Blood Jiangshi Demon
At the Tang Clan Poison Grandpa’s praise, Cheong puffed out her chest proudly and was about to reply with a bold “Aha, of course—” when pain shot through her, so she simply hunched over and answered instead.
“You don’t need to be surprised. I’m always excellent, after all.”
If one did not call an excellent person excellent, that would be a lie. Therefore, even humility would be discourteous, and as the greatest talent, prodigy, and genius under heaven, Cheong could not bring herself to lie to an elder and simply stated the fact plainly.
“Yes, it’s good to see such confidence. A martial artist ought to have that kind of ambition!”
Even the Tang Clan’s Supreme Elder, who accepted that statement without question, had to be considered problematic.
“By the way, that fellow’s arm.”
“Ah. So that’s why you came. How much have you—ow—found out?”
Her words were starting to sound like something only subhuman vermin would say, so Cheong hurriedly corrected herself. The Poison Grandpa, who knew nothing of the circumstances, blinked a couple of times before deciding it was nothing important and continued.
“I suspect it was a Blood Jiangshi Demon.”
“A Blood Jiangshi Demon!”
Cheong cried out in shock. A Blood Jiangshi Demon! What on earth was that supposed to be? She shouted once, riding the atmosphere that seemed to demand it. It did not, of course, suddenly grant her knowledge she lacked.
Unable to contain her curiosity, Cheong asked.
“What’s a Blood Jiangshi Demon?”
“Hmm. It’s an extremely wicked sort of… how should I put it… yes, something created through the Blood Sect’s Dark Blood Net Great Method. Its defining trait is an incredibly durable body, impervious to blades and swords.”
“The Blood Sect?”
“Indeed. For the Embroidered Uniform Guard to have received the Blood Sect’s great method… I don’t believe this is an ordinary matter.”
In the murim, anything related to the Blood Sect could be considered thoroughly evil without exception. Because it was true. It was not prejudice; the Blood Sect’s methods fundamentally required blood. The Dark Blood Net Great Method was no different, absorbing specially treated blood into a target’s body to create a Blood Jiangshi Demon with a body impervious to blades. Even the Tang Clan’s Supreme Elder knew nothing about that special treatment—because he was not a member of the Blood Sect.
In any case, a great method that absorbed another’s blood was profoundly wicked and more than deserving of being treated as a public enemy of the murim.
“Huh? Isn’t that the same as a Jiangshi?”
“It is different from a Jiangshi. Even if one calls it a living Jiangshi, only its consciousness remains alive while the vital energy in its dantian is dead. It merely moves by consuming its remaining true essence.”
“Oh. So the difference is whether it can use its own internal energy or not?”
“Correct. You’re quite perceptive.”
“Hehe. What are you saying?”
Cheong knew herself well enough to understand that while she was always excellent, she was somewhat removed from being perceptive. That was why she showed humility this time.
“Then a Blood Jiangshi Demon is unconditionally superior. Is there a saying like that in the Central Plains too? Anyway, if you’re going to make one, wouldn’t it be better to make a Blood Jiangshi Demon?”
“A Blood Jiangshi Demon is sturdy, but its drawbacks are so severe that even the Blood Sect rarely uses them.”
“What drawbacks?”
“In exchange for an impervious body, it becomes dull. Its movements slow by at least twofold, its joints and tendons stiffen, and all flexibility vanishes, making its limbs’ motions rigid and linear. You fought one, so you should know.”
“Ah.”
Cheong’s expression turned extremely sour. What? That was already slowed by more than half? Even after sensing the killing intent, she had been too late to dodge that single slash to the chest—hadn’t her breast been nearly cleaved in two like a mackerel? The part about losing flexibility and becoming rigid with linear movements was something Cheong could empathize with, so she accepted it. Especially after Cho Gwak had lost his reason.
Cheong protested indignantly.
“Even so, didn’t he fight pretty well?”
