Chapter 164: Tail (1)

On the mid-slope near Suzhou.

Men in red clothes were climbing up the valley.

*Tap. Tap.*

Using an extraordinary lightness technique, they climbed the steep slope and stopped at a small clearing.

There were still traces of a fierce battle that hadn’t been erased.

“……”

At the forefront of the enemy group, a man in dark red clothes knelt down.

He examined the traces on the ground and the broken trees and spoke.

“This is the place.”

Closing his eyes, he retraced the traces and inferred the battle’s pattern.

“The state of the Hidden Moon Flying Thief wasn’t bad.”

The poison implanted in his body was functioning normally.

There were no signs of a rampage or any abnormalities.

“Youngsters and mere instructors couldn’t have handled this.”

Was it the Lone Flying Swordsman Wang Woo, as the rumors said?

“Captain, over here.”

But the man who examined the traces from one side had a different thought.

“Hmm. This is…”

The footwork was chaotically marked.

Most of it had been erased, but it wasn’t enough to escape the eyes of those skilled in finding traces.

“For some reason, the lightness technique was blocked. What followed was a melee?”

He read the traces of Mo Yong Seon-ya and Yeo Mae-hong’s combined attack from the past.

He also examined the strange traces that followed.

The conclusion he reached was astonishing.

“This is unexpected.”

After the deep footprints, a stretch of nearly six meters was dug up.

It was evidence that someone resisted while stepping on the footwork even after being hit by the Hidden Moon Flying Thief’s attack.

The subsequent evidence was equally surprising.

“Huh. The Hidden Moon Flying Thief couldn’t even kill a youngster?”

Even after gaining the poison of the meeting?

“Unbelievable.”

Clicking his tongue, the man also detected something mysterious.

“How he died, whether there were other masters, it’s too fragmentary.”

But no matter how skilled he was at reading traces, he couldn’t read everything from a place where a fierce battle had taken place several days ago.

He could only read a fraction of it.

But even that was enough for him to sense danger.

“It seems the youngsters put up a good fight.”

Perhaps there was some unknown helper involved in this incident.

The man who reached this conclusion clicked his tongue.

‘It seems the concerns of the Eight Heavenly Apostles were not unfounded.’

In fact, the man hadn’t come here to investigate the traces of the Hidden Moon Flying Thief.

‘I need to find out why the Jangcheon Sect fell.’

This was a place where the Eight Heavenly Apostles had personally intervened to take control of Suzhou.

They had planted the elite of the Heavenly Destruction Society and established a secret branch.

The manor where the bloodstorm had raged recently was also a hideout managed by the branch.

But they had disappeared in an instant.

‘As if erased from the world.’

It would have been good if there were traces of a fierce battle, but there was nothing to indicate what had happened.

All they knew was that significant masters had crossed the manor and many deaths had occurred.

At first, he thought it was a counterattack by the Murim Alliance.

‘But even the masters of the Murim Alliance couldn’t do this.’

Leaving no traces of death or killing was impossible.

It wasn’t about the level of martial arts.

‘It’s the difference between being skilled at killing and not.’

Any master would leave traces of their ultimate techniques.

But the only thing left in the manor was the aftermath of death.

There were no traces at all.

In such cases.

‘Experts in assassination must have been involved.’

Who were they?

Could clumsy assassins from the martial world have done this?

As questions piled up, the man was sure of one thing.

“This isn’t something to be taken lightly.”

There is something in Suzhou.

Something potentially more dangerous than the revealed threat of the Namgung Clan.

The man cracked his knuckles.

“This might be quite a formidable opponent.”

Even though he was in a position to receive direct orders from the Eight Heavenly Apostles, the man was sure from the shocking traces.

‘I can’t handle this alone.’

The Eight Heavenly Apostles must intervene directly.

The man, who had made up his mind, examined the blood-soaked ground and stood up.

‘They were cut down in one stroke.’

Among them, there is another master besides Wang Woo.

“Return to the Apostle.”

As the man was about to turn around.

“Why? Are you done already?”

A lazy voice startled the man.

His subordinates were equally surprised.

*Clang!*

The figure, seemingly unaware of the dozen sword points directed at him, walked out leisurely.

“I have some compassion, so I don’t interfere during work.”

“Who are you?”

“Would you know if I told you?”

The man tensed up.

Neither he nor his eight subordinates had noticed the arrival of this person.

*Step. Step.*

“What are you doing in broad daylight? Isn’t it suffocating to walk around with your face covered?”

This isn’t good.

Despite the swirling killing intent, the leisurely steps were unsettling.

The man, the captain, spoke.

“Who are you?”

“Cho Un-hwi.”

“Where are you from?”

“Where do you think…”

*Swish!*

As the unguarded figure approached, two subordinates moved.

*Flash!*

A sharp sword light sliced precisely beneath the smirking lips.

*Slash! Bang!*

The subsequent explosion of air was proof of their swift and powerful joint attack.

But.

“These days, youngsters have no manners when elders are speaking.”

Wobble.

The figure, who should have been bleeding and collapsing, continued walking as if nothing had happened.

Not only that.

*Splash! Splash!*

Instead, the heads of the two attacking subordinates flew into the air.

*Thud. Thud.*

The headless bodies fell to the ground simultaneously.

