Chapter 265
Chapter 265
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 265
>Chapter Title: Kill Each Other (7)
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"I'm not sure if I should say this, but honestly, it feels like they brought it on themselves."
At Il-mok's words, So Ho-gae gave a bitter smile.
"I feel the same way about this incident—the Tang Clan deserves to be punished. I'm just worried it might cause delays in our priority of dealing with the Blood Cult first."
So Ho-gae clicked his tongue with a regretful expression, then muttered as if to himself.
"The sacrifices made by the Flying Dragon Branch Leader and Elder Chui-gae to hold them off, and now it's turning out like this."
"...Elder Chui-gae didn't make it?"
Il-mok asked in a puzzled tone, and So Ho-gae nodded.
"He didn't lose his life, but he lost his martial arts."
"Oh no...."
Il-mok murmured sympathetically, then cupped his fists toward So Ho-gae.
"I'm sorry. I could only confirm that Elder Chui-gae was still breathing before I had to leave. I was badly injured myself, and my companions were in danger, trapped in the Blood Cult's formation, so I had no choice."
At Il-mok's apology, So Ho-gae waved his hands in alarm.
"That's not what I meant at all. How could I blame the Maitreya Divine Cult when you stayed until the end and fought for the fate of the martial world?"
This time, So Ho-gae cupped his fists in respect toward Il-mok.
"I, So Ho-gae, may not represent the entire martial world, but allow me to thank you on everyone's behalf. Thank you for stopping the Blood Cult's scheme. If the Maitreya Divine Cult hadn't stepped in, we would have wrongly blamed the Demonic Cult and sparked a war."
So Ho-gae's face twisted in horror at the mere thought.
It wasn't fear of war with the Demonic Cult that troubled him. The real problem was what those Blood Cult bastards would do behind the scenes while the others fought a needless war.
"Ahem. It was just what needed to be done."
"Hahaha. If everyone thought and acted like the Maitreya Divine Cult, the martial world would be far more peaceful."
So Ho-gae, oblivious to the truth, saw the Maitreya Divine Cult as nothing but humble and righteous.
"Ahem."
So Ho-gae, who had been chuckling pleasantly, suddenly grew serious as if something had occurred to him, and spoke up.
"Actually, that's why I came. I have a question related to this incident."
"Ask away."
"What exactly happened there? Elder Chui-gae passed out after using his innate qi, so we could only infer what happened afterward from the scene, but it wasn't precise."
"So, you want to know about the fight after Elder Chui-gae collapsed?"
"Yes."
"Hmm."
Il-mok stroked his chin as if recalling the events.
In truth, he wasn't recalling—he was pondering how to lie without getting caught.
He had to make it seem like the Flying Dragon Branch Leader had died to the Blood Cult.
After organizing his thoughts, Il-mok spoke calmly.
"Right after Elder Chui-gae collapsed, the Flying Dragon Branch Leader, who had just killed an elder from the Blood Cult, joined me. The Blood Cult remnants blocked our path to protect another elder preparing some unknown grand ritual. My companion and I were on the verge of wiping them out when something unexpected happened."
"An unexpected turn?"
"Yes. The Blood Cult elder preparing the grand ritual stopped and began casting a curse instead. He used the massive amount of blood qi gathering at the altar to unleash curse after endless curse."
Il-mok shook his head as if even thinking about it now was exasperating.
"With nearly a thousand dead on Baekhak Mountain, it must have been an enormous amount of energy."
So Ho-gae chimed in, and Il-mok nodded before continuing.
"And that elder didn't care if his own subordinates got caught in the curses. He just kept targeting me and the Flying Dragon Branch Leader relentlessly. Just as I was thinking, 'At this rate, we'll tire out and die first,' the Flying Dragon Branch Leader took a desperate gamble."
"The Flying Dragon Branch Leader did?"
"Yes. Even as his body was being shredded by the curses, he forced his way through and managed to reach the elder. But by then, he was covered in wounds, and the Blood Cult elder started sucking his blood with some vicious curse."
As Il-mok described the battle, So Ho-gae swallowed hard, his face tense as he pictured it.
