Chapter 129
Chapter 129
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 129
Chapter Title: Half-Moon Hall's Demise
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The Half-Moon Hall members froze in place.
It was an utterly alien sight.
Mountains of corpses piled high.
A young man perched atop them, looking down.
A scene that shouldn't exist in the mortal world loomed right before their eyes.
The leader of the Half-Moon Hall members forced his unresponsive mouth to move.
"You bastard... Ack!"
His words cut off midway.
More precisely, a hole the size of an iron coin had pierced his throat.
Moments later, red blood gushed out like a waterfall.
Gurgle... Gurrgle...
The Half-Moon Hall member let out a deflating gasp before slowly pitching forward.
Thud. Splash...
Silence descended.
The air, already chilled by the recent rain, grew even colder.
As the only sound became the patter of pouring rain in the dead quiet...
"Let me see... Sixteen?"
Cheonhwi retracted the index finger he'd used for Soul-Exterminating Finger and spoke.
"Too many is no good anyway."
Cheonhwi's figure vanished.
Slash!
Mass slaughter unfolded simultaneously.
"Gahk!"
"Hup!"
Every time Cheonhwi swung his sword or flicked his hand, Half-Moon Hall members died miserably, falling like leaves in the wind.
The later-generation disciples stared at Cheonhwi in utter disbelief.
"This can't be..."
"How is that even possible..."
The Half-Moon Hall members were experts equal to or slightly superior to them.
Yet this was the scene before them.
Cheonhwi darted through their midst as they swung all manner of weapons.
No, he was toying with them.
"To think such a monster exists..."
Zhuge Sheng-ho whispered in hushed terror.
The later-generation disciples didn't voice it, but they all felt the same.
Soon, the corpses piled even higher than before, leaving only two Half-Moon Hall survivors.
"Just right."
Cheonhwi grabbed the napes of the two survivors and slammed them to the ground.
Splash!
They tumbled into the water puddles and went limp.
Cheonhwi looked down at them and asked,
"You're not the only ones who came, right?"
"......"
"......"
Cheonhwi approached the two sprawled face-down in silence.
He then lightly tapped their 경문 acupoints with his toe.
In that instant.
"Gaaahhh!"
"Kuhk!"
Screams echoed.
Cheonhwi smirked at the two writhing on the ground.
"Your answer?"
But no reply came.
One immediately tried to bite his tongue for suicide.
Whoosh—
Cheonhwi moved first.
Grabbing the man's head, he stuffed blood-soaked cloth into his mouth.
"Where do you think you're dying on your own."
Cheonhwi released the head with a grin.
"You don't get to die that easily."
As Cheonhwi reached to seal another point,
"Mmph! Mmph!"
The Half-Moon Hall member frantically shook his head.
But Cheonhwi's hand swiftly struck the acupoint anyway.
"Mmmph! Mmph!"
Cheonhwi withdrew his gaze from the thrashing man.
He locked eyes with the other Half-Moon Hall member watching in horror and mouthed,
"Speak quickly if you plan to answer."
It was a flat tone.
But his following words sent chills down the listener's spine.
"I'll let you die painlessly then."
Gaaahhh!
"Gasp!"
Meanwhile, the later-generation disciples watching the interrogation grew paler by the second.
Crushing bones or carving flesh was nothing compared to this—the mere sight was horrifying torture.
"Let me see... Here like this..."
Unlike his calm voice, Cheonhwi's torment relentlessly broke them down.
"Gaaahhh!"
"To actually do such things..."
Zhuge Sheng-ho shook his head.
Even the Zhuge family, experts in torture, would call this far beyond the pale.
Especially that.
Occasionally channeling internal energy into the Half-Moon Hall members was mind-blowing.
'He's infusing qi to keep their minds sharp when shock would make them pass out.'
As Zhuge Sheng-ho broke into cold sweat at the ruthless thoroughness,
"I can't watch anymore."
"......"
Shocked, Hwangbo Sohyun and Yang Seryeong squeezed their eyes shut and turned away.
Not just them.
Paeng Cheolwi and Moyong Sang had already looked away, and even Zhuge Sheng-ho, who kept watching, finally turned his head.
How much time passed with only screams filling the air?
The thick storm clouds parted, sunlight piercing through.
By then, the tortured Half-Moon Hall members lacked even the strength for screams, reduced to metallic rasps.
"Next up, then..."
But Cheonhwi didn't stop.
'What should I try next?'
As he prepared the following torment,
"...Myeong, Myeongwol Do..."
The left one's Half-Moon Hall member rasped, his arm and leg tendons severed.
"Oh? Ready to talk already?"
The man blinked.
Sensing affirmation, Cheonhwi knelt to meet his eyes.
"Myeongwol Do? Just him? Somehow I doubt it."
Under the pressing question, the man trembled and moved his lips.
"The... Four Evils..."
"Four Evils?"
Cheonhwi's eyes curved wide.
