Chapter 134: Blood is Thicker Than Water (3)

Yun Chang-hwa was a martial artist of the Jumchang Sect.

Within the sect, he was considered a prodigy of some promise, but as a collateral branch disciple rather than a direct-line student, his growth within the sect had its limits.

His desire for martial prowess was strong, and his ambition for social advancement was more than sufficient, but the Jumchang Sect could offer him no further path.

Thus, when he learned that the Martial Alliance was to be formed, he was overjoyed. He believed that while the Jumchang Sect had its limits, the Martial Alliance would allow him to transcend them.

Yun Chang-hwa petitioned the Grandmaster and was eventually dispatched to the Martial Alliance. Immediately upon joining, he threw himself into his work with more fervor than anyone.

As a result, he earned the trust of the elders and was appointed squad leader of the pursuit force.

"We must track them down quickly."

His squad consisted of thirty martial artists.

There were more than twenty such pursuit squads.

The squads were narrowing their net, combing through Dam Ho's trail like a dragnet sweeping the lakebed.

"If they leave Hunan Province, we will never catch them. We must overtake them before that happens."

Yun Chang-hwa urged his subordinates on.

At that moment, a martial artist of similar age approached him. It was Bok Woo-gyeom, the vice squad leader.

Bok Woo-gyeom was a martial artist of the Jongnam Sect, and he and Yun Chang-hwa got along remarkably well.

"Squad Leader, are you certain about this?"

"About what?"

"Tracking the Fist Demon. Did you not see his overwhelming power?"

"And?"

"Even if we are lucky enough to succeed in tracking him down, if we actually face the Fist Demon, we are dead men."

"Perhaps."

"And yet you still intend to pursue him?"

"Do we have any choice? When the higher-ups order a thing done, it must be done."

"Damn it! I should have my coffin measured in advance."

"We just need to spot him first and send word. Reinforcements will come running. He is only human, after all."

"He is beyond the category of human."

"Regardless, he is alone. If we employ both group attacks and the wheel formation, he will fall."

"But…"

"Worrying will not change the answer. It is not as though we have a choice in the matter."

Yun Chang-hwa answered curtly.

Seeing that his mood was sour, Bok Woo-gyeom quietly sighed. He could understand Yun Chang-hwa's position.

They were tracking the Fist Demon of the world. For Yun Chang-hwa, who bore responsibility for the lives of thirty men, the psychological burden was naturally immense.

"What of his trail?"

"That is the strange part."

"What?"

"The trail leads toward the Yangtze."

"What is strange about that? It seems he intends to take the river to leave Hunan Province."

"That is precisely what is strange."

"So what is strange about it? Taking a boat would be a much faster way out of Hunan."

"That may be so. However, he could become trapped on the boat. If he is isolated in the middle of the Yangtze, there would be no way out. Why would he board a boat?"

"Hmm!"

"The Fist Demon is never foolish. No, he is in fact quite clever. It is difficult to believe that such a man would make such an obvious mistake."

Bok Woo-gyeom was extremely cautious and a deep thinker. Therefore, his words did not sound idle.

"Then are you saying he is deliberately luring us?"

"It is only my conjecture."

"So you have no evidence."

"That is correct!"

"Then we proceed with the pursuit as planned. Without evidence, this is the best we can do."

"Very well."

"Understood?"

"I will do as you say. The decision is yours to make, Squad Leader."

In the end, Bok Woo-gyeom nodded.

As vice squad leader, he could raise objections, but ultimately the decision lay with Squad Leader Yun Chang-hwa.

Even if there were suspicious elements, once Yun Chang-hwa had made his decision, it had to be followed.

The pursuit squad led by Yun Chang-hwa followed Dam Ho's trail northward. How long had they been traveling when—

"Who goes there?"

Suddenly, a martial artist at the front of the formation, tracking Dam Ho's trail, shouted aloud.

"What is it?"

"There is a suspicious figure blocking the road ahead."

At his subordinates' words, Yun Chang-hwa and Bok Woo-gyeom pushed through the men and moved forward. There, standing in the middle of the road, was a man.

He was a middle-aged man in plain clothing. An unremarkable village farmer with nothing particularly notable about him. The only striking detail was the pipa he held in his hands.

Twang!

The man stood in the middle of the road, plucking the pipa with leisure. The sight was strikingly incongruous.

Yun Chang-hwa stepped forward.

"We are martial artists of the Martial Alliance. Who might you be, to block the road?"

"My name is So Cheonsan."

The man smiled as he answered. His hands continued to play the pipa.

