Chapter 138: The Wind Relentlessly Shakes the Branches of the Great Tree (1)

Ailaoshan in Yunnan Province was a treacherous mountain.

Its terrain was deep and perilous, making it difficult for human feet to tread, and its peaks were shrouded year-round in mist and clouds, making it hard to discern its true form.

The Celestial Flower Palace was a mysterious sect that had established itself upon the summit of Ailaoshan. Though it seldom involved itself in the affairs of the Murim, it possessed considerable strength, and none treated it lightly.

As one of the Nine Great Sects, the Celestial Flower Palace had maintained a steady exchange with the Jumchang Sect, which also called Yunnan Province home, and was thus recognized as an orthodox sect.

Traditionally, the Celestial Flower Palace had far more female disciples than male. Consequently, the Palace Master had almost always been a woman.

The current Palace Master was Jang Hwa-gyeong.

Despite being over sixty years of age, Jang Hwa-gyeong appeared no older than her early forties, a testament to her profound internal energy.

The Cloud-Built Pavilion, situated at the deepest reaches of the Celestial Flower Palace, was her private residence.

Whether in times of joy or sorrow, Jang Hwa-gyeong would retire to the Cloud-Built Pavilion to gather her thoughts. It was a place of deep familiarity to her.

On this day, she was walking through the garden before the Cloud-Built Pavilion.

The magnificent garden was one she had cultivated throughout her lifetime. It was filled with rare and wondrous flowers and herbs seldom seen even in Yunnan Province, displaying a splendor fit for the heavens.

Jang Hwa-gyeong bent down to examine a tiny orchid growing alone in a crevice among the rocks.

"In a short while, the Celestial Bloom will flower."

This small orchid was a rare specimen known as the Celestial Bloom, a flower said to descend from the heavens. She had obtained it with great difficulty from the remote and treacherous mountains of the Tianshan range.

The Celestial Bloom, which had only ever grown in cold climates, had been extremely difficult to root in Yunnan Province, where the weather was warm year-round.

Jang Hwa-gyeong had tended the flower with the utmost devotion. After years of effort, it had finally borne fruit, and her pride was beyond measure.

The Celestial Bloom was said to be a flower bestowed by the heavens. There was a legend that when it bloomed, it would bring great fortune.

"What fortune will it bring?"

Jang Hwa-gyeong smiled and caressed the Celestial Bloom. The leaves of the flower trembled gently, as though bashful.

She was admiring the leaves for some time when—

Boom!

A sudden, intense wave of energy struck.

It came from the direction of the Celestial Flower Palace's main gate.

"What?"

Jang Hwa-gyeong's expression changed in an instant.

The killing aura was so overwhelming it constricted her heart, and every hair on her body stood on end.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The alarm bell began to sound—a bell that was rung only when an enemy attacked.

"Who dares to invade the Celestial Flower Palace?"

She rushed toward the main gate.

"Palace Master!"

The disciples of the Celestial Flower Palace streamed to her side.

What began as a handful soon swelled to dozens, and ultimately to hundreds.

From their entire beings emanated a truly murderous aura. They arrived at the main gate in an instant.

The moment she beheld the gate, Jang Hwa-gyeong's eyes flew wide.

The martial artists who should have been standing guard lay fallen across the ground. Blood pooled around them, and the massive main gate had been reduced to fragments, its original form unrecognizable.

Where the guards should have stood, men in crimson cloaks now stood instead.

Their numbers were barely a hundred. Yet the presence that radiated from them was powerful enough to take one's breath away.

At their center stood a man whose eyes blazed with a crimson light.

In his hands he held a spear emblazoned with the design of a coiling dragon. From it flowed a truly terrifying killing intent.

Its presence was so overwhelming that merely looking at it felt as though one's heart might be pierced. It was a weapon worthy of being called divine. Its wielder could not be ordinary.

Suppressing her rising fury, Jang Hwa-gyeong spoke.

"Who are you, to dare cause a disturbance in the Celestial Flower Palace?"

"My name is Woon Du-gwang."

"Woon Du-gwang."

"That is correct. You have likely never heard of me. This is my first appearance in the world."

