Chapter 261 – Time Changes Many Things (2)

"Huff huff!"

Harsh groans escaped Eum Yu-kyung's lips. Her gray martial clothes were stained red with blood in many places.

The Five Elements Demon Children were not easy opponents. They were quintuplets born at the same time. They communicated almost at the level of spiritual resonance.

With just a glance or gesture they perfectly understood each other's intentions and attacked together without openings. When they unleashed the Five Elements Heaven Shaking Formation containing soul-capturing principles, their power doubled.

"Holy Maiden? You b*tch who sleeps with dogs. Just give up now. Then these elders will show you paradise."

"Why don't you untie your skirt strings yourself? Once you taste this elder's jade stalk you'll never want to leave."

They unleashed martial arts while spewing vulgar obscenities that were hard to even speak.

"Mmm!"

As time passed, Eum Yu-kyung's complexion grew paler.

'The internal injuries are flaring up again.'

Before coming here, she had to cross many death lines. The price was considerable internal injuries.

She had suppressed them well until now but they were flaring up in the fierce battle with the Five Elements Demon Children. Her internal organs were jolted and nausea rose.

Eum Yu-kyung barely suppressed the rising urge to vomit. But the Five Elements Heaven Shaking Formation kept worsening her condition.

"Hehe! Seems you've reached your limit."

The Five Elements Demon Children didn't miss that opening and rushed in.

Rumble!

Powerful palm energy shot forth.

Just as Eum Yu-kyung unleashed an upper-level move of the Falling Moon Divine Sword to neutralize the palm energy.

"Woman!"

Whoosh!

Along with a sharp voice, White Moon Demon Child shot hidden weapons. The microscopic hidden weapons too small to see rode the wind and flew at Eum Yu-kyung's back.

By the time Eum Yu-kyung sensed the hidden weapons it was already too late.

Stab!

"Huk!"

The hidden weapons pierced the back of her hand. From the impact Eum Yu-kyung lost grip of her sword.

It was a golden opportunity for the Five Elements Demon Children.

"Yah!"

They tightened their encirclement and simultaneously shot palm energy. With thunderous sounds, powerful energy struck at Eum Yu-kyung.

Eum Yu-kyung tried to launch her body into the air to avoid the Five Elements Demon Children's attack. But at the critical moment her internal energy flow was cut off. Additionally the pulling force of the Five Elements Heaven Shaking Formation was exerted.

In the end Eum Yu-kyung couldn't escape the Five Elements Heaven Shaking Formation and fell. And terrifying palm energy bearing down.

'Sacrifice flesh to take bone.'

Eum Yu-kyung bit her lip.

She planned to sacrifice at least one arm. Though sacrificing an arm was hard to bear as a woman, she had no choice.

Black Moon Demon Child sneered seeing this.

"Hehe! The Holy Maiden isn't much after all. Kuhk!"

Grab!

Suddenly Black Moon Demon Child couldn't continue speaking and struggled.

The clear world suddenly went dark. All that could be seen was pitch black darkness.

"W-what?"

Black Moon Demon Child struggled.

Like pulling radishes from a field, his body was pulled up into the air. His short legs flailed helplessly in the air unable to find footing.

"Elder Brother?"

"What?"

Only then did the other Five Elements Demon Children notice something wrong and look at Black Moon Demon Child.

Black Moon Demon Child was struggling in the air with his head grabbed by someone's hand.

"W-what?"

"Who are you?"

Behind Black Moon Demon Child's small body darkness was visible. No, it was a man cloaked in darkness. He stood holding Black Moon Demon Child's head in his large hand.

At that moment the air in the scene turned cold.

Chills ran up the Five Elements Demon Children's spines. Their bodies that had heated up fighting Eum Yu-kyung instantly turned cold.

Black Moon Demon Child struggled and shouted:

"L-let go! You! I absolutely won't… Kek!"

Crack!

At that moment the man's hand tightened and Black Moon Demon Child's head shattered like a cracker.

Blood and brain matter sprayed everywhere and flowed down the man's hand. The man threw Black Moon Demon Child's corpse like throwing away trash.