A beautiful melody echoed along the road, yet Yun Chang-hwa could not easily smooth the furrow in his brow.

For some reason, his heart was pounding wildly.

It was something he had never experienced since learning martial arts.

Yun Chang-hwa found it strange but did not know the reason.

When he glanced sideways, he saw that Bok Woo-gyeom's eyes were glazed. Unlike Yun Chang-hwa, who was somewhat emotional, Bok Woo-gyeom was equipped with cool rationality.

It was the first time he had ever seen Bok Woo-gyeom in such a state.

Come to think of it, all the members of the pursuit squad wore the same dazed expression.

'Strange.'

A question flickered in his mind.

Not one or two men—all thirty had lost their wits in the same manner.

All appeared completely absorbed in the sound of the pipa.

'The pipa?'

His gaze fell upon the instrument in the man's hands.

From the pipa flowed a melody that muddled the mind.

The moment he recognized this, his senses sharpened.

"Everyone, snap out of it!"

He infused his voice with internal energy and shouted.

"Ha!"

"What?"

Fortunately, the technique seemed to work. Bok Woo-gyeom and the others regained their senses.

"He is using the pipa to ensnare us. Circulate your internal energy to resist the sound."

Bok Woo-gyeom and the subordinates, horrified, circulated their internal energy to counteract the pipa's music.

In that instant, a faint smile appeared on the lips of the man who had been leisurely playing.

"Not bad. To recover your senses after hearing the Soul-Stealing Heart-Severing Melody."

The Soul-Stealing Heart-Severing Melody was, as its name suggested, a tune with the power to seize a person's will. Those with weak internal energy or an unsteady mind were often ensnared by it.

Clang!

Yun Chang-hwa drew his sword and leveled it at the man.

"Who are you? Reveal your identity. To play such a sorcerous tune."

"Did I not tell you? My name is So Cheonsan."

The man who had identified himself as So Cheonsan spoke gently.

His voice was remarkably pleasant to the ear. Yet Yun Chang-hwa and the pursuit squad were not deceived by it.

They instinctively sensed that the man before them was no ordinary being.

"Who are you? Are you perhaps connected to the Fist Demon?"

"The Fist Demon? Ah, the young man who has been causing such a stir of late. He is an interesting junior, but I have no connection to him."

"Then why do you block our path? Do you not know that we are martial artists of the Martial Alliance?"

"That is precisely why I block you. Because you are martial artists of the Martial Alliance."

"What?"

"Was the Martial Alliance not created to oppose the Holy Cult?"

Yun Chang-hwa tilted his head, unable to grasp So Cheonsan's meaning for a moment. But in the next instant, his eyes flew wide as though they might tear.

"The Holy Cult? Surely you don't mean…"

"Yes! I have come from the Holy Cult."

The Holy Cult.

It was the term the Demonic Cult used to refer to themselves. It was a word that orthodox martial artists would never utter.

"You are a demon cultist!"

"I said the Holy Cult."

"To dare show your face in the territory of the Martial Alliance—your nerve is admirable."

Yun Chang-hwa raised his voice. There was a force in his tone that could not be ignored. Yet So Cheonsan continued to smile.

"Is the Martial Alliance so important?"

"How dare you!"

"'How dare you' is not a phrase of such weight that a martial artist of no consequence like yourself can wield it."

Twang!

Even as he spoke, So Cheonsan did not cease his playing.

In that moment, Yun Chang-hwa shouted.

"Attack! Seize him and escort him to the Martial Alliance."

He had long since forgotten that they were supposed to be tracking Dam Ho. His subordinates were no different.

"Yaaah!"

The pursuit squad surged toward So Cheonsan as one.

In that instant, the corners of So Cheonsan's mouth curled upward. In his eyes, a dark, bloody light had begun to flicker.

So Cheonsan plucked the string of the pipa with great force.

Twang!

A wave of sound swept across the landscape.

Like thunder striking the earth, like a great wave crashing against a solitary rock, the sound wave battered Yun Chang-hwa and his squad.

"Gack!"

"Kuhwah!"

The men caught in the sound wave staggered violently and vomited blood. Amid the blood that splattered to the ground, fragments of shattered internal organs could be seen.

"H-how is this possible?"

The pupils of Yun Chang-hwa and Bok Woo-gyeom trembled.

A ringing echoed in their ears, and the world appeared a wash of red.

A single wave of sound had crushed their heart meridians.

It was a sonic attack of terrifying power, beyond belief.

So Cheonsan explained kindly.

"It is called the Ten-Li Annihilation Sound. I have not used it in quite some time. I wonder if you are fond of it."

