Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Overlord Sect Annihilated
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The next day, the Whirlwind Merchant Group's day began much earlier than usual.
It was because the servants were busy disposing of the corpses within the merchant group and repairing the damaged buildings to recover from the disaster that had occurred just yesterday.
"Everyone, let's work hard!"
"Then I'll handle the repairs to the main hall, so you take care of the bodies."
Jeokgeom exchanged greetings with the servants moving about the Whirlwind Merchant Group and muttered to himself.
"Phew, the situation has gotten complicated."
The original mission from the Mount Hua Sect had been to protect the Whirlwind Merchant Group from the Overlord Sect's pressure.
But the situation had turned strange.
They had discovered that White Ghost Castle was backing the Overlord Sect, making it impossible to resolve with their own strength alone.
'We sent a letter to the sect, but I wonder if we can hold out until then.'
He let out a sigh.
Against White Ghost Castle, it was impossible to endure with their own power.
In the end, they would need the elders' help.
And the only one who could protect the Whirlwind Merchant Group and themselves in the meantime was Cheonhwi.
"We can only trust Martial Uncle."
Lost in thought as he walked, he soon arrived in front of the room where Cheonhwi was staying.
He then knocked on the door.
Knock, knock.
"Martial Uncle, are you awake?"
After a short wait, rustling sounds came from inside.
A moment later, the door creaked open.
Cheonhwi appeared in quite a disheveled state, scratching his head as he spoke.
"Yawn, what is it? Is breakfast ready already?"
Jeokgeom smiled awkwardly.
"Yes. Everything is prepared."
"Got it."
Cheonhwi immediately slammed the door shut.
Jeokgeom stared blankly at the firmly closed door and whispered uncertainly.
"...He'll be fine, right?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ A moment later, inside the Whirlwind Merchant Group's main hall.
Nom nom―
Cheonhwi was quickly devouring the neatly arranged food in front of him.
In particular, he focused his chopsticks mainly on the pork dish braised pork belly and the duck dish sauce duck.
'Well seasoned.'
He was in a good mood.
The food was even more luxurious than the meal from last night, satisfying him greatly.
"Breakfast is all about meat, after all."
The Plum Blossom Sword Guards smiled awkwardly.
There wasn't a single piece of meat on their plates; instead, they were filled with vegetables.
No, that was actually the norm.
Unless they were named disciples, most disciples from the main sect ate like this.
At that moment, Jeokbi, who had been watching his junior brothers' reactions, sneakily reached out with his chopsticks.
Seeing Jeokbi trying to stealthily grab some braised pork belly, Jeokjae glared at him.
"Senior Brother."
"Martial Uncle is eating it too, so one piece..."
"I'll report it to Master."
Jeokbi immediately withdrew his chopsticks.
"Hahaha, Junior Brother, always so serious. Just kidding. Kidding."
Jeokbi laughed it off, but inwardly, he was shedding bloody tears.
'That rigid bastard.'
As Jeokbi inwardly cursed Jeokjae.
"We sent a letter to the Mount Hua Sect. The reply should arrive in about ten days..."
Go Gyeong-yeong, who had finished eating first, looked toward Cheonhwi and spoke.
At that moment.
Rumble rumble―
The outside suddenly grew noisy.
Soon after, the sound of someone running from afar could be heard, and the closed door burst open as a man rushed in urgently.
"M-Merchant Leader!"
Go Gyeong-yeong frowned.
He had instructed not to disturb them while they were treating their benefactors who had helped the merchant group to a feast, yet this man had suddenly flung open the door.
His previously mild demeanor changed completely, and he bellowed at the man.
"What is it during our meal?!"
In any other circumstance, the man would have apologized and withdrawn, but he spoke urgently.
"The Overlord Sect..."
At the words "Overlord Sect," Go Gyeong-yeong's expression turned fierce in an instant.
"Has the Overlord Sect come attacking?"
At his words, the Plum Blossom Sword Guards and Yeon Suran jumped up from their seats.
"N-No. The Overlord Sect...!"
Go Gyeong-yeong, unable to bear watching the man gasp for breath midway through his words, grabbed his shoulders and shouted.
"What exactly happened with the Overlord Sect?!"
The man's face turned pale under Go Gyeong-yeong's scolding, and he began trembling as if overwhelmed.
Seeing the man on the verge of fainting, Yeon Suran and Jeokgeom restrained Go Gyeong-yeong.
"F-Fath..."
"Father! You'll kill him!"
Go Gyeong-yeong, whose eyes had rolled back, came to his senses and released his grip, calling out to the man.
"A-Are you alright?"
"H-Huff! I'm fine."
The man, who had been dazed but snapped back to reality, widened his eyes at Go Gyeong-yeong's words.
In the now somewhat calmed atmosphere, Go Gyeong-yeong faced the man and asked carefully, unlike his earlier aggression.
"What happened with the Overlord Sect?"
The man's eyes suddenly bulged.
"The Overlord Sect has been annihilated!"
"...!"
The room erupted in shock.
"What?"
"Annihilated?"
"What does that..."
Go Gyeong-yeong, the Plum Blossom Sword Guards, and Yeon Suran were utterly stunned.
Go Gyeong-yeong soon asked for confirmation.
"Is... is that true?"
"Yes. I heard the rumor and went to check myself because I couldn't believe it, and there were crowds of people. It seems it happened last night."
Go Gyeong-yeong's mind went blank.
The Overlord Sect was one of the top five major sects in Shaanxi Province, with over five hundred members.
Yet it had been wiped out overnight.
Suddenly, Go Gyeong-yeong recalled one man.
"Wh-What about the Overlord Sect Leader?"
