Chapter 160: Identity (3)

Whisper!

The crowd fell into confusion.

Everyone turned towards Sima Chak at his sudden appearance. It was more so because everyone knew who he was.

-No. How did he get here?

... how am I supposed to know?

The only ones who knew I was here were my grandfather, Sima Young, and Mi Yeom.

Considering that, it must have been Sima Young who told him.

The human mask I have on now was made by Sima Chak, so he must recognize me.

"Sima Hyung!"

At that moment, Guyang Gyeong was clearly shocked.

What? He knew this man?

"Guyang. It has been so long."

Surprisingly, Sima Chak also seemed to know him since he was speaking so casually. Considering he was so silent and unruly, I wondered if he knew anyone else.

Everyone was shocked, but then the name came out from the fake.

"Sima Chak!"

Everyone around was shocked now.

"Sima Chak!"

"Four Great Evils?"

"That Sima Chak? The Wicked Moon Sword?"

The Four Great Evils were known to be some of the most dangerous people to cross paths with. It was natural that people were surprised when the strongest of those four chose to appear here.

Even Jin Song-baek looked nervous after learning his identity.

Since this was the place where 3 of the 12 Great Warriors stood, what kind of horrible deeds could happen here was unknown.

Jin Song-baek looked at him and said.

"Sima Chak. How did you..."

Before he could even finish, the man spoke while looking at the fake.

"You were living like a leech in such a place."

"... you figured it out?"

"Who else but you knew about making a human skin mask that could stretch? Mu Ack."

'...!!'

Again, the crowd devolved into a mess. The moment I heard that name, I was also shocked.

Short Sword asked.

-What is it? Someone famous?

'He is one of the Five Great Evils.'

-What?

After the great war, there came the Four Great Evils and Eight Great Warriors. Still, before that, there was a period where there were Five Great Evils and Seven Great Warriors instead.

In that era, two of the Five Great Evils died while a new one appeared to make it into the current Four Great Evils.

One of those who died was one of the Venerable Dignitaries and Twelve Blood Stars, Mu Ack, the White Faced Ghost.

-Are you saying that the dead are coming back to life, then?

I don't know. When I was growing up, everyone was sure of his death.

However, I could understand one thing after hearing of his true identity.

-What?

I heard that Mu Ack was someone that was like a ghost.

I heard that human skin masks were usually made from skin stripped off dead animals or humans, but not those made by the White Faced Ghost.

I heard that his skills had reached an unrivaled realm regarding his mask-making and how sophisticated it looks compared to that of a living person.

-Oh. His skin acted that way when he pulled at the mask because of that.

But now that I think about it, that man was bold.

If Mu Ack, the White Faced Ghost, was really this man instead of someone else who made the decision for him to take up this position.

No one could have thought of such a risky idea to do.

"Mu Ack!"

"Isn't he that vicious man who hides and imitates other people?"

Guyang Gyeong and Wang Cheo-il were shocked.

However, I was more curious about the relationship between Sima Chak and this man. From his way of speaking, it seemed like he knew the man and was sure of his identity after seeing the human skin mask.

As he says, the fake, no, Mu Ack, held the key to everything.

"You were looking for me, Wicked Moon Sword?"

Sima Chak snorted at that question.

"Looking for you? That joke doesn't even make me smile."

"Then why did you come here?"

"There is no reason for you to know."

Pang!

When he finished those words, an iron ball flew from Sima Chak's fingers and rushed toward the man's forehead.

However, Mu Ack managed to snatch it from the air.

The sound of something spinning between his fingers could be heard, and...

Pajk!

Mu Ack tossed the ball into the ground. The center of his palm was visibly red, however.

Just looking at this, it was clear that Sima Chak was a level higher than him.

-You cannot even catch that, though.

Did you have to remind me of that?

In any case, the easy Sima Chak treated the man wasn't friendly. Mu Ack then said.

"I do not want to fight you, Wicked Moon Sword."

Something unexpected was happening. Mu Ack backed off first.

Despite being one of the Five Great Evils of the past generation, he took a step back first because of the disadvantageous situation.

Sima Chak then calmly said.

"You shouldn't have brought my attention then."

Hearing those words, Mu Ack bit his lip.

"Isn't this because you just want to stand out? And, according to our pact from that time, there has never been a mention of the White Faced Ghost in Murim until now."