"But even then, the Flying Dragon Branch Leader clung to the Blood Cult elder's body until the end. Even as his body withered from having his blood drained. All to create an opening for me."
"While the Flying Dragon Branch Leader held him, you finished off the Blood Cult elder."
"Yes. The Flying Dragon Branch Leader didn't sacrifice himself for me—he did it for the safety of the martial world."
"Ah...."
Deeply moved, So Ho-gae clenched his fists, his face full of passion.
Il-mok's eyes held sorrow as he looked at him, but it was only surface-level.
'It worked.'
Deep down, his emotions remained utterly indifferent.
They'd caught the Blood Cult elder thanks to the Flying Dragon Branch Leader's sacrifice.
This wasn't just a lie to hide that he'd killed the Branch Leader himself.
'This way, even the Martial Alliance will pursue the Blood Cult more aggressively.'
It was a scheme to deepen their grudge against the Blood Cult.
Seeing it succeed, So Ho-gae nodded with a resolute expression.
"I'll make sure this news reaches the Martial Alliance. The Flying Dragon Branch Leader's great sacrifice must be known."
"I think so too."
So Ho-gae and Il-mok nodded to each other.
Then, So Ho-gae asked another question.
"But there's one strange thing."
"Strange?"
"That depression in the center of the altar. It connected to the end of the Heavenly Demon Grotto. The Qingcheng swordsmen escaped safely thanks to that hole. If they'd tried to exit through the entrance, they'd have suffered more losses from the Tang Clan's poison."
"Ah...."
Il-mok let out a soft exclamation as if he knew something, and So Ho-gae continued.
"On top of that, there were traces of someone fleeing. Trees and rocks smashed indiscriminately. Honestly, I worried the Blood Cult elder had escaped. But the traces were left so blatantly that it felt off somehow."
At So Ho-gae's explanation, Il-mok bowed his head.
"I'm sorry. I was so busy tending to my companions that I forgot to mention it."
"???"
"Right after I beheaded the Blood Cult elder thanks to the Flying Dragon Branch Leader's sacrifice, the elder made a final struggle with a curse. He suddenly gathered massive blood qi and hurled a talisman toward the center of the altar."
"...Was it some kind of explosive curse?"
"There was an explosion, but that wasn't the point. Right after he threw the talisman, a corpse with one stuck to its forehead burst out amid the blast."
"A jiangshi!"
So Ho-gae exclaimed in shock, and Il-mok nodded.
"I was bracing for a final fight with that jiangshi, thinking one mountain after another, but absurdly enough, it stood up and fled at tremendous speed. Just like you said, smashing trees and rocks without regard."
"......"
So Ho-gae stared at Il-mok with a bewildered expression before cautiously asking.
"Did... you not think to pursue it?"
"I never expected it to flee, so my response was a step late. Plus, even at full speed with my lightness skill, I couldn't match its pace."
"But there were plenty of traces left—couldn't you have followed them?"
"...I had accumulated severe internal injuries from fighting the Blood Cult elder. And as I said, tending to my companions trapped in the formation came first."
So Ho-gae's expression grew complicated at Il-mok's explanation, but he soon composed himself and cupped his fists.
"You've cleared up all my questions. So the issue is that jiangshi after all."
Il-mok nodded and turned the question back to So Ho-gae.
"You said there were many traces—aren't the Beggars' Sect or Martial Alliance pursuing them?"
"The traces vanish around the edge of Baekhak Mountain."
"...Looks like the Blood Cult recovered it."
Il-mok pictured the jiangshi fleeing while destroying Baekhak Mountain and let out a light sigh.
* * *
Somewhere in the Central Plains, a mountain.
In a remote corner of that mountain, fittingly described as layered peaks upon peaks, lay a cave hidden by a formation.
Inside, an old man sat with eyes closed, ceaselessly chanting incantations.
Before him, candles arranged in a complex ritual pattern burned, and at the center lay a middle-aged man's body.
A bizarre entity that was a corpse yet pulsed with life.
The gloomy flickering candle flames swayed in an eerie breeze, then snuffed out all at once as if severed.
The old man, who had stopped chanting, opened his eyes and gazed at the corpse.
