Chapter 592: Triggering a Bloodbath
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 592: Triggering a Bloodbath
The Lee Family Estate in Jining.
"Hwaaaa-aaaam..."
A young gate guard let out a massive yawn.
"Careful, you'll catch a fly in there," a middle-aged gate guard standing beside him remarked chidingly.
"Hahaha... Sorry about that. I didn't get a wink of sleep last night." The young guard wore an apologetic expression as he continued.
"Heh heh heh... The honeymoon phase is something else, isn't it? Is your wife really that good?"
"I’m head over heels, sir. These days, I do nothing but count down the minutes until I can clock out."
"I envy you, being able to look forward to going home."
"Don't you feel the same, senior?" the young guard asked, looking puzzled.
"I dread the end of the shift... Why do you think I volunteer for overtime?"
"Come now, with a foxy wife like yours, how can you say that?"
"She’s not a fox, she’s a bear. No... at this point, she might be a pig."
The middle-aged guard slowly shook his head. Ever since they got married, she had started putting on weight until "bear" became the most fitting description for her. The foxy charm she had as a maiden was nowhere to be found.
"I was swindled... It was a fraudulent marriage," the middle-aged guard continued, his expression gloomy.
"......Ouch." The young guard looked at him with pity.
"Don't give me that look. You'll end up just like me one day."
"How can you say that! My Yeon-mae would never!"
"Heh heh heh... Women are all the same. Once they marry, they succumb to complacency and sloth. When you go home today, give your wife’s waist a good feel. You’ll notice a certain... alien fullness that wasn't there when she was a virgin." The middle-aged guard spoke with a mischievous, cynical glint in his eye.
"Do you really have to curse a man in the middle of his honeymoon like that?"
"Seeing you so happy makes my stomach turn, that's why."
"You really have a nasty personality, senior."
"Living with a wife who looks like a bear made me this way."
"But surely there are good things, right?"
"Good things? Well, there's the joy of seeing my child." A genuine smile spread across the middle-aged guard's face—a complete 180 from the expression he wore while badmouthing his wife.
"Now that you mention it, you said you have a son, right?"
"That's right. With a bear for a wife, one was the limit. But he's brilliant."
"I heard he's quite the genius?"
"Brilliant doesn't even cover it! He's probably one of the top three in all of Jining. Listen to this—my boy just got into Cheongsu Academy. You know it, right? The best academy in Jining. He got in as the runner-up... I suppose he takes after me when it comes to brains... and also..."
The middle-aged guard began to drone on, boasting about his son. He treated the subject of his child very differently than that of his wife.
The young guard immediately regretted bringing it up. He had given his son-obsessed senior the perfect opening.
Damn it.
The young guard was forced to endure an endless stream of bragging.
I must be crazy.
He lowered his head, realizing he was trapped as a captive audience for his senior's parental pride.
"So... the Headmaster personally awarded him a commendation..."
Snap.
Suddenly, the middle-aged guard, who had been so engrossed in his bragging, went silent.
What is it?
The young guard slowly looked up, wondering what had happened.
And then he saw it.
His senior’s head had been split clean in half.
"Aaaaaaaagh!"
The guard let out a blood-curdling scream. What on earth was happening?
Squelch.
A sharp, slicing sound reached his ears. Simultaneously, the guard's field of vision began to tilt toward the ground.
Wait... huh... what?!
He stared in bewilderment, unable to process what was happening.
Thump.
A moment later, his head was severed from his torso and tumbled onto the ground. He was dead. It happened with terrifying ease.
Grip.
Someone grabbed the young guard's severed head from the floor. They lifted it up and pressed their mouth against the guard's eye socket.
Slurp.
With a sickening suction, the guard's eyeball was plucked out and disappeared into the stranger's mouth.
Crunch, crunch.
The stranger began to chew the eyeball as if it were a delicacy.
"A rare treat indeed," the man said, sounding delighted. He then sucked out the other eye and chewed that as well. The young guard's head was left a wretched sight, missing both eyes.
