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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: People Change
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We only took the money from the Fallen Ghosts Pavilion thugs we'd brought down before slipping away.
Whenever we ducked into the back alleys, they always came loaded with cash like it was habit. This time was no different—the haul was pretty good.
"Couldn't we have just killed those guys?"
Taeu seemed puzzled that we'd left the Fallen Ghosts Pavilion members alive instead of finishing them off. Was it experience that made killing sound so casual for her, or was it just the back-alley life where watching someone die next to you was everyday stuff?
"We covered our faces, and they have no idea who we are, so it's fine. The last bunch were scum we couldn't possibly let live, but these ones might be different."
In my past life, I would've killed them without a second thought. But this life is different. Unless they're total trash, it's better to let them live if we can.
"More than that, human life has this inertia to it. Once you start killing, the second one's easier, and after dozens of times, you stop feeling a thing even when you take a life."
In my previous life, I learned that lesson far too late. Only after slaughtering countless people did I realize my hand didn't tremble anymore when I plunged a blade into a heart.
Maybe that's why I don't want Taeu to live that kind of life. I know better than anyone how badly it ends.
"Hmm, but I thought all Fallen Ghosts Pavilion guys were trash."
Taeu averted her gaze and tilted her head.
"You never know—they might change someday if we let them live."
"But people don't change that easily."
She'd seen all types growing up down here. And most probably never changed a bit right up until they died. Ironically, the lower you are on the ladder, the more you fear change.
"People do change. They just don't do it easily."
People change.
They have to.
Otherwise, what's the point of this second life for me, the Blood Demon?
"Well, you changed into a totally different person in an instant."
"And you've changed a ton yourself in just a week, haven't you?"
"Me?"
Taeu widened her eyes and stared right through me. Then she looked away and smiled faintly.
"You think so?"
The you from a week ago, with that hopeless look on your face, drifting through the world—you're like a whole new person now.
Seeing you like this, I couldn't help but hope that maybe this life, I won't become the Blood Demon again. Maybe I can just enjoy these bright, happy days.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Breathe in slowly."
"Suuuup..."
"Feel it?"
"Something's coming... but I'm not sure yet."
I was helping Taeu form her dantian with Circulation and Breath Adjustment. She had great focus to begin with, but contrary to my expectations, she was struggling more than I'd thought.
"Feel the qi spreading through your body."
"Huu... Ah, I just felt something wriggling below my navel."
"That's it! Now I'll slowly infuse my internal energy, so guide that qi you felt in that direction."
I placed my hand on her back and channeled energy into her lower dantian, moving it through her perineum acupoint and up the Conception Vessel.
Taeu followed along perfectly, controlling her own qi. Once she got the hang of it, her control was shockingly precise.
We cycled it through her middle dantian, then her upper one, and back down to the lower—slowly. Finally, I could feel a faint circulation of qi within her.
Her dantian had formed, and her meridians were open.
"Haa... I'm wiped."
I'd been so focused, not saying a word while channeling, that it felt like every drop of my qi was drained.
I seriously wondered if the righteous sects were so picky about disciples not because of some grand reason, but just because it was exhausting.
"Is this what a dantian feels like?"
Taeu stared at her abdomen. Then she swung her arms wide, eyes going huge, and started bouncing around everywhere.
"Amazing, amazing! It's like there's someone inside me, moving my body with me."
Yeah, it is.
Anyone forming their first dantian feels that rush.
It's like someone who's only ever known how to walk suddenly learning to run.
Really, it's just consciously controlling what you did unconsciously before, but that alone skyrockets your senses.
Plus, Taeu had already built up a decent amount of internal energy for a beginner through two real fights, so she'd feel it even more.
Bottom line: there's no one around here who can match her strength now.
That's what a martial arts epiphany is—even just three days of training had made her strong enough to crush third-rate thugs.
And her teacher was me, once counted among the World's Greatest.
"That happy, huh? Now that you've got power, you have to protect Wolhyang even when I'm not around."
I said that and patted her head. But her face darkened for some reason.
"Don't talk like you're leaving."
Looks like she misunderstood—thinks I'm training her because I'm preparing to die.
"I'll get strong enough to protect you, Sowol. I'll keep working hard from now on."
But it seemed to motivate her just right, so I'll let it slide for now.
Still, when was the last time someone said they'd protect me? That faint, warm feeling from ages ago washed over me.
"Alright, then starting tomorrow, on top of our usual training, I'll teach you how to circulate your internal energy."
"Huh? So training's gonna get even harder...?"
Her confidence vanished in a flash as she panicked.
"What, lost your nerve already? Where'd that 'I'll work hard' go?"
"No, got it. I'll do my best."
