Blood and Gold
Jegal Dong-jin rushed over and examined Godon's condition.
Blood spurted in thick, continuous streams from the severed section.
Just as one would expect from a strike with sword qi, the wound was perfectly smooth.
“Tsk… If only we had captured him alive…”
He had already killed a Blood Cult subordinate inside the Blood Palace.
The fact that they had failed to capture the leader was a great pity.
It was obvious that the Murim Alliance had been searching for the Blood Cult's stronghold.
“Eh?”
At that moment, Jegal Dong-jin's eyes caught a strange action.
Yuseong was lifting Godon's head and pressing it against his neck.
“…!”
Yuseong's hand suddenly glowed.
He knew full well that a special spell would produce light when activated.
“Could it be? Even the Chief Healer couldn't revive a dead person…”
Yuseong shook his head as he stood up.
Jegal Dong-jin nodded in understanding.
“Then it's as I thought.”
If even a dead person could be brought back to life, that was truly terrifying.
“That is beyond human ability.”
After sending one escort warrior to the Murim Alliance, the group took their positions.
It was possible that the Yongshin Sword would return, or that remnants of the Blood Cult might still be present.
“However, this is strange. The trap that wasn't activated earlier suddenly went off. Is it possible that it only activates for those trying to escape?”
“That's impossible. Someone must have returned during the interval and triggered the trap.”
“Then that thief is still around here?”
Hearing their conversation, Tang Harin scanned her surroundings with a sharp gaze.
But the Yongshin Sword, who had left after shedding tears of blood over having lost the stronghold to the Blood Cult, was nowhere to be seen.
Still…
“Ah!”
Pointing in that direction, Tang Harin indicated.
Though it was dark and hard to see, the ground was trembling.
“I'll check it out!”
Jegal Dong-jin dug into the ground with his sword and then
“Whoa!”
A strange hand suddenly shot out from the ground and startled him so much he stepped back.
“T-there appears to be a jiangshi buried here!”
Cautiously digging further, one jiangshi was struggling to emerge.
From the situation, it seemed they had all concluded that the Yongshin Sword had trapped the jiangshi and activated the cave's trap.
“There was one more. I'll cut it down.”
“Just a moment.”
Yuseong stopped him.
“Ah, there was a much easier way.”
He seemed to recall the jiangshi turning to ash with a single gesture.
“I'm not trying to kill them. Bringing them back alive will allow for more thorough investigation.”
“Eh… I see.”
Jegal Dong-jin was thinking only of his duty as an escort warrior.
However, Yuseong's thoughts had already moved on to the flute the Blood Cult subordinate had been playing, and he ordered it collected as well.
“For now, let's wait until reinforcements arrive from the Murim Alliance.”
“That's reassuring. A hundred jiangshi could come at once and I'd still have no worries!”
“Just in case, I'll deploy the formation.”
He prepared a simple concealment formation.
“As expected… you're amazing.”
Tang Harin licked her lips while looking up at Yuseong with admiration.
***
At the same time, in the Murim Alliance conference room.
Jegal Yeong-yeong pressed her forehead.
Since she was receiving the sustained healing effect, her head was not actually hurting, but
The elders spouting saliva as they voiced opinions.
“We must collect additional contributions from the sects. This is not all for the sake of the Murim's safety?”
“Who doesn't know that? But we all know how passive the various sects are and how difficult it is to get their cooperation?”
When faced with problems that were hard to resolve, one grew headaches.
“Is there no good way for the chief general?”
One elder asked.
Jegal Yeong-yeong reviewed the current situation.
Recently, conflicts had never ceased, so the Murim Alliance needed to strengthen its power.
And that had been greatly helped by Yuseong's contributions, with elite troops being dispatched from major sects.
However.
Things in the world don't turn without money.
“Everyone isn't working out of pure loyalty. Ultimately, this is something people do. There are few who wish to provide free labor without earning money.”
As the front lines widened and more funds were needed for information on the Blood Cult's traces and troop deployment, the funds received from the sects were insufficient.
Soon they were facing a deficit crisis! The finance officer had complained about how the warriors' salaries might not be paid, and an urgent meeting had been called.
She had no special talent for creating money on her own, and the meeting would inevitably drag on.
“The only option is to request maximum cooperation. First, I will lead by example by increasing our contribution from the Jegal family. Please also convey this to your sect elders and families.”
“Ugh… The sects are already complaining that the evil factions have been rampaging lately and their protection fees have decreased. For now, I'll send a letter to each sect as per the chief general's suggestion.”
“How can we cooperate easily when the financial situation of each sect has worsened?”
“Is there any other choice? If we find the Blood Cult's stronghold, there will be no need to dispatch a reconnaissance team at our current strength, so the burden will lighten.”
In the end, the conclusion was that they must find and destroy the Blood Cult's stronghold.
The Blood Cult used the jiangshi method to turn their own masters into enemies' forces.
