The Return of the Crazy Demon-Chapter 248: Us Again

Those who spectate and backseat fights tend to see more. While holding a wooden sword, I quickly scanned the fight between the Drunk, the Lecher, and the Sword Demon, then approached the Drunk and asked:

“Who ambushed me?”

As I neared Baekdoja, who was fighting the Drunk, I extended my sword toward him.

“Was it you? Was it you?”

In that moment, Baekdoja quickly stepped back and deflected the Drunk’s sword. He had no choice but to fear a two-against-one situation.

Not receiving an answer, I gripped my wooden sword and strode toward Gosanja.

“Hey, Gosanja... so it was you. The bastard who ambushed me.”

Gosanja, who had been fending off the Lecher’s ice techniques with constant sword winds, replied in a panicked voice.

“It wasn’t me.”

“It wasn’t? Are you sure?”

Using the assassin’s footwork once demonstrated by the Blood Night Palace Lord, I instantly closed the distance and jabbed the wooden sword at Gosanja’s face. Just as Gosanja hastily swung his sword to deflect mine, the Lecher unleashed twin palms and seized the advantage.

Next, I glared at Mulungja and spoke slowly on purpose.

“Mulungja, so it was you. You said you wanted a one-on-one duel, but abandoned the martial code of Jianghu. Isn’t that disgustingly cowardly? I nearly died in that fight because of you.” 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Even from my view, Mulungja’s internal energy was deep.

But he wasn’t strong enough to easily kill the Sword Demon.

Besides, the Sword Demon was the kind of man who wouldn’t want me butting in, so I had no intention of joining in. But harassing was a different matter. I walked right up to Mulungja and started provoking him.

“You son of a bitch... you eat peaches and pull this sneak attack bullshit?”

As I rushed in with my sword raised, Mulungja kept retreating. The Sword Demon, still pressing him, seemed to have mistaken the Bright Sword for a spear and charged toward Mulungja. I left the two of them alone and turned to the waiting Taoist bastards. Among them were the so-called First Brother and the ventriloquist.

“...So it was you lot, huh? The ones who attacked me from behind while I was fighting Fatso.”

“...!”

I charged at them, wildly unleashing flame qi wrapped around my wooden sword. In an instant, several Taoists had their arms sliced off, and blood splattered in all directions. I then launched a massive flame hand from the seat of command.

A red force, as thick as a fortress wall, crashed down on the Taoists. As they all swung their swords to defend themselves, a deafening blast erupted.

KWA-AAAAANG!

I broke through the shockwave and the shattered airborne flame hand, and began slicing through the Taoists’ bodies with my wooden sword. By targeting their wrists with precise swings of Star Sword, most of them were instantly disarmed. Unable to withstand the pressure, the watching Taoists scattered in panic.

I laughed.

Those bastards who had put their faith in Mulungja were now witnessing him fail to deal with the Sword Demon—and were fleeing for their lives.

After killing, cutting down, and chasing off the stragglers, I turned my gaze back to Baekdoja, who was still locked in battle with the Lecher.

“Hahaha...”

I laughed for no reason. Glancing around, I noticed Dong-su staring at me in a daze, his face blank. I almost called out, “Dong-su,” but thankfully caught myself.

“Baldy, you watching this? What? It’s dirty? Cowardly? They started it first.”

I twirled my sword lazily, spinning around as I rejoined the Lecher.

“From what I saw, Baekdoja ambushed me. That’s my conclusion. A guy with a face as dark as soot being called White Peach? Clearly, someone with two faces. If your nickname were Black Peach, maybe I wouldn’t have suspected you. But this? You’re caught.”

I sheathed my wooden sword, then wrapped both hands in ice energy just like the Lecher and attacked Baekdoja. When the Lecher struck at his upper body, I used Hyeonwol Footwork to target his lower half. When the Lecher used footwork, I followed suit, creating chaotic attack ranges.

Noticing my addition to the fight, the Lecher must have decided not to hold back. He poured out freezing air with his twin palms.

