The Predator's Strike
A wild mountain near Hojung.
A chilling demonic energy blanketed the rugged slopes.
The eyes of the demonic practitioners fixed on Hojung burned with feverish anticipation.
They wanted nothing more than to descend upon the town immediately and quench their bloodlust, yet they held back.
Watching over this simmering frenzy were five pairs of eyes.
These were the Ten Ghosts, the notoriously ruthless vanguard of the Matian.
"How much longer must we wait?"
The speaker was the Red-Eyed Demon Ghost, a terrifying figure with crimson hair and matching eyes. As he voiced his discontent, the others, who had been keeping silent, began to chime in one by one.
"Red-Eye is not wrong. Rumors of our presence here must be spreading by now."
"The Iron Flower and the Iron Sword entered Hojung just a moment ago. It won't be long before they realize what we are after. The Sichuan Righteous Alliance will mobilize soon."
"Not that we fear them, but there is no reason to waste precious time."
Even against the coalition representing the righteous path of Sichuan, the five remained supremely confident.
Once the other five Demon Ghosts, who were currently away, joined them, they would easily hold their own against the entire Sichuan Righteous Alliance.
However, their goal was not to wage a desperate war of survival.
It was to reclaim the legacy left behind in Hojung and make a clean escape.
That was their true objective.
At least, it was for the Red-Eyed Demon Ghost and two others.
"Silver Spear."
Unlike the other four who eagerly voiced their opinions, one man remained stubbornly silent.
The Red-Eyed Demon Ghost cast a cold glance in his direction.
"..."
Even at the sound of his name, the Silver-Spear Demon Ghost remained lost in thought.
"Is it truly inside that bastard's tomb?"
"Who knows."
The other four glared coldly at the Silver-Spear Demon Ghost as he finally broke his silence with such an indifferent reply.
"You don't know? How incredibly irresponsible! You were the one who summoned us here!"
A massive, hot-tempered demonic practitioner gnashed his teeth.
He was the Green-Fist Demon Ghost, a man who had never gotten along with the Silver-Spear Demon Ghost.
"You've always been a scheming bastard. Don't tell me you dragged us all the way here just to fulfill your own grand ambition?"
"My grand ambition, you say?"
The Silver-Spear Demon Ghost's quiet murmur made the eyes of the other four grow even colder.
"Indeed. The grudge between Silver Spear and the Tang family runs quite deep."
A woman with seductive, cat-like eyes sided with the Green-Fist Demon Ghost.
"Just as the Ghost-Bell Demon Ghost says. Perhaps your target from the very beginning wasn't the treasure of Hojung, but those two siblings."
Following the Ghost-Bell Demon Ghost, a man resembling a praying mantis, the Mantis Demon Ghost, chimed in.
As the three Demon Ghosts pressured the Silver-Spear Demon Ghost in perfect unison, the Red-Eyed Demon Ghost clicked his tongue inwardly.
What a mess. Squabbling among ourselves when the treasure is right before our eyes.
It was a display entirely fitting for practitioners of the Matian.
The Matian was driven by individuals pursuing their own distinct desires.
Under the massive shadow of the Matian, they were monsters utterly devoted to their own greed.
Whether it was slaughtering people,
mastering demonic arts,
or seeking vengeance—
everything was permitted.
However, because everything was done under the banner of the Matian, there was absolutely no mercy for failure.
"Why not catch both rabbits while we are at it?" the Silver-Spear Demon Ghost calmly revealed his intentions.
"Kwak Yoo will soon spread rumors about the demonic tomb. We must enter before that happens."
The Red-Eyed Demon Ghost stepped in to restore order. He was the strongest among the demonic practitioners gathered here.
"We cannot afford to waste any more time. Tomorrow night, we strike."
In truth, he wanted to settle things tonight.
However, the formations guarding the tomb they had discovered had not yet been completely neutralized.
The viciously cruel formations had swallowed not only the villagers of Hojung but even the demonic practitioners they had brought along.
"Let us do that. The righteous bastards will soon realize what the tomb is, so they will be forced to move."
Once the Silver-Spear Demon Ghost nodded in agreement, the decision was finally made.
"Then, tomorrow night, we erase Hojung from the map and claim the contents of the tomb."
With the Red-Eyed Demon Ghost's cold decree, the demonic practitioners steeled their resolve for battle.
***
While the Ten Ghosts plotted their assault, the defenders gathered in Hojung were also locked in a heated discussion.
The Iron Wall, the Iron Flower, and the Iron Sword—the protectors of Hojung—had gathered, while Yoo Sung silently observed them.
