Chapter 155: Hwa Sa-yu
Chapter 155: Hwa Sa-yu
It was the Un Clan estate, located in Geumsa, Guizhou City.
White Jade Dragon Gu Yu-sang was receiving a report from a subordinate prostrated before him, his face utterly expressionless.
His face was in a perfectly expressionless state, devoid of any emotion whatsoever, but the subordinate prostrated before him was trembling and could not dare to lift his head even after finishing his entire report.
This was because an icy murderous intent, cold enough to chill the body to the bone, was radiating from the utterly expressionless Gu Yu-sang.
The subordinate could perceive that Gu Yu-sang was so enraged right now that he had lost all expression.
And that a single wrong word could cost him his life.
Gu Yu-sang slowly opened his mouth.
"So, you're saying the reason Hell's Blood Monk Chuk Ho-tak and the seven peak-level masters he took with him all died is because of that Chaos Soul Witch So Nan-so and that bastard Seonwoo Jin-i?"
Originally, Gu Yu-sang had not even entertained the thought that Man-eating Demonic Tiger No Jo-song and Hell's Blood Monk Chuk Ho-tak might fail.
Thus, he had planned to leisurely follow them after No Jo-song had turned Gaeyangmun upside down.
It was to rescue Seonwoo Yeon-ha and reveal his existence before them in order to seize the Seonwoo Clan in the future.
But just as he was about to depart from the Un Clan estate, he ended up receiving unbelievable news.
It was news that No Jo-song and all his subordinates had been annihilated by an unidentified eccentric.
The first thought that came to mind upon hearing that news was this:
'A secret guard of the Jegal Clan?'
That thought was a fairly reasonable one.
Because Gu Yu-sang himself had realized with a jolt that he hadn't known the fact that Jegal Ji-yong and Jegal Seoyul had followed to Gaeyangmun.
So Gu Yu-sang, who had been heading to Gaeyangmun, had no choice but to grind his teeth and return to the Un Clan estate.
The martial prowess of that eccentric who had killed No Jo-song was extraordinary, but more than anything, he could not afford to clash with the Jegal Clan right now.
However, the news that soon followed the next day made Gu Yu-sang so furious that it rendered him utterly expressionless.
'...Hell's Blood Monk Chuk Ho-tak and seven peak-level masters were all completely wiped out?'
At first, he had thought it was absurd.
Even if the Jegal Clan's power reached there, it was because he simply could not believe that Chuk Ho-tak, a transcendent peak master, had died without even being able to return.
But when Chuk Ho-tak's whereabouts remained unknown as time passed, he ultimately had no choice but to acknowledge it.
That Chuk Ho-tak and the masters who had gone to the Seonwoo Clan had also been completely annihilated.
Suppressing the urge to kill all the subordinates who had given the report, Gu Yu-sang ordered them to investigate the detailed situation as quickly as possible.
Then, what he heard in the intelligence report that arrived half a day later were precisely those two names.
The names of the Blood Cult's traitor, Chaos Soul Witch So Nan-so, and that bastard Seonwoo Jin-i whom he had thought was trash.
Gu Yu-sang let out a hollow laugh, so dumbfounded he was.
"Seonwoo Jin-i? That Seonwoo Jin, the shame of the Seonwoo Clan? That bastard was a master strong enough to kill Chuk Ho-tak? Huh, huhuh."
Suddenly, a memory from a few days ago surfaced in his mind.
It was when No Jo-song had said that the third son, Seonwoo Jin-i, might be the true successor of the Seonwoo Clan, and he himself had declared with certainty that such trash could absolutely never be the case.
To think that No Jo-song might have been right and he had been wrong.
Gu Yu-sang's clear and brilliant mind quickly began to grasp the situation.
The bastard had probably deliberately shown a foolish front before him when he came from the Un Clan.
In order to completely conceal himself.
Of course, the bastard couldn't have known he was a member of the Blood Cult... no, perhaps he had even known that.
Because if he had already been holding hands with Chaos Soul Witch So Nan-so, it was entirely possible.
Having thought that far, Gu Yu-sang burst into a dispirited laugh.
"I was completely played for a fool. Haha, hahahaha!"
He himself, who had only ever toyed with others since coming from Yunnan Province, had been so perfectly toyed with.
He was so dumbfounded that only laughter came out.
But what remained after that laughter ended was an incredibly dense murderous intent.
Gu Yu-sang murmured, emitting a viper-like killing intent.
"Fine, I acknowledge it. You got one over on me. So now, I'll make you pay the price."
His eyes were flashing coldly, like a snake brimming with venom.
It was just then.
Suddenly, screams began to be heard from outside.