Even in death, they could not rest peacefully and became their slaves.
These were beings that Murim people, who lived and died for fame, feared.
Moreover, if left alone, they would grow stronger through plunder and murder.
Everyone had no choice but to tremble in fear.
“The Blood Cult bastards are cunning and will be cautious until they can grow their power sufficiently. Haven't they always been like that?”
“Haa…”
A deep sigh represented everyone's hearts.
At that moment.
A warrior burst in.
“What is it? I told you not to come during the meeting unless there's an urgent matter!”
“Right now the Chief Healer is encountering the Blood Cult's jiangshi—
KABOOM-!
“What?! Is the Chief Healer safe?!”
Jegal Yeong-yeong slammed the table and shot up from her seat.
The stoic-looking Jeong Rip, who had been sitting in the corner with no interest in the meeting content, was already standing in front of the warrior delivering the report.
“Brother Ji Hyun-won!”
One elder cried out belatedly, seeing Jeong Rip's figure suddenly appear in the corner where he had been sitting like a welcome apparition.
“Where did you come from?!”
“Uuuu…”
The warrior was struggling to speak.
The Murim Alliance Lord restrained the agitated Jeong Rip.
“Chief of the Demon Slayer Unit, release your killing intent.”
“Ah, I'm sorry.”
The warrior, a true warrior, offered his thanks to the Lord and spoke.
His explanation continued for a long time.
“Eh?”
“Impossible.”
“Unbelievable!”
“I can't believe it!”
Exclamations from the elders.
Jegal Yeong-yeong, who had regained her composure just like a widow who had heard her husband died on the battlefield, listened to the story.
Jeong Rip said,
“Lord, I'll lead the Demon Slayer Unit and go first!”
“You want to go personally? Even if it's fine, I'm not particularly interested in such matters—”
Jeong Rip's figure vanished like an apparition again.
He had only heard “Even if it's fine” and rushed out of the conference room.
The elders, too, hurriedly prepared for the unbelievable news and headed to where Yuseong was.
***
In the Yongshin Sword's Blood Palace, countless treasures had been discovered and the Blood Cult's jiangshi had been defeated!
It was a formal report, so it couldn't be false.
But people wanted to see the fact with their own two eyes.
After Jeong Rip led the Demon Slayer Unit ahead,
The personnel who had been in conference, including the Murim Alliance Lord and even Jegal Yeong-yeong, followed Yuseong.
Finally, amidst the busy Demon Slayer Unit, Yuseong's figure appeared.
Yuseong standing with the Demon Slayer Chief Jeong Rip as escort.
Before him lay seven headless jiangshi and one intact jiangshi suppressed and displayed.
“Hehe, as expected, they are jiangshi!”
“That one isn't even dead yet, is it?”
“How did they capture the jiangshi? If we study them, perhaps we'll uncover their secrets!”
And on one side, treasures piled up neatly by the Demon Slayer members.
Countless gold and silver treasures, divine pills, martial arts manuals, weapons, amber pearls, and so on.
“Oh, the treasures discovered from the Yongshin Sword's Blood Palace? The quantity is enormous.”
“Indeed. With this amount, we may not even need to worry about the Alliance's operating funds.”
“Hmph, some will need to be claimed by their rightful owners, but… the quantity is amazing. Since there are old treasures as well, many will already have no owners left.”
“The legendary Yongshin Sword's stronghold was in Luoyang…”
It was an enormous quantity.
Right away, even just the amber pearls were priceless.
The Murim Alliance Lord stood before Yuseong.
“I heard the report. You truly performed a great deed!”
“It is nothing. I'm sorry for not reporting properly and just moving. I heard that the Chief Healer had come to report. It's fine even though it wasn't intentional. By the way, all the reports were true. Then could it be that the one who…”
The Lord's gaze turned toward the headless corpses.
“Correct. The one was a Transcendent Realm master.”
“Amazing. No matter how much they combined forces, they defeated several jiangshi and even a Transcendent Realm master. It's a pity we couldn't capture him, but you did a great job. The Blood Cult may have prepared extensively, but exterminating eight jiangshi and a Transcendent Realm master is an enormous achievement!”
Yuseong modestly deflected the praise.
“Proper distribution of merits will be done after returning to the Murim Alliance.”
Both the Lord and the elders showed great interest in the Blood Palace and headed inside.
Jegal Yeong-yeong stuck close to Yuseong's side.
“Hng…”
From the intense pain that seemed to contain resentment, felt from Yuseong's side where he was giving a friendly greeting.
“What dangerous thing did you do?!”
Jegal Yeong-yeong glared with her eyes.
“Were you worried?”
“What do you mean by 'worried'? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I'm fine because I was standing at the back.”
“What kind of nonsense is that… Did it hurt a lot?”
Yuseong gently rubbed the area on his side.
Since she was the one who acted now and then, he knew she was worried about him, so Yuseong smiled happily.