Chapter 131: The Thread of Fateful Enmity Grows Ever More Vicious (3)

Namgung Su was sent hurtling backward, spitting blood from his mouth.

"Kuh!"

The impact that pierced through his entire body sent his internal organs into turmoil. Yet he had managed to save his life.

It was thanks to the martial artists of the Namgung Family who had sacrificed themselves to shield him.

Before him lay three Namgung Family warriors, battered and bloody. They had taken Dam Ho's Fortress Breaking Fist in his stead.

"Stop him!"

The Namgung Family martial artists hurled themselves forward.

Their hatred for Dam Ho had already reached its peak. They cast aside concern for their own lives and threw themselves at him.

That became the spark.

"Kill him!"

The martial artists of the Martial Alliance rushed toward Dam Ho as one.

They surged forward like wolves catching sight of prey.

A space dominated by madness and killing intent.

At its very center stood Dam Ho.

Upon his back rode Hwang Hye-ryeong, and tucked under his arm was Muk Il-gwang.

Muk Il-gwang had long since lost consciousness.

Dam Ho flung Muk Il-gwang's massive body toward the enemies charging from the front.

Crash!

"Kuh!"

"Gack!"

The martial artists who collided with Muk Il-gwang's enormous frame screamed and fell.

The hall descended into chaos in an instant.

That was only the beginning.

In Dam Ho's hands now appeared two axes. They were Muk Il-gwang's weapons.

Dam Ho hurled one of the axes toward the front.

Whoosh!

The massive axe spun terrifyingly as it swept through the charging enemies.

"Kraaah!"

Desperate screams echoed throughout the hall.

The axe in Dam Ho's other hand flew toward the opposite side.

Crack-squelch!

The sounds of flesh tearing and bones shattering rang out.

"Madman!"

Namgung Su trembled at the sight.

It was like a tiger that had leapt alone into a flock of sheep.

A blood-hungry tiger was slaughtering the sheep indiscriminately.

Blood splattered everywhere, and the screams of men rang out.

Namgung Su turned to flee.

He could bear the fear no longer.

'I will never encounter him again.'

He swore it over and over.

In that moment, a chill ran down the back of his neck.

'It's him.'

No one had told him, and he had not yet seen, but he knew instinctively.

As he expected, Dam Ho had already claimed the space behind his back.

Namgung Su spun around like lightning and unleashed the Namgung Family's signature technique, the Thunder Finger.

A powerful surge of finger energy hurtled toward Dam Ho's forehead. Yet Dam Ho merely tilted his head slightly, evading the strike, and in the blink of an eye closed the distance to Namgung Su's chest.

Dam Ho's eyes met his. A hot breath, thick with killing intent and the scent of blood, struck him full in the face.

He could not even think of revulsion.

Crack!

Instead, a searing pain lanced through his chest.

Dam Ho's fist had pierced through.

It shattered his breastbone and burrowed in to the wrist. He could feel his beating heart grasped in Dam Ho's hand.

"Guhuk!"

Namgung Su vomited blood.

More than the agony, it was Dam Ho's emotionless gaze that sent a chill through Namgung Su.

Pop!

The heart in Dam Ho's grasp burst.

The light of life faded from Namgung Su's eyes. Yet paradoxically, a thread of relief was visible in his dimming gaze.

'I no longer need to fear you. Come find me at the ends of hell if you can.'

Those were Namgung Su's final thoughts while still alive.

His body crumpled like a puppet with its strings cut.

With the fall of both Cheong-gu Sage and Namgung Su, the martial artists of the Martial Alliance lost their center of gravity and fell into disarray.

In that interval, Dam Ho launched himself forward.

He flew straight into the heart of the crowd of heroes.

"Huh?"

A man stood there with his mouth agape. He had not even entertained the thought of escape.

"Amusing, is it?"

"Wh-what do you mean?"

The man's voice trembled as he spoke. Dam Ho's gaze flickered roughly.

"I've been curious for some time now. Who keeps inciting them like that?"

The madness of the heroes had not ignited on its own. Someone had been hiding behind them, fanning the flames at every turn.

The man staggered backward.

Terror was plain in his eyes.

The man's name was Gong So-chu.

He was a confidant of Gwak Geo-cheol, the Fan Master of the Black Water Banner.

He had been hiding among the martial artists of the Martial Alliance, inciting them. It was a scheme to borrow the Alliance's strength to kill Hwang Hye-ryeong.

At first, things had seemed to go according to their plan.

Unaware they were being used, the Alliance warriors eagerly attacked Muk Il-gwang and Hwang Hye-ryeong.