Oh my!

According to those words, it was clear that Sima Chak was the man who made Mu Ack disappear.

Sima Chak spoke in a cold voice.

"Who restored your martial arts?"

Mu Ack fell silent. I could infer from this that his dantian had also been broken.

Mu Ack, who must have been thinking of a way out, immediately moved in a direction away from both Sima Chak and Jin Song-baek.

However, Jin Song-baek blocked the path using light footwork.

"You cannot run."

"Jin Song-baek."

The man wasn't called the Wind God for nothing.

Mu Ack bit his lip as he said in anger.

"Are the famous Eight Great Warriors and so-called Four Great Evils going to catch an old person and stomp on them? I am quite ashamed of how..."

Pang!

Before he could finish the sentence, the iron ball moved from Sima Chak's hand.

"Huh!"

Mu Ack spun around like a top and dodged the iron ball.

Jin Song-baek, who was on the other side of the ball, moved and hit it at an angle.

Thanks to that, the ball went back into Mu Ack's thigh.

Pak!

"Kuak!"

It would have been nice if it penetrated more, but it only did half the damage it should have. When he gathered up his internal qi, the iron ball pushed itself out of the flesh.

"You people!"

The two warriors were unintentionally working as one, making Mu Ack grit his teeth.

"This is your grave."

Sima Chak approached the man with an overbearing force as if he had become the king of the underworld.

In response, Jin Song-baek, the Wind God, spoke.

"I thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping free the hostages. However, this is an issue of the Dual Martial Forces, so I request you to make a concession so we can solve this."

"Huh!"

Despite the polite request, Sima Chak continued to move forward with a force that indicated he would kill Mu Ack at any moment.

"Damned people!"

With that, Mu Ack slammed his foot to the floor.

Bang!

At that moment, the ground crumbled, rose up, and flew in all directions. It seemed like he was trying to divert the attention of everyone using the fragments.

However, neither Jin Song-baek nor Sima Chak showed signs of letting him go.

Papapak!

Jin Song-baek moved in despite the fragments flying by using his palm techniques and aimed toward Mu Ack's neck. Meanwhile, Sima Chak blocked off the fragments and threw a sword at the man.

Mu Ack hurriedly made a sword using qi on both of his hands to block it.

But...

"Kuak!"

Chrrrrr!

In the first place, both of them had abilities equal to or higher than him. When two such people attacked simultaneously, he had no choice but to be pushed several times.

Sima Chak then warned Jin Song-baek.

"Do not get involved."

With those words, he jumped toward Mu Ack, who was pushed back.

Jin Song-baek furrowed his brows slightly.

"I said that this is an internal matter."

Jin Song-baek spat out those words and moved for Mu Ack in the same way.

The interesting thing was that while both of them didn't want the other to interfere, they were also not interfering with each other while making an effort to kill a common enemy.

And the one who will die because of this is Mu Ack.

"Y-You people!"

Papapak!

Mu Ack fought back hard enough to make his hands look red by just blocking the two once, so holding out any longer against them was likely impossible.

Papak!

"Kuak!"

Jin Song-baek kicked at Mu Ack's neck. Despite defending against the fragments, he managed to send qi into his feet to strengthen them.

Kwak!

The ground he was stepping on cracked down further.

At the same time as that release of strength, Sima Chak caught up using his odd movement and stabbed Mu Chak right through the chest.

Puak!

Blood trickled down from Mu Ack's mouth.

Recognizing that if he stopped here, the suffering would only increase, Mu Ack tried to move away from Sima Chak by using his sword.

But when he tried that, Sima Chak pulled out his main sword and cut off Mu Ack's wrist.

Slash!

"Kuak!"

Shhh!

At the same time, Jin Song-baek appeared out of thin air and turned around mid-air to crush down on his head.

"Kuaaak!"

Mu Ack's legs were pushed into the ground due to the force. Once he was pushed into the ground until his thighs, Jin Song-baek, who was near his head, landed on the ground.

Mu Ack was now looking pale, as if near death.

"You... cowardly... bastards...."

It really looked like a sad scene.

However, it seemed like he was running out of energy to stay conscious and soon lost consciousness.

Sima Chak immediately moved his sword to his neck, but Jin Song-baek kicked it away.

Chang!

"You cannot kill him yet. He still has things that he needs to answer for here."

