Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Part 7. The Sandstorm Calls Blood (3)
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Every time footsteps echoed, the warriors who had been slaughtering the laborers flinched.
It was as if their hearts were reacting to the sound of those approaching steps.
Jo Hyeol-san's eyelids trembled faintly.
A man was emerging from the darkness.
Clad in pitch-black robes, he limped slightly on one leg as he approached.
All eyes locked onto the man. His overwhelming presence, dominating the area, made it impossible to look away.
Drip.
Cold sweat trickled down the warriors' backs, but they were too tense to even notice.
Behind the man, a blood clot was visible. It was the warrior who had been about to kill Geum So-hye and her daughter. His upper body was mangled beyond recognition.
No one knew how the warrior had died. They had only heard a thunderous crack before seeing his corpse turned into a blood clot.
The only thing they could guess was that this limping man had killed him. They didn't know the method, but the blood staining his right hand proved it.
Everyone froze. Not just the Western Heaven Manor warriors, but Shim Ok and the Golden Horse Ranch retainers as well.
At that moment, someone leaped out from behind the limping man and rushed toward Geum So-hye and her daughter.
"Are you okay?"
The one embracing and soothing Geum So-hye was Bang Jin-bo. Her face, which had been blankly alternating between the limping man and Bang Jin-bo, lit up with relief.
"Waaah! Brother!"
Geum So-hye's wail echoed through the ranch.
The suffocating atmosphere that had gripped the area eased slightly. Only then did the warriors exhale ragged breaths. Jo Hyeol-san was no exception.
Jo Hyeol-san took a deep breath and stepped forward. Tension filled his face.
"I didn't realize there was someone here. If it wouldn't be rude, might I know your esteemed name?"
"……."
The man in black robes, Dam Ho, turned his gaze toward Jo Hyeol-san.
His tightly pressed lips, eyes sunken so deep they blended with the darkness, and the heavy shadows across his face made his impression even more intense.
Jo Hyeol-san was overwhelmed by Dam Ho's aura. Before those fierce eyes flickering in the dark, he felt an illusion as if his body was being torn apart.
'What kind of gaze is that…….'
Dam Ho stared at Jo Hyeol-san without a word. Jo Hyeol-san's lips twitched dryly. He desperately wanted to escape this silence.
'Please, say something, anything.'
As if his earnest wish was granted, Dam Ho finally spoke.
"Who are you people?"
"We are warriors of Western Heaven Manor."
Jo Hyeol-san answered hastily.
He desperately hoped Dam Ho knew of Western Heaven Manor. Only then could he buy some time.
Dam Ho tilted his head. At that sight, Jo Hyeol-san's heart sank.
Jo Hyeol-san was a strong man.
He wasn't the type to be overwhelmed by mere presence and break out in cold sweat. If he were, he couldn't have become Yin Ha-seong's confidant and led Western Heaven Manor.
But now, Jo Hyeol-san was genuinely afraid of Dam Ho.
Dam Ho had an aura unlike any other warrior. A beastly intimidation that crushed opponents and a raw killing intent that gnawed at the soul.
No warrior Jo Hyeol-san had ever seen could shake a person's soul from its roots like Dam Ho did.
Jo Hyeol-san knew instinctively.
'I must not make an enemy of this man.'
He was someone whose repercussions would never end if crossed.
Jo Hyeol-san hurriedly continued.
"We came to capture that woman. We'll just take her and go."
Dam Ho's gaze shifted to Shim Ok.
Shim Ok was covered in blood. She looked at Dam Ho with weary eyes.
Dam Ho recalled having seen her once before. But Shim Ok, in her disoriented state, didn't recognize his face.
Then Jo Hyeol-san spoke again.
"She trespassed into our manor and committed a grave crime. Let us take her, and we'll leave peacefully."
"As you please?"
"What do you mean?"
"You barge in, kill all these people, and now want to leave as you please?"
His voice was rough and deep, echoing like it came from the depths of hell's abyss.
The raw killing intent in that voice squeezed everyone's souls.
"Ugh!"
Some warriors groaned in agony. The laborers had long since lost their wits. Some had soiled themselves.
They knew Dam Ho wasn't ordinary, but the aura and sight he displayed now far exceeded their imaginations.
Jo Hyeol-san bit his lip.
"Urgh! You reject the favor and choose punishment? You'll regret it."
"Is that so?"
"We are warriors of Western Heaven Manor."
"Is Western Heaven Manor that impressive?"
"Now I see you're mad. To dare disregard Western Heaven Manor."
Finally unable to endure, Jo Hyeol-san bellowed.
It was true he'd been overwhelmed by Dam Ho's presence, but he judged that continuing to yield would lead to ruin.
"If you interfere further, we won't let it slide. This is your last warning."
In that instant, Dam Ho's eyes flickered menacingly in the darkness.
"Warnings are what the strong give the weak. But you don't look that strong."
"Urgh! Attack! Kill him!"
Jo Hyeol-san shouted hysterically.
At his command, the warriors charged at Dam Ho in unison.