It was truly a case of sitting back while others did the work.

'But who could have predicted this monster would intervene?'

Their entire plan had been undone by Dam Ho alone.

Neither the common sense of the Murim nor any sense of justice held any sway over him.

Countless martial artists were instead being routed by this single individual.

A smile tugged at the corner of Dam Ho's lips as he looked at Gong So-chu.

"So it was you."

Years had passed, yet faces he remembered with crystal clarity remained. Gong So-chu was one of them.

The moment he saw Dam Ho's smile, a shudder ran through Gong So-chu's entire body.

"D-do you know me?"

"I suppose you don't remember."

At Dam Ho's words, Gong So-chu rummaged through his memories. Yet no matter how hard he tried, he could not recall. So he dismissed it as nonsense. If he had ever met someone like Dam Ho even once, he would surely have remembered.

How could one forget a being who radiated such an overwhelming presence?

Dam Ho spoke.

"You couldn't have done this alone. Who is it? The one who instigated you."

"Wh-what nonsense is this? Who instigated me?"

Gong So-chu hurriedly tried to deflect.

"Jo Yun-san, perhaps?"

"H-how did you—"

Crack!

In the instant Gong So-chu's eyes went wide, Dam Ho's fist struck him in the stomach.

"Uwah!"

Gong So-chu doubled over and vomited everything he had eaten that morning.

His abdomen felt as though it were being torn apart, and he could barely breathe.

Dam Ho seized Gong So-chu by the scruff of the neck and began to walk. Gong So-chu's body, paralyzed, was dragged along.

"Nngh!"

Though countless men were present, not one dared to try and stop Dam Ho.

To their eyes, Dam Ho was not human.

A human being could not be like this.

"Uwah!"

Some had already collapsed to the ground, retching. They did not even dare to meet his gaze.

Dam Ho tucked Muk Il-gwang, who was lying on the ground, under his arm.

With Hwang Hye-ryeong on his back and a man cradled in each arm, he launched himself forward.

Dam Ho vanished in an instant. Yet no one dared to pursue.

Boom!

Namgung Chang shot to his feet.

His face had gone deathly pale.

"Say that again. What did you just say?"

"Well…"

The Namgung Family martial artist who had come to report hesitated.

"Now!"

"Master Namgung Su… has fallen."

"What utter nonsense…"

Namgung Chang's shoulders trembled. But he quickly composed himself and asked.

"Where is Su's body?"

"It is outside."

Namgung Chang threw open the doors and strode out.

In the courtyard beyond the great hall, the Namgung Family martial artists stood in formation. In their midst lay a figure draped in white cloth.

"Could it be?"

Namgung Chang's steps faltered, his legs trembling.

The white cloth was stained red with blood. Namgung Chang lifted it carefully. Beneath it lay the form of Namgung Su.

His head was half shattered, yet his eyes remained wide open. The face of Namgung Su bore the full measure of terror he had felt in his final moments.

"H-how? Who on earth did this?"

"The Fist Demon…"

"The Fist Demon? You mean Dam Ho? Why would he—"

"That is…"

The martial artist explained in detail what had transpired.

After hearing everything, Namgung Chang closed his eyes tightly.

'In the end!'

His heart raced wildly, and his breath grew short.

It had been that way from the moment the name Dam Ho was mentioned. That name had seared an indelible mark of fear into his heart.

"Dozens of martial artists were killed or injured because of this."

"Where is he now?"

"He has left Akyang. This incident has put the entire Martial Alliance on alert. They are designating him a public enemy of the Murim and organizing a pursuit force. The order is to bring the Elder at once."

Namgung Chang hurried toward the great hall of the Martial Alliance.

His complexion was beyond wretched.

'Because of that one man…'

Namgung Chang bit his lip hard.

Everything he and the Namgung Family had built was trembling. If things continued as they were, the very foundation of the Martial Alliance could be shaken.

When he opened the door to the great hall and entered, twenty pairs of eyes turned toward him. All were elders of the Martial Alliance.

"Welcome, Elder Namgung."

"We have been waiting."

As soon as Namgung Chang took his seat, the meeting began.

"You have all heard the reports. A man called the Fist Demon has brought shame upon the authority of the Martial Alliance."

"He must be eliminated to restore the Alliance's dignity."

"He is like a single loach stirring up the waters. We can no longer stand by and watch."

The elders spoke with one voice, demanding that Dam Ho be punished.

Namgung Chang's gaze fell upon Hyun-mu Sage, the elder of the Mount Hua Sect.

"What are your thoughts, Hyun-mu Sage?"

