Chapter 153
Chapter 153
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 153
Chapter Title: The Fiend Dyes Mount Hua with Blood (3)
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The memory of that day still lingered vividly in his mind.
How could he forget? An indelible brand had been seared onto his left cheek that day. Even if he wanted to forget, standing before a mirror brought the scar into view, dragging those memories back to life.
That morning had been unusually refreshing. In high spirits, he went about his plundering. He hadn't chosen a specific target. It was just a village he happened to stumble upon at the foot of the Taihang Mountains that became his prey.
He killed quite a few people and seized a decent haul of goods.
The trouble came at the last house. The father resisted fiercely with his bow, and even his son charged in wielding a kitchen knife.
Distracted by the father, he took a slash to the face from the son. And that wasn't enough—the boy even bit through the neck of one of his subordinates, killing him outright.
No brat that vicious had ever crossed his path. So he made sure to finish him off properly. Thoroughly, so he could never come back.
Strangely, though, he couldn't recall the boy's face. Perhaps his instincts had buried that exhausting memory from that day.
Now, facing Damho, the forgotten memory surged back into sharp focus.
"You... you're that little brat..."
"Missed you."
"Urgh!"
Jo Yun-san's face twisted in revulsion.
All the while, hellblood worms gnawed at every inch of his body.
"I hope you like it. I prepared it just for you."
When Damho escaped that hellish underground chamber, he had captured the hellblood worms and sealed them in a jar of mud. After getting out, he transferred them to his own container and had kept them safe ever since.
The greatest agony Damho had ever endured in his life was the moment those hellblood worms latched onto him.
He wanted Jo Yun-san to feel that same pain.
The unbearable itch that demanded he rip off every inch of skin with his nails and claw between his muscles—it drove people insane.
Red blotches rose on Jo Yun-san's face, proof that the hellblood worms' venom was spreading.
"Uwaaak!"
Jo Yun-san let out a guttural scream and raked his nails across his entire body. But no matter how much he scratched, the itch refused to fade.
He scratched and scratched. Skin peeled away, raw flesh exposed, blood pouring in streams. Still, Jo Yun-san didn't stop.
"Please, spare me!"
Tears streamed down Jo Yun-san's face as he begged. But Damho simply watched in silence.
Rip!
The sickening sounds of flesh tearing and skin peeling echoed through the air.
The sight was more than enough to instill terror in those watching.
They wanted to help Jo Yun-san, but Damho stood blocking their path.
An ominous aura poured from Damho's body at that moment.
Everyone instinctively knew that touching him would unleash an unimaginable catastrophe.
"Th-that...?"
Yun Chung gritted his teeth.
Right before his eyes, Jo Yun-san writhed in agony. Yet there was nothing he could do.
'Where the hell did this inhuman monster come from...?'
The martial world sometimes spat out beings beyond common sense.
They shattered all prior logic, forging entirely new paths. And through such figures, the martial world underwent massive upheavals.
But they were exceedingly rare—scarcely a handful across the entirety of its history.
'No way... is this guy one of them? A being who can change the martial world just by existing...?'
Yun Chung clenched his fist without realizing it.
Even then, Jo Yun-san screamed his lungs out, scraping at his body desperately.
Peeling skin and clawing flesh did nothing to ease the maddening itch. If anything, the worm venom spread further, intensifying it.
He screamed so much his voice grew hoarse, barely audible.
'If only this itch would stop...'
He'd sell his soul for it.
Jo Yun-san glared at Damho with bloodshot eyes.
"Please, just kill me... you devil."
"You can't die that easily. That'd be a waste."
"Urgh!"
"Hang in there. I did."
"Grr!"
"At first, I thought I was going to die from it. But I endured, kept enduring, and eventually, it became bearable. You'll get there too."
Jo Yun-san ground his teeth at Damho's words.
'If he survived it, so can I.'
A sliver of hope sparked in him. But reality was hell. His hands kept raking his body. He'd lost so much blood a pool formed on the ground.
His chances of survival were less than ten percent. He'd keep clawing until his last breath. And then, at some point, he'd expire.
Damho gazed down at him for a moment before standing up.
Revenge complete, yet oddly, he felt nothing.
No sense of relief, no satisfaction. Just the task done.
Damho's gaze shifted to Yun Chung. But Yun Chung only furrowed his brow, refusing to back down.
"Since when?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Since when has the Demonic Cult been hiding in the bandits' ranks?"
"How did you—?"
Yun Chung's pupils shook violently, like an earthquake. Damho's utterly unexpected words stabbed into his chest like a dagger.
"You mentioned it while summoning the Shadow Ghosts. That they were the Demonic Cult's elites."
"No way... you eavesdropped on our transmission?"
