Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Part 6. When the Blood Star Shines, All Hold Their Breath (2)
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The one who had rolled across the floor and crashed into the wall was none other than Jang Hak-kyung.
Blood was streaming from Jang Hak-kyung's eyes, ears, and mouth.
“Guhhh!”
His lips twitched as if he were trying to say something. But instead of words, blood mixed with chunks of shattered organs poured out.
It had taken but a single blow.
With one punch that drew a straight line through the air, Damho had rendered Jang Hak-kyung utterly helpless.
Jang Hak-kyung's body had shattered just like a castle wall demolished by a battering ram.
“…….”
A suffocating silence descended upon the hall in that instant.
No one could have anticipated such a scene. No one had imagined that anyone would dare commit such a reckless act in front of all these witnesses.
Not even Jo Kyung-ui, and certainly not Yi Sin-pung, the master of Hongam Villa.
“Mad... mad bastard!”
The words slipped through Mo Jung-hyun's lips. They spoke for everyone's feelings.
Jo Kyung-ui pointed a finger at Damho.
“You... you?”
“Why?”
“Do you even realize what you've done? To commit murder in Hongam Villa, of all places.”
“So?”
“Can you bear the consequences?”
“Why should I worry about consequences?”
“Do you have no sense at all? You!”
“Me? I don't think about consequences. When it's time to kill, I think only of killing. How to do it most efficiently. How to do it fastest.”
Damho's chilling voice burrowed into the ears of everyone surrounding the hall. People shuddered at his whisper-like tone, as if he were murmuring right into their ears.
Damho's gaze turned toward Mo Jung-hyun.
“I'm going to smash every one of your lying teeth and rip out your tongue.”
“Don't talk nonsense.”
“Try stopping me if you can.”
Damho began walking toward Mo Jung-hyun.
Unlike before, his legs were limping slightly.
He stamped down on his right foot, then dragged his left forward.
Everyone saw it. But no one dared mock Damho. The scene he had just shown them was that shocking.
“Ugh! Stay back.”
Mo Jung-hyun thrashed in terror, retreating as Damho approached with his dragging leg. This was not the dignified figure who usually strutted as the head instructor of the Yunyang Martial Hall.
His face was contorted in fear, his body trembling uncontrollably. In his eyes, Damho was no longer human.
He bellowed at the warriors from Yunyang Martial Hall who had accompanied Jo Kyung-ui.
“B-block him! Block that bastard, I said!”
The Yunyang warriors glanced at Jo Kyung-ui.
Jo Kyung-ui's expression was fiercely distorted. He hadn't expected Damho to be this reckless.
Damho was far stronger and more merciless than he had thought.
Even now, Damho was advancing on Mo Jung-hyun. It was time to decide.
“Stop him!”
At Jo Kyung-ui's command, the Yunyang warriors charged at Damho. And Jo Kyung-ui moved as well.
Shing!
In his hand was the Blue Moon Sword, which Yi Sin-pung had wielded in his youth.
The treasured blade said to cut through anything and sever any life now flew toward Damho.
Gripping the Blue Moon Sword filled him with courage a hundredfold.
For a moment, he had been overwhelmed by Damho's presence, but Jo Kyung-ui trusted the sword in his hand and the martial arts he had honed for over a decade.
‘No need to fear. He's human, just like me.’
Swoosh!
The Blue Moon Sword aimed for Damho's throat.
Any thought of uncovering the truth had long vanished. In this moment, only one thing dominated his mind: he had to kill Damho.
The Yunyang warriors were attacking Damho.
The techniques that had built Yunyang Martial Hall's reputation today unfolded from their hands.
Whoosh!
Sword winds swept toward Damho.
They were flawless forms, ones they couldn't even perform properly during regular training. If it had been practice, he would have praised them lavishly.
But their opponent was Damho.
Boom!
The moment Damho's eyes flashed with ferocious light, a thunderous roar echoed. At the same time, the warriors attacking him exploded into chunks of flesh and gore, scattering in all directions.
Before anyone could grasp what had happened, Damho's hand shot out toward the Blue Moon Sword.
“You mad bastard!”
Jo Kyung-ui inwardly cheered as he poured internal energy into the Blue Moon Sword, intending to sever Damho's wrist clean off.
Clang!
But the Blue Moon Sword halted, blocked by Damho's hand.
The blade that severed anything now lay gripped in Damho's palm.
Using Unyielding Rock Shattering Technique, Damho's hand suffered no direct damage, but Jo Kyung-ui had no way of knowing that.
Jo Kyung-ui felt as if his heart might leap from his mouth.
“H-how...?”
Damho didn't answer. Instead, he swung his other hand, striking the flat of the Blue Moon Sword's blade.
It was Breaking Sound Palm.
Crack!
With a metallic screech, the Blue Moon Sword snapped in two. The broken blade fragment spun viciously into the air.
Jo Kyung-ui stared blankly at the sight. It was so shocking it didn't feel real.
Damho reached out. In his hand was now the severed blade fragment.
Thud!
Damho drove it straight into Jo Kyung-ui's forehead. Jo Kyung-ui's body toppled backward like a felled log.
“M-Master!”
Mo Jung-hyun screamed at the unbelievable scene.