Whoosh.
The man casually tossed the head toward the main gate.
BOOM!
The head and the gate exploded simultaneously. He had thrown it with a massive amount of internal energy. Then, he stepped inside the estate, walking as lightly as if he were taking a stroll.
Step. Step. Step.
He didn't walk far before he was forced to stop. Dozens of warriors from the Lee Family Estate had surrounded him.
"You are surrounded! Drop your weapon and surrender!" one of the warriors roared.
"Quick response. As expected of the family of Lee Dae-gon, the leader of Hwalbindang," the man said with an amused chuckle.
"I am Lee Dae-san! Who are you, and how dare you speak the Lord's name so casually!"
"I am known as Honma-geom," the man replied calmly. "I am a messenger of the Demonic Cult, come to exterminate the Lee Family Estate."
"The Demonic Cult?!"
"A messenger of the Demonic Cult?!"
"Why would the Demonic Cult target us?"
Lee Dae-san’s face twisted in utter confusion. This made no sense. This was Jining, not far from Jinan, where the Cheonmu Alliance was headquartered. How could a messenger of the Demonic Cult show up here?
"Liar! How could a messenger of the Demonic Cult show his face in Shandong Province, the heart of the Cheonmu Alliance!"
"Whether it's a lie or not, see for yourself."
Looking bored, Honma-geom raised his sword.
"Attack!" Lee Dae-san commanded.
The warriors charged all at once.
Vroooooom.
The man infused his sword with internal energy. An ominous, flickering black Demonic Qi began to dance along the blade. With a single sweep, he cut down the charging warriors.
Slash!
"Aaaagh!"
"Gah!"
"Ugh!"
Screams erupted from every direction.
"How can this be...?" Lee Dae-san stood frozen. The elite forces the Lee family took such pride in were being slaughtered in an instant. it felt surreal.
"Your skills are as modest as your estate," Honma-geom mocked.
Lee Dae-san gritted his teeth. "Kill him! He's only one man! Overwhelm him with numbers!"
He ordered them to swarm the intruder all at once.
"Aaaaaagh!"
"Gah!"
Suddenly, more screams erupted from behind.
What?!
Panicked, Lee Dae-san whipped his head around. He saw masked figures slaughtering his men from the rear. He stared blankly, stunned by the sight of his proud warriors being butchered like cattle.
"Did you really think I came alone?" the man in front asked with a smirk.
"You... you... YOUUUUUU!!!!!"
Lee Dae-san exploded in rage. He raised his sword and lunged at the man, intent on taking his head.
Squelch.
But it wasn't the man's head that fell. It was Lee Dae-san's.
"Boring," the man muttered, looking unimpressed. "Finish it quickly. We have a few more places to hit after this."
He watched the masked men continue the massacre, standing still until every living soul in the Lee Family Estate was dead.
*
"............"
"............"
"............"
A heavy silence filled the conference room. No one dared to speak first. After a long while, the door creaked open.
A one-armed man entered the room. It was Lee Jae-won, the Leader of the Cheonmu Alliance.
Thud.
Lee Jae-won took his seat at the head of the table. With a grim expression, he scanned the room. Every face was weighed down by gravity.
"I believe you all know why I have summoned you," Lee Jae-won began in a level voice. "The Lee Family Estate in Jining, the Kang Family Estate in Tai'an, the Jeonggeom Sect in Dezhou, and the Sim Clan in Yaocheng."
He listed the names slowly, as if reciting a dirge.
"All of these places were wiped out in a single night."
His voice was dry, devoid of emotion, as if he were strictly suppressing it.
"Coincidentally, all those mentioned were closely tied to the Cheonmu Alliance. They were the families and sects of the very leaders who hold key positions within this alliance. They were our comrades, our allies. And they were exterminated. In just one night."
Lee Jae-won’s eyes burned with a simmering fury.
"The investigation has given us a glimpse of the culprit. Their signature was left all over the scenes."
