Genius Martial Arts Trainer

“Kyaaaak!”

At the horrifying sight of a person’s body suddenly being split into two pieces, a scream burst from the mouth of the woman who had been begging those men for quite some time.

Clang!

And the three men who had survived hurriedly drew their weapons and shouted.

“Wh-who the hell are you!”

“D-do you know who we are, butting in like this!”

“We belong to the famous Southern Heavenly Society’s Black Martial Room!!”

Dao Yuechen, who had personally listened to the three men’s last words, once again swung his black blade.

Slice!

And the heads of two men, who could not even react, rolled to the floor along with sprays of blood.

The sole surviving rough-looking man was already trembling, his face gone pale white.

“Guide me to the Black Martial Room.”

“Y-yes. I-I understand.......”

Before Dao Yuechen, who had put the trembling man in front, moved his steps toward the Black Martial Room.

He spoke to the startled woman, who was sitting collapsed on the ground.

“It is late, so you should go back now.”

Leaving only those words behind, Dao Yuechen departed with the man he had left alive for guidance.

Having been guided by the man he had spared, Dao Yuechen saw the sight of a large manor with a signboard reading [Black Martial Room] hanging before his eyes.

The man who had finished guiding him there suddenly ran toward the entrance of the Black Martial Room, then slammed into the gate with enough force that it seemed he might break it down.

Boom!!

When he threw the gate open with his whole body, those inside looked at him with startled faces.

“What is this commotion!!”

At the question of a man who seemed to be their representative, the man who had guided the way pointed to Dao Yuechen, visible beyond the gate.

“Th-that, that bastard over there killed all the boys!”

“!?”

The gazes of the Black Martial Room martial artists who had been looking at the man turned toward Dao Yuechen.

However, despite their gazes, Dao Yuechen entered the Black Martial Room at a leisurely pace.

“B-be careful! Th-three men were taken down in the blink of an eye!”

At the same time as the shout of the man who had guided Dao Yuechen here, more than ten men rushed toward Dao Yuechen all at once.

And at some moment.

Like kites whose strings had been cut, the people who had been rushing toward him all collapsed at once.

In the eyes of those waiting behind them, nothing at all had been visible.

The only thing they saw belatedly was the sight of the heads of those fallen on the ground separated from their necks.

And in the hand of the man dressed in black, there was a single black blade that they had not even seen him draw.

A quick-draw blade art that could not even be seen by the eye, and a black blade with an extraordinary appearance.

Someone who realized the existence symbolized by those two things muttered in terror.

“V-Vice Society Leader!?”

The Vice Leader of the Southern Heavenly Society, and someone perhaps considered even more of a master than the Society Leader, Pai Jinsheng.

It was the moment when the master called the Blade Star descended before a group of backwater black-path scum.

Among the Black Martial Room crowd who had recognized their opponent, a middle-aged man stepped forward.

“Vice Society Leader! Wh-what is this tyranny! We belong to the Southern Heavenly Society and have even been steadily paying our tribute, have we not?”

At the shout of the Black Martial Room Master, Dao Yuechen advanced through the headless corpses and answered in a blunt voice.

“Drugs. And human trafficking.”

As though no further explanation was even necessary, Dao Yuechen, having finished speaking, approached the Black Martial Room crowd with regular steps.

And from some point on.

Thud.

Those whose distance from Dao Yuechen grew close began collapsing to the floor one by one.

With their necks severed, their bodies and heads separated.

Though no one could even see him swinging his blade, for some reason, those who grew close to Dao Yuechen all collapsed to the floor in the exact same form.

Because it was such an unreal sight, the Black Martial Room crowd could not think of fleeing or resisting, and simply watched the scene in a daze, as though their feet had been fixed to the ground.

Thud.

Amid his comrades continuing to die and fall.

The man who had been watching that unreal sight from the very back thought.

That the scene looked almost like a painting of the God of Death who governed death descending upon the world.

***

It did not even take Dao Yuechen the time it took to drink a cup of tea to clean up the Black Martial Room.

Shing.

Dao Yuechen, who sheathed the black blade that had not even a drop of blood on it because it had been swung at such tremendous speed, turned his head and looked toward the entrance of the Black Martial Room.

