Chapter 111
Chapter 111
Judgment (3)
"Huff... huff..."
Peng Dae-ho's breath came in ragged gasps, his lungs burning.
But there was no time to rest.
"Die!"
'Damn it, again?!'
Enemies were swarming endlessly.
Swish!
Peng Dae-ho swung his blade, severing the head of an enemy charging at him.
Splat!
Blood gushed from the headless corpse, spraying into the air.
"Filthy infidels!"
The enemy's comrades, drenched in blood from head to toe, charged forward without hesitation.
They were like fanatics, lost in their twisted faith.
Neither pain nor the deaths around them mattered—they threw themselves forward with reckless abandon.
The sheer madness in their eyes was so intense that even Peng Dae-ho, a seasoned warrior, felt an unfamiliar tension grip him.
The secret underground chamber beneath the hall had only one exit, now blocked by their enemies, who kept pouring in relentlessly.
[If you want to die, keep swinging like an idiot!]
'...!!'
Just then, the furious voice of their leader, transmitted through sound, echoed in his ears.
[Your energy balance is unstable! When you slash, distribute your qi evenly between the Neiguan acupoints on both wrists!]
[S-Sorry!]
[If you want to die, just say so! I'll kill you myself!]
[I'm sorry!]
Peng Dae-ho hurriedly adjusted the flow of qi in his wrists.
He had never apologized so much, not even to his own master back home.
But he wasn't the only one struggling.
[Jang So-pyeong! Stop wasting movement! Fists and kicks should only follow the shortest path to the enemy's throat!]
Jang So-pyeong, the Hugei Sect disciple, was no exception.
[Nam Mu-jin! You idiot! The South Sea Sect's swordsmanship prides itself on speed, but that doesn't mean you should just mindlessly swing! You need to mix it up so they can't predict you!]
Nam Mu-jin of the South Sea Sect was also getting an earful.
In fact, every member of the Cheoncheon Unit was being scolded by Se-woon.
Though the leader had said this was a test, it felt more like brutal training to the members.
It was painful, but the silver lining was that following his instructions made fighting the enemies gradually easier.
"......!"
Only one person seemed to be suffering more than the rest.
Tang Se-rin, gripping a white dagger that shimmered like snowflakes in the northern sea, clenched her teeth, her face pale as she fought.
She was clearly not in her best condition.
"I'll tear you apart!"
As an enemy lunged at her—
Whoosh!
Slash!
A blade of ice split the charging enemy clean in half like firewood.
After dispatching the foe, Se-woon immediately placed a hand on Se-rin's shoulder.
Ssshh—
The hundreds of chilling energy threads tormenting her slowly subsided.
Color returned to her face.
'It's still too much for her.'
Se-woon suppressed his worry.
Showing pity now would only insult her efforts.
"You must learn to control the Yin-Cold Energy as naturally as breathing."
"...I'm sorry."
"If the Divine Artifact's energy overpowers you, the roles will reverse."
"Yes, I understand."
Nodding, Se-rin immediately lunged at another enemy.
Some members watched her with a hint of envy.
If anyone would improve the most from this battle, it would undoubtedly be her—she was receiving direct guidance from the leader, a master of Yin-Cold Energy.
Though their weapons weren't Divine Artifacts like Se-rin's, each member wielded a blade personally crafted by Se-woon.
Hidden inside the carriage earlier, these weapons had been prepared for them.
-What's this...?
-A gift from a member who couldn't join the combat team due to personal circumstances. Arm yourselves with these.
-As expected, the leader wouldn't overlook anyone.
The moment they gripped their weapons, they knew exactly who had prepared them.
Each was a masterpiece, perfectly tailored to their martial arts style.
Only a Divine Craftsman like Tang Se-woon could create such weapons.
'But... how does he know our techniques so well?'
Only one person, So-rin, was utterly baffled.
She had never properly met Se-woon since his return.
Whoosh!
Splatter!
Just then, Se-woon cut down the last enemy on the first underground floor.
"We're going deeper."
With a small gesture, the unit moved as one, descending further into the depths.
The passage downward was deep and treacherous.
It didn't seem man-made—more like a natural cave hidden beneath the mountain surrounding the village.
As they advanced cautiously—
[Wow, our leader's acting skills are incredible.]
[They're completely smitten with you.]
[And where did you learn to swing an axe like that? Impressive. Our leader is full of surprises.]
A series of sound transmissions from an unnamed source buzzed in Se-woon's ears.
The guy was more relentless than a fly.
Though it was grating, Se-woon reacted differently than usual.
[You've worked hard.]