Damho didn't answer. But Yun Chung was convinced his guess was right. He didn't know how, but Damho could intercept others' sound transmissions.
"You're truly dangerous."
In that instant, Yun Chung's eyes changed.
No longer mild or flustered. They turned cold as ice, radiating a murderous aura, like a different person entirely.
Hwang Kyung-mun was the most shocked by this.
"C-Chung! You're really from the Demonic Cult?"
"Damn it, Brother. It would've been better if you'd just died without knowing. Yes! I'm the leader of the Shadow Ghosts of the New Cult."
"This can't be!"
Hwang Kyung-mun's beard trembled violently.
Before today's events, Yun Chung had been the brother he trusted most. In running the bandits, he consulted Yun Chung on every little thing, even delegating a huge portion of his authority.
Yun Chung's ties to Hwang Kyung-mun dated back thirty years—right to when the Demonic Cult lost the war and went into hiding.
"What the hell have you been doing in the bandits, Yun Chung?"
"I've used you as a shield to build my power. As you know, our cult was in decline after losing the war."
The victorious Central Plains warriors slaughtered Demonic Cult martial artists on sight. Yun Chung, still young then, fled with a few comrades into the bandit ranks to escape the purges.
They used the bandits as cover to rebuild strength and expand influence.
Hwang Kyung-mun, that exceptional warrior, served as the perfect smokescreen. While everyone fixated on the absolute powerhouse Hwang Kyung-mun, Yun Chung quietly grew his faction within the bandits.
Thirty years passed, and Yun Chung seized control of a major portion of the bandits.
"You were the one egging on Jo Yun-san too."
"He showed promise. Held a grudge against you. It wasn't hard to prod him."
Yun Chung even wore a faint smile. The sight was enough to fill Hwang Kyung-mun with self-loathing.
"Ha! I was nothing but a puppet."
"It's not your fault, Brother. It just means I was that good. No need for self-recrimination."
Yun Chung dropped all pretense of deference or hiding. With everything out, he decided to stand tall.
His gaze turned to Damho.
"And you—daring to ruin my thirty-year enterprise. I won't forgive you."
Viscous killing intent oozed from his entire body, pervading the surroundings.
This was a side of Yun Chung the bandits had never known.
Hwang Kyung-mun's face drained of color.
The aura from Yun Chung was far beyond his own. The public image of Yun Chung's skills barely exceeded first-rate.
A strategist with brains over brawn—that was Yun Chung's facade. All of it, a thorough deception.
"I'll shatter every limb and grind your bones to drink as powder."
Crack!
The terrifying energy erupting from him crushed nearby objects. Meanwhile, unfamiliar figures joined Yun Chung one after another.
Over a hundred warriors in black uniforms.
The Shadow Ghosts he had cultivated.
The massive funds Hwang Kyung-mun poured into raising the Dragon Squadron—Yun Chung had siphoned off a huge chunk to train these Shadow Ghosts. Their skills far surpassed the Dragon Squadron.
Hwang Kyung-mun's eyes twitched.
Many of the Shadow Ghosts were faces he recognized. Promising warriors from the Overlord Stronghold.
Not high-ranking, but they bridged the leadership and rank-and-file bandits.
Only now did Hwang Kyung-mun understand how Yun Chung took over. With them as eyes and ears, he had been a blind fool.
Realizing it all, Hwang Kyung-mun's limbs went limp, and he collapsed in place.
'With eyes wide open, I let someone steal my house and smiled on, oblivious. How pathetic I must have looked.'
In hollow despair, Hwang Kyung-mun closed his eyes.
Who knew how many bandit strongholds the Demonic Cult had infiltrated? Maybe just a few, or perhaps far more than imagined.
He couldn't even grasp where to begin.
Even as Hwang Kyung-mun wallowed in powerlessness, Yun Chung and the Shadow Ghosts radiated killing intent.
Their aura was so overwhelming that nearby bandit warriors recoiled in fear.
Yun Chung pointed at Damho.
"Fist Demon... that laughable title won't save your life. You'll die here today. Right on this spot..."
Rustle!
Before his words finished, the Shadow Ghosts surrounded Damho.
They had hidden in the shadows for thirty years, honing Demonic Cult arts. They yearned to step into the light and fight under the cult's banner.
"We'll kill you here and then join our main force. Soon the world will unite under the New Cult. Be grateful you're the first sacrifice on that glorious path, you... kugh!"
Boom!
An explosion rang out, sending five or six Shadow Ghosts flying back. Damho had unleashed Explosive Breaking Fist.
Damho launched himself at Yun Chung.
"You talk too much."
The Shadow Ghosts blocked his path.
Shing!
The swords in their hands gleamed coldly.
Fist Demon versus Shadow Ghosts.
The battle that would decide the bandits' fate had begun.