A furrow formed between Jang Hwa-gyeong's brows.

"Do we have some enmity?"

"None whatsoever."

"Then why?"

"A declaration of war requires a suitable sacrifice."

"A declaration of war?"

"That is what the Cult Leader instructed me to do."

"Cult Leader?"

In that instant, Jang Hwa-gyeong's pupils dilated.

Though countless sects existed in the world, there were virtually none that referred to their leader as Cult Leader.

There was only one organization that used the term.

The Demonic Cult.

"You—you are from the Demonic Cult?"

"So you are not entirely without perception."

"Why has the Demonic Cult come?"

"Did I not say? A declaration of war requires a sacrifice."

Woon Du-gwang's lips curled upward. From him seeped a thick killing intent that consumed the surroundings.

"Gah!"

"Mmn!"

The martial artists of the Celestial Flower Palace, exposed to the killing intent without defense, shuddered.

"So the Demonic Cult has finally revealed its greed."

"It was you who struck first."

"What do you mean?"

"Had it not been for you, we would have continued living in peace as we always have."

Woon Du-gwang gripped his spear tightly. The veins on the back of his hand, thick as worms, bulged outward.

"Hmph! You resort to cowardly excuses. I do not know why the Demonic Cult has targeted my palace as its sacrifice, but you will learn that the Celestial Flower Palace is no easy prey."

Jang Hwa-gyeong raised her hand. At the gesture, the martial artists of the Celestial Flower Palace drew their weapons and leveled them at Woon Du-gwang and his forces.

Woon Du-gwang held his spear and clasped his fist in a salute.

"I am Woon Du-gwang, the Hidden Dragon Hall Master of the Holy Cult. In the name of the Cult Leader, I shall annihilate the Celestial Flower Palace from this world."

"Foolishness! Do not underestimate our strength. All disciples, destroy the demon cultists!"

Jang Hwa-gyeong gave the order with a snort.

"Yaaah!"

"Smite the demon cultists!"

The martial artists of the Celestial Flower Palace surged forward with a battle cry. Up to that point, the demon cultists standing behind Woon Du-gwang had remained motionless.

They moved the instant Woon Du-gwang gave his command.

"In the name of the Holy Cult, we destroy the Celestial Flower Palace. Begin the holy war!"

"By your command!"

Shing! Shing!

The men, who had not so much as breathed a sound until now, charged forward, their crimson cloaks billowing behind them.

Swish!

Their hands emerged from beneath their cloaks. In their grasp were Soul-Chasing Claws—secret weapons with three blade-like prongs extending from the base like claws.

They were devastating in close combat, but difficult to master and even harder to employ in actual battle, making them a rare sight in the Murim.

The demon cultists wielded the Soul-Chasing Claws with practiced skill.

Swish-rip!

"Gack!"

"Aargh!"

With each sweep of the Soul-Chasing Claws, martial artists of the Celestial Flower Palace fell, spewing blood. It was the disciples of the palace who died one after another, while the demon cultists sustained virtually no injuries.

They were like a pack of wolves that had thrown themselves into a flock of sheep, demonstrating overwhelming power.

"Impudent!"

Jang Hwa-gyeong bit her lip until it bled.

Before her very eyes, her disciples were dying. At this unbelievable reality, she let out a roar of fury.

"I will not forgive you, you servants of the Demonic Cult!"

Her snow-white hand cleaved through the air.

Demon-Subduing Mysterious Hand—the ultimate technique that only the Palace Master of the Celestial Flower Palace could master.

Swish!

Her hand影 blanketed the air.

The Demon-Subduing Mysterious Hand, at its peak, possessed the power to reduce a house-sized boulder to powder.

In that instant, Woon Du-gwang thrust his spear into the void.

A mass of crimson light raced along the spear's shaft and extended through its tip.

Spear energy had been unleashed.

The Extinguishing Fire Spear, Fifth Form: Blood Flower Rain—Woon Du-gwang's ultimate technique.

Kraaaash!

The two immense forces collided in midair.

Blinding light erupted, and a shockwave blasted outward in all directions.

