Chapter v12c8

Two old men stood with their arms crossed, silently observing the bustling scene of their subordinates hurriedly retrieving the iron chains and melting their comrade’s body with fire, diligently erasing any evidence. The thin, cold-faced old man exuded an aura as sharp as a sword, clad in dark blue silk robes. The other, a large and stout man with a benevolent smile on his face, wore brown silk robes and carried a large saber that radiated a fierce killing intent. However, his eyes gleamed coldly beneath his smile.

“We’re in debt, a very large debt,” the old man in blue said, frowning.

“This is disgraceful. How can we face the Young Master after this?”

The stout old man’s face flushed red with shame and humiliation. He wasn’t known for his patience. Killing intent was already rising from his body like a mushroom cloud.

“Even if we leave, we should at least say goodbye. And make it a grand one!” the old man in blue, with his streaks of white hair and cold expression, said coldly, his eyes gleaming menacingly. The old man in brown nodded.

“Of course, a living sacrifice is always better, especially a beautiful one. Hehehe!”

The stout old man, his belly jiggling, let out a sinister laugh, his gaze fixed on a spot down in the gorge. He had his eyes on a particular offering.

His gaze rested on a woman wielding a sword, emitting a cold mist like white jade dust. Her slender arms, holding a sword that emanated a soft glow, shone with a pearly white radiance. Each time she shifted her stance, her flawless, jet-black hair flowed like a clear, starry night sky, as deep and lustrous as a black pearl from the abyss.

Even in the midst of the bloody battlefield, her body seemed untouched by the carnage, radiating an immaculate purity. It was as if a sacred light emanated from her, repelling any filth.

Neither the horrors of the battlefield nor the swirling, gruesome bloodbath could diminish her beauty, which shone like a celestial jewel. Like a sharp blade cutting through darkness, she radiated brilliance in the heart of this hellish landscape.

The old man in brown, gazing at her as she shone like a jewel in a mud puddle, like a lotus flower radiating a brilliant light, felt a dark, burning desire ignite within him, like the flames of hell. He wanted to steal that radiant light, as bright as the morning star, and paint it back into darkness.

A vile, cruel, filthy, and ominous desire to make her kneel, to break her, to defile and possess her. Bloodshot eyes, burning with a black flame darker than the night, stared at her. Thick veins bulged on his hand as he gripped his wicked saber.

He could no longer contain his boiling, repulsive lust.

“Hehehe!”

The old man in brown, transformed into a demon, licked his upper lip with his tongue. A cold, sinister chuckle, like a venomous snake, formed on his lips. His face, twisted into a monstrous grimace, terrifying enough to make even the most venomous snakes shudder.

“You have a nasty temper.”

Dongfang Xue frowned slightly and shook his head as he saw his companion, Gong Pai, panting heavily with saliva dripping from his mouth. Despite spending a hundred years together, this was the first time he had seen him lose control and get swept away by a whirlwind of emotions. It was a very unfamiliar sight to Dongfang Xue.

The two men moved, each to fulfill their assigned roles. They were on a mission to settle a debt, to set an example, and to instill fear as a warning. The more cruel and brutal, the more effective it would be. Therefore, Dongfang Xue decided to let his companion loose, like a wild beast unleashed from its cage, instead of trying to calm him down.

The reason the three Venerable Ones had stepped forward was to exact a price, to make an example, and to eliminate the top priority targets. They were here to achieve both terror and practicality with one stroke. Even if their opponents numbered fifty, they wouldn’t flinch or back down. They had the confidence to escape at any time.

And the Twelve Blood Demon Squad would provide them with full support. There was nothing to worry about. All they had to do was fulfill their roles with all their might.

Yes, it was that simple…

They silently recalled the list they had received, with portraits of their targets attached. They didn’t need to eliminate everyone, just a couple as an example. As if to prove that they weren’t suffering from dementia, the list from their memories quickly surfaced in their minds.

‘Azure Dragon Yong Cheon Myeong, Three Star Swordsman Cheong Heun, Iron Jade Bamboo Maha Ryeong, Seven Star Divine Sword Mo Yong Hwi, Ice White Peak Na Yerin…’

Fortunately, the targets they had their eyes on were all on the list, so there was no need for hesitation. However, there was a huge discrepancy between the portrait of Na Yerin and the Na Yerin they saw before them. The portrait captured less than one-tenth of her mystique. If there hadn’t been a description, they might have failed to recognize her.

“It seems we’ll have to demote and punish the one who drew the portraits when we return. Shall we make our move?”

“Good!”

The two old men bared their teeth, made of white steel, towards their prey.