‘What just happened…’

He couldn’t even see the counterattack or the movement.

Even though he was walking straight towards them.

“Kill him!”

Sensing the danger, the captain shouted.

‘The opponent is an unpredictable master.’

We must go all out from the start.

‘No matter how strong, he can’t withstand our Red Flame Squad’s joint attack.’

The warriors of the Red Flame Squad were personally trained by the Eight Heavenly Apostles.

Although they were just a reconnaissance team, each was a master aiming for the pinnacle.

‘If we find even a small opening.’

We can definitely kill him.

They had assassinated masters several levels above them with joint attacks before, so they believed in their chances.

But what he saw was not the expected result.

“It’s bothersome, but I should get used to it.”

Supreme Void Dragon Slaying Sword Technique.

‘The Supreme Void Dragon Slaying Sword Technique?’

Isn’t that the ultimate technique of the Kunlun Sect that the Society was seeking?

When the Lone Flying Swordsman appeared, I thought it was all over.

‘Does this person know the Kunlun Sect?’

Just as he was about to voice his question.

*Splash!*

*Slash!*

The moment the loosely hanging sword was drawn, a fountain of blood erupted.

*Swish! Thud!*

The half-hearted sword moves pierced through the solemn techniques and struck the hearts.

*Thud. Thud.*

The casually swung sword created holes in the hearts of two subordinates, leaving the captain speechless.

‘In an instant.’

It took only the blink of an eye for the eight subordinates to fall into pools of blood.

‘He’s a demon. A devil.’

Where did this sword demon come from?

The panicked captain gathered his energy.

*Whoosh.*

The true qi from his dantian, imbued with a different heat, flowed into the sword in his hand.

*Roar.*

Flames rose along the blade.

A mystical martial art created by the abilities of the Eight Heavenly Apostles.

‘With this.’

I can hold him off for a while.

If I can buy some time, my comrades will notice the disturbance and come.

‘If I can buy even a moment.’

But his eyes filled with despair in an instant.

“Playing with fire is not good for you.”

The monster, who had approached unnoticed, was grinning at him.

“Damn it!”

*Swish!*

Losing his composure, the captain swung his sword wildly.

He thought the sword energy and heat would cut through the monster, but the result was despairing.

*Crunch. Crack.*

Before he could even complete the swing, a powerful grip crushed his wrist.

“Argh!”

Spin. Crack!

As the world turned upside down, the captain felt a sharp pain in his back.

“Gah. Gah.”

Flames flickered before his eyes, and the buzzing of bees filled his ears.

“Ugh.”

In the unbearable pain, the captain barely managed to regain his senses.

He realized his wrist and legs were broken, and he was pinned to the ground by his back.

“Guh… Ugh… Ugh.”

Through the alternating bright and blurry vision, the monster looked down at him.

‘Who is this…’

The previously carefree demeanor was gone.

The man, with his hands behind his back, looked enormous and terrifying.

As if a giant mountain had risen and was looking down at him.

A chilling voice reached his ears.

“I’ll ask.”

Who are you?

“Guh. Ugh.”

I can’t tell. I mustn’t tell.

The opponent seemed to expect this and spoke.

“Judging by the familiar energy, you must be a minion of one of the Apostles.”

“There are so many it’s hard to guess.”

‘He knows about the Apostles?’

In his shocked gaze, the opponent’s lips moved.

“I’m curious about one thing.”

Grit.

As his disheveled hair fluttered with the rising anger, the red eyes beneath glowed.

“How many of you are there?”

I don’t care how you control the flame abilities or your purpose.

“I’m just curious about how many I have to kill today.”

You can stay silent.

*Thud.*

The man placed his foot on the captain’s chest and spoke.

“I can count after I kill you.”

*Crack. Crack.*

As he heard the sound of his chest bones breaking, the captain gasped.

***

He killed the ones he encountered next.

For a while, he ran towards the unpleasant energy and beheaded them.

Sitting on a small rock in a corner of the clearing, watching the sunset, Cho Un-hwi clicked his tongue.

“Tsk.”

The sight of his sleeve irritated him.

“This doesn’t come off easily.”

Unfamiliar swordsmanship is bothersome in many ways.

As he muttered, a familiar figure dropped in front of him.

“My lord.”

It was Danya.

“Did you find out?”

“Well, about that.”

*Huff. Huff. Huff.*

Ignoring the desert assassins falling behind him, Danya ran over to report.

“I killed about thirty of them, but none of them talked.”

This is embarrassing.

Danya’s bandages, soaked in blood, suggested he had even tortured them.

‘Yet they still didn’t talk.’

It was somewhat expected.

“They are very tight-lipped.”

“What should we do? Running wild isn’t a bad option.”

Wriggle wriggle.

The bandages, shaking energetically, suggested he was eager to kill.

At the command, he would happily run out and create a bloodbath.

“Normally, I would have stopped here.”

Droop.

Looking at the drooping end of the bandage, Cho Un-hwi added.

“But I can’t tolerate them loitering in front of me.”

*Thud.*

Planting his sword in the ground, Cho Un-hwi clasped his hands together and spoke.

“Follow me. I’ll personally open the killing field.”

*Thud!*

Danya and the desert assassins silently knelt on one knee.