"E-Elder Brother?"

"This can't be!"

The remaining Five Elements Demon Children widened their eyes at the surreal sight. The sight of Black Moon Demon Child who they had been breathing and attacking together until now lying on the ground with his head shattered was unreal like a dream. It was unbelievable.

"You b*st*rd!"

"We'll never forgive you."

The Five Elements Demon Children lost their reason and charged at the man.

Eum Yu-kyung blankly watched that sight forgetting she had been hit by hidden weapons.

The man moved.

Thud!

The moment his foot stepped on the ground, a boom rang out as if an earthquake had occurred.

The earth's cry transmitted to Eum Yu-kyung through her feet.

Eum Yu-kyung thought the earth was crying.

That's when it happened.

The man launched a strike at the Five Elements Demon Children.

Bang!

Eum Yu-kyung saw an illusion of a volcano exploding before her eyes. The volcano that burst from the man's fist swallowed the Five Elements Demon Children whole.

"Kek!"

"Kyaak!"

Two of the Five Elements Demon Children who had persistently tormented Eum Yu-kyung flew away crushed like meat paste.

"Heek!"

"What?"

White Moon Demon Child and Yellow Moon Demon Child who barely saved their lives screamed metallically in terror. They had no time to grieve their brothers' deaths and retreated backward. But before they could even take one step back the man's body rushed in like a storm.

The massive storm struck their tiny bodies.

Bang!

Another explosion rang out.

White Moon Demon Child and Yellow Moon Demon Child died without even screaming. Their bodies flying away were crushed like meat paste and could no longer be called human.

"Ah!"

Eum Yu-kyung blankly watched all of that.

From the man's appearance to the Five Elements Demon Children's annihilation happened in the blink of an eye. It felt like a dream because it was so surreal.

Eum Yu-kyung blankly looked at the man.

The man was approaching while limping. His shoulder dipping slightly each time he moved his left leg.

A man giving an iron wall-like pressure despite his unbalanced body. There was only one man in the world with such an overwhelming presence.

"You are… Dam…ho."

The man who instantly took down the Five Elements Demon Children was Dam Ho.

Even before Dam Ho was called a monster. But now after three years he was so far beyond her limits she didn't know what to call him.

'This man has become even more terrifying.'

Suddenly she felt chills…. Finally Dam Ho stood before Eum Yu-kyung. He silently looked at Eum Yu-kyung.

Eum Yu-kyung spoke first.

"It's been a while."

"Indeed."

An awkward silence briefly flowed between the two.

It was a meeting after three years.

Though a short time, the gap felt large enough to feel long for people who had lived different lives.

Dam Ho spoke first.

"What brings you here?"

"I have something to tell you."

Dam Ho stared at Eum Yu-kyung's face.

"You look tired. Let's go up to Mount Hua."

"Thank you."

Only when Dam Ho's permission fell did Eum Yu-kyung finally breathe a sigh of relief. She had achieved her primary purpose in coming here.

Dam Ho turned around.

The Five Elements Demon Children's corpses were scattered around but they gave him no emotion.

Suddenly Dam Ho's gaze stopped at bushes to the left.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Dam Ho shook his head at Eum Yu-kyung's question and walked.

Dam Ho was still limping on one foot, but his steps were unbelievably fast. It was a speed that even Eum Yu-kyung using lightness skills found difficult.

Eum Yu-kyung looked at Dam Ho's back with overwhelmed eyes.

Three years ago his only weakness was one thing. That his lightness skills were weak because he limped. But during the unseen time Dam Ho seemed to have found a way to compensate for his lightness skills.

Dam Ho's body instantly disappeared into Mount Hua's lush forest. Eum Yu-kyung increased her speed not wanting to fall behind.

After the two disappeared into Mount Hua and quite some time passed, with rustling sounds two people crawled out from the bushes.

"Good heavens!"

"Just what has happened to Mount Hua Sect?"

The two people looking around with blank expressions were Moon Su-gyeol and Jo Won-myeong.

They had secretly followed Silver Family Castle's merchant caravan here. And witnessed unbelievable sights.

