Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: The Little White Ghost Arrives
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Tadadat!
Seventy men suddenly sprang up from all directions around a low hill where the Bipung Merchant Group was visible at a glance, like bamboo shoots after rain.
"What's this?"
"No way..."
They were all dressed in pure white robes. Frowning at the sight of dozens of rotting corpses atop the chopped-down bushes,
something was off about all the corpses.
Not only was there no sign of resistance, but a hole pierced straight from the crown of their heads down to their groins.
It was as if a skewer had been stabbed down from above like a sword.
At that moment, the group parted in two.
Swipe—
A man emerged from between them.
He appeared to be in his early or mid-thirties, a soft-faced middle-aged man.
Aside from his jet-black hair, eyebrows, and eyes, he was wrapped entirely in white fabric, exuding a unique aura.
He was the sole disciple of the White Ghost Castle Lord and the Southern Deputy, the Little White Ghost.
—Disciple. You called for me?
—Contact with the Soul Slaughter Squad has been lost.
—...!
—Take the White Ghost Squad and investigate what happened.
The Little White Ghost recalled the order given.
It was an order directly from his master, no less.
Moreover, mobilizing the White Ghost Squad made it clear how serious this matter was.
'...The Soul Slaughter Squad should have gathered here.'
Thanks to the letters from Eunsu Chamsal that he'd gathered before leaving, he had been able to track them to their rendezvous point.
But what was this?
The place was filled with corpses wearing black masks.
The Little White Ghost stepped forward with his left foot.
Swipe—
His gait was eerie.
Though he was clearly stepping one foot after the other, there was no sound of footsteps, not even a waver.
Like a ghost without feet, he glided forward silently.
If seen in the dead of night, one would think they'd been possessed.
It was the lightness skill that had once shaken the martial world: White Ghost Night March, unleashed by the White Ghost Castle Lord, an absolute evil master.
Thud.
In an instant, the Little White Ghost slipped between the corpses and knelt on one knee. He then pulled off the mask from one of them.
"...This!"
The Little White Ghost's eyes trembled.
The face hidden beneath the mask was familiar.
No, more than familiar.
It was someone he often crossed paths with in the White Ghost Castle.
"The Soul Slaughter Squad?"
His face hardened with cold fury upon confirming the corpse's identity.
His soft features sharpened in an instant, and he emanated a chilling killing intent.
"Kuh!"
"S-Southern Deputy!"
As his subordinates around him paled and knelt from the killing intent,
"Retract your killing intent."
A stern voice pressed down on him.
Turning his head, a man stood there between middle-aged and elderly.
The man's face was impassive.
But unlike his stoic expression, his gaze was chilling.
He was the Eastern Deputy of White Ghost Castle.
Hand Severing Lone Sword, said to be the strongest among the Four Directions Deputies.
Hand Severing Lone Sword scanned the Little White Ghost up and down with eyes like a beast eyeing prey, then spoke.
"Cool your head and think about why the Soul Slaughter Squad died here."
"...!"
The Little White Ghost's face subtly stiffened.
Enveloped in rage, he hadn't properly assessed the situation.
"Thank you, Elder."
"No matter how shocking the event, keep your reason cold."
At the man's advice, the Little White Ghost cooled his eyes and pondered.
"It seems a master who sensed the Soul Slaughter Squad's presence near the Bipung Merchant Group was here."
The man nodded at the Little White Ghost's conclusion, then narrowed his eyes.
"That's not all."
The man's voice sank like falling into the deep Yangtze River.
"No matter who it is, there's no trace of the bodies being disposed of."
"...?!"
The Little White Ghost and the White Ghost Squad lined up behind him flinched at those words.
The martial world was filled with grudges and vendettas.
Especially when it involved sects, it was vicious to the bone.
Thus, when killing someone from a sect in the martial world, they would scatter bone-dissolving powder or bury the bodies to avoid entanglements.
But leaving the corpses as is?
It defied common sense in the martial world.
