Episode 40: Return to the Dark Sect
At the entrance of a hidden cave in the mountains.
“You idiots! Do you even call yourselves members of the Black Path Sect?”
A bald man, brandishing a gleaming axe handle, shouted furiously.
Aksu flinched, glancing around nervously.
“But his martial arts were truly extraordinary. If you had seen him yourself, brother…”
“Shut up! Speak sense! What? You say he made black energy explode and conjured a spear of flames?”
“That’s not all. He also shot ice arrows and summoned lightning. Isn’t that right, guys?”
The subordinates who had been with Aksu nodded vigorously.
“You’re all out of your minds!”
Unable to contain his anger, the bald man smacked the back of Aksu’s head hard.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
“If you got beaten, at least have the decency to admit it. Why lie?”
“Damn it! I’m telling the truth! Why won’t you believe me?”
Aksu finally snapped, shouting in frustration.
The atmosphere turned icy cold in an instant.
The bald man’s forehead veins bulged.
“This crazy bastard…”
Thwack! Thwack! Bam! Thud!
His fists rained down on Aksu without mercy.
The other bandits, witnessing the brutal scene, swallowed hard, unable to utter a word.
“That’s enough. Let it go.”
A sharp voice echoed from deeper within the cave.
A moment later, an old man with a hunched back emerged from the shadows.
His sparse hair and face covered in age spots, his eyes seemed to look in different directions, giving him a disconcerting appearance.
In short, he was the epitome of ugliness.
In his hand, he held a sword as tall as himself, entirely black.
This was ‘Wu Gui,’ the younger of the infamous Black Twin Demons.
The bald man quickly bowed his head.
“Wu Gui, sir, you’ve come out?”
“Yes, it was too noisy to concentrate inside.”
“My apologies.”
“But I heard something interesting. You encountered someone remarkable, didn’t you?”
Wu Gui’s gaze turned to Aksu.
He examined Aksu’s battered appearance with interest before continuing.
“So, he wielded fire and ice at will?”
“Yes, it was as if he was possessed by a ghost.”
“Fascinating. Where is he now?”
“That… I couldn’t find out.”
“Hmm. Well, you did get beaten up, so it’s understandable. Come here.”
Wu Gui beckoned with a finger, and Aksu hurried over.
Wu Gui patted Aksu’s head, as if pitying his sorry state.
“To end up like this… what a shame.”
“Brother…!”
“And you don’t even know where your enemy is?”
“Brother?”
“Useless fool.”
In the next moment.
Splat!
Aksu’s head burst like a watermelon.
The surrounding bandits flinched and quickly bowed their heads.
From deeper within the cave, another voice called out.
“What’s all this noise?”
A man, identical to Wu Gui except for a missing front tooth, staggered forward.
This was ‘Zuo Gui,’ the elder of the Black Twin Demons.
In one hand, he held a black sword, and in the other, a chain.
“Why aren’t you coming quickly?”
“Ugh!”
As Zuo Gui tugged on the chain, a naked woman, collared like a dog, crawled out.
Wu Gui wiped the blood from his hands and grinned at his brother.
“Zuo Gui, this corpse had something funny to say.”
“What did it say?”
“First, let’s have these guys show us the way.”
Wu Gui’s gaze shifted to the three bandits who had returned with Aksu.
**
“This place is truly fascinating.”
Mae Seol-ran murmured as she surveyed the cave.
A seemingly endless passage stretched within the rock face.
From inside, the view of the outside world shimmered like a mirage.
Unbeknownst to her, she had entered a barrier, but she had no way of knowing that.
As she walked, torches lining the passage lit up on their own.
Fwoosh. Fwoosh. Fwoosh.
‘What is this place?’
How long had she been walking?
After a while, she came upon a fork in the path.
Mae Seol-ran carved a cross into the wall and continued on.
The path was a constant uphill climb, as if she were ascending the inside of the rock face.
Up and up she went.
Step by step.
‘How much farther?’
