Chapter 104: Even If It Seems a Little Foolish

TL: FoodieMonster007

I did not stop the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon.

"Do as your heart desires."

When a person is angry, they must let that anger out. He was not running off to kill someone right this instant, so there was no reason to stop him.

In my experience, rushing leads to mistakes. The same was true now. If I stepped in when there was no need to hurry, it would only be because I was impatient myself.

At times like this, it was best to let him be until his surging rage subsided. I would not judge or persuade. I would just stay still.

Lee Ahn and Green Mask, who had come out a step behind me, examined the corpses. The Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman stood before the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon with traces of blood still on her face.

"Elder."

Her address had changed from Orabeoni to Elder.

"What is it?"

"Please, avenge me properly."

She said something I did not expect.

"Please make it so I can stretch my legs and sleep peacefully from now on."

"Of course. I'll show the murim what happens when someone touches the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman."

The Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman bowed deeply. I knew she was no ordinary woman, but I had not realized she would say such things in this situation.

I did not mean that in a bad way. I was admiring her. It occurred to me that she might be using the most brilliant method to calm the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon's anger.

If she had stepped forward and wounded his pride by saying, 'I'm worried you'll be in danger because of me, Orabeoni,' the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon would have only grown more frantic.

A truly well-matched pair has met.

Just then, Green Mask found something on one of the corpses.

"This came from inside their clothes."

Green Mask held out several palm-sized willow throwing knives.

"These are the throwing knives used by the Evil Alliance Guizhou Branch. You can see their unique mark right here."

"You mean it was those bastards from the Guizhou Branch?"

"No. They aren't skilled enough to infiltrate this place."

Green Mask looked at me, seeking confirmation.

I nodded in agreement.

"That's right. They were definitely more skilled than the guards at the Thousand Flower Palace."

Hearing my answer, Green Mask cautiously offered a guess.

"I surmise they intended to assassinate you, Pavilion Master, and leave these willow throwing knives at the scene."

"Frame the Evil Alliance? Do they take me for a fool? Did they really think such a shallow trick would work?"

The air grew heavier as the irritation of being underestimated added to his fury.

"Perhaps that trick might have been effective."

The Extremely Evil Smiling Demon's gaze turned cold at my words, but I calmly said what I had to say.

"That's because you aren't dead right now, Pavilion Master. If you had discovered these next to your corpse, your state of mind would be completely different. Wouldn't you have rushed to the Evil Alliance Guizhou Branch to find the owner of these willow throwing knives?"

The Extremely Evil Smiling Demon could not refute my point.

"They probably had something prepared on their end as well. Perhaps the owner of these knives would have provoked you, or maybe something else was waiting."

It only takes a moment for a person to go berserk. One should never underestimate the agitation and rage caused by the death of someone cherished.

"If it wasn't those bastards from the Evil Alliance, then who are these men?"

At the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon's question, Green Mask asked me, "What kind of martial arts did they use?"

Green Mask was known as a clever man, even in the Valley of Evil. He was quick with numbers and calculations, which allowed him to read ledgers, and he also knew a great deal about martial artists, martial arts, and the state of the murim.

"The one who first appeared used a throwing knife."

I reenacted the exact motion the first masked man used to stab the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman.

"And these men were masters of stealth. We didn't even know he was there until he revealed himself to attack you, Pavilion Master."

At that, Green Mask deduced who they were.

"Judging by the stance you've shown us, Second Young Lord, the fact that they are masters of stealth, and that there were five of them, I am certain they are the Five Bloody Shadows."

"The Five Bloody Shadows? I've heard of them."

Green Mask answered the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon's question.

"They are masters belonging to the White Night Valley."

The White Night Valley was an infamous unorthodox sect. They committed every evil deed imaginable, including killing for money. The Five Bloody Shadows were the White Night Valley's representative masters.

"They probably accepted the contract without knowing the relationship between the Thousand Flower Palace and us."

