"I'll help you," Ma Il-seok said upon returning to the thatched-roof house.
Mok Seon-oh blinked, gazing at him with an awkward expression.
I can't understand this, Mok Seon-oh thought.
Just moments ago, Ma Il-seok had vehemently refused to help, even flying into a rage. Now, he was suddenly making this dramatic reversal.
What could have changed his mind? Mok Seon-oh pondered.
In the end, all Mok Seon-oh could do was smile.
"Thank you."
After all, my younger brother has undergone a change of heart and is now offering his help. What else matters?
Finally, the three of them were gathered in one place.
Mok Ri-won blinked, looking at Mok Seon-oh's smiling face and Ma Il-seok's sullen expression.
Suddenly, Ma Il-seok declared, "From today onward, the Beggar King will assist with your cultivation."
Though delivered as a curt announcement, Mok Ri-won responded with a radiant smile.
"Really?!"
Ma Il-seok's body twitched involuntarily. He had meant to project authority, but Mok Ri-won's eager acceptance immediately filled him with awkwardness.
But the moment passed quickly.
Ma Il-seok hardened his expression again and continued, "Yes, precisely because your nature has so many peculiar aspects."
"Peculiar aspects?"
"Do you know under what star you were born?"
Mok Ri-won nodded.
"The Heavenly Killing Star!"
"Then do you also know why that star is called the Star of the Killing Fiend?"
Mok Ri-won froze mid-answer, his mouth snapping shut.
Come to think of it...
He didn't actually know much about this.
Even Mok Seon-oh, who had first introduced him to the concept of the Heavenly Killing Star, had only given vague explanations like, "Those born under this star are destined to bear the weight of the Killing Tribulation."
In the silence that followed Mok Ri-won's silence, Ma Il-seok sighed and muttered,
"I knew this would happen..."
Ma Il-seok's gaze, tinged with displeasure, turned toward Mok Seon-oh.
Mok Seon-oh cleared his throat with a fake cough, his eyes meeting Ma Il-seok's questioning gaze defensively.
"I was planning to tell him when he was older," he offered as an excuse.
"Elder Brother, you must have had quite a time with that," Ma Il-seok remarked dryly.
"Ugh..." Mok Seon-oh groaned.
Ma Il-seok shifted his gaze back to Mok Ri-won and continued in a stern voice, "Listen carefully."
"Yes, sir!"
"The reason the Heavenly Killing Star is called the Star of the Killing Fiend is simple."
Thud.
Ma Il-seok took a step forward.
Mok Ri-won swallowed nervously, his eyes fixed on Ma Il-seok. The elder's steely gaze held an almost chilling intensity, and the overwhelming pressure emanating from him was unlike anything Mok Ri-won had ever experienced in his life.
"It is because those born under the Heavenly Killing Star possess a peculiar flaw."
As he spoke those words, Ma Il-seok drew a dagger from his robe.
He pressed the blade against the palm of his hand.
"A quirk?"
"Exactly."
Mok Ri-won couldn't tell what Ma Il-seok intended, but he instinctively knew it wouldn't be pleasant.
His instincts proved correct.
Ma Il-seok glared at Mok Ri-won with his deeply sunken eyes and slashed the dagger across his palm as he answered.
Crack.
"Seeing blood instantly sends me into a frenzy."
Crimson blood began to fill Mok Ri-won's vision.
In that instant, Mok Ri-won felt it.
Thump.
His heart pounded heavily, and a heat seemed to surge through his body—a thrilling sensation he had never experienced before.
Mok Ri-won opened his eyes to the sight of a brilliant full moon illuminating the night sky.
Staring blankly at the ceiling of his room, he suddenly recalled the events that had transpired before he fell asleep. He jolted upright in shock.
Master!
The memory came flooding back:
In that moment, when a crimson, acrid liquid filled his vision, his heart pounded wildly, and a strange thirst gripped him.
His insides burned so intensely that even breathing felt difficult, and his gaze remained fixed on the blood gushing from Ma Il-seok's palm.