"Why do you ask me?"

"Is the Fist Demon not a former member of the Mount Hua Sect?"

"He was, in the past."

"Are you saying he no longer is?"

"He was the one who rejected the Mount Hua Sect first."

Hyun-mu Sage's voice was as cold as could be.

He had not yet forgotten the humiliation he had suffered at Dam Ho's hands.

A disciple who denied his own sect?

And from the prestigious Mount Hua, no less.

Hyun-mu Sage could not forgive Dam Ho.

To accept him would be tantamount to denying the Mount Hua Sect itself.

"Then I shall take that to mean the Mount Hua Sect has no objection to however we deal with the Fist Demon."

"The Mount Hua Sect is also a member of the Martial Alliance. I trust you will keep that in mind."

"The Mount Hua Sect's position is well understood."

Namgung Chang nodded.

The elders listening to their exchange allowed satisfied smiles to cross their faces.

For if the Mount Hua Sect had insisted on protecting the Fist Demon to the very end, it could have caused a schism within the Martial Alliance.

The elder of the Cheongseong Sect, Cheong-wol Sage, rose from his seat.

"Let us organize the pursuit force from this moment forward. We must eliminate him before he becomes an even greater threat."

"Hear, hear!"

The elders voiced their approval of Cheong-wol Sage's proposal.

Namgung Chang's expression darkened.

It was not just any faction—it was the Martial Alliance itself that was moving. Now there was no place left in the world for the Fist Demon to stand.

No matter how powerful the Fist Demon's martial arts might be, he could not survive with the entire world set against him.

That was the way of the world, and the law of the Murim as Namgung Chang knew it.

'But why do I feel so uneasy?'

A chill washed over him.

He wrapped his arms around his shoulders.

Strategist Sim Hak was horrified upon hearing Mang Ryo’s words.

“Ma, ma, ma, Advisor Mang! What kind of outrageous, treasonous words are those!”

Baek Li-jung was leisurely rotating his teacup on his palm before looking at Mang Ryo.

Mang Ryo also glared back at Baek Li-jung without backing down. Smiling with a murderous expression while baring his teeth.

“A-Advisor Mang! Quickly kneel and apologize! Beg for forgiveness!”

Even as Strategist Sim Hak made a fuss, Mang Ryo paid no attention. He stared directly at Baek Li-jung while grinding his teeth.

However, unexpectedly, Baek Li-jung only wore a slight smile. If Baek Li-gwon hadn’t still been wailing outside, he would have looked like he wanted to laugh heartily.

Sim Hak was in an uproar.

“Has this person gone mad! Quickly kneel down!”

Rather, Baek Li-jung waved his hand at Sim Hak as if telling him to leave it alone.

“Leave him be. I’ll forgive him just for today.”

Baek Li-jung actually smiled pleasantly.

It was a smile showing he had grasped why Mang Ryo was acting this way and understood his intentions.

Mang Ryo felt completely deflated.

He withdrew his killing intent and shook his head while raising both hands in surrender.

It meant he was surrendering. Because he realized it would be meaningless to continue making Baek Li-jung angry.

“I suppose I’m still useful.”

“Whether a soldier or cannon, pieces have meaning while they’re on the chess board.”

Sharp words that pierced with truth.

It meant Mang Ryo was still one of the pieces in his planned strategy.

It meant he still had enough usefulness left to be kept alive even after being called a son of a bitch.

Mang Ryo had deliberately provoked Baek Li-jung to confirm this, and Baek Li-jung had accepted it.

Mang Ryo laughed loudly.

This was Baek Li-jung who treated even the great Zhuge family like they were nothing. To such a bold person, how much existence value could Mang Ryo really have? What could it mean that he was still keeping him by his side despite disobeying his words?

It meant Mang Ryo’s idea of his own usefulness differed from Baek Li-jung’s idea of Mang Ryo’s usefulness.

What could that be?

After pondering briefly, Mang Ryo threw out a question.

“Are you thinking of… shaking up Sichuan?”

Baek Li-jung didn’t answer. Not answering was the same as agreeing.

“So that was it.”

Sichuan was tightly united. So much so that there were hardly any gaps to penetrate.

He probably thought that when Mang Ryo stirred things up like a mudfish, gaps might become visible.

Mang Ryo, who had suddenly been treated like a mudfish, had to swallow his anger inwardly.

This time he had completely lost.

“They say ‘In life, everywhere there are masters.’ The old saying that wherever you live, there are those better than you isn’t wrong. I’ve learned a good lesson.”