"Kuaaaak!"
"I-intruders, uaaaak!"
"Guaaaak!"
It was the sound of multiple people screaming simultaneously, not just one or two.
Gu Yu-sang, already enraged, asked his subordinate in a low voice.
"What is the matter?"
"I-I will go and find out!"
The subordinate, who had scrambled out in a panic, came running back in shortly after with a pale face and shouted.
"A-an attack! It's the Murim Alliance's strike force!"
The Murim Alliance?
Gu Yu-sang's face contorted at that word.
"...What did you say?"
"The Guizhou branch leader of the Murim Alliance, Sword Dance Guest Jang Do-ok, and over a hundred warriors have attacked! It appears they have learned of our existence!"
"The Murim Alliance..."
Gu Yu-sang let out another hollow laugh.
Because he could immediately understand how the situation had come about.
"So this was the reason you sent the Jegal Clan to Gaeyangmun together. To reveal our existence."
Since they would have obtained intelligence from So Nan-so, they would have originally known that they were at the Un Clan estate.
So, there was no doubt that Jegal Ji-yong and Jegal Seoyul, after being attacked, had immediately relayed their location to them.
If not for that, it would not explain how the Murim Alliance's warriors, notorious for being slow to move, had charged in so quickly.
Gu Yu-sang gritted his teeth and murmured the name of that bastard.
"Seon, woo, Jin!"
Grind!
In truth, it was not yet certain if that bastard was the one who had actually planned all of this.
But the fact that he was a bastard who absolutely had to be killed remained unchanged.
At that moment, his subordinate again asked urgently.
"Y-young master! What will you do?! You must escape from this place even now...!"
But Gu Yu-sang snorted at those words.
"Run away? Me? Because I'm afraid of the moths that have thrown themselves into the fire?"
"...Excuse me?"
The subordinate could not comprehend his words.
Sword Dance Guest Jang Do-ok, the Guizhou branch leader of the Murim Alliance, was known as a master with over ninety years of internal energy.
That meant he was nearly on the level of an elder of the Nine Great Sects.
Yet he referred to this Jang Do-ok and the hundred-strong strike force of the Murim Alliance, who had discovered their identities and launched an attack, as mere moths.
But he was able to resolve that question immediately.
Because a voice suddenly rang out from right beside him, where no one had been before.
"Right, right. As expected, my nephew is a talent destined to become the next Blood Demon. Such fellows are naturally nothing more than moths, indeed."
The subordinate, startled by that voice, turned his head, and upon seeing the face of the voice's owner, immediately bowed his head deeply and prostrated himself.
"I-I greet the elder!"
A handsome young man standing with a bored expression and a slouching posture—it was precisely Flower-seeking Lust Demon Hwa Sa-yu.
He was one of the Blood Cult's Five Demons and one of the Thirty-six Stars of the World.
Gu Yu-sang smiled and asked Hwa Sa-yu.
"Uncle Hwa, might I ask you to take care of these moths that have thrown themselves into the fire?"
Then Hwa Sa-yu nodded frivolously and answered.
"Of course, of course! Just trust your uncle, nephew. I shall burn up all these moths that have thrown themselves into the fire."
"Then I shall entrust it to you."
By the time Gu Yu-sang's words ended, Hwa Sa-yu's form had already vanished.
Gu Yu-sang chuckled and slowly rose to his feet, beginning to walk outside.
It was to witness the spectacle of moths burning in the fire with his own eyes.
The first sight he saw when he stepped outside the hall was Hwa Sa-yu descending upon the gathered Murim Alliance warriors.
As Hwa Sa-yu leaped among them and swung both arms, in an instant, a wave of blood spread out from him like a tide.
Splatter!
"Kuaaaak!"
"Uaaaak!"
"Kueeeok!"
It was an incredibly bizarre spectacle.
Even though his hand had not touched them, the entire space within a two-jang radius had turned into a sea of blood.
Hwa Sa-yu did not stop there.
He moved smoothly and continued to swing his arms.
Then, as if an invisible, long claw was being swept through, warriors within a distance of two jang were all carved apart, spraying blood as they began to collapse.
It was a spectacle like watching a Daoist immortal, or a monster performing a miracle.
Moreover, Hwa Sa-yu himself was not the only threat.
His white seopseon, thrown at some point, was spinning round and round, circling his surroundings as if alive.
And every time the seopseon brushed past, Murim Alliance warriors were spewing blood and collapsing.
It was an overwhelmingly one-sided spectacle.
Without even the time it takes to drink a cup of tea passing, the hundred-odd Murim Alliance warriors were reduced to less than half their number.
