Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Chapter 5: Supernatural Powers (8)
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The eyes of the Yellow Robe Fiend glinted sharply from beneath his mask. He swung his crimson spear in all directions with full internal energy, securing space around him.
His overwhelming strength blocked every approach.
Neither Danmun nor Gyeong Nambang dared press forward.
"You scum who know nothing of a warrior's honor!"
Rage laced the Yellow Robe Fiend's roar, but it carried a hint of bewilderment beyond mere anger.
Gyeong Nambang sneered.
"Listen to him prattling on about honor. Looks like there's a proper upright sect warrior hiding behind that mask after all."
Indeed.
Just as Danmun had donned a mask, anyone could wear one.
Even with the face of a infamous yokai, the wearer could be a nameless master of orthodox martial arts.
"Shut your mouth, you wretch not even worth a street thug!"
"Your curses lack bite. It's obvious you've never really let loose. They don't even sting like trash talk should."
As he spoke, Gyeong Nambang readied a single fist strike at any moment.
Danmun cut in.
"More importantly, about that."
He pointed to the Yellow Robe Fiend's side.
"That wound felt solid when it landed. If you leave it like that, you're gonna bleed out plenty."
And it wasn't shallow. Blood streamed down, soaking his belt and thigh guards.
The Yellow Robe Fiend glanced at his side and pressed acupoints to staunch the flow.
That was the moment.
Just as he did, Danmun's red blade sliced through the air.
"You bastard!"
Gyeong Nambang followed without missing a beat, unleashing a fist strike.
It was hard to say who was the real villain here.
The Yellow Robe Fiend unleashed a barrage of spear techniques. Internal energy surged from the tip like a raging torrent. As Gyeong Nambang had noted, without orthodox heart method cultivation, such profound inner strength would be impossible to display. The crimson spear deflected Danmun's blade tip and blocked Gyeong Nambang's iron fist.
In the chaos, blood from the unstaunched wound splattered the ground. The Yellow Robe Fiend flew into a rage.
"What a mess!"
It was exactly that.
A Tang Clan swordmaster in a mask launching endless ambushes, and the Shansi Five Strongholds' iron fist joining the fray without hesitation.
Even for these bizarre masked fiends, this was beyond expectations.
At this rate, no one would gain anything.
While fending off Jung-gwang's sword amid the melee, the White Bone Witch finally made the first decisive move.
"Sir! This won't do! I'm pulling back first!"
The White Bone Witch brushed her left hand over her hip.
The awls she claimed to have used up appeared one after another, gripped between her fingers.
*Thwip! Clang!*
Jung-gwang blocked the close-range projectiles without flinching. He'd seen enough of the witch's tricks by now. But her next move caught him off guard.
Kicking off the ground, the White Bone Witch snatched Seol's collar directly.
"Sister!"
Leaving Hyang's scream behind, the White Bone Witch shot up into the shadowed treetops with Seol in tow.
Jung-gwang reacted instantly.
He kicked off after the White Bone Witch.
*Thwip! Thwip-thwip!*
He anticipated it.
More projectiles incoming.
They rained down from above with whistling sounds.
*Clang!*
He thought he'd blocked them clean. But one trajectory curved oddly. A single awl slipped past his guard and dropped straight down.
*Thud!*
"Kyaaak!"
The sound of flesh pierced and a sharp scream erupted simultaneously.
It hadn't been aimed at Jung-gwang from the start.
It was Hyang.
As Jung-gwang poised to kick off the tree again, he saw a skull-masked figure charging toward Hyang, who clutched her stomach and collapsed.
"Kill the bitch!"
The White Bone Witch's venomous command sealed it.
Jung-gwang made his choice.
A kidnapped hostage could be rescued, but the dead couldn't be revived.
He twisted his body downward.
*Whoosh! Boom!*
Descending, he slashed down with his enemy-slaying blade.
The skull mask twisted away desperately. Its waist and shoulder bent unnaturally, evading the vertical strike's range.
He anticipated that.
He'd seen how Danmun killed these things.
Jung-gwang's enemy-slaying blade shifted rapidly. He chained into a cross-slash, herding it into the narrow gap between thick trees.
*Boom!*
The vertical strike cratered the rock.
The skull mask twisted again. He'd forced it to. Stepping forward in a left bow stance, its nape exposed itself right before him.
They're all the same. Vulnerable in the upper rear guard.
He brought his blade down diagonally.
*Crack!*
It sank deep like an axe splitting logs. Shattering collarbone and shoulder blade.
*Splurt!*
Blood exploded outward.
Jung-gwang leaped back wide to avoid the spray, then glanced upward. The White Bone Witch's lightness skill far outstripped her martial prowess. No—her actual skills seemed restrained too.
*Can't catch her.*
He gauged the growing distance. Futile. The Peng Clan lightness skill specialized in weight control for wielding heavy blades. He prided himself on unmatched weight shifts in confined spaces against any Central Plains art, but long-distance pursuit had its limits.
Above all, Hyang was in peril.
Jung-gwang swept the battlefield with a quick glance and dropped in front of her.
Six skull masks remained.
