Chapter 185
Chapter 185
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 185
Chapter Title: Book 4. Fate Sometimes Flows in Unpredictable Directions (1)
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Damho's eyes narrowed.
He rose from his seat and approached the window.
The darkness had descended upon Luoyang, as if the city that never slept had never been lit at all. Perhaps because of that, the flames rising from one corner of Luoyang stood out all the more vividly.
The crimson blaze shot skyward without end.
The energy wave that stirred Damho's heart originated from the very spot where the flames were rising.
The energy that had just swept through the area was intensely ominous. Even Damho felt a chill.
"The Demonic Cult...?"
Damho muttered coldly.
It wouldn't be surprising if the Demonic Cult clashed with another sect here. Fierce battles between them were raging across the land even now.
Damho's eyes held no particular emotion.
Whether the Demonic Cult fought the murim world or not, it had nothing to do with him. He tried not to pay it any mind.
The problem was that the flames were rising not far from the inn where Damho was staying.
The people staying at the inn had been startled awake by the sudden explosion and blaze.
"What's happening?"
Jong Ri-yeon, who had been sleeping in the next room, woke up and came to Damho's room. Anxiety was plain on her face.
"It's nothing."
"Nothing? With flames shooting up like that?"
Jong Ri-yeon's gaze turned to the window.
Kwaaang!
At that moment, something flew in and crashed into the inn where they were staying.
"Aaak!"
Jong Ri-yeon screamed involuntarily and clung to Damho.
"Kkeuuh!"
The object embedded in the wall was a person. Covered head to toe in blood, he was so mangled that his original form was unrecognizable.
Damho's brow furrowed as he looked at him impassively.
The face of the man writhing, drenched in blood, seemed oddly familiar.
Damho gently pushed Jong Ri-yeon away and approached the man.
"Kuh!"
The blood-soaked man lifted his head feebly, his body limp like an octopus.
His eyes, dazed from the immense impact, were unfocused, making the entire world a blur. He couldn't recognize Damho's face right away. But Damho recognized him.
"Ho Kyung."
"Wh...o?"
The man who answered weakly was none other than Mount Hua Sect's Ho Kyung.
A flurry of emotions flashed through Damho's eyes as he gazed at him.
That was when it happened.
A black shadow burst through the broken wall.
It was a warrior clutching a wolf fang mace.
He was one of On Sangcheon's subordinates. Ho Kyung had been gravely wounded by On Sangcheon and couldn't put up a proper fight, ending up smashed into this place.
The warrior with the wolf fang mace approached to finish Ho Kyung off for good. Ho Kyung, whose vision had somewhat returned, spotted the warrior.
Ho Kyung forced himself up and shouted.
"Those guys are Demonic Cult warriors. Run away, quickly."
Even gravely injured himself, Ho Kyung thought of others first. That sight provoked the warrior with the wolf fang mace.
"Hmph! Worry about your own neck. None of the weaklings here will survive anyway."
The warrior approached, radiating ferocious killing intent. He paid no mind to Damho and Jong Ri-yeon. He figured a light swing of his mace would end them.
Ho Kyung positioned himself in front of Damho and Jong Ri-yeon and yelled.
"Run away, now!"
Whoosh!
In that instant, the wolf fang mace flew at him. Ho Kyung raised his sword to block it. But his hand gripping the sword had no strength left.
'Is this the end?'
It was the moment despair flickered in Ho Kyung's eyes.
Kuwaang!
"Keuk!"
With a roar, the warrior lunging at Ho Kyung staggered. The wolf fang mace in his hand was shattered to pieces, and a massive hole gaped in his chest.
"Kkuuuh!"
The warrior who had attacked Ho Kyung blinked in disbelief before collapsing backward like a felled log.
Damho stood where the warrior had fallen. He had slain the Demonic Cult warrior in that moment of crisis and saved Ho Kyung.
Ho Kyung stared at Damho in disbelief.
The Demonic Cult warrior's skill had been terrifying. Mount Hua's elite disciple Ho Kyung had been utterly helpless against him. Yet Damho had pulverized that warrior in a single strike.
It was a level of martial prowess beyond Ho Kyung's comprehension.
Damho turned and looked at Ho Kyung. Ho Kyung squinted hard. Damho's face seemed familiar somehow.
"Wh-who are you?"
Damho walked toward him. The moment Ho Kyung saw him slightly dragging his left leg, a name flashed in his mind.
"Could you be... Cheon Gyeong?"
His voice trembled involuntarily.
Honestly, he didn't remember Damho's face well. He'd only glimpsed him a few times at Mount Hua. But he clearly remembered that he dragged one leg. Combined with the terrifying skill displayed before his eyes.
Those two facts convinced him that the man was Damho.
Damho nodded silently.
"It really is you. Cheon Gyeong... How are you here?"
"And what brings you here? Mount Hua is far from this place."
"Kuh! I came with my master..."
Ho Kyung answered thoughtlessly, then his eyes widened. Only then did he remember his master was fighting a Demonic Cult expert.
He grabbed Damho's hand.
"Cheon Gyeong, save my master. He's in danger..."
Ho Kyung couldn't finish his words and fainted, eyes rolling back. Even so, he didn't let go of Damho's hand.
He gripped it so tightly that blood stopped flowing to Damho's fingers. Jong Ri-yeon hurriedly lifted Ho Kyung.
She pulled silver needles from her bosom and said.
"We need to give him emergency treatment right away. Leave him to me—you go save his master."
"......"
"Are you just going to stand there? No matter the circumstances, these are people connected to you. If you let them die like this, would your master be pleased?"