Some were swept off their feet by the blast and tumbled across the ground. The wall, which had barely maintained its form, collapsed entirely.

Thud!

Moments later, someone crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.

"Nngh!"

The woman groaning and twitching intermittently on the ground was none other than Jang Hwa-gyeong, Palace Master of the Celestial Flower Palace.

Her right arm had been severed from the shoulder and was nowhere to be seen. Her entire body was drenched in blood, making it difficult to discern her original appearance.

"Aah!"

Tears streamed from her eyes.

Her disciples were dying.

The Celestial Flower Palace, with its centuries of history, was falling.

Woon Du-gwang looked down at her and remarked coldly.

"There is no need to feel so aggrieved. Many sects will fall just as the Celestial Flower Palace has."

"You—demons!"

"We lost everything and hid at the edges of the world. That was the last sanctuary we had left. But you pursued us there, and stole even that from us. All that remains to us is our final shred of pride and our venom. Anyone in such a position would have no choice but to become a demon."

"Kugh!"

"Call us demons if you wish. Accuse us of plunging the Murim into a bloodbath if you like. We too have a desperate reason to fight."

It was a battle for survival.

Countless would shed their blood upon this earth.

And even if the Holy Cult was forever branded with the infamy of the Demonic Cult, so be it.

"Leave no one alive. Show all who oppose the Holy Cult that this is what awaits them."

Woon Du-gwang's command descended, and that day the Celestial Flower Palace was annihilated without a single survivor.

***

At the summit of Lotus Peak, shrouded in mist, the high-ranking members of the Mount Hua Sect had gathered in the Upper Palace.

Though many were assembled, not one among them drew a breath louder than a whisper.

The annihilation of the Celestial Flower Palace had sent a shockwave through the world.

Though it had been classified as a mysterious sect due to its tendency to remain aloof from worldly affairs, its military strength surpassed that of most sects in the Central Plains.

Such a sect had been destroyed in a single night. Not a single survivor remained, and not a single pillar had been left standing.

For that reason, sects throughout the world were on high alert. The Mount Hua Sect was no exception.

Decades ago, they had suffered the greatest losses in the war against the Demonic Cult, and so the fear and fury they felt were all the more profound.

After a long silence, Sage Hyeon-cheon spoke.

"At last, the Demonic Cult's invasion has become reality. Today it is the Celestial Flower Palace. Tomorrow, who will be their prey? None can say. It could even be our Mount Hua Sect."

"Mmn!"

The elders could not bring themselves to speak.

Though they said nothing, they felt the gravity of the situation more keenly than anyone.

Sage Hyeon-cheon surveyed the elders and issued his orders.

"Recall all disciples to Mount Hua, excluding those dispatched to the Martial Alliance."

"Understood."

"And inform Sage Hyeon-geom as well. The time has come to end his closed-door training."

"Yes!"

Sage Hyeon-geom was the finest swordsman of Mount Hua. To defend the sect from the Demonic Cult's invasion, his strength was essential.

At that moment, someone spoke cautiously.

"But…"

"What is it?"

"What of Cheong-gyeong?"

The one who spoke was Hyun-gyeong Sage, the master of the Peace Palace, the lowest-ranked of the Mount Hua Sect's halls.

All eyes turned to Hyun-gyeong Sage. The Cheong-gyeong he mentioned was none other than Dam Ho.

Fist Demon Dam Ho.

It was the name that burned hottest in the Murim at present, and at the same time, a burden too heavy to bear.

Moreover, Myeong-gyeong, who had recently ventured into the Murim with great confidence, had returned. He had announced his defeat at the hands of Dam Ho and entered closed-door training.

The shock of the series of events upon the Mount Hua Sect was truly immense. For that reason, whenever two or more gathered, fierce debate ensued.

Some argued that Dam Ho should be recognized as a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect, while others contended that they could not afford to shelter a man who had been designated a public enemy of the Murim.

All of their arguments held merit, and the leadership of the Mount Hua Sect could not easily reach a decision.

Too hot to bear, yet sorely missed in his absence.

Such was Dam Ho's position within Mount Hua at present.

