Chronicles of the Mad Demon - Chapter 55

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 55. Shadow Under the Eaves (5)

 

Moyong Su Hyang unconsciously let out a gasp.

 

“Don’t tell me you’re thinking of recruiting that bastard?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Are you insane?! Is there no one else to recruit that you’d recruit an assassin? And one who came to kill Elder Sister at that!”

 

Moyong Bi waved his hand dismissively without even turning around.

 

“If you’re going to interfere, go outside.”

 

“I’m not interfering, I’m speaking common sense!”

 

“Neither this guy nor I are people with common sense anyway.”

 

“Even if you’re not, the Main Family is sensible!”

 

“They were sensibly heading toward ruin.”

 

“…!”

 

“If it weren’t for Elder Sister, the Main Family would already be finished. But we can’t go on like this anymore.”

 

Though there was no serious expression, Moyong Bi’s voice was still heavy.

 

“Now is the time when we need power. If we get tied down by things like common sense, we’ll always be stuck in place.”

 

“Right, well said! You want to bring in an assassin as an ally just to gain some power? Before common sense, isn’t that just suicide?”

 

Moyong Su Hyang’s words weren’t entirely wrong either.

 

A normal person wouldn’t think of recruiting an enemy who came to kill them and their family as an ally. They wouldn’t be able to trust them in the first place.

 

However, Moyong Bi was different.

 

He believed that if he could embrace them, if he had the confidence to wield them as his own person, it wouldn’t be foolishness but could become an opportunity for a leap forward.

 

Just as the generals who founded nations in the past did, and as those who experienced war did, the ability to make anything yours when necessary was important.

 

Now was the time to demonstrate that ability.

 

“Are you worried that this guy will betray us and stab us in the back?”

 

“Isn’t that obvious?”

 

“Why?”

 

“…Are you an idiot?”

 

“Does this friend seem to have loyalty to Hwang Gyu?”

 

Moyong Bi asked Dark Shadow.

 

“Friend, could you carry firewood and jump into flames for Hwang Gyu’s sake?”

 

Dark Shadow didn’t answer.

 

No change in expression and no words.

 

Rather, that attitude proved that Moyong Bi’s guess was correct. Sometimes silence can mean denial.

 

“Of course not. If he had loyalty, he would have tried to commit suicide somehow. Or he would have tried to persuade us.”

 

“….”

 

“If someone with your level of skill was kept hidden until now, it’s likely you had a business relationship rather than being a subordinate, isn’t it? That bastard Hwang Gyu doesn’t seem capable enough to have an assassin like you as a subordinate.”

 

Dark Shadow’s mouth opened.

 

“What are you trying to say.”

 

“Should I repeat exactly what I’ve been saying?”

 

“…You want me to become a person of the Moyong Family?”

 

“No.”

 

“…?”

 

“Become my person first.”

 

Moyong Su Hyang’s mouth fell wide open. Her jaw looked ready to hit the ground.

 

“No matter what, it would be hard for the Family Members to readily accept someone who came to target the Family Head’s life. How about rolling under me first?”

 

“…I don’t know about other things, but I need to correct this one thing.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“I didn’t come to kill you people, but to observe your movements.”

 

Moyong Bi’s eyes immediately turned cold.

 

“If you had confirmed that Hwang Ji Hwa was captured, you would have rescued her then immediately targeted me or Elder Sister.”

 

“….”

 

“Isn’t that right?”

 

Dark Shadow couldn’t say no. There was no point in lying before someone who read his inner thoughts so strangely well.

 

“You had two paths. It’s fortunate that we created a third path you never imagined, otherwise there would have been bloodshed.”

 

“That’s….”

 

“Let’s not play word games. Anyway, if things went wrong, you would have tried to kill, wouldn’t you? What is there to correct about this matter?”

 

Dark Shadow unconsciously lowered his head. He had nothing to say.

 

“What will you do? Will you try coming under me? If you need time, I can give you about half a day more.”

 

“The reason you want me, isn’t it ultimately because of the Blood Control Pill rather than my Skill Level?”

 

“That’s right?”

 

Dark Shadow’s eyes became even redder.

 

“I am a Warrior, not a pharmacist.”

