Chapter 59
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Demonic Cult's Assault (2)
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"My master has mentioned it to this little monk several times before. It was the calamity caused by the Great Heavenly Demon and the Five Emperors of the Demonic Cult a hundred years ago. The martial world was on the brink of destruction back then, but thanks to the Divine Calculator's self-sacrifice, we were able to eliminate the great demonic fiend. The Five Emperors of the Demonic Cult met their lonely ends due to internal strife. However, neither the Five Emperors nor the martial arts left behind by the Great Heavenly Demon have been found to this day, so he worried that those demons might revive at any moment."
It wasn't just the Divine Monk's concern.
Cheongpung's master, the One Yang Scholar, and even Namgung Hye's father, Namgung Jak, shared the same worries.
"My master suspects that the various incidents occurring here in Huanin County are connected to them. That's why he sent this little monk here."
Hahaha...
"And that's probably why this bald donkey dragged me into this mess under the pretext of the Tiger Hunter."
Cheongpung happily followed Myeong-gak's words, but inside, he felt incredibly stifled.
When descending the mountain, his master had said:
'I hope the concerns of the Divine Monk and I turn out to be unfounded.'
His master might have already surmised that suspicious figures were on the move, based on the various events unfolding in the martial world.
After all, the Five Kings of Heaven and the Seven Armies were always monitoring the martial world's trends through letters.
"If surveillance has been attached, it means even the hidden enemies like us have already figured out who the Tiger Hunter brothers are. But how did they learn about the Tiger Hunter?"
Zhuge Ji's question was answered by Myeong-gak.
"Not long ago, a beauty so stunning she was called the most beautiful woman in the world came looking for the Tiger Hunter."
Why bring up the world's top beauty out of nowhere?
And why had that beauty come seeking the Tiger Hunter?
Namgung Hye and Zhuge Ji asked in unison, surprised.
"You don't mean the Tang Family's Lady Tang Hoseon came looking for the Tiger Hunter, do you?"
Currently, the most beautiful woman in the martial world was Tang Hoseon of the Sichuan Tang Family.
That was why she was hailed as the 'Martial World's Greatest Beauty'.
"No. It was a woman even more beautiful than Lady Tang. This little monk never even imagined there could be a woman more beautiful than her in the world."
Zhuge Ji hurriedly asked.
"Why did that woman come looking for the Tiger Hunter?"
"She's dead."
"Pardon? Dead?"
The women couldn't comprehend Myeong-gak's words at all.
Why would the world's top beauty die? Who died?
"The Tiger Hunter killed that world's top beauty. I didn't see the killing itself, but I heard about it later from Brother Gwang-u. He said he killed her without mercy."
She, along with Cheongpung, couldn't close their gaping mouths.
As far as they knew, the Tiger Hunter was capricious and cold-tempered, but he knew right from wrong.
He might make people furious, but he harbored no malice.
That's why they couldn't believe he had killed the world's top beauty without the slightest hesitation.
"But... after she became a corpse, the world's top beauty turned into an old hag."
"Could it be... Ha Hui's Essence Absorption Technique?"
Long ago, there was a woman named Ha Hui, a peerless seductress with the greatest beauty under heaven.
She slept with a handsome young noble who seemed to ride clouds from a dream, and afterward, every man who shared her bed died soon after.
Even more astonishingly, she never aged with time, and some claimed she had received a divine technique from an immortal.
A hundred years ago, during the Great Heavenly Demon's disruption of the world, that Essence Absorption Great Law reappeared, used by one of the Great Heavenly Demon's subordinates.
"So the Demonic Cult is beginning to show itself in the world again."
"Namo Amitabha, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva."
"Primeval Lord of Heaven."
Myeong-gak and Cheongpung expressed their inner turmoil with Buddhist and Daoist chants.
They moved forward in heavy silence.
Then, black smoke came into view.
The smoke was rising near a house by the riverbank.
"Th-this..."
Their flustered steps quickened, and soon they were all unleashing their lightness skills without a word.
As soon as they entered the forest, the sharp stench of blood assaulted their noses.
What appeared before their eyes were headless corpses, severed trees, and upturned earth.
"So many..."
"Namo Amitabha, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva."
"Primeval Lord of Heaven."
Myeong-gak and Cheongpung recited their chants with somber expressions.
The number of corpses scattered haphazardly on the ground far exceeded their expectations.
Kwabang!
They hurriedly ran toward the source of the deafening roar.
Swaaak...
A brilliant flash capable of splitting the world in two blazed forth, and a head tumbled from its neck to the ground before their eyes.
I tossed the half-broken sword to the dirt after severing the enemy's neck.
The exhilaration from the fierce battle left my mind blank and my body trembling.
Clang!
The thrown sword clashed against a rock.
It hadn't been easy, but it wasn't overwhelmingly difficult either.
Still, it was a maddeningly enjoyable fight.
Drip, drop.
Blood from the enemies dripped down my fingers, mingling with the blood flowing from my shoulder.
The shoulder wound wasn't deep.
But what hurt more was my burning house.
'The house I barely managed to get...'
I charged recklessly into the house spewing flames.
Dashing into the room belching fire, I grabbed the wooden chest burning in the corner and hurled it outside.
I could abandon everything else, but I had to save that wooden chest.
Thud!
The flying chest smashed into the wall and shattered, scattering everywhere.
