The middle-aged man spoke with a stiff expression.

“You know him?”

Yeop Yahong awkwardly laughed and cut in.

“Of course not. He’s just saying whatever comes to mind now that he’s surrounded.”

The middle-aged man nodded.

“Look here, Lord of Haomun. You think you’ve got two lives? There are names you can mention, and names you absolutely should not.”

“Not my concern.”

The man regained his composure.

“As long as you don’t touch the Cult, you’ll be fine. And you’re not with the Cult.”

Even I couldn’t bring myself to say “Cult.” It’s the one thing I hate the most.

The middle-aged man smiled.

“Lord of Haomun, this isn’t going to end with just your death. First of all, Haomun will be annihilated. Not a single ant left alive.”

I cut him off coldly.

“Haomun doesn’t accept ants in the first place. Take note.”

“……”

I gave him the floor.

“Keep yapping.”

“We’ll wipe out Namyeonghui, Black Line Pavilion, and the Black Cat Pavilion too.”

“Terrifying. Such savagery.”

“Fortunately for us, none of them are officially affiliated with the Martial Alliance. And that’s not the end. We’ll also investigate your connections, take wanted posters around, and ask every passerby. What do you think will happen to anyone who knows you?”

The man drew a finger across his throat.

“They’ll all get their heads cut off.”

“Why kill the innocent?”

“Shut your mouth. That’s why you shouldn’t take my offer lightly. You can’t just throw your life away now. Got it? If everyone under your command joins us, we’ll spare you. Of course, they’ll have to go through the initiation. Take the drug we give them. Understand?”

I nodded.

“Who’s the boss, anyway? Seems I messed with the wrong guy. Since my life’s already in your hands, go ahead and tell me.”

The man leaned in and whispered.

“No need for someone like you to know that, you piece of trash.”

Scratching the back of my neck, I replied,

“I’ll figure it out myself. I’ll know once I start killing. And I’m not trash. The bandits were trash.”

Yeop Yahong snorted, and both the Enchantress and the beggar laughed along.

“Hahaha…”

Meanwhile, the gleam in the hat man’s eyes still hadn’t stopped glaring at me.

The middle-aged man smiled as well.

“You’re quick to decline.”

The atmosphere suddenly warmed, and even I, the most tone-deaf of them all, laughed along.

I didn’t know who was behind these guys, but the stronger the master, the less likely I wouldn’t know them. Since my past life as the Crazy Demon hasn’t fully caught up to this era, there are times when I’m still unaware of some things.

Here’s my guess:

They aren’t from a formal sect or noble house. Most likely, a high-level rogue master, or maybe a member of the Five Evils, is leading them.

If it’s someone on that level, they could act like this toward me, whose name isn’t widely known yet. And if they’re part of the Five Evils—well, even in my past life, they weren’t pushovers.

I kept my eyes on the middle-aged man, making sure he didn’t move. Since I was outnumbered, my eyes darted constantly.

When my gaze returned to the hat man, who’d been scratching my nerves this whole time—

The middle-aged man suddenly launched a surprise attack with twin palms. I wrapped both hands in wooden internal energy and met him head-on.

KWAHHHH!

He frowned, but only got pushed back three steps before stopping.

Then the hat man drew his sword...

And Yeop Yahong followed suit.

The Enchantress swept her sleeves, and the beggar stood up smiling at me.

I barely dodged two thunderous sword strikes and leaned back just in time to spot a needle flying by.

Then the beggar soared through the air, spinning, and fired off internal energy from both hands.

I met it with the energy from my right hand and was blasted backward, crashing through the furniture of Spring Dream Inn.

The beggar was repelled by my force and flipped back in retreat.

‘Fast little bastard.’

Meanwhile, gusts of sword wind tore through the inn’s interior as they tried to secure their line of sight.

‘Damn, this isn’t even my inn. Now it’s ruined.’

I was pushed back into the kitchen. I drew my Flash Dagger with my right hand and used Absorption Technique with my left to summon a kitchen knife.

I kept the wooden sword in reserve, like a secret trump card.