 

“A former assassin.”

 

“…I have set my heart on the Sword, I have no desire to become a pharmacist.”

 

“Make medicine and train in Sword Techniques too.”

 

“Do you mean you’ll teach me the sword?”

 

“If you please me.”

 

“That’s not a deal but a simple slave contract.”

 

Whoosh.

 

The air inside the Warehouse turned cold.

 

“Then die.”

 

“…!”

 

“Do you think I’m trying to recruit you out of the goodness of my heart? Did you forget? You’re the bastard who tried to kill my Sister.”

 

Su Jeong was both his Great Grand Nephew and Elder Brother’s granddaughter. If she had died at an assassin’s hands, it would have been hard to bear that grief.

 

“I’m setting aside that anger and despair to even spare your life. Of course, you have something I need. If that weren’t the case, do you think I would have kept you alive until now?”

 

“….”

 

“You should be grateful just for saving your life, yet where do you get off trying to bargain? Should I make it so you can neither die nor live properly?”

 

Dark Shadow swallowed again.

 

Even though his lips were completely cracked, saliva still came out. That’s how tremendous the Killing Intent that Moyong Bi was emitting was.

 

“Know this for certain. What you possess, from my standpoint I can just consider it as having no connection and be done with it. It’s regrettable, but it doesn’t matter if I don’t have it.”

 

“….”

 

“But if I tear you apart and kill you right now, at least it would feel satisfying. As Su Hyang said, there’d be no consequences either.”

 

“….”

 

“I was thinking of treating you like a human being if you came out obediently, but seeing you still being stubborn in this situation, words alone won’t work on you.”

 

Moyong Bi stood up from his seat.

 

In that instant, Dark Shadow felt his vision go dark.

 

Even though he had merely stood up, it felt like a mountain was blocking his path.

 

“I’ll give you half a day. Think about whether you’ll become a slave as you said, or be torn apart and die.”

 

“….”

 

“Let me tell you in advance – the moment you choose life, you’ll truly become a slave.”

 

Moyong Bi turned around as if he had no lingering attachments.

 

His presence was so overwhelming that even Moyong Su Hyang hesitated and stepped aside to make way.

 

Just as Moyong Bi was about to open the warehouse door and leave.

 

“When you come back, please bring some water.”

 

Moyong Bi glanced back, his face showing not even a trace of a smile.

 

Dark Shadow sighed and spoke.

 

“If I become a slave, I’d like to drink it as a commemoration of becoming a slave, and if I’m to die, I’d like to drink at least one last sip of water before I die.”

 

“I’ll bring water. But if you choose the latter, I’ll just drink it all myself. Why would I give precious water to someone who’s about to die? You’ll be buried anyway.”

 

With that, the Moyong siblings left the warehouse.

 

Left alone, Dark Shadow leaned his head against the wall.

 

“…I feel like I’m dying of thirst.”

 

* * *

 

Moyong Su Hyang glanced at her elder brother’s back.

 

Perhaps because he had been eating so much, it seemed like some flesh had accumulated on the back of his neck.

 

“What?”

 

“What do you mean what.”

 

“Stop glancing at me like that and say what you want to say.”

 

Moyong Su Hyang grumbled inwardly. Does this guy have eyes on the back of his head too?

 

“Is it real?”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but let’s say it’s real.”

 

“What you said about feeling satisfied if you tore that guy apart and killed him, is that real?”

 

Moyong Bi looked back at her with a puzzled expression.

 

“Of course. You should know that better than anyone.”

 

She didn’t know.

 

Honestly, she had suspected in the middle. This guy has definitely changed, but isn’t he thinking of Elder Sister’s life as nothing?

 

Fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case.

 

“You’d recruit such a person, even as a slave?”

 

“Because he’s useful.”

 

“Because of that Blood Stopping Pill or whatever?”

 

“People click their tongues at the sight of a knife in a butcher’s hand, calling it unsightly, but when a murderer suddenly appears, don’t they wish they had a blade? That’s human nature, isn’t it?”

 

“So the same object has different value depending on the situation?”

 

“Something like that.”

 

Moyong Su Hyang wanted to ask. How exactly did you know about that Blood Stopping Pill?