The unbelievable sights of about ten Mount Hua Sect Plum Blossom Swordsmen sweeping away over a hundred Five Elements Destruction Squad members, and Dam Ho instantly annihilating the Five Elements Demon Children.

Shiver!

They were still trembling from how shocked they were.

Jo Won-myeong rubbed his shoulders with his palms while looking around.

The Five Elements Demon Children who had shown such terrifying martial might against Eum Yu-kyung were rolling on the ground in miserable states.

"Just who was that woman?"

Jo Won-myeong and Moon Su-gyeol didn't know Eum Yu-kyung's name. They had watched hidden only after Eum Yu-kyung and the Five Elements Demon Children's fight.

Eum Yu-kyung and the Five Elements Demon Children's fight exceeded their imagination in ferocity. Even Moon Su-gyeol who prided himself on experiencing everything as Dark Cloud's team leader had never seen such a vicious fight. If Moon Su-gyeol was like that, Jo Won-myeong went without saying.

He was feeling extreme fear now. Especially the martial might Dam Ho showed at the last moment gave him terror beyond shock.

"Now I understand why everyone fears Fist Demon so much. When he looked at the bushes where we were hiding at the end, I really thought I would wet myself."

Jo Won-myeong shuddered recalling that scene. He really thought he would die then.

He had heard Dam Ho's eyes were scary, but actually facing them he felt extreme terror like facing a great tiger while naked. It was Jo Won-myeong's most frightening moment since learning martial arts.

"We're really fortunate. That he passed by without discovering us."

"Did he really not see?"

"What? Are you saying he pretended not to know despite knowing about us?"

"I somehow think so."

"That…"

Jo Won-myeong lost words. He wanted to refute something, but Moon Su-gyeol's guess felt more plausible.

"Why would he pretend not to know about us?"

"Who knows! Perhaps because in his eyes we weren't threatening beings at all."

"Hmm!"

"Anyway this is bad. Things seemed quiet for about three years but now the Demon Cult has resumed activities."

Moon Su-gyeol's expression couldn't be darker.

Anyone could see the Five Elements Destruction Squad and Five Elements Demon Children were clearly Demon Cult elites.

When Mount Hua Sect suffered great catastrophe three years ago, people thought the Demon Cult would launch a full-scale invasion. But for some reason after Mount Hua Sect's catastrophe the Demon Cult rather restrained external activities.

At first they thought the Demon Cult was simply taking time to reorganize forces. The damage they suffered attacking Mount Hua Sect was by no means small. But one year, two years passed and the Demon Cult didn't show large-scale movements like before.

The Martial Alliance felt relief but didn't loosen vigilance.

Taking advantage of the Demon Cult's temporarily loosened activities, they replenished forces and increased intelligence activities.

Though conflicts with the Demon Cult occurred occasionally, those were only small-scale battles. This was the first time such large-scale Demon Cult warriors had appeared. So it was more worrying.

Mount Hua Sect that everyone thought had fallen unexpectedly possessed remarkable fighting power. Even setting aside Dam Ho, the martial might shown by the Plum Blossom Swordsmen was enough to make their hearts shudder.

Jo Won-myeong looked at Moon Su-gyeol.

"Uncle."

"This seems beyond our capacity."

"Then?"

"Let's report to the Alliance and wait for instructions. Rather than getting entangled with Fist Demon and suffering misfortune."

"Yes!"

Moon Su-gyeol was someone who feared almost nothing in the world. But he feared Dam Ho. That fierce gaze he had just seen was still imprinted in his mind.

"Mount Hua Sect led by Fist Demon."

Moon Su-gyeol's pupils wavered as he looked at cloud-wrapped Mount Hua.

“Ugh…”

A moaning sound came from somewhere. When Jin Ja-gang searched urgently, he found a young Taoist from the Qingcheng sect trapped behind the collapsed hermitage, making groaning sounds.

Jin Ja-gang cleared away the debris pressing down on the Taoist and pulled him out. The Taoist’s condition was poor. He was bleeding too much.