In the midst of the battlefield, Na Yerin’s sharp senses, honed to their limits, detected the approaching danger and sounded a warning. It was the first time since that day that she had encountered such a massive and repulsive black desire. She suddenly felt her limbs stiffen. It was an instinctive fear and an unfathomable disgust. She scanned her surroundings with her dragon-like eyes, but she could only sense the specific danger, not pinpoint its source.

‘A master!’

She expanded her awareness urgently. Someone who could exude such an aura must be a master beyond compare. Although she had inherited the Sword Empress’s legacy, she wasn’t sure if her swordsmanship, which hadn’t yet reached its full potential, could defeat the owner of this powerful aura.

‘Ryu-yeon…’

Suddenly, the image of his confident, fearless (to an excessive degree) face flashed through her mind. A faint smile touched her lips, as red as pomegranates. When had her heart, once known as the Ice Crystal of the North Sea, become so vulnerable? When had she started relying on a man? Was this truly her?

Confused, unable to answer or confirm any of these questions, she gripped her sword tightly. She could now sense two powerful auras surrounding her, one in front and one behind. The pressure they exerted was terrifying. She kept her guard up against the aura behind her as she looked forward.

A broad-shouldered, well-built old man stood before her, holding a monstrous saber that resembled shark teeth. His eyes, like those of a Yaksha, burned with the black flames of desire, and a sinister, chilling sneer played on his lips.

“Truly, seeing you in person lives up to your reputation. I’ve lived for over a hundred years, seen and experienced countless beauties, but seeing you today makes me realize that my thoughts were nothing but my own delusion and arrogance. Hehehe, just looking at you makes me feel young again. I can’t contain this boiling lust!”

A cold, sharp, yet slimy voice, dripping with desire, flowed from the lips of the old man in brown, known as Gong Pai. It was a chilling voice that made every hair on her body stand on end. The repulsive, filthy desire burning within this old man was enough to make even Na Yerin, with her dragon-like eyes, feel faint.

“Hehehe!”

It was a cruel laugh, like a stab with a knife. Gong Pai licked his upper lip again. He had the expression of a viper eyeing its prey. Dongfang Xue remained silent, his mouth tightly shut, like a statue. This made Na Yerin even more wary of him.

For the first time since leaving the Cheonmu Academy, Na Yerin felt a sense of crisis, a fear that she might be humiliated and then killed in the most disgraceful way. Facing one master was already a challenge, but now two masters of equal caliber were surrounding her, one in front and one behind. She resolved to take her own life if necessary, channeling her internal energy to its fullest.

“Sister!”

Alarmed by Na Yerin’s predicament, Yi Jin-seol charged forward, swinging her swords. Her twin swords danced as gracefully as butterfly wings, but she was still far from being able to handle these two old men.

Hyo-ryong immediately recognized the recklessness of Yi Jin-seol’s actions. Even from a distance of over ten zhang, he could sense their terrifying, overwhelming presence, which conveyed their level of mastery all too clearly. They were undoubtedly masters beyond Yi Jin-seol’s capabilities.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Hyo-ryong shot after Yi Jin-seol like an arrow released from a bowstring. He couldn’t let her die here.

At that moment, Bi Ryu-yeon was still on top of the gorge, facing the Flying Snake Demon Lord Mo Sa-ryeong, unaware of what was happening below.

Thud!

A severed green headband, soaked in red blood, fluttered in the air. Yi Jin-seol couldn’t understand what had happened.

Suddenly, time around her seemed to slow down infinitely.

She saw a red sword, piercing through the space between her twin swords with effortless ease, aiming for her throat with a serpentine agility. And in that moment of mortal peril, a man pulled her back by the neck, shielding her with his own body. Sparks flew with a harsh “clang” as the man’s sword blocked the approaching blade, which felt as cold as the Grim Reaper’s breath. Embers scattered in all directions.

It seemed the man who had shielded her was struggling to hold back the attack of the monstrous old man in blue. Perhaps he realized that one sword wasn’t enough? The man drew another sword, blocking the old man’s blade, which felt like a single, wicked demonic sword, as if with a pair of scissors.

With a sharp screech, the blood-red sword, its advance halted, flew up into the air.

Thud!

A strange, grating sound echoed through the air.

In her dazed state, Yi Jin-seol watched the nightmare unfolding before her eyes, like a cruel prank by a wicked demon.

As the green headband that had tied his light brown hair was severed, the man’s hair cascaded down his shoulders. His once neat hair was now disheveled like an executioner’s, fluttering in the blood-scented wind. A thin stream of red blood, like a small creek, flowed down his face, from between his brows, across his prominent nose and cheeks, to his strong chin.