In that instant, Damho leaped over Jo Kyung-ui's collapsing form and charged toward him.
His black robe billowing, disheveled black hair whipping about, pitch-black eyes gleaming through the strands.
If the Grim Reaper existed, it would look exactly like that.
“D-don't come closer!”
Mo Jung-hyun unleashed his martial art at Damho.
Iron Cannon Chain.
His unique life-saving ultimate technique, concentrating all his energy into a single strike like firing an iron cannonball.
Boom!
Damho's Breaking Sound Palm clashed with Iron Cannon Chain.
Crunch!
“Arghhh!”
In an instant, Mo Jung-hyun's right arm, struck by Damho's fist, shattered to pieces from the shoulder down.
Pain split Mo Jung-hyun's mouth wide. In that moment, Damho's fist slammed into it. All his teeth shattered at once.
Mo Jung-hyun's face was instantly drenched in blood. But the agony wasn't over.
Damho's rough hand forced its way past his lips and seized his tongue. Then yanked it out.
Rip!
Mo Jung-hyun couldn't even scream as he rolled across the floor. Blood erupted like a fountain from his mouth, where his tongue had been torn out by the root.
Curled up like a shrimp, Mo Jung-hyun trembled violently. Damho looked down at him impassively.
Damho's breathing hadn't quickened in the slightest. He embodied terror itself.
Mo Jung-hyun reached out, trying to grab Damho. But his hand flailed uselessly in the air before going limp and dropping to the floor.
“Guhhh!”
Mo Jung-hyun drew in one final, deep breath. It was the last act of his life.
Damho tossed the tongue he held onto the floor.
“Gasp!”
Suppressed groans erupted from all around.
Only then did Damho's earlier words come back to mind.
He had said he would smash every tooth and rip out the tongue. And just as Damho declared, Mo Jung-hyun had lost all his teeth and had his tongue pulled out before dying.
It had come to pass exactly as Damho said.
The chain of events had unfolded so swiftly that no one could react. Even Yi Sin-pung, the villa master of Hongam, was no exception.
Before he could decide on a stance, it was over, and Jo Kyung-ui—the man who had just received the Blue Moon Sword before his eyes—lay dead.
Naturally, Damho needed to be punished to uphold their dignity. But Yi Sin-pung couldn't step forward easily.
It was as if a massive beast loomed before him. Those jet-black eyes brimmed with killing intent, those white teeth sharp enough to tear out his throat.
Damho's pitch-black eyes fixed on Yi Sin-pung.
“Hmm!”
Yi Sin-pung grimaced.
His breath caught in his throat.
He was a seasoned wanderer of the jianghu his whole life, but he'd never seen eyes as murderous as Damho's.
It seemed as if a mere touch would send that ferocious beast lunging with bared fangs.
Damho stared straight at Yi Sin-pung. He had to respond somehow.
Collecting his thoughts, Yi Sin-pung finally spoke.
“To dare cause chaos in Hongam Villa... your gall must have swollen beyond measure.”
His voice carried a heavy weight.
It embodied his resolve as master of Hongam Villa not to lose face.
Any ordinary warrior would have quailed under Yi Sin-pung's pressure. But Damho was no ordinary warrior.
He met Yi Sin-pung's gaze without so much as a blink. Yi Sin-pung's expression twisted slightly.
“No matter the reason, committing murder in Hongam Villa is unforgivable. Submit quietly, and I promise a fair investigation.”
“A fair investigation...”
“I swear it on my name, Yi Sin-pung. No matter who you are or where you come from, you won't suffer any harm. I promise.”
Yi Sin-pung's words seemed eminently reasonable at first glance.
His standing in Gansu Province was immense, and with his guarantee, no one would easily object.
Yi Sin-pung believed Damho would accept. Though his martial prowess seemed formidable, the jianghu wasn't a world decided by strength alone.
Yi Sin-pung had hundreds of warriors in Hongam Villa, plus over a thousand more attending the sixtieth birthday banquet.
There was no reason to fear Damho. He thought Damho would heed him.
“Bullshit!”
But Damho's response shattered his expectations utterly.
“What?”
“Didn't hear? I said bullshit.”
“You insolent...!”
Rage flared on Yi Sin-pung's face.
Even he, hailed as a great hero, found it hard to tolerate Damho's words.
“You seem to strut on your paltry strength, but your arts won't work on me. Best submit quietly.”
Hongam Villa's warriors stepped up behind Yi Sin-pung.
Only thirty in number, they exuded a deadly aura. They were the Blood Flower Squad, directly under the villa master.
Tasked with pursuing to the ends of hell and punishing any who harmed Hongam Villa.
Their skills were exceptional, their loyalty to Yi Sin-pung unwavering. They looked ready to charge at Damho the instant he gave the order.
With the Blood Flower Squad at his back, a smug smile crept onto Yi Sin-pung's face.
He regarded Damho with hands clasped behind him.
“The choice is yours.”
“…….”
“But I hope you don't choose one you'll regret. This is sincere.”
“Today's your birthday, right?”
“What?”
“If you want to climb into your coffin on the day you were born, I'll make it happen.”
A deadly silence blanketed the hall in that instant.