The Ten-Li Annihilation Sound.

As its name suggested, it was a devastating sonic technique capable of killing every living thing within a ten-li radius.

So Cheonsan was the sole inheritor of this art.

Within the Demonic Cult, his epithet was "No Life Within Ten Li."

It meant that no living creature survived within a ten-li radius of him.

Thud!

Yun Chang-hwa and Bok Woo-gyeom dropped to their knees.

They desperately wished to rise, but with their heart meridians shattered, survival was impossible.

The pallor of death settled upon their faces.

So Cheonsan let out a cold laugh.

"See what comes of provoking us?"

"When did we ever—"

"You wished to live in peace, yet you were the ones who provoked us. Now you must pay the price."

"Kuh!"

"Do not look so aggrieved. Others will soon follow where you have gone."

"J-just you wait. We may die here, but the Martial Alliance will surely have its revenge. You filthy spawn of the Demonic Cult, there is no place for you on this earth. Kuhuk!"

As he hurled his final curses, Yun Chang-hwa vomited a ladle's worth of blood and collapsed, never to move again. He had drawn his last breath.

Bok Woo-gyeom followed shortly after.

So Cheonsan looked down at their corpses and clicked his tongue.

"You still do not understand the power of the Holy Cult. Well, that is why you had the audacity to provoke us in the first place."

So Cheonsan was one of the Seven Great Demons of the Demonic Cult.

He was one who would stand at the vanguard when war erupted with the righteous sects. His emergence was tantamount to the Demonic Cult stepping forth into the world.

For decades, he had endured and endured.

In that long time, he had grown stronger.

Now the world would learn.

The power of the Demonic Cult.

So Cheonsan murmured to himself.

"The Fist Demon… It seems a useful one has appeared in the Murim."

The epithet he had heard most often on his journey here was none other than Fist Demon.

A demon who hailed from the Mount Hua Sect yet denied his own sect.

For some reason, So Cheonsan found him intriguing.

"Well, we shall meet someday."

He departed.

The ones annihilated that day were not limited to Yun Chang-hwa's squad.

Within a ten-li radius centered on So Cheonsan, over three hundred martial artists from more than a dozen pursuit squads had all vomited blood and perished.

No Life Within Ten Li.

Within ten li, no living thing remained.

The great upheaval of the Murim was beginning.

Zhuge Ming spoke while thinking of Zhuge Yan.

“Yan had learned the Blue Gate Qigong, so her martial arts were by no means low. She was clever and intelligent, not a child who would fall for petty tricks. Moreover, before departure, she had received poison avoidance pills provided by the Martial Arts Alliance and even carried Spirit Capturing Pills.”

“Yet she returned as a cold corpse. We never thought for a moment that such a thing could happen.”

“It was a painful mistake. To think she lost her life to some insignificant fellow who merely learned poison techniques in the frontier martial world of Yunnan.”

Zhuge Ming frowned.

“That b*st*rd has some trump card we don’t know about. But seeing that Shin Yung survived, it’s not a move he can use multiple times. So there’s absolutely no reason for us to move hastily and get caught by it. We can wait until he’s exhausted and then move. No matter how fine he pretends to be on the outside, his insides must be burning with anxiety.”

Zhuge Ming paused in his speech and thought for a moment.

“But… I don’t like just staying like this. Besides, it’s also annoying that the evil faction b*st*rds are just leaving Snake Scorpion Poison King to be dealt with without doing anything. I think we need to throw some appetizing bait at least once.”

Zhuge Ming’s decision to use the Nine Palace Eight Trigram Formation with sufficient time leeway in dealing with Jin Ja-gang also had the purpose of understanding the evil faction’s movements.

The Zhuge family was also aware that war with the evil faction was imminent.

The signal had been fired when the evil faction’s Snake Scorpion Poison King destroyed Yunnan’s orthodox factions.

This was essentially a preliminary battle to gain the initiative against the evil faction, and also a probing battle.

“Let’s see how they come out. If they abandon Snake Scorpion Poison King, that abandonment will be advantageous to us, and if not, it wouldn’t be bad for our Zhuge family to lead the start of the war with this opportunity.”

Just taking revenge for Zhuge Yan’s death wouldn’t be befitting of the Zhuge family.

The niece who was already dead couldn’t be brought back to life no matter what they did. So revenge was natural, and if they could also cast a net to draw out the rest of the evil faction as well, wouldn’t that be the Zhuge family way of handling things?

* * *

It had been almost half a month since Jin Ja-gang stayed in Lan Family Village.