Inside the cave, she lost all sense of time, unable to gauge how long she’d been there.
The air grew thin, and the heat intensified, likely due to the burning torches.
“Huff, huff, huff.”
Despite her labored breathing, she didn’t stop walking.
When she hit a dead end, she retraced her steps and took another path.
It felt like she would eventually reach the top of the rock face.
‘This is tiresome. Another fork?’
As she paused at yet another fork, ready to mark the wall again,
”……!”
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
“This… this can’t be!”
She screamed, her voice echoing like a shriek.
Her body was covered in goosebumps.
There, on the wall, was a familiar mark—a cross she had carved at the very first fork.
She had come full circle.
‘I’ve returned!’
“No, it can’t be…!”
Pale-faced, Mae Seol-ran staggered, losing her balance.
**
“This should be the place.”
Mok Dan-hwa stopped and looked around.
A large boulder stood beside the road, with dense foliage on the other side.
It was the perfect spot to hide.
“Thankfully, no one’s around. If we lay low here for a few days, it’ll cause quite a stir.”
Mok Dan-hwa smirked, muttering to herself.
This was a place frequented by the Black Twin Demons, a path people avoided if they could.
Just then, a rustling sound came from the bushes nearby.
Mok Dan-hwa and her companions flinched and turned to look.
“Did you hear that?”
Min Yu-hyang whispered nervously.
Mok Dan-hwa, feigning confidence, called out to the bushes.
“Who’s there? Do you have business with us?”
A shadow emerged from the foliage.
The three women, initially startled, recognized the figure and widened their eyes.
“Yeom Ja-ryang?”
“Uh…”
Yeom Ja-ryang scratched his head awkwardly as he approached.
Mok Dan-hwa frowned and snapped at him.
“What are you doing here?”
“I followed you.”
“Followed us? Why?”
Yeom Ja-ryang looked Mok Dan-hwa in the eye.
“I know what you’re planning.”
The expressions of Mok Dan-hwa and the other female students turned rigid.
‘Did he overhear our plan? Or did he catch what I just muttered? But I was whispering…’
But they couldn’t admit anything first.
Mok Dan-hwa narrowed her eyes and asked.
“What are you talking about? What plan?”
“Are you really going to play dumb all the way here?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Mok Dan-hwa maintained her feigned ignorance.
Yeom Ja-ryang, his expression resolute, spoke firmly.
“Fine. Then I’ll just tell Instructor Sa Bi-gang about your plan.”
“What?”
“Good luck with that. I’m leaving.”
Yeom Ja-ryang waved and started walking away.
Mok Dan-hwa and the other female students exchanged worried glances.
“Dan-hwa, what do we do?”
“If he tells, it’ll all be for nothing.”
“Shouldn’t we stop him now?”
Finally, Mok Dan-hwa bit her lip and shouted.
“Hey! Yeom Ja-ryang!”
“What?”
Yeom Ja-ryang turned back with a nonchalant expression, and Mok Dan-hwa gritted her teeth.
“What do you want?”
Yeom Ja-ryang finally smiled faintly.
“Let me in on the plan.”
“What?”
“I said, let me join you.”
Mok Dan-hwa, along with Min Yu-hyang and Baek Mi-ryeong, looked bewildered.
Join them?
Did he mean to pretend to be kidnapped too?
Did the Black Twin Demons kidnap men as well?
And wasn’t Yeom Ja-ryang one of the students who had turned favorable towards Instructor Sa Bi-gang?
“You… even knowing what we’re planning…”
“Of course. It’s too greedy for you to take all the credit. Let me help.”
“Credit…?”
“Are you still going to pretend? You’re here to take down the Black Twin Demons, right?”
“What?”
“Honestly, it might be a bit dangerous for just you guys, so let me help. I won’t be a burden.”
Only then did Mok Dan-hwa and her group realize Yeom Ja-ryang had completely misunderstood.
‘This fool thinks we’re here to defeat the Black Twin Demons.’
Mok Dan-hwa sighed lightly and shook her head.
