Chapter 201
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 201
Chapter Title: The Dead (1)
No matter how much she wrung her body dry, she had no strength left to move. Even her iron will had been exhausted.
“Haa!”
All her emotions exploded in a single breath.
Swoosh! Ssshh! Ssssh!
The wolves of the Blue Wolf Sect began to reveal themselves, one by one, two by two.
“So this is as far as you got.”
A cruel voice struck her ears.
The Blue Wolf Sect Leader, the Wolf-Fang Blade Rogue, had appeared.
“Hoo!”
Jaja glared at him and let out another deep breath.
The intelligence had been gravely mistaken.
The Blue Wolf Sect was a small fringe faction. So insignificant that its name wasn't even known. It had few disciples—maybe thirty at most. Holed up in the mountains, it was more like a band of brigands than a proper sect. They just didn't stoop to outright robbery.
Assassinating the Blue Wolf Sect Leader shouldn't have even registered as a job.
Yet here she was, suffering utter humiliation.
The entire Squad Ninety-Seven had been wiped out. The assassination of the Blue Wolf Sect Leader had failed, and she—the squad leader—was covered in blood, facing down his Wolf-Fang Blade.
What had gone wrong?
The biggest error was failing to properly gauge the Blue Wolf Sect Leader's martial prowess.
He was an extraordinary master.
Even she, a top-tier fighter from the Martial Camp, was reduced to flailing at empty air.
How could someone this strong remain unknown in the martial world?
“Pretty for an assassin. If you loosen your own skirt ties, I might even let you live.”
The Blue Wolf Sect Leader said with a sinister chuckle.
One might expect some dignity from a sect leader, but he had none of that.
“Pft!”
Jaja let out a scoff.
“Laughing? But... why does that laugh grate on me so?”
The Blue Wolf Sect Leader said, licking his jagged, saw-like greatsword.
“I knew I'd die on the road someday... but I didn't expect it to be at the hands of a dog like you. I didn't train until my hands blistered just to die to scum like you.”
“Dog? Haha! I like that, I like it. Hey! Loosen those skirt ties. I'll make you my concubine.”
Crude words beyond vulgarity!
She was so furious she wanted to charge right then. Rip that tongue right out. But in that rage, swinging her sword wildly... she'd end up drenched in her own blood.
It had just happened moments ago.
She'd fallen for his provocation tactic and lunged fiercely, only to take three blade strikes in return.
Flesh had been torn from her side.
The Wolf-Fang Blade wasn't a slicing sword. It was a blade that gouged out chunks of flesh. When it hit, it didn't just cut cleanly—it ripped away great gobs of meat, like being slashed by a rust-covered knife.
Jaja hadn't even seen the Blue Wolf Sect Leader move.
She hadn't properly seen him wield the blade, yet chunks of her flesh had been neatly carved away.
‘Hoo!’
Jaja let his filthy talk slide past her ears as she mustered the last thread of her depleted energy.
‘I can manage one final technique.’
She felt not fear, but relief.
It was finally ending. She was finally escaping the clutches of the Heavenly Annihilation Division. No need to worry about anything anymore. Missions, orders... it was truly over.
“Here I come!”
Kraaaah!
Jaja bellowed with all her might.
Not to warn the Blue Wolf Sect Leader. Not to avoid accusations of a cowardly sneak attack. She screamed to rally herself.
In that instant, the Blue Wolf Sect Leader vanished from her sight.
‘What!’
Jaja lost her bearings. Her target was gone.
Thud!
Suddenly, agony exploded in her back, like being cleaved by an axe.
The final pain in this life.
“Thanks.”
“What good's a corpse to me?”
“I have a hobby of collecting bodies.”
“Collecting bodies? What kind of nonsense is that?”
“Anyway, thanks. I owe you.”
“Kekeke! Nothing's free in this world. Don't think you can brush me off with words. Even if it's just a corpse, payment is due. I'm not claiming it now. But someday, I'll collect in full.”
“Sure.”
The Blue Wolf Sect Leader and Zhuge Soso exchanged words. Then, he handed over Jaja's corpse, already showing the first signs of mottling.
“What'll you do with the body?”
“I have a hobby of collecting them.”
“You're twisted.”
“I think I can revive her.”
“Revive? Hohoho! Impossible. The Blue Wolf Sect Leader's Wolf-Fang Blade is infamous for never leaving enemies alive.”
“Is that so?”
“I checked the body on the way here, thinking maybe. No way. She's dead.”
“Heh!”
Four Thousand Four chuckled.
Tracking the movements of the Assassin Squad was easy. Especially for someone who used to be one of their assassins.
Four Thousand Four knew the Assassin Squad's secret codes.
In inns, taverns, restaurants, blacksmiths... he could read the codes scrawled everywhere.
That's how he learned Squad Ninety-Seven was mobilizing.
He'd picked up the same intel from another source. Ironically, from Zhuge Soso, who was at odds with the Heavenly Annihilation Division.
“Jaja's targeting the Blue Wolf Sect Leader.”
“Blue Wolf Sect Leader? First I've heard... should be easy.”
“Doubt it. More like the opposite. Even Jaja might struggle this time.”
That's when Four Thousand Four realized who the Blue Wolf Sect Leader was.
Blue Wolf Sect Leader... target of Squad Ninety-Seven... leader of an obscure fringe sect whose name was unknown.
