The Return of the Crazy Demon-Chapter 245: While Staring into the Darkness, I Grew Accustomed to the Light

The steady breathing of Sword Demon, Drunk, and Lecher carried through the night. Somehow, I’d ended up on watch. I tossed the firewood Drunk had gathered into the flames and stared into the campfire.

As the flickering flames reflected in my eyes, I tried to control the turbulence in my mind with the aesthetic of letting go.

Like some homeless gang leader with no house and no coin.

If the fire had stirred up my madness, I might’ve dashed off into the night and scoured the dark for that ventriloquist bastard babbling at us—but tonight, I didn’t.

It wasn’t easy, but the mindset of don’t wake the sleeping villains had combined with this newfound calm, and somehow, I managed to endure.

Quietly feeding the fire, I gazed upon the villains resting. Then I took stock of myself and the others.

Was this journey going well?

I found myself muttering, Not bad. I’d left to catch Mulungja, but it didn’t really matter if I found him or not. This wasn’t the life of crazed monkeys locked away, obsessed with training. We, unlike our past lives, were living differently now—and encouraging one another.

And that wasn’t such a bad thing.

As I lost track of time staring into the flames, morning crept in.

With dawn came a lifting of the darkness within me.

As shapes began to form—stones, weeds, pitch-black trees—Drunk spoke from behind.

“Jomju, go get some sleep. Good job.”

I looked up at Drunk rising.

“You could’ve slept more.”

“I slept plenty. If you’re not tired, do some internal circulation.”

I met his eyes, then sat down and began channeling my Hundred Battles, Tenfold Tempering Technique in a seated meditation. Maybe it was because I’d stared at the stars and fire for so long—when I closed my eyes, constellations floated in the darkness and the flames danced.

As I centered myself and cultivated energy, a hallucination drifted over from the far side of the Milky Way I’d conjured.

「Hundred Battles Technique, Sixth Tempering—The Sixth-Stage Carriage is departing shortly.」

「Hold tight, Third. This ride’s a fast one.」

「Why is it so fast today? Is it the air in Juksan?」

「Whoa, I’m dizzy. Hang on! If you fall off, it’s inner deviation.」

「Of course it’s fast. The route changed, but ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) the destination’s always the same. It’s a similar journey to the one you blasted through with the Golden Nine Free-Wandering Manual. This time it’ll be faster. Let’s go!」

「Hell yeah. Let’s go!」

What the hell is this?

Even in my dreams, I was screwing around with the Four Great Evildoers.

Still, hearing “inner deviation” sobered me up. I clenched the jolting carriage tight to keep my drifting mind anchored. Just how fast were we going? At some point, energy surged from my hands and set the damn carriage ablaze with lightning. I’m the type to screw up like this sometimes. The Four Great Evildoers, riding with me, raised their voices.

「Zaha’s setting the carriage on fire! Get out! Move!」

「To where?!」

「Just jump! Run!」

「Got it.」

I snapped awake.

“......!”

The fire was out, the sun was high, and I had advanced even further in the Hundred Battles technique. Absurd as it was, it was true.

Huh. Sixth stage? Why’d I get there so fast?

It felt like a reminder that time isn’t the deciding factor when reaching a goal or state of mastery.

Think of internal energy cultivation as a journey—sometimes, even with hard work, you walk forever in parallel without ever reaching the destination. That’s when people burn out, never knowing what they were aiming for. A kind of inner deviation, too.

But what I experienced last night felt more like getting swept up by a swarm of stars and suddenly landing at the next stop.

When I came to, Lecher, Drunk, and Sword Demon were seated in front of me, silently watching ahead.

It was too bright for me, so I stared at the shadows cast by their backs, adjusting to the light.

“.......”

Maybe you need darkness to truly adjust to the light.

That’s when I noticed the pack of wolves just beyond the villains—and tilted my head.

Was I still not fully awake?

Mixed in with the wolves were hunters in animal pelts—not your typical hunters, though. I could feel their energy. Strangely, next to them stood sword-wielding Taoists that didn’t belong there. On their right, a bunch of vagabonds carrying various weapons.

A goddamn mess.

Sometimes, you distinguish between the underworld (black path) and the demonic path. This was the latter. This wasn’t some unified sect—it was a band of misfits from all corners of the dark side, facing off with the villains.

I asked the three:

“Are they the ventriloquist gang?”

Lecher, still focused forward, replied, “Probably. Looks like a demonic alliance from Juksan. Bandits, hunters, Taoists, vagabonds, weirdos—you name it.”

I folded my arms and shouted at both enemies and allies:

“So what are you all waiting for?”

