Chapter 74: Time for the Hunt-2
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 74: Time for the Hunt-2
Sun-woo sprinted forward.
His internal energy was fully restored, and his mastery of the Yin-Yang Harmony Divine Art had deepened even further. He was no longer afraid of something like a Human-Faced Spider.
Just you wait, you fucking bug.
He had missed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to consume an inner core. It would have been stranger if he weren't furious.
After running for a while, Sun-woo arrived at the site where he had fought the fierce battle against the Human-Faced Spider.
"What!?"
Sun-woo stood there, bewildered. The corpse of the Human-Faced Spider, which should have been lying there with its head pierced, was nowhere to be seen.
Was it still alive?
That was impossible. He had clearly seen the Human-Faced Spider die after its head was impaled. He had even confirmed the blade being pulled out, drenched in brain fluid.
Did someone take it?
His first thought was that one of the other participants had claimed the corpse.
No, if they were going to take anything, they would have just taken the inner core.
He shook his head. While the corpse itself was a magnificent source of materials, it was impossible to haul away a carcass over ten feet tall. If someone intended to loot it, they would have simply harvested the inner core and left.
That means the culprit is another Human-Faced Spider...
No matter how much he thought about it, the only creature capable of moving the body was the other Human-Faced Spider that had appeared late. If it was that creature—the one even more massive than the one he had killed—moving the body wouldn't have been difficult.
But why take it? Was it trying to give its kin a burial?
Doubts flickered in his mind, but he quickly brushed them aside. That wasn't what mattered. The only thing that mattered was the fact that the inner core he had risked his life for had been stolen.
Murderous aura flared in Sun-woo’s eyes. It was a cold rage directed at the spider that had snatched his prey.
Sun-woo quickened his pace once more. He had to hunt down and kill that female Human-Faced Spider that stole his inner core.
*
"Die!"
Tang Jeong unleashed a wave of killing intent, swinging his sword at Tang San.
Clang!
"Hah, don't make me laugh!"
Tang San did not back down, raising his own sword to parry the incoming strike. A flurry of exchanges followed, but neither could find a decisive opening.
I can win!
Tang San glared at Tang Jeong with burning eyes. Although his shoulder had been pierced, Tang Jeong was in no better shape. Even if the Thousand-Day Dark Armor had minimized the damage from the Explosive Burning Fire, it was impossible to withstand the full force of the blast. Tang Jeong had likely suffered significant internal injuries.
Tang Jeong, who had once seemed like an insurmountable mountain, now felt like he was within reach. The gap between them had narrowed significantly. As that realization dawned on him, confidence surged through Tang San.
Perhaps because of that, Tang San’s swordsmanship grew even sharper.
Clang!
"Urgh..."
Conversely, a groan escaped Tang Jeong’s lips. The momentum of Tang San—someone he had looked down upon for so long—was extraordinary. Despite the hole in his shoulder, Tang San’s blade was becoming more lethal by the second. In contrast, while Tang Jeong had avoided fatal wounds, the aftershocks of the explosion had twisted his internal organs, causing his movements to dull.
Irritation boiled over. He was struggling against a mere Tang San, and the look of hope on Tang San’s face—the belief that he could actually win—was unbearable.
Tang Jeong poured more internal energy into his sword. He intended to end this before he grew any more exhausted.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The forest echoed with the relentless screech of clashing metal as they traded blow after blow.
*
While Tang Jeong and Tang San were locked in their life-and-death struggle, the Second Young Master, Tang Do-uk, was quietly observing the bloody battle from a distance.
Perched atop a tree, Tang Do-uk wore a look of utter leisure.
Yes, keep fighting, you idiots.
It delighted him to see them risking their lives against each other. As the two most prominent candidates for the succession, their mutual destruction was the best possible outcome for him.
Morons. Fighting like this already.
Tang Do-uk sneered at them inwardly. As the frontrunners, Tang Jeong and Tang San had many enemies. They should have been joining forces to eliminate the other candidates, yet here they were, letting their emotions drive them into a brawl. It was peak stupidity.
If it were him, he would have proposed an alliance to sweep away the rest of the competition first. But those two hadn't done that; they had let their feelings lead them to a disastrous choice.
"Hehehehe."
A chuckle escaped him. Even if a winner emerged, they wouldn't be in any condition to fight. He could simply step in and finish off the survivor. Since they had forgotten such a simple truth, they deserved to die.
Idiots like you aren't fit for the position of Young Clan Head! You might as well head straight to Mount Bukmang.
Tang Do-uk’s smile deepened. When the snipe and the clam fight, it is the fisherman who wins. The victor would be him.