"If the Ten Ghosts have truly gathered in full, we must flee immediately," Dang Hwa-soo said, his voice tense.
Dang Hwa-young fell into deep, cautious thought at her brother's words.
So far, they had only encountered the Red-Eyed Demon Ghost and the Silver-Spear Demon Ghost.
Hyo-jin had reported encountering the Blue Demon Ghost, and the Four Tigers of Diancang had reportedly crossed paths with the Green-Eyed Demon Ghost and the Purple-Beard Demon Ghost.
"It is certain that at least five of the Ten Ghosts have gathered."
The Ten Ghosts of the Matian.
They were classified as second-grade public enemies of the Jianghu, every single one of them a vicious master of the Transcendental Realm.
They had always stood at the vanguard of the Matian's wars, monsters capable of turning the tide of an entire battlefield.
If five of those Ten Ghosts had gathered, it would be utterly impossible for the defenders currently in Hojung to hold them off.
"We must retreat."
"I cannot abandon this place," Hyo-jin countered immediately.
Hyo-jin's instant rejection of Dang Hwa-soo's proposal was firm.
"Iron Wall! I acknowledge your martial prowess and wisdom, but staying here is nothing short of suicide!"
Despite Dang Hwa-soo's provocative tone, Hyo-jin remained calm.
He knew better than anyone how difficult it would be to protect Hojung against the Ten Ghosts.
Yet, he could not flee. The moment he turned his back, Hojung would descend into utter chaos, transformed into a living hell on earth.
"Surely, even those monsters wouldn't slaughter innocent civilians without reason," Dang Hwa-soo muttered.
It was an incredibly naive thought.
"There is a demonic tomb in Hojung. Do you truly believe they will just leave it alone and walk away?"
"..."
"The master of that tomb was the Corpse Demon."
"Ah!"
Dang Hwa-young gasped at Hyo-jin's revelation.
The Corpse Demon was infamous for his insidious poisons; his tomb was bound to be filled with lethal toxins.
Even the Tang family, masters of poison, shuddered at the mention of the Corpse Demon's concoctions.
Therefore, rather than entering first, the Ten Ghosts would undoubtedly throw in bait to trigger and exhaust the poisons.
And that bait would inevitably be the innocent people of Hojung.
This was the very reason Hyo-jin and the Four Tigers of Diancang were willing to risk their lives to stand their ground.
"Then what if we evacuate the villagers first?" Dang Hwa-soo suggested.
Dang Hwa-young clicked her tongue at her brother's idea.
"Impossible. If they scatter, they will only be hunted down one by one. It would be a senseless slaughter."
No matter which way they looked at it, there was no viable solution.
As a heavy silence began to settle over the room,
"Then we just have to kill the Ten Ghosts."
Yoo Sung's nonchalant voice drew everyone's eyes to him.
"Will worrying change anything? In the end, killing them solves the problem. You all think too much. Sometimes, your body needs to move before your mind does."
It was a sharp, piercing truth.
At some point, both the Orthodox and Unorthodox factions had become exactly as Yoo Sung described—paralyzed by hesitation and slow to act.
That very hesitation was the fuel that had allowed the Matian to wage war for over a century.
The Orthodox sought justification, while the Unorthodox chased self-interest.
Meanwhile, the Matian simply slaughtered, destroyed, and plundered without restraint.
That stark difference was the driving force that had shattered the Jianghu of the Orthodox and Unorthodox factions.
Yet, neither faction could bring themselves to admit this, which was why their progress remained painfully slow.
"Those bastards are probably letting their guard down, too. They wouldn't dream that anyone would be bold enough to strike them first."
"That... is actually a very good point."
As Dang Hwa-young, who had been deep in thought, showed signs of agreement, Dang Hwa-soo panicked.
"Sister!"
"Hwa-soo, even if we leave this place, we won't be able to escape if they decide to hunt us down."
Dang Hwa-soo fell silent at his sister's cold, rational assessment.
Even to him, fleeing seemed far more perilous.
"Come to think of it, they are targeting us. The Silver-Spear Demon Ghost must be among them."
"Tsk, that wretched bastard!"
The deep-seated grudge between the Silver-Spear Demon Ghost and the Tang family was something they knew all too well.
In the end, the consensus shifted from fleeing to launching a surprise attack.
However, deciding on the timing was not easy.
Yoo Sung advocated for striking immediately, while the others wanted to take some time to prepare.
"Stay here, then. I have no use for cowards."
Clicking his tongue, Yoo Sung casually walked out.
Giving the enemy time would only work against them.
More precisely, it would doom the trembling villagers of Hojung.
While martial artists like the Iron Wall could escape at any moment, the common folk had nowhere to run.
