The Last Wolf of Baek Mountain
The demons they had encountered at the entrance were by no means a coincidence.
As they ascended Baek Mountain in Sichuan, the primary territory of the Baekrang Bandits, the number of demonic corpses scattered here and there grew.
Judging by how the number of hunted demons far exceeded those who had died while fleeing, it seemed there were others on Baek Mountain actively hunting them down besides the four of them.
However, what truly caught the group's attention was not the identity of the hunters, but the clothing visible among the demonic corpses.
"No matter how I look at it, they're definitely demons."
"Indeed. They are demons, but..."
Compared to the demons they had been pursuing until recently, "crude" was an understatement.
It felt as though they had only just begun practicing demonic arts.
"It looks like they resorted to demonic arts while fighting each other," Dang Hwa-young observed.
Just as she said.
"Hmm. Looking at their clothes, it seems the Dogan and Black Falcon branches had a clash."
Dang Hwa-soo pointed to the emblems remaining on the dead men's clothes.
The Dogan and Black Falcon were two of the twelve mountain strongholds that made up the Baekrang Bandits.
Though they were currently ranked the lowest among the twelve strongholds, in the early days, the Dogan and Black Falcon were the very first names that came to mind when one thought of the Baekrang Bandits.
After the previous bandit chief met a tragic, sudden death and the current chief took power, the atmosphere of the Baekrang Bandits had shifted drastically.
"If the White Wolf were still around, we would have had a much better relationship with them. It really is a shame," Dang Hwa-young remarked.
Dang Hwa-soo nodded in agreement.
This was a point of regret for the Sichuan Righteous Alliance.
The primary reason the Baekrang Bandits had degenerated into such a chaotic rabble of brigands was the change in leadership.
"If the Baekrang Bandits have laid their hands on demonic arts, we can no longer just stand by and watch."
"We will need concrete proof. They associate with the Unorthodox Path of Sichuan, so if we make a clumsy move, we will only invite a fierce backlash."
Dang Hwa-young nodded at Hwa-soo's cautious warning.
"Shall we start looking for that proof now, then?"
"Sounds like a plan."
"Are we all moving together this time as well?" Ho-sung asked.
At Ho-sung's question, Dang Hwa-young fell into thought.
Their martial prowess is far greater than I expected.
To be honest, she had initially viewed Yoo Sung and Ho-sung as mere guides.
Though known as the Iron Flower of the Tang Family, Dang Hwa-young's primary area of activity was Anhui, not Sichuan.
Having made a name for herself by competing against the swordsmen of the Namgung Clan in Anhui, she had needed trustworthy allies upon returning to Sichuan.
Aside from her younger brother, Dang Hwa-soo, she lacked people she could truly rely on within the main family.
Following the suggestion of her grandfather, Dang Joong-myung, Dang Hwa-young had set out after much deliberation, and the results were highly successful.
Yoo Sung and Ho-sung were displaying skills far beyond her expectations.
However, it was hard to ignore the fact that this was only the ability they had shown while working together.
"If you want to properly gauge our abilities, it would be more efficient to split up here," Yoo Sung proposed.
"....!"
She smiled at Yoo Sung's proposal, which had read her innermost thoughts perfectly.
"You aren't offended?"
"Not at all. I'm quite curious about the two of you as well."
"....!"
This time, Dang Hwa-soo looked slightly piqued, but Dang Hwa-young lightly raised a hand to restrain him.
"Excellent. Let's take this opportunity to properly test each other's mettle. For now, it's just small fry, so the demon hunt won't end anytime soon. But as time passes, genuine demons will eventually show up. We need to confirm whether we can be of help to one another when that happens—whether we can truly trust each other with our backs."
Not becoming a burden to one another.
Setting the demon hunt aside, this was a vital quality for any companion.
"We will meet back here. No matter what happens, let's reconvene at this spot in three days."
At Dang Hwa-young's words, the other three nodded, and they dispersed to prove their worth.
Crash!
A one-eyed man unleashed his wild fury, slamming his fist down.
At his outburst, his surrounding subordinates quickly averted their eyes.
The man's name was Dogan Mabu.
He was the chief of the eighth stronghold among the ten strongholds that currently made up the Baekrang Bandits.
Originally ranked fifth, Dogan Mabu's standing had steadily plummeted after a series of failures.
Though he barely managed to cling to the eighth spot, he had no idea when he might fall to the very bottom and be cast out.