Why would the Heavenly Annihilation Division assign assassins to someone like that?
They never gave the Assassin Squad easy missions. Only impossible ones that required every member to risk their lives.
So killing a fringe sect leader must be nearly impossible. And it meant the Blue Wolf Sect Leader was worth far more than imagined.
Indeed. The Blue Wolf Sect was one of the Three Unguarded Clans.
“The Heavenly Annihilation Division doesn't think Squad Ninety-Seven can kill the Blue Wolf Sect Leader either. It's just a game. 'We'll hide that you're one of the Three Unguarded Clans, but we know.' And in that game, all of Squad Ninety-Seven's assassins will die.”
Four Thousand Four had foreseen Jaja's death.
There was no way to stop this fight.
The Heavenly Annihilation Division never rescinded orders. Jaja would carry them out no matter what. But she couldn't kill the Blue Wolf Sect Leader—she'd die instead.
Everything had proceeded smoothly up to this point.
Four Thousand Four could only watch Jaja die.
“If you can retrieve Jaja's body within two hours of death.”
Zhuge Soso had asked him to make a move.
And so Jaja's body had been delivered. By Zhuge Soso herself.
What now? Bury her?
Swoosh!
Four Thousand Four pressed his palm to Jaja's dantian. Then, unhurriedly, he slowly infused qi.
Tzing! Tzing! Tzing!
The qi bounced off, refusing to enter.
Jaja was dead. That's why the qi wouldn't flow. There was no path for external qi to circulate. It was only natural for it to rebound.
So Four Thousand Four wasn't disappointed. He continued infusing qi slowly.
Tzing! Tzing! Tzing!
The qi kept rebounding. As if mocking his efforts.
‘What is he doing?’
Zhuge Soso frowned as she watched Four Thousand Four's actions.
He wouldn't act without reason. Infusing qi into a corpse was unthinkable for any sane person, so she couldn't criticize... but there had to be a purpose.
‘Trying to revive Jaja? Even a god couldn't.’
She examined Jaja's body.
The Blue Wolf Sect Leader wouldn't have held back. He'd meant to kill, and he didn't make mistakes.
Jaja's spine was shattered.
The Divine Path, Spirit Terrace, and Supreme Yang acupoints were completely pulverized.
Even if she survived, her lower body would be paralyzed.
Zhuge Soso couldn't understand Four Thousand Four's actions. She'd never heard of infusing qi into the dead.
She could only watch.
‘Move! Move!’
Tzing! Tzing! Tzing!
The qi kept rebounding.
In truth, what he was infusing wasn't qi. It might look like qi from the side, but pumping it into a rigidly stiffened body was like sprinkling sawdust on frozen iron plating—useless.
Qi was pointless.
What he infused was... the energy of the White Corpse Demon Gu.
The Heavenly Annihilation Division's Assassin Squad assassins had all ingested White Corpse Demon Gu as a contingency. Or rather, it had been administered to them.
Jaja's body harbored it too.
Now it lay dormant, as if dead with its host... but far more tenacious than human vitality, it surely hadn't perished.
He was awakening it.
Once it stirred, it would struggle desperately to survive, ultimately breathing life back into Jaja's body.
Waking the White Corpse Demon Gu with its own energy.
“Move!”
Tzing! Tzing! Tzzzing!
In that moment, Four Thousand Four's eyes flashed.
The White Corpse Demon Gu, which had only rebounded before, reacted differently. How to describe it? It felt like it clung to Jaja's body.
‘It moved!’
Four Thousand Four kept pouring in the White Corpse Demon Gu energy.
Tzzzt! Tzzzt! Tzzzt!
Definite reaction. The energy from his hand adhered to Jaja's body. Proof that the gu inside her was responding in kind.
“Kahk!”
Jaja exhaled roughly.
A violent breath, as if expelling all the stagnant waste qi from her gut at once.
“She's alive!”
Zhuge Soso shouted before she knew it.
Four Thousand Four had revived the dead!
“Hew!”
Visibly exhausted, Four Thousand Four halted his infusion and wiped the sweat dripping from his brow.
“H-how! Impossible! Utterly impossible!”
She who'd roamed the world and seen every oddity couldn't comprehend this.
Four Thousand Four looked at her and said,
“I need to collect the corpses of the dead.”
“What?”
“Keep an eye on Vanguard's movements.”
“Vanguard? You gonna revive them too?”
“Might not be possible, might be. But if we can... we're the dead, right? We dead folks can do anything among ourselves, don't you think?”
“Unbelievable!”
“Even the dead need to eat to live, so we need a hideout. To move, we need transport. What else? Oh! Gather all info on the clan heads.”
“Looking for your father?”
“You asked me to find him, didn't you?”
“Got it. I'll compile everything on your father. But seriously, how did you revive her? A Three Unguarded Clan head doesn't slip up. I checked—she was definitely dead.”
“White Corpse Demon Gu. It's saving us. Heh heh heh! Funny, isn't it? The measure meant to monitor and kill us is keeping us alive instead.”
Four Thousand Four omitted one thing.
It wasn't just the White Corpse Demon Gu stirring. While infusing its energy, he'd also used warmth. A cozy heat that could soothe even one facing death right then.
That, he couldn't reveal. He hadn't forsaken his death oath.