Episode 345: Return of the Demon Sect Leader
Sabikang furrowed his brow deeply as he stared at the yellow-faced man.
“What are you doing?”
The yellow-faced man slowly lifted his head to meet Sabikang’s gaze.
Meanwhile, Churyang approached Sabikang and abruptly asked, “Who is he? Why is he blocking our path?”
He had a hunch. The yellow paint on the man’s face suggested he was from the Demon Sect. Every member of the sect Sabikang had encountered so far had painted faces. But what puzzled him was why this man was kneeling and bowing before him.
The yellow-faced man ignored Churyang and instead brought forward a sack he had been carrying on his back. As he began to untie it, Churyang flinched and stepped forward.
“What are you trying to do…!”
But Sabikang stopped him. “It’s fine. Stand back.”
”…Understood.”
With Churyang stepping back, the yellow-faced man fully unrolled the sack.
“Ugh…!”
“Oh no…!”
Churyang, the new recruits, and Jomuntak all grimaced at the sight. Inside the sack was a headless corpse, its body pale and lifeless, yet not yet decomposed due to the cold weather.
Sabikang looked at the yellow-faced man with curiosity. “What do you want me to do?”
“I couldn’t find this child’s… head,” the yellow-faced man said, his expression filled with sorrow.
The corpse belonged to the red-faced man, and Sabikang knew it well. The wounds on the body were his handiwork. He glanced at Jomuntak, who was holding a sack containing the red-faced man’s head. It was Jomuntak who had suggested they take the head as a trophy to boost the morale of their allies.
The yellow-faced man crawled towards Sabikang, bowing his head to the ground repeatedly. The sight left Churyang and the new recruits in shock. They understood he was searching for the head, but why go to such lengths?
The reason became somewhat clear when the yellow-faced man spoke again. “This child… is my son.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“Please, return my child’s head to me.”
“And if I refuse?”
“Then I will use every means at my disposal to kill you here.”
“Do you think you can?”
“It would be difficult. From the moment I saw you, I knew you were beyond my reach. That’s why I’m asking you. Help me avoid doing something reckless. If you return my child’s head, I will leave quietly.”
“Kneeling before the one who killed your son, bowing your head, and yet you say you’ll leave quietly if I return the head?”
“Yes. Though my anger towards you hasn’t faded, and perhaps never will, I will try to kill you someday. But today… if you return my son’s head, I will leave with gratitude. This is my sincere plea.”
“Old woman, do you realize how contradictory you sound?”
“I know, but I couldn’t think of any other way.”
The yellow-faced man lifted his head to look at Sabikang, his eyes swirling with desperation, resentment, deep sorrow, and anger.
Their gazes locked in the air for what felt like an eternity.
Finally, Sabikang spoke. “Muntak.”
“Yes, Instructor.”
“Give it to her.”
”…!”
Jomuntak was taken aback by the unexpected command and looked at Sabikang. Even Maeng Gasuk, who had been silently observing, frowned and spoke up.
“Are you serious? That old woman just declared she’d come back for revenge.”
“Do you think I’m joking in this situation?”
“Well, no, but…”
“Muntak, what are you waiting for? Hand it over.”
“Ah… understood.”
Jomuntak handed the blood-stained sack to the yellow-faced man.
“Here it is.”
The yellow-faced man stared at the sack with tear-filled eyes before taking it with trembling hands.
“My child…”
She pulled out the red-faced man’s head from the sack. Seeing the scarred and burned face, she couldn’t hold back her emotions and tears streamed down her face.
She wept silently for a long time, a sight that moved everyone, regardless of their allegiance.
She bowed to Sabikang once more. “Thank you, truly. I will leave now. Thank you.”
The yellow-faced man wrapped the sack again, carrying it on her back, and turned away, cradling the disfigured head in her hands.
As she walked away, Churyang approached Sabikang and asked, “Why did you do that?”
“What else? Should I have killed her here?”
“Isn’t that the obvious choice? She said she’d come back to kill you.”
“Are you worried I’ll die at her hands?”
“Not exactly, but…”
Churyang trailed off, and Sabikang chuckled softly.
“She’ll come back, no doubt, with a sharpened blade. I might be in real danger then. But… at least today, she wasn’t a monster or trash. Monsters and trash are fun to clean up, but humans… not so much.”
Maeng Gasuk, who had been listening, grumbled, “Sometimes, Instructor, you get sentimental over the strangest things.”
“Old man, it’s that sentimentality that brought me back here.”