Hearing those words, Sima Chak spoke in a calm voice.

"That isn't something I need to care about."

With that, Sima Chak swung the sword again, and Jin Song-baek kicked it again.

When his sword was blocked twice, Sima Chak looked at Jin Song-baek.

"I have no intention of letting him live either, but this man said he had ties with some kind of power, and we have to figure it out."

Hearing Jin Song-baek's words, Sima Chak sighed.

And put his sword back into his heath.

I thought things were going smoothly.

But....

"I don't intend to give up on this. But, it seems like you are taking me lightly despite the warnings I gave."

As soon as he said that, Sima Chak pulled his sword at Jin Song-baek, who tilted his head to the side to avoid it.

"As expected of Wind God."

Sima Chak smiled and then turned his sword with a fighting expression.

Jin Song-baek managed to avoid that as well. Just a moment ago, they cooperated without ill intent because of a common enemy.

-Wonhwi. Your father and father-in-law are fighting!

-The previous master said that marriage is not just of two people, but of the families of the two. Stop things before they get bigger.

What the hell are you two talking about! However, I do think that they should be stopped before this gets any bigger.

"Lord Chun, please."

I handed over the real Chun Mu-seong I was carrying to Wang Cheo-il and rushed at the two, but someone passed by me and went ahead.

'Uh?'

It was Guyang Geong.

"Stop!"

He shouted at them and intervened.

"Guyang. What are you doing?"

Hearing Sima Chak's question, Guyang Gyeong turned to the two and said,

"We do not have grudges against another, so why should we create one now? Sima hyung. Looking at my face, please put your anger aside."

Jin Song-baek was puzzled at this and asked.

"Lord Guyang, you know this person?"

Everyone's eyes focused on him at this question.

Sima Chak was known to be a very dangerous man. Guyang Gyeong stopped such a man just now as if it was natural.

Guyang Gyeong then glanced elsewhere.

He looked towards where his son was.

Guyang Gyeong seemed grateful to Sima Chak for saving his son.

"I do. Sima hyung and I are sworn brothers."

'Ah!'

Is that why they called each other like that?

The others around me were also surprised. At that moment, Wang Cheo-il, who was holding Chung Mu-seong, walked close to me and asked.

"Lord Guyang, is that true?"

"Why would I say two things with the same mouth?"

"Huh."

Wang Cheo-il let out a sigh. It was as if he disapproved of a friendship with a man who was considered evil.

Everyone there was likely feeling something similar. However, Guyang Gyeong's following words were quite shocking.

"Sima hyung is like family to me. He saved my son because of the marriage agreement which was made before his birth."

'...!?'

An arranged marriage agreement?

What new information was this?

I doubted my ears for a moment, and Sima Chak spoke coldly.

"Why bring up the old-fashioned promises made in our youth? Our paths have never crossed since then."

"How can you say that! Sima hyung. If that was the case, how would I remember the pact made till now?"

-Wonhwi. What is this?

I couldn't hear what was being asked.

Instead, this reminded me of something that happened before my death. I often wondered why Sima Chak joined the Dual Martial Forces.

No matter how much I thought, considering what people said about his personality, he didn't seem like the kind to settle anywhere.

But that question was answered now.

Sima Chak frowned and said.

"We are in trouble."

"What do you mean?"

Sima Chak looked at me and asked.

"You heard this too. What do you think of this?"

Ah... I got caught.

I didn't think he would ask me that here.

I came to stop a fight between my real father and this man but was instead hit in the back of the head.

Guyang Gyeong didn't understand as he asked.

"No. Why are you asking that young man?"

"My child likes him."

'...?!'

At those words, everyone's face was clearly surprised.

I was as shocked as them too, but it didn't end there.

Jin Song-baek stepped forward and said.

"What are you talking about? This young warrior is on the side of justice."

'What?'

Wait.

Does this mean Jin Song-baek knew about me?

I showed him only the keepsake from my mother, but I was moving around with a human face mask, and I thought he might not have known about my mother either.

But those words he said...

"Justice?"

Sima Chak frowned while looking at me.

My head was confused already, but then Jin Song-baek asked.

"By any chance, was the woman you were trying to save this man's daughter?"

At that, the face of Sima Chak contorted.

'... Ah.'

This was insane.

Things around me were getting really twisted.