Chapter 261
Chapter 261
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 261
>Chapter Title: Kill Each Other (3)
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Over a hundred resentful spirits subjected the Flying Dragon Pavilion Master's soul to a group beating, making his already blood-soaked appearance even more gruesome.
His crumpled form sprawled on the ground looked less like a resentful spirit and more like a genuine corpse.
Il-mok, who had been chuckling gleefully at the satisfying sight, belatedly noticed a familiar figure among the spirits behind him.
A being with the exact same face as Il-mok.
"You, when did you turn so transparent?"
It was none other than the side effect of the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword.
In response to Il-mok's question, the identical-faced entity snorted.
"Hmph. Isn't it thanks to you following this body's teachings and growing stronger?"
It seemed his presence had grown even fainter after his realm advanced from battling the Flying Dragon Pavilion Master.
Il-mok let out a hollow laugh at the tsundere-like attitude of the side effect.
"Your teachings can go freeze to death. You pulled that crap when I was trapped in nightmares."
Il-mok hadn't forgotten. The tricks that bastard had played to induce his obsessions in those nightmares.
"......"
The side effect fell silent, as if at a loss for words, then clicked his tongue and spoke.
"Get lost already. Your internal injuries should be fully healed by now. How long do you plan to hang around here?"
No sooner had the side effect finished speaking than Il-mok's body suddenly floated into the air and shot upward like it was being sucked away.
It rose endlessly until the resentful spirits and souls below looked like ants.
Flash!
Il-mok's eyes snapped open, and the room where he had been in qi circulation and breath adjustment came into view.
"Truly a tsundere, huh."
Il-mok chuckled hollowly and sat up.
He had entered meditation in the evening, but light was now streaming into the room.
It had taken a full night to recover his internal injuries.
"Yawwwn."
Though he felt groggy from staying up all night, his body felt refreshingly light thanks to the recovery.
Feeling these contradictory sensations, Il-mok stretched and stepped out of the room.
"Yawwwn."
As Il-mok came down to the first floor of the inn, the waiter was yawning and heading outside.
Perhaps because he had expended a lot of energy healing, Il-mok suddenly felt hungry and asked.
"Any food left?"
"The head chef hasn't come out yet, but we have yesterday's broth, so I can whip up some simple thin noodles."
"Then bring me a bowl of thin noodles. Oh, make it three bowls."
No sooner had Il-mok added that than Jin Ha-yeon and Hyeok-ryeon Seon-a came down the stairs.
"Were you coughing?"
"Good morning, brother."
He waved casually to greet the two, then pointed to the seat across from him.
They sat directly opposite Il-mok, and soon three bowls of thin noodles were placed on the table.
They savored the noodles in silence for a moment. Then Joo Seo-yeon and Jeong Hyeon came down to the first floor.
"Two more bowls of thin noodles, please."
"Got it!"
As the quick-footed waiter took the order and headed to the kitchen, Joo Seo-yeon sat next to Il-mok, while Jeong Hyeon took a seat at a separate table.
By the time two more bowls arrived, Go Yang-mun came down the stairs.
Unlike someone who had suffered severe demonic deviation and heart demons, he had a very bright face and healthy complexion.
"I'll prepare one more bowl."
As the perceptive waiter headed to the kitchen on his own, Go Yang-mun, now on the first floor, strode straight toward Jin Ha-yeon without hesitation.
"Thanks, Ha-yeon!"
Go Yang-mun's face was beaming with smiles. Hearing his gratitude, Jin Ha-yeon gave him a puzzled look and asked back.
"What for?"
She couldn't understand why he was thanking her.
"Last night. You treated me, right? And thanks to your treatment, my realm even advanced. You're my lifesaver. On top of that, you went so far as to... to save me."
Go Yang-mun's already rosy face flushed even deeper, and he trailed off.
Since they were eating at the same table, Il-mok, watching it all unfold right in front of him, felt a chill sweat trickle down his back for some reason.
'What the hell is this crazy bastard spouting?'