“Did you come from the Hao Gate?”

“That is correct, Vice Society Leader.”

There stood a man dressed in black clothes similar to Dao Yuechen’s.

Dao Yuechen nodded once to the man showing him respect, then gave an order.

“Tell the Hao Gate’s Sandu County branch. Clean this place up before the day is over.”

“By your command.”

The man, who once again performed a cupped-fist salute, hid himself in the darkness.

Dao Yuechen, who had been looking for a moment at the place where that man had left, let out a faint sigh.

“Hoo.”

Since not a single presence remained nearby anymore, it was a true feeling revealed without his realizing it.

“The Hao Gate will be out of its mind with internal discipline for a while as well.”

No matter how much the Black Martial Room controlled Sandu County, it would have been difficult for them to conduct drug trafficking or human trafficking alone.

Since they had even sold drugs mixed into alcohol at the courtesan house, they could not help but have some degree of connection with this Hao Gate branch as well.

Was the problem the southern environment, full of corrupt officials? Or was it that those who belonged to the black path were naturally drawn toward more evil deeds?

It was a problem even Dao Yuechen, who had already lived in the evil faction for several years, could not answer definitively.

One thing was certain: since he had carried out a massacre this time, it would serve as a warning to those who had shown interest in this side of things.

His life in the evil faction, which had begun at the suggestion of Mujin, his benefactor.

Now that Shincheon had collapsed, there was not really any reason he had to continue operating in the evil faction.

Nevertheless, the reason he continued to remain as the Vice Leader of the Southern Heavenly Society was simple.

Because while living in the territory of the evil faction, he had realized something.

That people did not live only in bright places. That people lived in dark places as well.

As a man born in the righteous faction, he carried the banner of the righteous faction.

But he had realized the fact that there needed to be someone who would carry out that will in a way suited to the darkness.

That was why he had chosen this path, even though no one had forced him.

The role of a watcher guarding the boundary between the black path and the inhuman path.

However, simply because he had a conviction did not mean his heart was at ease.

Looking at the moon that emitted a faint light between the dark night sky, Dao Yuechen thought.

'Monk Mujin. I will protect the common people who live in the shadows, so please lead those who live in the sunlight.'

Thinking of the existence who was both his benefactor and idol, Dao Yuechen once again steadied his heart.

***

Dongting Lake, located in a region that could be called the center even within the vast Central Plains.

Near that place stood the buildings of the Zhengmu League, which had restored its original base after the war against Shincheon.

In the great pavilion located at the center of the Zhengmu League. Inside the League Leader’s Hall, two men were having a conversation.

“I heard the story. Fortunately, it seems the Demon Cult and the Southern Heavenly Society accepted your proposal, League Leader.”

At the words of Zhuge Muhuan, the chief strategist, who asked while gently fluttering his fan, Mujin nodded.

“That is so. Now we too must gradually enter a wartime system.”

“We already began preparations after hearing the news that a battle had broken out with the Heavenly Demon and the Southern Heavenly Society Leader in Yunnan Province, League Leader.”

“Then now all that remains is to watch how the imperial family comes out.”

“That is correct.”

Mujin, who had been looking at Zhuge Muhuan as he nodded for a moment, tilted his head as though something seemed strange.

“How curious.”

“What do you mean?”

“You accepted my unreasonable insistence, did you not? If it were you, Chief Strategist, I thought you might come up with the idea of dealing with the Second Prince through a surprise attack rather than leaving the danger called the imperial family as it is.”

At Mujin’s question, one corner of Zhuge Muhuan’s mouth crooked upward. It was his characteristic smile in which his eyes were not smiling at all.

“That is a method we can attempt at any time, is it not? As long as you remain in good health, League Leader.”

“Oho. Has even the Chief Strategist now come to value the lives of ordinary martial artists and commoners?”

“What absurd nonsense is that? If we end up going to war with the imperial family, who do you think those infamous Eastern Depot agents will target first? Naturally, me. Me.”

“.......”

At Zhuge Muhuan’s attitude of prioritizing his own life as always, Mujin was momentarily at a loss for words.

Along with the thought, 'I was the idiot for expecting anything.'