The leadership of the Mount Hua Sect debated his fate without regard for his own wishes. But by the time the meeting concluded, no resolution had been reached.

The gaze of Sage Hyeon-cheon, who presided over the meeting, grew deep.

'Un-gyeong must find Sage Hyeon-so.'

Bian Bu tilted his head and said.

“Ah, you mean why did I kill him without asking who he was? Well, it’s obvious even if you ask. He’d be either a spy from the Martial Arts Alliance or the Zhuge family. This village is controlled by such spies.”

“That’s not what I meant. Why did you suddenly kill that man?”

Only then did Bian Bu grin as if he understood why.

“Ah, that’s what you meant? Well, watch carefully. Sometimes you need to know how to handle affairs this cleanly.”

“There was no need to kill him.”

“If we left him alive, he’d go around the whole neighborhood talking about you and me, wouldn’t he? If you want to die, then sure, we could have left him alive. You do look like someone who wants to die.”

“No one fights wanting to die.”

“Well, everyone has their own circumstances, so I’ll think of it that way. But now that you’re also being called a member of the dark path, you should at least know how dark path people behave.”

Jin Ja-gang answered with a dark expression.

“Let me make this clear. I have absolutely no intention of becoming part of the evil faction.”

“That’s your thinking.”

Bian Bu chuckled.

“Your identity and inclinations aren’t decided by you. They’re decided by those esteemed elders sitting in high positions of power over there.”

“Even if I say I’m not?”

“So you saying you’re not doesn’t have much meaning, does it? Unless you’re strong enough to overturn the existing order of the martial world. You’re at most just a rising assassin from the frontier, so who would believe your words?”

Bian Bu shrugged as if there was nothing more to say if he didn’t understand this much.

Jin Ja-gang frowned and asked.

“Aren’t you afraid of me?”

Bian Bu pointed to the dead men and asked back.

“What? You mean those guys who cut the tendons in both my feet to make me a cripple and tried to torture me to death? Or the person who makes people shit liquid diarrhea with laxative poison? In some ways, you are scarier. But I’m not sure about that.”

Jin Ja-gang had nothing to say.

Bian Bu spoke again.

“You said you fight to avoid dying? But there’s a big difference between people who fight to live and people who fight to avoid dying. And people who fight to protect something are different again. Do you know who’s the scariest among them?”

Jin Ja-gang couldn’t answer. Bian Bu continued as if he expected this.

“People who fight to protect something. Ah, lest you misunderstand, I don’t mean people who fight to protect family or beliefs, things like that. Those folks throw away their lives too carelessly. When they die like that, only the remaining people suffer cleaning up the mess.”

Jin Ja-gang unconsciously felt anger surge as he thought of Yong Myeong and the Medicine Sect people who had died protecting him.

“Are you saying such deaths are worthless?”

When killing intent entered Jin Ja-gang’s voice, Bian Bu frowned slightly.

“I didn’t say they were worthless. I didn’t say they were useless either. I didn’t say they weren’t scary either. I just said it’s hard to count them as the scariest people.”

“Then who is the scariest?”

Bian Bu wiped his blood-stained beard with his sleeve and said.

“For instance, those who try to protect things like power, honor, and wealth are the scariest. Those guys never risk their own lives. Whether cowardly, sinister, or despicable, they use every means at their disposal to protect what they have, regardless of method. Because they never stop as long as they’re alive, such b*st*rds are the scariest.”

“What meaning is there in protecting things that way?”

“The one doing the protecting would know. What’s it to us to know their thoughts? I’m just telling you to keep it in mind. Because the guys you’re fighting are that type.”

Suddenly Jin Ja-gang remembered what Shin Yung had said in the cave.

“You… how have you been fighting against such people? Those who dare attack the Zhuge family…”

Jin Ja-gang had misunderstood the meaning of his words. He had taken it to mean whether he was fighting such strong people.

But thinking about it now, that should have been understood in the meaning of what Bian Bu had said.

The Zhuge family doesn’t tolerate provocations from others to protect the family’s honor. They mobilize all resources to retaliate. Literally, if you touch them, they fight to the death.

