While drinking, I asked Cha Seong-tae.

“How did you end up here? This isn’t the kind of fight someone like you should be in.”

Cha Seong-tae responded with a face that looked like he was about to spin a boring tale of hardship.

“It was a treacherous journey.”

“Cut the crap. Just give me the short version.”

Looking around at the Four Villains, Cha Seong-tae said,

“I’ll summarize. First, the Cult Leader got angry and went to Dongho, right?”

“He did.”

“Well, I went to help him.”

I was puzzled at the thought that this utterly useless guy had gone to help.

“And then?”

“I missed him by a hair. Dongho was already under the control of the Alliance members. I grabbed someone at random and asked about the Cult Leader’s whereabouts. They said he’d gone to the Martial Alliance, possibly to guard the Alliance Leader. I had already come all the way to Dongho, so turning back felt like a waste. I went on to the Martial Alliance.”

“You couldn’t catch up even with all that effort? That’s not ‘by a hair.’”

Cha Seong-tae looked at me.

“How could I get there fast if I’ve never been to the Martial Alliance before?”

“So? Did you at least get a look at it?”

“I saw the entrance. It was incredible. Almost got caught snooping around. After some roundabout asking, they said the Cult Leader had already left. I had no clue where he’d gone this time, so I was heading back toward Ilyang County when I saw corpses strewn around and followed the trail. I witnessed Senior Fist King battling a Nomadu and spotted an unusually huge guy. Honestly, at first, I had no idea who was friend or foe. Anyway, I got closer, confirmed the Nomadu’s face, and man—he just screamed villain. His face practically wore all his past sins.”

It was somehow both lacking in detail and grandiose at once. At some point, Ghost Demon, drawn into the story, chimed in.

“And?”

“He wasn’t just any Nomadu, but you can’t just kill someone outright, right? I interrupted mid-internal energy clash and politely asked if I could ask something.”

“What did you say?”

“‘Have you seen the Haomun Lord?’ The big guy said they parted ways a few days ago at the Martial Alliance.”

“And then?”

Cha Seong-tae looked around at us and clenched his fist.

“Words were unnecessary. I gifted that villainous face of his with this.”

“......”

“I definitely punched him in the face, but my hand hurt more. Anyway, his face turned red with rage, and that’s when the tangled battle between Fist King and Yi Gun-ak began to shift. It was clear... this punch triggered the Nomadu’s internal deviation.”

Sword Demon spoke up with a bewildered look.

“A specter was having an internal energy fight against Fist King and Yi Gun-ak?”

“Yes. According to Senior Fist King, if I hadn’t shown up, the fight would’ve lasted another two hours. He said my help was significant.”

I looked at Cha Seong-tae and said,

“Wow. You came back from the dead.”

Cha Seong-tae replied,

“Who did?”

“You, obviously.”

“You think I’d die that easily? I’d already figured out the situation before asking anything. Anyway, Senior Fist King said it seemed the other lords were being ambushed as well, so I came along. On the way, some people tried to stop us, but that big guy Yi Gun-ak handled most of them. He’s really good.”

At that point, the Lecher nodded.

“But he still lost to me.”

Truth is truth—we had nothing to say.

I paused in thought before speaking to Sword Demon.

“...That black-clad figure. During the fight earlier, the way the specters kept protecting them tells me they’re important. From everything we know about specters, they don’t treat anyone like a person except for the Cult Leader. If someone is protected by specters like that, we need to kill them no matter what. If the Cult is targeting me because I have both extreme yin and extreme yang energy, then the black-clad one might be similar in purpose. What do you think, Big Brother?”

I left out the part about the Heavenly Pearl—this was the best I could say.

Sword Demon thought for a moment before replying.

“No need to go looking.”

“Why?”

He looked at me.

“If you’re right, they’ll come find you again.”

I tilted my head slightly.

Sword Demon said,

“The Cult Leader is not like the scholars. The way he treats me, the way he treats the black-clad one—it’s probably the same.”

The Lecher asked,

“What does that mean?”

“It’s simple. He worships the strong. The Cult Leader may have encouraged them to try becoming a Heavenly Demon. After watching everything unfold... they’ll probably be sacrificed.”

Sword Demon looked at me.

