Nangnang Tavern wasn't the direct crime scene, but it was right nearby, and because they had temporarily placed the corpses that died last night there.
The tavern owner, his family, and the chef had already all been sent outside, so only Martial World Protection Corps members stood there, emitting a deadly atmosphere. Internal furnishings like wine tables and chairs had all been cleared away, and instead only dozens of corpses greeted the Soldier Eccentric, giving off a thick bloody scent.
The man who had guided him was apparently the person in charge here, as he continued explaining the incident to the Soldier Eccentric.
"These people here died just outside last night."
The Soldier Eccentric, with his hands clasped behind his back, swept his gaze once over the corpses laid out in a row on the floor, then approached the corpse in the far left corner.
Like all the other corpses, its head had been severed and was rolling around carelessly.
Thud.
The Soldier Eccentric poked the corpse with his foot. Then he spat out a single word as if it were nothing.
"One bastard."
After that, he walked to the right along the long row of corpses, kicking them one by one thud thud as he walked to the end.
"Two, three..."
He was counting the corpses.
The sight was absurdly playful, but the fact that it looked more professional was surely a characteristic of this ruthless world called the Martial World.
Forty-three.
The number of heads scattered carelessly on the floor above the necks matched the number of corpses.
"First, the number of dead bastards were confirmed."
Next, the Soldier Eccentric examined the condition of the corpses.
Since they were all corpses with severed necks, it was difficult to know exactly which head belonged to which bastard.
However, as for the condition of those severed parts—
"Clean."
Excessively so.
So the Soldier Eccentric couldn't find anything particularly special in the corpses' wounds. He thought if he looked closely at the cross-sections, he might be able to figure out what martial art was used to behead them...
He examined them for quite a while longer, but in the end, he couldn't figure out anything. From how clean they were, he could only guess that the culprit was quite a skilled expert.
"What about these bastards' belongings?"
The Soldier Eccentric thoroughly searched the empty pockets of one corpse and spoke.
"They had nothing from the start."
The Martial World Protection Corps member who had first greeted him and led him here had been standing quietly behind him until then and answered.
"Really fishy bastards. Both the dead ones and the killer."
"Pardon?"
"Look at the corpses. They were killed extremely cleanly. I can't tell the level or type of martial art, but it's clear one person did this. That's why I say it's fishy."
"Ah, yes."
The Soldier Eccentric continued speaking while examining one of the corpses' clothing this way and that.
"These guys sprawled out sleeping here all bought their clothes from the same place—they're all wearing the exact same thing. That's fishy too."
The clothes the corpses wore were all black.
However, not all black was the same black.
Light black, murky black, black but with a slightly reddish tint...
Various kinds.
But the dead ones' clothes were all jet black with almost no difference in color—that kind of black clothing. They were undoubtedly from the same organization.
The Soldier Eccentric seemed to be looking casually, but he was checking everything thoroughly. Of course, the Martial World Protection Corps members had already confirmed this much as well.
But that wasn't all.
The Soldier Eccentric saw one more thing. That's why he was called the Eight Skills Soldier Madman.
Squelch.
The Soldier Eccentric stuck his finger deep into one corpse's neck area and pulled it out. His finger came out covered in blood that had now become quite thick.
"Smack smack."
"Urp!"
The Martial World Protection Corps member had been watching closely to see what the Soldier Eccentric was trying to do, then suddenly gagged. Because the Soldier Eccentric had put his blood-covered finger into his mouth.
Putting it deep inside his mouth and chewing on it, it looked as if he were savoring the taste of blood.
"Mm! Yes, yes. I thought the color and smell of the blood was fishy, and sure enough, they were fishy bastards."
"What? What do you mean by that...?"
"These bastards are from Yunnan. All their blood is shit-colored and reeks of shit."
"What...?"
The Martial World Protection Corps member fell deeper into confusion and couldn't understand what the Soldier Eccentric was saying at all.
But whether the Martial World Protection Corps member was curious or not, the Soldier Eccentric didn't open his mouth further. It wasn't something an ordinary Martial World Protection Corps member would understand, nor did he need to understand it. After the investigation was over, if he told Eul Ji-tae, he would decide whether to teach them or not.
