Chapter 130
Chapter 130
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 130
Chapter Title: The Threads of Grudge Twine Even More Viciously (2)
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Thud!
The qi wave that shook his spirit to its core made Daoist Cheonggu's face drain of color.
Daoist Cheonggu was a supreme master who had surpassed the pinnacle realm. Yet even his insides were churning.
"What?"
Daoist Cheonggu whipped around. There, the Murim Alliance warriors had parted to both sides. Amid the split crowd, a black shadow loomed.
With the setting sun at his back, stretching his shadow long, an inexplicable chilling aura emanated from the dark figure.
Daoist Cheonggu hurled Hwang Hye-ryeong to the ground. She was no longer of any importance to him.
"Who the hell are you?"
"It's him. Damho."
The answer came from Namgung Su.
Namgung Su's face had gone deathly pale. His lips were blue, and his body trembled like an aspen leaf.
The terror deeply etched into his mind surged back to life the moment he laid eyes on Damho. He bit down hard on his lip to steel himself, but it was no use.
Daoist Cheonggu voiced his confusion.
"Damho?"
"The Fist Demon. Also known as the Blood Star of Divine Strength..."
"Hmph! That demonic bastard whose infamous name has been ringing out lately."
Daoist Cheonggu scoffed.
It was the name he'd heard most often since entering the Evil Valley. But he didn't believe the rumors. Nothing swelled like gossip.
'Fist Demon? Then he's a demon. Eradicating demonic sprouts is the Murim Alliance's role.'
If removing one demon could save hundreds of the righteous, that was the duty of men like him.
Step.
Damho approached.
The Murim Alliance warriors encircling the area hesitated and fell back step by step.
"Why are you here?"
The warriors couldn't fathom why Damho had appeared in this place.
Damho didn't spare them a glance, striding straight ahead. His footsteps led straight to Hwang Hye-ryeong.
She writhed on the ground like a bloodied worm.
A fierce flicker stirred in Damho's eyes as he gazed at her.
He didn't know why. But from the moment he saw her wretched, broken form, a blazing fury had erupted from the depths of his chest.
"Urgh!"
"Gah!"
Damho's rage sent the nearby warriors stumbling back in terror. Their faces were ashen white.
"Come... here... brother."
Hwang Hye-ryeong recognized Damho and opened her mouth.
Her once snow-white teeth were stained crimson with blood—a pitiful sight.
It was then, as Damho silently approached her.
"Halt."
Daoist Cheonggu blocked his path.
Damho stopped and met Daoist Cheonggu's eyes. The daoist flinched at the contact.
Eyes of unfathomable depth and darkness, harboring a single thread of killing intent.
Daoist Cheonggu hurriedly circulated his qi and assumed a battle stance. His body had reacted on instinct.
Damho's head tilted crookedly.
"Out of my way!"
"I can't do that. Get out of here yourself. This isn't just anywhere—it's a Murim Alliance event. Unless you want to become an enemy of the Alliance, you'd best scram."
"Murim Alliance?"
"That's right. This is under the Alliance's jurisdiction."
Strength filled Daoist Cheonggu's voice. Emboldened, the Alliance warriors found their courage.
"Yeah! This is Murim Alliance territory. No reason to fear the likes of him."
"He's human, just like us."
The Alliance warriors scattered around began to murmur.
Even a lone weakling gains courage in numbers. These were martial artists, no less.
They'd never bowed to anyone their whole lives, so their pride ran deep. It wasn't strong enough to endure ignoring just one man's gaze.
Their murmurs soon coalesced into a massive wave of killing intent crashing toward Damho. Hundreds of eyes fixed on him alone.
A normal man would shrink in body and soul, unable even to draw a deep breath. But Damho smiled.
If that twisted curl of his lips could be called a smile.
"So you're not getting out of my way?"
"Where do you get the gall to bluff like that?"
Daoist Cheonggu shot back without yielding. A frost-like aura was already emanating from his body.
'He's a spark. Let him go, and he'll ignite elsewhere. Then rebels against our order will sprout everywhere.'
Daoist Cheonggu wasn't reacting this strongly just because of Hwang Hye-ryeong.
He saw the rebel spirit in Damho.
Damho was a lone wolf, living by his own rules, defying the established order. If he were an ordinary warrior, it wouldn't matter. But unfortunately, he was a master.
Leave him be, and followers would rise against the order in his wake.
The order upheld by the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families was rock-solid, yet paradoxically fragile, liable to crumble at any moment.
Let a man like Damho roam free, and he'd pierce right through that fragility.
'Fools always cheer for disruptors of the status quo. He'll gain followers for sure. I must uproot him now.'
It was in that moment, as Daoist Cheonggu covertly circulated his qi.
Boom!
A thunderclap exploded.
Daoist Cheonggu's head snapped back.
His skull rang, the world shook—he couldn't regain his senses.
"Ah!"
"E-Elder!"
The warriors' clamor echoed like tinnitus.
Daoist Cheonggu blinked in confusion, unsure what had happened.
"Urk!"
