Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Blood Star Descends on Xinjiang (1)
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Hundreds of martial artists were galloping on horseback.
They were heavily armed with swords, sabers, and spears. Leading them was a warrior holding a massive triangular flag emblazoned with the bold characters for "Bloodscale Ronins."
At their forefront rode a man in his mid-to-late forties, radiating a fearsome aura. His thick, caterpillar-like eyebrows, square jaw, and intensely gleaming eyes were particularly striking.
He was Shim Su-myeong, the chief of the Bloodscale Ronins.
His moniker was Bloodscale Ghost Blade.
The very name of the Bloodscale Ronins derived from his title, a testament to his overwhelming presence.
Riding beside Shim Su-myeong was a beautiful young woman. It was Shim Ok.
"Daddy."
She glanced at him briefly.
Meeting Shim Su-myeong had been a stroke of pure luck for her. When contact with Shim Ok and Heuk No was lost, Shim Su-myeong had immediately launched a search and found her at the horse ranch.
Shim Ok had recounted in detail everything that happened at the West Heaven Ranch. Hearing her story, Shim Su-myeong flew into a rage.
"To dare commit such atrocities in Xinjiang Province."
Shim Su-myeong had immediately mustered his full forces and headed straight for the West Heaven Ranch.
It was already a thorn in his side, something he had always planned to deal with eventually. There was no hesitation in his decision.
In fact, he thought it was for the best. Crushing the West Heaven Ranch would allow him to claim supremacy over Xinjiang.
In the distance, the West Heaven Ranch came into view.
Shim Su-myeong drew the saber from his waist and shouted.
"The enemy stronghold! Charge in at full speed and overwhelm them!"
"Yes, sir!"
Clang!
With their response, the Bloodscale Ronins drew their weapons in unison.
The horses they rode accelerated.
The man-horse unity charge was the hallmark of the Bloodscale Ronins. They thundered forward, ready to smash through anything in their path.
But contrary to their expectations, they passed through the West Heaven Ranch's main gate far too easily. No one stood in their way.
The moment they entered the grounds, shock etched itself across Shim Su-myeong's face and those of the Bloodscale Ronins.
"Gasp!"
"What is this?"
Groans escaped the ronins' lips. The scene before them was that shocking.
A living hellscape unfolded in front of their eyes.
Corpses with limbs twisted grotesquely in death. Faces caved in beyond recognition. Some had their entire upper bodies torn away, while others lay with every bone in their bodies shattered, their forms slumped like octopuses.
The blood they had spilled formed streams. The stench was so overpowering that merely inhaling it made their heads spin.
The Bloodscale Ronins were veterans who had seen it all. Yet not a single one among them—not even their chief, Shim Su-myeong—had ever witnessed such a hellish sight firsthand.
"What in the world..."
Shim Su-myeong's eyelids trembled.
Alongside the Bloodscale Ronins, the West Heaven Ranch had claimed to be Xinjiang's overlord. Even Shim Su-myeong had needed to prepare meticulously to take it down.
A stronghold that powerful had been reduced to ruins. Nothing but death filled the view.
It was then.
"That's the man. That man..."
Shim Ok muttered blankly.
No one had told her the truth, but a woman's intuition told her who had perpetrated this massacre.
Shim Su-myeong looked puzzled.
"What man?"
"There's a survivor here."
A subordinate's voice drew Shim Su-myeong's attention at that moment. He hurriedly turned toward the sound.
"Urgh!"
Shim Su-myeong's eyes shook.
He had spent his life amid slaughterhouses. Yet even he had never seen such a horrific sight.
A man was pinned against the wall. His limbs were mangled beyond repair, his chest caved in. Shattered ribs protruded through his flesh, a gruesome spectacle.
Even more terrifying was that the man was still alive despite such wounds. The Bloodscale Ronins gazed at him with eyes full of dread.
"Huurgh!"
A grotesque breath rattled from the man's bloodied mouth. It was so faint it could cut off at any moment.
Shim Su-myeong knelt on one knee before the man.
"Who are you? What in the world happened here?"
