Chapter 65

Mang Ryo asked again.

“So, where are you rushing off to?”

Noh Yuk suppressed his anger and answered.

“To Poison Valley.”

“I see.”

“If you understand, either come with us or step aside.”

But Mang Ryo didn’t budge.

Mang Ryo looked at Noh Yuk with a faint smile.

“That won’t do.”

“What?”

“I was planning to handle it myself if he didn’t, but unexpectedly, he took care of both Iron Umbrella Sect and Shadow Bureau on his own. If I let you go now, wouldn’t that make me look ridiculous?”

Noh Yuk’s brow furrowed.

“What on earth are you talking about…!”

Mang Ryo’s demeanor felt suspicious. No matter how he looked at it, it didn’t seem like he was blocking the way with good intentions.

Now, even Noh Yuk’s words no longer came out gently.

“Is this something the Martial Arts Alliance ordered?”

“No, it’s not.”

Noh Yuk bared his teeth and spoke as if chewing his words.

“Then you’d better step aside right now.”

“Don’t you understand? I said it won’t do.”

With time being of the essence, Noh Yuk didn’t want to waste any more of it.

Noh Yuk immediately summoned his internal energy.

Pop!

Yellow smoke rose from Noh Yuk’s palms. It was Noh Yuk’s signature technique, the Yellow Palm.

“I don’t know what your intentions are, but I wonder if Elder Mang has the skill to stop me.”

“Oh, is Poison Valley’s martial art so impressive?”

Mang Ryo let out a hearty laugh.

Noh Yuk, enraged, raised both palms.

“A mere third-rate sect elder from Extreme Poison Sect, and just because we showed some pity and gave you a bit of respect, you dare to act so arrogantly?”

While Noh Yuk exuded intense killing intent, Mang Ryo only smiled contentedly.

Noh Yuk felt a sliver of unease.

However, all he could think was that Mang Ryo was bluffing.

Even when he was the chief elder of Extreme Poison Sect, his martial skills were far below Noh Yuk’s. Now, with prosthetic legs on both feet and relying on a cane to walk, how could he be any better than before?

Noh Yuk gathered his internal energy to its fullest, preparing to strike.

“For the sake of old ties, I’ll kill you in a single blow.”

The atmosphere suggested that dragging this out any longer would be unwise. Regardless of the circumstances, the priority was to return to Poison Valley as quickly as possible.

Just as Noh Yuk was about to charge at Mang Ryo with a powerful step.

Whoosh!

A fierce wind brushed past Noh Yuk.

Noh Yuk instinctively swung both palms.

Boom!

A burst of yellow smoke shot forward with the force of his strike. But there was no one in front of Noh Yuk.

Not even Mang Ryo, who had been standing there moments ago.

“Urgh… kuh… keck.”

A pained groan came from behind Noh Yuk.

Noh Yuk turned around and was struck dumb.

Mang Ryo was pulling his cane out of a Poison Valley warrior’s head.

The warrior, with half his head blown off, collapsed while spewing blood.

Mang Ryo tapped his bloodied cane on the ground to shake off the blood and looked at Noh Yuk.

“Oh, my apologies. I was distracted for a moment and didn’t hear you.”

Mang Ryo smiled and asked again.

“I think you said something about a single blow just now… What was that?”

Not only Noh Yuk but also the Poison Valley warriors stared at Mang Ryo with horrified expressions.

“You’ve been hiding your true strength all this time!”

As soon as Noh Yuk opened his mouth, Mang Ryo moved again.

Thud.

Once more, a Poison Valley warrior’s head exploded.

Mang Ryo tilted his ear toward Noh Yuk.

“What was that?”

At this point, Noh Yuk didn’t even have a chance to speak.

“Grr!”

Noh Yuk gritted his teeth and charged at Mang Ryo. Noh Yuk’s palm strike rained down on Mang Ryo.

Mang Ryo used his cane to push off the ground, launching himself into the air, and kicked Noh Yuk’s chest with both prosthetic legs.

