Ch. 28 Murim Psychopath Chapter 28

Chapter 28: First Scheme

Evil has ways of surprising one.  Suddenly it turns round and says: ‘You have misunderstood me,’ and perhaps it really is so. Evil transforms itself into your own lips, lets itself be gnawed at by your teeth, and with these new lips, no former ones fitted more smoothly to your gums, to your own amazement you utter the words of goodness.

 Franz Kafka, Czech literary figure

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“Ah. Ahhh!”

“Huff, huff.”

The sticky cries of a woman.

The panting breaths of a young man.

The two’s subtle harmony filled the splendid room.

The light streaming in through the large, antique lattice-patterned window shone brightly. That light reflected off the sweat trailing across the man’s taut back and the smooth thighs of the woman wrapped around his waist, making them glisten.

The man’s movements gradually quickened. In turn, the woman’s moans slowly grew louder.

Then, at a certain moment.

The man’s lower body trembled violently.

“Ah!”

The woman’s short moan sliced hotly through the moonlight that had entered through the window. She had reached her climax. Immediately afterward, the man’s sturdy upper body collapsed fully onto the woman’s ample chest.

“Haah-.”

The woman’s body quivered once more in the lingering afterglow of climax before she slowly opened her eyes. The heated sigh that left her lips, mingling with the warmth radiating from the man’s hot back, briefly obscured her vision, and that moment was very short.

“Hm!?”

As the sigh-laced heat cleared and her sight returned, something strange came into view. She had coupled with the man in this room several times and knew its structure quite well. No matter how dark the night was, it was not so dark that she would fail to recognize the shape of the ceiling.

She opened her eyes wide and carefully examined the ceiling’s form. It was difficult to say exactly what was strange, but it was certainly subtly unnatural.

Unable to figure it out, she was just about to speak to the man lying atop her, the master of this room,

When suddenly, at one spot on the ceiling, two bluish lights appeared. They looked like the luminous eyes of a nocturnal beast. No, upon closer inspection, they were not merely like eyes; they were real eyes. The only difference was that they belonged not to a wild animal, but to an actual person.

It was not that the ceiling’s shape had changed, someone was clinging to it.

“Wh-who?”

The instinctive first words anyone uttered upon an unexpected encounter with an unforeseen person. And those words became the last she spoke in this world.

Swoosh! Thud!

A dagger flew into her open mouth and lodged itself inside. The tongue that had been producing those sticky moans of pleasure just moments ago was pierced straight through by the blade.

Thud.

The instant blood sprayed from the woman’s mouth and splashed across the naked man’s back, the masked figure also dropped down to the floor.

Slash.

The black-clad man’s sword, which had been aimed at the man, failed to achieve its intended goal and instead severed the unfortunate woman’s neck. With a single strike from the black-clad assassin, she lost her head. Yet her head still remained on the bed. The dagger embedded in her mouth had pierced through the back of her skull and driven deep into the bed, pinning it in place.

Clang.

The man, who had avoided the assassin’s sword, leapt off the bed the moment the attack began, as if he had already been aware of the assassin’s presence, and drew the sword hanging on the wall.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he thrust his sword toward the black-clad figure.

It looked like a simple thrust, but that was merely an illusion. In truth, that single strike occupied every possible direction the assassin could move. If the assassin attempted to evade in any direction, the man would unleash a follow-up variation and seal off that path.

Flurr,

The man’s sword moved cunningly as it attacked the black-clad figure.

Now there was only one way for the assassin to survive: to directly meet the man’s strike head-on. As if aware of this fact, the black-clad assassin raised the sword that had just severed the woman’s neck and thrust it forward to meet the man’s attack.

However, the man had complete confidence in his own sword.

Even across the entire martial world, there were not many who could receive this strike. Especially here in Anhui Province, the number could be counted on one’s ten fingers. It was not a sword that a mere assassin could withstand.

He did not harbor the slightest doubt. The fearless assassin who had dared target his neck would soon see his own head fall to the floor from this strike.

