Chapter 296 – Ten Soldiers. Broken Weapons…… (3)

"Uuurk!"

At the foreign sensation in his mouth, Dong Hwa-woon violently shook his head trying to spit it out. But he couldn't overcome Dam Ho's strong grip.

CRACK!

Dam Ho's fist exploded against Dong Hwa-woon's jaw.

His jawbone was completely crushed, and his teeth shattered. And the iron ball went down his esophagus.

"Grrgh!"

Dong Hwa-woon looked ahead while bleeding.

The black beast named Dam Ho was looking at him like a grim reaper.

"It's… useless. The Nine Heaven Fire Soul Bullet will never explode without my sound technique. Hehe!"

Dong Hwa-woon forced himself to laugh.

His appearance laughing while bleeding was eerie beyond words.

Even if he had taken the Nine Heaven Fire Soul Bullet, it wouldn't explode if it didn't go off. Dam Ho had no way to detonate the Nine Heaven Fire Soul Bullet inside his body. That's why he could laugh. He had that much viciousness in him.

Blood vessels bulged on Dong Hwa-woon's forehead. With bloodshot red eyes, he glared at Dam Ho.

"Now what are you going to do?"

"Are you sure?"

"About what?"

"That it really won't explode?"

"What do you mean?"

An inexplicable sense of foreboding made Dong Hwa-woon's eyes widen.

CRACK!

At that moment, Dam Ho's fist exploded into Dong Hwa-woon's abdomen.

"Gack! It's useless…"

WHOOSH!

Suddenly flames shot up from Dong Hwa-woon's throat. It was hellfire.

"AAAAHHH!"

Dong Hwa-woon screamed as he rolled on the ground. But his screams quickly disappeared. The hellfire had burned his vocal cords first.

Engulfed in hellfire, Dong Hwa-woon looked up at Dam Ho.

'How?'

Even in the hellish pain that burned his entire body, he was looking at Dam Ho with puzzled eyes.

He couldn't understand how the Nine Heaven Fire Soul Bullet had exploded inside his body when he hadn't deployed his sound technique.

'How on earth?'

But his questions were brief, and soon he writhed in agony.

If he had been an ordinary person, his life would have ended by now. Like the villagers he had burned to death until now.

But he wasn't an ordinary person. He was the owner of internal energy powerful enough to deploy protective energy. Such powerful internal energy barely kept him alive in the hellfire. But because of that, he had to taste even more hellish pain. With vivid consciousness.

"Ah!"

"Hmm!"

Eum Yu-kyung and Shin Moo-wol let out sighs watching that scene.

Dong Hwa-woon didn't understand, but they who objectively watched the situation could tell that Dam Ho had used a type of penetrating energy.

Intense penetrating energy had clearly destroyed the iron ball inside Dong Hwa-woon's body and caused the hellfire.

Dong Hwa-woon died in hellish pain. The two couldn't bear to watch that scene to the end. But Dam Ho didn't take his eyes off the dying Dong Hwa-woon for even a moment.

His face was dyed red by the flames that arose from Dong Hwa-woon's body. He only looked at Eum Yu-kyung and Shin Moo-wol after Dong Hwa-woon became a handful of ash.

"Ten Soldiers?"

"That's right."

"Now nine remain."

"……"

"Broken weapons…"

At Dam Ho's words, Eum Yu-kyung and Shin Moo-wol flinched. They couldn't say anything.

Dam Ho walked toward them. Close enough to feel his breath.

"What are you afraid of?"

"Well…"

"Is it ghosts of the past? Or the thorny path waiting ahead?"

Eum Yu-kyung and Shin Moo-wol couldn't say anything. Throughout Dam Ho's confrontation with Dong Hwa-woon, they had done nothing.

Dong Hwa-woon was their childhood selves. Filled with rage, and what they had abandoned.

Dam Ho's cold voice continued.

"If you're afraid, go back."

"I…"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The two people flared up.

"There are still nine more guys like this left. Can you face them with that mindset?"

"We can face them."

"That's right!"

