Chapter 139
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 139
Chapter Title: Martial Alliance Leader (1)
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My mind was a chaotic whirlwind, all sorts of worries swirling around.
How on earth had the Lust Demon managed to escape?
Elder Dang Wuryang's message seemed calm at first glance, but if things were really that peaceful, the Lust Demon wouldn't have just escaped—he wouldn't have kidnapped the elder too.
For starters, wasn't the elder a traitor to the Blood Cult now? What reason was there to drag him along? To make an example of him? No, the Lust Demon didn't strike me as that heartless.
What about Master Wi Ji-ryang? Master Seo Dohee? Could there have been another force besides the Mad Demon—like Hong Sun-deok—holding them off? Did they buy enough time for the Lust Demon to slip away?
"Wolfy!"
"Kyau?"
"Let's go!"
It's basic common sense that a two-legged beast can't outrun a four-legged one.
Still, true to its spirit beast nature, Wolfy quickly picked up on my intent and puffed up its body enormously.
There was no saddle, but there was no helping it.
Not compared to the pain in my groin.
I couldn't compare that to the agony of Myo Narang and Dang Narin, who might lose the father they'd finally reunited with after countless ages—not again.
"Kyauuu!"
Having snagged a chance to run wild after so long, Wolfy took off excitedly with crisp, pounding steps.
By the time Geumhyeon Gate appeared as a distant speck...
"Haa..."
All three of them were safe.
Thank goodness.
A deep sigh welled up from the bottom of my chest, warming the cold winter air.
Only then did it hit me.
"Ah, my robe."
I'd gone out without wearing my beloved robe, just clutching it in my hand.
Fashion is serious business.
Swoosh, swish.
I draped the robe around myself with grim determination.
Yeon Hong-un, you bastard.
You dared lay a hand on my father-in-law elder?
You're dead meat.
Today, I swear I'll commit murder...!
.
.
.
Even on Wolfy's jolting back as it transcended the limits of speed, I steadily checked on the elders' conditions via smartphone while racing along.
"Where are you rushing off to in such a hurry?"
A little kid popped out from the side out of nowhere.
"S-Sorry, but oppa's kinda busy right now."
Normally, I'd never refuse contact with a civilian like this.
But this was an emergency.
I needed to confirm Elder Dang's safety as soon as possible.
"Hmm. 'Oppa,' huh? Pretty cheeky expression for a weakling like you."
"Um, next time..."
Eh...
Wait a sec.
I replayed my current situation in my head.
Right now, I was riding Wolfy down the main road at nearly 150 km/h.
And the girl keeping pace beside me...
No.
This monster girl was casually following Wolfy's full sprint—something even Chicken-nim had trouble keeping up with lately—with her hands clasped behind her back, utterly serene.
As if that flat chest of hers had aerodynamically nullified all air resistance.
"Hiyaak!"
"Kyauuuu!"
Startled by my scream, Wolfy kicked even harder and charged ahead at full throttle.
But...
"Hmm, definitely smells like Demonic Cult. But not a Demonic Cult seed. And that wolf is definitely descended from the White Silver Night Wolf."
The monster girl, whose insides even my Mixed World Divine Eyes couldn't pierce, just kept following me with a calm expression.
One of the two.
Either a rejuvenated old freak, or a spirit beast.
"Kyauuuu...!"
Wolfy's reaction suggested not a spirit beast.
Which meant...
"C-Could you be... the Alliance Leader?"
"Oh? You've seen me before? Quick on the uptake for a weakling."
Bingo.
One of the major characters I'd only glimpsed in strategy posts, never encountered myself since I hadn't done the Martial Alliance route.
Martial Alliance Leader Dan Yuwol.
Nicknamed Farm Leader, Farm Coop. Or Meng Mask.
Meng Mask wasn't literal—it was community slang for "Martial Alliance's loli."
Guys who call Ultras "Ullaris" are all like that.
If you didn't do the Martial Alliance route, someone else became leader, so folks on the Cheon Luri route often regretted it.
Anyway, if she was the real deal...
Normally, you'd stop here and bow politely—that's the righteous way... er, proper etiquette in the jianghu.
But this was urgent.
"I-I've got something pressing. I'll explain when we get there."
"Hmmm..."
Dan Yuwol twisted her lips in an unsettling smirk, but fortunately, she didn't seem intent on holding me up.
Instead...
"Oh, quite squishy."
She hopped aboard my back seat—Wolfy's back—as naturally as could be.
In a small shack.
As he circulated his qi to recover the strength he'd expended...