But then!

Wooooong!

The assassin’s sword suddenly turned pitch-black, and a bizarre sword cry rang out. At the same time, the ink-colored sword qi of the black-clad assassin began to rampage wildly, slicing apart all of the man’s sword qi. Before the man’s sword energy could even produce its variations, it was completely annihilated.

“Hm!? This is?”

The reason the man was shocked was not because his sword had been blocked by the assassin’s blade. What surprised him was that although it was a sword technique he had not seen in a very long time, he knew the assassin’s sword art extremely well.

“Black Sword of Killing Madness!? Damn it!”

The man hurriedly tried to withdraw the sword he had thrust forward, but it was already too late. In the end, the trembling tip of his sword collided in midair with the black-clad assassin’s ink-colored sword qi.

Clang! Clang!

Compared to the momentum the two swords had unleashed, the sound of the blades breaking against each other was not very loud. But the shockwave it produced was anything but light.

The remnants of the black-clad man’s shattered ink-colored sword qi left scratches across various parts of the naked man’s body, while deep sword gouges appeared in the floor and ceiling between them.

Meanwhile, part of the masked man’s face covering had been sliced away, revealing the lower half of his face. A long scar ran across his left cheek.

Neither had achieved complete victory, a situation akin to mutual injury.

The two remained locked in place, swords still extended toward each other, glaring for quite some time.

Then, at a certain moment.

“Hahahahaha.”

For some reason, the man suddenly burst into loud laughter and lowered his sword. As he did, his now-shriveled manhood dangled grotesquely. Although he knew the black-clad figure still had his sword pointed at him, he paid it no mind and walked over to the table in the center of the room and sat down.

When the man lowered his sword, the black-clad figure also quietly lowered his own and crossed his arms without a word. Standing upright, he looked straight at the man.

Both had effectively expressed that they had no intention of continuing the fight.

Thud.

The man placed his sword noisily on the table and spoke first.

“Has it been ten years?”

“Nine years and one hundred ninety days.”

Ten years, and nine years and one hundred ninety days. Though the precision of their memories differed, the two clearly knew each other.

“Light Cloud, just like you. To think you still remember even such trivial details so precisely.”

“…….”

The man called the black-clad figure Light Cloud and appeared to know him well. Judging by this, the black-clad man, Light Cloud, had not come here to kill the man in the first place. As if to prove it, the killing intent that had naturally been flowing from Light Cloud’s body had now vanished.

Though Light Cloud still gave no response, the man continued speaking.

“So then, what business brings one of the Eighteen Clouds personally all the way here?”

Their relationship did not seem particularly smooth, as the man’s tone sounded slightly mocking. But Light Cloud, seemingly unconcerned, began to say what he came to say.

“An order has been issued. Grey Shadow.”

Light Cloud’s voice was rough, as if he were speaking with a mouthful of sand.

“An order?”

Grey Shadow repeated the word that had come from Light Cloud’s mouth, confirming whether it had truly been “an order.” But such confirmation was unnecessary. Though it had been over ten years since they had last met, Grey Shadow knew better than anyone that Light Cloud was not the type to misspeak.

Grey Shadow’s body suddenly burned hot. Soon after, his whole body trembled once. The excitement he felt from merely hearing the word ‘order’ was something he had never experienced, not even during intercourse with the woman now lying on the bed with her head and body separated, nor with any other woman.

An order.

How long had it been since he last heard that word?

‘Ten years, was it?’

He had entered the martial world under his command. After that, for ten years, Grey Shadow had not received a single order. Yet now, so suddenly, a command had been issued.

The playful expression that had habitually rested on his face vanished, and the lightness in his voice disappeared completely.

“What are the details?”

“The First Scheme.”

“……!”

The words that came from Light Cloud’s mouth were rough, but brief.

It was the answer he had expected, yet the shock remained. The reason he had come into the martial world, and the reason he had lived until now, was all contained within that single phrase.

