Chapter 163
Chapter 163
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Tail (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Midway up the slopes near Shaohe.
Red-robed men were climbing up the valley.
Thud. Thud.
Those who had ascended the steep incline with astonishing lightness skills came to a halt in a small clearing.
Traces of a fierce battle that hadn't been fully erased remained there.
"……."
At the forefront of the enemy group.
A man in an even darker crimson martial robe knelt down.
After examining the marks on the ground and the broken trees, he spoke.
"This is the place."
Closing his eyes and retracing the traces, he inferred the flow of the battle and said,
"Silver Moon Flying Needle's condition wasn't bad."
The poison implanted in his body was functioning normally.
There were no signs of rampage or anomalies.
"It shouldn't have been a level that rookies or instructors could handle."
Did he fall to the Poison Needle Swordsman Wang Wu, as the rumors said?
"Squad leader. Over here."
But upon seeing the traces called out from one side, the man changed his mind.
"Hm. This is."
Footsteps were chaotically imprinted.
Most had been erased, but it wasn't enough to escape the eyes of those specialized in tracking traces.
"For some reason, movement was sealed. What followed was a melee?"
He accurately read the traces of Moyong Seon-ya and Yeo Mae-hong's joint assault in the past.
He also examined the bizarre traces that came after.
The conclusion he reached was astounding.
"Well, this is unexpected."
Deep footprints were imprinted, and the ground nearby, nearly a zhang (about six meters) long, had been gouged out.
It was evidence that even while struck by Silver Moon Flying Needle's attack, they had stepped and resisted.
The subsequent evidence was equally shocking.
"Heh. Even Silver Moon Flying Needle couldn't kill a single rookie?"
Even after obtaining the Shadow Poison?
"Unbelievable."
Tsking his tongue, the man also discerned one inexplicable point.
"How he died, whether there were other experts—no, it's too fragmentary."
But no matter how expert he was at reading traces, it was impossible to discern everything from a site where a fierce battle had occurred dozens of days ago.
He could only read this much.
But even that was enough for him to sense danger.
"It seems the young ones put up more of a fight than expected."
Perhaps there had been some kind of assistance this time as well.
The man who reached a conclusion tsked his tongue.
'Lord Eightfold Demon Apostle's worries weren't unfounded.'
In truth, the man hadn't come here to investigate traces of the likes of Silver Moon Flying Needle.
'I need to find out why the Jangcheon Sect collapsed.'
It was a place where the Eightfold Demon Apostle had personally intervened to seize Shaohe.
He had even planted elites from the Nether Heaven Society and created a secret branch.
The Zhang Manor, where bloodshed had erupted recently, was also a hideout managed by the branch.
Yet they had vanished in an instant.
'As if erased from the world.'
If there had been traces of battle, it would have been one thing, but there was nothing to go on.
All that could be known was that considerable experts had overrun the manor, resulting in numerous deaths.
At first, he thought it might be a counterattack from the Murim Alliance.
'Even Murim Alliance experts couldn't do that.'
Leaving no traces of death or killing was impossible.
It wasn't a matter of martial prowess.
'It's the difference between being skilled at killing or not.'
Any expert leaves traces while flaunting their signature techniques.
But in the manor, only the results of death remained.
Not a single trace lingered.
In such cases, it meant.
'Professional killers stepped in.'
Whose were they?
Could the Murim's amateur assassins pull this off?
As doubts piled up, the man could affirm one thing.
"This isn't something to gloss over."
Something was in Shaohe.
Possibly more dangerous than the overt threat of the Nangong Family.
The man cracked his knuckles.
"Might turn out to be quite a tough nut."
Though he was in a position to receive direct orders from the Eightfold Demon Apostle, the astonishing traces convinced him.
'I can't handle this alone.'
The Eightfold Demon Apostle would need to step in personally.
Having made up his mind, the man surveyed the blood-soaked ground and stood.
'They were cut down effortlessly.'
Among them, besides Wang Wu, there was another powerhouse.
"I'm returning to the Apostle."
It was then that the man turned.
"Why? All done now?"
The man startled at the languid voice.
His subordinates were equally shocked.
Clang!
Dozens of sword tips weren't even noticed as the opponent casually strolled out.
"I'm considerate, so I don't interfere during work hours."
"Who are you?"
"Would you even know if I told you?"
The man tensed.
Not only himself, but his eight squad members hadn't noticed the intruder's arrival.
Step. Step.
"What are you doing in broad daylight? Covering your face must be stuffy."
This is bad.
Killing intent swirled, yet the leisurely footsteps grated on his eyes.
The man, the squad leader, said,
"And you are?"
"Chu Un-hwi."
"From which faction?"
"Where else... ."
Swoosh!
Two squad members moved against the defenselessly approaching foe.
Flash!
Sharp sword light precisely sliced below the smirking lips.
Whoosh! Boom!
The ensuing blast of air pressure.
Proof that the two's joint attack was exceedingly swift and powerful.
But.
"These days' youngsters never stay quiet when elders speak."
Shake. Shake.
The one who should have been sprayed with blood and collapsed continued walking as if nothing happened.
That wasn't all.
Splurt! Splurt!
Instead, the heads of the two attackers soared into the air.
Thud. Thud.
With no gap in time, the headless bodies slumped to the ground simultaneously.