Eum Yu-kyung and Shin Moo-wol answered convulsively. In their eyes was a subtle anger.

Dam Ho looked into their eyes and said:

"If this kind of situation happens again in the future, I'll kill you first."

"……"

His killing intent was sincere.

'What on earth?'

The two people's bodies began to tremble. Even though they raised their internal energy, their bodies didn't calm down easily. Dam Ho's killing intent was that frightening.

Only then did the two people feel they could understand the fear of Dong Hwa-woon who had to face Dam Ho.

Having said what he needed to say, Dam Ho turned around. But the two people couldn't move easily.

The name Dam Ho was pressing down on their shoulders like Mount Tai.

***

"Cough!"

The old man vomited blood. Then a considerable amount of blood poured out, staining his chest. The man beside him hurriedly supported him.

He asked carefully.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

The old man said while wiping the blood flowing from his mouth.

Though he said he was fine, his complexion wasn't very bright. His face was pale as paper without a drop of blood, and his vitality was weakened, making him constantly gasp for rough breaths.

The man said.

"You're very tired. Please rest a little."

"There's no time for that."

"Time can be made. If you don't rest now, it will actually be delayed."

The old man looked at the man.

He had an honest face that didn't match his seven-foot tall frame. But if you looked closely at the honest face, you could see lion-like intimidating eyes and tightly closed lips.

"Yul-cheon."

"Please speak, Wind Moon Emperor."

"Alright. I'll do as you say."

"You've thought well."

The large man answering with a smile was none other than Geom Yul-cheon. He had called the old man who vomited blood Wind Moon Emperor.

The old man's name was Dan Gong-wol. But hardly anyone in the current era remembered that name. Many people called him by his alias Wind Moon Emperor, and even that was rarely remembered after such a long time had passed.

Dan Gong-wol sat down on a fairly flat rock.

"Whew!"

Dan Gong-wol quietly sighed and then was greatly startled.

Usually he was someone who absolutely never sighed. He had never shown a weak appearance under any circumstances. Even when his life was hanging by a thread.

The very fact that he was sighing was proof that he had weakened. And indeed, he had weakened.

Dan Gong-wol raised his head to look at Geom Yul-cheon.

Unlike himself, Geom Yul-cheon still maintained a solid appearance. An unwavering appearance that seemed capable of overcoming any trials, firm will, and the vigor of youth that made it possible. Dan Gong-wol envied such youth in Geom Yul-cheon.

"Why are you looking like that?"

Geom Yul-cheon asked for the reason, feeling burdened by Dan Gong-wol's gaze. Then Dan Gong-wol shook his head.

"It's nothing!"

"Please practice energy circulation at least. This rest might be the last."

"No! Even if I practice energy circulation, it won't help me much now."

"But…"

"I know my own body best."

"I… understand."

Geom Yul-cheon reluctantly nodded.

He was a great senior who had ruled the martial world even before Geom Yul-cheon was born. Though he was old and wounded, his spirit hadn't disappeared, so he had to be respected.

Dan Gong-wol smiled looking at Geom Yul-cheon.

"Thank you!"

"For what?"

"Thanks to you, I could come this far. That's why I'm grateful."

"There's nothing to be grateful for. Anyone who met you would have done the same."

"But no one else could have brought me this far like you did."

Dan Gong-wol's face looking at Geom Yul-cheon was full of trust. He believed in Geom Yul-cheon that firmly.

On the way here, they were attacked by the Ten Soldiers. Their martial arts were truly formidable. Even if Dan Gong-wol's body had been intact, it wouldn't have been easy to face them.

But Geom Yul-cheon had brought the wounded Dan Gong-wol through the encirclement to this place. In the process, he even inflicted serious wounds on several people including Baek On-woo. It was truly impressive martial prowess.

'This child will surely become an absolute master of the martial world.'

Dan Gong-wol was certain of this.

He suddenly turned his head to look at the mountain visible in the distance.

The season was already approaching the threshold of summer. Yet the peak of the mountain visible in the distance was covered with pure white snow.

Snowy mountains with perpetual snow that didn't melt throughout the four seasons. That place was Dan Gong-wol's final destination.