Gyu-tae and Han-seo guarded the gravely wounded Jeong-hae and the fallen Deung-ju while clashing with the skull masks in melee. The masks moved with eerie agility, but posed no major threat. The problem was that the Heaven-Destroying Squad couldn't easily overpower them either. Gyu-tae and Han-seo couldn't leave Jeong-hae and Deung-ju's sides. No bold offense possible.
It was fine.
He knew at a glance. Even if they couldn't kill them, holding the line would suffice.
Jung-gwang bent toward the bleeding Hyang.
It wasn't fine.
That too, he knew instantly. He hadn't protected her—she might die.
Hyang clutched her abdomen.
The awl's tip protruded between her blood-soaked fingers. Buried deep. Hemorrhage alone was life-threatening.
*She might not make it.*
Touching a woman's body casually violated propriety, but Peng Clan house rules allowed exceptions for those in mortal qi peril.
He swiftly checked her pulse at the wrist and placed a hand on her forehead. The evil qi surging through her divine capital acupoint was ferocious. No ordinary poison. The virulent toxin seemed laced with malice itself.
He looked toward Deung-ju.
She too had been poisoned into combat incapacity.
Even a warrior grinding inner strength day and night would struggle against such venom—let alone a girl barely past maidenhood.
But what could he do? He had to try.
He drew a deep breath.
"Huuup."
The blood-scented battlefield reeked of foul qi. He purified the turbid intake with pure Heaven-Earth Heart Method and focused his power into the hand on Hyang's forehead.
"No!!"
A frantic voice rang out just before his energy reached her heart-capital acupoint.
*Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!*
Even the air-splitting rush sounded desperate.
Rushing in with tattered silk robes flapping, the man looked ready to strike Jung-gwang. Jung-gwang twisted, gripping the sword hilt left-handed. His right hand stayed on Hyang's forehead.
"Don't touch the divine capital acupoint!!"
The middle-aged man emerging from the shadows bore the marks of every hardship. Once-fine silk was shredded to rags, his prominent cheekbones and hollow eyes brimming with exhaustion.
"Please..."
Up close, his steps grew cautious.
As if to show no intent to fight, he raised open palms and pleaded earnestly.
"Remove that hand."
His fatigue-shadowed eyes fixed on Hyang.
It was obvious regardless.
Jung-gwang recognized the man instantly.
No one else would appear. Only this one remained as expected.
"Greetings to Flame Jade Merchant Guild Leader Yeom."
Jung-gwang bowed politely.
Yeom Seoksan commanded respect. He'd once led a grand merchant guild.
"Not anymore. The Flame Jade Merchant Guild is gone."
His denial only confirmed his identity.
Yeom Seoksan stepped closer.
Hyang was his daughter, they said.
There must be reason to warn against touching her. He seemed to know her poison intimately. Jung-gwang withdrew his energy. Relief flickered for the first time in Yeom Seoksan's shadowed eyes.
"Place thumb on the Lip Gate and index on Upper Star acupoints. Allocate three parts to Lip Gate, seven to Upper Star. Total energy doesn't matter—ratio does. The divine capital must serve as outlet for evil qi, not inlet."
Easier said than done.
Qi circulation for detoxification daunted even seasoned Jianghu physicians. It demanded exquisite energy control. Ideally performed by one who knew the poison's exact suppression method.
Jung-gwang furrowed his brow at Yeom Seoksan.
As if reading his mind, Yeom Seoksan continued.
"Thank you. I know it's an unreasonable request. It should be me, but I have urgent matters first."
Leaving his daughter in their care, Yeom Seoksan turned away.
It meant he trusted Jung-gwang—and the Peng Clan.
Then, a massive shockwave swept the area.
*Boom! Crash!*
A massive tree toppled with a roar.
The Yellow Robe Fiend was undeniably powerful.
He held firm even against Danmun and Gyeong Nambang's relentless pressure.
Emerging first through flying dirt and wood shards, he bellowed in a gravelly voice.
"You finally show yourself! Betrayer of the divine!"
Yeom Seoksan replied.
"I've never betrayed."
Much lay beneath those brief words.
The Yellow Robe Fiend leveled his crimson spear and roared.
"Then what do you call stealing the vessel?!"
"The divine demon's human form is no mere vessel—I won't debate its essence with the ignorant using ritual arts!"
*Thud!*
Unheeding front or back—with Danmun and Gyeong Nambang at his rear— the Yellow Robe Fiend kicked off as if seeing only Yeom Seoksan.
*Boom!*
The crimson spear gouged the earth with ferocious momentum. He roared, swinging wildly.
Danmun held back.
He overturned battles, but he was intelligence first.
Intel came before combat. The Yellow Robe Fiend was spilling vital info unfiltered.
So let him keep talking.
"Don't run! I'll return you to where you belong!"
*Crack! Boom!*
Faced with the onslaught of chaining spear strikes, Yeom Seoksan's weary expression remained unshaken. He evaded every deadly thrust with profound lightness skill.
Watching, Gyeong Nambang shook his head ruefully. Since Danmun joined, he'd fought even more loosely—now a mere spectator. Not from lack of thought. He too led a clan. He well knew the sensitive secrets in Yeom Seoksan and the Yellow Robe Fiend's exchange.