“......”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Ah, is that it? Worship of the strong, huh.”

Thinking about it, Sword Demon, the black-clad figure, and I were all in the same boat. The Cult Leader must be tremendously confident. Maybe this was his method of surpassing the Three Calamities.

Just then, the inn’s door opened, and the missing White-Robed Scholar strolled in like nothing happened.

The moment I saw him, I sighed.

He hadn’t helped, nor had he hindered—so cursing him felt off, but thanking him felt even worse. Just a real piece of work, honestly.

White-Robed Scholar looked around and asked Cha Seong-tae,

“And who are you?”

Cha Seong-tae replied with a smirk,

“And who are you?”

I widened my eyes slightly, glancing between the two. I was mentally preparing myself, just in case the Scholar suddenly decided to kill Cha Seong-tae.

White-Robed Scholar looked around the inn, then wrung out the water from his clothes. After squeezing them several times, he asked me in a casual tone,

“Can I kill him?”

“He’s the General Manager of Haomun, so hold back. His martial skills are still hard to judge.”

Only then did Cha Seong-tae look at the Scholar with a surprised expression.

The Scholar rubbed his clothes, and strangely, they dried wherever his hands touched. Then he walked into the kitchen, grabbed a jug of liquor, and drank straight from it.

“Did you see the black-clad one?”

“I did.”

“I lost them while chasing.”

“They were that fast?”

The Scholar shook his head.

“There were shredded pieces of black clothing. Seems they took off the outfit and tried to destroy it during their escape. I happened to be nearby and caught some traces. Anyway, I’ve got a feeling they’re still around.”

He turned to Sword Demon, speaking to him for the first time.

“Sword Demon. Do you know who it is?”

“It’s a specter. Who else?”

The Scholar asked thoughtfully,

“Do specters usually protect one of their own like that? From the eyes I saw through the headscarf, they didn’t seem that old. The voice too. At first, I thought it might be the Grand Heir...”

I asked,

“And?”

“I don’t think they’d leave the Grand Heir so exposed among specters. Besides, they didn’t participate in the fight. Mostly, they were just watching you, Lord, and then disappeared.”

Somehow, the smartest man in Jianghu had become curious about the black-clad figure. I briefly debated whether to share what I knew with this Scholar. Then I decided I would treat him as an ally first.

Watching him drink alone at a table without any snacks, I told Cha Seong-tae,

“Bring some snacks for the guest.”

Cha Seong-tae replied,

“What am I, a tavern boy?”

“Better than getting smacked in the head, right?”

“Well, that’s true. I think we have dried snacks. I’ll bring everything we’ve got.”

While he went into the kitchen, I asked the Scholar,

“You don’t know who they are?”

“No.”

Truthfully, I didn’t either. But for some reason, I wanted to mix lies and imagination when talking to the Scholar. I don’t even know why. I’ve never been the righteous type. Our relationship isn’t exactly normal either, so I had no desire to answer him normally.

“They’re not old. Protected by specters. Not the Grand Heir. So maybe a disciple raised by the specters?”

“A disciple, huh.”

Cha Seong-tae awkwardly returned and set the snacks on the table. White-Robed Scholar raised a hand like he was about to hit him.

At that moment, Cha Seong-tae stumbled backward and readied himself, wrapping both hands in Hundred Battles Tenfold Technique.

Bzzzzzt!

White-Robed Scholar, upon seeing the technique, tilted his head.

“...Well, he’s not talentless, I’ll give him that.”

After teasing Cha Seong-tae, he chewed on the dried snacks and looked at me.

“So why do you think he’s a disciple? Let’s hear your nonsense.”

I thought of the black-clad one, took a drink to calm my stomach, then made up an entire life story I didn’t know.

“...A specter is still a person, right?”

Cha Seong-tae replied,

“Still human, sure.”

“A young specter doesn’t really make sense. Unless they were born among the specters. Even if specters kill each other without hesitation, could they really kill a small child that appeared among them? I’m not sure. Anyway, if they grew up and weren’t killed, they’d probably become a disciple. Maybe they learned all sorts of dark arts. Maybe only techniques to avoid deviation. If they happened to be talented, they could be trained into a Heavenly Demon... or maybe, some Nomadu passed on their internal energy as they died. You’d need some kind of incredible story or miracle to gain enough skill to escape even your pursuit. If they’re not the Cult Leader, and not the Grand Heir, there’s no reason for the specters to protect them to the death. That rain-soaked battle...”