Geom Yul-cheon also looked at the snowy mountains.

Though it was far away, he could already feel the cold air of the snowy mountains.

When Geom Yul-cheon first met Dan Gong-wol, he was truly in tatters. He was dying from injuries that were difficult to recover from.

He was a complete stranger he was seeing for the first time. If he had wanted to, he could have easily ignored him. But he couldn't do that because of Dan Gong-wol's eyes.

He could see earnest desire and obsession that absolutely couldn't be seen as the eyes of someone dying. That's why he extended a helping hand.

He gave him the spiritual medicine he had to help him recover somewhat. It was only later that he learned the person he saved was Wind Moon Emperor.

'Four Divine Emperors.'

It was now a forgotten legend.

Beings that had existed as legends for so long that even Geom Yul-cheon wouldn't have recalled them if he hadn't met Dan Gong-wol.

Dan Gong-wol was one corner of that legend.

A legendary martial artist called by the alias Wind Moon Emperor.

He was wind, and he was moon.

He was free like the wind, and like the moon, he was an existence that gently illuminated all places in the world.

He loved elegance and was more angry at injustice than anyone. That's why he was respected by everyone, and he was an existence who knew how to return the respect he received as love.

The alias Wind Moon Emperor was the greatest tribute that martial world people offered to such Dan Gong-wol.

Dan Gong-wol lived freely all his life. Like his alias Wind Moon Emperor, like wind, like moonlight.

If the Righteous-Demonic War hadn't broken out, he would have lived like that all his life and died quietly. But unfortunately, war broke out between the Demon Cult and the martial world, and Dan Gong-wol's wishes turned to bubbles.

Eventually Dan Gong-wol jumped into the war with the Demon Cult and established remarkable reputation. His fame grew like a snowball, and there was no one among martial world people who didn't respect him.

At some point, he had become a member of the Four Divine Emperors.

Blood Light Death God Ho Cheon-san.

Wind Moon Emperor Dan Gong-wol.

Western Queen Mother Yong Hwa-seol.

Iron Blood War God Lee Gwan.

They were those who achieved the most remarkable merit in the war with the Demon Cult, and they were known as the strongest throughout the orthodox martial world at that time.

The existence of four such people was the rise and fall of the martial world. Because they existed, the martial world could gain the upper hand in the war with the Demon Cult.

The martial world united solidly around the Four Divine Emperors and drove the Demon Cult from the martial world. Thus Dan Gong-wol became a true legend of the martial world.

But from Geom Yul-cheon's standpoint, Dan Gong-wol was a mortal enemy.

Though he had left the Demon Cult and was walking an independent path, his roots were in the Demon Cult.

If the Four Divine Emperors hadn't existed, if Dan Gong-wol hadn't existed, Geom Yul-cheon might not have had to walk such a difficult path as now.

Yet he stayed with Dan Gong-wol. Because Dan Gong-wol's brief words moved him.

—Please help me reveal the truth.

Those words moved Geom Yul-cheon. That's why he came this far. Overcoming countless difficulties and lines of death.

Geom Yul-cheon's eyes looking at the snowy mountains sank heavily.

'The truth is in that place?'

It was when strength naturally entered his fists.

"You…"

Dan Gong-wol called him.

When Geom Yul-cheon looked, Dan Gong-wol smiled and said.

"I want to hear your story."

"……"

"Even though we've traveled together until now, I don't know you. What kind of person are you?"

Geom Yul-cheon quietly closed his eyes. Images of his childhood passed through his mind like a revolving lantern.

After a long while, his mouth opened.

"I am…"

“Poison Dragon!”

“So Poison Dragon was indeed in this direction.”

So-min said.

“Wait a minute. Then these people have no relation to Poison Dragon?”

Yeong-woon put internal energy into his eyes to enhance his sight and looked at the old man. However, the old man’s appearance could only be seen as a whitish outline due to the smoke.

Yeong-woon shouted.

“This humble one is called Yeong-woon of Wudang, and we belong to the Martial Alliance’s Mysterious Youth Squad! I don’t know which senior you are, but if your target is Poison Dragon, then we are pursuing the same person!”

