‘Mincheol.’

CRUNCH.

Chief Baek called to me while smoking a cigarette, right as I was tearing a malicious ghost’s neck apart.

‘What.’

A sharp tone slipped out on its own. Soul fragments scattered from my grip and whipped through the air.

‘Hey. Doesn’t it wear you out, living like that?’

Chief Baek narrowed his eyes at me in the mess of a space.

‘Take it down a notch, you bastard. Keep this up and you’ll die first.’

Inside the ruined building, I finished up and dusted myself off.

The suit I’d gotten tailored was already wrecked beyond saving.

‘If “taking it down a notch” would’ve done the job, I would’ve done that a long time ago.’

‘Creepy bastard....... That’s why those heretic fucks call you a rabid dog.’

‘They don’t know how to judge people, that’s all. Where else are you going to find someone this gentlemanly?’

‘Crazy bastard.’

Chief Baek laughed at me.

‘Says the guy who yanked out every last tooth from a heretic and held a ritual with them.’

‘It was a method required by circumstances.’

‘Bullshit.’

TAP TAP.

He flicked the cigarette he’d been smoking onto the floor.

—KYAAAAAA—!!!

The moment the ember died, the malicious ghosts in the space shrieked.

‘No matter how many times I hear it, it’s loud....... God, I hate that sound.’

Chief Baek frowned at the screaming.

‘.......’

I just stared at them with a blank face.

‘Relax your eyes, you bastard. What are you going to do with that anger on things that are already dead?’

Chief Baek scolded me, but that didn’t make the tension leave my gaze.

‘Dead or alive. Does that really matter?’

He’d taught me not to assign meaning to something whose life was already over, but—

‘Punishment you didn’t receive while alive should be paid even after death.’

If nothing else, I couldn’t accept that.

Tsk.

Chief Baek clicked his tongue at what I said.

‘There’s no reason you have to be the one handing down that judgment, is there?’

Even if punishment had to be delivered, it wasn’t my job.

Not mine, not his—arguing罪 over the dead wasn’t the living’s place.

Chief Baek had said it a hundred times, a thousand times.

But—

‘Even so, somebody has to do it.’

It was work somebody had to do.

That’s what I’d always thought.

Not just heretics.

If a criminal reached death without paying,

shouldn’t somebody make that debt come due?

‘There is no god in this world.’

There was no god to weigh sin. So if nobody else would do it, I would.

That had been the thinking of the reckless kid I’d been back then.

‘Ha.’

And Chief Baek always spat out the same line.

‘You were born with eyes like that, and you’re telling me you don’t believe in gods? I don’t get it.’

He chuckled as he spoke.

‘Cut it out. If you keep acting so damn absolute, someday you’ll get punished.’

Punished for not believing in a god?

Don’t make me laugh.

‘If it’s that kind of punishment, bring it on.’

Life itself had already been punishment.

Something like that, I could take as much as anyone wanted to pile on.

In the wreckage, I laughed hard.

Believing it. Swearing it.

That gods didn’t exist.

*****

‘That dog of a bastard.’

I clenched my fist and put strength into my eyes.

In the corner, a man sobbed alone in injustice.

The so-called martial hall master who had ambushed me in the county.

His soul—

was there as a malicious ghost.

The main cause was injustice. Resentment that rough, that violently unstable, was usually rooted in injustice.

An unjust death.

—My son...... my son.......

When someone left behind what never should have been left behind.

Or—

—I wanted to live....... I wanted to live....... I didn’t do it.......

When someone simply wanted to live so badly it drove the mind to the edge.

The moment those tangled emotions exploded at death and began to warp the soul—

that was when they ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) curdled into malice and stained it.

That was how a malicious ghost was born.

And—

It’s a malicious ghost.

That man was already one.

—Huuuh....... Khhuhhuhhuhhh.......

I watched him trying to hold back his crying. It hadn’t been long since he turned—his shape was still fresh.

[KID.]

Yoo Cheongil called to me.

[Kill your emotions. It’s starting to show.]

A warning. I steadied myself.

If it was starting to show, it meant my qi. My qi was beginning to tremble in step with my emotions.

[Take a deep breath. If it leaks out, you’ll get caught.]

SSSSSHHH—.

I calmed my breathing with his words.

[What are you so angry about?]

Yoo Cheongil spoke like he genuinely didn’t understand.

What am I angry about?

I couldn’t understand him instead.

Does he not know?

He killed someone who shouldn’t have been killed.

I was staring at a life stolen for the sake of greed.

And he was asking why I was angry?

Is it because this is the Central Plains?

Or was I the one being too sensitive?

It wasn’t good.

If Chief Baek saw this, he would’ve started screaming again.

Stop sticking your nose in.

Their lives were theirs—there was no space for me to wedge myself into.

We just had to do our job.

He’d said it until his mouth wore out.

Ah, damn it.

Just like always, habits didn’t change easily.

And look—here I was again.

What do I do?

My insides boiled. I’d lived tangled up with the dead.

So my feelings toward people who treated the living like trash weren’t exactly gentle.

That’s why...

I’d tried to live without seeing anything, pretending I hadn’t seen it, so I wouldn’t stick my nose in.

But—

“What about my dad—!”

I’d already seen something I couldn’t unsee.

So I couldn’t.

What do I do?

I turned my eyes to Yoo Cheongil.

[Hm?]

Our eyes met. I asked him with my gaze.

What should I do?

Was I seeking an answer, or was I seeking empathy?