That was why he had lunged at Ma Il-seok.
And Mok Seon-oh had intervened.
Only then did Mok Ri-won fully recall everything. He scrambled out of his room, breathless.
"Awake now?"
Mok Seon-oh, who had been gazing at the night sky in the courtyard just outside his door, spoke.
Mok Ri-won instinctively flinched at the words, delivered in a calm tone as if nothing had happened.
"Master...?"
"How is your body?"
How is it? Of course, it's fine.
It has to be.
It was Mok Seon-oh's forearm that had stopped his teeth mid-bite as he lunged at Ma Il-seok.
Mok Ri-won's gaze drifted to Mok Seon-oh's left forearm.
Sensing the scrutiny, Mok Seon-oh smiled and replied, "This Master is fine."
His voice was soft and gentle.
For some reason, tears welled up in Mok Ri-won's eyes at that voice.
"Why are you crying?"
Mok Seon-oh approached Mok Ri-won and gently stroked his head.
A choking sensation gripped Mok Ri-won, and his body trembled violently.
"Master..."
"Yes, this Master is here."
Tap.
Tap.
Mok Seon-oh, who had been stroking Mok Ri-won's hair, suddenly pulled him into a hug, patting his back.
Mok Ri-won continued, gasping between hiccups. "Am I... going to become a Demon?"
It was fear that drove his words. The day's events had been so traumatic that he was terrified he would commit such a horrifying act again at the mere sight of blood.
"Can I... never become a Knight-Errant?"
Ma Il-seok had said that the Heavenly Killing Star possessed a peculiar nature: it became aroused by the sight of blood. This was why it was called the Star of the Killing Fiend, a harbinger of bloody calamities.
His words rang true.
Even in his current state of terror, Mok Ri-won's heart pounded violently at the mere thought of blood.
The thrill was exhilarating yet terrifying, and the thought that he might live like this for the rest of his life filled him with anxiety.
Mok Seon-oh felt his heart burn as he watched Mok Ri-won sob.
How could he not understand?
This child, with his gentle nature—unable to bear even the sight of a rabbit caught in a trap—must find this extraordinary ability truly frightening.
In truth, Mok Seon-oh disapproved of Ma Il-seok's methods.
While the intention to shock the boy into awareness was commendable, he couldn't shake the feeling that it had frightened the child first and foremost.
Mok Seon-oh pulled Mok Ri-won into a tight embrace and whispered gently, "You're wrong. You can become a Knight-Errant."
"But..."
"Won."
Mok Seon-oh released Mok Ri-won from his embrace, placing his hands on the boy's shoulders as he looked at him and continued, "Do you know the difference between a Demon and a Knight-Errant?"
Mok Ri-won didn't answer.
Mok Seon-oh smiled gently at him and continued, "It's that they don't misuse their power. And even when evil thoughts arise, they suppress them completely."
Explaining this to a child was difficult.
Not yet familiar with the world, he needed simple, emotionally resonant words rather than complex language or abstract concepts. Moreover, abstract ideas had to be made concrete and intuitive.
Mok Seon-oh gazed steadily at Mok Ri-won, lost in thought for a moment, before posing a question.
"Won."
"Yes..."
"If someone with pure Internal Energy uses their power justly, would you consider them a Knight-Errant?"
Mok Ri-won struggled to suppress her tears as she pondered the question.
After a moment, she nodded firmly.
"Yes..."
She could answer with certainty. After all, Mok Seon-oh himself, standing right before her, was such a person to her.
Mok Seon-oh smiled and continued with his next question.
"Then, if someone with such pure Martial Arts uses their power to exploit others, would you still call them a Knight-Errant?"
Mok Ri-won shook her head.
The Knight-Errants she knew were those who benefited others, not those who exploited them.
Mok Seon-oh continued his questioning:
"But what if someone with malevolent inner energy uses that power to help others?"
Mok Ri-won's body trembled slightly.
Mok Seon-oh chuckled playfully and pressed on:
"Would you call him a Knight-Errant? Or, since his inner energy is malevolent, would you call him a Demon?"