'To think the Hall of Gathering Evil's Kill Shadow Group was slaughtered like this in Zhengzhou's front yard.'
Hall of Gathering Evil and Kill Shadow Group.
The Soldier Eccentric had extracted crucial information about their identities from the corpses' blood.
The Hall of Gathering Evil had a unique internal cultivation method called the Hidden Shadow Heart Art.
However, when one learned the Hidden Shadow Heart Art, the color of their blood became slightly murkier than others' and a peculiar poison fragrance emanated from that blood. This was because to learn the Hidden Shadow Heart Art, one had to continuously ingest the poison of a venomous snake called the Yapping Viper that only inhabited Yunnan.
That Hidden Shadow Heart Art was the exclusive mental cultivation method learned by members of the Kill Shadow Group, an assassination organization operated by the Hall of Gathering Evil. Because learning that mental cultivation method allowed one to raise their energy while not revealing that momentum to the outside world well.
That the Kill Shadow Group had appeared was one thing.
'But who on earth killed them?'
Has a ghost really appeared as rumored?
'Crazy talk.'
Where would ghosts exist? Even if they existed, would a ghost have nothing better to do than pick out only these bastards to kill? Weren't there many spectators at that time? Moreover, how many people deserving of death are there in this capital city right now?
'Especially in the Murim Alliance, such bastards are crawling everywhere.'
And the head of that Murim Alliance deserves to die a hundred times over...
That old geezer.
'It's definitely not a ghost. No way.'
If he dismissed it as a ghost and moved on, there would be no point in coming here to investigate. That couldn't be right either.
'Heavenly Demon Castle? The Chosen One of the Extreme Yin Star of Heavenly Calamity? Or maybe...'
If they had been attacked by the Kill Shadow Group and killed them in counterattack, perhaps it might be the Orthodox Faction's doing.
But even thinking that way, something didn't sit right.
First of all, if that were the case, there would be no need to kill the enemy so secretly, nor any reason to hide this incident.
Someone who moved secretly enough to be considered a ghost. Yet someone who used very concise and fast swordsmanship to assassinate the Kill Shadow Group members.
Many swift swords existed in the Orthodox Faction, but this felt different. Very different at that.
'Can a sword be this devoid of emotion?'
The sword is a martial artist's soul. When you wield a sword, that person's soul is imbued in it.
So anyone who has learned martial arts inevitably leaves traces of their soul in the traces of that martial art. This has no exceptions.
It must be so.
But in these sword traces, there was nothing...
No soul.
'Fishy. Very fishy.'
The unidentified ghost was undoubtedly someone who truly reeked.
"Then shall we go catch this ghost in earnest now?"
The Martial World Protection Corps member was still looking at him strangely as if he couldn't understand his words, but he quietly rose from his spot, paying no mind.
"I still don't know whether it's a ghost or a monster, but let's try finding it first."
With those words, he left Nangnang Tavern.
***
"Mo-monster!"
"Monster? Hey, that's not quite right, mister. Have you ever seen such a cute monster? Ah! Or not? That ghost guy was pretty handsome too, maybe? Then well, I'm a cute monster. Hehe."
Pssht.
A child-like hand extended forward and the man's head melted away just like that. Blood, brain matter, and melted skull mixed together to become water of a bizarre color.
Dribble.
It flowed, thoroughly soaking the man's limbs.
Thud.
Following that, the headless corpse forlornly knelt.
"Should watch your mouth. Gonna get hit."
There was already no mouth to get hit, and naturally no mouth to be careful with either.
"Old Uncle."
"Yes, Young Lady."
At Yeon Yeong-ha's call, the Old Uncle who had been standing silently behind her bowed at the waist.
"These bastards have shitty taste and are shitty boring, what should I do?"
Yeon Yeong-ha pointed cutely with her pinky finger at the blade wielders of the Great Blade Gate who were still pointing their sabers at her from the front.
At that, the Old Uncle bowed even more deeply at the waist. As if he could crawl into the ground if he could bow any deeper.
"This place's Gate Leader hasn't come out yet. Young Lady."
"True enough. I can feel a pretty fun toy approaching right now—that must be the Gate Leader here?"
"Probably so."
"Then before I play big, I should clean up the bugs first?"
Bugs.