Thump!

Hyo-ryong’s knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground.

“Kyaaaaaah!”

Finally, Yi Jin-seol’s scream ripped through the air. Her mind was overwhelmed by an unbearable grief, despair, and terror. Her body felt heavy, like a cotton ball soaked in water.

Her mind, tangled like a ball of yarn, couldn’t process or analyze what was happening, or what had just happened. Was the sky falling? Her body crumbled. A thick darkness enveloped her vision.

Yi Jin-seol rushed to Hyo-ryong’s side, cradling his collapsing form in her arms. His eyes were still wide open, but they had lost their focus. She screamed for help, her voice choked with tears. In the distance, she could see Mo Yong Hwi, Yeomdo, and Elder Binggeom running towards them. But her ears couldn’t hear anything, neither her own cries nor the shouts of those approaching.

However, the commotion reached Bi Ryu-yeon’s ears, even from atop the cliff.

Dongfang Xue looked at his sword with a puzzled expression. The twin swords that had just blocked his attack felt strangely familiar. He had encountered a similar martial art before. The memory was so vivid that he couldn’t possibly forget it. Even after a decade, how could he forget one of the three martial arts that had driven him to the brink of death?

“Could it be the Heaven-Shaking Blood Shadow Saber?”

But that was a saber technique, not a sword technique. And there was no way a righteous martial artist could use that technique. How could a righteous nobody wield the saber technique revered as the pinnacle of the demonic path?

Everything was a mystery.

What had the strategist told him before he came here? Something like, “You must be bored, why don’t you get some fresh air for a change?” He had initially thought that even if the mission was to annihilate the Cheonmu Academy delegation, it could be accomplished with minimal casualties and without much trouble.

And now he was witnessing his judgment crumble before his very eyes. It was truly unexpected.

‘Have they grown this much?’

A sense of caution began to sprout in his heart. Just a few hours ago, they were mere insects, trash he could sweep away at will, but now the situation had changed, and they had been upgraded to somewhat capable beasts. However, his thoughts were cut short.

Because Binggeom’s sword, gleaming coldly, was flying towards his throat with terrifying speed.

Bi Ryu-yeon’s head suddenly snapped downwards. Although it was a considerable distance, such a distance was no problem for him. He saw the petite Yi Jin-seol sobbing, holding someone in her arms. And the twin swords held by the fallen young man looked very familiar. One of Bi Ryu-yeon’s eyebrows twitched like a bolt of lightning.

And when his gaze shifted slightly to the side, Bi Ryu-yeon’s anger exploded. He saw Na Yerin struggling to block the monstrous saber attacks of a fat man, which were coming at her like waves, beside the sobbing Yi Jin-seol.

His eyes turned golden, shining like the sun.

Mo Sa-ryeong, who had been charging at Bi Ryu-yeon while he was distracted, shouting the cliché line “Die!”, faltered and hesitated as he met Bi Ryu-yeon’s sun-like gaze. It was a mental shock, not a physical one.

He felt a question rising within him, disregarding his pride: ‘Am I doing something very wrong? Am I making a huge mistake?’

And he had a very bad feeling that his thoughts were probably right. At the same time, he felt an unknown, immense energy pressing down on him. Before that power, he was nothing but a small mantis trying to stop a speeding iron cart pulled by six horses with his bare hands.

When Mo Sa-ryeong opened his eyes again, spitting out the mouthful of dirt and sand, he saw the pale sky above him. He tried to move, but a sharp pain shot through his body, making him realize that he couldn’t even move a finger. It was useful information, but undeniably shitty information.

And through calm observation, he realized one more thing: he was currently embedded in the ground, creating a long furrow as a memento of his journey.

He was like a mantis crushed under a speeding cart.

Screech!

At that moment, a Korean falcon, the king of the sky with blue feathers, soared past him.

Thud!

Mo Sa-ryeong felt something warm, mushy, and unpleasant fall from the sky onto his face. A strange, foul, and pungent smell assaulted his nostrils. He wanted to scream in this horrible nightmare, but he couldn’t even make a sound.

The Korean falcon, having relieved its constipation and confirmed the healthy movement of its bowels through a satisfying bowel movement, looked down to see a long ditch, about three zhang long, dug into the ground, with something resembling a human embedded at the end like the finishing touch on a painting. And the trees around the ditch were scattered in all directions, as if caught in a violent storm.

He knew it was his master’s handiwork, and he screeched proudly.

“Screech!”

It was the opposite cliff from where Bi Ryu-yeon had been standing.