"Presumed dead."
Silence fell over the room for a moment.
Who was the Overlord Sect Leader?
He was an unparalleled master in Shaanxi with few rivals, and with his exceptional leadership, he had elevated the Overlord Sect to its current position.
And he was dead?
Just who could have...
Sharing the same thought, they simultaneously recalled one person and flinched.
Swoosh―
Naturally, everyone's gazes, except the man's, converged on one spot.
Nom nom―
Cheonhwi furrowed his brow at the stares directed at him and spoke.
"What're you looking at? First time seeing someone eat?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ A man dressed in a pristine white Daoist robe was wandering the Overlord Sect grounds as if it were his own home.
"So the rumors are true..."
Ha Woo-jin hardened his face.
He had rushed over upon hearing of the Overlord Sect's annihilation, but the situation was even graver.
Corpses were piled up like mountains everywhere, and the blood they had shed had dried into the dirt floor, casting a reddish haze.
"...How ruthless."
As he spoke, he wrinkled his nose.
He had only moved his lips, yet the rotten stench from the corpses assaulted his senses.
He soon pinched his nose and examined the scene.
The corpses were in a wretched state.
Some had their heads burst open, others had their neck bones snapped.
On one side, bodies were riddled with holes, and they had died with sharp iron fragments embedded in them.
'Hidden weapons?'
Ha Woo-jin picked up a fallen iron fragment and inspected it.
As he frowned at the crudely made piece, unfit for a hidden weapon.
"Has the Flying Swallow Sword Lord graced this place with his presence?"
He whipped his head toward the familiar voice.
Four zhang away stood a middle-aged man wearing a sly smile.
"...Hidden Slayer."
Ha Woo-jin dropped the iron piece and stood.
"And what brings you here?"
"Hahaha, I was passing through on some recent business when I heard the rumors."
"Business nearby?"
Ha Woo-jin's face subtly stiffened.
The Hidden Slayer was one of White Ghost Castle's boasted Four Directions Lords.
If such a figure had mobilized personally, it was certainly no ordinary matter.
'Could it be...'
Ha Woo-jin glared at him and said.
"Did you do this?"
"Me? Hahaha!"
The Hidden Slayer burst into loud laughter.
In the meantime, Ha Woo-jin added.
"White Ghost Castle stepping in because they felt pressured by the Overlord Sect expanding its influence?"
The laughter abruptly stopped.
"That's going too far with the jest."
"You think it's a jest?"
The Hidden Slayer's face grew icy.
"Are you looking down on White Ghost Castle right now?"
"...Just a hypothesis."
The two engaged in a tense exchange of glares.
But neither probed further nor pressed harder.
Crossing that line would mean all-out war.
After glaring at each other for a moment, unexpectedly, the Hidden Slayer backed off first.
"You've looked around. You know it wasn't me, right?"
"..."
Ha Woo-jin shut his mouth.
He already knew the Hidden Slayer wasn't the culprit behind this massacre.
He wouldn't leave traces like these.
Ha Woo-jin turned on his heel.
Since he wasn't the culprit, there was no need to deal with him, and Ha Woo-jin didn't even want to make eye contact with someone connected to White Ghost Castle.
'I need to find the real culprit before the Hidden Slayer does.'
As Ha Woo-jin, urgency mounting from the Hidden Slayer's appearance, searched the surrounding corpses for traces of martial arts.
Whoosh―
The Hidden Slayer shifted his gaze.
What he saw was the most wretched corpse among the mountain of bodies.
Its skin torn to shreds, eyeballs and entrails spilling out.
The Hidden Slayer gazed at what was once known as the Wheel Turner Demon, who had made a name for himself.
'What the hell is going on? Not content with the Cold Noodles Ghost Fiend dying at the Whirlwind Merchant Group, now the entire Overlord Sect is annihilated.'
Unlike the jabs he had thrown at Ha Woo-jin, his mind was in turmoil.
The reason he had left White Ghost Castle to come here was to proceed to the next phase after the Overlord Sect mission, but...
'Wiped out completely.'
With the mission that should have succeeded by all means having failed, he felt his throat burn.
Moreover, the cost of failure was steep.
The Cold Noodles Ghost Fiend might be disposable trash from White Ghost Castle, but the Overlord Sect was one they had carefully nurtured.
After briefly surveying the surroundings, the Hidden Slayer gleaned some information.
'A single culprit...'
The Hidden Slayer narrowed his brow.
From the nearby traces, he could tell a lone individual had caused this disaster, but...
There were more than one or two oddities.
'Not a single trace of martial arts among them.'
His head spun.
The Overlord Sect was no small faction.
To slaughter a force of this size in a single night, even he would have left traces behind.
'Just who could have done this...'
As the Hidden Slayer failed to identify the culprit, Ha Woo-jin was equally lost in confusion.
There were no traces of martial arts, but the marks left on the surrounding corpses were horrific.
"Such cruel handiwork."
His expression naturally soured.
Not only the merciless strikes, but the state of the corpses was utterly gruesome. The traces of toying with hundreds spoke of a one-sided slaughter.
'This isn't the work of a righteous faction member.'
He concluded.
Anyone seeing the Overlord Sect's state would think the same.
With his thoughts settled, he turned to leave the Overlord Sect.
At the same time, the Hidden Slayer moved.
'I need to report to the Castle Lord.'
There was no point lingering here any longer.
Instead, he needed to compensate for the losses from the Overlord Sect's collapse.
A short while later, the two departed the Overlord Sect in opposite directions.
Both harboring the same thought: that the culprit this time was likely someone from the evil sects or a demonic cultist.