If there was someone who had launched a surprise attack against such a Zhuge family, what kind of person would that be?

They must either have backing powerful enough not to care about the Zhuge family, or be a force with that much power.

Shin Yung had asked Jin Ja-gang in that sense whether he had made such a tremendous force his enemy.

As Jin Ja-gang quietly fell into thought, Bian Bu chuckled.

“You asked if I’m not afraid of you? Hehe, then become a truly scary person. Scary enough that they think you’re frightening. Then perhaps someone might listen to your words a little.”

“Even so…”

Jin Ja-gang looked at Bian Bu and answered firmly.

“I won’t borrow your people’s power or ask for help. I’ll act and take revenge according to the standards I think are right. I won’t become the same as them.”

Bian Bu shrugged.

“Who said anything? Do as you please. If that’s your priority, I have no intention of persuading you right now. The Lord seems to be keeping an eye on you and wants to keep you alive somehow, but for me, taking care of my own life and surviving here right now is more important.”

Since that was the case, Jin Ja-gang had no need to argue further unnecessarily.

“I understand. But thank you for the words.”

“No need to thank me for words you have no intention of accepting. As I said, if you really want to thank me, help me survive, even by a penny’s worth.”

Bian Bu had an unexpectedly resolute personality.

“Then I should think of ways to survive now.”

Bian Bu immediately began searching through the bodies of the dead spies. However, nothing particularly helpful for information came out.

There were bamboo tubes containing gunpowder that could produce colored smoke, writing instruments for carrier pigeons to send urgent signals, and unidentifiable powder, among other things.

“Hmm.”

While Bian Bu was opening the lid of the bamboo tube containing gunpowder to smell it, Jin Ja-gang was holding the poison pill that the peddler had dropped.

Then he put the poison pill in his mouth without hesitation and chewed it.

Seeing this scene, Bian Bu was startled.

“Hey! Why are you eating that! Are you hungry?”

Jin Ja-gang answered nonchalantly.

“I want to check something. There’s something suspicious.”

Bian Bu stared blankly at Jin Ja-gang in bewilderment. Jin Ja-gang really seemed to be savoring the taste of the poison pill, rolling it around in his mouth before swallowing it.

Bian Bu looked at Jin Ja-gang with an anxious face. Jin Ja-gang frowned and showed a slightly pained expression, then quickly became fine.

“It’s not the poison I thought it was.”

The poison that Zhuge Yan and Shin Yung had consumed seemed to have somewhat different effects from this. The fact that the poison Zhuge Yan had consumed was different from the poison pills these spies carried was very significant.

In any case, he needed to remember this taste now. If he tasted poison pills when meeting other spies next time, he would eventually be able to distinguish them at important moments.

This was probably a method of distinction that only Jin Ja-gang could use.

Jin Ja-gang also tasted the powder that Bian Bu had found on the dead spies’ bodies.

“It’s paralysis poison.”

“Seeing that you’re fine, it doesn’t seem much like paralysis poison.”

Jin Ja-gang tasted everything suspicious by type without answering. From the side, it was sickening to watch.

“Well… whatever you do is your business, but…”

Bian Bu scratched his head vigorously.

“You really are Snake Scorpion Poison King after all. Or maybe you’re a possessed beggar king.”

* * *

Jin Ja-gang moved the bodies to a place where they wouldn’t be easily seen, then took Bian Bu to a shabby shrine where they could avoid people’s eyes. Since he had been observing the surveillance routes, he moved without hesitation in avoiding surveillance.

“Wait a moment and I’ll get medicine.”

“No need. My tendons are cut anyway, so I can’t walk properly. And I have medicine.”

Bian Bu took out round pills from his belongings and grinned.

“Now, what is this? This is the universal cure-all medicine that I received directly after serving and attending to the Three Dragon Hermit, the 25th generation disciple of Hua Tuo, for thirty years! Not only external and internal injuries, but also pediatric and gynecological diseases – a universal famous medicine under heaven that cures all big and small ailments! Even people whose spirits had crossed the Sanzu River and had Primordial Heavenly Venerable and Maitreya Bodhisattva coming and going before their eyes would return to their right mind like being struck by lightning with just one packet of this medicine, and even healthy people, if they dissolve it in water and drink it, their urine stream will pierce rocks and overturn chamber pots! It doesn’t come every day, so if you need it, just say the word. I’ll give it to you at half price just for today!”

