The Ruler of Darkness

The two burly men cut through the hustle and bustle of the crowd.

The streets remained noisy and chaotic, but nobody dared to meet their eyes or block their path.

As they walked, they stole swigs of alcohol from those drinking at the neighboring pubs and ate a few skewers from street vendors.

Yet, nobody dared to stop them.

Even the patrolling government soldiers, merely acknowledged their presence.

Taller than the well-nourished soldiers by a head, their stature resembled bulls rather than men. Amid the cold, their upper bodies casually draped in clothes, revealed hundreds of black skull tattoos and various scars.

They belonged to the Black Bone Faction,

And they were martial artists.

Superhumans who were born with the talent to manipulate a mysterious power called internal energy through their qi.

* * *

Shortly after, they arrived at the street where the mask workshop was located.

“Ah, that seems to be the place.”

The mask artisan’s workshop was located in a quiet alleyway off the main road. They stood at the entrance of the alley, gazing at the mask artisan’s workshop.

“…I don’t see that mask artisan guy.”

“Same here.”

At the entrance of the mask workshop, a boy dressed in white, nondescript clothes sat. There were sporadic passersby, but the boy silently whittling a piece of wood looked infinitely idle, yet somehow infinitely at ease.

“Did he have an apprentice…?”

“Why not just ask him?”

As they walked down the alley, people who spotted the burly men turned and scattered. The boy, engrossed in his carving, didn’t seem to notice the men approaching.

“Hey.”

“Where did that mask old man go?”

The carving knife halted.

The boy, who was deeply bowed over his work, raised his head.

“……?!”

The men’s eyebrows twitched.

On the boy’s face was a mask with no designs, not even eye holes. The rough finish of the mask, with its white gloss, seemed strangely ominous.

“Hmm.”

It was momentary, but to be startled by a mere mask—this was something that wouldn’t happen to their usual selves.

“Hey, lad. Didn’t you hear the elders asking you a question?”

The man subtly exerted his domineering aura. The kind that would make an ordinary person’s skin crawl, as if they’d met a tiger.

However, the boy with the mask didn’t look scared at all. Instead, he seemed leisurely enough to even smile slightly. The boy’s neat white teeth were revealed.

“Do you know what the face of Guanyiin Bodhisattva looks like?”

Taken aback by the irrelevant question, the men felt displeased. Under normal circumstances, one of them would have swung a punch by now. Their fists, visibly larger than the boy’s ominous skull, could easily crush his skull as easily as stepping on a dry leaf.

However, neither of them did.

No, they couldn’t.

Something felt off.

They were uncomfortable.

“Well, why would I discuss Buddhism with you guys.”

The boy, chuckling, stood up from his seat. Then, before they could even react, he disappeared into the shop.

There was no sound of footsteps.

Only the faint echo of his soft laughter lingered.

When they came to their senses, only wood shavings remained where the boy had been sitting.

“…huh, f*ck.”

Even a foul-mouthed venting failed to bolster their morale, it only dissipated futilely into thin air.

This isn’t being charmed by a ghost in broad daylight, is it?

For their pride, they couldn’t retreat, nor could they immediately follow him inside.

“What was that about?”

“I’m not sure either.”

Deep shadows hung in the interior of the shop the boy had abruptly disappeared into. Given the midday sun, the shadows were naturally deep. However, for some reason, these did not seem like mere darkness to them.

“Still, shouldn’t we catch him?”

When he exerted his internal energy, a shred of confidence returned.

“…We must.”

These were men who considered snapping a person’s neck trivial. 

They always led with their fists, not words, and had killed quite a few renowned martial artists.

Their current behavior was clearly abnormal, but they themselves didn’t realize it.

They headed into the shop, following the boy who had disappeared into the darkness. The walls of the shop were covered with masks.

According to the reports of their subordinates who came here yesterday, the place was supposedly ransacked from the outside in. And they claimed to have taken everything of value.

Yet, why were so many vibrant masks hanging wall-to-wall in this dim shop?

In various shapes and colors, some masks appeared to be laughing, others crying—all seemed to be staring at them.

“Is this some sort of black magic?”

The answer came a moment later.

“……I don’t know.”

What they saw and heard, even if it could be described as sorcery, was nothing more than a trick that deceived the senses with illusions.

For superhumans who possessed internal energy, breaking the limits of human capabilities, such tricks held no sway.

“……This way?”

“……It seems so.”

When the hallway of the labyrinthine masks, which had felt far too long, finally came to an end, a side door emerged into view.

Surely the boy must have traversed through this side door, leading straight from the hallway.

Once inside, there was an inner courtyard, and spaces used as workshops and living areas. A ray of light was seeping through the slightly opened door, and for some reason, the sunlight felt incredibly welcoming. The two, who had unknowingly been driven close to their mental limits, quickly walked towards the side door.

It was more of a run than a walk.

The moment the larger man, who had reached the side door first, pushed it open,

“……Huh?!”

