hadn’t undone his disguise yet. The changed face was handsome enough, but it couldn’t compare to his original face.

However, Seol Ah-heon didn’t realize that his own aesthetic standards had reached the sky after traveling with Baek Geon-ha.

The current Baek Geon-ha was still a man you’d only see once in a decade. And the woman didn’t want to let a rare handsome man go.

“Good evening.”

She greeted him with a bright smile. Baek Geon-ha responded shyly—or rather, pretended to be shy.

“Yes. Good evening, Miss.”

The Twice-Cooked Pork he’d been enjoying suddenly felt greasy. If it had been a hard food, it would have definitely stuck in his throat.

‘Crazy…… He’s insane…….’

Seol Ah-heon lowered his head as if burying his nose in his plate. He couldn’t bear to look at Baek Geon-ha acting shy in front of a woman—the same man who, just moments ago, had ordered arrogantly while flaunting his wealth.

In the meantime, the woman overtly seduced him. She seemed to have a passionate personality and had taken a liking to the calm-looking Baek Geon-ha.

“Um, I have a proposal I only want to give to the Young Master.”

“What is it?”

Baek Geon-ha tucked a strand of hair behind his ear and tilted his head slightly. It was a sign for her to whisper.

The woman, catching the signal perfectly, blushed. She brought her lips close to Baek Geon-ha’s ear and whispered.

‘Whoa…… A fox, a total fox.’

Witnessing this head-on, Seol Ah-heon clicked his tongue. He had thought Baek Geon-ha was a tiger all this time, but he felt he had to change his mind today.

The man was a total fox. Specifically, a nine-tailed fox.

“We…….”

The woman whispered. Even so, Seol Ah-heon heard everything.

He tried his best to dull his hearing. He truly had no desire to know Baek Geon-ha’s love life.

‘Wait, weren’t Confucian ethics the basis of this world?’

He knew that valuing righteousness and respecting parents and teachers was part of that. But if they truly followed Confucian teachings, shouldn’t they also keep the rule about men and women not sitting together after age seven? For some reason, this world was more open and passionate than the modern world he had lived in.

More surprising than that, however, was Baek Geon-ha.

Just as he had just now, he accepted every single woman who seduced him. He didn’t care if they were objectively beautiful or not, tall or short, or what their attire was like.

It was almost like a form of philanthropy.

When he watched the man torture Tak Bo-myeong’s subordinates in the dungeon, he seemed to lack even a grain of humanity, yet was he only an exception for women?

‘I really don’t know.’

The conversation must have gone well, as Baek Geon-ha rose from his seat. Seol Ah-heon clicked his tongue as he watched him head up to a room with the woman.