Since they had both tried to use each other and failed, Mang Ryo had nowhere to complain.

However, he added one more comment.

“Won’t you regret it? That guy still has more usefulness left.”

Of course, he was talking about Jin Ja-gang.

“Things will get busy from now on. So busy there won’t be time to worry about just one thunder-struck beggar.”

“Busy?”

Sim Hak excitedly interjected.

“Since the evil faction committed a massacre in Yunnan, naturally they must pay the price for those evil deeds! In such busy times, who knows if there’s time to care for just one youngster!”

“Ah, I see.”

Using this incident as an excuse to attack the evil faction and expand the Martial Arts Alliance’s territory. This had been Baek Li-jung’s original plan.

“What, are you aiming for the position of Supreme Commander of the subjugation army?”

“Supreme Commander?”

Baek Li-jung snorted.

Crack.

The teacup in his hand began to crumple. The porcelain teacup broke and crumpled within his palm. Baek Li-jung rubbed his palm.

Sand-like glittering powder began pouring onto the table.

Rustle.

“I will have the world.”

A breathtaking statement.

Mang Ryo stared blankly at Baek Li-jung.

When hearing such words, there are usually two reactions.

Either incredulous, or impressed.

“Keep doing as you are now. I’ll give you a castle.”

Sim Hak’s eyes widened.

“No, that much for Advisor Mang? What are you doing, Advisor Mang! Hurry and give thanks!”

Mang Ryo’s gaze went to Baek Li-jung’s hand.

Rustle.

Looking closely, the powder that had been falling was returning to Baek Li-jung’s hand. It fell and accumulated on the table, then returned completely to his palm before falling again.

A level of martial arts that even Mang Ryo could never imitate.

Mang Ryo laughed heartily.

“Since you’re giving it, I won’t refuse and will accept it. Even if it’s poisoned, I have no choice but to accept it now.”

Baek Li-jung smiled calmly and didn’t answer further.

However, the ambition hidden behind that smile was enough for even Mang Ryo to feel.

That’s why Mang Ryo didn’t voice the words he held inside to the end.

‘I don’t care who has the world, I just need that one guy.’

* * *

Jin Ja-gang moved locations without rest.

Since he had let Zhuge family’s Shin Yung live, his position would soon be known.

Nevertheless, Jin Ja-gang gave up moving secretly.

He thought the Jang family would be relatively safer if he moved while showing himself as much as possible.

Jin Ja-gang decided to deliberately reveal his tracks by occasionally visiting nearby villages while traveling mountain paths.

His destination was the Martial Arts Alliance branch in Huguang Province.

A place that could only be reached by passing through Sichuan, Guizhou, and Chongqing from the northwestern edge of Yunnan.

Whether it would take months or years.

Or whether he might never arrive, he couldn’t know, but it was a place he had to go as long as he lived.

The place where he would meet Baek Li-jung was the final destination where Jin Ja-gang’s journey would come to an end.

Three days had passed since parting with Shin Yung.

Jin Ja-gang looked at his right eye reflected in the stream water. The eye that had burst blood vessels and turned red had already returned to being clear.

However, his right side where he had used internal energy still stung and burned. The meridians had been injured and he felt pain whenever he moved. Thanks to the Kunlun Sulfur Jade and sulfur springs, external wounds including skin healed quickly, but internal injuries didn’t heal easily.

But Jin Ja-gang practiced internal energy operation at least twice a day.

He couldn’t stop training just because his body hurt or because using it more would damage him. For Jin Ja-gang, tremendous power he couldn’t properly control was much more dangerous than weak power he could handle.

His opponents were always more numerous and stronger than Jin Ja-gang.

So he had to plan each fight thinking it would be his last. He had to know his limits and fight by drawing out power to the extreme. He needed to clearly know the limits of the power he could produce.

Jin Ja-gang endured the pain and raised his internal energy.

The wheel spinning inside his body was like a wild horse, rampaging and harming his body.

Fortunately, when he added poison energy to it, the poison energy acted as reins, allowing him to move his internal energy somewhat as desired.

However, the speed at which internal energy moved was too fast. It was so fast that he still needed time to get used to it.

Therefore, Jin Ja-gang couldn’t stop his internal energy training even more. Times like now when he had some time were exactly when training was needed.

The frightening thing about humans is that they become accustomed to anything.

Even if something hurts, if it becomes chronic over time, you don’t feel the pain as much as at first. Even if it hurts, you tend to dismiss it as natural and not serious.

Of course, the pain of meridians rupturing was incomparable to ordinary pain. It was several times, dozens of times more painful and terrible.