Then, one swordsman guest wielding a long blade rushed toward Hwa Sa-yu with an urgent expression.
It was the Guizhou branch leader of the Murim Alliance, a master of over ninety years of internal energy, Sword Dance Guest Jang Do-ok.
"You bastard!"
A yellow blade aura, stretching out over a jang in length, was swinging down as if to cleave Hwa Sa-yu in two with a single stroke.
Indeed, his skill was worthy of a master evaluated at the elder level of the Nine Great Sects.
But Hwa Sa-yu, upon seeing him, merely pointed at him with an index finger, a look of boredom on his face.
And with that alone, the match was decided.
Pook!
"!"
It was a sight that froze every warrior of the Murim Alliance who was watching.
Their branch leader and elder-level master of the Nine Great Sects, Jang Do-ok, had his head pierced through and collapsed dead, simply from being pointed at with a finger.
Without even getting to swing the dao he was holding even once.
And with that, this battle was also settled.
For the Murim Alliance warriors, having lost their leader so helplessly, no longer had the ability or the will to resist.
The Flower-seeking Lust Demon Hwa Sa-yu slaughtered them until roughly twenty warriors remained, then stopped moving, as if it had become a bother.
Then, following his lead, the Blood Cult's warriors surrounded the Murim Alliance's warriors and began to dispose of them.
It didn't seem like much time would be needed to finish them all off.
At that, Gu Yu-sang gave an order to the subordinate beside him.
"Everyone prepare to leave. We depart Guizhou City with haste. Burn the Un Clan estate completely."
"Yes! Understood!"
Gu Yu-sang slowly looked around the Un Clan estate he had been using as his base.
It had been a rather satisfactory place, but it seemed he could no longer remain here.
Since this place had been raided, it was only correct to assume that all bases in Guizhou City had been exposed as well.
A subordinate suddenly asked him again.
"Then will you return directly to Yunnan Province?"
At that, the glint in Gu Yu-sang's eyes suddenly sharpened.
He gazed far to the north and muttered as if grinding his teeth.
"I cannot do that. A price must be paid for daring to block my path forward."
Gu Yu-sang's eyes turned toward the Flower-seeking Lust Demon Hwa Sa-yu once more.
With him, it wouldn't matter how much that Seonwoo Jin fellow was hiding his skill, or whether he was with the Chaos Soul Witch So Nan-so.
Because he could make him end up just like Jang Do-ok.
His eyes filled with venomous energy, Gu Yu-sang muttered as if spitting the words out.
"The price for daring to block my path is everything connected to you, Seonwoo Jin. I shall erase the Seonwoo Clan completely from this world."
***
Dagdak! Dagdak!
Jegal Seoyul was racing back to the Seonwoo Clan alone on horseback.
The Seonwoo Castle party was also returning with Seonwoo Yeon-ha in restraints, but Jegal Seoyul had stubbornly insisted on departing for the Seonwoo Clan first by herself.
It was because there was something she wished to confirm, in the absence of not only Seonwoo Seong, but also her uncle Jegal Ji-yong.
Amidst the rapidly passing scenery, Jegal Seoyul thought.
'Seonwoo Jin-gongja. Are you truly that eccentric?'
None of the people at Gaeyang Gate harbored any doubts about the whereabouts of Seonwoo Jin, who had vanished without a trace.
It may have been because they were too preoccupied with so many weighty matters, but the more accurate reason was likely that they were paying him no attention whatsoever.
He had been hiding himself so flawlessly that even her uncle Jegal Ji-yong, renowned within the Jegal Clan for his sharp mind, had not taken particular note of him.
'But if it's true that he orchestrated everything from behind, then clearly...'
After racing for a long while, the sight of the Seonwoo Clan estate finally began to enter Jegal Seoyul's eyes.
The state of the main gate, shattered into pieces as if to tell the tale of a fierce battle, was the first thing to catch her eye.
And Jegal Seoyul was soon able to spot his figure, seated leisurely atop the roof of that broken main gate, swinging his legs.
Her eyes widened greatly.
'As I thought!'
Jegal Seoyul realized that her suspicions had been correct.
He, who had vanished from Gaeyang Gate without a sound, had at some point already returned to the Seonwoo Clan.
And in such an intact state, at that.
As expected, behind the Seonwoo Clan's repulsion of the Blood Cult's attack, that person must have been there without a doubt.
Unable to restrain herself any longer, Jegal Seoyul spurred her horse on and shouted his name.
"Seonu Gongja!"
At that, Seonwoo Jin, still looking perfectly at ease, answered her with a grin.
"You've returned early, Jegal Sojeo."
It was a casual reply, as if he had little interest in her. At his answer, Jegal Seoyul suddenly felt a surge of sorrow wash over her.