Green Mask surmised not only their identities but also the reason they dared to commit such an act.

He was correct. In my life before regression, the Five Bloody Shadows had a deep connection with the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon. They had ended up dying at his hands.

However, they had not attacked the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman here today, at least not in my previous life.

Their fate had changed because the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon had moved with me. They could not escape death, but the time and place had changed.

The Extremely Evil Smiling Demon did not hesitate.

"We're going to the White Night Valley."

"……"

Without a word, Green Mask hurried to prepare for their departure.

The Extremely Evil Smiling Demon also took care of the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman's safety.

"You should also move with me for the time being."

Once she had become a target, moving together until the matter was resolved was the wise choice.

"I will follow your will, Elder."

The Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman obediently followed his words.

She glanced at me, and I could feel the emotion in her gaze. It was as if she were saying, I'll leave stopping the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon to you.

When the preparations were finished, everyone boarded the carriage. Seeing me still standing outside, the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon asked from within.

"Aren't you getting in?"

"I was just pondering how to get you out of the carriage."

"Let's hear your reason for trying to stop me."

"The incident has already occurred, and we know who was behind it. If we attack now, all that will happen is a fight. If you and I join forces, we could probably annihilate them. You might even get a new alias, the Massacring Smiling Demon."

"Are you being sarcastic?"

"No. I despise the White Night Valley. They commit all sorts of filthy acts and even kill for money, so they deserve to die. However, there is a better way than staining our own hands with blood."

"And what is that?"

"It's to entrust that task to someone else."

"Who are you suggesting we entrust it to?"

"Right now, you're agitated and you've forgotten one thing. We made a promise with Bi Sayin. He said that if we gave him a clue about the mastermind, they would withdraw from Guizhou and compensate for the last two years of losses. We have that clue right now."

Even though it was advice for his own good, the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon was sarcastic.

"Tallying your abacus even in a situation like this… truly, our Second Young Lord is extraordinary, simply extraordinary."

I was not provoked and calmly persuaded him.

"If I were truly extraordinary, I would be able to stop you somehow, wouldn't I? Will you give me a little more of a chance to stop you?"

"Go ahead and try."

I looked into his eyes, which dared me to try, and began my persuasion.

"No matter how much you coerce them, the White Night Valley will never reveal who hired them. No, they can't. The moment they expose their client, no one will ever pay the White Night Valley for a job again."

The Extremely Evil Smiling Demon must have known that much. He knew more about villains than I did.

"Crucially, annihilating the White Night Valley will be more problematic than annihilating the Evil Alliance Guizhou Branch."

"Why is that?"

"Three years ago, the daughter of the White Night Valley's leader and the son of the Evil Alliance's Vice-Chairman were married. The two families are in-laws."

The Extremely Evil Smiling Demon, who had not known that fact, was startled and asked Green Mask, "Is that true?"

Green Mask, who was in the driver's seat, answered in a loud voice.

"It is."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I only just remembered it myself."

The Extremely Evil Smiling Demon asked me with a surprised look.

"How did you know, Second Young Lord?"

"I was wondering why, among the many assassin organizations in the jianghu, they would specifically hire the White Night Valley. That's when I remembered it."

The Extremely Evil Smiling Demon had experienced my sharp mind several times, so he would not find it strange that I remembered that.

The crucial phrase to persuade him was this.

"It's a double-layered scheme."

"What do you mean?"

"The mastermind arranged for both possibilities. It would be fine to leave the willow throwing knives and frame the Evil Alliance Guizhou Branch. It also wouldn't matter if the ambush failed like it did now and the White Night Valley took the blame. The scheme to cause a clash between you and the Evil Alliance is a guaranteed success either way."

The Extremely Evil Smiling Demon's gaze grew cold and settled. The smile vanished from his eyes, which meant his anger had subsided to some extent.

