Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Crescent Moon Sect's Secret History
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In most sects,
there was a procedure they never skipped when educating newly initiated disciples.
It was reciting the sect's history in exhaustive detail.
A process meant to motivate them.
'Our sect was once so great, a time when we could walk with our heads held high.'
So devote yourself to training.
It was commonplace.
A boast disguised as passing down the sect's history.
The disciple who heard it would develop respect for the sect.
And resolve to write their own legend!
Even the Wudang Sect followed this standard procedure without fail for outer disciples.
It was incredibly boring and agonizing.
'But my master was different.'
After becoming his disciple more or less by force,
I worried.
About how to pretend to be interested in the sect's history.
Such concerns proved unnecessary.
Training started right away.
'Does the sect have a short history?'
Not quite—the buildings exuded long years of tradition.
I figured it was just a personality that didn't fuss over formalities.
I realized later.
The reason my master hadn't taught the sect's history first.
-Disciple. Sit down. Today, I'll tell you about our sect's history.
It was the day I marked one year since joining the Crescent Moon Sect.
Thrilled at the prospect of learning systematic martial arts, I trained diligently every day in the Crescent Moon Flowing Clouds Technique.
Once I felt the sect's heart method had taken root in my dantian,
I suddenly received a summons from my master.
And was struck by lightning out of the blue.
-The roots of our Crescent Moon Sect lie in the Sun and Moon Divine Cult.
-Pardon?
-The Sun and Moon Divine Cult. Never heard of it?
-The Demonic Cult? Aren't we a Taoist sect?
My vision spun.
The Demonic Cult.
What nonsense is this?
The Demonic Cult that giggles insanely after slaughtering people?
Of course.
Even after dragging me to the Wudang Sect, he hadn't come to his senses.
Why would he teach such powerful arts for free?
Now I'm branded a public enemy of murim and doomed to die in a gutter.
And so on.
A whirlwind of thoughts raced through my head.
Yet I didn't bolt from my seat right then.
Because I knew running wouldn't save me.
And because
the heart method I had been cultivating was impeccably pure.
-The Sun and Moon Divine Cult wasn't always like that from the start.
-Pardon?
-Its doctrine began with the belief that by overcoming the demonic, one could reach a greater transcendence. These days, time has twisted it into what's called the Demonic Cult...
I ended up hearing the Demonic Cult's history by accident.
-...So rest assured. Our Crescent Moon Sect branched off from the Sun and Moon Divine Cult in ancient times.
-What the hell. Anyway, aren't we just a Taoist sect now?
-That's not how they'll see it. They'll come charging with fire in their eyes.
-Master. But isn't it too much to reveal this crucial fact only now, when I can't back out?
-......
-This is straight-up robbery!
-Insolent!
I felt a bit cheated,
but whatever. He'd taught me martial arts.
Events from centuries ago were none of my concern.
* Traitor, huh.
Watch your mouth.
Should I chop off your other arm to balance it out?
"A grave my ass. Looks like I need to dig yours first."
"Heh heh, yap away."
"Called for reinforcements, did you?"
"Yeah... Not the fakes I fed to the ronin, but the real elite unit that consumed the Crimson Blood Pills. They're coming to slaughter you."
As expected.
The Crimson Blood Pills scattered among the ronin were bait.
Their scheme felt half-baked.
Crimson Blood Squad, was it?
Probably a subordinate unit to the Blood Demon Squad.
"How do you plan to hold out till then?"
"What are you fools doing? Honor the contract, trash!"
No Cheol suddenly bellowed.
At the ronin who had been standing around dumbfoundedly.
"Pay up!"
So they were hired by No Cheol after all.
That explained why they tagged along with flimsy excuses.
But despite his furious shout, the ronin hesitated.
They must have seen it too.
The demonic arts No Cheol unleashed, their viciousness.
"Putting on a brave face, but you don't wanna die, huh? Even begging ronin for help."
