RHD Chapter 154

Western Scholar revealed his true face.

When he unleashed his killing intent, that dignified and benevolent face from before vanished completely. Like most villains, Western Scholar was quick to smell blood.

“If a filthy dog has survived this long, there must be a reason?”

At Western Scholar’s words, I looked around and said:

“Mainly by biting the necks of those who let their guard down?”

“Is that really so?”

“Well, doesn’t matter if it’s not.”

Despite the considerable noise outside, this room was extremely well soundproofed.

The room was designed to prevent conversations from leaking outside, but conversely, outside sounds couldn’t be heard well either. He must have extremely disliked being disturbed.

It was a fitting room for someone who was obsessively protective of his secrets.

“Anyway, impressive how you snuck in here like a rat. Remarkable.”

“Why assume I snuck in? The rat might have killed everyone on the way.”

Western Scholar smirked at that. It was a laugh suggesting that was impossible. Given those I had killed on my way, his attitude was natural.

He saw me as an assassin skilled in infiltration.

He pressed firmly on the head of a small warrior statue on his desk. It must have been an emergency bell to summon his subordinates outside.

But no one came.

It was already too late. When news of my intrusion reached them, they should have evacuated him.

But they hadn’t. They failed to respond properly because they had never experienced such a situation. While they might have been prepared for large-scale battles, they couldn’t have imagined one person breaking through to this point. Their overconfidence from having so many masters had made them careless.

When no one came, Western Scholar grew tense with uncertainty.

“Who sent you?”

“Can’t you guess?”

“There are too many possibilities.”

“Then it must be one of them.”

As I finished speaking, I immediately drew my sword. I had no intention of wasting more time.

When I revealed my killing intent in earnest, a sinister energy erupted from Western Scholar’s body.

It was an extremely bizarre energy, just as I’d heard. A martial artist experiencing this energy for the first time could lose their advantage from this alone. It made one’s body feel heavy as if sinking in a swamp, and one’s spirits plummet.

But I had faced several masters of the Death Guild who emitted similar energy.

When I showed no effect from his sinister energy, someone spoke from behind.

“Not bad.”

Startled, I turned to find, surprisingly, Western Scholar. Another Western Scholar stood there like a twin.

But that was just the beginning.

“Young ones these days are all so impatient.”

A third Western Scholar appeared from behind the desk.

It was a type of clone technique, but they didn’t look fake at all. Even I had never seen such an elaborate and realistic cloning technique.

Though these were all fake and illusory, their attacks would be real. That was the terrifying aspect of clone techniques.

“This should be an interesting fight after a while.”

“Got to exterminate all the rats.”

They each threw out a comment as more Western Scholars kept appearing. I watched them with interested eyes.

“This room is too narrow for fighting.”

At the fifth one’s words, the sixth clone said:

“Then let’s go somewhere spacious.”

The next moment, the surroundings changed.

Whoosh.

Suddenly, a sandstorm blew in from somewhere. I stood with seven Western Scholars in an endless wasteland.

Oh ho!

I looked around, internally impressed. This world was so well-constructed it could be considered a high-level formation activated. I knew his dark arts were extraordinary, but I hadn’t expected this level of sophistication.

Moreover, among the seven Western Scholars surrounding me, I couldn’t tell which was real.

The Western Scholar in front asked me:

“How is it?”

“Truly impressive.”

I expressed my honest impression.

“Are you afraid?”

“Fascinating.”

“Huhuh, acting cocky?”

“Will you teach me how to do this? I need some clones too. One to cook rice, one to clean the toilet, one to catch filthy dogs.”

The expressions of all seven Western Scholars twisted simultaneously.

If I had said one to dominate the martial arts world, one to get the most beautiful woman in the world, one to become the richest man in the world—and ended with killing him—they wouldn’t have gotten angry.

But I had compared their value to cooking rice and cleaning toilets.

All seven Western Scholars spoke in unison:

“Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!”

Though it was the same voice combined, it echoed with a strange quality as if multiple voices had merged.

Swoosh!

The Western Scholar in front flew in to initiate the attack.

He charged in, striking at my eyes with his fingers.

Slash!

I twisted my body to dodge the attack while cutting him. I slashed lightly as if deflecting, using wrist power.

Poof!

Western Scholar disappeared in a puff of red smoke.

The moment the acrid smoke entered my nostrils, I recognized it as deadly poison.

Though the earlier attack had been sharp, this poisonous smoke was the real attack.

I staggered and collapsed as if poisoned.

The Western Scholars crowded around to look down at me. Their gazes gathered, full of mockery and contempt.

“What a nobody.”

“Kekeke.”

“Let’s tear off all his limbs before he breathes his last!”

“Something’s strange about him.”

“Huh?”

I was already looking up at them impassively.

The moment I smirked, my sword spun rapidly.

Swoosh!

The first attack severed several ankles, and the second attack cut through the torsos of those who had fallen.

Bang! Boom! Bang!

Those who had dodged the attacks met the same fate.

They weren’t skilled enough to avoid my sword attacks.

Bang! Boom!

They burst apart, releasing poisonous smoke of different colors. There was black, green, and blue. All were different lethal poisons.

As one with the Body Impervious to All Poisons constitution, I was completely unaffected.

Even the last one burst into smoke. Amazingly, they had all been fake. Though six clones had appeared initially, it seemed when this wasteland was created, the real one had vanished and a new one had been added.

It was an extremely elaborate deception that would have worked on anyone else.

When the various colored poison smoke cleared, the scenery had changed again.

Mirrors stood erected everywhere.

Dozens of mirrors were set up at different angles. My reflection appeared from all directions. The numerous images made my head spin. These weren’t ordinary mirrors but ones emanating sinister energy.

