Chapter 132
Chapter 132
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 132
Chapter Title: Turn (2)
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The villagers started screaming and cursing Mu-heun.
“Aaargh! Protect the doctors!”
“What is the meaning of this! You devil!”
“Protect the doctors, even if it costs us our lives!”
“Protect the doctors!!”
“Use your bodies to shield them!”
“Kill that demon!”
“Let’s save the doctors from that demon!”
Mu-heun couldn’t hide his anguish. At this rate, all the villagers would be used as arrow fodder by the monsters. It would only end when every last one of them was dead.
‘I have to make a decision.’
Speed was the lifeblood of this operation. If even one of those monsters escaped, he couldn’t guarantee what would happen next.
The monsters intended to use the humans in the village they controlled as shields. It was as plain as day, and if the villagers fell to them, there would be no turning back.
‘What if this method doesn’t work….’
He didn’t know. Since this was his first time doing any of this, there were no guarantees.
However.
Mu-heun would not back down.
He squeezed his eyes shut and shouted loudly.
“Cheon-hyang!”
[Yes, Master!]
“Now! Activate the Mystic Gate Formation!”
[As you command!]
At that, Cheon-hyang dropped the Illusion Grass from the sky above the village. Within it was a fiercely burning violet flame.
The Illusion Grass, now aflame.
*Fwoosh!*
In that instant, the formations Mu-heun had created in the atmosphere the previous night, using the Myriad Fragrance like ink, manifested all at once.
A formation that surrounded the Yangtze River village like a birdcage. It was composed of over a thousand characters, which became clearly visible as the flames spread.
The monsters and the villagers had no choice but to look up at the sky.
Hundreds of violet-glowing characters were covering the area around the Yangtze River and the village.
It was a truly spectacular sight, more than enough to capture the villagers’ attention.
Mu-heun prepared the final spell.
*Haaaa.*
He inhaled the air.
*Hoooo.*
And exhaled, mixing the Myriad Fragrance into his breath.
“Myriad Fragrance Grand Restoration Formation. Modified.”
Mu-heun had improved the Myriad Fragrance Grand Restoration Formation and spread it across the entire village. The formation began to act as a reversal upon the village under the control of the Wangliang and Mo.
It was a formation that truly defied the natural order.
The Myriad Fragrance Grand Restoration Formation distorted the mental domination spread by the Wangliang and Mo. The reversal formation began to return people’s minds to their original state. At that moment, all the villagers froze in place.
And…
“Aaaaaaaargh! My daughter! My daughter!”
“No! This can’t be! My wife can’t be dead!”
“Kuaaargh! Son! Where are you! Son!”
“What is this!! This isn’t real!”
“Honey! Honey! Honey! Where are you! This isn’t real!”
Cries mixed with madness erupted from all over.
Damn it.
The villagers were starting to fall into a panic.
Mu-heun squeezed his eyes shut again and thought.
‘It’s fine. Panic is better than them protecting the monsters!’
Mu-heun immediately moved to deal with the monsters, but just then, the Wangliang, Mo, and Penghous began to flee.
“You’re not getting away!”
Mu-heun began to operate the Heaven and Earth Reversal and the Cloud Net Formation simultaneously.
*Fwoosh!*
“Kahak!”
“Kuhak!”
The fleeing monsters sensed something was wrong.
“Wh-what is happening!?”
The monsters, who had flown in all directions in a hurry to escape the village, were caught in the Cloud Net Formation and gathered in one spot, away from the villagers. It was the center of the central pavilion.
*Thud!*
Mu-heun landed, shattering the ground, and stood before the monsters. The monsters were horrified by the menacing aura emanating from him. He felt like a demon.
However, Mu-heun's rage far surpassed their imagination.
“You sons of bitches…!”
Mu-heun swung his Sun and Moon Sword at the gathered monsters.
“Heavenly Demon Slash!”
Heavenly Demonic Energy collided at the tip of the Sun and Moon Sword, and a powerful explosion of energy, along with a blazing slash, struck the monsters.
“Kaaaaargh!”
“Kuaaaargh!”
In an instant, the monsters’ arms and legs were severed. Some were even decapitated, while others were cut in half.
They tried to grab their severed body parts, but the burning flames prevented them. In the end, they glared at Mu-heun with eyes full of rage and spoke.
“How dare a mere human……!!”
Looking at them, Mu-heun maintained a gaze as cold as sharp ice and said.
“If you don’t want to die writhing in excruciating pain, answer my questions carefully.”
Then, the Wangliang who appeared to be the leader of the monsters spoke.
“Kekeke, kekekeke, kehk. You foolish human. Do you think this is the end?”
“……You’re asking for pain.”
Mu-heun ignited his sword with flames and sliced off the Wangliang’s leg.
*Swish!*
“Kuaargh!”
Flames lingered on the Wangliang’s severed leg, burning its flesh. The Wangliang screamed but glared at Mu-heun, its fury erupting.
“Kehek! You humans! As cruel as ever!”
Mu-heun looked at the Wangliang with emotionless eyes and said.
“Answer my questions….”