“Pursuing the same person?”

The old man repeated Yeong-woon’s words exactly, then laughed madly.

“Kekekekeke!”

The leper assassins around also laughed.

“Pu, puhehe!”

“Kekekuk.”

The old man sneered.

“I thought they were phoenix chicks, but they’re just baby sparrows without feathers?”

Before Yeong-woon could say anything, the old man commanded.

“Capture them. Since it’s come to this, we’ll use them as bait to hook Poison Dragon.”

“You’re making a mistake!”

“You fools who walked into the poison fog yourselves are the ones who made a mistake. We spread the poison fog to stimulate Poison Dragon’s curiosity, and where do these foolish things come from and get caught, tsk.”

The old man waved his hand as if annoyed.

Hissss…

The poison fog became even thicker and the leper assassins’ killing intent was instantly concealed.

All killing intent disappeared. The fact that they had deliberately revealed killing intent until now was truly a ploy to induce carelessness.

It was difficult to even know where they were positioned. Now it became impossible to know from where or how they would attack.

“We were too careless.”

“I’m sorry, because of me… cough.”

So-min blamed herself. Because she had defeated the three assassins too easily at first, they had easily fallen into the trap.

“Such talk can wait until after we get out of here. First priority is escaping the poison fog.”

Yeong-woon raised his internal energy and took the lead.

“I’ll have no choice but to use killing techniques, so be careful! Clear Void Palm!”

Yeong-woon poured out both palms and made a path. The poison fog caught in the palm force was swept away and dispersed. The view opened up somewhat.

Pyo Sang-guk rushed out first. Yeong-woon had to guard the rear.

However, the moment Pyo Sang-guk rushed out, skewers flew in from diagonal directions left and right. Pyo Sang-guk sent out fist wind from his Invincible Fist to the left, and So-min supported from behind, sweeping up the skewer on the right.

As soon as the attack failed, the leper assassins immediately gave up without hesitation and retreated, hiding their bodies within the poison fog. Before Pyo Sang-guk and So-min could catch their breath, skewers suddenly flew in from yet another direction.

“Ah!”

Whiiing!

Sharp energy was contained at the tips of the skewers. Since they were hard skewers that couldn’t be damaged even by sword energy, Pyo Sang-guk couldn’t dare receive them with his fists and dodged his body.

Ping! Ping!

The sharp stabbing sounds of the skewers hurt their eardrums.

Between legs or over shoulders, suddenly from above… Pyo Sang-guk and So-min had to frantically block the skewers.

“These guys’ movement techniques are too fast!”

After attacking and disappearing, they would pop out from another direction. They could see two, but it seemed like three or four more were attacking.

“We can’t break through on our own! Cough!”

“I’m coming!”

The moment Yeong-woon ran to help the two, a powerful poison palm struck Yeong-woon’s back.

Yeong-woon twisted his waist and wrapped the poison palm with his palm, gently redirecting it toward the ground.

Bang!

The earth’s soil burst and sprayed up as poison energy rose.

The old man strode toward Yeong-woon.

“You play with me.”

Only then could Yeong-woon see the old man’s entire body. He was taller than ordinary people with long drooping arms, and his mouth was covered with black cloth so only his sharp eyes could be seen.

“A senior of the martial world attacking a junior from behind without even revealing his name! Are you not ashamed!”

“Me? I am a person called Phantom Poison Drooper.”

“Phantom Poison Drooper?”

It was a strange alias Yeong-woon had never heard of.

Phantom Poison Drooper’s hand curved like a whip and flew over. His arms were about two hand-spans longer than ordinary people. Now he could understand why the character “drooper” meaning drooping tree branches was attached to his alias.

Swish!

The flying palm struck Yeong-woon’s shoulder. Yeong-woon received the palm directly on his shoulder while relaxing his body’s strength to disperse the impact.

Thoom!

Though struck with a palm, it made a drum sound rather than a slapping sound. It was the exquisite force deflection of Taiji Quan.