To target Baekdoja’s back, I kept moving fast and mirrored the Lecher’s ice palm techniques to coordinate the assault. Ice techniques cover wide areas, and unless there’s a large disparity in power, they’re hard to block. Together, the Lecher and I struck Baekdoja repeatedly with ice attacks until his stance froze mid-swing.

Before I could interrogate him further, the Lecher’s hand knife slammed into Baekdoja’s frozen forehead.

Thwack— With that sound, Baekdoja’s skull shattered and he collapsed on the spot.

I exchanged glances with the Lecher, but something about it felt unlucky, so we both scoffed at the same time.

The Lecher pointed toward Gosanja, who was still fighting the Drunk.

“Actually, it was that guy who ambushed you. I saw it clearly.”

I nodded.

“Ah, so it was. I got tricked. Can’t let that slide. In Jianghu, interfering in a one-on-one fight is the act of a bastard...”

Together with the Lecher, I interrupted their fight. The Drunk, whose swordsmanship focused entirely on impenetrable defense, was firmly holding back Gosanja’s superior offense.

Without needing to ask anything more, we turned it into a three-on-one and began pressing Gosanja. The Lecher continued using his ice attacks, and this time I wrapped both hands with Hundred Battles Tenfold Palm. Unlike the soundless ice attacks, this technique was loud and forceful.

The Drunk remained the core of the fight, while the Lecher and I attacked, harassed, and ambushed Gosanja from the sides. But I didn’t just contribute strength—I also added words.

“Gosanja, why did you ambush me? It’s karma.”

Gosanja opened his mouth.

“I...”

In that instant, he was stabbed in the shoulder by the Drunk and struck by the Lecher’s palm, spewing blood and staggering.

I asked again.

“So it wasn’t you?”

Through blood-drenched lips, Gosanja forced out his answer.

“...It wasn’t.”

I nodded.

“Sorry. I misunderstood.”

He was already gravely wounded, so apologizing was only proper. But the Drunk and the Lecher didn’t care whether I accepted the apology or not—they just kept attacking.

Unable to resist any longer, Gosanja flailed, then was run through by the Drunk’s sword and died.

I looked at the Drunk and the Lecher, then turned my attention to the Sword Demon, still deep in battle.

The Drunk wiped blood from his sword and tattled to me.

“...It seems Mulungja ordered the ambush. A real coward’s move.”

I agreed with him.

“Yeah. It’s obvious even without seeing.”

The Lecher added:

“So he was the ringleader.”

The three of us snorted in unison and approached Mulungja. Strangely, he was already bleeding profusely.

No matter his reputation, overwhelming the Sword Demon was no easy feat.

Even as we approached, Mulungja’s sword managed to slash the Sword Demon’s arm once—but at the same moment, the Bright Sword pierced his thigh.

Realizing now that he’d only grazed the Sword Demon’s clothes, Mulungja’s face had turned as pale as his name.

With the three of us forming a triangle around him, I spoke:

“...I think this ‘peach’ he talks about is some kind of essence extracted using demonic methods from boys or young girls—whatever it is. I don’t care about the method. Mulungja has to die. He probably gave those peaches to Pyeongpyeongja, Baekdoja, and Gosanja. Their internal energy far exceeded their skill. Obsessed with internal power, are we? But internal energy isn’t everything in a fight.”

The Drunk nodded.

“True.”

The Lecher shook his head.

“But still, deep internal energy’s nice to have.”

I looked at the Lecher.

“Sure, but there’s a line in how you get it. Mulungja crossed it. And those targets... probably his own disciples.”

The Lecher asked me:

“What about the Taoists who ran off?”

“You need a few who look clean, so the naïve keep falling for it. And they probably weren’t suitable for the elixirs anyway. Dressed like Taoists, but inwardly scum.”

From a short distance, Dong-su asked me:

“Is all of what you just said true?”

I turned to him.