“They seem to be waiting for someone.”

I stood, approached Lecher, and held out my hand.

“Flash Dagger.”

Lecher casually pulled the dagger from his robe and handed it over. I tucked it into my clothes and swept my gaze over the group from Juksan.

Maybe because I’d been meditating, everyone was staring at me. It seemed the villains had suppressed their killing intent while I trained, in case I got hurt in a surprise attack.

I gave the three a fresh look.

Right. Understood.

The three of them stood up and faced forward. If we fought now, the Juksan trash would be wiped out here and now.

I held them back a moment.

“Hold for now.”

If blood had to be spilled, I’d rather do the killing myself. Better I create the darkness so the villains could adjust to the light.

After all, we were all monks who had once become darkness and lost our way in our past lives.

I spoke to the mob.

“In short—tell Mulungja to come himself. No reason for you all to die. Behind me is Sword Demon, former Left Guardian of the Demonic Cult. We are not with Haomun.”

Just then, someone behind me grabbed my shoulder.

It was Sword Demon.

“Third. I know you want to spare them, but it’s not always possible. Even your silver tongue won’t always work. These people... their time has come. I know why you’re dragging us around, but if you plan to resolve fights like this with words... we’re not Jianghu men, are we? Do you really think the four of us are destined to attain enlightenment? That’s not going to happen.”

I looked at Sword Demon and grinned.

“That so?”

As I stood still, Lecher and Drunk strode past me and headed toward the enemy lines.

Sword Demon stared at the demonic alliance and said:

“Today... all of you die.”

He drew the Bright Sword, and Drunk and Lecher charged ahead. Had I become a Taoist in my dream last night? Sword Demon’s words snapped me back to reality—and back into my role as Crazy Demon.

I’d forgotten that humans often don’t listen to reason.

Now, even Sword Demon slung the Bright Sword over his shoulder and marched forward. Lecher was unleashing his frost arts, colliding with the Taoists. Drunk, seemingly fed up with the howling wolves, was swinging his sword like a madman.

Watching the villains let loose—it was oddly refreshing.

“Hehehe...”

Maybe this was the charm of traveling. You can’t control your companions the way you want.

It was as if the entire reason they’d joined the journey was for a fight. Watching them rage, I wrapped the Hundred Battles technique around my arms. No one was paying attention to me, so I raised the thunder energy up to the fifth level—and then funneled in the sixth-stage lightning I’d unlocked last night.

“Oho...”

Using Heaven-Piercing Sun-Moon Radiance here would injure the villains too. But the Hundred Battles technique was different. They could handle it.

Still, just in case, I opened my mouth to shout a warning.

“Everyone, be careful!”

The three villains glanced my way mid-battle.

I formed a white sphere between my hands, shaping it like I was forging the Sun-Moon Radiance.

A thunderous boom erupted as white energy cloaked my entire body.

Bzzzzzzzzt—!

Ah... so that’s why the dream carriage burned.

Was it a prophetic dream?

Drunk screamed and leapt away, thinking I’d used the Sun-Moon Radiance. Lecher cursed me out while using light footwork to dodge. Sword Demon, ever calm, infused his voice with internal energy and said:

“That’s not the Sun-Moon Radiance.”

I’d already completed the Thunder Carriage between my palms with the Hundred Battles technique. My entire body pulsed with pure yang energy as I lifted the blazing carriage and charged the enemies.

Strangely, I laughed. The image of piercing through the stars in the dream was still so vivid.

I had a pretty good idea of what the Thunder Carriage would do.

It wouldn’t be as explosive as the Sun-Moon Radiance, but it’d definitely keep the enemy from fighting properly. As I dashed forward with the massive thunderball, even the Four Great Evildoers scattered out of my way. Wolves, hunters, Taoists, vagabonds—they all ran screaming.

Was I really that terrifying?

Even Sword Demon, who just said it wasn’t the Sun-Moon Radiance, backed away.

I hurled the Thunder Carriage into the densest part of the Juksan mob.

Even as it flew, the buzzing sounded like music.

When it landed on someone’s head, the explosion scattered lightning everywhere—hundreds of thick and thin white bolts streaked out in all directions. People collapsed, energy surged from the ground, wolves flipped onto their backs with their bellies up.

Lecher, Drunk, and Sword Demon were airborne, each using their own defensive arts.

The spot where the Thunder Carriage hit had caved in, and the entire area was pure chaos.

At last, I drew my wooden sword and said to the Four Great Evildoers:

“Let’s go.”

I thought I said it in a friendly tone—but all I got in return were curses.

If they survived, then they were fine.

Why be mad?