Chapter 135
Chapter 135: Eight Desolations Heavenly Slaughter Formation
"Yes, Alliance Leader."
It was Eul Ji-tae's voice. He had been standing there from the beginning.
Hyeoncheon Jinin silently emptied his teacup. He quietly thought about what words had been exchanged between Seungchan and Dong Guang-chuan at Deungseon Hall.
However, there was nothing he could figure out. He couldn't deduce even the slightest clue.
Since the Eighteen Arhats who secretly followed Seungchan like shadows were there, eavesdropping on their conversation was impossible from the start.
He merely felt that Dong Guang-chuan might be a far more important figure than he had initially thought.
"It's definitely clear he's not Soldier Eccentric's disciple. Then who exactly is he?"
Eul Ji-tae knew no more about Dong Guang-chuan than Hyeoncheon Jinin did. Should he call him someone who, just when you get a little closer and think you know him a bit, immediately runs far away again?
Hyeoncheon Jinin gently stroked his white beard once and continued speaking.
"Still, I think Soldier Eccentric might know a little. I'd like to ask him... Where is he now?"
However, Eul Ji-tae's thoughts were completely different from Hyeoncheon Jinin's.
Soldier Eccentric probably wouldn't be much different from himself.
Soldier Eccentric, who had been in the north, clearly didn't seem to know much about Dong Guang-chuan. It was the same when they met again. If he had known that Dong Guang-chuan was a master of such caliber, he wouldn't have mentioned wanting to take him as a disciple in the first place.
Since he was currently outside the Alliance, he would have even less grasp on Dong Guang-chuan and would know even less than himself.
Perhaps when he returns and sees Dong Guang-chuan performing actively at the tournament, he'll be as surprised as I was.
'Maybe even more surprised.'
He might be astounded by Dong Guang-chuan's hidden skills that no one expected.
"He probably knows almost nothing about Dong Guang-chuan."
Eul Ji-tae spoke honestly to Hyeoncheon Jinin.
Hyeoncheon Jinin nodded at that, but asked about Soldier Eccentric again.
"That may be so. However, for now, isn't Soldier Eccentric the closest person to him? Where is he now?"
"...He's not at the Alliance right now."
"Not at the Alliance?"
"He went out last time to investigate the ghost incident in Zhengzhou's entertainment district and hasn't returned yet."
"With Great Master Seungchan away from the Alliance, Soldier Eccentric too?"
"That's right."
"This feels ominous. Even if we know and control everything within the Alliance, we can't know what will happen, yet there are so many unknown and uncontrollable factors like this."
"You don't need to worry too much. Currently, the entire Four Direction Divine Squads including the Azure Dragon Squad and Vermillion Bird Squad, the Three Halls of Demon Subduing Hall, Evil Conquering Hall, and Black Breaking Hall, as well as the Martial Protection Forest Guard and the Martial World Protection Corps I lead are surrounding the Murim Alliance's perimeter. Additionally, the two eyes of the Yang Response Squad and Yin Extermination Squad are monitoring the entire Murim Alliance territory. Now, if only the elites of the Ten Pavilions who were deployed for the battle with Heavenly Demon Castle return, almost all of the Murim Alliance's forces will be assembled at the main Alliance."
It was certainly a tremendous military force. Nevertheless, Hyeoncheon Jinin did not feel reassured.
He shook his head and said.
"No, it's not. This time, truly ominous fortune seems to be gradually eroding the Murim Alliance."
Hyeoncheon Jinin had been in the Martial World for many years and had never doubted the success of this plan while devising it. He had been confident that no matter how much it was the Extreme Yin Star of Heavenly Calamity, they could definitely destroy it with this level of preparation. But that confidence was wavering. It was hard to pinpoint exactly, but something kept cracking.
The appearance of beings called ghosts, the Hall of Gathering Evil's suspicious movements, the participation of masters whose identities were completely unknown...
Thinking about it, there were countless factors that deviated from the plan.
