Chapter 85: Great Ghost (5)

The colliding roar pushes Ya Hyeoljeok’s body backward.

“Fuck…!”

Ya Hyeoljeok struggled to maintain his balance and swung his dao.

Hooook!

Dao energy filled with internal energy scatters everywhere, but the one who should be hit dodges with light footwork.

A brief step back, then a leap.

Ya Hyeoljeok’s dao relentlessly cuts through the air.

His sword strikes were never slow, thanks to his innate strength and the body of a peak-level martial artist.

But still, it only cut the air.

Diving into his embrace, my fist plunges into Ya Hyeoljeok’s abdomen once more.

“You…!”

His hardened muscles were useless as flames erupted from the fist buried deep within.

Hwarureureuk!

“Kkeueueueiak!”

Overwhelmed by unimaginable agony, Ya Hyeoljeok hastily swung his hand to push me away.

But I had already created distance.

“Hooook… Hooook…!”

Ya Hyeoljeok gasped for breath.

“…This brat…”

Clutching his abdomen, he seemed to be feeling the pain properly.

“I heard you were from Gu’s bunch, why are you interfering?”

I offered no answer to his question.

Kwaaahk-!

I spun the Nine Flame Wheel Formation (Guyeomhwaryeongong), spewing flames in all directions.

He blocked with his massive greatsword, but couldn’t block everything.

The flames burrowed in like mad, as if intending to leave not even a handful of ash.

I didn’t miss the gaps created and plunged in.

From within the surrounding flames, I reached out and grabbed Ya Hyeoljeok’s neck.

I immediately wrapped my hand in flames.

My intention was to burn his hair off.

Just then, Ya Hyeoljeok instantly expelled his internal energy, creating distance.

Feeling the heat climbing his neck, Ya Hyeoljeok covered his throat with his hand.

“Hooook… Hooook….”

Perhaps from being in the flames for a while, smoke wisped from his body.

‘…Missed.’

[Calm down…!]

Shin Noya’s urgent cry echoed repeatedly.

‘I am calming down.’

[When I can feel what’s boiling inside you so clearly, what are you calming down about!]

That’s strange.

I felt like I was definitely calming down.

I was just disappointed.

The feeling of grabbing his neck remained in my hand.

I should have burned him right then.

He seems to have more than I thought.

‘Ya Hyeoljeok.’

The name of the man looking this way, holding his greatsword.

I knew him.

The unit leader of the Heavenly Demon’s direct unit, the Cheonra Heukrang Corps.

A demon (Main) who wore a muzzle covering his mouth and an eyepatch over one eye.

He was a man who followed his leader’s words like a Jiangshi, rather than roaring like that.

He seemed very different from now.

‘Was he from Heukya Palace?’

Demons (Main) have so many pasts, I never bothered to pay attention.

When I’m busy trying to survive, why would I care about others?

I brushed my hands off.

‘Namgung Bi-ah is….’

Checking the spot where she was lying earlier, thankfully she had moved and was nowhere to be seen.

When I first arrived, Namgung Bi-ah was lying on the floor.

Seeing that, I remembered Magyeomhu’s final moments.

The time he quietly passed away in my arms.

If I had been a little later, I might have had to witness the same scene as then.

Hwarureuk.

As if reacting to my emotions, the flames surrounding my body flickered intensely.

[…Brat!]

I take a step towards him.

Immediately, the Nine Flame Wheel Formation (Guyeomhwaryeongong) began to spin rapidly.

I brace my toes and leap.

Embers scattered around.

Ya Hyeoljeok’s sword, swung as if to meet me head-on, is fast.

It’s because of his innate strength and peak-level body that he can swing something so heavy with such speed.

I increase my speed with the internal energy infused into my body.

I block his vision with flames.

Ya Hyeoljeok’s greatsword swings wildly, as if flames alone can’t stop it, but…

His sword paths were messy, creating many openings.

If there were none, I’d just make one by squeezing through.

It seems my skin was lightly cut.

I could afford to take that much.

Ppudeudeuk-!

“Keueuk!”

His body was tough, so breaking an arm or limb would be difficult, thus I aimed for just one spot.

[…Get… a grip…!]