To her, the Great Blade Gate's blade wielders were merely bugs.
"Grrr! Die, you monster!"
His pride wounded by her words, one blade wielder rushed forward and brought his saber down on Yeon Yeong-ha, raising his true qi to the fullest. Dozens of blade wielders had already turned into handfuls of filthy water, but they still didn't seem to know very well what kind of being Yeon Yeong-ha was or how terrifying a monster she was.
"Tsk. At least be good enough to play with. This is just playing house level."
Yeon Yeong-ha simply flicked forward the pinky finger she'd been using to scratch her ear.
Pssht.
Half of the charging blade wielder's head disappeared.
Not cut, melted, or shattered—just half of the blade wielder's head simply... vanished.
"Guh..."
The blade wielder let out a strange scream with his half-remaining mouth and tongue and died just like that.
"Tsk. You can't even block something like this and you try to play with me?"
"..."
"Boring. Boring. I said it's boring. Come quickly."
Yeon Yeong-ha's eyes changed to become like obsidian, glinting with a mad sheen.
And.
Her fingers began dancing in the air as if plucking geomungo strings. In sync with that, the blade wielders' bodies melted away one by one.
No screams, no resistance, no combat.
Just play.
As her hand embroidered the air as if playing with jacks, the blade wielders' lives disappeared in droves.
Running away was useless. Her black energy spread throughout every corner of the Great Blade Gate, and death soon became rampant.
Just when one more moment would pass and the only living beings breathing in this place would be her and the Old Uncle—
Clack.
A middle-aged man holding a saber eight feet long—far longer and larger than his own body—appeared in the hall.
It was Great Blade Gate Leader Jang Pil-gang.
Though he wasn't someone affiliated with the Murim Alliance, he was a top expert in Henan Province. Though nothing was known precisely about his skill, there were even those who said he might be able to face off against Murim Alliance Lord-level experts, so he was highly skilled.
But right now his expression was terribly stiff and his face had completely turned the color of earth. Both hands gripping the great saber were trembling so severely it looked like he might drop the saber at any moment.
That much was because he could feel even the fringes of the bizarre energy Yeon Yeong-ha was emitting.
He looked around with a dark expression.
Most of the dozens of disciples had already turned into handfuls of blood. The remaining disciples who survived also had melted limbs or holes in their necks or faces, already crippled or about to die.
He hardened his face further and looked at Yeon Yeong-ha, speaking heavily.
"Can you not just let these people go?"
He didn't even ask why or who she was.
The moment he saw Yeon Yeong-ha's pitch-black eyes like the bottom of an abyss, he could know all too well that such questions were useless.
In fact, even these words he just spoke would be useless, but as Gate Leader he had to say them anyway. If he didn't say even such words, the Great Blade Gate would disappear futilely like this without being able to do anything.
"Eh? Those things?"
Yeon Yeong-ha playfully pointed at the crippled blade wielders with her pinky finger.
"Yes. These people."
Those things and people.
It starkly revealed the difference in perspective between Yeon Yeong-ha and Jang Pil-gang.
Yeon Yeong-ha shrugged her shoulders and continued speaking.
"Well? That's a bit difficult. If those guys leave here, I might not be able to join the big show that's finally opening up. Hee-hi."
"What must I do for you to just let them go?"
Jang Pil-gang didn't give up and asked again.
At that, Yeon Yeong-ha showed her even teeth and smiled whitely.
"Simple."
"..."
"Die. If you die, I'll let them go."
"...That's not just letting them go, is it?"
"Huh? Is that so? What a fool. Hehehe."
The sight of her lightly flicking her own head and laughing was exactly that of a cute young girl, but no one in this place thought that appearance was cute.
Except herself.
"Then just..."
Yeon Yeong-ha trailed off for a moment, then slightly licked her lips cutely and spoke.
"Die. Why try to live so hard? Hm?"
"..."
That day, the Great Blade Gate was thus exterminated.
But that was only the prelude.
Noga Village, Great Blade Gate, Yong Family Manor, Heavenly Star Training Hall, and so on.
Within one week, several small and medium sects that had built up names for themselves in Henan Province disappeared without a trace.
Overshadowed by the big topic of conversation called the Heavenly Youth Martial Arts Tournament...