Mok Ri-won's lips moved soundlessly, as if trying to form an answer. His eyes finally met Mok Seon-oh's gaze.
"Won-ah," Mok Seon-oh said gently.
"Yes..." Mok Ri-won replied.
"A sword has no eyes, child. It cannot distinguish between opponents, nor can it discern good from evil. To a sword, there is only the swordsman who wields it."
Mok Seon-oh's hand brushed across Mok Ri-won's face, wiping away the tears that clung to his cheeks, one by one.
"What does it matter if the sword is slightly wicked or ugly to look at? If you who wield it understand the meaning of chivalry, isn't that enough? Then isn't it truly a Knight-Errant's blade?"
Mok Ri-won simply listened to the words being offered, gazing into his eyes.
The pupils were the only black parts in his entirely white eyes.
Blackness was often associated with evil.
Mok Ri-won knew this well.
Yet Mok Ri-won understood that blackness and evil were not the same. Perhaps it was because the darkness within those pupils held the brilliant light of stars.
"Even if you possess wicked tendencies, wouldn't it be enough if you suppress them and channel that murderous intent into righteous causes?"
Mok Seon-oh didn't stop talking.
"There's a man called the Demonic Knight-Errant."
"The Demonic Knight-Errant...?"
"Yes, the Demonic Knight-Errant. It's the name of a man who, despite possessing sinister Demonic Arts, used his power to punish the wicked. You can find him in the book 'Chronicles of the Jianghu Knight-Errants' at the city's bookstore."
Curiosity flickered in Mok Ri-won's eyes.
Mok Seon-oh chuckled awkwardly and continued, "There's no reason you couldn't become like him, is there?"
In truth, it was a lie.
The Demonic Knight-Errant was a fictional character, and the 'Chronicles of the Jianghu Knight-Errants' was merely a pulp novel written for entertainment.
No, it was a book that had even been condemned for supposedly defending Demons.
Mok Seon-oh remained unfazed.
So what if they're considered trash?
Even such despised pulp could offer hope to someone as desperate as this child.
"Won, aren't you a good child who can channel the murderous intent within you toward the right targets?"
Having finished speaking, Mok Seon-oh waited for Mok Ri-won's reply.
Mok Ri-won looked up at Mok Seon-oh, his fingertips twitching.
He gazed at the stars reflected in Mok Seon-oh's eyes, at the stars dotting the night sky, and at the hazy moon embracing them all.
It was a scene of piercing beauty, a scene so tender and poignant.
Mok Ri-won quietly contemplated the scene before slowly nodding.
"Yes..."
"Yes, you are a good and righteous child. You will undoubtedly become a Knight-Errant."
Mok Seon-oh's laughter tickled Mok Ri-won's ears.
In that moment, Mok Ri-won realized:
My heart...
...was no longer racing.
"I'll tell my Beggar to fetch you Chronicles of the Jianghu Knight-Errants. You'll like the stories of the Demonic Knight-Errant too."
You too.
At that word, Mok Ri-won asked:
"Master, do you like the Demonic Knight-Errant?"
Mok Ri-won knew nothing of the Demonic Knight-Errant, nor of the Chronicles of the Jianghu Knight-Errants, nor even of the Martial World itself.
Therefore, only one thing mattered to Mok Ri-won:
Could the man who was both his master and father truly love someone like him, who was of demonic nature?
Will you say that a knight-errant formed from demon Qi is righteous?
Mok Seon-oh blinked at Mok Ri-won's tense expression, then burst into hearty laughter as he replied, "Of course! Isn't he still a knight-errant? Why would I disapprove?"
The child's world was small, confined to a single thatched cottage in a mountain valley and the stream that flowed before it.
Therefore, the child felt overwhelming emotion at the old man's words, rejoicing in his father's affirmation of the world that sustained him.
On that day, the child finally formed a clear dream: to follow in the footsteps of the Demonic Knight-Errant, a man he had never even met.
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