Then Die.
We hoisted the Tang Clan woman—still unconscious, foam flecking her lips—over our shoulders and tied her up in one of the inn's rooms.
Nok Soyun stared down at her with wide eyes and murmured.
"...This woman... is Dang Sohee?"
"You know who she is?"
"She's a direct bloodline member of the Tang Clan."
"You're well-informed."
"The Green Forest excels at gathering information too. If nothing else, the sheer number of beggars on the roads makes that inevitable. That said..."
"If you're going to nag me, just don't say anything at all."
"I'm not nagging. You did well."
Nok Soyun turned to me and smiled.
It was an expression I had never once seen her wear before.
Then, still smiling, she bowed her head.
"Come to think of it, I never thanked you properly. Thank you for saving me."
"It wasn't as if the needle was laced with deadly poison."
"Still, gratitude is gratitude."
"Well... sure."
I gave a noncommittal nod.
And at that moment, Dang Sohee's eyes snapped open, and she looked straight at me.
"H-hurk...!"
"Move and you die."
I awakened the Blood Demon qi sleeping in my dantian and fanned it up around my body.
A dark crimson aura spread out like fog, thick and swirling, slowly filling the inn.
At the sight of it, Dang Sohee convulsed in terror and smashed her forehead against the floor.
"Please, have mercy... spare only my life... I truly didn't know you were one who came from the Holy Church..."
"..."
I turned my head slightly and met Nok Soyun's eyes.
Reflected in them was my own face—pupils stained blood-red.
Without a doubt, I looked the part of a demon.
And then there was that word Dang Sohee had blurted out—Holy Church—along with the way she trembled at the sight of me.
It seemed... this wasn't a matter tied to the Four Dark Serpents alone.
I let my lips curl up as I pleased, condensed the Blood Demon qi in my hand, and formed a blade-hand.
Then I brought it down—right beside Dang Sohee.
KRA-KAKAKAK—
With the sound of something being torn apart, the table split in half, leaving a long, deep gash carved into the wooden floor.
"Give me a convincing reason why this sovereign should let you live."
This girl seemed to be mistaking me for some high-and-mighty elder of the Demon Cult.
Fine, then. Let's give her a proper performance.
I lifted the two halves of the table with Void Plucking.
Void Plucking—the hallmark of the Transformation Realm.
Dang Sohee's face went white, as if she might faint on the spot.
"Th-that's..."
"I see you don't have one. A discarded branch of the Tang Clan, are you?"
The blade-hand rose high.
Sensing the killing intent steeped in its edge—and the savage, feral bloodlust radiating from it—Dang Sohee's body began to shake.
Had she imagined what was about to happen a moment from now?
"...Ahh..."
Drip—
Her trousers began to soak through.
She didn't even dream of trying to block that blade-hand. She simply sat there, frozen in place, like a puppy being dragged off by the butcher, pissing herself in fear.
I quietly took in the despair and terror brimming in her eyes.
Then, lips curling upward, I patted her head lightly with my palm.
"...Now then, child."
"...?"
"Who is in the Tang Clan residence right now?"
As a direct bloodline member, she'd have to know something.
When I asked with that thought in mind—sure enough.
Having apparently just clawed her way back from death's door, she began spilling every piece of information she possessed.
"...Ahh... in the Tang Clan residence right now... there is the Master of the Iron Blood Gate, affiliated with the Four Dark Serpents, along with his disciples... and two commanders of the personal guard attached directly to the Serpent Lord... and one Execution Envoy of the great Holy Church residing there as well."
"Do you know where your clan head is?"
"That... we don't know ourselves..."
"Right, so that's how it is..."
I reached out and seized her chin in a tight grip.
Then, with blood-stained eyes, I bored into her pitch-black pupils.
In my gaze, a faint light flickered and settled.
It was the Soul-Capturing technique I had torn from that discarded wretch of the Black Tiger Gang not long ago.
The Soul-Capturing technique subdued Dang Sohee's mind and bent her to follow my commands exactly.
She took on the appearance of someone whose soul had simply drained away.
"...You really don't know anything else."
"No. That is all."
"Then sleep for a while."
At those words, Dang Sohee's body crumpled to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.
I lifted her with Void Plucking and dumped her carelessly into a chair.
"By the way, this Void Plucking thing takes an absurd amount of mental focus."
"...I see I failed to recognize a master when I saw one."
"Hm? I am at Peak Realm, you know."
"Don't mock your junior, I beg you."
"It's just a shabby little trick. I can't wield it as freely as a true Transformation Realm master—it's merely a bit convenient, that's all."
"...As I understand it, the Wudang sect's Dual Spiral Art theoretically allows one to cultivate righteous qi and demonic qi simultaneously. And that is hardly a martial art simple enough for Peak Realm disciples to comprehend, is it?"
"And yet I can."
"...Understood. Then let's say that's so."
What is with this reaction.
"You don't understand it, you don't believe it, but because I insist, you'll nod along and say fine?"
"..."
Nok Soyun stared at me in silence.
Well, whatever reaction she showed was none of my concern.
"Think whatever you like. Just don't go spreading it around elsewhere."
"My life is plenty precious to me as well."
Her gaze shifted to Dang Sohee, still sitting there with her soul seemingly gone.