It was at that moment, as Tang Do-uk was savoring his inevitable triumph...
Skreeeeeeeek! Skreeeeeeeeek!
A bone-chilling sound struck his ears from somewhere.
What was that!?
Startled, Tang Do-uk looked around, but he saw nothing.
Was it my imagination?
Just as he was about to turn his head back, thinking he had misheard...
Skreeeeeeeek! Skreeeeeeeeek!
The horrific screech rang out again, much clearer this time.
Shiver.
A sudden chill ran down Tang Do-uk’s spine. What on earth was that sound?
Tang Do-uk slowly turned around. And there he saw it.
At a distance so close he could feel her breath, was the face of a beautiful woman.
"Hah..."
Tang Do-uk gasped in spite of himself. In all his life, he had never seen a woman so beautiful. With eyes curved like half-moons, sparkling pupils, a slender nose, and lips as red as cherries—her appearance was the very definition of ultimate beauty. Only someone like Tang Seo-yoon, the Greatest Beauty of Sichuan known as the Dok-seo-si, could even hope to compare.
As he stood there mesmerized, a sense of wrongness finally began to creep in. Why was such a beautiful woman here in the Godok Hall?
The interior of the Godok Hall was filled with poisonous qi. Anyone who hadn't mastered poison arts would be poisoned and die instantly upon entering. Had she mastered poison arts?
Another question was how she had approached him. He was a Peak Realm martial artist. Even if he was only at the early stages, he should have sensed her presence. Yet, he hadn't felt a thing. How was this possible?
As Tang Do-uk stared at her with a complicated gaze, the woman gave him a radiant smile. At that sight, Tang Do-uk’s mind began to grow hazy. He finally managed to open his mouth.
"My lady, perhaps you are..."
Crunch!
Tang Do-uk never finished his sentence. The mouth of the radiantly smiling woman suddenly ripped open from ear to ear and swallowed his head whole.
Crunch! Snap! Crunch!
Having snared his head, the woman began to chew with razor-sharp teeth.
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
After devouring his head, the woman swallowed the rest of his body whole. The head was a delicacy to be savored, but the body wasn't particularly tasty, so she decided to just digest it all at once.
Skreeeeeeeek!
She let out a cry that sounded like a joyful scream. The poisonous qi around her intensified. These new humans were making her stronger and stronger.
She turned her gaze. Further away, she could sense even more powerful poisonous auras.
*
"Huff... huff... huff..."
"Pant... pant... pant..."
Tang Jeong and Tang San were both gasping for air. The prolonged battle had left them both utterly exhausted.
Damn it.
Tang Jeong cursed inwardly. He had pushed his body to the limit while already suffering from internal injuries. It was only natural to be exhausted. He never imagined a mere Tang San would give him this much trouble.
Before entering the hall, Tang San had been nothing more than a Peak Mid-Stage martial artist, so Tang Jeong had underestimated him. But the boy had grown and was now standing on equal footing.
Still, he could not lose. While Tang San’s martial arts were slightly inferior to his own, he was beloved by many for his charismatic personality and his scholarship, which was second only to the Third Young Master, Tang Gi-mun. The only thing Tang Jeong had over him was martial prowess.
He hadn't felt jealous before. In a Murim clan, what could be more important than martial arts? He had simply mocked Tang San for being mediocre at everything. But now, Tang San was trying to defeat him with martial arts.
Fury surged within him. If he was overtaken even in martial arts, he would have nothing left. He didn't want that. He refused to lose to Tang San, of all people.
Steeling his resolve, Tang Jeong poured his internal energy into his sword. The amount was staggering. He funneled every last drop of energy remaining in his dantian into the blade. Soon, a tangible aura began to rise from the energy-saturated sword, emitting a brilliant light.
It was Sword Qi.
Tang Jeong, a master of poison arts, had manifested Sword Qi.
Tang San was horrified. Manifesting poisonous qi and manifesting Sword Qi were fundamentally different levels of skill. Only a swordsman who had reached the pinnacle of the Peak Realm through the sword alone could manifest Sword Qi. Yet, Tang Jeong had done it. This meant Tang Jeong’s swordsmanship had reached the level of a master swordsman.
Gulp.
Tang San swallowed hard. He had to dodge. He had nothing that could block Sword Qi. To survive, he had to avoid that shimmering, lethal blade at all costs.
That Sword Qi was likely Tang Jeong’s final move. His internal energy had to be depleted. If he could just dodge this one strike, he would have a chance to win.
Swish!