His sword grazes my collar.

His side was open, so I wrapped it in flames and struck.

“Keok!”

Ya Hyeoljeok’s stance falters greatly.

I stomped on his leg joint, bringing him down.

Kung!

His one knee hit the ground.

He tried to push me away by swinging his arm, but my fist was faster.

Ppaak!

His thick neck snaps forcefully.

Without stopping, I struck again.

Ppaak!

Perhaps from being hit twice in a row, Ya Hyeoljeok’s eyes became bloodshot.

Soon, his body gathered internal energy as if intending to create distance.

“You… brat…!”

Kwaaaaaa!

My body was pushed back by the internal energy released from his body.

Perhaps because it was solely meant to create distance, there was no impact.

I simply shook myself off a few times and faced Ya Hyeoljeok again.

‘…How much is left.’

[…]

I was talking about my internal energy.

Noya didn’t reply.

My internal energy seemed scarce, perhaps due to cultivating my techniques somewhat haphazardly.

Ya Hyeoljeok got up and spat something from his mouth.

Rolling on the ground with bloody water was Ya Hyeoljeok’s molar.

Seeing that, Ya Hyeoljeok’s face transformed like a Yaksha.

To be intimidated by the atmosphere and beaten up by a mere brat.

The Great Despair Ghost, Ya Hyeoljeok, no less.

‘…What a fucked up situation…!’

Ppudeudeudeuk.

The sound of my teeth grinding, from how hard I clenched them, was clearly audible.

I gripped the dao’s hilt tightly.

Time was running short.

Nevertheless, I wanted to kill that guy somehow.

It wasn’t about Shin’s family or the Namgung family girl anymore.

Ya Hyeoljeok wrapped his feet in internal energy and leaped, charging at me.

Seeing that, I again wrapped my body in flames.

For a moment, I felt sharp pain from my dantian, but I ignored it.

My head felt foggy, as if covered in mist.

Right now, I just needed to focus on destroying something.

I twisted the incoming sword path aimed at my head with flames.

Taking advantage of his destabilized stance, I struck his solar plexus.

It felt like it went deep, I felt the sensation of bone breaking.

Ya Hyeoljeok followed by spitting blood.

As he tried to grab me with his large hand, I struck him again to push him away.

The rotation of the rings surrounding me gradually speeds up.

At the same time, the sharp pain felt from my dantian intensified.

The pain rising from my dantian throughout my entire body was the same feeling I experienced on the way to Mount Hua before.

Back then, I couldn’t even breathe properly and passed out, but now I could move just fine.

What could be the difference?

I didn’t know, but for some reason, it felt fortunate.

It meant there was no hindrance to moving my body.

[…Uh….]

My eyes fluttered open at a voice that suddenly echoed in my mind.

‘Noya?’

I thought it was Shin Noya’s voice, which I hadn’t heard.

Shin Noya was the only one who could speak to me in this situation.

[…Eat….]

But it wasn’t Noya’s voice.

It sounded like a child’s, yet also like an old person who had experienced many years.

The sharp pain rising from my dantian to the top of my head vanished with the voice.

[…I’m hungry.]

A weak voice.

‘You….’

I tried to ask who it was, but couldn’t.

My consciousness instantly cut off.

---

Namgung Bi-ah was leaning against a wooden pillar, catching her breath.

It was partly because the pressure points (Jeomhyul) had been activated and released, and partly because her broken arm and the depleted internal energy left her completely drained.

‘…I need to go help….’

The Gu Yangcheon I saw is strong.

I saw him easily defeat my younger brother, and I watched him defeat the swordsman named Yeongpung or Yongpung.

He is probably stronger than me.

Namgung Bi-ah wasn’t guessing; she was certain.

‘…But I can’t.’

Judging by the stench emanating from the giant I faced and the flickering energy, he wasn’t someone Gu Yangcheon could easily handle.

We had to fight together until reinforcements arrived from Mount Hua.

-Kwang! Kwa-ang!

The ear-piercing sounds of intense battle didn’t stop.

Though it probably wasn’t a long time, it felt like eons to Namgung Bi-ah.

Barely managing to stand and reach the source of the sound…

“…Ugh!”

