Chapter 27
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Guests from Sichuan (2)
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Sichuan's Eight Fiends.
They were a band of brigands who roamed the border between Qinghai and Sichuan Province, committing murders and robberies left and right. And as is typical of such scum, they lived like there was no tomorrow.
The difference from other bandit groups was that, despite all their reckless antics, they stubbornly managed to survive.
As time passed, the bounties on their heads swelled accordingly. No matter how many skilled pursuers or how large their numbers grew, the Fiends slaughtered them without fail wherever they went.
Eventually, an elder of the Qingcheng Sect could no longer stand their atrocities and led three disciples down the mountain to deal with them...
But lo and behold, even the Qingcheng elder and his disciples were stripped bare and sent packing in humiliation!
The Sichuan martial world was in an uproar.
What kind of sect was the Qingcheng Sect?
It was one of the renowned Daoist orthodox sects of the Central Plains, on par with Mount Hua Sect here in Shaanxi or Wudang Sect in Hubei—known to all in the martial world.
Granted, it lacked the weight of Mount Hua or Wudang, but the fact that its name was mentioned alongside theirs was what mattered. Not just anyone earned that honor.
And the title of elder in such a sect commanded respect for both skill and reputation, enough to make even the heads of lesser sects yield a step.
Yet these brigands had beaten a Qingcheng elder bloody! They couldn't possibly be ordinary bandits!
And sure enough.
The sole Qingcheng disciple who returned alive, battered and broken, brought shocking news.
It was the dying message from his master, who had fought to the end without fleeing, sacrificing himself to let his disciples escape.
'They practice forbidden demonic arts. I caught signs of the horrific practice of extracting countless human hearts for their cultivation. Fortunately, they haven't reached great completion yet. If I fail to eliminate them, please request swift follow-up action.'
Demonic humans.
The term referred to those who walked the path beyond humanity. More narrowly, it described madmen who gained unfathomable power through sinister great laws and then abused it recklessly without restraint.
Beings who had forsaken their humanity, whose very existence was a sin.
Naturally, every time demonic humans appeared, the martial world suffered greatly. Piling corpses into mountains and rivers of blood was par for the course.
Thus, the martial world showed no mercy to demonic humans. The moment their identities were exposed, they were publicly named enemies of the martial world, and from then on, orthodox and unorthodox sects alike banded together to hunt them down without regard for honor or fairness.
This time was no exception.
If anything, a pursuit squad centered on Qingcheng formed even faster. This was out of fear that the Eight Fiends might flee to Qinghai or beyond into Xinjiang and hole up. They worried that missing this window—before the demonic arts reached completion—would lead to exponentially growing casualties later.
Qingcheng issued official notices, and major Sichuan sects like the Tang Clan and Fuho Sect responded immediately. The emergence of 'demonic humans' wasn't one sect's problem—it threatened all of Sichuan's martial world.
The extermination squad assembled over a hundred for searches and drives, selecting twelve elite experts to confront the Fiends directly. They matched numbers out of pride, but chose twelve anticipating the Fiends might scatter.
And fifty days later.
That was how long it took to subdue the Eight Fiends.
As feared, the Fiends broke through the encirclement and fled all the way to Qinghai Province, past the provincial capital Xining, into a gorge called 'Iron Horn and Tiger Peak' before they were cornered.
After a half-day battle, most were killed.
The rest weren't recovered as corpses, but having suffered fatal wounds and plummeted off cliffs or sunk into lakes, they were presumed dead nine times out of ten.
This happened a year ago, and with no sightings since, it became the accepted truth.
Until today, when Jin Ga-yong uttered their name once more.
Three of the infamous Sichuan Eight Fiends were alive.
The silver lining was that the survivors didn't include the eldest or fifth, known to have the highest demonic cultivation levels back then. Had either been among them, even Jin Ga-yong wouldn't have tried handling it with their own strength alone.
That said, the survivors weren't weak. They were demonic path initiates who had escaped Sichuan's top experts!
So the team members debated rebelling as a group, while Jin Ga-yong meticulously explained why this fight was winnable. His arguments sounded plausible, but the team remained lukewarm.
My life is precious!