That was why Yoo Sung chose to move first.
For that was the duty of a martial artist of the Heavenly Sword Academy, the heir to the legacy of the Sovereign of the Heavenly Sword.
"Shouldn't we bring him back?" Dang Hwa-soo asked hesitantly.
Dang Hwa-young nodded slightly at her brother's cautious question.
But Hyo-jin remained perfectly calm.
"He will be fine."
Hyo-jin's meaningful words caused Dang Hwa-young's eyes to flicker.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Because he is stronger than anyone else here."
At Hyo-jin's reply, the eyes of the two siblings shook with shock.
***
"Damn it!"
"How long do we have to just stand here and stare at it!"
The demonic practitioners brought by the Ten Ghosts grew increasingly impatient as they stared at the Corpse Demon's tomb.
The treasures left behind by the Corpse Demon were right before their eyes, yet they dared not rush in blindly.
Their more hot-tempered comrades had already been dissolved into pools of blood by the Corpse Demon's lingering poisons.
Only after nearly a hundred demonic practitioners had been reduced to bloody slush did they realize the terrifying nature of the poison and back away.
"How many do we have left?"
"About ten?"
The villagers of Hojung, whom they had kidnapped to use as human shields to trigger the traps, were nearly depleted.
They could easily slip into the town under the cover of night to kidnap more, but even that had become difficult.
"It's that bastard, the Iron Wall. He's the problem."
"Tell me about it."
The demonic practitioners struggled to suppress their rising irritation.
The difficulty in taking Hojung was entirely due to the Iron Wall focusing solely on defense.
Although five of the Ten Ghosts had mobilized, Hyo-jin had cooperated with the Four Tigers of Diancang to fortify their defenses.
Despite the deep-seated grudges between them, Hyo-jin had shown the magnanimity of a true master, working hand-in-hand with the Four Tigers of Diancang.
Thanks to their efforts, Hojung had secured a fragile peace, and its people began to harbor a sliver of hope.
"Well, it's actually better this way. False hope only breeds greater despair."
Chuckling darkly, the demonic practitioners unleashed their sinister, murderous auras.
Tomorrow night, this tedious waiting would finally come to an end.
They would raid Hojung, throw the villagers in as bait, and breach the Corpse Demon's tomb.
No one knew exactly what lay inside, but whatever a master of the Corpse Demon's caliber had left behind was bound to be incredibly valuable.
"I just hope I get a share of the spoils."
"Indeed."
The Ten Ghosts would naturally take the best of the Corpse Demon's legacy first, leaving the scraps for the rest of the demonic practitioners gathered here.
As they eyed one another warily, exchanging covert glances to identify potential rivals to eliminate,
Whoosh.
A freezing wind brushed against their skin.
Before the demonic practitioners could even wonder at the unnatural chill of the breeze, an uninvited night guest made his presence known in the most brutal fashion.
Slash!
Spurt!
"...?!"
The heads of the demonic practitioners who had been eagerly anticipating tomorrow just moments ago flew from their shoulders.
Fountains of blood erupted from their headless torsos before they could even comprehend their own deaths. The surviving practitioners finally snapped out of their daze, but before they could utter a sound—
Thud.
Silhouetted against the moonlight, a man walked casually through the crowd of demonic practitioners.
"D-Demon... Emperor?"
As someone muttered that name like a living nightmare with their dying breath, Yoo Sung calmly surveyed his surroundings.
"Quite a crowd has gathered."
Nearly five hundred demonic practitioners had entrenched themselves near Hojung.
The Sichuan Righteous Alliance was on the move, and the Unorthodox factions of Sichuan had banded together.
Even so, how could such a massive horde of demonic practitioners gather and operate so freely?
"They can gather, yes. But a subjugation is supposedly too difficult?"
Nonsense.
This was clearly the work of someone intentionally gathering them here.
Yoo Sung had no interest in their motives.
He had already made his intention to hunt down demonic practitioners clear, and this was merely another step in that process.
However, there was one thing that displeased him.
"There is no reason for innocent blood to be spilled."
Who would answer for the grievances of the innocent villagers of Hojung?
From observing the conversation between Hyo-jin and the Tang siblings, Yoo Sung had realized a dark truth: all of this was part of the Sichuan Righteous Alliance's grand design.
They intended to sacrifice Hojung to wipe out the Ten Ghosts who were seeking the Corpse Demon's tomb in one fell swoop.
The lives lost in the process were casually dismissed under the noble guise of the 'greater good.'
"This is exactly why I despise you people."
With those indifferent words, the greatest of the Three Calamities of the Jianghu—the one feared as the Demon Emperor—had returned.