The surveillance eyes remained, but since no one bothered Jin Ja-gang, he was rather relaxed.

Why the Zhuge family wasn’t pressing him was becoming more strange.

Every day he practiced martial arts, made weapons, and chewed poisonous herbs. This was the most suitable time for Jin Ja-gang to recover his body and train to handle internal energy.

The more he trained internal energy, the more painful it became, and he could feel the durability of his meridians gradually weakening, but he became that much more familiar with how to handle internal energy.

In that process, his meridians continued to be injured and heal repeatedly due to the violent movement of internal energy. His right side would have blood vessels burst from shock, and even his eyes would become bloodshot from burst capillaries.

Pain becomes familiar, but the pain itself doesn’t decrease.

Rather, it worsened, so there were times when he couldn’t sleep at night, sweating cold sweat.

However, Jin Ja-gang didn’t mind.

He wasn’t in a position to live looking ahead several years.

Even right now, if not now, he might never have time to train again.

So while he was alive, he had to do his best.

Enduring and bearing any pain, he would just run toward his destination until the end.

Jin Ja-gang no longer had anywhere to return to.

Thwack! Crack!

Jin Ja-gang spread his right hand fingers and struck down several times at a sack of beans placed in front of him in the inn room.

Crane Sect’s grappling technique, Capturing Dragon Strike!

Once familiar with it, he could drive his fingers into thick tree trunks, but for now, making marks on the bean sack was all he could manage. His fingertips stung and ached.

Even after practicing for half a month, no calluses formed and they remained smooth. His constitution that healed skin quickly even when cut by blades seemed to prevent even calluses from forming.

“Hup!”

Jin Ja-gang gathered his internal energy to the extreme and attempted Capturing Dragon Strike once more.

Thud!

With a heavy sound, Jin Ja-gang’s fingers embedded themselves in the bean sack.

When Jin Ja-gang pulled out his fingers, beans spilled out through the hole and rolled around on the floor.

But in the meantime, Jin Ja-gang’s face had become covered with sweat. Using internal energy made his right side meridians feel like they were tearing.

“Huff, huff. Huff.”

A slight smile appeared at the corners of Jin Ja-gang’s mouth.

What remained for Jin Ja-gang was an unpredictable future and the arduous path of revenge.

But in that process, he at least had the small pleasure of seeing himself gradually becoming stronger.

Jin Ja-gang rested briefly, then picked up a sickle.

He was also practicing Medicine King Sect’s Moon-Severing Sickle Blade daily without fail.

Though the room was narrow, it was sufficient for swinging the sickle and learning the movements.

* * *

Bang!

Mang Ryo struck the table with his fist. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

“Of all things, I had to pierce the meridians with Mad Acupoint Piercing!”

Mad Acupoint Piercing was a technique used by evil faction assassins.

It was also the method Mang Ryo had used when piercing Jin Ja-gang’s right side meridians.

Mad Acupoint Piercing was a technique that accepted damage to the meridians while greatly expanding the flow of energy to momentarily increase the destructive power of internal energy.

The process of meridians being destroyed was so agonizing that nine out of ten would go mad, hence the character “mad” was attached. Even assassins trained to be insensitive to pain were like this, so how much more would ordinary people suffer!

Of course, when Mang Ryo learned about the Mad Acupoint Piercing technique, he was pleased that it was perfect to use on Jin Ja-gang.

But this Mad Acupoint Piercing technique had a fatal flaw.

While very powerful for momentarily drawing up strength, it was impossible to use continuously. The more you use it, the more your body deteriorates, making it the worst compatibility for a Heaven’s Net and Earth’s Trap where battles could continue for days without rest.

Mang Ryo wondered if Baek Li-jung, knowing Jin Ja-gang’s condition, had deliberately induced the Zhuge family to use Heaven’s Net and Earth’s Trap.

He had pierced the half-body meridians with Mad Acupoint Piercing so Jin Ja-gang would suffer pain forever, not so he would be immediately caught and killed by Heaven’s Net and Earth’s Trap!

Grind grind grind!

Mang Ryo ground his teeth furiously.

He couldn’t stay like this. He had to somehow extract Jin Ja-gang from the Heaven’s Net and Earth’s Trap.

He was burning with desire to run directly and rescue Jin Ja-gang right now.

However, Mang Ryo was tied to the Martial Arts Alliance Guizhou Branch.

Baek Li-jung had not permitted Mang Ryo to travel outside.

He had assigned him only a pile of useless paperwork.