"Unless the opponent is a fool, they've likely realized White Ghost Castle is coming. Yet they left the bodies untouched. That means..."
The man's voice trembled slightly at the end.
"Either an absolute master who doesn't care about the Soul Slaughter Squad, or they deliberately left traces to lure us."
His spitting voice was icy cold.
Whatever the reason, this unknown foe was underestimating White Ghost Castle.
"Meaning they've probably already sensed our presence."
The man turned his gaze.
His eyes captured the Bipung Merchant Group, where repairs were still incomplete.
Srrr—
Heat rose from Eunsu Chamsal's body, and space warped.
Then someone came running.
"D-Deputy Leader!"
"What is it..."
The Little White Ghost turned his head at the frantic voice, then froze in place.
There was a corpse with its face smashed.
The left side of the face was a gaping hole beyond recognition, but it was still identifiable.
"...Eunsu Chamsal?"
"What?"
Hand Severing Lone Sword reacted.
Standing beside the Little White Ghost before he knew it, he examined the corpse closely, his eyes widening in shock.
"This trace... Flying Thunderbolt?!"
Hand Severing Lone Sword looked incredulous even as he said it.
He couldn't comprehend it.
Flying Thunderbolt was Eunsu Chamsal's signature technique.
Yet to be killed by his own Flying Thunderbolt?
The Little White Ghost, staring intently at the corpse beside him, felt the same.
At first glance, it looked like the head was smashed by a hidden weapon, but the charred unique wound and faint lingering internal energy confirmed it was Flying Thunderbolt.
"Why was Eunsu Chamsal hit by Flying Thunderbolt?"
Hand Severing Lone Sword frowned and muttered at the Little White Ghost's puzzled question.
"Did the opponent counter the Flying Thunderbolt?"
The first thought was a counter.
"I don't think so."
The Little White Ghost refuted.
"This trace surpasses the Flying Thunderbolt Eunsu Chamsal used in the past."
The remnants of Flying Thunderbolt on Eunsu Chamsal's corpse far exceeded what he knew of his skill.
"Eunsu Chamsal might have been hiding his true power all this time."
"Even then, to reverse Flying Thunderbolt to this degree would require at least Wudang's Sword Immortal."
"What are you saying?"
"The opponent used Flying Thunderbolt."
The Little White Ghost's reasoning was the most plausible.
Eunsu Chamsal had an unclear past.
His fellow disciple might have coincidentally stayed at the Bipung Merchant Group, met him, and clashed.
Of course, it was just a hypothesis.
How could they know just from looking at the corpses?
It only deepened the mystery.
Thus, the Little White Ghost added,
"Of course, it's just an assumption."
"I see."
Hand Severing Lone Sword bit his lip.
The corpses bore the opponent's traces plainly, but the more they looked, the deeper the questions grew.
"We've seen so many traces and learned nothing. In the end, we have to move ourselves to find out."
Hand Severing Lone Sword turned his gaze.
That gaze pointed to the place connecting all the mysteries.
The Bipung Merchant Group.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "No different from those guys?"
Ha Woojin tilted his head at Cheonhwi's out-of-the-blue remark as he watched from the side.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing."
Cheonhwi pulled a straight face and looked at Ha Woojin, who had approached to speak right beside him.
It had already been seven weeks since he had faced Go Geyoung directly and stayed at the Bipung Merchant Group.
Ha Woojin, who had been awkward on the first day, had unwittingly blended into the merchant group.
Of course, some awkwardness remained.
One was the training Cheonhwi imposed on the Plum Blossom Sword Guards. Having witnessed it firsthand, Ha Woojin was horrified.
That was torture, not training.
And it didn't stop there.
At every mealtime, the Taoist not only didn't abstain from meat but enjoyed it, leaving him utterly dumbfounded.
Flustered, he tried to guide Cheonhwi back to the righteous path with hints or help, but it was futile.
It was only natural.
