Chapter 172
Chapter 172
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 172
Chapter Title: Midnight Crippling
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That night, Cheonhwi descended Mount Hua and raced westward.
'Flying Heaven Steps are pretty great. Minimal internal energy consumption too.'
Was it because he had already dashed from Byeongni County to the Mount Hua Sect using Flying Heaven Steps before?
He was even faster than usual.
And that wasn't all.
He hadn't rested for two full hours already, yet there was no fatigue.
On the contrary, his body felt incredibly light.
Even though he was employing lightness skill, which tended to build up exhaustion quickly, the refreshing breeze lifted his spirits.
He looked up at the sky.
The brilliantly shining full moon illuminated the darkness, casting a soft glow.
"A fine night for bloodshed."
A chilling smile curled at his lips.
At the same time, the internal energy in his feet surged even fiercer, and the scenery rushed by rapidly.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Who are you..."
Cheonhwi kicked away the gate guard in front of him as if he were an annoyance.
Kaboom!
People burst out at the explosion.
Their attire was varied.
A few wore neat martial uniforms, but most were dead drunk, unable to even dress properly.
Cheonhwi wrinkled his nose.
The thick stench of alcohol tickled his nostrils.
He turned his head, and empty liquor bottles littered the ground everywhere, along with half-eaten food scraps.
"What is this? Were you having a drinking party? You lot sure have it good."
At Cheonhwi's words, the drunken men snapped to attention and jumped up.
"Who the hell are you?!"
"Do you even know where this is?!"
"Can't you tell? I'm the enemy."
Cheonhwi sneered.
At the same time, he raised his head.
Cheonhwi's gaze fixed on the man peering down from the second-floor window of the main hall, who had been watching since earlier.
The man with his thick beard stood out starkly from the others in the manor.
"Are you the Four Ghosts Hall Leader?"
"How dare you address the Hall Leader...!"
Gratefully, the man himself confirmed his identity with those words. Cheonhwi drew his sword and muttered.
"My kid owes you one."
With those words, Cheonhwi swung his sword.
Kwaaaang!
A dizzying roar echoed as a translucent sword qi shot toward the Four Ghosts Hall Leader on the second floor at terrifying speed.
"...!"
Faced with the ferocious sword qi, the Four Ghosts Hall Leader hastily grabbed the axes beside him.
Fwaaah!
He urgently channeled his internal energy and shattered the window, swinging his two axes in an X to meet the incoming sword qi.
It was his signature defensive stance, Twin Snakes Stirring Axes.
The crossing axes clashed with the sword qi.
Gigigigik—
A grating sound erupted.
'Th-this sword qi...'
The Four Ghosts Hall Leader was stunned.
Far from being deflected, the sword qi was steadily devouring his axes.
And under that momentum, his Twin Snakes Stirring Axes was being pushed back.
"Urgh, urgh!"
He gritted his teeth.
So hard that a fishy taste of blood filled his mouth.
But he couldn't stop.
He instinctively knew that if he did, the sword qi before him would cleave him in half.
"Haaap!"
With a shout, he deflected the sword qi upward.
Kwajijik!
The upward sword qi shattered the ceiling, sending debris raining down everywhere.
"Haa, haa."
Barely fending it off, he panted heavily and staggered.
He had defended, but the impact had drained him completely.
With trembling eyes, he looked ahead.
The second-floor window was already smashed, and the ceiling gone, revealing the night sky.
Under the solitary full moon and starlight.
A young man stood arrogantly in the center of the manor, looking up at him.
The moment their eyes met.
Shiiiik—
A chill ran down his spine.
It was a youthful face.
But he sensed it.
Whether he looked young or was strong wasn't the issue.
He could read the true nature lurking beneath that pretty boy's features.
Something wearing human skin.
That thing was undoubtedly inhuman.
"What, already scared?"
Cheonhwi scanned the frozen Four Ghosts Hall Leader and the surroundings with emotionless eyes.
As his gaze touched them, they trembled like they had pissed themselves.
"And we're just getting started."
Cheonhwi lowered his sword and walked forward.
Neither slow nor fast steps.
Thud— Thud—
The footsteps echoed evenly.
But with each sound, everyone's heartbeats grew louder.
Drip—
They couldn't move at all.
No, their instincts wouldn't let them.
The moment they moved, their heads would be severed.
They held their breath still.
Hoping he would just pass by.
Thud— Thud—
As the footsteps continued, the suffocating tension twisted their faces unknowingly.
A stifling silence flowed for a moment.
Tap.
Cheonhwi's steps stopped.
Right below the Four Ghosts Hall Leader's window.
As Cheonhwi halted, sighs of relief escaped here and there.
It had only been twenty steps.
But those twenty steps felt like an eternity to them.
Cheonhwi slowly raised his head.
"K-Kill that bastard! Kill him now!"
The Four Ghosts Hall Leader screamed in terror.
But no one moved at his shout. No, they couldn't.
Cheonhwi twisted his lips as he glanced at the Four Ghosts Hall Leader's axes.
"If you're coming, come."
As his chilling voice spread everywhere.
"Uwaaaak!"
Terror-stricken men fled.
In an instant, only Cheonhwi remained in the manor.
"Your subordinates lack loyalty."
The Four Ghosts Hall Leader's face paled.
The aura in that voice just now made even him want to run.
'Wh-what killing intent...'