Just then.
*Craaaash!*
About ten White Dragon Warriors broke through the Cloud Net Formation and appeared before Mu-heun. All of their eyes were dyed green, and long, plant-like stems protruded from their arms, legs, and backs.
Mu-heun knew what they were.
“Needle-Metal Insects……”
They were a different species from the one injected into his body when Chang-yeon had stabbed him with a blade.
Moreover, they were completely different from what he had seen in texts. It was as if even the Needle-Metal Insects from the literature were descendants of these things; their origins were difficult to trace.
Still, they were Needle-Metal Insects.
Insects that clung to a human body, parasitizing it, sucking its power, and controlling it. Although they seemed to be an ancient species whose origins were unknown….
They were similar to the Gu poison used by the Tang Clan. However, there was a slight difference. It seemed that humans infected with them were stripped of all their Innate True Energy.
In other words, they used the human's Innate True Energy as their own power.
Furthermore, the Yangtze River warriors hadn't just changed grotesquely in appearance. They were originally second-rate to first-rate martial artists, but the aura they now exuded was on the level of the transcendent realm.
Mu-heun looked at the monstrously transformed Chang-yeon.
Green eyes, an empty, soulless shell.
Then he looked back at the monsters and said.
“You… worse than dogs.”
The light shining down on the Yangtze River village wasn't just moonlight. Countless characters enveloped the village like a birdcage, their violet flames casting a bright glow.
However…
Just because a place was lit did not mean it felt bright. The more light shone, the more the hideous reality was exposed from within the darkness. Faced with this cruel reality, Mu-heun squeezed his eyes shut.
This was an experiment by certain beings to annihilate humanity.
***
-Twenty years ago, near the Yangtze River in the Chongqing Plains
A young woman named Gaseol loved to gaze at the Yangtze River. She was born and raised in a village overlooking the river, where she had met the man she loved and shared her affection. They were preparing to marry within at least five years.
Gaseol was the brightest woman in the village. As a child, she had gone to Chipyeong Temple to study the scriptures and had even memorized the Mind-Straightening Sutra. She was the wisest woman in the village, and beautiful as well.
It wasn't a prosperous village, so it was neither large nor fancy, but Gaseol liked its simplicity.
There were times when the villagers starved due to failed crops, and times they fought over food, but they were people who knew how to find the strength to farm again and extend a hand in reconciliation to those they had quarreled with.
This was that kind of village.
Five years later, Gaseol married the man she loved, and soon after, gave birth to a baby boy.
Although he didn't have the temperament of an ordinary boy, his heart was kinder than anyone's. Gaseol hoped that when he grew up, he would go to Chipyeong Temple for a while and learn at least some rudimentary martial arts.
Until now, Chipyeong Temple had protected the nearby villages, but it was undeniable that the temple's influence was waning day by day.
Therefore, there was no guarantee of lifelong safety. If bandits were to attack later, shouldn't her son at least know how to protect himself?
Of course, as long as he was by her side, she would protect him with her life… or so she thought.
She raised the child like a precious treasure, and the kind-hearted boy grew up bright and cheerful.
Her husband was a diligent man who never missed a day of farming, and the household grew more prosperous each day. It seemed like happiness would continue just like this.
There were originally about ten villages near the Yangtze River. They were small and simple. Normally, they would never have merged into one, as it was more advantageous to be separate to share the river's water.
However.
That happy moment was brutally crushed, and the future that seemed so bright was thoroughly violated.
It all started when an inexplicable plague began to spread through the villages near the Yangtze River in the Chongqing Plains.
The plague spread in an instant. People were living their lives as usual, and no one had done anything that might have exposed them to a pestilence from another region.
There was little interaction between the villages, so they knew a disease couldn't possibly spread this quickly. It couldn't happen unless someone was intentionally spreading it.
One day, a plague suddenly struck the entire village, and no one among the villagers could cure it…. Even the monks at Chipyeong Temple said they didn't know what this disease was.
Would the Arhats have known…?
It was a futile thought.
It was then that doctors they had never seen before appeared in the village. To the villagers, those doctors were nothing short of saviors. However, to me, the timing of their appearance was highly coincidental.
Where had about ten doctors suddenly appeared from?
However…
The suspicion was fleeting. Reality was too devastating. Her husband and son were dying. They were wasting away, crying out in pain. In that situation, trying to think rationally was a luxury.
The plague spread to Gaseol's body as well. It was instantaneous, and the pain was excruciating.
In the end, she went to the doctors who had suddenly appeared, and their skills were indeed divine. Weren't they making the plague that had spread in an instant recede just as quickly?
The expression ‘a doctor makes a disease recede’ might sound awkward, but that's how Gaseol felt. But after that, she couldn't remember much.
Neither the villagers nor Gaseol suspected the doctors any longer. No, from the beginning, the doctors must have been good people. That's what they came to believe.
Then, something strange happened.
Her husband disappeared.
It was utterly unbelievable…
And yet, she believed it.
Even while being trampled, violated, and thoroughly used, she had no choice but to smile. She had no choice but to say she was happy.