He continued calmly. "The sites were filled with foul Demonic Qi. Every corpse was decapitated, and their eyeballs were gouged out. Furthermore, regardless of gender, there were clear traces of necrophilia. I am well aware of the monster who commits such atrocities."
Lee Jae-won spoke with absolute certainty. "The culprit is undoubtedly the successor of Honma."
"Honma?!"
"Honma...?"
"That cursed devil..."
The leadership let out collective gasps of horror. The name of Honma, a man who had committed the most depraved massacres fueled by his twisted lusts in the past, sent shivers down their spines.
"Are you saying... the successor of Honma wiped out my family?" Lee Dae-gon asked, his voice trembling.
"Indeed. To my knowledge, the only martial art that increases one's power by consuming eyeballs is that of Honma."
"That subhuman piece of filth!!!!"
Upon hearing Lee Jae-won’s confirmation, Lee Dae-gon roared. His rage had reached its breaking point.
"We must... we must capture him immediately!"
"Regrettably, his trail went cold long ago... He has undoubtedly retreated to the Hundred Thousand Mountains," Lee Jae-won said with a look of regret.
"What does that matter?! We should march to the Hundred Thousand Mountains, grab him by the throat, and drag him back!"
"Lord Lee! Watch your tongue!" Heo Sam-gwan barked from the side, sensing the danger in such a statement.
"What exactly do I need to watch?!" Lee Dae-gon snapped back.
"Marching into the Hundred Thousand Mountains? That is a statement so dangerous it could trigger the Great War of Righteousness and Demons!" Heo Sam-gwan glared at Lee Dae-gon with sharp eyes.
"And what of it?!"
"Wh-what did you say?!"
"The successor of Honma appeared in Shandong Province—the very home of the Cheonmu Alliance—and annihilated our allies. What do you think that means?" Lee Dae-gon looked around at the leaders, including Heo Sam-gwan. "This is a declaration of war from the Demonic Cult! It’s their way of saying they intend to go to war with the Cheonmu Alliance!"
"We don't know for certain if it was the successor of Honma..."
"The scene was thick with Demonic Qi! My kin were decapitated and their eyes were gouged out! If it wasn't the Demonic Cult, if it wasn't Honma's successor, then who else would do such a thing?!"
"It is still only circumstantial evidence! Think rationally!"
"Ha... right. Easy for you to say, since the Heo Clan is perfectly fine." Lee Dae-gon let out a mocking laugh.
"What?!"
"Unlike you, I’ve lost everything! And you want me to think rationally? Do you think that makes any sense? It’s clearly the Demonic Cult! It can’t be anyone else! So why the hell are you hesitating? You son of a bitch!"
Lee Dae-gon screamed, his speech devolving into curses. The man who usually maintained a sense of decorum even in anger was gone. Only a man consumed by pure rage remained.
"War is the ultimate tragedy, where thousands upon thousands die! How can you speak of it so lightly? It took us twenty years to barely recover from the damage of the last conflict with the Demonic Cult! That is how devastating it was! How can you mention war so easily!" Heo Sam-gwan shouted back.
War was tragedy. War was sorrow. War was the worst-case scenario. That was why the word itself had to be handled with extreme caution, for it carried the weight of countless innocent deaths.
"Easily? Did you just say easily? You’re only talking like this because it wasn't your family! Is that it?!" Lee Dae-gon’s voice rose even higher.
Heo Sam-gwan hadn't suffered a single loss. Hearing such words from him made Lee Dae-gon’s blood boil.
"Heo Sam-gwan! Could you say that if it were your family? If your entire family had been slaughtered, could you still say that?!" Lee Dae-gon pointed a finger and roared, his eyes filled with murderous fury.
"No... that's..."
The argument between the two intensified, neither willing to yield an inch.
Fight... keep fighting.
Lee Jae-won watched them, a secret smile forming in his heart. Everything was proceeding exactly according to plan.