“…”

At Bian Bu’s sudden imitation of a medicine peddler, Jin Ja-gang looked at him as if asking what was going on. His eyes seemed to wonder if his head had gone strange from the pain.

Bian Bu grumbled with an embarrassed face.

“What an unfunny fellow. Come on, laugh a little. When someone deliberately puts on a show, you should respond. People who are too serious are useless.”

“I’m sorry.”

Jin Ja-gang apologized in a tone that didn’t sound very sorry and checked Bian Bu’s foot.

“Ahhh, touch it gently. It hurts.”

“The tendon isn’t completely severed. If we fix it well, it might heal.”

“Oh? Really? Then put some of this medicine on it.”

Bian Bu took out black ointment instead of oral medicine and handed it to Jin Ja-gang. Jin Ja-gang received the ointment and stared at it quietly, then smelled it.

Bian Bu said incredulously.

“That one is effective, so don’t bother eating it. I may tell fortunes and sell medicine while traveling, but I don’t sell fake medicine.”

“I understand.”

Jin Ja-gang applied the ointment to Bian Bu’s heel and tied tree branches to fix it firmly. He removed the flag from the flagpole Bian Bu carried and made it usable as a walking stick.

Watching this scene, Bian Bu asked.

“What do you plan to do now?”

Jin Ja-gang couldn’t answer Bian Bu’s question immediately. Having conversations and sharing thoughts with someone wasn’t familiar work. He didn’t know yet if this was someone he could let his guard down around, and if he had good intentions, he didn’t want to cause him harm because of himself.

Losing Yong Myeong of the Medicine King Sect and causing harm to the Jang family still remained as wounds for Jin Ja-gang.

Bian Bu quietly looked at Jin Ja-gang, then spoke as if understanding Jin Ja-gang’s concerns.

“Four of them died. They’ll think their identity has been exposed now and won’t hide anymore. What I was trying to warn you about was that the Zhuge family would come down to Lan Family Village soon, but since the spies were caught, they’ll move even faster. As you heard earlier, they’ll burn this entire village. When that time comes, not a single person will be able to escape this village alive.”

Jin Ja-gang quietly listened to Bian Bu’s words.

“So the only chance to escape is today.”

Jin Ja-gang thought for a moment and asked back.

“Is it possible to escape?”

“There are Zhuge family people in the southern forest direction, and there’s another Zhuge family armed group behind. Actually, escaping isn’t as easy as you’d think either.”

“There’s an armed group?”

This was the first Jin Ja-gang had heard of this. However, naturally the Zhuge family wouldn’t have left Jin Ja-gang alone without such preparations.

“According to what we’ve found out, when they departed from the Zhuge family, the number exceeded two hundred. But the amount of food supplies sent to Chae Ridge Mountain was for one hundred and fifty people. Then where would the remaining fifty be? They’re probably waiting at the entrance to Lan Family Village. There might also be support forces from the Martial Arts Alliance. We couldn’t find out that far.”

But Jin Ja-gang still had doubts.

“To be honest, I still can’t believe that the Zhuge family would attack this village. There are clearly people living in Lan Family Village – are they saying they’ll make this place a battlefield?”

“It won’t be something they did.”

Bian Bu pointed at Jin Ja-gang with his finger.

“It will be known to the world as something you did.”

“You’re saying a prestigious orthodox faction like the Zhuge family would use such methods?”

Jin Ja-gang asked back with uncertainty. He couldn’t help but ask.

“Prestigious orthodox faction…”

Bian Bu stroked his beard and spoke in a reminiscent tone.

“Maybe that was true about ten years ago. Yes, come to think of it, I think there was such a thing as prestigious orthodox factions.”

Bian Bu’s tone was strange.

Bian Bu showed his teeth and laughed while revealing contempt.

“But there’s no such era now.”