Though the scheme prepared at Baekhak Mountain had failed, recovering that corpse had averted the worst.
The grand ritual had succeeded halfway, so it wasn't a total failure.
The only issue was replenishing the hundreds of portions of blood qi it lacked.
'Once the Heavenly Blood Jiangshi is complete, revenge won't be a dream.'
Heavenly Blood Jiangshi.
The culmination of decades of the Blood Cult's efforts for vengeance.
They had conducted countless studies to overcome the flaws of conventional jiangshi and theoretically devised a way to create the strongest one.
But crafting a Heavenly Blood Jiangshi required the corpse of a martial artist who had succeeded in shedding bones and marrow—known as reaching the transcendent realm. An absolute expert's body.
The problem was that such experts neither died untimely deaths nor wandered alone; most belonged to vast powers.
In fact, the majority were leaders of those colossal factions.
For the Blood Cult, who had to hide their existence, obtaining such a corpse was nearly impossible.
Then, they pinned their last hope on an old rumor from Sichuan and scoured the entire region for over a decade to find the Heavenly Demon Grotto.
A few years ago, skilled in formations and curses as they were, they finally succeeded.
Only to fall into despair.
Only bones remained of the Heavenly Demon's corpse.
Muscles and meridians had to remain intact to create a Heavenly Blood Jiangshi. Perfectly balanced muscles and skeleton, with unobstructed meridians—that's why they sought a transcendent realm corpse.
As the enraged Blood Cultists tried to destroy the grotto, the Blood Cult Leader had a flash of vicious inspiration.
A way to avenge themselves on the Blood Dew Heavenly Demon and Demonic Cult who had led them on a wild goose chase. And a method to obtain the massive blood qi needed for the Heavenly Blood Jiangshi.
After that, the Blood Cult carefully set traps across all of Baekhak Mountain where the Heavenly Demon Grotto lay.
The day they succeeded in procuring a corpse for the Heavenly Blood Jiangshi. To utilize the Heavenly Demon Grotto.
And a year and a half ago, they obtained the body of an absolute expert in the transcendent realm.
The very corpse now before the Blood Cult Leader's eyes.
The Blood Cult had used various drugs and curses to prevent decay, and began sowing discord in Sichuan.
They had been subtly twisting the emotions of Sichuan's three great powers, biding their time to spread rumors of the Heavenly Demon Grotto.
Though the grand plan spanning over a decade had gone up in smoke, no despair filled the Blood Cult Leader's eyes.
'I'll complete it somehow.'
Even if it means dyeing the entire Central Plains in blood.
Gazing at the corpse that would become the Heavenly Blood Jiangshi, the Leader made that vow and turned away.
There, a man in black robes knelt, waiting for the ritual to end.
"How did it go?"
At the Blood Cult Leader's question, the man pressed his forehead to the ground and replied.
"Too many people gathered near Baekhak Mountain, so we couldn't erase the traces left by the Heavenly Blood Jiangshi. But we've removed all traces after we recovered it."
The Leader clicked his tongue lightly at the report, and cold sweat trickled down the man's back.
With their long-prepared grand plan in ruins, irritating the Leader now could mean having every drop of blood drained from his body—as a sacrifice for completing that Heavenly Blood Jiangshi.
"What of the orthodox faction's movements?"
"Thanks to the Tang Clan's foolish blunder, their attention is focused there."
He felt no luck or heavenly aid. They who dreamed of defying heaven with sinister sorcery scorned such notions.
"Our preparations weren't entirely in vain."
The Leader believed the Tang Clan had acted so foolishly because of the discord the Blood Cult had sown among Sichuan's three great powers.
"This too is all thanks to your wisdom, Cult Leader."
Thud.
The man, who had come to report, slammed his forehead on the ground in flattery, blood trickling from it.
Ignoring the blood on his forehead, he added more to avoid offending the Leader.
"Also, we've obtained information on those who thwarted our grand plan."
"Tell me."
"The Martial Alliance's Flying Dragon Branch Leader, the Beggars' Sect's Elder Chui-gae, and finally, a group called the Maitreya Divine Cult."
"Maitreya Divine Cult?"
The Blood Cult Leader furrowed his brow at the unfamiliar name.