Chapter 138
Chapter 138
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 138
Chapter Title: Trampling (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"A demon, huh. A real demon. Heh heh heh!"
A diminutive old man, barely five feet tall with stubby limbs and a full head of white hair, cackled as he stared at the blood-soaked lake.
"A demon, you say?"
A calm voice followed from behind.
"Demon it is. What else would you call it? We fight with martial arts, but those things fight with sheer malice. Doesn't matter if they're weak—they charge in without a shred of fear."
"Are the blood fiends beyond control?"
"Once they're like that, even gods steer clear. That lake's already hell. Best to write them off. Heh heh!"
The little old man laughed again, eyes fixed on the crimson lake.
The once-blue waters had turned blood red in an instant, like someone had dumped buckets of paint into it.
The barrier blocking the lake vanished.
Countless boats sank without warning, their passengers torn apart by the asura blood fiends that never should have surfaced.
The encirclement was shattered.
No—wait. Only a single small boat had broken through and fled.
The blue water turning red meant the entire lake had become a brutal slaughterhouse. In other words, the lake was now an even more impenetrable net.
No one could escape toward the lake now.
The little old man raised a hand to tousle his snowy white hair and spoke.
"You can't let scum like that live long. They'll bite you in the front or the back eventually. Hey, Bukmyeong. Better finish that one off now."
"Have the Man-Slaying Spiders taken position?"
"They've already spun their webs. No escaping that."
"What about the demon? Demons bring too many variables..."
"Heh heh! Variables or typhoons, doesn't matter—if it's impossible, it's impossible. Unless it's not human, but as long as blood flows in its veins... Heh heh! Just two options: become spider chow or starve to death. But was all this hassle really necessary?"
Sima Hong the Poison Lord scratched his head.
His hands were stained black as ink. His left hand was flesh-toned, but the right was pitch black.
Smirk!
The man called Bukmyeong twisted his lips into a grin. After a brief pause, he spoke.
"Our opponent's Namso. I don't think... even Namso can break this encirclement."
"Even if it were a god instead of Namso, the spiders wouldn't let it through."
"We'll see. In the end, it'll be Sword Sage and Dao Sage who catch Namso. Traps won't..."
Bukmyeong shook his head side to side.
Splash!
A head broke the surface of the water.
The head grew larger. A neck emerged, then a chest... until the upper body was fully revealed.
"Hmph! That's him, alright."
"..."
Zhuge Soso responded to Zhuge Myeong's words with a sly smile.
The man who had suddenly surfaced from the lake was Four Thousand Four.
Four Thousand Four slowly waded toward the shore, eyes on the Zhuge clan warriors.
Splash! Splash!
Each step sent waves crashing violently.
Zhuge Soso smiled faintly at Four Thousand Four, then turned her gaze to the forest ahead.
"The Poison Lord's here, right?"
"Seems like it."
"Then going in there means death."
"If it's poisoned, why not just burn the whole forest down?"
Mian Xiaosaal had sidled up beside her at some point and chimed in.
Mian Xiaosaal kept a careful distance from Zhuge Soso. She planned to stand by with arms crossed until Zhuge Soso begged for help—until her own position was secure.
After all, she was the only one here who could lend a hand.
But then Four Thousand Four showed up.
Another hand to aid Zhuge Soso.
No idea why a Heavenly Annihilation Division assassin would help her or what was going through his head... but it was clear he'd appeared to assist Zhuge Soso.
And Four Thousand Four had the ability to do so.
No clue how a mere Division assassin had mastered Shadowless Steps, but with that technique, he could certainly protect her. In fact, he'd already held the upper hand against the ghostly assassins.
By Mian Xiaosaal's judgment, Bukmyeong's encirclement still held the advantage.
Sword Sage and Dao Sage were tricky enough, but if the Poison Lord lurking unseen in the forest emerged... even breathing would be a luxury. The ground itself would become treacherous.
Of course, even the great Mian Xiaosaal had no sharp solution in this mess. But she could block the strongest pillars of the encirclement: Sword Sage and Dao Sage.
Zhuge Soso had no choice but to ask for her help.
But now Four Thousand Four was here... another force to hold off Sword Sage and Dao Sage.
Zhuge Soso beamed at Mian Xiaosaal as if their spat had never happened.
"Fire counters poison perfectly. It's the only way to fight the Poison Lord. But fire doesn't go out easily. If we set the forest ablaze now..."
She pointed at the lake.
"...we'd end up just like that."
"Hmph!"
Mian Xiaosaal grunted.
Bukmyeong had blocked the lake with boats. Now asura blood fiends held the line.
Boats or fiends... escape was impossible either way. If anything, the fiends made it a far deadlier barrier.
The forest was the same.
It was filled with poison now. But set it alight, and it would become an unquenchable sea of flames.
A far stronger defensive line than mere poison.
Zhuge Myeong spoke up.
"No idea what you're planning, but you'd better decide fast."
"Beats me. I can't figure a way out either. Doesn't look like there's any path, no matter how I look."
"This isn't the time for games."
"Not joking."
"What?!"
"There's really nowhere to go."