However, being crushed by the hermitage wasn’t the direct cause. There were holes thicker than fingers punched through his shoulders, thighs, and limb joints. Blood continued flowing from holes that made bleeding control impossible.

It was truly a strange wound. It seemed like a wound made to kill as slowly as possible rather than to torture deliberately.

Jin Ja-gang shook the Taoist awake. The Taoist looked at Jin Ja-gang with parched lips and haggard eyes. Though he had no direct interaction with Jin Ja-gang, he was a Taoist whose face he had seen once before.

“Sorry…”

“What happened here?”

Since the Qingcheng sect disciple’s martial arts skills were not low, for him to end up like this meant that stronger opponents had come.

“Silent Dragon… came.”

Silent Dragon?

Seeing Jin Ja-gang’s puzzlement, the Qingcheng sect disciple continued with difficulty.

“And Swift Dragon was with him. I tried to stop them but was outmatched…”

Swift Dragon was Yang Jeon, the later promising talent of the Yang family. He was one of the Three Dragons along with Silent Dragon and Fire Dragon. For a young Qingcheng disciple, it would have been difficult to overcome two of the Three Dragons.

“What happened to Miss Tang?”

“Fortunately, she escaped…”

Jin Ja-gang understood the situation.

Silent Dragon and Swift Dragon were chasing the fleeing Tang Ha-ran. They had deliberately left the Qingcheng disciple alive to inform Jin Ja-gang of this fact.

If you want to save your woman, come find us!

It was like leaving a message for Jin Ja-gang through the Qingcheng disciple.

“Thank you for helping. What can I do for you?”

The Qingcheng sect disciple laughed weakly even while dying. He seemed to know his role.

“I’m no longer in pain, so don’t worry too much, fellow Taoist… It won’t take long.”

Jin Ja-gang laid the Qingcheng sect disciple in a place where the sun didn’t shine. The Qingcheng sect disciple had already died, perhaps because his tension had relaxed after delivering his message.

Jin Ja-gang observed a moment of silence, praying for him to enter the immortal realm, then immediately stood up.

“Silent Dragon. Swift Dragon.”

The Silent Dragon he had experienced before was strong. Jin Ja-gang couldn’t subdue him even using poison. If Swift Dragon Yang Jeon was with him…

Jin Ja-gang had to be grateful that he had become stronger.

He no longer needed to hesitate about facing those two, about going to save Tang Ha-ran.

“If it were the old me, I would have been desperate just to go save Miss Tang. But now…”

Jin Ja-gang raised his internal energy with one breath, then took a deep breath.

“Whoop!”

Then he filled all four dikes completely. The amount of whirlwinds raging within the four full dikes was truly enormous. Jin Ja-gang’s body swayed continuously as if caught in a storm. His hair flew as if blown by wind and his clothes became taut.

This was the first time he had raised his internal energy to such an extreme limit.

Thanks to taking the Qingcheng sect’s Great Pure Divine Elixir, the power dwelling in his entire meridian system was tremendous.

After drawing out internal energy to the point where he felt his body might burst, Jin Ja-gang looked up at the sky and howled.

ROOOOOAAAAAR!

Jin Ja-gang’s roar echoed throughout the mountain like thunder.

Rumble!

Nearby peaks vibrated.

The startled birds actually didn’t fly. To avoid flying, they dug their claws into tree branches and stopped their calls. Beasts pricked up their ears and lowered their bodies. No animals ran, moved, or cried.

In an instant, all sounds disappeared.

Predator.

A predator had appeared.

The mountains that had been noisy with the chirping of small animals were enveloped in complete silence. The landscape without any sound was unrealistically eerie.

If they were somewhere among these mountains, they couldn’t have failed to hear it.

Jin Ja-gang bared his canine teeth and ground them.

“Now it’s you who should be hunted.”

* * *

Rumble.

Baek Li-gwon and Yang Jeon also heard Jin Ja-gang’s howl. It was definitely not an ordinary beast’s cry.

Baek Li-gwon, who had been chasing Tang Ha-ran, stopped walking and looked back.

