Chapter 134

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.