As Noh Yuk withdrew his strike and blocked his chest with both arms, Mang Ryo used Noh Yuk’s blocking arms as a foothold to push off and flip backward. In the process, he struck another Poison Valley warrior’s head, blowing it apart.

“Mang-Ryo! You b*st*rd!”

Enraged, Noh Yuk relentlessly unleashed poison palms while chasing Mang Ryo, but Mang Ryo only moved around, killing off Poison Valley warriors.

The Poison Valley warriors drew their swords to resist, but they couldn’t even touch the hem of Mang Ryo’s robe.

One strike, one head.

Every time Mang Ryo moved, a Poison Valley warrior’s head exploded.

Noh Yuk tried to keep up, but unbelievably, he couldn’t catch up to Mang Ryo, who had prosthetic legs on both feet.

Noh Yuk’s particular weakness was his footwork. His poison palm was powerful, but he lacked the footwork to match Mang Ryo.

Clearly, Mang Ryo had known this fact from the start.

“Huff, huff! Huff!”

Noh Yuk wasted his internal energy swinging futile poison palms.

After killing all ten Poison Valley warriors, Mang Ryo leisurely stood and tapped his cane to shake off the blood.

“I apologize for not focusing on the conversation. If even one of them escaped, it would be a hassle to chase them down.”

Grit.

Noh Yuk ground his teeth.

“You b*st*rd”

Mang Ryo, who had been smiling all along, furrowed his brow.

“You b*st*rd? I’ve been listening and listening, but your language has been quite harsh since earlier, hasn’t it?”

Whoosh! Mang Ryo’s form seemed to vanish as if extinguished. Noh Yuk used his footwork to evade.

But Mang Ryo was right beside Noh Yuk on his left, moving in sync with him!

Noh Yuk, utterly shocked, struck out with a palm to his left. Mang Ryo deftly grabbed Noh Yuk’s arm and twisted it.

Snap!

The arm, reinforced with internal energy and thus hardened, broke with absurd ease. As Mang Ryo kicked Noh Yuk’s ankle with his cane, Noh Yuk stumbled and fell to his knees.

Mang Ryo raised his cane and brought it down. Noh Yuk tried to block with his uninjured arm but realized the vast disparity in skill between himself and Mang Ryo, and gave up on defending.

Instead, he flipped his hand backward and struck upward at Mang Ryo’s groin. Even if his head was smashed, a strike to such a vital area would ensure Mang Ryo wouldn’t escape unscathed either!

It was a technique considered dishonorable in the orthodox martial world. However, although Poison Valley was currently part of the Martial Arts Alliance, its nature was closer to that of the unorthodox sects, so it wasn’t particularly shameful.

“Die!”

Noh Yuk’s hand was imbued with yellow poison, so even a graze would cause flesh to rot. With this strike, he felt he could split Mang Ryo’s groin and tear through to his abdomen!

But the cane descending toward Noh Yuk’s head carried no real force; it was a feint. Mang Ryo lightly tapped Noh Yuk’s head with the cane and leaped upward.

Then, he landed on Noh Yuk’s upraised hand.

Noh Yuk felt a shiver of dread.

Not only was there a difference in martial skill, but what widened that gap even further was none other than deep strategy.

‘To use a feint at such a moment!’

Stunned, Noh Yuk looked up to see Mang Ryo standing firmly on his arm, clicking his tongue.

“Tsk tsk, didn’t I tell you? Poison Valley’s martial arts can’t do anything to me.”

Mang Ryo spoke as if lecturing.

“There are many monsters in the Martial Arts Alliance. Monsters beyond our imagination. Even though we use poison, we shouldn’t neglect martial arts; we need to broaden our perspective on them as well.”

Noh Yuk’s face contorted more and more. He couldn’t lower his arm. Internal energy was flowing from Mang Ryo’s prosthetic legs, which stood atop his arm.

Not even through bare skin, but through prosthetic legs.

It was a truly terrifying level of martial prowess.

‘He’s beyond my league! When did Mang Ryo become this strong!’

Unable to lower his arm and immobilized by the internal energy pouring from the prosthetic legs, Noh Yuk’s body stiffened.

