I opened my eyes and looked around.
The mood inside the boat was bleak. There was no separate room they could give us, so everyone slept gathered together in one place.
Only a single lamp held back the dark, and the space was filled with nothing but shallow breathing.
Everyone had gone to sleep.
At that moment, Peng Dojun and I sat up.
“......”
The faint fatigue creeping over me was easily pushed away with energy. I applied inner qi and woke my body up.
I took my sword.
I tucked the Divine Sword at my waist and rose.
“Are you going to check?”
“I have to.”
I needed to find out what was happening.
It had already felt unpleasant enough as it was.
Something seemed to be going on. I had to confirm it.
Peng Dojun went out first.
I was about to follow him when someone grabbed me.
I turned and saw Yu Yeon.
When had she woken up?
Her eyes were asking where I was going.
“Keep sleeping. I’m just going to check and come back.”
“......”
Apparently she had no intention of listening. Yu Yeon slowly sat up.
Looks like she was coming too.
Would she listen if I stopped her?
No. Forget it.
I decided not to bother.
We went outside.
When we climbed up onto the deck, it was already night.
The boat was moving slowly. It was still in the middle of crossing the river.
What is with this yin energy?
Yin energy had spread everywhere. Mixed with the chill flowing up from the river, it looked even more unpleasant.
I looked down over the railing at the river.
“......”
My brows immediately furrowed.
The river was strangely bright. Souls crouched within it had clustered together and were giving off light.
All of those were water ghosts.
This feels filthy.
Malice was crawling up along the river.
“Something feels wrong.”
Peng Dojun, with his Heavenly Martial Body and senses sharpened to an extreme, must have felt it too. His face twisted.
“I think it would be better to go out. That spot in particular feels terrible.”
“Yes. That’s how it looks to me too.”
He really was remarkable.
He had pointed out the worst place exactly.
Seeing that made me certain.
Looks like someone really is doing something.
This much malice and this many water ghosts gathered together could not have formed naturally.
This was clearly the work of another.
The work of malice.
All right, then.
Let’s see what they’re trying to do.
I began moving slowly.
It was obvious where I had to go.
As I moved bit by bit, someone appeared in the distance.
“You there! What’s going on?”
It was a man holding a lantern.
He had spotted us moving around at this hour of the night and was approaching.
“It’s late. Why have you come out? We still have quite a way to go before we reach our destination.”
“I wanted to take a night walk. It’s my first time seeing a river this wide.”
“......Even so, it’s dangerous. If there’s an accident, this is the sort of place where you disappear without a trace. You should go back inside and rest safely.”
“Disappear without a trace, huh. It certainly looks that way.”
“Accidents do happen here from time to time.”
“Accidents? Accidents happen here?”
“Sometimes. If travelers fall into the river, they can be impossible to find inside. And it would be troublesome if the sea god were angered.”
“......Sea god?”
I reacted to the word god.
When I narrowed my eyes and asked, the man flinched slightly.
“There must be some legend about this river.”
“......It’s nothing impressive. Yes, just an old story.”
“An old story?”
“If offerings are not regularly given to the god who lived in the river...... it becomes angered and brings calamity. That sort of tale.”
“Ah.”
I nodded.
At the same time, I looked at the river.
I observed the energies writhing inside it and murmured.
“So you threw humans in as food. To try to calm it down?”
“......What?”
The man’s eyes widened at my words.
“That doesn’t make gods calm down, though.”
My eyes were looking at the souls clustered inside the river.
No.
At something much deeper, far beneath them.
It seemed ready to writhe at any moment, yet it did not move much.
It seemed to be waiting for something. Or perhaps it was simply asleep.
Either way, it did not matter.
That thing’s state was not the important part.
What mattered was this.
“You fed it a lot. It’s so full it looks ready to burst.”
I was beginning to understand a little of what was happening on this boat.
“In what age are we still making human offerings? Or maybe it’s because this is the age we live in that people do. Well, that part doesn’t matter.”
I looked at the man.
“Wrong is still wrong.”
SHWIK—!
The moment I finished speaking, something flew at me.
The man had drawn his sword and was swinging it at me.
Peng Dojun and Yu Yeon only watched in silence.
Because it was too slow.
Tap.
“Guh!?”
I caught the blade between my index finger and thumb.
CLANG—!
I applied strength, snapped the blade, then slipped in and covered his mouth with my hand.
I subdued him just like that.
“I have no particular intention of torturing you. Honestly, pretending I didn’t notice and moving on wouldn’t be a problem either...... unfortunately, I absolutely hate things like this.”
Human offerings.
I already hated gods, and I loathed those who sold off other souls to appease them.
“I need to see the face of whoever is doing this.”
“Mmph...... mmmph......”
“Would you help me a little?”
I said it with a smile.
In that opening, I wrapped killing intent around him and sent it out.
“Ghk...... haaah......”
The man hit by my killing intent trembled, then finally gave a slight nod.
His choice had been decided from the start.
*****
We moved with the man leading us.
Down into the lower part of the boat.
Not the place where the passengers slept, but another room a little farther away.
That was where we went.
There was barely any light, and the place was strangely damp and full of discomfort.
After pushing through it and arriving, we saw an iron door.
“......Th-this is it.”
“Go in.”
At those words, the man grabbed the door with trembling hands and twisted it open.
The iron door slowly opened, and the interior came into view.