"Is there any need to move according to that bastard's intentions? Please leave this matter to me."

The Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman, sitting next to the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon, and Lee Ahn and Green Mask in the driver's seat all listened to our conversation in silence.

Fortunately, the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon was not so foolish as to stick to a decision just because others were watching.

"Then wouldn't that make me seem too unreliable? I acted as if I was going to show you a world turned into a sea of blood, Second Young Lord."

His words already contained the intention to concede. I smiled and said, "No one would think you're unreliable, but even if they did, what's wrong with being a little unreliable?"

The Extremely Evil Smiling Demon laughed. His habitual smile now contained a hint of a chuckle.

"Neither I nor anyone else here wants to see a sea of blood. Especially since our Pavilion Master has already been doused in a bucketful of it."

The Extremely Evil Smiling Demon looked at the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman.

As if she had been waiting, she said, "Avenge me! Go and kill them all!"

The Extremely Evil Smiling Demon laughed again.

"You're saying things you don't mean."

Only then did the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman reveal her true feelings.

"Yes. That's right. I'm tired today, so I just want to rest. Next to you, Orabeoni."

Her address had become Orabeoni again. She, too, had sensed that his anger had completely subsided.

The Extremely Evil Smiling Demon's deliberation was not long.

He said to Green Mask, "Go and tell Bi Sayin I want to meet."

"……"

Green Mask leaped from the carriage, flickered, and vanished.

The Extremely Evil Smiling Demon and the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman got out of the carriage.

I said to the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman, "You must be tired, but please stick close to the Smiling Demon until this is all over. It's the safest place in the world."

I had looked out for her safety and his mood, but the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon did not just let it slide.

"The Second Young Lord's Art of Flattery seems to be the Greatest of All Time."

It was half-admiration and half-scoff, a mix of ridicule and sincerity.

"It's the most powerful technique I've been using lately, but it's no ordinary flattery. It's a persistent Art of Flattery, one that strives to understand the other person, and one for which I even risk my life. Besides, when my opponent is you, what's wrong with a little flattery?"

At my confidence, the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman, who had been listening, could not hold back her laughter.

"I'm sorry for laughing. It's just that at this level, it seems worthy of being called a divine art."

The gaze the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman directed at me held a favor that went beyond mere gratitude.

The woman I knew was one who clearly repaid her debts and grudges. I was certain that saving her today would be a great help to my future.

As the two of them went inside, Lee Ahn, who had been sitting in the driver's seat like a stone statue, let out a breath she had been holding.

"How on earth do you endure this kind of pressure?"

She was now asking the same question Seo Daeryong had once asked.

"What if I don't endure it? Didn't I promise to take responsibility for all the trouble the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon causes?"

"Having to persuade the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon when he's furious? I would've run away without a second glance."

"You would have persuaded him better than I did."

"You're overestimating me."

"It's not my overestimation."

"Then whose?"

"The Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman said so. That you seem like someone who will do great things."

"Not someone who will cause great trouble? She probably just said it to please you, Young Master."

"If she wanted to please me, she would have said that I was the one who would do such great things."

"That's true."

Lee Ahn got down from the carriage.

"Thinking of a drink?"

"……"

"Let's go in and have another drink. We can ask them to sing that song we were going to listen to earlier."

"They're all gone. Do you think they'd still be waiting?"

"You're probably right."

"…Should I sing for you instead?"

"I'll pass. I've had a hard enough day as it is."

"I sing well. You've never heard me sing before, have you?"

"You don't need to see an opponent draw their sword to know they're a master."

"Hmph, failing to recognize a hidden master again. Just don't be surprised when you hear me later."

As I followed Lee Ahn toward the building, I looked up at the night sky.

Looking at the twinkling stars, I suddenly missed my people back at our Cult. I wanted to use the Spacetime Manipulation Technique to lie alone on a beach and bask in the warm sunlight. I wanted to hear Lee Ahn's song.