“It’s him. He’s come to save his woman.”

Yang Jeon, who was with him, said.

“Wasn’t I right? Going to Guizhou was already too late anyway, and if we caught his woman, he would appear.”

Yang Jeon looked down at his own arm. Goosebumps were protruding all over.

“Wow… but what’s this? This is no joke. Look at these goosebumps.”

Yang Jeon was a handsome, southern-style young man in his twenties who was close friends with Baek Li-gwon. Yang Jeon shouldered his black spear with red tassels and whistled.

“Brother Baek Li, you said something different. This guy is definitely not someone to take lightly. He’s worlds apart from that Qingcheng disciple earlier.”

“He’s the one who killed Golden Fortune Merchant, the Guizhou branch leader famous for his Golden Sand Palm and Sharp Point Finger. He should be at least this level.”

Baek Li-gwon asked back in a heavy voice.

“Are you scared?”

“What do I have to be scared of? I can just run away if things go bad. Aren’t I called Swift Dragon for a reason? I’m known for my running ability. But Brother Baek Li, who came to Guizhou following me while disobeying his foster father’s orders, can’t run away like me.”

Baek Li-gwon didn’t answer.

Yang Jeon asked.

“What’s so bad about Ice Phoenix, the Sword Marquis’s disciple, that you reject her so much? She’s rumored to be the greatest beauty in the south and seems to have feelings for you too.”

“My heart… doesn’t allow it.”

“So stubborn. Well, that’s probably why women like you so much. But…”

Clank.

Yang Jeon lowered the spear from his shoulder.

“What’s that? Why did she stop running and come back?”

At Yang Jeon’s glance, Baek Li-gwon also turned his gaze.

Tang Ha-ran, who had been fleeing just moments ago, had suddenly returned and appeared before them.

Both Baek Li-gwon and Yang Jeon couldn’t help but be puzzled.

After staring at Tang Ha-ran incredulously for a while, Yang Jeon snorted and asked.

“Miss Tang. Are you already tired? Or did you suddenly gain confidence you didn’t have before because that guy is coming?”

Tang Ha-ran had a haggard face from being chased for so long. Though she was torn and cut in several places, there were no major wounds.

“He’s coming.”

At Tang Ha-ran’s words, Yang Jeon replied as if incredulous.

“We know that too. We’re not deaf. And we actually want him to come this way too. But you appear boldly before us?”

Yang Jeon drew a circle with his finger beside his head.

“Are you crazy?”

Tang Ha-ran answered without being shaken.

“If I’m not visible, he’ll worry.”

“What?”

“If I’m in a place where he can see me, he won’t search for me and can concentrate on dealing with you.”

“What tremendous faith. Getting completely infatuated with a murderer and burning down your family’s library, yet knowing no shame. Tsk.”

Tang Ha-ran sneered.

“Wouldn’t the parents who bore you be more shameful? If they knew their son was chasing after women’s skirts.”

Yang Jeon stopped laughing and his eyes blazed with anger.

“This bitch, I was being nice to you and you think I’m a pushover? You think I’m chasing you because I like it? I need to hold you hostage to lure that guy in!”

Yang Jeon suddenly changed and cursed at Tang Ha-ran.

Baek Li-gwon said.

“You’re wrong. She’s not a hostage.”

“What?”

“I’m going to kill her. In front of him.”

Yang Jeon was a bit flustered.

“B-Brother Baek Li. But she’s Tang family blood. Unlike the Qingcheng sect that betrayed the Martial Alliance, she’s different. Even if she betrayed her family, if we carelessly kill blood of the Tang family, which belongs to the same Martial Alliance…”

Killing intent slowly filled Baek Li-gwon’s eyes.

“He killed my Yon Mae. Yet you want me to leave his woman alone? Whether she’s Tang family blood or the Martial Alliance Leader’s granddaughter, I absolutely cannot tolerate it!”

Grind grind.

Baek Li-gwon’s eyes began to turn blood-red from killing intent.

This was a path he had taken even defying Baek Li-jung’s words. With his enemy before his eyes, becoming soft-hearted or giving up was impossible.

