The moon above always looked beautiful, no matter what shape it took. Even more so when its pale light washed over the scene before me.
The stench of corpses still lingered heavily in the air. Crimson blood pooled across the ground before slowly drying, sinking into the soil to nourish the roots of the surrounding plum trees. Every life feeds upon the remnants of another. Without that endless cycle, there would be no such thing as life in this world.
"Why are we going back to the enemy camp, crazy man? Wouldn't it be better to return to the inn?" Shun Jin asked with a puzzled expression and puffed cheeks.
The two of us stood beside a plum tree that lacked nutrients. As my master once said, 'One act of kindness is to eradicate evil and put an end to it.' Therefore, I decided to help the tree beside me flourish.
Naturally, with the fresh blood of the humans gathered in the large camp ahead.
"One act of kindness is to eradicate evil and put an end to it, Shun Jin. Isn't it better to pull out the weeds choking the rice before those weeds grow into thorny bushes?"
Shun Jin remained silent, her lips still puffed in displeasure. Clearly, she did not like this.
"...What a pain."
Despite her complaint, Shun Jin had already rested her hand on the hilt of her sword. The slender blade had cracked down the middle once again. Three more swings, and I was certain it would snap in half.
"So, are we just going to attack from the fron—"
Before she could finish speaking, I was already standing at the entrance of enemy camp.
More precisely, in front of the two guards stationed there.
"Who are you?! No one's allowed in here!" one of the dark-blue robed guards shouted.
I picked my nose and flicked the booger at him.
"I'm a guest. The last guest you'll ever see."
"We're not receiving any guests toni—"
Before the guard on the right could finish his sentence, his head rolled across the ground.
A fountain of hot crimson blood erupted from the neck that had lost its partner.
"Y-!"
Then the second head followed.
I had merely used my index finger to sever their necks. With the Way of Sword technique, the last thing they saw was my finger casually tracing a line through the air.
"Crazy man... you..."
Shun Jin had finally caught up. She stared at the two heads lying beneath my feet.
"You're slow, Shun Jin." I glanced over my shoulder. She swallowed nervously before walking over to stand beside me. "Close your eyes if this is too horrifying for you."
Instead of obeying, she puffed out her cheeks and crossed her arms beneath her chest.
"I'm used to watching you kill people, crazy man. And stop treating me like a child, hmph!"
She turned her face away in annoyance, as usual.
Seeing her like that made me feel a little proud. My naïve disciple was finally beginning to grow up.
"But this is reckless, stupid crazy man! I'm sure they'll notice us any second now."
"ZHONG!"
The moment Shun Jin finished speaking, another guard spotted us standing before the camp.
Like ants discovering sugar at the entrance of their nest, dozens—perhaps even more—of men in dark-blue robes poured out of their tents and surrounded the two of us.
"THEY JUST KILLED ZHONG AND ZHING!"
Everyone surrounding us immediately drew their weapons. Almost all of them wielded double-edged swords.
"This is a terrible idea."
"This is the best idea I've ever had, Shun Jin. Make sure you learn something from it."
Shun Jin could only sigh helplessly as she unsheathed her already cracked slender sword.
A man in a black-and-pink robe stepped through the crowd of his subordinates.
His eyes locked onto Shun Jin before shifting to me.
"So... your friend managed to rescue you, huh? Quite the foolish decision to show your face before me again, bitch.
"What? Did you come to kill me to protect that little girl from Mount Hua Sect? How naïve."
Shun Jin let out a weary sigh.
"You know, I really didn't want to see your ugly face again either. I'd rather lick a frog than look at that rotten mug of yours. But the crazy man behind me insists on pulling weeds out by the roots."
She lazily pointed her thumb at me.
We stood back-to-back. Or rather Shun Jin instinctively guarded my back while we were surrounded from every direction.
"Then go lick a frog. If you lick one right now, I'll let you head back to the inn early, Shun Jin."
Shun Jin immediately looked around in search of the nearest frog.
Unfortunately, all she found were the fury and gloomy faces of armed men surrounding us.
"...Ugh... I don't see any frogs..." she muttered in frustration.
"Kill them."
At the same instant, everyone surrounding us stomped forward and charged with their swords drawn.
With a single movement—and only two fingers, my index and middle fingers, I decapitated the entire front line rushing toward us.