Zhuge Soso stated it flatly.
She showed no tension, even as she declared there was no escape.
"Fine, then. We'll have to break through them."
Zhuge Myeong glared at Sword Sage and Dao Sage as he said it.
Four Thousand Four stripped off his wet upper garment and wrung it out with all his might.
Whoosh!
Water poured from it like a stream.
He shook out the damp clothes and slipped them back on.
He took his time. He ignored the stares from the Zhuge clan.
Dressed, he cinched his belt, sheathed his sword at his waist. Then he paced the lakeshore, picking up small stones like he was foraging.
Straightening up, he gazed across the lake.
A single small boat vanished into the distance.
The lake had become a graveyard of large boats—some already sunk, others still going down.
The people on board flailed helplessly.
They couldn't jump ship, nor stay aboard the sinking wrecks.
Aaagh! Kraaaagh!
Harrowing screams echoed endlessly.
The instant water touched flesh, death followed. Chunks of meat sliced off like coins.
Terror-stricken souls took their own lives.
The graveyard of great ships brought unavoidable death.
Meanwhile, that one small boat glided leisurely away from the slaughter.
It had escaped the asura blood fiends.
'Fox of Bireung Mountain... heh heh.'
Four Thousand Four thought of Fox and grinned.
Fox was a walking encyclopedia of trivia. No telling his sect or how he knew east-west ancient lore, but he seemed to know everything under the sun.
Fox knew about asura blood fiends.
Vanguard, Jaja, and Hanbi didn't—but he did.
So he surely knew how to escape them.
The prediction held true. Fox was smoothly shaking off the blood fiends and sailing away.
"The world's full of mysterious folks."
Four Thousand Four muttered to himself.
No worries behind him now. No one to fret over.
He turned and eyed the forest.
'Alright, time to go!'
"That bastard!"
Zhuge Myeong's eyes bulged.
Four Thousand Four headed straight for the forest.
Did he not know it was laced with poison? Had he forgotten it was the Poison Lord's domain?
He didn't even nod to the Zhuge folk. Zhuge Myeong, Zhuge Soso, and Mian Xiaosaal stood by the shore—he ignored them completely.
Once his wet clothes were neatly on, he marched silently toward the woods.
No invitation to follow. He acted like total strangers.
In his right hand, a small stone.
He toyed with it—tossing it into the air, catching it, tossing again.
Crunch! Crunch!
He trudged toward the forest.
So rude. So arrogant. So brazen.
But Zhuge Soso's reaction was different. Whatever Four Thousand Four did, she didn't care.
She spoke at once.
"Form the Barrier Formation and follow."
"Into the forest?"
"He chose the forest."
"Wh-what?! So you're just gonna trail after that guy..."
"Trust and follow. But keep defenses ironclad. That's why I said form the Barrier Formation. Slack off even a little, and disaster strikes."
"Don't worry about that."
"Young lord, cover the rear. The Lost Mansion Guests will tail us."
"Those guys are Lost Mansion Guests?"
Mian Xiaosaal gaped at the ghostly assassins in surprise.
"Has to be. Humans who feel no pain even with flesh torn or limbs severed? Nothing else fits."
"Hmph."
"Lost Mansion Guests don't fear poison. The Poison Lord bred them—he might even love the stuff. Our guy's busy breaking ahead, so watch the back."
"So we're making up?"
"No. Just helping each other for now."
"Stubborn as ever."
Mian Xiaosaal chuckled and spun her sword in gleaming arcs.
"Hah! Those fools..."
Sima Hong the Poison Lord let out a disbelieving scoff.
Four Thousand Four was marching into a forest crawling with Man-Slaying Spiders... death's venomous arachnids.
"Man-Slaying Spider" didn't mean they only killed humans. It meant spiders capable of killing people.
Strictly speaking, they devoured any creature with blood and flesh.
Elephants, tigers, bears... anything living was prey.
Man-Slaying Spiders didn't spin webs.
They lurked motionless atop trees until prey passed below, then slid down a thread and plunged their dangling mouthparts into the body. They injected venom.
Not instantly lethal—it was paralyzing toxin that numbed every nerve. The flesh it touched liquified, earning it the name "Melting Poison."
They suckled the dissolved meat until their bellies swelled.
Day after day, two days, three... devouring every scrap while the prey lived.
To Man-Slaying Spiders, humans were just another meal.
"Chose the forest as an escape route, eh? Still think they can't get out?"
Bukmyeong asked in a steady voice.
"No way out."
Sima Hong declared confidently.
"But why pick the forest? They unaware of the spiders?"
"They're suicidal."
The Poison Lord grunted curtly.
They didn't know about the spiders. But they knew the forest was his domain. Even without spiders, they knew deadly poisons blanketed it.
They were walking into a poison thicket knowingly.
To the Poison Lord, it felt utterly baffling. Like they were mocking him. As if to say, "Let's see how potent your poisons really are."
Bukmyeong spoke.
"Go ahead and slaughter away. Kill Ban lifted—as of now."
"Heh heh heh heh heh!"
Sima Hong the Poison Lord was already cackling before the words finished.