Chapter 434
Chapter 434
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 113
>Chapter Title: Collapsed Old Fortress Ruins (1)
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-Shoooo!
High in the sky, above the clouds.
A massive demon beast, Hoomwon in its true form, was soaring through the air at tremendous speed.
Clutched in Hoomwon's enormous talons was a large cart, upon which rode Mok Kyung-un along with Seop Chun, the acting head of the Escort Unit—First Escort Captain; Mong Mu-yak, Second Escort Captain; the masked Mara Hyeon; Demon-Subduing Fist Monk Broken Precept Ja Geum-jeong; and Go Yang-so of the Eight Venom Serpent Staff.
Their destination was the ruined fortress at the northern tip of Shaanxi Province.
The distance was too far for a carriage or horse, and even with lightness skill, their differing speeds made it impractical. Thus, they rode the fastest means of transport: the demon beast Hoomwon.
Mong Mu-yak spoke to Seop Chun, who wore a sullen expression.
“You’re not scared, are you?”
“As if. You think I’d be scared after riding this thing once or twice?”
“Then... is it because you couldn’t become a Dharma Protector, even if it’s just temporary?”
At Mong Mu-yak’s words, Seop Chun cleared his throat.
“Ahem.”
Before arriving here, they had been assigned temporary positions to organize the hierarchy.
The new massive organization’s structure wasn’t fully formalized yet, but in recognition of their merits serving Mok Kyung-un, they had been granted the temporary roles of Escort Unit Captains.
However,
[You three possess exceptional martial prowess. Until the hierarchy is formalized, serve directly under the lord as Dharma Protectors for now.]
The most senior among them, Go Yang-so of the Eight Venom Serpent Staff, became the Grand Dharma Protector; the masked Mara Hyeon, the Right Dharma Protector; and Broken Precept Monk Ja Geum-jeong, the Left Dharma Protector.
This had left Seop Chun inwardly irritated.
He was the one who had first recognized Mok Kyung-un’s potential and aspired to be his right-hand man.
Yet, outmatched in martial skill, he had yielded the Dharma Protector positions to outsiders, leaving him in a foul mood.
At that moment, Broken Precept Monk Ja Geum-jeong took a swig from his gourd and spoke.
“This monk couldn’t care less about positions or titles. If you want to be a Dharma Protector or whatever, take it. Heh heh.”
Seop Chun’s lips pursed at Ja Geum-jeong’s tone, as if bestowing a great favor.
He had pride. Having been relegated to Escort Captain due to inferior skill, handing it over would tarnish his face.
“Never mind. Ahem.”
“Heh heh. You’re sulking over something like this?”
“No such thing. Soon enough, I’ll claim that position with my own strength. No need for your charity.”
“Keuh huh huh. Do as you like.”
“Stop picking fights and hand over the liquor.”
“Plenty to go around.”
Ja Geum-jeong tossed the gourd to Seop Chun.
-Thud!
Catching it, Seop Chun—fuming—chugged the liquor furiously.
“Hey! You planning to drink it all?”
Ja Geum-jeong had no interest in positions, but liquor was non-negotiable.
As if aware of this, Seop Chun guzzled as if to empty the gourd entirely.
Watching them, Go Yang-so of the Eight Venom Serpent Staff chuckled softly.
“Heh heh heh. Youth is truly something.”
Right now, they headed toward a mission potentially more dangerous than the escape from Kaifeng’s imperial capital or the Heaven-Earth Society’s civil war.
Milhoe still hadn’t revealed its full power.
It had only shown a fraction, manipulating the enemy’s forces.
If they unleashed their true strength, unimaginable trials would follow.
Yet these men showed no worry.
That meant,
‘They trust him? This man.’
Go Yang-so’s gaze turned to Mok Kyung-un.
Mok Kyung-un’s hair fluttered in the wind, his figure breathtakingly beautiful.
Even he would have felt uneasy about clashing with Milhoe’s full might in the past.
But at some point, expectations had arisen for this man.
A belief that he could overcome anything.
‘Well, even this old man feels that way. Why wouldn’t the young ones?’
Reflecting on himself through their attitudes, Go Yang-so straightened his posture.
Rather than useless worries, circulating qi to steady body and mind while building battle intent might be better.
But right then—
-Hic!
Mok Kyung-un, gazing into the distance, rose to his feet on the cart.
What is it? Just then, Hoomwon, which had been flying ahead, flapped its wings roughly and halted mid-flight.
“This is...”
Even Broken Precept Monk Ja Geum-jeong, who had been trying to snatch the gourd from Seop Chun, frowned and scanned the surroundings.
Why?
-Grooooar!
‘What’s this?’
They already knew why Hoomwon had stopped.
Ahead, along their flight path, amid storm clouds loomed a serpent-like monstrosity with wings rivaling Hoomwon’s size.
But it wasn’t alone.
-Shrieeeek!
Winds howled as more appeared from behind and the flanks.
All were bird-formed Yi-mae-mang-ryang.
Go Yang-so of the Eight Venom Serpent Staff gripped his staff and clicked his tongue.
“To think we’d be intercepted here.”
They had assumed flying above the clouds would avoid enemies.
But their foes weren’t mere humans.