Jong Ri-yeon raised her voice. When Damho still didn't move, she strained her neck with veins bulging.
"At the very least, you don't want to feel ashamed when you meet your master. Please. Save them, I beg you."
Damho turned.
In the distance, he could see On Sangcheon, Venerable Hyeon Gwang, and Gwanghae locked in battle together. Damho slowly walked toward them.
Amid the ruins of the utterly destroyed inn, On Sangcheon, Venerable Hyeon Gwang, and Gwanghae were engaged in a fierce fight.
It wasn't just the three of them fighting. On Sangcheon's subordinates and the Shaolin Temple disciples were clashing with all their might as well.
Sword energies and saber winds filled the street.
On Sangcheon unleashed Black Heart Demonic Claw, overwhelming Venerable Hyeon Gwang and Gwanghae. Each time he swung his palm, they couldn't dare counter and retreated.
But Venerable Hyeon Gwang and Gwanghae were renowned masters in their own right. While evading the Black Heart Demonic Claw, they unleashed Mount Hua and Shaolin ultimate techniques for counterattacks.
Kukwakwang!
Their clashes finally brought down the inn that had barely held, turning the area into a hellscape.
People from Hwayang Inn and nearby inns fled in all directions to escape the disaster.
"Aaak!"
"Save me!"
The street filled with screams in an instant.
Gwanghae's eyes twitched.
He was a disciple of Shaolin's Unliterary School. He valued human life above all.
Realizing innocent people were suffering because of their fight made his hands grow hesitant.
On Sangcheon didn't miss the opening.
"Do I look like a joke to you? Getting distracted in the heat of battle."
His hand traced an elegant curve and plunged toward Gwanghae's chest. Gwanghae, realizing his mistake, hurriedly tried to assume a defensive stance, but it was too late. He had no choice but to concentrate his internal energy on his chest.
The black palm struck Gwanghae's chest squarely.
Kwajik!
"Keheok!"
Gwanghae screamed and flew backward.
"Master!"
Shaolin disciples saw this and tried to rush to him. But On Sangcheon's subordinates blocked their path.
Bwoong!
A wolf fang saber sliced fiercely through the air. The Shaolin disciples had no choice but to fall back.
In the meantime, On Sangcheon leaped to deliver the finishing blow to Gwanghae. Venerable Hyeon Gwang desperately blocked his path, but he looked precarious as a candle in the wind.
"Master! Keuhk!"
Blood tears seemed ready to flow from Ucheon's eyes, Gwanghae's direct disciple. He cursed his own helplessness at his master's peril.
"Worry about your own neck, monk!"
One of On Sangcheon's subordinates swung his wolf fang saber at Ucheon's throat. Distracted by Gwanghae, Ucheon couldn't prepare.
Ucheon squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for death.
Peong!
In that instant, an explosion rocked his body violently. A fierce pressure and gust swept over him, contorting his face.
Feeling less pain than expected, Ucheon cautiously opened his eyes. An astonishing sight unfolded before him.
A headless body staggered. It was On Sangcheon's subordinate who had been pressing him so fiercely moments ago.
"What?"
Ucheon's eyes bulged.
Kung!
The headless body collapsed like rotten timber. Behind it walked a man.
Blood dripped from his hand. From that, Ucheon could infer the man had decapitated the subordinate.
'Who the hell is that guy...'
Dressed in black from head to toe, with black hair soaked in blood and sweat. The man seemed obsessed with black.
The man swung his arm wide to shake off the blood. It looked utterly natural.
But his gait was off.
His left shoulder bobbed higher than the right. Because he limped on his left leg.
A nickname flashed in Ucheon's mind.
'Fist Demon!'
The world was full of warriors. Fights were commonplace, so many suffered grievous wounds. There were one-armed warriors and plenty of limping ones.
But none commanded the overwhelming presence and reputation of the Fist Demon. Especially those who had faced him once dreaded even uttering his name.
Ucheon was convinced the black-clad man was the Fist Demon. He had no doubt.
"Who are you? Kuheok!"
Kwang!
One of On Sangcheon's subordinates who boldly blocked the man's path flew back with his chest caved in.
Ucheon and the Shaolin disciples hadn't even seen how the man moved. One moment his figure blurred before their eyes, and the next, he was upon the subordinate with an explosion.
At the man's unbelievable prowess, Ucheon and the Shaolin disciples gaped.
Kwakwang!
"Kwaaak!"
"Bl-block him! Urk!"
The foes they had struggled against fell like scarecrows before the man.
The man was Damho.
Damho's face was more chilling than ever.
His eyes were deeply sunken, his lips pressed tight. No one could guess his thoughts.
He walked toward On Sangcheon.
Venerable Hyeon Gwang had reached his limit, breathing raggedly with a pallid face.
His arms and legs had stiffened like stone; he had no strength left to perform martial arts. He had already resolved himself to death.
But strangely, On Sangcheon no longer attacked him. His gaze was fixed elsewhere, not on Venerable Hyeon Gwang.
Tension radiated from On Sangcheon through the air.
"What?"
Venerable Hyeon Gwang's eyes followed On Sangcheon's gaze.
On Sangcheon watched Damho approach, dragging one leg, with a tense stare.
From the moment Damho entered his view, the surrounding air grew frigid. Conversely, On Sangcheon's nerves tautened like a drawn bowstring.
On Sangcheon glared at Damho, brow deeply furrowed. He opened his mouth to speak.
"Who are..."
Kwang!
In that instant, an explosion rang out, and On Sangcheon's body flew backward.