Reacting to his voice, the man barely opened his eyes and looked at Shim Su-myeong. A faint smile crept across his lips.
"Huuugh! Shim... Su-myeong, the chief of the... Bloodscale Ronins."
"You know me?"
"How could I... not. Even I am the deputy chief of... Blood... Killing Wind."
"Blood Killing Wind's deputy chief? So Blood Killing Wind was indeed the West Heaven Ranch's creation."
Shim Su-myeong's expression hardened completely.
He had suspected as much, but hearing it confirmed hit him like a thunderbolt.
"What happened here?"
"Heh heh! The devil came."
"The devil?"
"Yes! He's a devil... a devil in human form."
The body of Blood Killing Wind's deputy chief, Sa Pyeong-gang, shuddered. Just recalling the figure made his flesh react on its own.
"We were all slaughtered by him. The West Heaven Ranch warriors, Blood Killing Wind... everyone."
"A devil?"
"Huuuh! You'll see when you meet him. That bastard... Kugh!"
Terror contorted his face at the mere thought.
Tears streamed from Sa Pyeong-gang's eyes. Mixed with blood from his torn wounds, they looked like bloody tears.
Suddenly, Sa Pyeong-gang convulsed, foam bubbling from his mouth. But the fit was brief; soon, his body went still. He was dead.
"Urgh!"
Faced with Sa Pyeong-gang's death, Shim Su-myeong was at a loss for words.
Silence descended on the shoulders of the Bloodscale Ronins.
Blood Killing Wind had once dominated the desert with terror. For its deputy chief to die seizing up in fear...
Shim Su-myeong rose and turned to his men. Countless eyes stared back at him.
They had charged into the West Heaven Ranch with bravado. But now, not a trace of that boldness remained in their gazes.
The aura of death permeating the ranch had cowed them.
"This isn't good."
Shim Su-myeong gritted his teeth.
The morale had plummeted to rock bottom—something impossible for the Bloodscale Ronins' forces. Yet the ranch's deadly atmosphere was overwhelming the ronins.
He couldn't retreat now.
"To the Blood Demon Cavern."
"Daddy?"
"I need to see for myself. Everyone, move out."
"Yes!"
The Bloodscale Ronins' responses lacked spirit. Shim Su-myeong had no choice but to accept it.
'I'll cut off Galaxy Star's head myself. Only then can I save some face.'
He didn't know who had devastated the West Heaven Ranch, but Shim Su-myeong trusted his own martial prowess.
The title Bloodscale Ghost Blade wasn't won lightly. It was a gleaming trophy forged in hundreds of desperate life-and-death battles—the history of his struggles etched into the name.
"Let's go!"
Shim Su-myeong unleashed his lightness skill toward Buck Moon Peak.
Shim Ok and the ronins followed behind.
"Urgh!"
An involuntary groan escaped Shim Ok's lips. Even on the path up to Buck Moon Peak, corpses littered the way, each one horrifically mangled.
'It's that man. It has to be him.'
The man she had encountered at the horse ranch when trying to steal a horse. He had slapped her, breaking her teeth.
Even now, thinking of him made her legs tremble and her whole body shake.
Shim Ok shuddered violently. She tried desperately to shake off the fear.
'I'm not alone now. Daddy's here, and the Bloodscale Ronins' warriors too. No need to fear him. I did wrong, but it was all for the greater good.'
Shim Ok rationalized it to herself. Her mind eased a little.
She followed Shim Su-myeong with lightness skill up the treacherous Buck Moon Peak. Having been there once before, it was familiar.
Shim Ok pointed in one direction.
"That way. We're almost there."
"Urgh!"
Shim Su-myeong nodded and picked up speed.
In the distance loomed a massive cave mouth. The Blood Demon Cavern.
"We don't know what dangers lurk. Everyone, stay alert."
"Yes!"
"Ok, stick close behind me."
"Got it."
Shim Ok pressed tight against Shim Su-myeong's back.
His broad back, which she had always found so reassuring, seemed oddly narrow today—like a shield that had protected her from every peril.
'It's nothing. Just my imagination.'
It was then, as Shim Ok shook her head.
Boom!