What spilled out were the Great Heavenly Demon's sword, a few booklets, promissory notes, and silver taels.
I stood in the courtyard, staring blankly at my burning house.
"Um... are you alright?"
Myeong-gak's startled voice came from behind, but I didn't even want to respond.
After about fifteen minutes, my house was completely engulfed, leaving only gray ashes.
"You lot. You knew there were people hiding and watching me, didn't you?"
Having lost my house, my voice couldn't be gentle.
My harsh, feral tone and glare turned toward them.
"N-no. Namo Amitabha, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. I swear before Buddha, this little monk knew nothing."
"Primeval Lord of Heaven. I too was unaware of any surveillance."
"I didn't know either."
Myeong-gak, Cheongpung, and Namgung Hye denied it, claiming complete ignorance.
But Zhuge Ji was slightly different.
"I'm sorry. I knew. But I didn't expect there to be so many enemies beyond just the watchers. If I had, I would've come sooner."
"L-Lady Zhuge."
"Sister Zhuge..."
The three looked at Zhuge Ji in shock.
Grind...
My teeth ground together unconsciously.
This was exactly why I didn't want to mingle with martial world folk.
They knew about the surveillance but just watched to see how I'd react.
About to explode in anger, I suddenly had a realization.
The enemies' target was me—what did they care?
I never expected help from them in the first place.
Hoo...
As I released my killing intent and sighed, Myeong-gak sidled up cautiously.
"Anywhere hurt?"
Examining my shoulder, he pulled out a golden sore medicine from his bosom.
"Sit down here for a bit."
With the house burned down, the only thing left was a daybed in one corner of the courtyard.
As I approached the daybed, I quickly went to Zhuge Ji instead.
She was picking up a parchment from the ground.
"Useless."
I snatched the parchment from Zhuge Ji's hand and tucked it into my bosom.
"Sorry. I just wanted to salvage whatever was left."
Zhuge Ji gathered the scattered promissory notes, silver taels, Great Heavenly Demon's sword, Divine Calculator's dagger, and booklets from the ground.
"This sword is one I've never seen before."
She examined the ancient-looking dagger closely.
Not just Zhuge Ji—Namgung Hye, Cheongpung, and Myeong-gak all showed interest in the dagger.
"Looks like a treasured heirloom from a prestigious family or sect..."
Feeling a pang of guilt, I brushed it off vaguely.
"It's my master's legacy."
"I see."
Sitting on the daybed, I removed my clothes, revealing my blood- and sweat-soaked upper body.
But before Myeong-gak could even inspect my wounds, the gate burst open as if about to shatter, and Gwang-u burst in.
Bam!
"What happened? What the hell happened, bro?!"
Myeong-gak hadn't come alone.
He had brought Seok Family head Seok Yang-ho, Seok Su-a, and three or four retainers.
They too stared at me in shock.
Zhuge Ji and Namgung Hye glanced at my bare upper body on the daybed.
Myeong-gak was applying golden sore medicine to my shoulder and back, and one side of the daybed was laden with various dishes brought by the Seok Family retainers.
Smoke rose again beyond the wall.
The retainers were gathering and burning the corpses.
Cheongpung's voice came from where the smoke billowed.
He was performing a rite for the dead.
"Gwang-u, it's getting dark—light a fire."
"Got it, bro."
Gwang-u wordlessly fetched the stacked firewood from one corner of the courtyard and lit it.
"I have a request, Family Head."
Seok Yang-ho, who had been quietly watching me, bowed his head and replied.
"Speak, Hunter."
Seok Yang-ho had changed from 'Hunter' to 'Lord'.
"Can you provide a tent?"
"We have tents in the family stores. I'll have one set up here tonight. But wouldn't it be better to rest at the family estate instead of a tent?"
I had no intention of staying at the Seok Family.
"No. A tent will suffice."
"Understood. I'll send retainers right away to bring one."
Seok Yang-ho went outside to instruct the retainers.
"Lady Zhuge. How long to rebuild the house?"
"If we rush it, a month should be enough. But we'd need to assign workers all at once and procure materials quickly, so it'll cost a bit more silver."
I handed her the promissory note on the daybed, but Zhuge Ji shook her head.
"I'll build the house for you."
"No. Build it with this silver."
One thousand silver taels were handed to her.
Zhuge Ji reluctantly accepted the promissory note.
"With this much silver, we can make it bigger and better."
"I leave it to you."
Then Gwang-u, who had gone outside, returned cradling an armful of weapons and dumped them in the courtyard.
"Bro, selling these will fetch a good amount of silver. And these are the money pouches from the corpses."
Gwang-u placed the blood-soaked pouches in front of the daybed.
Grabbing one and turning it upside down, a few bloodied silver taels spilled out.
I picked up a blood-soaked silver tael.
A year ago, after killing the bandits, I remembered distributing their loot to the villagers.
'I've been a martial world denizen since then. Foolishly, I was the only one who didn't know. I tried to deny it, but that demon was right.'
Having chosen to live the life of a martial worlder, I wouldn't refuse bloodied silver.
But I wouldn't seek out blood on purpose either.
"Lady Namgung. Sell these weapons for me."
Hmm...
Namgung Hye made an odd nasal sound and sat beside me.
"How much commission will you give? Nothing's free in this world."
"Thirty percent."
"Deal. And let's handle this incident as our four's business, not just yours. What do you say?"
"Fine."