Yeon Hong-un pondered.
Escaping with the Poison Demon was fine, but...
What about the wives he'd left behind in Xi'an?
With his smartphone confiscated, he had no way to contact them.
Borrow the Poison Demon's phone?
Absurd.
Even if he was the one sending messages, how could his wives exchange words with another man's phone?
That idea was scrapped.
The best option was to rendezvous with the Mad Demon again and, however embarrassing, beg him to extract the wives from Xi'an.
'Two Profound Realm experts...'
Thinking of the man called Sword Demon and the Green Forest schemer made Yeon Hong-un gloomily depressed.
Even teaming up with the Mad Demon, the power gap was insurmountable.
"Kuh..."
After a brief session of qi circulation—imperfect since he couldn't use dual cultivation for a while, but enough inner energy recovered...
Yeon Hong-un stepped out of the room with a hardened face.
He sought out the Poison Demon immediately, but...
"Now, this might sting, but bear with it."
"Ugh..."
Watching the Poison Demon administer acupuncture to the waist of the cabin's original owner, the woodcutter they'd briefly taken shelter with, the Lust Demon quietly shook his head.
Leisurely placing acupuncture needles in this dire situation?
Wasn’t that a bit too lacking in a sense of crisis?
But rebuking someone performing a good deed went against the ways of the Lust Path.
After a quiet fake cough to signal the end of his meditation, Yeon Hong-un stepped outside.
Fortunately, no pursuers had caught up yet, so he could afford to think leisurely for a bit, but...
Yeon Hong-un felt a strange premonition.
For some reason...
Someone was about to show up soon.
He inwardly prayed it was the Blood Lord's reinforcements or the Mad Demon.
But.
"Kyauuuu!"
Along with what sounded like a cute yet booming wolf howl...
"Found you, you kidnapper bastard."
Unfortunately, the one who appeared before Yeon Hong-un was Geum Sihyeon.
He wasn't alone.
"...Taste really stays consistent, huh."
Not the Demonic Cult young leader kid from before, but another kid about the same height dangling from his waist.
One without even any inner energy...!
"Shut up. Wh... no, where's the Poison Demon?"
"Ah, the Poison Demon?"
Yeon Hong-un feigned a sleazy expression, nodded, and pointed off to the side.
The moment Geum Sihyeon's gaze snapped that way...
"I! Run! First!"
Since Geum Sihyeon would chase him anyway, it was a signal for the Poison Demon to flee fast.
Yeon Hong-un unleashed a lion's roar and bolted.
When it came to pure lightness skill, he prided himself on being near the top in the Central Plains.
With his energy recovered, he'd run, shake off Geum Sihyeon, hole up somewhere, and bide for another chance.
The orthodox sects valued face—they wouldn't detain his wives in Xi'an indefinitely.
He'd sneak back in somehow and spirit them away, or set up a separate rendezvous point.
With that in mind, Yeon Hong-un raced toward the nearby forest.
"Hmm...?"
But something unexpected happened.
Fortunate for him, unfortunate for the Poison Demon.
Geum Sihyeon chose to subdue the Poison Demon over chasing him.
Fearing the poison, perhaps.
"Whew, well, if I just keep going like this..."
"Going?"
"...?"
Was he hallucinating?
The girl who'd clearly been riding on Geum Sihyeon's back—obviously a virgin—why was she suddenly way up ahead?
Before Yeon Hong-un could even swallow his question...
Ruuuuuumble...
"Clothes...?"
The sensation of Mt. Tai-like pressure forcing down on his shoulders.
Yeon Hong-un halted dead in his tracks mid-stride.
"Heaven's net is vast and wide, loose but misses nothing. You thought a weakling like you could seduce a disciple of this Divine Maiden Sect and escape? And flee mid-transport to the Alliance, no less?"
A trickle of cold sweat ran down Yeon Hong-un's back.
Like an ant before a giant.
He couldn't twitch a finger.
It was the same immense pressure he'd felt meeting the Blood Lord for the first time.
Which meant...
The girl before him was one of the handful of absolute powerhouses in the Central Plains.
And as far as Yeon Hong-un knew, among women—no, not women by size or age, among warriors without yang essence—there was only one who'd breached the Fusion Realm barrier and pursued the next stage.
The instant Yeon Hong-un's thoughts reached the girl's identity...
Thud!
"Pl-Please spare my life...!"
Leveraging the crushing pressure, infused with his own will...
Yeon Hong-un dropped to his knees.
"Now that's a proper weakling pose."
Dan Yuwol drew a mischievous smile across her lips.
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