Driven by this constant anxiety and irritation, Dogan Mabu badgered his subordinates daily.
Yet, contrary to his desires, the situation of the Dogan stronghold only grew worse.
They had been stripped of the few territories they still controlled, and now, demons had begun to run rampant.
"We've become everyone's punching bag," he muttered.
And that wasn't all.
The Sichuan Righteous Alliance, which had declared a crusade against the demons, was also subtly pointing its sharp blades toward the Baekrang Bandits.
It was a natural pressure, as if they viewed the Baekrang Bandits as no different from the demons plaguing Sichuan.
The brave men of the Baekrang were dying off one by one, without even realizing they were being hunted.
And to make matters worse, there were fools who still chased only their own selfish gains even as their comrades fell.
The Baekrang Bandits had truly become a punching bag, beset by troubles both from within and without.
The greatest threat was, of course, the hostility of the Sichuan Righteous Alliance, but that was well within the realm of expectation.
"Well, they did tolerate us for a long time."
Even in his own estimation, the Baekrang Bandits had crossed the line drawn by the Sichuan Righteous Alliance.
Once the breakwater that blocked the demons from disrupting Sichuan after the fall of the Matian ceased to function, it was bound to be discarded.
"And it seems some of those brainless bastards have laid their hands on taboo arts."
Lately, demons had been appearing near the Baekrang strongholds with alarming frequency.
At first, he thought the demons were merely gathering due to the movements of the Sichuan Righteous Alliance.
But as demons began to emerge from within their own ranks, his suspicions deepened.
Though he tried to tell himself it was impossible, the doubt only grew larger.
"We are the heroic men of the mountains. Though we may fall short compared to the Green Forest Coalition, we are the last bastion of Sichuan."
Others might sneer at Dogan Mabu's words.
A mere bandit claiming to be the last bastion of Sichuan?
It was a claim even a passing dog would laugh at, but Dogan Mabu was entirely sincere.
Baek Mountain, which originally had no owner, was particularly abundant in wolves.
Hunting the wolves of Baek Mountain had once been their primary source of income.
But as times grew harder, the powerless gathered to cultivate a home just to survive, and thus, the Baekrang Bandits were born.
The Baekrang Bandits had been built on the sheer desperation and effort of people trying to survive in the vast wilderness of Baek Mountain.
How had this stronghold come to be so shaken?
They had once sought profit while reasonably protecting those who passed through.
But as their scale expanded and they happened upon a martial arts manual, the power of the Baekrang Bandits swelled rapidly.
In that process, it was only natural for all kinds of people to join.
Under the founding principle of never turning away anyone who sought refuge in the mountains, a massive crowd had gathered.
"In the end, was that bastard the problem?"
Looking back, the root of all this trouble was indeed that man.
The Chief of the Baekrang Bandits, Pagun.
He was an expert of the Unorthodox Path who had been quite famous in Sichuan.
Having come to Baek Mountain for some unknown reason to serve by the former chief's side, Pagun had naturally assumed leadership of the Baekrang Bandits after the chief's death.
The transition had been so seamless that not a single soul had dared to raise an objection.
"Everything changed the moment he became the master. Our unique spirit vanished, and we became a mongrel breed mixed with bizarre, shady crowds."
At first, unorthodox martial artists associated with Pagun entered the Baekrang Bandits to hide.
Then, even orthodox martial artists became part of the Baekrang Bandits at Pagun's summons, which gradually diluted any suspicion.
However, the pride and mindset that a true mountain bandit ought to possess had also slowly vanished.
Though called the Baekrang Bandits, they could no longer be considered the true Baekrang.
That was the current state of the clan.
"Now that the romance of the mountain men is gone, are we left with nothing but a pack of scavenging thugs?"
With a bitter smile, Dogan Mabu fell deep into thought.
Would he die as a proud hero of the mountains?
Or would he go with the flow and become just another corrupt part of the current Baekrang Bandits?
"The Groom of the Dogan is the very spirit of the Baekrang. If that spirit should ever waver due to my mistakes, I ask that you reclaim it."
The words of the former chief from a day long past echoed in his mind.
"Everyone, prepare yourselves. I can endure this no longer."
With a firm resolve, the last wolf of the Baekrang rose to his feet.
"Young Master!"
At Ho-sung's urgent cry, Yoo Sung quickly approached his side.
"Take a look at this. Doesn't this look like the work of the Blood-Sucking Demonic Art?"