For now, I infused both the dagger and kitchen knife with flame energy.

As the piercing sound of ice and heat slicing air rang out and everything before me split in a straight line—

I leapt into the air, smashed through the roof, and landed on top.

The hat man who had launched a perfectly straight sword strike glared at me again.

“……”

The beggar moved quickly to block my rear, while the Enchantress and Yeop Yahong took east and west, sealing all exits.

I looked around for the now-invisible middle-aged man and asked,

“…Is that everyone?”

Yeop Yahong asked curiously,

“What do you mean?”

“I waited this long so I could kill them all at once. Just wondering if anyone else is coming to die.”

Yeop Yahong smiled and replied,

“This is more than enough to kill you and still have strength left over.”

As I paced atop the unstable roof, I answered,

“That’s where you’re wrong. It’s a mistake. Even now, anyone who surrenders will be welcomed into Haomun. Think carefully—your life depends on it. Young Hero Yeop, interested?”

“No.”

I nodded.

“Too bad. You’re in for a rough ride.”

Suddenly I heard the whinny of a horse nearby. The middle-aged man had mounted a brown steed and pulled an arrow from his back.

I muttered in disbelief.

“…Isn’t using a bow cheating in Jianghu? You guys are insane.”

Apparently not cheating.

Whoosh—an arrow flew. I dodged it easily, but the man pulled another arrow and shouted,

“Trust me and keep attacking. I’ll cover you.”

No one answered, so I did.

“…Understood.”

I dodged again with just a head tilt, but the arrow had enough force to sting my cheek with its wind.

Then, four experts soared up from the north, south, east, and west, converging on the roof.

“Ah, damn…”

I dropped back through a hole in the roof, slapped away an arrow with the kitchen knife, and slashed the roof with my Flash Dagger infused with flame energy.

CRACKCRACKCRACKCRACK—

The roof split lengthwise.

In return, sword wind, blade energy, internal force, and throwing weapons poured down all at once.

BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM!

I rolled on the floor and launched myself out of the inn.

Now the twang of bowstrings sounded genuinely terrifying.

I blocked an arrow flying toward my forehead with the flat of my kitchen knife, then slashed vertically with the dagger to unleash sword energy.

The middle-aged man kicked his horse and narrowly dodged. The speed of the horse wasn’t natural. In an instant, the four who’d come down from the roof surrounded me again.

I glanced at my pitiful kitchen knife.

No time to think. No room for words. The middle-aged man aimed another arrow at me.

I muttered the first thing that came to mind.

“…Anyone want to surrender?”

“……”

“No? Okay then.”

Yeop Yahong chuckled and said,

“Lord, your skills are underwhelming. We may have brought too many people.”

The middle-aged man grimaced and snapped,

“Can’t you shut up?”

Yeop Yahong flinched.

“Sorry.”

“Just attack already. He’s holding back.”

The Enchantress silently charged in with her fly-whisk. The hat man swung his sword, and the beggar snickered while watching me.

Yeop Yahong darted around, looking for an opening.

I blocked the fly-whisk with the dagger and deflected the sword with the kitchen knife.

A white fly-whisk is typically made from the tail of a white horse. Naturally, it burned once it met the heat of my dagger. A perfect elemental counter.

“Who uses a stupid weapon like this?”

I laughed, parrying the attacks, until I suddenly felt a chill and leapt into the air. Just in time—an arrow sliced through where I’d just stood. Yeop Yahong sprang up and swung his sword.

I batted it aside with my dagger and flicked my wrist, sending the kitchen knife spinning toward his neck.

Yeop Yahong twisted his body in panic…

But the knife embedded itself in his shoulder.

THUD!

The beggar landed from the air and struck with force, but I took the hit with my left arm and stepped back, intentionally widening the distance.

I lost a kitchen knife, but I stabbed Yeop Yahong’s shoulder. That’s a win.

Yeop Yahong grimaced and clutched his shoulder.

I nodded at him.

“Pain is youth.”

“Shut up.”

Meanwhile, the Enchantress, the hat man, and the beggar continued to close in. Arrows with a monotonous thwip kept aiming at me.