I sent him a look I couldn’t fully name. I thought he would already understand my heart.

[Ha.]

As expected, Yoo Cheongil let out a hollow laugh while looking at me.

[You rotten brat. What are you asking me for? You’re wearing the eyes of someone who already decided.]

“.......”

[Do whatever you want. Even if I tell you not to, you’re the kind of bastard who won’t listen. I already know that.]

KRRRICK.

I turned.

He was right.

Either way...

I had no intention of listening to anyone.

That’s how it had been in my previous life, too.

I hadn’t listened to the words of my benefactor.

I hadn’t listened to Grandmother.

I’ll do what I want.

I’ll just do whatever the hell I feel like.

That’s what rabid dog Kim Mincheol did.

And Moon Knight Bang Sungyeon probably wouldn’t be any different.

*****

Half a day had passed since Seongheon collapsed. He still hadn’t woken up, and Mount Hua Sect was still loud.

And amid that, news spread that the Plum Blossom Commander had finally forced information out of a HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE person—directions leading to their base.

With eyes full of rage, he said:

“I cannot forgive them. No matter what it takes, we must tear out their roots. This will be our last chance.”

He sharpened his sword. The battle aura I felt from him spread across Mount Hua Sect.

“It wasn’t enough that they dared set foot in Shaanxi—they even harmed the Sect Master. Even if I have to offer my life, I will execute them.”

As the Plum Blossom Commander burned with heat, the elders spoke.

“......But Commander. Are you truly planning to depart today?”

“It’s dangerous. No matter how strong you are, the Sect Master is unconscious—”

“That’s why we must step forward.”

The Commander said with a hardened face.

“With the Sect Master absent, we cannot know what they might be plotting. In times like this, it’s right that we strike first. We finally obtained information—how can we simply let it go?”

“......A strike is fine, but the force seems far too small.”

“That’s right. A strike with fewer than ten people?”

Eight.

That was the total, from what the Plum Blossom Commander had named.

“We must do it before they realize. A larger number only makes it easier to be noticed. That’s why I assembled only elites.”

“......Are you truly confident?”

“I am.”

The Plum Blossom Commander spoke with faintly shining eyes.

“Seniors, I only ask that you trust me. I will take vengeance for Mount Hua and for the Sect Master.”

The elders grew quieter. The Plum Blossom Commander’s eyes were firm.

And I merely watched from behind.

Silently. I held not only the Plum Blossom Commander, but two of the elders in my gaze.

Old men who quietly ride the mood.

Two old men—each showing a trace of HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE aura.

What I wondered was—

Do the three of them know?

Were those three in a relationship where each knew the others were spies?

That was the question that idly surfaced.

The meeting ended quickly.

There wasn’t much else to discuss.

Because the answer was already decided.

They had the enemy’s location, and they had combat power. If they didn’t know what the bastards were planning, striking first was an option.

And the one stepping up to do it was even the second-in-command of Mount Hua—Plum Blossom Commander.

“Moon Knight.”

Once we were outside, the Plum Blossom Commander approached me.

“I’m sorry again that things turned out like this so suddenly.”

“It’s all right.”

“Is your condition all right? If you’re unwell, you may remain at Mount Hua and wait.”

He said it with an apologetic face. Inside, I let out a quiet snort.

As if you mean it.

If I don’t go, this won’t work—don’t say things that stupid.

“No. If I said I’d help, I should see it through to the end. Besides, I have a debt to repay, don’t I?”

It was about Strange Demon.

At that, the Plum Blossom Commander nodded.

“......All right. Then I ask for your help. I, too, will do my part as Commander.”

“Understood.”

The Small Moon Unit Leader nodded.

“Then I’ll see you at the designated location in half a shichen.”

After saying it, the Plum Blossom Commander vanished.

“.......”

Watching him go, I cooled my eyes into something cold.

In one shichen.

I repeated the time to myself and moved.

[......Child of the Bang Clan.]

Seongheon’s living spirit spoke to me.

I know.

I didn’t answer. I knew what Seongheon wanted.

And it was something I’d been keeping in mind, too.

“You can’t go in here— Ah.”

When I arrived at the building, a disciple out front tried to stop me, then immediately stepped aside after recognizing me.

“May I enter?”

“......Go in.”

“Excuse me.”

I went inside. The moment I stepped into the building, eyes pinned to me. Mount Hua disciples stood guard inside.

It might seem strange that so many people were crammed into such a small space.

But the person inside was Seongheon—so it made sense.

The disciples made room when they saw me. Very few were allowed to see Seongheon, but I was among them.

“I’ll be going in for a moment.”

I made my presence known carefully and opened the door.

It went without saying, but I didn’t come to see Seongheon.

He was already behind me as a living spirit—why would I need to look at his body?

The person I came to see wasn’t Seongheon.

“......Are you okay?”

“.......”

Someone sitting in front of Seongheon’s body, lying as if dead.

A woman who didn’t move, who only sat there—Yuyeon.

I hadn’t seen Yuyeon since Seongheon collapsed, and Seongheon had kept asking for it.

So I went out of my way to find her.

“Hey.”

Still no reaction.

I called again.

“Are you okay...?”

“.......”

Only then did Yuyeon slowly turn her eyes to me.

“......!”

The instant our eyes met, her body trembled.

There was no emotion in Yuyeon’s eyes. Dull, cold eyes.

Those eyes, empty of feeling—

made my body stiffen before I could stop it.