She had ridden back so diligently to meet him, and yet he himself held such an indifferent attitude...
But Jegal Seoyul gritted her teeth.
As a child of the Jegal Clan, she could not allow herself to be swept away by emotion and fail to say what needed to be said.
She glared at him with sharp eyes and asked, as if interrogating him.
"That Blue-Clothed Weirdo, that was you, wasn't it?"
At that, Seonwoo Jin grinned and asked in return.
"I've no idea what you mean. Just who is this Blue-Clothed Weirdo you speak of?"
At his feigned ignorance, Jegal Seoyul now glared at him and shouted.
"Don't play dumb! After you vanished from Gaeyang Gate, that Blue-Clothed Weirdo appeared!"
But Seonwoo Jin, as if teasing her, merely continued to smile and smile.
"I merely fled back to the clan in haste, so terribly frightened. The frontlines were fearsome, but meeting the Blood Cult's demon heads here was even more fearsome."
At that shameless attitude, Jegal Seoyul felt fury surge to the top of her head.
Claiming he ran away because he was scared, and with that kind of attitude—who would believe such a thing?
"Stop lying! You are clearly...!"
At that, Seonwoo Jin suddenly let out a sigh and cut off her words.
"If you had no intention of believing my words in the first place, then why on earth are you asking me?"
At those words, Jegal Seoyul found herself at a loss for words.
He was right.
If he kept answering like that, asking would be of no use.
But despite that, Jegal Seoyul had to ask Seonwoo Jin once more.
The one fact she was most curious about, the one she absolutely had to know...
"Are you truly aiming to become the Seonwoo Clan's successor..."
Jegal Seoyul wanted to ask.
Whether all these events were to become the successor of the Seonwoo Clan, and whether he had planned the duel with her in order to take her as his wife.
But her question could go no further.
Because Seonwoo Jin, his gaze sharp, looked toward the empty space behind her and spoke.
"A guest has arrived."
Jegal Seoyul had no choice but to whip her head around in shock.
Even without his words, an enormous presence had been pressing in from behind.
A chilling sensation, as if something colossal was bearing down on them, like a natural disaster.
But unlike the presence, which felt like a gale storming in, what entered her eyes were just two men.
Two handsome young masters so beautiful one might think them so despite being men; one in particular was no exaggeration to call the most good-looking man Jegal Seoyul had ever met.
But the place Jegal Seoyul's gaze was riveted was not on that man, but on the other one.
It was because a fierce, storm-like energy was erupting from his body, which did nothing to conceal his presence.
Gu Yu-sang and the Flower-seeking Lust Demon Hwa Sa-yu. They had finally come to the Seonwoo Clan.
They landed before the Seonwoo Clan in an instant.
And then, Hwa Sa-yu fixed his gaze on Jegal Seoyul, and Gu Yu-sang on Seonwoo Jin.
Hwa Sa-yu suddenly smiled brightly and asked Gu Yu-sang.
"Hoh, to think there was such a pretty child here as well. Yu-sang, may I have that child?"
Despite his handsome face, he was a man whose attitude was flippant and, more than anything, who gave off a snake-like chill.
At his greedy gaze, Jegal Seoyul couldn't help but shudder involuntarily.
At that, Gu Yu-sang, his gaze still fixed on Seonwoo Jin, answered.
"Do as you wish, Uncle Hwa. However, we must clean up first before that."
He then raised his voice to speak to Seonwoo Jin.
"Seonwoo Jin, you've been up to some amusing tricks! I was deceived quite perfectly too!"
At that, Seonwoo Jin replied with a broad grin.
"I've no idea what you're talking about. You seem to be someone I'm meeting for the first time, so what exactly is it you think you were deceived by? Perhaps you are mistaken about something?"
At his expression, teasing him while playing completely dumb, fury suddenly surged within Gu Yu-sang.
It was because he already felt he had been toyed with, and now he felt he was being outright mocked.
At that, Gu Yu-sang glared at Seonwoo Jin as if he would tear him apart with his eyes alone and spoke again.
"If you wish to play dumb, so be it. I'll erase the Seonwoo Clan and then ask you again. We shall see if you can maintain such an attitude then."
Then he spoke toward Hwa Sa-yu.
"Uncle Hwa, I leave it to you."
At that, Hwa Sa-yu smiled in satisfaction and nodded his head.
"Leave it to me."
As he answered, the storm-like energy from his body now erupted into a gale.
Hwaaaak!
The Flower-seeking Lust Demon Hwa Sa-yu, one of the Thirty-six Stars of the World, was about to erase the Seonwoo Clan.