“Fight well? His swordsmanship was so inferior to yours that he kept rolling around like a donkey. I thought Cho Gwak was just some fool who had only trained in seclusion and couldn’t keep up with you, but it turns out he was like those lofty experts who hole up in the mountains training only to flounder in real combat.”
“Hmm. Maybe I shouldn’t show off…”
Cheong seriously considered it. Still, if an attack was going to land, it should be manageable even if the enemy was twice as fast, right? Just block once with the arm and then stab. Of course, if she failed, she really would have been split in half.
Huh? No, wait. She had been invincible while holding her master’s shield. Thinking about it, if Cho Gwak hadn’t been a Blood Jiangshi Demon, she would have beaten him to death long before her chest got carved into three pieces. Now that she thought about it, it was unfair. If she had known the bastard had smeared himself with someone else’s blood to become sturdy, she should have torn off all his remaining limbs too. He really was the worst bastard under heaven.
“For an Embroidered Uniform Guard captain, and one of assistant commissioner rank at that, to be a Blood Jiangshi Demon… this is no ordinary matter. We must inform the Alliance immediately and investigate. The merit of tearing off an arm and bringing back evidence is beyond what words can express. You did very well. I thought it looked bizarre even while watching, but this old man was wrong and you were right.”
It was truly the most bizarre thing to hear—praise for having torn off an arm. Yet given the circumstances, anyone would nod and agree.
“Grandfather, our Cheong needs to rest now.”
At that moment, Dang Nan-a cut in. Autumn was already in its latter half, and the nights were long. As was customary in primitive ancient uncivilized societies, longer nights meant more sleep.
“Ah. Yes. I’ve been thoughtless, keeping a sick child awake. Rest well. In this situation, the authorities won’t be concerned with rebellion anymore, so they’ll withdraw soon. Everything’s over, so you can just rest and recover in peace.”
“Oh.”
That was welcome news to hear. If everything was over, she could stop by the Emei Sect on the way back. No, her chest needed to heal completely first. They said it wouldn’t even leave a scar. She should send a letter saying she’d stay a bit longer. She didn’t want to worry them for no reason. If she showed up wrapped in bandages, how upset would they be? It would be better to become a runaway disciple and deal with the nuclear retaliation later. If it hurt, it should hurt her, not them. Cheong resolved to stay at the Tang Clan until she was fully healed.
Cheong stared blankly up at the screen.
⧓□ ⧓□ ⧓□ ⧓□ ⧓□ ⧓□
30 60 90 120
And she thought: Wow. I’m actually insane. That’s a perfect score.
Cheong scratched her strangely itchy chest while gazing up at that beautiful score. That was when someone suddenly wrapped their arms around her waist and whispered in a soft voice.
“Hehe, dear. Were you nervous because it was perfect?”
“Huh? No, no way. There’s no way this manly Seomun Cheong would be like that.”
“Is that so? Then shouldn’t you show me your magnificent form?”
“Uh. Yeah……”
She looked like a beauty Cheong had seen somewhere before. But who was she, calling her “dear”? Cheong tilted her head in confusion, but the question quickly faded. For some reason, it just felt natural.
At that moment, the pins at the end of the lane descended and settled into their neatly aligned formation. Cheong tilted her head again. Huh. Had the head pin, number one, always looked like that? It was a wide triangular pyramid at the bottom, strangely translucent and emitting a faint glow. Wouldn’t something with a wide bottom not fall over? Cheong had that doubt, but it too was instantly accepted as natural and forgotten.
More importantly, her chest was itching to death. Cheong scratched her chest irritably, and then the area just above her knee on the outer thigh started to tingle. Damn it. Eventually, with a scowl, Cheong gave up and slipped her fingers into her 15-pound ball. She lifted the heavy ball, took her stance at the lane with feet together, gave it a light push with momentum, then dropped it in time with gravity—one step, two steps, three steps. At a height barely a sheet of paper away from the floor, her thumb slipped out first, followed by her index and middle fingers twisting out a beat later.
The ball, veering toward the right side of the lane, spun gracefully and struck the side of the foremost head pin at a 42-degree angle, driving it forward. The triangular number one pin shattered into pieces with a scream.