Agonizing pain hit, and his scream snapped all senses back to reality.
Damho's fist was buried in his chest. Had he not circulated his qi, it would've punched clean through.
"Coward..."
Screech!
In that instant, Damho's fist hammered down from above.
Boom!
Daoist Cheonggu's head whipped to the side.
Teeth scattered like hail, blood soaking his face and chest.
His body crumpled to the earth like a felled log.
"......"
The sudden turn of events chilled the arena's fevered excitement.
Daoist Cheonggu twitched on the ground, vomiting blood. Consciousness had fled long ago. Compared to his earlier bravado, his pathetic state was unbelievable.
He barely clung to life, his breathing ragged—survival was no sure thing. Even if he lived, he'd never chew with his own teeth again.
"Elder!"
"How dare you!"
His Qingcheng Sect disciples raged at the sight, poised to charge. But Damho didn't even glance their way.
His gaze was locked on the bloodied Hwang Hye-ryeong.
Seeing her gasping, bleeding from every inch, an inexplicable rage boiled within him—he couldn't contain it.
Never, since entering the jianghu, had his emotions swayed like this.
'Why?'
The question surfaced in Damho's mind.
"Bro...ther."
Hwang Hye-ryeong's voice trembled, her breaths shallow.
Damho hoisted her onto his back. Even in her delirium, she pointed to Mok Il-gwang.
"Take him too."
"Got it!"
With his answer, Damho tucked Mok Il-gwang under his arm.
Two grown people on him, yet Damho showed no strain.
To the onlookers, it looked utterly disdainful. Treating everyone present like scarecrows, they couldn't contain their fury.
"Fist Demon!"
Namgung Su's shout rang across the field.
His eyes glared at Damho, bloodshot red.
"Do you know what you've done? Daring to defy a Murim Alliance event."
"Murim Alliance?"
"Yes. The Alliance was formed to uphold jianghu order against the Demonic Cult. And you've dealt it a massive blow. How do you intend to take responsibility? It's scum like you that are the problem. Arrogant fools who only know their own strength, never pondering how to use it for the jianghu. Reckless rogues without a shred of accountability."
Namgung Su unleashed all his rage in a torrent of words.
'If only you hadn't existed... If you hadn't crossed my path...'
A blaze like molten fury rose from his chest to his head.
Madness flickered in his already bloodshot eyes.
Damho's appearance had twisted everything.
He'd derailed Namgung Su's promising life, subjected him to indelible humiliation and scorn.
But he'd endured for lack of power.
Damho's might in annihilating the Golden Sword Squad had been terrifying.
Even his uncle, Namgung Chang, had been broken by Damho. Namgung Su alone was powerless. But now, hundreds of warriors surrounded him.
Not just Namgung Family men, but from the Nine Sects and Five Families, all mixed. Turning them into enemies was as good as antagonizing the world.
"Hand over that wench right now. Refuse, and there'll be no place for you in the Central Plains."
"Young Master Namgung is right."
"If you defy the jianghu's will any further, we'll brand you a public enemy."
Many chimed in agreement.
Their murmurs snowballed in an instant.
But Damho ignored them, focused only on Hwang Hye-ryeong's condition on his back.
"Brother... how..."
"Save your breath. Circulate your qi first."
"But..."
Hwang Hye-ryeong anxiously scanned the surroundings.
Countless eyes bored into them alone. Even the stoutest heart would quiver. Yet Damho strode on as if in an empty wilderness, sparing them no glance.
Finally, Namgung Su's fury erupted.
"Are you deaf, you rootless mongrel?!"
"I hear every word, even without the yelling."
"You?"
"And looks like you've forgotten my warning."
In that moment, Namgung Su felt his blood run ice-cold.
How could he forget?
That day's humiliation.
Damho's words that day.
Terror crashed over him like a tidal wave. But he didn't flee.
Running now meant carrying fear of Damho forever. Anything but that.
Namgung Su screamed hysterically.
"Shut your nonsense and hand over the wench!"
"And if I don't?"
"From this day, you're a Murim Alliance public enemy."
"Funny."
"What?"
"Who decides that? You? Or everyone here?"
Damho glanced around. The Alliance warriors flinched.
In that instant, one shouted.
"It's the will of the entire Central Plains."
"Exactly."
One voice became ten, then a hundred.
A bizarre madness gripped the arena.
Damho stepped toward them.
Drag. Thud. Drag. Thud.
His signature offbeat gait—left foot dragging, right stamping the earth—sent ominous ripples through their hearts.
"Urgh!"
Namgung Su's face twisted.
He should back off now. His heart screamed it, but his head refused the dread.
"Attack! Show him the Murim Alliance is the heart of the jianghu!"
Whoosh!
In that instant, Damho kicked off the ground.
His movement: 충보 (Chungbo? Footwork – perhaps " 충보" is "Heavy Step" or from context, explosive advance.
Weapon: 파성추 (Paring Hammer? Breaking City Hammer? – perhaps a technique.
Target: Namgung Su.
His shocked expression filled Damho's vision.
Boom!