A graceful motion. No one clearly understood what had just happened. Not because I had performed some kind of magic trick, but because they simply refused to believe what they had seen. All they saw was a thin line cutting through the air, then heads began falling one after another.
Thirteen heads rolled across the ground from twelve directions. One unfortunate fool simply happened to step forward more eagerly than the others.
The second row froze in place after seeing their comrades reduced to headless corpses. None of them were foolish enough to volunteer to become nothing more than a name carved onto a gravestone. At least now the plum trees around here would finally receive enough nutrients.
"M-Monster..."
"N-No..."
"He's a demon..."
"That man is a crazy demon..."
The man in the black-and-pink robe clenched his fists in frustration, grinding his teeth as he watched me casually clean my ear.
"Who are you?! Why are you targeting us?!" he screamed while pointing at me. His face was already ugly. That furious expression only made it twice as hideous.
I pointed at myself. "Me?"
He nodded frantically. "Yes! Who are you?!"
"Just an ordinary crazy man."
"You're lying! I can't sense anything from you! You don't even possess Qi! How could you cut down my men as easily as slicing tofu?!"
"It seems the current generation of the Blood Church has become remarkably weak... and stupid. Ah... perhaps that's my fault. Hmm... I don't remember exactly how many years ago it was. Maybe ten years. I slaughtered almost every member of the Blood Church back then. Including that senile old fool. So you're still recovering, aren't you? How pitiful."
The man in the black-and-pink robe glared at me in fury—before suddenly remembering something. Fear immediately filled his eyes.
"There are eight ranks within the Blood Church. Congregant. Deacon. Elder. Pastor. Bishop. Archbishop. Cardinal. And finally... The Pope.
"You must be nothing more than a Deacon. Judging from your cultivation, you haven't even properly reached the Early Core Formation Realm. That's why you hired assassins to kill the daughter of Mount Hua Sect.
"How pathetic. I'm willing to bet Rastella doesn't even know you exist. Doesn't it feel miserable? To devote your life to someone who has never once acknowledged you?"
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!!! LADY RASTELLA LOVES ME! SHE LOVES ALL OF HER FOLLOWERS! EVERYTHING IS FOR HER! LADY RASTELLA! LADY RASTELLA! LADY RASTELLA!"
His eyes spun wildly in opposite directions while foam bubbled from his mouth like a poisoned madman.
The very next second, he returned to normal. As though nothing had happened.
"Hehahahahahahaha!! Let's duel, crazy man! I'll prove to you that I'm no ordinary Deacon. I, Hui Yin... will become an Elder after my hands are drenched in the blood of you two!"
Hui Yin—the man wearing a robe embroidered with the Mount Hua Sect emblem upon his back—slowly drew his sword.
It was no ordinary blade. It was impossibly thin and nearly three times longer than a normal sword. It resembled a whip more than a sword.
"Yawn... Shun Jin. You fight him."
Using my left hand, I casually shoved Shun Jin forward while my right hand remained busy covering another yawn.
Shun Jin immediately shook her head and stepped backward after I forced her one step forward.
"No! Can't you see my sword, crazy man? It'll break in a single clash!"
I extended my hand.
"Give me your sword."
She hesitated. But she still give it to me anyway.
Then... to the utter shock written across her face, I snapped her treasured sword into countless fragments.
Crash!
"YOU CRAZY MAAAAAAN!!!"
Shun Jin screamed as she watched her beloved sword shatter into pieces. Flames of fury instantly filled her eyes.
"W-Why... Why would you do that?"
She slowly dropped to her knees before the broken fragments scattered across the ground. Her voice trembled.
"It's useless to cling to a worthless sword. If you become attached to one thing, it'll only burden you. Just like tonight.
"Everything has its own quality, Shun Jin. Objects and living beings are no different. If you defeat that man..." I pointed toward Hui Yin, who had already grown impatient. He had assumed a strange sword stance while waiting for us. "...I'll find you a sword far better than this one."
"Sob... Sob... Promise?"
"Promise. Stop crying. You're already an adult."
I picked up a sword from one of the headless corpses and tossed it toward her.
Having just wiped away her tears, Shun Jin caught it.
She assumed her stance once more, fixing her opponent with eyes filled with killing intent.
"I'm going to earn my sword back."
"You damned bitch."
***