Kyaaaaah kyaaah kyaaah kyaaaaah
Just kill me already, why do you torment me even in my dreams, you crazy killing star aaaaah
It was a bizarre yet desperate scream, thick with agony so terrible that even Cheong, who heard it, felt pained. Then the remaining pins collapsed with a crisp papapang sound, swept away in a rush.
Wow. A strike!
That was when a translucent window appeared before Cheong’s eyes, displaying text.
[Omen, the (Unknown)th Crisis]
[You are under attack by the Imperial Army.]
Actions for Mission Completion
Good Deed) Help the Tang Clan defeat the Imperial Army
Evil Deed) Help the Imperial Army annihilate the Tang Clan
Heavenly Slaughter Star) Kill everyone
[This choice may influence the world.]
Cheong grimaced and dismissed the mission window. Then she realized.
Ah. This is a dream.
“Huuu.”
Cheong let out a long sigh and thought. That mission window bastard—when it didn’t show up, now it’s even appearing in dreams to cause trouble.
Cheong sat on a chair and said.
“Yeonyeong, get out. If you don’t want to die.”
“Thank you.”
Eon Yeonyeong, whom she hadn’t seen in a while, answered in a strangely husky voice and walked away into the distance, her heels clicking. No, who wears heels to a bowling alley? What an ignorant woman. Of course, Eon Yeonyeong was not at fault. Dreams were nonsensical by nature—that was what made them dreams.
And right now, Cheong was invincible. She had realized she was inside a dream. It was also called a lucid dream.
However, the Heavenly Demon Soul was not a dream figure. From the scream earlier, it seemed Cheong had unconsciously pulled it out in the dream and tormented it as usual. The Heavenly Demon had apparently been tortured in dreams every day. But she didn’t feel particularly sorry. That spiritual parasite had ruined countless lives—everyone from the Demonic Cult members of the past to the present, to all the victims devastated by the Great War of Orthodox and Demonic. It was a complete bastard who had sacrificed every single one of those lives just to fulfill its own grudge. Even if Cheong had tormented it daily in her unconscious, it was more than deserved. She felt no other emotion.
More than that, that mission window bastard had even invaded someone else’s dream. Damn it. And it itched. Was it the injury? No? The injured side was the opposite one?
That was when the mission window she had dismissed earlier reappeared, this time enlarging only a portion of the previous text.
[You are under attack by the Imperial Army.]
[You are under attack by the Imperial Army.]
[You are under attack by the Imperial Army.]
[You are under attack by the Imperial Army.]
“Damn it, I get it, so stop—huh? Attack?”
In that instant, her mind cleared completely, and with a distant, dizzying twist, the dream collapsed with a crash.
“Huk.”
Cheong spat out her remaining breath and snapped her eyes open. At the same time, someone else also let out a breath.
“Huk.”
It was Dang Nan-a, whose gaze met hers the moment she opened her eyes. Well, she would be here since she had insisted on sleeping in the same bed to watch over the patient, but had she not slept at all? Of course, that wasn’t important.
Because behind Dang Nan-a’s tiny head, the uninvited mission window was still causing a ruckus.
[You are under attack by the Imperial Army.]
Cheong’s expression naturally hardened. Dang Nan-a, whose face turned bright red even in the darkness, flustered and spoke.
“No, no! It’s a misunderstanding! So, uh, um, that, other, uh, stimulation. Yes! It’s stimulation! No other meaning, it’s stimulation! Stimulation! Isn’t it suspicious! It’s stimulation! What if the outside looks fine but there’s internal bruising!”
“What are you talking about? More importantly, right now, the enemy might—”
At that moment.
Guuuuung……!
With a dull yet massive explosion, a tremor like an earthquake rose from the floor. Creaaak—the sound of twisting wood rang out, and dust from the rafters fell like the first snow.
“Huh?”
“What—”
And then, BOOM!!!
Something burst through the wall and struck a pillar, shattering it instantly. Fragments flew in all directions like a storm.