Crash!

When I broke a nearby mirror, two mirrors appeared in its place.

Crash!

When I broke those, the same thing happened. Two more mirrors appeared again. The more mirrors there were, the dizzier I became.

It was truly a bizarre and extraordinary dark art.

As if this wasn’t the end, the dark art launched a new attack.

“Die!”

My reflection leaped out of the mirror and thrust its sword at me. This time, my own clone was attacking me.

Clang!

The attack from my mirror image was real. Fortunately, it wasn’t as strong as the real me outside the mirror.

Slash!

The attacking me disappeared. But in the empty mirror, my image slowly began forming again.

More of my reflections jumped out from other mirrors. This time there were three, not one.

I cut them down in succession again.

I remained calm. Anyone experiencing this for the first time would be very confused. With a dizzy head and feeling bewitched, it was no easy task to block attacks from oneself.

But I stayed composed. At my level of mastery, one spars with oneself mentally. So cutting down myself wasn’t unfamiliar.

While blocking attacks, I carefully examined each mirror one by one. Though they all looked the same, I was certain there would be a different version of me.

I had figured out this method of breaking the technique thanks to my recent formation studies.

I had learned firsthand that the more dazzling and ambiguous things are, the simpler their underlying principles, and that there’s always a way to break them.

Cutting, searching. Cutting again, searching again.

Finally, I found it.

A mirror containing a different face. It was me with distracted eyes and a somewhat rigid expression.

But the difference was so subtle that without extraordinary observational skills that couldn’t be compared to others, martial arts capable of handling incoming attacks with ease, and the conviction that it must exist, it would have been impossible to find.

I launched myself toward that mirror.

As if proving it was indeed the weak point, my reflections burst out from other mirrors simultaneously to try to stop me.

But I was faster.

Flying like the wind, I stabbed my reflection in the mirror.

Thrust!

A different sound from the earlier crashes rang out.

My reflection in the mirror slowly began changing until it transformed into Western Scholar.

My sword had pierced through Western Scholar’s chest.

“Please… spare me.”

To Western Scholar, who was spewing blood from his mouth, I said:

“Save your begging. You’ll need to do plenty of it in hell.”

Slash.

When I twisted and slashed upward with my sword, Western Scholar’s body was cleanly severed.

When he died, the surroundings changed. The mirrors that had filled the space vanished. We were back in that initial room.

I poured lamp oil and set it aflame.

Looking at his burning corpse, I said:

“Having seen my secret technique, I couldn’t let you live.”

It was the kind of thing he would have said when killing other researchers.

Not long after I left, the old building was quickly engulfed in flames.

***

“We have an emergency.”

Cheon So-seon rushed into the cave.

“Shh!”

The old man gestured for silence as he turned around.

The child who had been suffering from headaches had just fallen asleep.

Though this was the first time Cheon So-seon had shown such urgency and alarm, the old man remained calm.

Only after walking far enough from the bed did he finally ask:

“What happened?”

“Western Scholar is dead.”

“What?”

Though he was someone who wouldn’t bat an eye even if the sky fell, this time he was startled.

Cheon So-seon repeated in a trembling voice:

“Everyone guarding Western Scholar is dead too.”

The worst possible thing had happened right before the manual ceremony.

“We’re investigating whether it was Gal Saryang’s doing or Ma Cheol-gun’s.”

The old man’s gaze grew unfathomably deep. Until now, he had considered the various failures as natural variables that accompanied great undertakings.

“This wasn’t Gal Saryang or Ma Cheol-gun.”

Now the old man could understand. Another great fate had emerged, attempting to change his destiny.

“The heavens wouldn’t simply stand by while we defy their will.”

After making this cryptic statement, the old man calmly asked:

“Are all those involved with the manual dead too?”

“No. Both people who were to assist Western Scholar are still alive.”

“Summon them. We must at least save them for now.”

“Yes. But we can’t perform the manual ceremony with just them.”

“Indeed. Leave that problem to me, and you focus on saving them.”

“Understood.”

Cheon So-seon leaped swiftly toward the cave entrance.

Left alone, the old man walked to the bed.

The child was still asleep.

He sighed lightly and repeated the same words he had used earlier about Ma Cheol-gun’s situation:

“Things in this world don’t go as one wishes.”

***

“Look there.”

At Number Seven’s words, Im Yeonjeong walked to the window.

Baek Seok was hurriedly entering the estate. He exchanged words with Number One in the courtyard. Though they couldn’t hear what was said, they could tell something major had happened.

Watching this scene, Number Seven spoke in a trembling voice:

“It seems he did it.”

Yeonjeong looked at her.

“Already? So soon?”

“Yes.”

Number Seven felt certain of it. Her certainty went a step further.

“Now I think I understand why I trusted him.”

“Why?”

“Because he was someone worth trusting.”

Though it was a strange, after-the-fact explanation, Number Seven felt this was the most accurate way to describe it.

Yeonjeong said nothing.

She suddenly remembered there was one such person in her life too.

The Nameless Hero.

That man who had saved her life and left.

She could understand how Number Seven felt about trusting Byeok Ri-dan. If it had been the Nameless Hero, she would have had the same trust as Number Seven.

Number One’s voice came from outside.

“May I come in for a moment?”

Yeonjeong answered:

“Come in.”

Number One entered and spoke quickly:

“We need to relocate.”

“What’s happened?”

“Urgent orders from above. Let’s get you to safety first.”

“Very well.”

A carriage was waiting outside.

When the two women got in, Number One drove the carriage away.

As if demonstrating how urgent the situation was, the carriage increased speed frantically.

As the carriage picked up more and more speed, Number Seven’s smile grew deeper as she looked out the window.

He succeeded.