A pallid hand extended from the interior, clasping his collar.

“Eheuk?!”

In the current situation, he had raised his internal energy to be fully prepared.  The larger man protected his seized neck with his inner power while simultaneously grabbing the arm with both hands.

With his innate strength and the power of his inner energy, he should have been able to easily snap that thin arm like a dry twig.

However,

“…….!”

The pale hand gnawed into his neck, which he had protected with his internal energy, with astonishing ease. His hand, which had exerted all its strength, could not even leave a mark on the opponent’s cold skin, let alone break the arm.

Then, without even leaving a scream behind, he disappeared as if he was sucked into the side door.

“B-brother?!”

The larger man, who was left alone, was shocked.

He scrambled to his feet, fleeing in the opposite direction. Whether it was out of sheer desperation or a calculated move, he couldn’t tell, but he risked everything, hurling himself forward. Oddly enough, the sun-drenched alleyway seemed to be out of reach. It felt as if it was receding into the distance.

“Kuhuk!”

He stumbled, tripping over his own feet and collapsing. His current condition was lamentable, unlike anything he’d ever experienced. Even when he had bowed to mightier forces or yielded to power, when had he been so humiliated? However, he was too numb to even register his own disgrace.

He attempted to rise swiftly, but one leg refused to cooperate. Something had latched onto his ankle. It was that same ashen hand.

“Ah, ahhhh!!”

He dug his fingers into the earth, attempting to resist the force pulling him. His fingers, charged with his remaining internal energy, burrowed into the cobblestones below. However, his momentum didn’t waver in the slightest.

Sparks scattered, and his nails splintered.

His fingers shattered.

Yet, he couldn’t halt.

“Save me, please! Save…”

In a futile last-ditch effort, he tried to cling to the doorframe, but it shattered under his grip, and he was swallowed up by the side door.

Thud- thud-

In the deserted shop, only the side door that had ingested the two figures swung aimlessly.

Somehow, the sound of masks laughing reverberated ominously.

* * *

Yeon So-Hyeon knew that the Black Bone Faction would send someone if he showed himself in the mask artisan’s workshop. He casually carved pieces and let loose the small fry lurking in the distance, and those small fry brought back genuine big fish.

Whether from the black or white paths, these martial artists were valuable people, naturally holding high positions internally, and the quality of the information they knew was good.

This was also true for these big fish.

However, Yeon So-Hyeon’s face was filled with dissatisfaction.

“No, no. Was it this?”

He squatted on the straw mat, fiddling with his hands. He then pulled back a little, took a careful look, and shook his head.

“It doesn’t seem to be this expression either…….”

He approached again and looked at the two heads. Only the heads were left, the bodies nowhere to be found, and they wore the most agonizing expressions in the world. Their tongues were protruding, their bulging eyes were full of popped blood vessels, with dried blood flowing in rivulets.

The head rolling beside was not much different, except for its similar expression.

“Well….”

Yeon So-Hyeon, who had lost his appetite for no reason, sat down on the dirt floor and picked up the carving he had been diligently carving. It was a statue of the Bodhisattva of Compassion with its face yet to be carved.

“I guess I really don’t know.”

The problem wasn’t with his memory.

He remembered all the numerous taenghwa (Buddhist art paintings), down to the most trivial part.

But……

“Just mimicking the shape is not enough.”

What face does the Buddha, symbolizing endless compassion and mercy, wear?

What face does the Buddha in his heart wear?

The carving knife of Yeon So-Hyeon, who was immersed in thought for a moment, moved like dancing. The miscellaneous tasks he hadn’t touched could be counted faster from the back, and carving was also one of his territories.

His unhindered hand gave shape vividly.

“……It’s done.”

Yeon So-Hyeon turned around and placed the completed carving on the grave mound.

He also left the carving knife there.

It was a joint grave of the mask artisan’s family that Yeon So-Hyeon had made.

The warm noon sun shone on the fresh mound, merely covered with coarse red cloth.

The statue of the Bodhisattva of Compassion made by Yeon So-Hyeon lay on top, shining brightly.

Instead of a merciful expression, the face of the Bodhisattva was hidden by a carved mask.

It was the same shape as the mask Yeon So-Hyeon had received.

Its crooked expression seemed to mock the world, its unbroken eyeholes turned away from the world.

“……Black Bone Faction, and Geumju.”

Yeon So-Hyeon, who had been looking up at the sky for a moment, recited softly.

“Mock, and laugh. Deceive, and humiliate. That will be your only form of resistance…….”

And perhaps by now,

The unnecessarily diligent ‘gatekeeper’ would be desperately searching for him, ready to turn over every stone in Luoyang.

Keke, with a burst of laughter, Yeon So-Hyeon’s figure disappeared from the graveside.

The chilling winter wind swept across the two skulls rolling aimlessly on the cloth-covered ground.

Our MC is being a savage as always.

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