"Shut your trap!"
"Ronin, listen up! If you have eyes, you've seen it—these guys are from that sinister Demonic Cult!"
I infused my voice with internal energy and shouted to the ronin.
"No matter how much ronin live and die for money, no sane one wants ties to the Demonic Cult!"
Teaming up with the Demonic Cult.
Perfect way to become a murim public enemy.
I had no idea what price No Cheol promised, but money you can't spend is pointless foolishness.
A lifetime hunted by the Murim Alliance.
Moreover.
"You think the Demonic Cult will honor their word? Swallow anything when you're starving, and you'll get sick."
Swallow anything when you're starving, and you'll get sick.
Among ronin, it was like a proverb.
Meaning, bite any job recklessly and you won't live out your days.
"I'm Yi Se-woong of the White Yang Group. I promise you double what they offered! What better deal is there?"
I felt the ronin stirring.
A chance to avoid Demonic Cult entanglement.
Plus double the pay.
How could they resist?
"If we go down, you think you'll sleep soundly? Hurry and fulfill the contract!"
But that was it.
Hearing the black-clad man's shout, the ronin drew their swords and advanced on us as if resolved.
Looks like they'd taken more than just money.
"That buys enough time. Savor the creeping terror of death."
"This bastard, the more I hear—"
A guy no better than a walking corpse,
whom I'd left alone to conserve energy, kept yapping, and it grated.
I approached the withering No Cheol and slashed his throat.
Slash!
He thrashed, but with his true essence qi already drawn, escape was impossible.
No Cheol, still grinning even as body and head parted.
A fitting end for a zealot.
'Fanatics are beyond comprehension.'
What drives someone that far?
Sacrificing life at death's door in loyalty.
Rushing like moths to flame, knowing their master won't blink.
I couldn't fathom the madmen's mindset.
The black-clad men lunged to retrieve No Cheol's corpse.
I brushed them off lightly and rejoined Jegal Yeong.
"Casually throwing around the White Yang Group's name with empty promises."
"Should I have asked permission first?"
"Nah. I'd have offered quadruple."
Ah, would that have worked?
"What's the plan?"
"Hold out here."
Jegal Yeong's thinking matched mine.
We could have fled while the Demonic Cultists panicked without their focal point.
But to where?
Fujian City's terrain was treacherous.
The worst for evading pursuit.
If they'd ambushed troops in the brush, it would be disastrous.
Better to face enemies head-on in open ground like now.
The ronin were holding our ankles too.
"We'll form an array. You and senior block the rushers."
"No one touches junior!"
Jegal Yeong pulled talismans from her bosom.
She placed them one by one in a precise pattern.
Just then, Demonic Cultists charging toward us crested the hill beyond.
The ronin dawdled.
Their employer No Cheol was dead,
and they'd realized the truth about the Demonic Cult.
They had nothing to gain.
Lose? Death.
Win? Hunted.
While the ronin dithered,
Jegal Yeong finished her preparations against the enemy.
'Good thing I packed plenty of talismans.'
Three Stars Linked Ring Formation.
With herself at the center, linking Hwangbo Seyul and Yi Se-woong into the array.
As long as the spell held, their energies would bolster one another.
Right on cue, Demonic Cultists surged like tidal waves.
Not one had an ordinary aura.
As if all we'd faced till now were mere scouts.
Demonic Cultists swarming densely from all sides.
Their eyes visible through masks were unnatural.
Bloodshot red, like they'd painted them.
'This is the Demonic Cult.'
Blind murderous intent radiated.
Stab!
I pierced the heart of the first to charge.
Convulsing body.
The tremor traveled up my blade.
The unfamiliar sensation of killing.
But no time to hesitate.
* Slash!
Jegal Yeong cleaved a Demonic Cultist approaching from the side.
Using it as cover, another targeted her.
Boom!
The foe's body swelled, then exploded with a massive blast.