Nok Soyun's long finger pressed firmly against Dang Sohee's cheek.
"...Could this Soul-Capturing technique erase someone's mind entirely?"
"If the target's mental strength is weak enough, it could."
And Dang Sohee was a person whose soul I could shatter the moment I willed it.
The only reason I hadn't was a single one—she hadn't used deadly poison on us.
Come to think of it, I realized this could be a way to gather subordinates for myself (read: meat shields).
It did take a monstrous amount of mental power to interfere with a single person's mind, though...
"More importantly, you heard what she said, right?"
"Yes. From what I gathered, one Peak Realm master plus a swarm of discarded lackeys. And three Transcendent Peak Realm masters make up their fighting strength."
"This place they call the Holy Church—it's what I'm thinking of, right?"
"If they call themselves the Holy Church by name, and they're an organization that frightens even a direct bloodline member of the Tang Clan... then it can only be the Heavenly Demon Cult."
"And an Execution Envoy from there—how strong is that?"
"An Execution Envoy is also at the Transcendent Peak Realm."
"Hmm..."
"Since you can use Void Plucking, if you claimed to be a bishop of the Demonic Cult... the lackeys would all smash their foreheads into the floor for you. Honestly, even if you told me that right now, I think I'd believe you."
I ran the calculations over all those enemy forces in my head for a moment.
Then I reached a conclusion.
"...That's doable, actually?"
"Pardon? What is?"
"Charging straight in and fighting them."
If there were truly no Transformation Realm masters, then just charging in and fighting head-on would be manageable.
"The Tang Clan has Transcendent Peak Realm masters of their own too, no? You think they're following the Four Dark Serpents and the Demonic Cult because they want to?"
"Of course not. Who would sincerely follow the people who made their clan head disappear?"
"Then we sneak in, and it's just a matter of grabbing this so-called Execution Envoy, right? That should tell us where the missing Tang Clan head is too."
"Even if I tried to stop you, you wouldn't listen, would you?"
"Obviously not. Where in the world does a man let a woman chime in on his business outside?"
"I didn't take you for a chivalrous hero..."
"I do this because there's a purpose to it."
Whether that Tang Clan head lived or died, whether the Tang Clan people did whatever they did—none of it was my concern.
The number one goal in my head right now was exactly one thing.
The martial arts of the Four Dark Serpents and the Demonic Cult.
And if possible, the Tang Clan's poison arts and hidden weapon techniques along with them.
Second priority was securing materials for the elixir, and third was whatever reward I could wring out of the Tang Clan.
Saving the Tang Clan itself had been shoved all the way down that list.
"So—let's go."
And the moment I said it—
With a clatter from the kitchen, the innkeeper came walking toward us, arms laden with dishes.
Setting the food down on the table, he caught sight of Dang Sohee slumped over a chair and cried out in alarm.
"Please, enjoy your me—...al...Tang Clan..!"
"Gramps."
"...Eh?"
"Waitee. The Wudang sect will set Sichuan right again."
"Wu-...Wudang..!"
At that name, the innkeeper stumbled backward in shock.
Watching him, I began sampling the food he'd brought.
Apparently the rumor about the place having no room for customers had been true for good reason—the food was quite delicious.
With the meal finished, I took Dang Sohee, her mind still suppressed by my technique, and set off toward the heart of Sichuan.
Toward the Sichuan Tang Clan.
***
Dang Sohee walked at the front and crossed over the main gate. And the moment we, too, moved to follow her over—
The gatekeepers' spears crossed, barring our way.
"Hold it—who are you people!"
"...You're not warriors of the Tang Clan."
A sinister aura that soured my mood just from standing before it.
It seemed these were the Four Dark Serpents' men.
Well, since I was playing the Demonic Cult lord, I might as well commit to it.
Instead of stepping straight through the gate, I wrapped the scattered stones around me in Blood Demon qi and lifted them into the air.
"You don't even bow before your elders. What ill-mannered wretches."
"What—what the!"
"Void Plucking..!"
Before they could react, the stones tore through the air and smashed the gatekeepers' heads apart.
Thwack— crack—
Heads burst open like watermelons, painting the gate crimson.
"Ugh..."
"You're the daughter of a mountain bandit, and this turns your stomach?"
I drew the life force still lingering in their bodies into my own with the Blood Shadow Shadow Art, and stepped through the gate.
I spoke to Dang Sohee, who walked at the very front.
"Go to the highest-ranking Tang Clan man among those we can reach right now."
And so, spreading a carpet woven from the blood of the Four Dark Serpents' men as they closed in on me, I trampled across it and walked slowly forward.
"I don't recognize that face. Who might you be..."
"Then die."
My sword, steeped in Blood Demon qi, carved through the black-robed man's neck like a streak of light.
Still in that stance, I turned back to look at Nok Soyun.
"This should be acceptable for you, no?"
"...I'm grateful for the consideration."
Walking after her, we came upon a great hall.
The moment we pushed open its doors and stepped inside, three hidden projectiles ripped through the air and surged toward me all at once.
Fwiiiing— ping—
"What's this, a welcome greeting?"
A crescent-shaped mass of Blood Demon qi, compressed to its absolute limit, slammed into the incoming projectiles and blew the hall's doors clean off their frame.