 

In fact, there wasn’t just one or two things she wanted to ask.

 

But she couldn’t bring herself to ask.

 

It wasn’t because she wasn’t curious. She might even be more curious than Elder Sister.

 

After all, they were blood relatives who had lived together when Elder Sister wasn’t around.

 

Still, somehow it was difficult to ask. And she didn’t know why she felt that way.

 

“…What if that bastard chooses death?”

 

“Then I’ll kill him.”

 

“Even so, is it okay to talk about killing someone so casually?”

 

“Do you think that’s strange?”

 

“Of course!”

 

Moyong Bi smiled.

 

“Keep treasuring that feeling as you live.”

 

She thought he might be mocking her and felt slightly angry, but looking at him, it didn’t seem like that was the case.

 

“The act of one person killing another is naturally terrible and frightening. Murder may be the fate of Jianghu people, but you shouldn’t think of it as natural.”

 

“…”

 

“You can leave such matters to me.”

 

Moyong Su Hyang frowned.

 

“What makes you think I’d trust you with that?”

 

“It’s fine. I’m more used to it than you are.”

 

“Have you ever killed anyone?”

 

“Who do you think destroyed the Black Tiger Gang?”

 

At this unexpected answer, Moyong Su Hyang involuntarily flinched.

 

That’s right. Come to think of it, it was this foolish Elder Brother who had single-handedly destroyed that supposedly dangerous Black Tiger Gang.

 

Naturally, she had heard that many people died there as well.

 

Moyong Su Hyang was flustered.

 

‘Why didn’t I think that this guy had killed people?!’

 

Was it because of prejudice?

 

‘No.’

 

Looking at Moyong Bi, who had regained his calm expression, she felt her hands and feet growing cold.

 

‘This guy came back after killing people, but he didn’t show any sign of it.’

 

She had even directly witnessed him breaking Flame Sword Lee Jeong’s neck to kill him. Hadn’t he also killed Hwang Ji Hwa’s escort warrior by throwing a sword?

 

Yet somehow she hadn’t thought that Elder Brother had killed people.

 

More precisely, she had forgotten about it.

 

While she had been busy trying to somehow control her mind that felt like her soul would fly away.

 

‘This guy…’

 

Moyong Su Hyang realized it. Why had she forgotten that?

 

It was because of Moyong Bi’s atmosphere, his very presence.

 

Though no one said it directly, for the past few days the family had been revolving around Moyong Bi.

 

Was that why? Everyone’s eyes and ears were busy following his back.

 

She herself was no different.

 

‘I was just frantically chasing after him. That’s why I had forgotten.’

 

But how could she have forgotten something like that?

 

Was it really okay to just keep chasing after Elder Brother like this?

 

It was like sitting huddled under the eaves that blocked rain and heat, just staring at the sky. If she became accustomed to the comfort provided by that reliable shadow and lived just sucking her thumb, would that really be a proper life?

 

Moyong Su Hyang stopped walking.

 

“Hey.”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Let’s have a match.”

 

It was a truly sudden challenge proposal.

 

Moyong Bi was surprised, but at the same time felt proud of her.

 

“A sparring match?”

 

“You’re still my elder brother, so I can’t fight you with our lives on the line.”

 

“That’s true. But why are you suddenly asking to fight?”

 

“Does a warrior need a reason to ask for a sparring match?”

 

Of course there is one.

 

Moyong Bi felt he somewhat understood Moyong Su Hyang’s feelings.

 

“Actually, I was thinking of asking you to spar this evening.”

 

“…!”

 

“As expected, you brought it up first. That’s right, life should be lived that proactively.”

 

He had been thinking of doing more training, but since she proposed it first, there was no reason to postpone it.

 

“Let’s go to the training ground.”

 

“Good.”

 

It was when the two arrived at the training ground.

 

“Young Master! Ah, Young Miss is here too.”

 

“What’s the matter?”

 

Seok Woong’s face looked quite serious as he held some kind of letter in his hand.

 

“The Hong Clan Sword Family has sent a letter.”

 

“From the Main Family House?”

 

“Yes. To be precise….”

 

Seok Woong’s eyes turned toward Moyong Bi.

 

“It’s for you, Young Master.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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