Yang Jeon tried to calm Baek Li-gwon.

“Now, Brother Baek Li. I understand your feelings, but let’s think calmly. I’ll just make one of her legs unusable, so let’s be satisfied with that and catch Poison Dragon first.”

But Tang Ha-ran interjected.

“Silent Dragon. I have something to apologize to you about.”

Baek Li-gwon glared at Tang Ha-ran with reddened eyes.

Tang Ha-ran said.

“It wasn’t he who killed Zhuge Yon. It was an assassin sent by the main family.”

Flinch.

Baek Li-gwon hesitated for a moment.

“Zhuge Yon died from the main family’s poison. So if you want revenge, you should take it on me, not him.”

Yang Jeon urgently stopped Baek Li-gwon.

“Brother Baek Li! Don’t fall for her words! If you fall for those words now and lose your reason…”

It was too late.

Baek Li-gwon had lost his reason. Baek Li-gwon roared silently. With eyes turned bright red, he opened his mouth and rushed at Tang Ha-ran with a demonic face, bare-handed without even drawing his sword.

“I’ll kill you!”

Killing intent vibrated all around. Tang Ha-ran was also momentarily overwhelmed by Baek Li-gwon’s killing intent and her body stiffened. Tang Ha-ran bit her lip to draw blood and moved her body.

Baek Li-gwon struck down with his fist as if to shatter Tang Ha-ran’s head. Tang Ha-ran deflected Baek Li-gwon’s fist with the Tang family’s Golden Thread Hand and struck his shoulder with her palm.

Tang Ha-ran’s internal energy was comparable to the Three Dragons Four Phoenixes. She simply hadn’t gained fame in the martial world because she carried out family missions. The power in her palm was sufficient to destroy Baek Li-gwon’s protective energy and collapse his shoulder.

Baek Li-gwon knew this, yet had no recognition of danger as he slashed at Tang Ha-ran’s neck with his hand blade.

It was a typical technique of giving flesh to take bone. Of course, it wasn’t a technique a disciple of a famous orthodox sect would use.

Tang Ha-ran withdrew her hand and crossed both hands to block Baek Li-gwon’s hand blade. Baek Li-gwon kicked at Tang Ha-ran’s solar plexus. Tang Ha-ran twisted Baek Li-gwon’s hand caught between her arms to break his posture.

Baek Li-gwon couldn’t kick but stood firm on the ground with horse stance.

Crack!

His shoulder dislocated. His arm hung limply and helplessly. However, Baek Li-gwon’s stance remained solid. Tang Ha-ran’s effort had become essentially meaningless.

Baek Li-gwon grabbed Tang Ha-ran’s nape with his remaining hand. Tang Ha-ran lowered her posture to avoid Baek Li-gwon’s hand. Baek Li-gwon kicked upward at Tang Ha-ran with his knee. Tang Ha-ran pushed against his knee and tried to escape from Baek Li-gwon using that force, but suddenly abdominal pain struck.

“Ugh!”

Her stomach hurt as if twisting.

It was because she had overexerted herself in early pregnancy. Therefore, she couldn’t act as she had intended.

Tang Ha-ran brought both arms together to block her right cheek.

Thud!

Despite blocking, Tang Ha-ran’s face bounced from the impact. A red bruise formed on her cheekbone and her lips split. Her snow-white shoulders and neck were completely exposed. Baek Li-gwon raised his hand blade. He intended to swing his hand blade and tear Tang Ha-ran’s neck.

At that moment, Jin Ja-gang burst out from the side.

Jin Ja-gang ran at an invisible speed and rammed into Baek Li-gwon’s ribs.

Crack!

Baek Li-gwon’s ribs broke and his side caved in.

Due to the momentary rebound from Baek Li-gwon’s internal energy, Jin Ja-gang was also pushed back three or four steps, but Baek Li-gwon was sent flying and rolled on the ground. Though he performed breakfall techniques and got up, the force of Jin Ja-gang’s ram was so strong that he fell again immediately after standing.

Baek Li-gwon’s pupils shook.