But Jin Ga-yong's persistence paid off. He gradually eased their wariness, then landed the knockout blow.
What else could it be?
Lavish rewards worth staking their precious lives on.
First, the Face Pursuit Squad's internally set success bounty was higher than last time.
Moreover, hefty bounties from Sichuan still hung on each Fiend's head. If resolved successfully, the Squad promised to collect and distribute them on the team's behalf.
(Claiming full bounties from officials or large organizations as an individual is never easy—it demands time and effort. But with the Martial Qin Alliance backing the Face Pursuit Squad, no one would dare play tricks.)
And that wasn't all.
Jin Ga-yong added that if he captured them, he'd yield his entire share to the team.
"What about the leader?"
"Do you think I'd fight half-heartedly just because there's no bounty on me?"
"Well... no?"
"Exactly. But what about you all?"
"It'd... affect us a bit?"
"Right. So we'll redistribute rewards prioritizing those in need. That way, we maximize the team's morale. A fine decision from your leader, no?"
"Hahaha, quite."
Choi Ong laughed awkwardly, chiming in.
With persuasion complete, Jin Ga-yong's face hardened as he handed out thick dossiers and dove into the main briefing.
"As the reports show, after settling in the 'Yonghwa' district, disappearances there have spiked. True, Yonghwa's a slum where people vanish quietly anyway, so initial rumors were dismissed. But per the data, recent numbers show a significant increase compared to prior years, even without plagues or incidents."
"Hmm..."
"Question: why?"
Jin Ga-yong framed it as a question, but he wasn't truly asking.
Flying Tiger flipped through his copy, checking disappearance trends, then scrutinized the section on the Fiends' martial art.
Blood Moss Black Rock Scripture.
Meaning 'black rock soaked in blood moss,' it was the signature demonic art of a demonic clan wiped out decades ago.
Its trait: as cultivation advanced, skin hardened like iron armor, imbued with insidious energy that devoured life on mere contact.
But cultivation required grotesque materials: freshly beating human hearts.
And the number needed skyrocketed per stage. One for the final step of the first stage, two at that stage's end, four for the third, eight for the fourth...
Climbing to the final tenth stage demanded a thousand hearts. Who could stomach such madness?
A Jeok-gang let out a long sigh before speaking.
"So the surviving Fiends are kidnapping slum dwellers in Yonghwa to cultivate this Blood Moss Black Rock Scripture? Makes sense—no one bats an eye at disappearances there."
"Precisely."
Ye Dok-du spat curses in disgust, unable to hide his worry.
"Fucking scum! But they've been spotted here for half a year already. Their cultivation hasn't surged in that time, has it?"
"Displacing existing black path sects and securing territory would've taken months. Too short for real progress. That's exactly why we must eliminate them swiftly."
"Drag our feet, and they grow stronger. Strike now—is that it?"
Jin Ga-yong nodded emphatically at A Jeok-gang's words.
"Yes. But above all, remember the mounting sacrifices if we leave them be. These are evil spirits who abandoned human decency. That's who we're exterminating!"
The innocent deaths clearly gnawed at him.
Jin Ga-yong was genuinely furious—ethereal heat shimmered from his eyes, pupils clear with righteous clarity.
Such a rare gaze. Flying Tiger still found this man awkward.
Curiosity bubbled up simultaneously.
How did such an upright man end up scheming with the killers of his master and senior brothers?
In the martial world, they call the killer of one's parents or master an 'enemy defying heaven and earth'—better death than unavenged grudge.
So what was this guy thinking?
Lost in thought, Flying Tiger's expression toward Jin Ga-yong must have looked ambiguous.
"Flying Tiger, something to say?"
"Ah..."
Flying Tiger snapped to, flashing a cheeky grin.
"So the leader means this mission is about exterminating three vermin harming the world—and we should take pride in it, right?"
"Exactly. But if you're not keen, I won't force you. Just do your part, and what justification you need—money, fame, revenge, whatever—is your business."
"No, I'll follow your lead this time and do some good. Fancy value added to paid swordplay? Feels awkward, but not bad."
"..."
With Flying Tiger's quip, the Face Pursuit Unit Jeong analyzed the targets' profiles and plunged into detailed strategy planning.