However, perhaps because he himself also thought those words were too despicable, Zhuge Muhuan added,

“Also, assassinating one emperor alone will not end the war with the imperial family. Most high-ranking officials and grandees already find the martial world displeasing anyway. Rather, if we kill the emperor for them, those bastards will put up a new emperor as their puppet and be willing to go to war. Since they would have the justification that we killed the emperor, they would probably consider it perfect for starting a war.”

It sounded like an excuse, but since it made sense, Mujin decided to let it pass for now.

Because even if he got into a war of words with that man, the one who would get dragged around would be himself.

After that as well, the two continued discussing matters large and small occurring in the martial world.

“What happened to the Six-Faced Ghost who has recently been running wild in Gansu Province?”

“The Dark Monk, who stopped by the League while you were away, took the wanted sketch with him.”

“I suppose we should consider him dead.”

They spent quite some time discussing demonic bastards who could not endure a peaceful era and were running wild, or bastards who had committed tyranny.

“For now, it seems the major matters have been dealt with appropriately, so I shall be going.”

Toward Mujin, who stood up while giving an order to leave, Zhuge Muhuan gently fluttered his fan and said,

“You have been restless since earlier. Do you like your home that much?”

“Ahem. What do you mean, restless? I am leaving only after doing everything I needed to do.”

Mujin, who had grown embarrassed, cleared his throat and spoke.

Of course, he did want to return home quickly.

Because at home, his daughter, cuter than a rabbit, and his wife, more beautiful than a fox, were waiting.

On top of that, because Mujin had had to stop by Shaolin and then go all the way to Yunnan Province, he had been unable to go home for nearly ten whole days.

However, at least he was not irresponsible enough to throw aside the work he had to do and go home.

Yet why was it? The Chief Strategist abruptly wore an expression as though he was so exhausted he might die, and began grumbling.

“You have merely decided the direction, have you not? I, the chief strategist, now have to stay up all night working to decide the details and issue orders, yet you, League Leader, are going back like this?”

“......Instead, whenever something happens, I am always the one going out to the scene, am I not?”

From Mujin’s perspective, it was a complaint too absurd for words.

And as Mujin wondered what was wrong with that man, he asked with an expression exactly like Zhuge Muhuan’s.

“Are you perhaps lonely these days?”

Zhuge Muhuan, who had already passed the age of fifty, was unmarried.

In his youth he may have lived immersed in work and study, but after passing fifty, if he was always alone whenever he returned home, he was bound to feel a sense of skepticism about life.

Having realized that fact, Mujin spoke as though teasing him.

“Hahaha. If my Chief Strategist wishes, I shall even look for a matchmaker. If it is a woman suited to your age, Chief Strategist, rather than an unmarried woman, it seems I should ask the matchmaker to connect you with a widow who has lost her husband.”

Yet why was it? At those words from Mujin, Zhuge Muhuan’s expression, which had been making groaning sounds, transformed completely.

“What are you talking about? Even now, women are lined up for me. I may not look it, but I am the chief strategist of the Zhengmu League, said to be powerful enough to make even flying birds fall.”

“If you put it that way, I am the leader of that Zhengmu League. No, more importantly, if there are that many women, why do you not marry?”

When Mujin asked again in a teasing manner, Zhuge Muhuan answered with a blatantly sneering expression.

“Since ancient times, wise men have not married.”

“.......”

***

After listening to Zhuge Muhuan’s logic about how foolish an act marriage was, Mujin simply gave up and left the League Leader’s Hall.

It was not because he had been devoured by Zhuge Muhuan’s logic.

It was because if he babbled to such a cold-hearted human about things like “love,” or “emotional stability,” or “a bond with one’s child,” it was obvious he would only be treated like a moron.

'Rather than waste time listening to a madman’s nonsense, it is better to meet my wife and daughter even a little sooner. Yes.'

It was a time when the sun was slowly setting.

On the path toward the entrance of the Zhengmu League, as he thought of the daughter cuter than a rabbit and the wife more beautiful than a fox whom he would meet for the first time in ten days.

Toward Mujin’s side, as he was forcing himself to keep an expressionless face in order to maintain his dignity as League Leader, a single dagger dug in.

A dagger that had sprung out from empty air where nothing had been.