The blade of instinct that he had honed for so long kept poking at the top of his head.
'This might be difficult as is. In the worst case...'
It might not end at just the Murim Alliance collapsing.
Hyeoncheon Jinin shook his head again and erased the worst-case scenario from his mind. Then he spoke in a heavy voice.
"Send out Murim missives immediately to all Orthodox factions including the Nine Sects and One Society and the Four Great Families."
"What? What do you mean?"
"Tell them to send large-scale congratulatory delegations to the Murim Alliance."
"...!"
"The pretext is that the Alliance will hold a grand closing ceremony for the Heavenly Youth Martial Arts Tournament combined with the inauguration ceremony for the Blue New Star Corps."
"However, we cannot send out Murim missives for such a reason. Alliance Leader."
"If that won't work—"
Hyeoncheon Jinin paused briefly and stood up from his seat to draw back the folding screen.
Eul Ji-tae was looking at him with a hardened face.
Hyeoncheon Jinin finished his words.
"Tell them the Extreme Yin Star of Heavenly Calamity has appeared at the Murim Alliance."
"That's not yet a confirmed fact, is it?"
"If that turns out not to be true, I will leave this Murim Alliance."
"...!"
"With conditions like this, wouldn't it be acceptable to overstep my authority as Murim Alliance Leader once? Squad Leader Eul."
He could no longer refuse Hyeoncheon Jinin's order. Eul Ji-tae bowed his head heavily and left the room.
Through the window behind the drawn screen, cold starlight seeped in.
Thus the night gradually deepened.
***
A Guandi Temple on the outskirts of Zhengzhou where darkness had descended heavily.
The fierce eyes of the Guan Yu statue reflected the moonlight, making it even more eerie.
Then at some moment.
Snap—
The head of the Guan Yu statue disappeared in an instant.
Then a mischievous woman's voice could be heard.
"It's mine. Don't look at it. It's unlucky."
Yeon Yeong-ha, it was her.
She was squatting alone inside the Guandi Temple. Then, wanting to monopolize the moonlight, she had blown off the head of the Guan Yu statue.
Looking at the headless Guan Yu statue, she finally seemed satisfied and raised her head to focus on the moon again.
How much more time had passed?
Rustle-rustle.
With the sound of grass rustling, ten black shadows entered the Guandi Temple. As soon as they entered, they immediately surrounded Yeon Yeong-ha in a circle and bowed their heads.
"Don't block it."
The moonlight that had been shining down on Yeon Yeong-ha's face was blocked because of the shadow standing in the direction from which the moonlight came.
However, the shadow remained in that spot despite Yeon Yeong-ha's petulant words. As if it couldn't understand the command, in contrast to its respectful attitude.
Snap-
Like the head of the Guan Yu statue, the shadow's head also disappeared from that spot.
The moonlight beautifully traced Yeon Yeong-ha's innocent face again. Because the path for light to pass through had opened again with the shadow's head disappearing.
But strangely, the shadow remained standing in that spot even though its head had disappeared. It was as if it was saying, 'I'm not dead yet.'
"Old Uncle."
"Yes, Young Lady."
Had he appeared together with the shadows? Old Uncle responded to Yeon Yeong-ha's call. For some reason, he stood outside the Guandi Temple without entering inside.
"Are those things okay without heads?"
"The Eight Desolations Heavenly Slaughter Formation can remain active until their entire bodies completely collapse. However, without a brain—"
"They won't be able to understand commands. Well, it doesn't matter. I can just tie all the remaining souls of those assigned to that guy directly to me."
"However—"
"It's fine. Old Uncle. I've already experienced it once."
Old Uncle didn't say anything more at Yeon Yeong-ha's absurd phrase 'already once.' Because he knew all too well what that meant.
Yeon Yeong-ha rested her elbows on her knees from her squatting position and placed her chin on her palms. Fixed like that, she could see the moon better, or rather, the star floating next to the moon.
"It's so bright, but I think today will really be the last time, so I'm really sorry. It was my only friend who understood me and matched me."