It was clearly an intention to tie his feet, thinking Mang Ryo might do something. Since if left alone, Mang Ryo would definitely do something. Of course, for the Zhuge family too, this was very important revenge, so they wouldn’t want interference from others.

However, that rather inflamed Mang Ryo’s obsession.

Mang Ryo pondered while holding his head for a long time, then finally stood up.

* * *

Strategist Sim Hak’s office.

Sim Hak, who had been glancing around nervously, finally burst out in anger.

“Ah, really! Let’s do some work!”

Mang Ryo replied listlessly.

“Go ahead. Am I interfering or something?”

“You sitting there like that makes me self-conscious while I’m trying to work.”

“Don’t be self-conscious.”

When he said don’t be self-conscious after being told it was distracting, Sim Hak made an incredulous expression.

“You’ve been staring at me all day from there, how can I not be self-conscious?”

“Strategist, do your work. I’m just curious about rumors from Yunnan, so I just need to see that.”

Sim Hak, being Baek Li-jung’s strategist in name, had the authority to receive all kinds of information. Even now, intelligence agents were coming and going several times, leaving confidential information.

“Do you think I would carelessly show you such things?”

Tap, tap.

Mang Ryo approached Sim Hak with his staff and spoke fiercely with wide eyes.

“Just in case I’m saying this… Strategist? Strategist Sim isn’t one of those… what, worthless fellows who just put their spoon on rice others have prepared, right?”

Sim Hak’s eyes widened greatly.

“What, what are you taking me for! Hey, look here. If I had such intentions, would our pavilion master have kept me around all this time! I’m a person who persists with loyalty to the pavilion master alone! I have not even a hair’s worth of greed for wealth or achievements. I didn’t see Advisor Mang that way! Don’t carelessly slander people!”

Sim Hak expressed his grievance, even spitting.

“Oh… if I misunderstood, I’m sorry. As Strategist Sim knows, the effort I’ve put into Yunnan isn’t small. Unlike Strategist Sim, I’m materialistic, so I’m very interested in worldly wealth. Even now I’m very anxious that someone else might steal my achievements.”

When Mang Ryo revealed his inner thoughts and made a pitiful expression, Sim Hak’s expression softened.

“Well, the pavilion master said he’d give you a castle if you just stay still. But why are you so anxious?”

“Strategist Sim is trusted by the pavilion master so there’s no problem, but I’m already a marked person, aren’t I? I’m in a position where I could be cast out at any time. So what meaning does a castle not currently in my hands have?”

“That’s why you should have behaved better normally…”

“Please help me a bit. At this rate, I’m going to have my achievements stolen by the Zhuge family b*st*rds. Their eyes are bloodshot trying to steal my achievements, but I’m blocked in sight and hearing, so how can I prepare?”

While speaking, Mang Ryo slyly pushed an ornament onto Sim Hak’s desk.

Sim Hak looked at Mang Ryo as if asking what this was.

Mang Ryo spoke in a subtle, low voice.

“I hear a courtesan with Guizhou’s finest beauty has newly entered Luocheng Tower ahead. If you go to Luocheng Tower and show this ornament, they’ll guide you to that courtesan.”

“Really?”

Seeing Sim Hak’s eyes slightly narrow, Mang Ryo smiled knowingly.

“I won’t do anything that would harm Strategist Sim. Just let me know what’s happening. Just don’t let me get caught unaware. People like us should help each other live. Isn’t that right?”

“If Advisor is saying this much… ahem.”

Sim Hak reached toward the ornament, but Mang Ryo covered that hand with his thick hand.

Click.

When Sim Hak looked up in surprise, Mang Ryo smiled while holding Sim Hak’s hand.

“Enjoying pleasures is good, but don’t overdo it and get scolded by the pavilion master. If you carelessly say I lent you this, I might get scolded too… keep it secret that I gave this.”

“Secret.”

Sim Hak nodded.

“It’s a secret between us.”

“Understood. A secret between us.”

Only then did Mang Ryo remove his hand. Sim Hak’s mouth split almost to his ears.

Perhaps afraid Mang Ryo might change his mind, Sim Hak quickly put the ornament in his sleeve and pushed a box forward.

“What’s in this box is information from Yunnan. Don’t even open what you don’t need and just leave it… no, if you don’t open it you can’t see, so open it and only look at what you need. They all have numbers written on them, so you can’t take even one out.”

“Oh, thank you. I won’t forget Strategist Sim’s kindness.”

Mang Ryo smiled and emphasized once more.

“It’s a secret between us.”

“Hehe, of course. They say even among men, matters between the legs aren’t shared with each other.”