A spray of blood rained toward her.
Jegal Yeong barely blocked it with sword qi.
Whatever the blood touched around her began corroding like acid.
'So that's why Yi Se-woong aimed for the heart.'
Self-destructing.
'These aren't people we're fighting.'
They were tools.
Pieces moved solely to execute the Demonic Cult's orders.
Burning their own lives to kill foes.
An incomprehensible mindset.
Even lost in thought briefly, her sword didn't stop.
'Too many.'
She'd already cut down dozens, she couldn't tell.
Her blade was starting to dull.
Wiping the blood with a talisman, she surveyed the battlefield.
'Not even distinguishing friend from foe.'
The ronin who'd been set to attack us on No Cheol's orders.
Now they fled in panic from Demonic Cultist assaults, not daring to charge.
Just pretending to encircle.
'Still at a disadvantage.'
Overwhelming numbers of Demonic Cultists.
Kill them, kill them—endless rushers.
Like battling a locust swarm.
Thick blood stench assaulted her nose.
'Holding for now, but...'
Thanks to Yi Se-woong's exploits.
Weaving through enemy ranks, severing Demonic Cultists' breaths.
His face expressionless like a laborer, but fatigue was hard to hide.
Overwhelming numbers.
'Senior's struggling too.'
Hwangbo Seyul lacked experience in merciless killing,
despite severing Demonic Cultists without hesitation.
The awkwardness showed.
Momentary hesitations caused incremental losses.
If the fight dragged on, exhaustion would hit soon.
Just like her.
'No choice but to use it?'
Jegal Yeong reached into her bosom for the plaque.
Annihilation.
The wooden plaque etched with brutal characters.
This was beyond what three could handle.
As Jegal Yeong went for her final resort,
"Who's causing this ruckus in the ronins' city?"
A man appeared.
"It's the Ronin King!"
"The Ronin King's here!"
"Why here?"
The ronin buzzed.
The man leaping into the fray, drawing all eyes,
was their king.
"You damned fools! Clean your ears and listen—!"
Ronin King.
He roared a lion's bellow that shook the eardrums.
"Whether you flail to survive, choke on Crimson Blood Pills, or whatever... that's your business. I didn't control you biting any job for greed out of respect for your freedom!"
One by one.
The ronin, battered in the melee, turned gazes to him.
"But there's a line! Teaming with the Demonic Cult? Have you forgotten their past atrocities?!"
Reprimand.
A scolding aimed at the ronin.
"You shouldn't have sold your souls! If you still call yourselves ronin, snap out of it now!"
Bang!
The Ronin King slammed his fists together at chest level and shouted.
"Only those who don't value their lives, come at me!"
His resounding cry.
The ronin lost all will to fight.
"You idiots, we're in the same boat! Think you'll be spared turning tail now?!"
No Cheol's subordinate tried to stop them, to no avail.
"I-I'm out!"
"Better to be imprisoned!"
"Fuck it, kill me if you must! Can't defy the Ronin King!"
One by one, ronin turned their backs on the Demonic Cultists.
Fear spreads like waves.
Soon, all ronin gathered at their king's side.
The natural outcome.
Fujian City, the ronins' domain.
The Ronin King promised them boundless freedom.
But one iron rule they followed, even without his direct order.
'Never oppose the Ronin King.'
Since the day he single-handedly faced the Wudang Sect.
Not one disobeyed.
Their king.
"Planning this from the start?"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
The Ronin King stood casually beside her.
Jegal Yeong unwittingly nagged.
"Didn't you say you wouldn't intervene? Said you'd let them loose freely."
"Freedom. Important. Still think so."
"Then..."
"But helping you is my freedom too, no?"
"That's..."
"The little guy who filled ronin bellies after ages is in peril. Even a nominal king should make a show."
Grinning slyly with banter,
Jegal Yeong couldn't bring herself to snap harshly.