A powerful vibration suddenly rumbled through the entire cave.
Doubt flickered across their faces. Then the cave shook again with intense force.
Shim Su-myeong's eyes turned icy.
A chill crept over his skin. He knew it wasn't just the cold draft from the deep underground.
'Such an aura.'
A mighty energy he had never felt before stimulated his senses.
As Shim Su-myeong unconsciously gripped the hilt of his Bloodscale Saber—
Kwaaang!
A deafening roar erupted, and the cave wall before them exploded. Something crashed at his feet. It was unmistakably a person, curled up like a shrimp.
"Kugh!"
The figure writhed briefly before letting out a pained groan and propping up its upper body.
Shim Su-myeong was stunned at the sight of the middle-aged man using his saber—glowing with eerie light—as a crutch to rise.
"Galaxy Star."
It was unmistakably Eun Ha-seong, the master of the West Heaven Ranch. But Eun Ha-seong seemed unaware of Shim Su-myeong and the ronins, glaring ferociously ahead with murderous eyes.
'What?'
Shim Su-myeong forgot even that he was facing an enemy and followed Eun Ha-seong's gaze.
Drag! Thud! Drag! Thud!
Uneven footsteps echoed.
Shim Su-myeong's face paled. His subordinates and Shim Ok felt nothing, but he sensed the immense power carried in those steps.
Eun Ha-seong ground his teeth and rose.
"You bastard!"
At that moment, the figure emerged from the darkness.
He stepped forward with his right foot, dragging the left. His shoulders swayed slightly with each movement.
'A limp?'
A black-haired man approached, his pitch-black leather robe billowing. Through his wild, disheveled black hair, bottomless pit-like eyes glinted momentarily.
"Kugh!"
The instant he saw the man, Shim Su-myeong drew his Bloodscale Saber without thinking. His body had sensed the danger before his mind.
But the man paid Shim Su-myeong no attention. His gaze was fixed solely on one person: Eun Ha-seong.
"Ahh!"
Confirming his identity, Shim Ok let out a scream-like gasp without realizing it.
The man approaching Eun Ha-seong was none other than Danho.
Eun Ha-seong aimed his demon sword at Danho and raised his voice.
"Did we have a grudge?"
His words echoed through the Blood Demon Cavern.
Eun Ha-seong's eyes were bloodshot red, and his arms gripping the sword were swollen thick.
It had been just one strike.
He had taken a single punch from Danho, and it felt like his entire body was disintegrating in agony. If not for the demon sword, he would have lost his life on that first blow.
Ziiing!
The demon sword, which had clashed with Danho's fist, emitted a harsh ring, as if in pain.
Danho's eyes grew heavier.
"No grudge."
"Then why?"
"Because you touched me first."
"For something so trivial?"
Eun Ha-seong's face twisted like a demon's.
He had known operating Blood Killing Wind and Blood Wolf Squad would cause trouble someday, but he never imagined someone like Danho would get involved.
"Is there no room for negotiation?"
"Did you leave any for others?"
"Kugh!"
Eun Ha-seong clenched his teeth.
He realized there was no negotiating with the demon-like man before him.
"So it ends only when one of us dies."
"That's the way of the jianghu."
"Fine. This Eun Ha-seong stakes everything on this fight."
Eun Ha-seong summoned his full power. The immense inner energy left by the Blood Demon coursed through him, making the demon sword radiate even more baleful light.
"Chaaat!"
Eun Ha-seong charged at Danho.
The powerful saber energy from the demon sword cleaved the air of the Blood Demon Cavern. Danho still hadn't moved.
"Ah!"
Those watching gasped in shock.
In that instant, Danho's right foot slammed fiercely into the ground.
Kuwang!
A thunderous boom spread through the air, reverberating in the cavern. The sound amplified several times upon hitting the walls, piercing their eardrums.
"Kugh!"
Rough groans escaped their lips. The intense sonic waves transmitted straight to their brains shook their insides, paralyzing them.
Their stomachs churned, and objects doubled or tripled in their vision. But as masters with strong inner energy, they quickly recovered.
And then, an unbelievable sight unfolded before their eyes.