Pop, pop.

The sound of organs bursting echoed within his body.

It was due to Mang Ryo’s internal energy coursing through him. Blood trickled from Noh Yuk’s mouth.

“What… what do you intend to do with me!”

Noh Yuk mustered all his strength to speak, but Mang Ryo’s answer was simple.

“What do you mean, what? You’re going to die.”

Mang Ryo climbed onto Noh Yuk’s shoulders, clamped Noh Yuk’s head between his prosthetic legs, and spun around once.

Noh Yuk’s head twisted along with it.

Crack!

With Noh Yuk’s neck snapped, his kneeling body lost all strength and collapsed forward.

Mang Ryo descended gracefully from the air, as if stepping down stairs.

In an instant, eleven corpses lay around him. Mang Ryo nodded with satisfaction.

When fighting the experts of Stone Forest Gang, even though he had spread poison beforehand, Mang Ryo himself had sustained considerable injuries.

But now, no one had managed to touch even a hair on his head. Even Noh Yuk couldn’t match his current skill.

“The fruits of my training are evident.”

Mang Ryo smiled contentedly.

“Wait a moment… I shouldn’t be standing around like this, should I?”

Mang Ryo turned his head left and right, then fixed his gaze on a spot.

“Ah, perfect.”

Mang Ryo leisurely walked toward the nearest civilian house.

Mang Ryo knocked on the door.

“Hello there. I’d like to ask a quick question.”

Given the dire situation in the village, it took a while for the door to open. A middle-aged woman cracked the door slightly and asked.

“What is it?”

“Oh, I wanted to ask how many people live in this village. How many are there?”

“Uh, uh?”

The woman, flustered, thought for a moment before answering.

“There used to be one hundred and twenty-three…”

“So, including you, that makes one hundred and twenty-three?”

“Yes. Including me.”

Mang Ryo subtly waved his hand.

Thud!

Blood spurted from the woman’s head.

The woman died instantly.

Mang Ryo looked at the collapsed woman and spoke.

“Then, with one gone, it’s now one hundred and twenty-two.”

Mang Ryo stood there for a moment, then suddenly burst into loud laughter and shouted.

“Jin Ja-gang, you vicious b*st*rd, have you lost your mind? You’ve finally opened the gates of hell! Wasn’t Stone Forest Gang enough? Why did you slaughter all these innocent villagers? Hahaha!”

* * *

Jin Ja-gang moved to the outskirts of the village.

He retrieved the bundle he had hidden in a corner of a dilapidated shrine. Then, he tightly re-bandaged his wounds.

As long as he stopped the bleeding, the cuts would heal quickly.

Not just cuts, but even stab wounds and scratches would heal within a few days, leaving almost no scars.

This change had occurred since his body had been covered in scabs at the sulfur pool.

Even after living in a rough, harsh mine shaft for eight years, Jin Ja-gang’s skin remained as smooth as a child’s. It was as lustrous and translucent as that of a well-fed, well-rested noble’s son.

However, having not seen the sun for so long, his skin appeared unusually pale.

Jin Ja-gang rubbed the accumulated dust from the shrine’s corner onto his face and exposed arms. It was to make himself look like a filthy beggar.

But then, a different thought struck him.

Jin Ja-gang stopped rubbing.

After a moment of contemplation, he went behind the shrine. There was an old, unused well there.

Jin Ja-gang drew water from the well and washed himself. Black water flowed onto the ground.

Unlike his earlier intention to make himself dirty, he cleaned his body thoroughly.

Then, he opened his bundle and took out the clothes he had taken from Stone Forest Gang. Among them, he chose the most lavish outfit to wear. It gave him the appearance of a somewhat clumsy young master from a rural wealthy family.

Satisfied with his look, Jin Ja-gang left the shrine.

He had already decided where to go.

It was a decision made by compiling the information he had gathered from the poison sect warriors.

Shadow Bureau!

Shadow Bureau was quite far compared to the other sects.

At Jin Ja-gang’s pace, it would take about a week from Stone Forest Gang.

After confirming the direction, Jin Ja-gang set off immediately.