“What do you mean by that, I wonder…”
“If not for that, I might have become a monster myself, rampaging through the martial world, committing massacres at will.”
“Are you going to help every enemy looking for their child’s head on the battlefield?”
Sabikang shook his head with a chuckle. “The red-faced man wasn’t her son.”
“What? How do you know that?”
“She never called him by name. Only ‘child.’”
Maeng Gasuk stood silent, realizing he hadn’t considered that.
Sabikang continued, “That’s the interesting part. What turned her from a monster back into a human? Anyway, after the funeral, she’ll become a monster again and come for me. I’ll just clean up then.”
“You’re confident.”
“Of course. The truly strong don’t fear grudges.”
Sabikang grinned, then turned to Churyang, who was watching with bright eyes, and whispered, [Did I sound cool just now?]
Churyang gave a thumbs-up with sparkling eyes. [Yes, absolutely!]
**
Boom!
The ground shook as debris flew in all directions.
As the dust settled, a deep crater appeared in the earth.
The yellow-faced man looked down at the crater, then gently placed the red-faced man’s body and head beside it.
She walked to a large tree in the forest, drew her sword, and in an instant,
Swish, swish, swish!
Dozens of beams of light sliced through the air, and the tree fell with a loud crash.
Among the shattered pieces of the tree was a relatively intact rectangular plank.
With a flick of her wrist, she used her skills to craft a coffin from the wood.
Thud! Thud! Thud-thud-thud!
Daggers flew from her hand, nailing the coffin shut.
Once the coffin was complete, the yellow-faced man placed the red-faced man’s body inside, then looked at the head for a long moment.
The face, scarred and burned, was now at peace, eyes closed.
“Heartless boy. You turn away from me even now.”
Her voice was damp with emotion.
She placed the head inside the coffin, closed the lid, and nailed it shut again.
The coffin floated into the air and settled into the crater.
Slowly, she began to fill the hole with earth, her wrinkled hands moving steadily, tears falling with each handful of soil.
Slowly… slowly…
She continued to fill the grave at a painstakingly slow pace.
As the sun set and stars began to twinkle, the yellow-faced man finally looked at the mound she had created and leaned against it.
A cold wind blew, brushing against her cheek.
In a weary voice, she asked, “Are you still crying?”
The wind answered with another gust.
“Foolish boy…”
**
“Are you still crying?”
The yellow-faced man asked.
A child, no older than three, continued to wail in front of his parents’ corpses.
Even last night, when she had left, the child had been crying like this.
And now, at dawn, he was still in the same spot, crying.
He shook his father’s lifeless chest and tugged at his mother’s hand, but the bodies remained still.
The one who had killed the child’s parents was the yellow-faced man herself.
She spoke to the sobbing child with a cold expression. “Your parents were destined to die. That’s why they did. You may be too young to understand the ways of the world, but remember this: it was your grandparents who might as well have killed your parents!”
Her words were harsh, but her expression seemed tinged with sadness.
The child looked at her, tears streaming down his face.
The man with the sallow face wore a sardonic smile.
“Are you asking what crime your grandparents committed?”
She told the child about the sins of their grandparents.
The last time she saw the child’s grandparents was over twenty years ago.
On that day, the child’s grandparents killed the sallow-faced man’s child.
The child had just begun to speak.
Probably just like this child here.
“It was an innocent baby, unaware of anything. Your grandparents killed that child simply because it was the offspring of a member of the cult. I barely survived, and for over twenty years, I have lived with a burning desire for revenge, sharpening my blade. No, this isn’t a blade of revenge—it’s a blade of judgment. I decided to return the pain I suffered to your grandparents. That’s why I killed your parents.”
After finishing his long story, the sallow-faced man glanced at the crying child and stood up.
“Live on with all your might. If you grow strong and come to kill me one day, I’ll welcome it. But then, it will be revenge, not judgment.”
He began to walk away, each step taking him further from the place he vowed never to return to.
The child’s cries followed him.
He ignored them and kept walking.
The cries continued to trail behind him.
Finally, the sallow-faced man turned back, irritated.
“Why are you following me? Go find your grandparents…!”
He shouted, but then paused, looking at the child.
Lost in thought, she gave a cold smile and shrugged.
“Perhaps your grandparents will find solace in you. If that’s the case, it can’t be called true judgment.”
With those words, the sallow-faced man resumed walking.
The child followed him.
This time, the sallow-faced man didn’t shout anymore.