'What just... .'
He hadn't even read any counterattack or movement.
Despite the foe walking straight ahead before his eyes.
"Kill!"
The squad leader shouted in crisis.
'The opponent is an unfathomable powerhouse.'
They had to go all out from the start.
'No matter how strong, they can't withstand our Crimson Flame Squad's joint assault.'
The Crimson Flame Squad warriors were powerhouses personally trained by the Eightfold Demon Apostle.
Though they were merely the vanguard trackers, each was a peak expert eyeing the pinnacle.
'If even a small opening appears.'
They could definitely kill him.
He believed in the possibility because they had slain several levels superior through joint assaults multiple times.
But what he saw was not the hoped-for result.
"Annoying, but I guess I need to get used to it soon."
Supreme Void Dragon Swordsmanship.
'Supreme Void Dragon Swordsmanship?'
Wasn't that the Kunlun Sect's ultimate technique they were seeking?
When the Poison Needle Swordsman appeared, he thought it was over.
'Does this guy know of the Kunlun Sect?'
It was the moment his doubt burst forth.
Splurt!
Splash!
The moment the loosely dangling sword at his side was drawn, a fountain of blood erupted.
Swoosh! Stab!
The perfunctorily executed sword form pierced through a grave stance into the heart.
Stab. Stab.
As the sword flicked like swatting flies, punching holes in two squad members' hearts, the squad leader couldn't close his mouth.
'In an instant.'
It took only a few blinks for eight squad members to plunge their heads into pools of blood.
'A fiend. A demon.'
Where did this sword ghost come from?
The panicked squad leader circulated his qi.
Whoooong.
True energy rising from his dantian, infused with alien heat, flowed into the sword at his fingertips.
Roarrr.
Flames rising along the blade.
A wondrous technique created by the Eightfold Demon Apostle's ability.
'With this.'
He could hold off the foe for a while.
If he bought time, comrades who sensed the anomaly here would surely rush over.
'If I can hold out just a few moments.'
But despair flooded his eyes in an instant.
"Playing with fire gets your bed pissed."
The monster had approached unnoticed and grinned at him.
"Damn it!"
Swoosh!
Losing composure, the squad leader swung his sword wide.
He thought the sword qi and heat would cleave the monster, but the result was despairing.
Crack. Crunch.
Before he could even swing, immense force gripped his wrist, shattering bone.
"Kaaak!"
Spin. Crack!
The moment he felt the world invert, pain slammed into his back, gaping his mouth.
"Guk. Guk."
Sparks flew before his eyes, and a buzzing like swarming bees rang in his ears.
"Gekgek."
In pain too excruciating for screams, the barely conscious squad leader realized.
His wrists and legs broken, slammed back-first into the ground.
"Keuk... . Guk... . Keheok."
Through blurring vision, the monster loomed over him.
'Wh-what is this guy.'
Not the frivolous air from moments ago.
The man looking down with hands behind his back seemed vast and terrifying.
As if a colossal mountain had risen to gaze upon him.
A chilling voice reached his ear.
"I'll ask."
What are you?
"Gek. Keuook."
Can't speak. Mustn't speak.
The opponent, as if expecting that, said,
"From the familiar aura, seems like a lackey of one of the Apostles."
Too many to guess which.
'He knows of the Apostles?'
As shocked eyes met, the foe's lips twitched.
"What I'm curious about is one thing."
Crunch.
Disheveled hair fluttered in the wind as the opponent's rage intensified.
Beneath it, red pupils.
"How many of you scum there are."
I don't care how you wield flame abilities or what your goal is.
"Just curious how many I'll have to butcher today."
You can stay silent.
Chin.
The man placed a toe on his chest and said,
"I can count after killing them."
Crack. Crack.
Hearing his ribs slowly fracturing, the squad leader's mouth gaped.
He killed those he encountered next.
Rushing to places with unpleasant auras, severing necks for a while.
Perched on a small rock in one corner of the clearing, watching the evening sunset, Chu Un-hwi tsked.
"Tsk."
His gaze fell to bloodstains on his sleeve, twisting in disgust.
"This doesn't come off easily."
Unfamiliar swordsmanship was troublesome in many ways.
As he muttered, a familiar doll dropped thuddingly ahead.
"M-master."
It was Dan-ya.
"Seen enough?"
"Well."
Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.
Ignoring the desert assassins dropping from her back, Dan-ya scurried over and reported.
"Killed about thirty for now, but none would talk?"
This is embarrassing.
Dan-ya scratched her head sheepishly, her bandages soaked in blood.
She must have even tortured them to make them speak.
'But they didn't anyway.'
He had half-expected it.
"They're tight-lipped bastards."
"What now? Rampaging like this isn't bad."
Twitch twitch.
Her vigorously wriggling bandages showed quite the murderous intent.
She'd gleefully unleash a bloodstorm the moment he ordered.
"Normally, I'd pull back around now."
Stoop.
Looking at the limp bandage tip, Chu Un-hwi added,
"But can't ignore them buzzing right under my nose."
Thud.
Planting his scabbard in the ground, hands clasped behind his head, Chu Un-hwi said,
"Follow me. I'll open the slaughter ledger myself."
Boom!
Dan-ya and the desert assassins silently knelt on one knee to the side.