“Hm? What is it? It shouldn’t be time for shift change yet.”
“Chungpung. Why are you here already......”
The men inside froze when they saw the one they called Chungpung and us.
“......What the hell? Why are passengers here?”
“Who are you people......!”
Ignoring their reactions, I stepped inside and checked the situation.
“Mmph...... mmmph......”
There were people in the corner.
Women.
Now that I looked, I recognized some of the women who had boarded with us.
Their hands and feet were bound, and they were huddled together in the corner.
They were clearly terrified.
“Chungpung! What is the meaning of this?”
“......I-I’m sorry. But......”
“Damn it. I was trying not to touch them if possible because they seemed to be martial artists.”
Shrrrng.
The men inside drew their swords.
In that opening, the man who seemed to be the captain looked to the side and spoke.
“Master Cheong......! Please.”
“Hmph.”
There was one person with a different air about him.
He was carrying a spear, and no matter how I looked at him, he was a martial artist.
“You brats look like you came out for a stroll at the wrong time. I’ll praise you for being quick-witted, but you should know where to stick your nose in and where not to.”
“......”
A man who looked over forty.
First-rate? Or peak realm.
It seemed like one of the two.
At most, he would be at the entry point of peak realm.
“How unfortunate. To think I must kill brats like you with my own hands. Don’t resent me. This is all work.”
“What is that idiot babbling about?”
Peng Dojun snorted and gripped his blade.
“What do you want? Should I mince him?”
He asked.
What kind of orthodox bloodline says mince him?
“No. I’ll do it.”
As I walked, I took off my cloak.
The martial uniform it had hidden was revealed.
“......Huh?”
The spearman saw me and stopped.
There was a lamp lit inside the room, at least.
Thanks to that, the crest and appearance of my martial uniform were clearly visible.
“......That outfit...... you...... what are you? How do you have that?”
It seemed he knew what this was.
Of course he did.
What I was wearing right now was the Lesser Moon Unit uniform.
“Master Cheong. What is it? What is that outfit?”
“......Lesser Moon Unit. You bastard. Are you from the Azure Moon Sect?”
“Th-the Azure Moon Sect?”
At those words, the captain opened his eyes wide and stared at me.
My blue martial uniform gave off a faint gleam.
“H-how would someone from a place like that have come all the way here? It must be fake.”
“......”
Even at the word fake, the spearman said nothing.
The uniform alone could be fake.
The problem was my eyes.
“......Moon Eye......? Not a foreign-looking person, but Moon Eye?”
“You know it well.”
My eyes, turned blue, were the symbol of Moon Eye.
The Lesser Moon Unit uniform was the proof of qualification connected to it.
One who held the moon.
An elite martial artist of the Azure Moon Sect.
It also meant a strong martial artist recognized in the Central Plains.
Clack.
I gripped the sword at my waist.
“I wanted to go comfortably, but this happened, so I suppose I’ll have to meddle. You said this was work? That’s a good word.”
Shrrrng.
I drew my sword and continued.
“This is work for me too. So let’s keep this pleasant.”
Grrrrk.
I wrapped myself in fighting spirit and looked at him.
A strange unease surfaced in the spearman’s eyes.
“Are you coming?”
“......”
I gave him a chance.
Crunch.
The spearman ground his teeth.
“......A brat who doesn’t even look twenty yet is Lesser Moon Unit...... I’ve heard of you. White hair and blue eyes. You. Don’t tell me you’re Moon Hero?”
“Thanks for recognizing me. Yes, that’s me.”
“......Impossible......!”
The captain was horrified.
“Th-the Sword Saint’s inheritor? Why would someone like that be here?”
“I was on my way for some business, and I happened across something interesting.”
I glanced sideways at the women bound here.
“Things like this are everywhere you go. Disgustingly enough.”
“......You’re the rising star who killed the Sword Demon and saved Divine Spear in Henan?”
“That’s a bit exaggerated, but I did do something like that.”
“Hah.”
The spearman tightened his grip around the spear.
“This was not in the plan. To think I would run into the Lesser Moon Unit here.”
Was he planning to fight?
I could feel fighting spirit from the spearman’s body.
Seeing that, I loosened myself slightly.
Two steps should do it.
Should I rush in now?
While I briefly measured the distance and considered it—
Whoosh—!!!
The spearman moved.
However, he did not charge at me.
The opposite.
More precisely, he rushed toward the women.
“Mmmph!”
He grabbed one woman and placed the spear against her throat.
“You’d better not move.”
“......”
“If you move even a little more, this bitch’s throat gets pierced.”
He smiled foully.
So it came down to taking a hostage?
“I don’t know why the Lesser Moon Unit is in a place like this, but don’t move an inch. Just stay still.”
“Stay still and what?”
“......Huh?”
The spearman stopped mid-sentence.
My body had already reached his side.
“You bastard......!”
He hurriedly tried to move his hand, but—
Thud.
Roll.
Something fell to the floor.
It was the arm that had been holding the spear.
“What......!”
He reacted belatedly to the severed arm, but that too was too late.
Slice.
My sword cut across his neck and passed through.
Thud.
His head fell beside his severed arm.
“......”
I looked at the man who had died without even closing his eyes, then turned to the captain.
“Want to keep going?”
Thump—!
The captain dropped to his knees and slammed his head to the floor.
He was a very quick man.
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