It was Milhoe, which commanded Yi-mae-mang-ryang as well.
“Heh heh. Can’t let our guard down for a moment.”
Ja Geum-jeong promptly drew the Vajra Staff from his robes, received from his old master Abbot Gongjeon of Shaolin.
[Take these scriptures just in case. Beware—the ghosts beyond your sight.]
‘Master’s wisdom was right.’
Following this lord meant constant clashes with inhuman entities.
Life was never dull.
One always staked their neck.
-Krurrr rumble!
Then, from the winged serpent monstrosity blocking their front, six arms began sprouting.
Seeing this, Mok Kyung-un recalled something from the Classic of Mountains and Seas Monster Primer.
It was the demon beast Bi-yu of Western Peak Taehwa Mountain.
The primer stated that when Bi-yu appeared from the heavens, great droughts followed.
For Bi-yu carried away the rain clouds.
-Crackle zap!
Lightning formed from the dark clouds was drawn into Bi-yu’s hands.
Witnessing this, Mok Kyung-un gripped his sword formula and said,
“It’s coming.”
No sooner had he spoken than Bi-yu hurled the lightning like a divine beast from myth, while the encircling Yi-mae-mang-ryang charged all at once.
* * *
A dark throne chamber.
Before the stone throne knelt a long-haired man in pristine white uniform, paying respects on one knee.
The man, lips reddened with rouge, spoke.
“We’ve found them. As expected, they’re traveling through the skies.”
At his report, the being in the shadows of the throne finally parted its lips.
“If only my eyes were there, it would’ve been quite the spectacle. Pity.”
He had lost the Yi-mae-mang-ryang eye planted during Heaven-Earth Society surveillance.
Thus, he couldn’t observe directly.
Yet, from the civil war, he had gauged Mok Kyung-un’s side’s power and predicted they’d fly high to that place.
Hence, he dispatched aerial forces.
What calamity would befall even a single mistake at such heights?
He had missed an entertaining show.
The long-haired man spoke with brimming confidence.
“Good news soon, I assure you.”
“Good news?”
“Yes.”
“You think that’ll kill him?”
“Pardon? But...”
“Spare me. He won’t die from this.”
“...Even peerless masters can’t survive a fall from such heights—the impact alone...”
“If he’d die from that, he wouldn’t be worth our attention.”
The throne’s being stated firmly, leaving the red-lipped man baffled.
The being scoffed.
“Binding his ankles is enough.”
Killing them wasn’t the goal from the start.
Destroy or cripple the demon beast Hoomwon, their transport, and its wings.
Then they couldn’t fly anymore.
Even if he was a transcendent master beyond the Seven Heavens—middle realm’s pinnacle—lightness skill couldn’t cover from Heaven-Earth Society to northern Shaanxi in time.
“Heh heh heh.”
By his arrival, all would be over.
Ryu So-wol’s魄 too, and the forbidden art merging soul and魄—they’d be his.
Then, despair for that man.
And that wasn’t the end.
Returning to Heaven-Earth Society would unveil deeper hells.
The being’s lips curled upward in the shadows.
But then, someone entered the chamber.
A scarred, disheveled middle-aged man.
-Thud!
Kneeling before him, the man paid respects and reported.
“My lord. I have finally brought what you desired.”
At this, the red-lipped man beamed.
“It’s arrived at last. Mok Gan. Bring it forth.”
-Swish!
At his command, the middle-aged man beckoned behind.
Two masked men waiting outside carried in a coffin and set it before the throne.
“Open it.”
The masked men peeled off the talisman sealing the seam and lifted the lid.
Inside lay a breathtakingly beautiful woman, acupoints sealed, posture rigid.
It was Wi So-yeon, the Heaven-Earth Society Lord’s youngest disciple.
Even with eyes closed, her beauty undimmed, drawing a soft gasp from the red-lipped man.
He clasped hands toward the throne’s being in congratulations.
“My felicitations. Mok Gan. At last...”
-Swish!
But before he finished, the throne’s being raised a hand, halting the praise.
Then, the left armrest beneath its hand crumbled.
-Krunch!
Those in the chamber couldn’t hide their bewilderment at the sudden act.
Their desired prize had arrived—why the displeasure?
The throne’s being extended a hand.
Wi So-yeon’s body floated up from the coffin.
Lightly waving,
-Streeetch!
Her facial skin began stretching.
What is this? The peeling skin revealed another face beneath.
-Rip!
“No?!”
“W-what is...”
The disheveled scarred middle-aged man couldn’t conceal his shock.
This wasn’t Wi So-yeon.
‘Could it be?’
He recalled midway, when he’d briefly opened the coffin lid, how she’d escaped despite sealed points—recaptured in under a ke (moment), deemed insignificant.
But when in that instant had she been swapped?
In his daze—
-Snap!
The throne’s being flicked a finger.
The middle-aged man’s head exploded.
-Splat!
His headless body staggered and collapsed.
The red-lipped man paled, speechless.
This man was his subordinate, and he had orchestrated the task.
Flustered, the throne’s being spoke in a heavy tone.
“We move quarters immediately.”
Its third eye on the forehead saw it.
The red thread of fate linking the fake Wi So-yeon—Human Skin Face Mask peeled—to her true spirit body.
End of Chapter 113