‘The First Scheme!’

Light Cloud and Grey Shadow’s gazes tangled in midair.

Grey Shadow asked another question. It concerned the key individual for carrying out the First Scheme.

“What about Transforming Shadow?”

As if he had been waiting, Light Cloud replied.

“Namgung Family.”

“The date?”

Perhaps because this had been foreshadowed long ago, despite the conversation being so short and coded, there was not the slightest hindrance in their communication.

“The full moon of this month is Transforming Shadow’s wedding day.”

“A wedding? Transforming Shadow? Then don’t tell me Transforming Shadow is, !?”

“…….”

Though Light Cloud gave no further hint, Grey Shadow could already guess whom Transforming Shadow had disguised himself as.

“The level?”

Level, the word referred to the degree. Though once again the question lacked context, Light Cloud answered without hesitation.

“Everyone except Transforming Shadow and Namgung Hye.”

Grey Shadow nodded as if he had expected that answer. However, there was still one issue troubling him.

“Do you know this? Tang Wu, the Soul-Chasing Poison Hand, is currently in Anhui. Is he included among the targets as well?”

“Of course.”

“With only the forces here, that will be difficult. Reinforcements?”

“Five Shadows.”

“Five Shadows?”

“If you include Transforming Shadow and you, that makes seven Shadows.”

“……!”

Grey Shadow was quite surprised. The First Scheme was certainly important, but he had not expected such extraordinary support. That must mean his resolve was immense.

“With that many, even if Tang Wu is here, success shouldn’t be difficult. But why did you come here? I assumed you were part of the reinforcements.”

“I have a separate task.”

“Laying the groundwork for the Second Scheme, I suppose.”

“…….”

As expected, Light Cloud did not respond to questions that required no answer.

Grey Shadow did not press further.

Since Light Cloud’s silence alone had already settled the answer, there was nothing more to discuss. In any case, both of them simply needed to remain faithful to their respective missions. Shadows and Clouds had different duties. That was how they had been raised, and that was how they had lived.

Having said everything he needed to say, Light Cloud turned around. He was leaving. Watching his back, Grey Shadow asked one final question.

“Oh, by the way, what was Transforming Shadow’s name again?”

Grey Shadow had already guessed who Transforming Shadow was, but he asked to confirm.

“Do Heo-ok.”

The moment Light Cloud uttered that name, he disappeared from the spot like a snuffed-out speck of dust, just as if he had never existed there to begin with.

“Light Cloud. Just as unpleasant as ever, past or present. Tsk. Anyway… is it really starting now?”

Grey Shadow shook his head once and walked toward the bed.

The upper body of the headless woman was still lying there on the bed. He pushed it off with his foot, sending it falling to the floor. Blood flowed from the lonely stump of her neck, staining and soaking the floor, but he paid it no mind. After all, such things happened rather often in this place, and no one would be surprised or blame him over the death of a mere plaything like her.

Grey Shadow roughly wiped the sweat from his body and put on his clothes, which were stained with the woman’s blood. The seriousness from earlier had completely vanished from his face, replaced by his usual mischievousness.

“Geez. Because of that Light Cloud bastard, my favorite clothes are covered in blood. Damn it. Still… I thought Shadows were destined to live alone their whole lives, yet they even get to have weddings. Ah, that’s envy-inducing in more ways than one. Transforming Shadow becomes a hero of the orthodox sects, and on top of that he even gets Anhui’s greatest beauty as his spouse. Meanwhile, this body of mine is stuck in a gloomy place like this, dealing with trashy women like that rag.”

Leaving behind words that sounded half like a joke and half like genuine envy, he exited the room.

Thud.

The door closed, and silence settled over the room.

The only thing left was the woman’s head with a sword lodged in her mouth, staring up at the moon in a lonely contest.

This was the room of Pa Ga-hyeol, the Silver Naked Lust Demon, the chief overseer of the Anhui Branch of the Heavenly Demon Castle.