“If it weren’t true, Mulungja would’ve run to the Martial Alliance and defended himself. But he can’t even defend himself here. Baldy, figure out who deserves to die and who to spare. A guy like you dies fastest in Jianghu.”

I shut Dong-su up and looked back at Mulungja, then drew my sword.

“Big Brother, I’m joining in.”

It was only right to ask the Sword Demon first. The Lecher said:

“Master, I’m joining too.”

The Drunk simply added:

“Same.”

After saying it, we all glanced at each other and burst out laughing. Honestly, none of us really planned to join—but we were all thinking the same thing.

The Sword Demon, fighting with a stone-cold face, gradually broke into a smile and said:

“No need.”

Suddenly, his eyes flared wide and he lunged forward, chest out, thrusting the Bright Sword in a straight line. Mulungja’s sword reflexively struck the Sword Demon’s chest—but in the same instant, the Bright Sword pierced his neck.

We all followed the trajectory of the Bright Sword as it skewered Mulungja’s ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) throat.

ZWAANG— The sword let out a ghostly wail in midair, then curved back toward the Sword Demon.

Dong-su, clearly shocked, fell on his butt and exclaimed:

“Sword-Wielding Will?!”

It probably wasn’t. I had no particular explanation, so I just stayed quiet and watched the Bright Sword return. The Sword Demon caught it, and only then did Mulungja’s body collapse backward.

Thud...

The Sword Demon shook the blood off his blade and looked at me.

“Third.”

“Hm?”

The Sword Demon tilted his head.

“That was unusually easy. You did it. I expected a tougher fight.”

The Drunk and the Lecher also looked at me, faces mirroring the Sword Demon’s sentiment.

With nothing to say, I gave a vague answer.

“Well, a win’s a win.”

The four of us turned to stare at bald Dong-su, who was sitting on the ground. At that moment, I suddenly recalled his full name.

‘Ah...’

The Gu-ma clan from the Western Regions. The son of clan leader Ra Yeom—Ra Jip. Dong-su’s true name was Kumarajiva. Of course I wouldn’t have remembered that easily. Names from the Western Regions are meant to be forgotten.

I walked over and locked eyes with him.

“Baldy.”

He answered:

“Yes?”

“Give up wandering monkhood. You’ll end up dying alone. You don’t belong in Jianghu. Don’t try to guide warriors—go guide the many ordinary people instead. Don’t stick your nose in Jianghu anymore. Sound good? If you ever tell me to spare one of these bastards again, I’ll shove meat in your mouth. Want a taste?”

While I was talking, the Four Great Villains approached. The Drunk offered his hand and helped Dong-su up.

The Drunk said:

“Monk, care for a bite of meat?”

The Lecher grabbed Dong-su’s shoulder.

“Call it fate. Let’s have a drink, baldy.”

The Sword Demon added calmly:

“Don’t be too hard on him. He’s not lacking in skill—he just doesn’t fit Jianghu in spirit. Let’s bury the dead.”

I looked over the corpses.

While alive, they were enemies—but in death, they deserve a prayer. Feeling that this baldy might start chanting sutras beside me, I preemptively said:

“Ever cleaned up corpses?”

He looked at me.

“No.”

I said threateningly:

“Then do it. Oh, do you folks prefer cremation?”

“Yes.”

“Perfect. Let’s pile them up and burn them.”

The Four Great Villains and I scattered, collecting the corpses into a heap. Even Dong-su helped, dragging them over to the pile.

His idea of Jianghu and mine were different. Though he was from the Western Regions, he came from a noble family. I don’t care why he became a monk—but people like him often misunderstand the world.

The reality is different.

As I piled the corpses, I found myself wondering—

If I send Dong-su back unharmed, could the Crazy Monk live as just an ordinary martial monk?

Who knows?

But I did hope, silently, that the Crazy Monk wouldn’t waste his life consumed by fury.

Letting Dong-su live and return...

Maybe that’s my way of repaying the Crazy Monk who once showed me the sea.

Even if we never meet again.