The blood around the corpse, whose limbs had been brutally torn apart, was completely dried up.
A multitude of corpses lay scattered about, strangely similar to yet subtly different from the ones they had seen in Cheongmyo Village.
"Judging by their clothes, they seem to be bandits from the Baekrang Clan."
Yoo Sung nodded slightly at Ho-sung's observation and examined the corpses more closely.
The traces left on the bodies resembled the Blood-Sucking Demonic Art, but there were subtle discrepancies.
What was it again?
These traces matched another demonic art—one that had been developed to counteract and supplement the side effects of the Blood-Sucking Demonic Art.
Unlike the ordinary blood-sucking demons who were treated as mere disposable pawns, these new blood-sucking demons could be utilized quite effectively.
Though, in the end, they were still just disposable tools.
The only difference lay in whether they were discarded after a single use or could be squeezed for a few more.
Ah, I remember now.
There was a certain demon known as the Soul-Stealing Saber Demon.
He was the master of the Soul-Stealing Saber, a weapon that stole the souls of others, and he had fully mastered the Blood-Sucking Demonic Art.
He was a demon who had transcended the limits of the Blood-Sucking Demonic Art to reach the Extreme Demon realm.
Once a mere hound of the Matian, the Soul-Stealing Saber Demon had broken his leash through sheer strength and became a first-class public enemy of the Jianghu.
If the demons had come to Sichuan in pursuit of the traces he left behind, they had more than enough reason to risk their lives.
However...
"The Soul-Stealing Saber Demon shouldn't have died here."
In his memory, the Soul-Stealing Saber Demon had died in Gansu, not Sichuan, after a fierce and tragic battle against the martial artists of the Kongtong Sect.
Hundreds of Kongtong martial artists had perished by his hand, severely crippling the sect's influence.
Yet, if the Soul-Stealing Saber was indeed here, it could mean one of two things.
First, either his memory was flawed, or someone had stolen the Soul-Stealing Saber and brought it here.
Second, someone was using the Soul-Stealing Saber as bait to target something else entirely.
"Whichever it is, it's highly irritating."
If a master of the Soul-Stealing Saber appeared and began gathering blood-sucking demons, it was not a matter to be taken lightly.
For the master of the Soul-Stealing Saber was the only existence capable of commanding the blood-sucking demons who blindly hungered for flesh and blood.
If they ran amok, even those associated with the Heavenly Sword Academy would find it difficult to escape their stray blades.
"Ho-sung, get ready."
The moment Yoo Sung's words left his lips, a group of figures blocked their path.
"Hehehe..."
"Kikiki..."
The demons, drooling profusely as they stared at them, were bandits of the Baekrang Clan.
Ho-sung furrowed his brow at the sight of the blood on their bodies and the bloody saliva dripping from their mouths.
"They're definitely demons, right?"
"This confirms beyond a doubt that the Baekrang Bandits' stronghold has become a den of demons."
Whether the entire Baekrang Clan had turned into demons or if this was merely the deviation of a select few was something they would find out from here on.
"Be careful. If you get caught by them, not only will your limbs be torn apart, but you'll suffer even in death."
"Ugh, please don't say things like that."
Watching Ho-sung shiver in disgust, Yoo Sung was the first to strike.
Accompanied by a gentle breeze, a terrifyingly lethal sword technique cut down the demonic bandits of the Baekrang Clan.
"Hyaah!"
Not wanting to be left behind, Ho-sung charged right after Yoo Sung.
In an instant, they slaughtered twenty demons. But just as they were about to inspect the bodies—
"Stop right there!!!"
With a thunderous roar, Dogan Mabu revealed himself.
"Who dares slaughter the brave men of the Baekrang?!"
Despite Dogan Mabu's fury-filled shout, Yoo Sung remained perfectly calm.
"Are you defending demons? It seems the entire Baekrang stronghold really is a den of demons, then."
"...That cannot be."
Dogan Mabu glared at Yoo Sung and Ho-sung with a murderous gaze before turning his attention to the dead.
"Ah..."
Letting out a hollow gasp as he examined the corpses, Dogan Mabu bellowed:
"Bring me the leader of the Black Falcon stronghold immediately!"
The dead men were indeed bandits belonging to the Black Falcon stronghold.
"Hey. We're coming with you."
At Yoo Sung's words, Dogan Mabu scowled but turned around.
"Do as you please."