She continued staring at it like that for a while before standing up from her seat.
"But that's exactly why I can't let it go anymore."
When has it changed like that?
Her eyes had turned pitch black.
Whuuuum—
Suddenly, as if the ground was shaking, pitch-black dark energy came out of her eyes and enveloped the entire Guandi Temple.
Thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack—
The pitch-black energy began mercilessly pounding the bodies of the Eight Desolations Heavenly Slaughter Formation like a storm. The Yin energy was so dense that from outside, one couldn't see at all what was happening inside the Guandi Temple. However, the more the Eight Desolations Heavenly Slaughter Formation received the Extreme Yin Heavenly Calamity Energy with their entire bodies, the more its color gradually faded.
Some time later.
The Guandi Temple regained its quietness, no different than before.
Outside the Guandi Temple, only Old Uncle, who had been silently watching from beginning to end, was looking at that final moment.
Yeon Yeong-ha's eyes had recovered their original mischievous light as if nothing had happened.
She playfully stuck out her tongue slightly to lick her lips, then left the Guandi Temple together with Old Uncle.
And.
As she disappeared, the Eight Desolations Heavenly Slaughter Formation also scattered in all directions. Leaving behind only one headless corpse.
***
Hwang Chun-il woke up in the middle of the night feeling the need to urinate.
He remembered having a heavy drinking session with his neighbor Lee Gu yesterday, but after that, he had no memory at all. Seeing the chilly wind pounding his entire body, he must have been unable to withstand the alcohol on his way home and fell asleep right there.
He blinked his still dazed eyes. Since he was lying down, the moonlight and starlight converged directly in his eyes. His vision recovered very slowly because of that.
Once he became a little accustomed to the darkness, he propped himself up from the dirt ground.
This time his head spun. His stomach churned too.
Even in the midst of this, Hwang Chun-il pulled down his pants and first emptied his bladder that was full of alcohol. His entire body trembled with the refreshing trickling sound.
"Kya-. As expected, pissing after drinking is the most refreshing thing in the world."
This is indeed why one drinks. It's hard to describe in words the pleasure of spraying urine into the air while receiving the cool night breeze after getting pleasantly drunk.
Was it thanks to that? His hazy vision also recovered more quickly.
But.
"Hm? What are those things in the middle of the night?"
He saw dozens of shadows approaching this way, piercing through the darkness. They were so fast that their flickering shadows grew rapidly in size and their outlines became clear. It quickly became clear enough to tell that they were all wearing bamboo hats.
Hwang Chun-il shook his head, wondering if this was a dream. Urine splattered on his pants hem and hands, but he didn't care. Strictly speaking, he didn't even feel it. It was because an inexplicable anxiety had descended upon him.
He also had the thought, 'What if they're ghosts?'
The bamboo hat wearers had already arrived in front of him. An indescribable chill emanated from them, making Hwang Chun-il's body tremble.
"...G-ghosts, go away, and if you're people, reveal your identities... oh..."
Even while trembling with fear, Hwang Chun-il barely managed to ask out loud. However, there was no answer from the other side.
He only saw the bamboo hat wearer at the very front shrug his shoulders. That was the last scene he saw in this world.
Crack.
Hwang Chun-il's head burst open as if struck by lightning.
The speed at which the bamboo hat wearer's hand moved was truly lightning-fast. There was no way Hwang Chun-il, who was merely a peasant, could block it.
Squelch.
Hwang Chun-il died instantly.
The hand of the bamboo hat wearer that was revealed outside while killing him was pitch black. And because he used his hand violently, his bamboo hat came off.
Has Hwang Chun-il's prediction before death been correct?
His eyes revealed in the moonlight were dark like those of a ghost.
Shhk.
The bamboo hat wearer bent at the waist to pick up the bamboo hat and put it back on his head. Then he continued heading south. Soon the other bamboo hat wearers also moved quickly in step with him.
That direction was precisely toward the Murim Alliance.