“Kekeke! They call you the Benevolent Tiger of Wudang, and you live up to your reputation.”

While praising, Phantom Poison Drooper continued swinging both arms without concern. He didn’t particularly aim for anywhere specific. Whether head, blocking arms, thighs, or waist, he attacked wherever he could reach.

Thoom! Thud! Thud!

Yeong-woon’s entire body continuously made sounds like a drum. His whole body kept reverberating, making his body tremble like an aspen tree.

Yeong-woon used footwork trying to catch up to Phantom Poison Drooper. However, Phantom Poison Drooper’s footwork was also formidable. He maintained exactly a two hand-span distance where his hands could reach but Yeong-woon’s couldn’t, continuing his attacks.

Thud! Thud!

At some point, cracks appeared in the drum sounds. Blood formed at the corner of Yeong-woon’s mouth. The drum was one step away from tearing.

Though he was dissipating the force, the poison contained within the palm force was accumulating bit by bit in Yeong-woon’s body.

In contrast, Phantom Poison Drooper’s attack speed was getting faster and faster. His arms became invisible as they struck Yeong-woon’s body from all directions.

“Your force deflection is quite good. But what to do? Since sticky force doesn’t follow, the yielding that should be soft is becoming harder and harder, and you’re about to lose the sticking. How can you achieve transformation force like this?”

“Senior knows our Wudang’s Taiji Quan very well!”

While speaking, his force deflection became disrupted and Yeong-woon’s nape made a cracking sound when hit by Phantom Poison Drooper’s hand.

At that moment, Yeong-woon used the technique of footwork to receive Phantom Poison Drooper’s force, lifted his right foot and stood precariously on only his left foot in the White Crane Spreading Wings posture. Then he added his own force to it, putting all his strength into his left arm. Yeong-woon stretched out his right foot as if side-kicking, kicking the air and adding even that rebound force to thrust a punch into Phantom Poison Drooper’s chest.

Crack!

Phantom Poison Drooper’s upper body shook. Blood droplets also flew from Phantom Poison Drooper’s mouth. Yeong-woon crouched his body then leaped, diving into Phantom Poison Drooper’s abdomen and strongly pushing with his back.

However, Yeong-woon couldn’t strike Phantom Poison Drooper. Phantom Poison Drooper had tightly embraced and enveloped Yeong-woon.

“Ugh!”

Using his uniquely long arms, Phantom Poison Drooper wrapped around Yeong-woon’s back once and gripped Yeong-woon’s head from both sides. It was a bizarre sight like being entangled by vines.

When Phantom Poison Drooper applied force and pulled him close, cracking sounds came from Yeong-woon’s body. His waist where the arms were wrapped was bending, while his head was held fixed, causing his neck vertebrae to misalign.

“Uuugh!”

Since Phantom Poison Drooper had completely exploited Yeong-woon’s weakness using his physical advantage, Yeong-woon couldn’t even properly exert strength. This too could be called martial world experience.

“Only when you can achieve transformation force even with limbs bound can it be called true Taiji Quan. Isn’t that so?”

With their faces right next to each other as he spoke, blood droplets flowing from Phantom Poison Drooper’s mouth fell onto Yeong-woon’s face and entered his mouth.

“I’ve encountered five Wudang Sect disciples in my lifetime. I killed them all. But would I lose to a young one like you?”

The continuously falling blood contained poison, instantly turning Yeong-woon’s lips black.

“Kugh, kugh.”

One step away from having his neck twisted, Yeong-woon drew out his maximum internal energy and placed his palm against his own leg. Then he deployed Wudang Cotton Palm.

The Wudang Cotton Palm passed through Yeong-woon’s own body and flowed to Phantom Poison Drooper who was pressed against his body. Phantom Poison Drooper flinched. The uniquely destructive palm force of Wudang Cotton Palm dug in, tearing through Phantom Poison Drooper’s abdomen and chest meridians.

“Not bad!”

Phantom Poison Drooper forcefully pulled his arms and spread them left and right. Like a spinning top, Yeong-woon’s body rotated. Yeong-woon frantically retreated backward.