"Oh ho, now that's intriguing."
The Four Evils—a moniker from legends, not lightly given to any martial artist.
Holding such a title meant they were no ordinary foes.
'Wonder what kind of guys they are.'
Cheonhwi's eyes sparkled with interest.
"So you're saying the Four Evils came here?"
"......"
The Half-Moon Hall member's mouth stayed shut.
No, he couldn't open it.
His vitality was spent; more words were impossible.
"Done already?"
Cheonhwi smacked his lips.
"Well, you answered, so I'll keep my promise."
Cheonhwi tossed the sword in his hand.
Stab!
It plunged into the man's forehead center.
The Half-Moon Hall member died with a relieved expression, finally free.
"Now."
Cheonhwi turned to the remaining survivor and mouthed,
"You still not ready to talk?"
As Cheonhwi flexed his fingers expectantly, the man's eyes quivered.
His dead comrade's gaze...
It looked so blissful.
Without hesitation, he rasped,
"Hwan... Chaos. And... Blue... Sun Squad."
"Just Chaos? Where are the other Four Evils?"
"N-No... others..."
Cheonhwi stroked his chin.
A bit disappointing.
'Might as well all come together.'
Then the Half-Moon Hall member struggled to move his blood-caked lips.
"Pl... Please... kill... me."
Cheonhwi smirked at the desperate plea.
"Should've answered sooner. You wouldn't have suffered."
The man wanted to scream but clamped his mouth shut.
Lest more eons of torment follow any retort.
Cheonhwi raised his index finger.
"I'll keep my promise, don't worry."
A beam of light flashed from his finger, ending the life.
Cheonhwi dusted himself off and stood.
Myeongwol Do, Chaos, and the Blue Sun Squad were surely lurking for an ambush.
'They'll come eventually.'
The downpour had stopped, conveniently.
Sizzle—
Drying his wet clothes again, Cheonhwi exited the ruined house and headed west.
After Cheonhwi departed,
The remaining later-generation disciples stared at the scene in confusion.
It had been a nightmare.
The Sun-Moon Sect's sudden attack was dizzying enough, but a mysterious youth had slaughtered them all.
Dream or reality? They couldn't tell.
"...What do we do now?"
Hwangbo Sohyun murmured softly.
Everything was over, but they had no idea what came next.
Then Zhuge Sheng-ho whispered,
"Maybe the Sun-Moon Sect targeted him, not us from the start..."
The group's eyes widened.
"Young Master Zhuge?"
"You mean..."
"What makes you think that?"
"Think about it. Why would the Sun-Moon Sect attack us?"
The current martial world was the era of the Nine Provinces' Three Tyrants.
If the Bicheon Society clashed with the Evil-Black Alliance, only the Murim Alliance would profit.
Would they risk that just to hit them?
No.
"And recall what just happened."
Zhuge Sheng-ho met each gaze steadily before speaking calmly.
"They chased us, then spotted him and charged straight at him."
"...!"
The group's eyes bulged.
If they were the target, why switch mid-chase?
"Then why attack us...?"
Hwangbo Sohyun muttered,
"Maybe a case of mistaken identity..."
Zhuge Sheng-ho explained softly.
"Young Master Zhuge. Mistaken identity? What do you mean?"
Moyong Sang frowned.
They'd nearly died, all for a mix-up?
"We encountered him four times in ten days. If the Sun-Moon Sect's been hunting him long-term, isn't mistaken identity plausible?"
"But that was coincidence..."
"Would others see it that way?"
Everyone flinched at Zhuge Sheng-ho's words.
Even they, the parties involved, hadn't it felt like coincidence?
Then Yang Seryeong spoke.
"So what does Young Master Zhuge suggest we do now?"
"We follow him."
Hwangbo Sohyun and Moyong Sang panicked.
"But you just said the Sun-Moon Sect targeted him, not us!"
"Isn't traveling with him even more dangerous?"
Zhuge Sheng-ho shook his head at their questions.
"They already see us as his group. Better to stick with him for safety."
"We could explain we're not connected..."
Moyong Sang suggested, but
"Useless."
Zhuge Sheng-ho stated firmly.
"Young Master Zhuge is right."
Yang Seryeong, who had listened quietly, secured her triple staff at her waist and backed him up.
"They already tried to exterminate us. Think words will work?"
Zhuge Sheng-ho smiled at her.
A relieved grin, as if he'd finally found someone reasonable.
Moyong Sang bit his lower lip.
'Things might get easier now.'
Zhuge Sheng-ho eyed the silent man, then met Paeng Cheolwi's gaze steadily.
"What say you?"
"I know little of such matters."
Paeng Cheolwi replied softly, placing a hand on Zhuge Sheng-ho's shoulder with a smile.
"I'll follow Young Master Zhuge's lead."
With the de facto group leader trusting him, Zhuge Sheng-ho smiled and said,
"Then let's follow him."