Is this what having a disciple feels like?
I never trained one in my past life, but I get why master-disciple bonds matter so much in the martial world.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
For a while after that, I spent my days teaching Taeu. Her skills improved day by day, month by month, and training alongside her helped me regain my strength quickly too.
Practicing with Taeu, eating meals together with Wolhyang—I felt grateful for having a home to return to. As days passed, our lives intertwined, painting our routine in brighter colors.
It felt like this peaceful daily life could go on forever.
Even though I knew better than anyone it couldn't.
"Sowol! Big trouble!"
I saw Taeu come sprinting back home, panting from a short walk.
"Overheard in the back alleys—Fallen Ghosts Pavilion guys dragged off Dongcheol's kids."
Dongcheol—the thug I beat up before.
"Where?"
"Th-that abandoned house where you first found us."
"Stay home with Wolhyang. If anything happens, you protect her."
"Got it."
I unleashed my lightness skill and raced to the back alleys.
I'd expected the Fallen Ghosts Pavilion to come sniffing around after I killed some of theirs, but I didn't think they'd target kids from another slum.
I figured they'd search for the culprit, get tired, and leave.
I was too complacent.
Dongcheol's crew had ties to them, and even if something happened, they could pass it off as my doing. But my gut told me it was bad.
With growing unease, I wove through the alleys to that ruined house where I first met Taeu.
By the time I got there, it was already too late.
The all-too-familiar stench of blood hung in the air. Over ten Fallen Ghosts Pavilion thugs were mercilessly pummeling kids with fists and kicks.
Boys my age and some maybe fifteen huddled on the ground, screaming endlessly.
And beside them, bodies of kids who no longer breathed were piling up one by one.
Something I'd long forgotten clamped down on my heart. My chest crushed, organs twisted, blood rushed hot to my brain.
I charged at them without a word.
To be precise, I wasn't in a state to speak.
The first thug to spot me turned—and I yanked the sword from his belt, slashing his throat.
"Wha—?"
Shlick.
By the time they realized they were under attack, five heads were already rolling on the ground.
"A-ahh, uwaaaak!"
None dared charge.
They knew drawing weapons after watching five die in seconds was suicide.
Yet those same guys had trampled and killed mere kids, barely past their teens.
A wave of nausea hit me I couldn't hold back.
I silently swung at the fleeing thugs who couldn't even draw their weapons.
My blade left clean cuts, erasing trash from the world.
"Wait, let's talk—"
Shlick.
After cutting down all thirteen, blood from their corpses soaked the floor.
No one in that space dared even breathe. Only the gurgling of blood from the bodies filled the silence.
Only then did I turn to the blood-soaked kids collapsed around me.
"H-heek! S-Sowol, it's you... right?"
The kids looked terrified at the sight of me, drenched in gore.
"Tell me what happened."
"Th-the Fallen Ghosts Pavilion guys showed up out of nowhere, saying they were looking for who attacked them. They said our missing friends had to be behind it."
"And?"
"We told them it wasn't us, we didn't know anything! But they said we had to be lying, called us accomplices."
"Why didn't you say it was me? You must've guessed."
Why? If you'd just said it was me, maybe they wouldn't have died.
"Remember those women you saved?"
The ones kidnapped by Fallen Ghosts Pavilion.
"Dongcheol's sister was one of them."
"What?"
"He only learned the truth when she came home beaten black and blue. We swore off dealing with Fallen Ghosts Pavilion after that. We wanted to repay you."
So that's why.
For something that petty.
"...Where's Dongcheol?"
The kid avoided my eyes, then squeezed them shut and slowly pointed to the pile of bodies.
At the very bottom was Dongcheol, fresh blood still trickling from his mouth.
Ah.
I should've killed them back then. Shouldn't have let them go. No—should've wiped out the Fallen Ghosts Pavilion from the start. I had the power.
It was my fault.
I killed those kids.
People change?
No. People don't change.
I'm the Blood Demon reborn, and trash is trash forever.
My parched throat cracked with burning thirst. Rage that only slaughtering every last Fallen Ghosts Pavilion thug could quench choked me.
At the very least, I had to avenge these dead kids...
"Thank you for saving us."
One of the surviving kids spoke words of gratitude from amid my emotional storm.
Those words stabbed my heart deeper than any accusation.
I remembered that day—the hatred for my own weakness. The sensation of having power but failing to protect a thing.
Helplessness, self-loathing, sorrow—overshadowed by bottomless killing intent.
The scene I'd seen through unfocused eyes that day replayed. Past days viewed through blood-red corneas burned clear in my mind.
I took slow steps forward, driven by the burning desire to just kill them all.