[Oh-ho?]
The unnamed man's eyes lit up at Se-woon's genuine gratitude.
This was a first.
[Ah, what are friends for?]
That "friends" nonsense again.
Se-woon barely suppressed a snort before replying.
[Right. Then I'll make good use of you.]
[Oho, finally admitting it! Yeah, those half-baked guys don't deserve to be your friends. It takes someone like me.]
The man, who had initially resisted joining the Cheoncheon Unit, was now more committed to the act than Se-woon himself.
"There's heavy poison ahead. Those vulnerable to it, use the antidote wine I gave you."
"Understood, Vice-Leader."
"Yes, sir."
Se-woon had dangled the position of Vice-Leader as bait, and the unnamed man had taken it eagerly.
Even without orders, he now played the role of a senior, looking after the unit members.
Given the Killing Gate's usual lone-wolf operations, this was a fresh experience for him.
After advancing deeper—
Ssshh—
"Ugh!"
"Gah, what's that stench?!"
A horrific odor, akin to rotting corpses, made the entire unit recoil.
Even the unnamed man, who had endured extreme patience training in the Killing Gate, wrinkled his nose slightly.
The cavern's interior, untouched by human hands, had pits filled with dye—just like above ground.
But unlike the harmless dye vats upstairs, these pits were filled with blood.
Bubble... bubble...
And something far worse—sinister bubbles rising to the surface.
"Die!"
"!!"
Just then, the last remaining fanatic lunged from the shadows.
Tap.
The unnamed man casually tripped him.
"Gah!"
Splash!
The fanatic tumbled helplessly into the pit.
Panicked, he flailed in the blood.
"Agh! S-Save me! Pleeease!!"
As his screams twisted into something inhuman—
Squelch!
Splurch!
A grotesque noise echoed.
The unit members' faces twisted in horror as they peered into the pit.
"G-Gah!"
Unidentifiable worms writhed in the blood, burrowing into the fanatic's orifices.
Crunch!
With a sickening sound, his mangled corpse sank to the bottom.
"Bleh!"
"So-hye, pull yourself together."
The sight was too horrifying to process.
Even So-rin barely held back her nausea.
"W-What is this?"
"Gu poison."
"!!"
"G-Gu poison?!"
"More precisely, gu larvae."
Se-woon's words made their eyes widen.
Gu worms were no ordinary insects.
Burrowing into the heart or brain, they lay dormant until activated—causing agony and seizures worse than death unless suppressed with antidotes.
Since the antidote could be used as a means of control, gu poison was strictly forbidden in the martial world.
Se-woon stared at the squirming larvae, lost in thought.
'When Tang Ho-yeol seized power, he used gu poison to enslave countless people.
This place was a Blood Cult outpost—a breeding ground for gu worms meant to capture warriors from both orthodox and unorthodox factions.'
"So many gu worms... If these were released into the martial world..."
Peng So-hye's murmur went unanswered.
The chaos would rival the Kaifeng Blood Massacre.
The pits filled with blood made sense now.
Raising just one gu worm required the sacrifice of at least a hundred people.
Then, Se-woon spoke to the unnamed man.
"Vice-Leader."
"Yes, Leader."
"Take Nam Goo-baek and exterminate all the larvae here. His lightning qi should incinerate them."
"Understood."
With that, Se-woon suddenly began stretching.
The unexpected action puzzled everyone.
"Uh... Leader, do you have another objective?"
Unable to hold back, Do Ye-cheon finally asked.
Se-woon answered casually.
"I'm going to eliminate the source."
"Huh? W-Wait—?!"
Do Ye-cheon and the others' eyes bulged.
Se-woon suddenly leaped into the largest pit.
Splash!
"Gah!!"
"L-Leader!"
The unnamed man and the unit members stared in shock.
Meanwhile.
Above ground.
Creak.
An ornately decorated palanquin came to a halt at the crossroads.
Four handsome men, dressed and made up like courtesans, carried the palanquin on their shoulders.
"Master, why have we stopped?"
One of them addressed the figure inside.
Plink... plink...
The soothing sound of a pipa echoed from within before the curtain was drawn aside.
A man with a face painted white, yet grotesquely ugly compared to his bearers, revealed himself.
A voice neither male nor female spoke.
"Prepare for battle."
"Huh?"
The master's sudden command confused the bearers.
But their master simply gazed at the house they had briefly left—the Blood Cult's outpost Se-woon had infiltrated.
"Hehe... I return from a dull outing to find uninvited guests awaiting me."
Plink... plink...
An eerie pipa melody filled the air.