Clearly, the one who had stepped up to treat Go Yang-mun last night was Dam Bin Team Leader.
'No way... Did Dam Bin Team Leader's treatment fail, so Jin Ha-yeon had to step in too?'
While he had been deep in meditation, what on earth had happened at the inn?
Il-mok's doubts were soon resolved.
"Sorry, but I never treated you."
"???"
"The one who treated you was Dam Bin Team Leader."
"?????????"
At Jin Ha-yeon's blunt words, confusion filled Go Yang-mun's face.
Meanwhile, the cold sweat on Il-mok's back intensified.
'This crazy guy couldn't have...'
Praying desperately that it wasn't the scenario flashing through his mind, Il-mok buried his face in his noodle bowl, pretending to know nothing.
"Thin noodles are ready! Young hero, where should I bring them?"
The waiter emerged from the kitchen with a bowl, but Go Yang-mun didn't respond.
As the waiter smiled awkwardly and looked at Go Yang-mun, the latter stared off with a bewildered expression, deep in thought.
As if trying to recall last night's events by any means.
Just then.
The last member of the group, Dam Bin Team Leader, came down to the first floor.
As all eyes turned to her.
Ignoring the others as if they were invisible, Dam Bin calmly performed a fist salute toward Il-mok.
"As one who serves the Young Master, I apologize for rising later than you."
"Ha. Haha. N-no problem. P-please, sit and eat comfortably."
As Il-mok awkwardly laughed and returned the greeting, the waiter set Go Yang-mun's noodle bowl on an empty table and approached Dam Bin.
"We only have thin noodles right now. Is that alright?"
Before Dam Bin Team Leader could answer the waiter's question.
Go Yang-mun, who had been wearing a confused expression, suddenly steeled himself, turned, and dropped to his knees before Dam Bin.
"!?"
Ignoring the waiter's startled look, Go Yang-mun boldly declared.
"Thank you for saving my life, Team Leader Dam! Because of me, you had to go through all that, so this Go Yang-mo will take responsibility as a man!"
At his bold shout, everyone on the first floor of the inn wore shocked expressions.
For some reason, Dam Bin Team Leader had a smile on her lips. Not her usual gentle smile, nor the seductive one she wore in battle.
It was a smile eerily similar to Jin Ha-yeon's—utterly icy.
"It's fine, Young Master Go Yang. It was all just for the treatment, after all."
"Even if it was for treatment..."
Go Yang-mun, still on his knees, tried to say something more, but Dam Bin Team Leader's frostbite-cold words cut him off.
"Above all else, I have no desire to hear a man with a beloved woman talk of taking responsibility. To live with a man who spent the night calling another woman's name. How utterly horrifying."
"......"
No sooner had she finished than a dreadful silence descended on the first floor of the inn.
And the women present all glared at Go Yang-mun like he was a bug.
'...Yang-mun, you're truly hopeless.'
Il-mok, too stunned to speak, could only bury his face back in his noodle bowl, feigning ignorance.
"Th-thin noodles coming right up."
The quick-witted waiter, unwilling to get tangled in the lovers' quarrel, hurriedly retreated to the kitchen.
* * *
After finishing the suffocating breakfast, the group packed up and left Gold Heaven County.
Their destination was Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province.
"There will be turmoil sweeping the Central Plains for a while. We'll head back to Lanzhou first, assess the situation, and move from there."
He had scattered bait while dismantling the Blood Cult's trap, but since it involved manipulating others, even Il-mok couldn't predict how things would unfold.
After a five-day journey, they finally arrived in Lanzhou.
It had been a journey so stifling it took one's breath away.
And around the time Il-mok and his group reached Lanzhou.
Urgent news reached the Martial Alliance as well.
"A great bloodbath occurred at White Crane Mountain, and it was a trap set by the Blood Cult."
At his subordinate's report, the Martial Alliance's Chief Strategist Gong Son-hyeon stroked his beard with a contemplative expression and asked.
"How many died?"