Stab!

At that moment, a skewer protruded through Yeong-woon’s abdomen. A leper assassin had attacked from behind.

“Uh…”

Yeong-woon collapsed to his knees. Yeong-woon’s eyes wavered.

He had an expression of never expecting that during a one-on-one fight with someone who was supposedly a senior of the martial world, another would ambush from behind.

“Co… cowardly…”

Phantom Poison Drooper laughed through his mouth covered with black cloth.

“You probably never heard my alias. Do you know why? Because no one who met me has lived.”

Yeong-woon gritted his teeth and shook off the leper assassin behind him.

The leper assassin quickly disappeared into the poison fog.

Despite his own condition, Yeong-woon looked back, worried about his two junior brothers.

Pyo Sang-guk and So-min were fighting just as bloody a battle as Yeong-woon. They struggled, unable to catch the leper assassins who continuously stabbed and retreated. Because they were enveloped in poison fog, their movements were also slower than usual.

Each time they coughed, their movements hesitated and they received wounds one by one. But Yeong-woon realized something strange.

“Some, something’s strange…”

He had just been attacked by a leper assassin.

But the number simultaneously attacking Pyo Sang-guk and So-min was more than two. No matter how fast the leper assassins’ movement techniques were, the distance between himself and his junior brothers was considerable, and they couldn’t alternate attacks while going back and forth across that distance.

Yeong-woon shouted.

“Their numbers are strange!”

Pyo Sang-guk yelled.

“You said three earlier!”

So-min also raised her voice.

“Three!”

Yeong-woon said again.

“Just what we can see is more than three…!”

One leper assassin rushed at Yeong-woon again. Yeong-woon dodged the leper assassin’s skewer and shouted.

“Four!”

Three dim figures attacking Pyo Sang-guk and So-min. And one more figure attacking Yeong-woon!

“Four?”

Pyo Sang-guk asked back while blocking a skewer.

“Ah!”

So-min screamed. While facing two opponents, she coughed and coughed up blood, getting her instep stabbed by a skewer. So-min rolled on the ground. Two leper assassins frantically stabbed the ground with skewers, driving So-min back.

“These bastards!”

Pyo Sang-guk roared and pounced on the leper assassins who attacked So-min.

Then one more skewer popped out. It was aimed at Pyo Sang-guk who was just turning his back.

“Dangerous, Brother Pyo!”

A leper assassin leaped in like lightning and stabbed at Pyo Sang-guk’s back.

No, tried to stab.

But the leper assassin was pulled backward faster than the speed he had emerged with.

And.

Crack!

A chilling bone-breaking sound occurred.

The three people were bewildered.

There were three leper assassins now revealed and standing in the poison fog. One who attacked Yeong-woon, two who attacked So-min.

And besides them, there was one who had tried to attack Pyo Sang-guk but suddenly disappeared.

“Just how many are there!”

But suddenly Jin Ja-gang appeared, revealing himself from within the poison fog. In Jin Ja-gang’s both hands were held the heads of two leper assassins with broken necks.

“Five.”

The three people looked at Jin Ja-gang and were momentarily confused.

“Brother Jin…?”

Then suddenly tremendous killing intent was unleashed. Not from Jin Ja-gang, but from Phantom Poison Drooper.

“Put down my brothers’ corpses!”

Phantom Poison Drooper began striding toward Jin Ja-gang. Jin Ja-gang put down the corpses and stepped back.

Phantom Poison Drooper collapsed to his knees with a thud, then embraced the bodies of the two dead leper assassins while shedding tears of blood.

“My brothers… my poor, pitiful brothers…”

Phantom Poison Drooper lifted his head, emitting terrible killing intent from his eyes.

“I won’t forgive you, Poi…”

At that moment, Jin Ja-gang struck down on Phantom Poison Drooper’s head.

Thwack!

Phantom Poison Drooper’s pupils shook. Blood spurted from his nose, his teeth broke and his gums tore as blood also flowed from his mouth.

And when Jin Ja-gang removed his hand, a needle was embedded in Phantom Poison Drooper’s head.