I laughed and slowly stepped back.

“…If I run, will you chase me?”

The beggar replied,

“Try it if you think you can.”

I kicked off with my left foot, spun mid-air, and unleashed light footwork.

Behind me, I heard a shout—

“Get ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) him!”

Then an arrow screamed toward the back of my head.

ZING!

Without slowing, I ducked and stretched forward like a diver entering water, accelerating further. My temper flared, and I sprinted with record-breaking speed.

If I were to lose in light footwork to these bastards, how would I have ever joined the Swift Party in my past life?

Of course, I shook them all off, ran for quite a while, and ended up circling back.

That relentless return instinct.

I found myself back at the ruined Spring Dream Inn, staring blankly at the wreckage.

“…It’s ruined again.”

At this point, it should be considered common knowledge that every inn I visit ends up destroyed.

Maybe it’s just fate. Nothing to blame.

As I stared at the inn...

My pursuers arrived, one by one, and stopped.

They seemed just as surprised as I was to see me standing there.

I glanced at them without much interest and tucked the Flash Dagger back into my sleeve.

“……”

Yeop Yahong, arriving last with a wounded shoulder, was breathing heavily.

I offered him some sympathy.

“Rough day. Feels like you’re gonna die on the next strike. Poor bastard.”

I walked back into the inn and sat on the one surviving chair.

Then I looked at the crazy woman, the glaring man, the beggar, the wounded guy, and the one with the bow.

“……”

For the first time, the beggar scowled and spoke to the middle-aged man.

“This guy’s not just crazy. I thought he ran, but…”

The man dismounted and placed his arrow on the horse’s rear. He took a deep breath and said,

“He’s still hiding his strength. Don’t let your guard down. Or you’ll end up like Yeop Yahong. If that kitchen knife had poison, that Yeop bastard would already be dead.”

“Understood.”

I spoke to the ones still standing, in a serious tone.

“Surrender. A true hero doesn’t kill without reason.”

The middle-aged man replied,

“From now on, don’t respond to anything he says.”

I nodded.

“But I’m not a hero. Actually, I’m the kind of guy who kills recklessly. That’s who I am. Especially you.”

I pointed at the Enchantress.

“I usually don’t kill women, not even crazy ones. Just kneel, and I’ll forgive you with a few slaps. Idiots. You’ve already lost one-fifth of your power. And like bow-boy said, I haven’t even used full strength yet. Why? Why not?”

A question I answered myself.

“Because of the heart of a hero. Because I wondered—are you just puppets? Maybe someone higher up is threatening or coercing you. Blink at me or raise a hand if so…”

“……”

“No one?”

The middle-aged man turned to Yeop Yahong.

“Bring more.”

Yeop Yahong launched into light footwork and answered,

“Understood.”

The man sat at a table a bit further away, and the others picked up fallen chairs and sat around loosely.

During that time, I thought of the Moonlight Cold Heart Technique.

Just like Golden Nine Free-Wandering Technique has secret forms…

Of course, Moonlight Cold Heart does too. I just hadn’t used them yet.

Its ice-based technique spreads cold energy with subtle power.

If I failed, I might die—so my mind was sharp. I studied their spacing, looking for a way in.

Then I cloaked myself fully in Moonlight Cold Heart energy and looked at them.

It was my first time covering my whole body with it.

White frost began creeping up the tables and chairs.

The Enchantress, the beggar, the hat man, and the middle-aged man all reacted differently.

I sat in the inn, shaped my mouth into a small “o,” and blew at them like I was cooling dumplings.

“Haaa…”

A white breath poured from my lips, like a ghost breathing.

One chilling line in the Moonlight Cold Heart manual stood out:

He froze his betraying lover and the one she slept with—locked in an embrace—and watched them beneath the moonlight.

Thinking of that, I summoned up fury.

Then I realized:

I’ve never been betrayed by a lover.

Because I’ve never had one.

Just as my anger reached its peak, the beggar muttered:

“This guy’s eyes are seriously insane.”

And then—

I soared into the air.