Desperation was etched on their faces. They knew if they failed to deal with Dam Ho now, there would be no tomorrow.
Dozens of warriors rushed toward Dam Ho.
The murderous weapons in their hands. Their eyes stabbed at him like daggers.
Yet Dam Ho hadn't moved until then.
"Be careful."
Shim Ok's voice rang out.
In that moment, Dam Ho stomped the ground.
Boom!
Thunder roared, and someone who had been alive moments ago turned into a blood clot and flew backward.
Not even a scream.
People learned for the first time how futile human death could be.
"What?"
Jo Hyeol-san's eyes widened.
He stomped with his limping left leg. In an instant, Dam Ho's body became a line slicing through the air.
Then the explosive boom followed.
Kwang!
Another death followed.
The warrior rolling on the ground as a blood clot was someone Jo Hyeol-san knew well.
Gong Dal-cheon, known for his smiling face, was now a corpse tumbling across the dirt. The last expression on Gong Dal-cheon's face was fear and bewilderment.
Chung-bo followed by Pa-seong-chu.
A straight-line technique charging forward relentlessly.
The punch was crude, the footwork even simpler. Yet no one could dodge Dam Ho's strike.
Boom!
After the roar, silence from another victim.
Death came to them without warning.
"This can't be. How is that possible?"
Jo Hyeol-san's teeth chattered.
The warriors he brought were the elite of Western Heaven Manor. They weren't weak enough to fall to such simple punches.
From afar like Jo Hyeol-san, it seemed strange that Western Heaven Manor's warriors couldn't dodge Dam Ho's attacks.
But the pressure and terror felt by those facing Dam Ho directly surpassed imagination.
It was like being trapped in a vast swamp, their bodies powerless. Their feet felt shackled with a thousand pounds, their bodies refusing to move as willed.
Dam Ho drew a single line, shortening space in one step.
No time to dodge or block.
Dam Ho's charge exceeded their sensory limits. By the time they perceived it, Pa-seong-chu had already smashed into them.
Kwang!
"Argh!"
The impact felt like a massive boulder crushing their entire body, drawing a wretched scream from the warrior.
At least he screamed; others couldn't even manage that.
Boom boom boom!
Explosions burst like fireworks, blood clots scattering everywhere. The storm of death swept through Western Heaven Manor's warriors in an instant.
"Ugh!"
Jo Hyeol-san's pupils shook.
Unconcealed terror filled his eyes.
Finally, Dam Ho's mad charge halted. No one had stopped him. He stopped himself because there were no more to kill.
Dam Ho's body was drenched in blood. He had bathed in the blood of those he slew.
Shim Ok turned her head, unable to watch the scene.
"Mad……."
That was her honest feeling.
Her stomach churned suddenly. Unable to hold back, Shim Ok bent over toward the ground.
"Urk!"
With nothing in her stomach, she heaved up everything inside. She couldn't bear it otherwise.
What Dam Ho had just shown was more shocking than anything she'd seen in her life.
"How can a human kill another human so easily?"
Dam Ho didn't seem like a warrior to her.
In her eyes, he was a human butcher. A seasoned expert who achieved maximum efficiency with minimal force.
Dam Ho's gaze turned to Jo Hyeol-san.
Among those who invaded Golden Horse Ranch, only he and Shim Ok remained alive.
"Urgh!"
Terrified by Dam Ho's eyes, Jo Hyeol-san unwittingly stepped back. But the distance didn't widen. Dam Ho was approaching him.
When killing the warriors, Dam Ho had been like a gale. But now he limped forward.
Normally, Jo Hyeol-san would have mocked the limp. But he couldn't. That sight terrified him more.
"D-don't come closer."
Jo Hyeol-san's voice trembled involuntarily. But it didn't stop Dam Ho's steps.
"I-I'm Western Heaven Manor's chief steward. Touch me, and Western Heaven Manor won't forgive you."
"Is Western Heaven Manor that great?"
"Yes. Western Heaven Manor is the true hegemon of Shin-gang. And do you know that's not all? Its power reaches the Central Plains. Cross Western Heaven Manor, and you can't live peacefully even in the Central Plains."
"Is that so?"
"Yes! If you understand now, let me go. We won't hold you accountable."
Seeing his words seem to work, hope flickered on Jo Hyeol-san's face.
At that moment, Shim Ok shouted.
"You absolutely cannot let him go. Western Heaven Manor kidnaps merchants crossing the plains and forces them into labor."
"That wench……."
Jo Hyeol-san glared at Shim Ok, who was ruining his near-success. But she continued undeterred.
"It's true. Even now, countless people are being held and forced to work. I saw it with my own eyes at the Tianshan Punishment Pole."
She screamed at the top of her lungs.
The first to react was Bang Jin-bo.
"No way……."
Bang Jin-bo's shoulders heaved.
He had always questioned his father's death. Instinctively, he realized Western Heaven Manor was connected to it.
Dam Ho felt the same.
Dam Ho's eyes began to flicker ominously.
"It was you."
That single phrase froze Jo Hyeol-san's heart.