Swallowing dryly, he gripped his weapon, the Blood Twin Axes, in both hands until they nearly shattered.
The familiar feel of the Blood Twin Axes offered no comfort; instead, terror surged.
He shook his head fiercely.
It was obvious what would happen if fear overtook him now.
Before more complicated thoughts could arise, he poured internal energy into the Blood Twin Axes.
A faint qi coated the axes.
"Haaap!"
He roared fiercely.
It was a lion's roar infused with the will to banish fear and a resolute determination.
Woooong—
As the axes hummed with all his poured energy, he swung them wildly.
The skin on his palms tore, unable to withstand the speed.
The wounds stung, but he didn't stop.
"Die!"
With a bellow, he unleashed Twin Dragons Stirring Axes with all his might once more.
In that instant, it felt like red snakes emerged from his Blood Twin Axes as sharp energy waves burst forth.
Shweeeek—
Two serpents crossed as if to split Cheonhwi's head in the manor.
Cheonhwi raised his sword, looking at the gaping-mawed serpents flying at him.
"First, for the Martial Training Pavilion Lord."
Sguk!
Blood spurted into the sky.
Thud—
The arm clutching the axe fell to the ground, twitching finely belatedly.
"M-My arm! Uwaaaak!"
The Four Ghosts Hall Leader screamed from the excruciating pain in his arm.
"One isn't enough."
A indifferent voice pierced the ears of the man whose saliva-smeared mouth gaped wide.
Before he knew it, Cheonhwi was on the second floor, looking down at him.
His eerie eyes gleamed.
Transparent with no emotion, and thus all the more terrifying.
"You need to take two."
With those flat words, Cheonhwi unleashed vicious killing intent. The writhing Four Ghosts Hall Leader from agony lost his words.
No, his mind went blank.
Cheonhwi's sword rose.
The tip passed his eyes and headed for his right thigh.
"N-No... don't..."
"It'll do."
Cheonhwi slashed the thigh.
"Kuaaaak!"
The Four Ghosts Hall Leader thrashed.
But Cheonhwi merely looked down at the rampaging man and twisted his lips.
"Now, the rest is for Jeokgeom."
Cheonhwi sheathed his sword.
Then slowly lifted his foot.
Pak!
He stomped down on the Four Ghosts Hall Leader's abdomen as he flailed on the floor, crushing it.
The foot infused with internal energy shook his lower dantian violently, then shattered the vessel.
"Kuhuk!"
Vomit and blood erupted from his mouth.
Unable to bear the excessive pain, he fainted in that state.
"Can't let you die comfortably like this."
Cheonhwi used his toe to channel qi and staunch the flowing blood.
After glancing at the still-breathing, twitching man, he surveyed the surroundings.
"No sign of the female expert and peak expert Jeokgeom mentioned."
It was odd.
The joint operation between Mount Hua and Zhongnan Sect wasn't much different from this surprise attack.
Yet back then, they had been waiting in ambush, and now they were nowhere to be seen, perhaps having fled.
'Someone must have leaked the info.'
Cheonhwi's eyes sharpened.
'Whoever it is, when I find out...'
A cold smile played on his lips.
After a moment, he raised his head.
Gazing at the full moon still hanging in the night sky, Cheonhwi unleashed Flying Heaven Steps.
"Guess I should head back before it's too late."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Shaanxi was abuzz.
The news that two of the Nine Great Sects, Zhongnan Sect and Mount Hua Sect, had been repelled in a joint operation spread at astonishing speed.
Those who first heard the rumor dismissed it as nonsense.
But when neither Zhongnan nor Mount Hua denied it and remained silent, everyone realized it was true.
All eyes focused on Shaanxi.
Mount Hua and Zhongnan, who had raised their prestige by annihilating White Ghost Castle, had failed against an unknown unorthodox faction.
It was prime fodder for the江湖 busybodies.
They quickly hyped up the four unorthodox groups that had repelled Zhongnan and Mount Hua, giving them a collective name.
The Xinju Four Hegemons.
But before the name Xinju Four Hegemons could spread widely, another rumor exploded.
'The Four Ghosts Hall Leader has been crippled!'
Some couldn't believe it.
After all, Four Ghosts Hall was one of those Xinju Four Hegemons.
And who was the Four Ghosts Hall Leader?
He was the expert who had recently repelled Mount Hua's Yuwol Sword Expert and Plum Blossom Sword Guards.
He had just earned the moniker Twin Ghost Axes for his ghostly dual-axe handling.
For such a man to be crippled?
But before doubts could fully form, the rumor was confirmed as fact.
The Twin Ghost Axes was seen being treated by a physician, missing one leg and one arm.
"Jeokgeom sahyung. Did you hear? The Four Ghosts Hall Leader's been crippled."
"I heard."
Jeokgeom replied with a complicated expression.
It was satisfying revenge against his archenemy, but questions arose.
"Who on earth could have done that?"
That was Seollan's question.
The Four Ghosts Hall Leader he had faced personally had displayed astonishing skill.
It wouldn't be easy for an ordinary expert.
'No way!'
For a moment, his gaze turned to Cheonhwi meditating on the peak.
But he soon shook his head.
'Impossible.'
It took at least three days to go from Mount Hua to Four Ghosts Hall and back.
'Even for sasuknim, a round trip in the dead of night is impossible.'
Meanwhile, Cheonhwi, who was meditating, recalled last night's events and grinned.
'Now I feel a bit better.'