The Mount Hua Sect had tried for five years and failed—how could seven weeks change that?
Hyeondo had told him to give up, but he wouldn't.
"Killing living beings is forbidden. Even the life of this tiny ant must not be taken lightly..."
Ha Woojin stuck close to Cheonhwi, reciting Taoist teachings.
Before long, their roles had reversed.
He had come to the Bipung Merchant Group to uncover the Tyrant Sect's vicious killer, but he'd forgotten all about it, filled instead with reforming Cheonhwi.
And Cheonhwi himself...
'Still, they'd make decent opponents.'
Ignoring Ha Woojin's words entirely, he scanned the gasping Plum Blossom Sword Guards, and Jeokgeom and Seollan swinging their swords.
He compared them to those outside exuding a sticky, ominous aura.
'Excluding those two emitting intense presences, these guys have slightly better individual skills.'
Thinking that, he shifted his gaze.
Stroking his chin as he watched Hyeondo in meditation training and Ha Woojin endlessly explaining,
'With those two joining, it'd be just right.'
Having roughly assessed, he nodded. They were foes he could handle easily, but he deliberately stayed out.
'Gotta let them gain some experience.'
He'd vaguely known Mount Hua Sect was weak, but training the elite Plum Blossom Sword Guards for fun had driven it home painfully.
'Without me, Mount Hua Sect is done for.'
Arrogant thought, but sadly true.
Mount Hua was that feeble, and Cheonhwi's power was overwhelmingly superior.
'Mount Hua needs to get stronger for me to roam the martial world carefree.'
As a righteous sect, he quite liked life at Mount Hua.
No one threatened his life occasionally or meddled; no poison in food or ambushes.
No sycophants plotting behind his back, no annoying demands.
How wonderful.
Compared to his days as Heavenly Demon Divine Cult Leader in his past life, it was paradise.
To maintain this life, Mount Hua needed to grow stronger, he thought.
'Heavenly Demon Divine Cult level should suffice.'
Absurd notion.
Even in the martial world boasting thousands of years of history, no single sect topped the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Not Shaolin, nor any of the Nine Provinces Eight Emperors' forces had bested it even once.
Anyone with martial world knowledge would dismiss it as nonsense.
But Cheonhwi was different.
'That's the baseline.'
As its former leader, that was his standard.
"Hm?"
Then Cheonhwi stared toward the main building.
His eyes, unfocused like tarnished silver coins, were dyed red in the sunset's final glow.
"They're quicker this time."
His sharpened gaze, like a honed blade, pierced the throats of those stealthily hidden in the brilliant sunset.
Looking at the approaching foes, Cheonhwi said to the collapsed Plum Blossom Sword Guards,
"What are you doing? Get up."
They lay motionless like corpses.
Normally he'd kick them, but Cheonhwi didn't urge further.
Instead, he added like advice,
"If you get up late, you'll only suffer more."
The moment his words ended.
Kwaaang!
With a loud boom, the Bipung Merchant Group's outer wall collapsed.
"Wh-what?!"
"What's happening?"
The Plum Blossom Sword Guards jumped up in panic.
But flames were already rising around the Bipung Merchant Group.
Hwaruruk!
And with the wind blowing just then, the fire spread rapidly.
"Told you. You'll just make it harder on yourselves if you're late."
At Cheonhwi's words, the Plum Blossom Sword Guards blankly grasped the sudden situation.
"A-ambush?"
The barely repaired Bipung Merchant Group was once again engulfed in flames,
and
"Kyaaak!"
"A-ambush!"
People fled in terror, rushing outside.
Tak, tak.
Then, about forty warriors sprang up like bamboo shoots through the broken wall, blocking the escape.
"Hup!"
"P-please spare us!"
As the Bipung Merchant Group's servants trembled in fear before the warriors' murderous intent,
Thud— thud—
Footsteps echoed through the smoke, and the Little White Ghost appeared amid the warriors.
"Where are you rushing off to in such a hurry?"