“No. We’ll handle this ourselves.”
“What? Then I’ll go to Instructor Sa Bi-gang and…”
“Do whatever you want. We were here first. You’re out.”
Frustrated, Yeom Ja-ryang’s expression soured.
At that moment.
“Well, well. Looks like we’ve stumbled upon some unexpected treasures.”
A sharp voice suddenly came from behind them.
The group led by Mok Dan-hwa flinched and turned around in surprise.
Two men emerged from the underbrush, their appearance as sudden as it was unsettling. Their hair was sparse, their faces marred with age spots, and their noses grotesquely misshapen.
These two men, with their hideous visages, approached confidently, each wielding a large sword.
Mok Dan-hwa and her companions recognized them immediately.
“The Black Twin Fiends!”
Yeom Ja-ryang drew his sword and shouted, “Are you the Black Twin Fiends?”
“Hmm? And who might you be, recognizing us so quickly?” one of the men sneered.
“I am Yeom Ja-ryang! A martial artist trained in the righteous path, here to put an end to your evil deeds!”
The Black Twin Fiends exchanged glances and then burst into laughter.
“Ha ha ha!”
“Heh heh heh!”
“What’s so funny?” Yeom Ja-ryang demanded.
“Ah, you’re quite the amusing one,” one of the fiends chuckled. “But since we’re in a good mood today, we’ll let you go. Leave now.”
“What did you say?”
“But before that, where are these young ladies from? Wouldn’t you like to come with us?” the other fiend said, licking his lips as he approached Mok Dan-hwa’s group.
Mok Dan-hwa glanced at Yeom Ja-ryang, then drew her own sword. Things had taken a complicated turn.
Facing the Black Twin Fiends was never part of the plan.
“Stay back. If you surrender now, no one has to get hurt,” she warned.
Yeom Ja-ryang echoed her sentiment, raising his voice. “That’s right! There are four of us, so surrender quietly!”
“Ha! Do numbers really matter?” one of the fiends mocked. “We’re more than enough on our own, but if you insist…”
He glanced over his shoulder with a sly grin. “Boys.”
Suddenly, a group of people emerged from the forest, filling the clearing. There were at least thirty of them.
“What… why are there so many?” Yeom Ja-ryang’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Mok Dan-hwa was equally shocked. “What is this? There were only supposed to be two of them!”
She had considered feigning weakness to be captured, but now the situation was genuinely dangerous.
The Black Twin Fiends sauntered closer to Mok Dan-hwa’s group.
“Oh dear, our little puppies seem scared. We should comfort them,” one of them taunted.
“Heh heh. Left Fiend, I’d like to comfort that one,” the other said, pointing at Mok Dan-hwa with a leering smile.
Mok Dan-hwa’s brow furrowed in anger. “Do you even know who I am?”
“Sweetheart, even if you were the leader of the righteous alliance, do you think we’d be afraid?” the fiend replied.
“What did you say?”
“We live for today, with nothing to fear. Just pleasure,” the Left Fiend said, his eyes gleaming as he licked his lips.
“Stop right there, you scoundrels!” Yeom Ja-ryang shouted, mustering his courage.
In an instant, a black blade flew through the air like lightning.
Clang!
Yeom Ja-ryang instinctively swung his sword, but the black blade returned to the Left Fiend’s hand, while Yeom Ja-ryang’s sword flew from his grip and embedded itself in a tree trunk.
Yeom Ja-ryang looked at his empty hand, his eyes filled with shock. “They’re… they’re strong!”
The Black Twin Fiends were not opponents that mere students could handle. The recent exchange had made that abundantly clear. These were formidable masters, their names simply not well-known.
A belated realization.
Meanwhile, the Left Fiend, holding his black blade, feigned admiration. “Oh, you managed to block the Black Flash Blade. Impressive. I’ll play with you a bit more before I finish you off.”
Dark energy began to swirl ominously around the Left Fiend’s blade.
“Ugh,” Yeom Ja-ryang faltered, stepping back in fear.