Namgung Bi-ah staggered from the horrific stench.

Is all of this the stench from that giant?

It didn’t seem this bad before.

‘…It’s too much.’

It was the first time I had smelled such a potent stench.

The smell was so bad it made the world seem dizzy.

Ppaak!

Namgung Bi-ah stumbled, barely reaching the place where the sounds were coming from.

“…!”

And the sight that met her eyes was unbelievable.

Whatever happened, in the center of the surroundings, which were a mess as if a giant monster had rampaged…

Gu Yangcheon was continuously striking Ya Hyeoljeok’s body with his clenched fists.

Ppaak!

Blood splattered the moment his fist connected.

Its face had long lost its shape.

‘Ack… The stench.’

The stench from the giant had already disappeared.

Because the dead don’t emit stench.

Then the stench filling this area…

“…No… No!”

At Namgung Bi-ah’s voice, Gu Yangcheon, who had been swinging his fists, stopped.

And then he slowly turned his head to look at Namgung Bi-ah.

“…!”

Namgung Bi-ah met Gu Yangcheon’s eyes and let out a silent scream.

Because Gu Yangcheon’s pupils were dyed a violet color.

It was certainly a beautiful color, but meeting those eyes made Namgung Bi-ah feel goosebumps all over her body.

They were terribly ominous eyes.

Gu Yangcheon glanced at Namgung Bi-ah briefly, then swung his fist again.

Still holding onto the one whose breath had already ceased.

Watching that, Namgung Bi-ah grabbed her trembling shoulders to calm herself.

I couldn’t understand why I felt such fear.

Only strange, violent sounds reached my ears. Amidst the nauseating stench.

Namgung Bi-ah ignored her trembling body and ran to embrace Gu Yangcheon’s back.

It felt like the right thing to do.

I even grabbed his arms, but Gu Yangcheon, as if broken, kept trying to hit the giant’s face.

“Please…! He’s… already dead…!”

Did he perhaps hear Namgung Bi-ah’s words?

Gu Yangcheon’s body, which had been moving without a word, stopped.

Then, he collapsed as if crumbling.

Namgung Bi-ah caught the collapsing Gu Yangcheon with trembling hands and held him.

“Haa… Haa….”

Was this the turning point? The intensifying stench suddenly faded.

I had to suppress the nausea rising from seeing the mangled corpse of the giant next to us.

I couldn’t believe that was made by human hands.

Namgung Bi-ah took Gu Yangcheon’s hand with trembling fingers.

His hand was covered in bloody water, but it was okay.

It felt like I wouldn’t be able to calm down unless I did this.

After a fleeting moment passed like that, disciples from the Mount Hua Sect appeared.

---

Inside a cave at the Heukya Palace’s Shaanxi branch.

Bae Chong was trying to calm his trembling heart while waiting for the unarriving Ya Hyeoljeok.

It wasn’t for some flimsy reason like missing him or worrying about him.

‘It’s almost time… time to take my medicine.’

Only the branch leader possessed the medicine to suppress the wriggling parasite (Go) in his body.

With his three-day supply just finished, Bae Chong was even more desperate.

The sun would set soon.

If Ya Hyeoljeok didn’t arrive by then, his internal organs would melt, and he would die.

While waiting anxiously, he suddenly sensed someone approaching the entrance.

Bae Chong startled and ran towards the entrance.

Jeobeok-.

For some reason, the footsteps sounded quieter than usual, but Bae Chong didn’t have time to care about that.

Finally, the door opened, and someone entered.

“Branch Leader…!”

Bae Chong immediately drew his sword.

It wasn’t the branch leader.

‘An old man…?’

It was a thin old man with a small build.

The old man slowly began to look around the room.

“Who… are you?”

“…This seems to be the place.”

“I asked who you…”

He couldn’t finish his sentence.

Bae Chong’s body collapsed straight onto the floor.

His head, still showing the expression from his shout, was severed and rolled behind him.

The old man wasn’t holding a sword.

Yet, this happened because of a sword wielded by the old man.

The old man’s name was Wi Hyo-gun.

The Sword Saint (Geomjon), who had been asked by Mae Hwa-seon, was there.