Tang Jeong’s sword flew forward. It was a light so white it was blinding. Tang San funneled all his internal energy into his Yongcheon points. He was going to bet everything on his movement technique.
Here it comes.
The distance between him and Tang Jeong closed rapidly. Eight feet... five feet... three feet...
Now!
Just as Tang San was about to spring backward...
Thwack!
The sound of something bursting echoed, and blood sprayed across his face. Tang San looked straight ahead. Standing before him was the headless body of Tang Jeong, still gripping his sword.
"Huh?"
Stunned by the unbelievable turn of events, Tang San could only stare blankly at Tang Jeong’s corpse. Then, he slowly turned his head from side to side.
Skreeeeeeeek! Skreeeeeeeeek!
As he turned his head, he saw a woman’s face peeking through the bushes in the distance, laughing with a grotesque sound. A wave of primal terror washed over Tang San, snapping him back to his senses.
It was that woman. She was the one who had killed Tang Jeong.
The question of how swirled in his mind. Then, he saw the cause of Tang Jeong’s death. A single stone, drenched in blood, lay rolling on the ground near the body.
Tang Jeong had been killed by a thrown stone.
Tang San was baffled. Even though Tang Jeong was exhausted, he was still a Peak Realm expert. He should have been able to sense an attack directed at him. The fact that he was hit meant the woman had thrown the stone faster than he could perceive.
Fear took hold of him. The thought of death filled his mind. Tang San quickly turned and began to flee. His stamina and internal energy were depleted, so he couldn't move fast, but he had to run. He couldn't face that woman. But maybe, just maybe, he could escape.
With that thought, Tang San simply ran. He ran with the sole obsession of surviving.
However, it didn't take long for that obsession to crumble. The woman peeking through the bushes stood up. Soon, a monstrous body, the polar opposite of her beautiful face, began to reveal itself.
A massive body nearly fifteen feet tall, covered in an ink-colored carapace, with legs as sharp as spears. The true identity of the woman was a Human-Faced Spider.
She quickly began to pursue the fleeing Tang San.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
The ground shook, and a thunderous roar began to spread.
Skreeeeeeeeeeek!!
The Human-Faced Spider’s bone-chilling screech echoed through the air.
"Gah... huff..."
Hearing that sound, Tang San was consumed by terror. He tried to run faster, but his treacherous legs refused to listen. The vibrations of the ground and the thunderous footsteps grew louder.
Despair set in.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
The vibrations were now right behind him. Being caught was only a matter of time. Tang San ran with every ounce of strength he could muster, but it was futile.
Skreeeeeeeek!
That godforsaken screech rang in his ears as if it were right next to him. He fell into utter despair.
"...Mother."
Tang San thought of his mother, Geum Jeok-hwa. He wanted to see her.
Slash!
The leg of the Human-Faced Spider, which had caught up in an instant, sliced through Tang San’s waist. His torso was severed as easily as a block of tofu. Tang San’s life ended right then and there, his body split in two.
The First Young Master, Tang Jeong.
The Second Young Master, Tang Do-uk.
The Fourth Young Master, Tang San.
The most prominent candidates for the position of Young Clan Head had all met their end at the hands of a single Human-Faced Spider.
Skreeeeeeeek!
The Human-Faced Spider shrieked as if in celebration.
Crunch! Crunch!
And she began to joyfully feast on Tang San’s head. It was a day with much to eat.
*
"Urgh..."
Dong-gwak, riddled with poison, fell into despair. Every breath he took brought up blood, and sores began to weep all over his body. He had been struck by an ultimate poison.
How did it come to this?
Dong-gwak was a member of the Five Poison Sect who had infiltrated the Godok Hall to assassinate the Tang Clan’s succession candidates. The Five Poison Sect, which had been destroyed by Lee Jae-won, had been sharpening their blades for revenge. When the long-lost Sect Leader, the Poison Demon, reappeared, they put their plan into action.
Their goal was to kill all the candidates for the Young Clan Head. Nothing would be more devastating to a clan than severing its bloodline.
He had been waiting for his moment in the Godok Hall, and then this man appeared. How was he here? If their plan had succeeded, he shouldn't have been able to show up.
Dong-gwak looked at the man who had poisoned him. Half of his face was crushed, his beard and hair were scorched black, and his body was covered in burns and weeping sores. One of his arms was missing entirely.
Though the burns and charred flesh made him look unrecognizable, Dong-gwak knew who he was. This man was the Poison King, the one hailed as the greatest poison master under heaven.
"Speak. Where is the Poison Demon?"
Tang Jin-cheol spoke, radiating a terrifying murderous aura. A massive storm of poisonous qi began to swirl around him.