Everyone was listening intently.

“It was too fierce. The black-clad one has probably never seen a fight like that. Sometimes, those who die by my hand seem to die with some kind of dignity. Not just meaningless deaths. If a disciple saw a fight like that, you could say it was a fitting end for a specter.”

The Scholar, who had been silent, asked,

“Then why would someone like that watch over you?”

This was the real question.

I looked at him.

“To absorb me?”

“Because of your extreme yin and yang energy? Absorb you... and then?”

“To kill the Cult Leader.”

“Why?”

Here, I relayed Sword Demon’s explanation to the Scholar.

“Because of worship of the strong. They probably think that’s the only way to survive. Instead of living like a pig waiting for slaughter in the old headquarters, maybe they came to finally ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) live for real. They probably heard about me from one of the Four Heavenly Kings who saw me before.”

The Scholar asked,

“Are you saying the Cult Leader knows all this?”

“Do I have any way to beat the Cult Leader right now?”

“No. Even Cheonak couldn’t do anything to that man.”

“What about the black-clad one?”

“Same.”

“What if they absorb me? Would they be like the Three Calamities?”

Recalling Cheonak’s prowess, the Scholar tilted his head slightly.

“They could probably fight him...”

Then I told him my conclusion.

“If the black-clad one absorbs me, and the Cult Leader then absorbs them, could even the Three Calamities stop him?”

The Scholar looked stunned.

“Both of you?”

He slowly looked around at the Four Villains and Cha Seong-tae, then said,

“That would be a demon god. The wall that’s been blocking him would crumble, and he’d ascend in level. Cheonak’s stuck at a similar wall too. If born of the white path, it’s a divine warrior; of the demonic path, a demon god. Though in the end, it’s all the same.”

I asked for his opinion.

“Can one cross that wall just by raising internal energy?”

“No.”

The Scholar looked at me.

“If the Cult Leader gained something like your Zaha Divine Art with his current power, it’d be fair to call him a demon god. If you’re taken by the Cult Leader, you won’t even die peacefully. Everyone in Jianghu already knows your martial arts aren’t ordinary. You even slaughtered a Heavenly King in front of the Grand Duke. Last time, Cheonak showed interest when you boasted. But the Cult Leader won’t care for your bluffing.”

I nodded.

“Right. So that’s the conclusion. If I get captured by the Cult Leader, this whole world falls. The Scholar faction, Cheonak, the Beggars’ Sect Leader, the clever White-Robed Scholar, and poor Alliance Leader Im—all of them can’t stop the Cult Leader’s reign.”

The Scholar said seriously,

“Then how about just committing suicide if you’re caught? Or should I kill you?”

“I can’t let that happen.”

I told him,

“When the time comes, I’ll take the Cult Leader with me. You all can hold memorial rites for me under the name Scholar Zaha. Say there once was a man like Jing Ke who took the Cult Leader with him. Add me to the list of heroes your scholars honor.”

The Scholar smiled.

“Not a bad idea. If the Cult Leader disappears, no one in Jianghu could stop us. The Beggars’ Sect Leader won’t do anything alone either.”

Sword Demon, who had been quiet, spoke.

“White-Robed.”

The Scholar looked at him.

“What?”

In a calm voice, Sword Demon said,

“That’s just your opinion.”

The Lecher glared at the Scholar.

“You’re free to delude yourself.”

Ghost Demon added his piece.

“If Jianghu moved the way anyone wanted, would it still be Jianghu, White-Robed Scholar?”

Cha Seong-tae chimed in.

“Sorry to interrupt... but is this person an ally or an enemy?”

He was sharp enough that the question didn’t sound naïve. Some people really are impossible to classify.

I asked him,

“What do you think?”

Cha Seong-tae thought for a moment, then said,

“He’s just... kind of unlucky.”

The moment the Scholar glared at him, all four of us Villains burst out laughing.

“Hahahahaha...”

Come to think of it—neither enemy nor ally. Just an unlucky bastard.