"...Over a thousand entered White Crane Mountain, but fewer than a hundred survived. Also, the Flying Dragon Pavilion Master's body was found there."
"How could that..."
Chief Strategist Gong Son-hyeon muttered with misty eyes, but his inner thoughts were different.
'Heh heh heh. Well done, Flying Dragon Pavilion Master. Thanks to you, the Central Plains can unite as one.'
The Flying Dragon Pavilion Master's death was of no concern to the Chief Strategist. To Gong Son-hyeon, he had been nothing more than a useful pawn anyway.
'The day is near. Everything will proceed according to that lord's will.'
As Gong Son-hyeon wore an expression utterly at odds with his thoughts, the subordinate who had come to report added.
"According to the explanation from Beggar Clan's Eight Precepts Elder Chui-gae, who survived, in addition to the fallen Flying Dragon Pavilion Master, Chui-gae and one expert from the Maitreya Divine Cult fought a fierce battle alongside the Blood Cult remnants."
"Maitreya Divine Cult?"
Gong Son-hyeon asked back with a peculiar expression. It wasn't the first time he had heard the name Maitreya Divine Cult.
He had heard it in the report from the Flying Dragon Pavilion Master, based on information from the Beggar Clan's Rear Post. And with his exceptional memory, he never forgot anything he had seen or heard once.
He was simply puzzled as to why that name was surfacing here.
At Gong Son-hyeon's question, the subordinate elaborated.
"After the Blood Cult's formation activated, they banded together with those who escaped its influence. But Chui-gae suffered severe injuries and passed out. When he woke, the battle was already over."
"What about that Maitreya Divine Cult expert? Did he die too?"
"No corpse of that individual was found."
"But the Flying Dragon Pavilion Master's body was there."
Feeling a nagging suspicion, Gong Son-hyeon asked.
"Could that expert have betrayed and ambushed the Flying Dragon Pavilion Master?"
"...The Flying Dragon Pavilion Master's body was decapitated. They say it was unrecognizable without his clothes and sword. It resembled the corpses found scattered around White Crane Mountain—victims of the Blood Cult's formation."
At the subordinate's explanation, Gong Son-hyeon finally nodded in understanding.
Well, the deaths of the Maitreya Divine Cult or the Flying Dragon Pavilion Master were inconsequential anyway.
The Blood Cult had caused a horrific bloodbath where over a thousand entered but fewer than a hundred survived.
To root them out completely, it was crucial for the entire Central Plains to unite under the Martial Alliance's banner.
As he pondered his goals and how to deal with the Blood Cult.
Urgent footsteps echoed near the Chief Strategist's room.
"Urgent report!!"
At the shout from outside the door, the Chief Strategist replied.
"Come in."
No sooner had he spoken than the door opened, and a dust-covered man entered.
"What is it?"
"A bloodbath in Sichuan, and the Tang Clan is implicated!"
"?????"
At the utterly out-of-left-field news, genuine bewilderment crossed Gong Son-hyeon's face for the first time.
"The Tang Clan? Are you saying the Tang Clan joined hands with the Blood Cult?"
"We don't know if they directly allied with the Blood Cult, but they poisoned the Heavenly Demon's Secret Cave and even committed murder to cover it up."
"...Where did this information come from?"
"From the Huangbo Clan, Jeon-gal Clan, Wudang, and Huashan—all at the same time. The younger generation disciples from those sects and clans who visited the Heavenly Demon's Secret Cave that day saw it firsthand. They nearly died to the Tang Clan's attacks as well."
"...So, have they declared war on the Tang Clan?"
"The atmosphere is building toward that. Especially the Hebei Peng Clan—they're preparing to attack the Tang Clan immediately, alliance be damned."
"The Peng Clan? Why are the Peng Clan involved now?"
"Well... Unlike the other younger disciples, the Peng Clan's Third Young Master, Peng Ji-gwang, lost his life to the Tang Clan's ambush."
"......"
At the subordinate's explanation, Gong Son-hyeon squeezed his eyes shut.