However, Jin Ja-gang gradually became able to endure the pain.

That also meant he was beginning to become familiar with how to use internal energy.

Just as handling an unfamiliar weapon for a long time naturally makes you accustomed to it.

Jin Ja-gang gradually became accustomed to the rapidly moving internal energy.

In doing so, he was also able to try techniques that he had memorized in his head but couldn’t properly use due to lack of internal energy.

Among the contents he had learned in the mine shaft, there were quite a few techniques that required considerable internal energy to operate.

The techniques Jin Ja-gang had learned were one carefully chosen from among the martial arts that could represent each Medicine Sect member’s school. No matter how third-rate the Medicine Sects were in martial arts, since these were the best among them, they couldn’t be said to be low level.

Therefore, some required the internal energy limit of Medicine Sect masters – one cycle of sixty years’ worth of internal energy.

The internal energy Jin Ja-gang could draw out was also one cycle.

It was truly the most suitable situation for drawing out the power Jin Ja-gang possessed to its limits.

The number of times Jin Ja-gang could use internal energy consecutively was stably twice.

If he pushed himself, three times was possible.

Therefore, even if he learned everything he knew, he couldn’t use it all.

Jin Ja-gang chose two things to learn first.

For grappling techniques, the Capturing Dragon Strike from the Crane Sect.

Capturing Dragon Strike was originally created for climbing trees or cliffs. Therefore, rather than breaking opponents’ limbs to subdue them like ordinary grappling techniques, it developed into a unique technique that paralyzed muscles by driving fingertips into the opponent’s flesh. Of course, it was also useful for escaping up cliffs or trees in urgent situations.

For weapon techniques, the Moon-Severing Sickle Blade from the Medicine King Sect that used sickles.

Moon-Severing Sickle Blade was a weapon technique that could be used to cut opponents’ legs or strike meridian points. Sickles were among the easiest weapons to obtain and their curved ends made them suitable for countering sword-wielding opponents.

In addition to the hidden weapon technique Flying Thread Twelve Branches from Five Pines Sect and the Finger Wind Splitting Hand Arrow Shot that Dan Ryeong-gyeong had taught him.

That much would be enough to have a complete set.

Now Jin Ja-gang could finally actually learn the martial arts that the Medicine Sect elders had transmitted, not just knowledge about medicine.

Of course, even that had the disadvantage that he could only use it with his right side…

That’s also why he hadn’t yet thought of properly learning footwork or movement techniques.

* * *

On the road from Yunnan to Sichuan.

When two weeks had passed, Jin Ja-gang could finally feel surveillance eyes following him. When he entered villages, there were definitely gazes watching him.

Jin Ja-gang felt that the time was gradually approaching.

He needed to raise his physical condition to the maximum.

While in villages, Jin Ja-gang didn’t worry about the watchers’ attention and ate as much as possible and rested comfortably.

If it was the Zhuge family, they would surely come forward themselves rather than hire assassins. There was no need to worry anxiously about when he might have to fight.

And around lunchtime.

Jin Ja-gang entered a popular restaurant bustling with people.

“Welcome! Come, this way please.”

Amid the chaos of customers coming and going, a waiter guided Jin Ja-gang to a corner seat. He brought a teapot and tea and bowed his head to take an order.

“What would you like?”

But the waiter’s finger was dipped in the teacup. Whether the waiter knew his finger was in the tea water or not, he was smiling brightly while waiting for an order.

Jin Ja-gang sensed something strange and asked.

“What do you do well here?”

“Ah, you’re not from around here. Everything here is delicious, but especially…”

At that moment, the waiter’s finger that had been in the teacup quickly came out and moved across the table.

He had written characters on the table with the tea water.

Blue Forest (藍林).

Before Jin Ja-gang could read the characters and understand their meaning, the waiter bumped the teacup and spilled the tea.

“Oh my, I’m sorry.”

The waiter quickly wiped the table with the cloth he was holding, erasing it, and continued speaking.

“We have delicious lion’s head meatballs and fragrant braised pork.”

“Then please bring two plates of those.”

“Yes, yes, please wait a moment.”

The waiter greeted other customers while repeatedly calling out “Welcome!” and went into the kitchen. And when he came out of the kitchen again, it wasn’t the same waiter as before.

Jin Ja-gang ate the food that came out while thinking.

Seeing how he had immediately erased the writing to avoid the watchers’ eyes, they were probably people from the opposite side, not the Zhuge family.

Then it was likely a warning sent by the evil faction’s Wishful Fairy Maiden Dan Ryeong-gyeong.

‘Blue Forest…!’