Chapter 93
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: Twenty-Four Hands (4)
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"Actually, I'm here to see your face one last time."
"Why are you showing me such excessive favor?"
"Well... I don't know either."
She drained her glass and rose from her seat.
As always, she pulled out a silk pouch.
"If I survive, come find me again. I'll pay for the drinks then. If I die, what's the point of silver?"
The Nine-Finger Flame Demon gave me a smile.
For some reason, that smile felt profoundly melancholic.
"If it's too much to bear, hiding out for a while is one way. That's not cowardly at all."
She left the kitchen and crossed the courtyard, where the later disciples stood watching.
"How's Gwang-u doing?"
Namgung Hye, who had been radiating a subtle killing intent and was about to block her path, quickly stepped back at the sound of my voice.
"I heard he's been getting along like brothers with the Crimson Moon Great Demon."
Haah...
I was so utterly astonished that all that escaped me was a sigh.
"Namo Amitabha, Guanyin Bodhisattva."
"Primordial Heavenly Venerable."
The later disciples seemed just as dumbfounded.
After she vanished through the gate, they all crowded around me.
"Let's tail her on the sly, Senior Brother."
"We can't just hole up at home waiting for Brother Gwang-u to come back."
"I don't get why Senior Brother is letting that woman go free."
They were hoping I'd follow the Nine-Finger Flame Demon.
But I had no intention of leaving this place just yet.
Kuhahaha...!
Gwang-u let out a burst of wild laughter as he unleashed a barrage of punches.
Puk! Thud! ...!
Those struck by his fists tumbled across the ground.
Gwang-u's dozens of shadowy figures merged back into one.
"As expected, Brother Gwang-u's martial arts are unparalleled. Truly worthy of being called the best under heaven."
The Crimson Moon Great Demon's lavish praise only swelled Gwang-u's ego further.
"I feel power surging through every inch of my body. Right now, I could flatten even Brother Un-san with a single punch."
Kuhahaha...!
The Crimson Moon Great Demon threw his head back in booming laughter, his crimson eyes gleaming.
"It seems you've got quite the grudge against that fellow. But I'm not sure you'll ever get the chance, Brother Gwang-u."
"What do you mean?"
Gwang-u's bloodshot red eyes clouded with confusion.
"Nothing. Forget it. Shall we head inside for a drink?"
"Yes, let's. After you, Brother Ma-hwan."
The Crimson Moon Great Demon walked shoulder-to-shoulder with Gwang-u into the room.
Inside, a lavish spread of delicacies covered the table, attended by beautiful women.
The Crimson Moon Great Demon took a seat at the slightly elevated table.
As Gwang-u settled at the lower spot, the beauties promptly flanked him on both sides.
"Can you tell me about Namgung Hu, Brother Gwang-u?"
Kuhahaha...
"Excellent. Splendid."
But Gwang-u was too engrossed in the women and liquor to hear him.
"Brother Gwang-u."
The Crimson Moon Great Demon called to him in a low voice.
Only then did Gwang-u turn his head toward him.
"Don't you need some of this?"
A dozen or so black pills rested in the Crimson Moon Great Demon's palm.
In an instant, a red glint flashed in Gwang-u's eyes.
"Hand them over, Brother!"
Gwang-u scrambled forward on all fours.
The women and drinks that had been his world moments ago were utterly forgotten.
The Crimson Moon Great Demon looked down at him with an arrogant sneer.
"Listen, Brother Gwang-u. I truly regard you as my own flesh-and-blood little brother. But it disappoints me that you don't see me the same way. I'd like there to be no secrets between us—what do you say?"
"I see you as my own brother too, Brother Ma-hwan. Ask me anything. I'll tell you everything."
Gwang-u looked ready to offer his life for those black pills.
"Tell me everything you know about how Namgung Hu became your senior brother and what his martial arts are like."
"Yes. Well, it went like this..."
After hearing the full story, disappointment was plain on the Crimson Moon Great Demon's face.
This fool prostrated before him had impressive martial prowess but knew next to nothing detailed about his senior brothers.
All he could say was nonsense about his senior brother being possessed by a ghost and growing stronger.
Still, through this hulking idiot, he'd learned much about the One Immortal Sect's techniques.
Perhaps because they had branched off from the same origin, they shared many similarities with the Demonic Cult's methods.
Plop... plip plip...
The Crimson Moon Great Demon flipped his hand, spilling the black pills across the floor.
Gwang-u scrambled to scoop them up, desperate not to miss a single one.
A chilling smile flickered across the Crimson Moon Great Demon's lips as he watched.
'He'll make a fine vanguard later. No one but the Five Great Kings could stop him.'
"Can I block the enemies who charge in after swallowing those pills and the Shadowless Demon?"
Tsk tsk...
"Why ask me? As that woman said, if you're afraid of them, hiding is an option."
The Great Heavenly Demon's mocking tone grated on me terribly.
"I'm done running away."
"Pathetic fool. To survive in the jianghu, you need a broader, deeper view of the world. Have you ever wondered why the Divine Monk left you that Virgin Pill?"
"It was something Cho Eun-seon had, so he passed it to me."
The Great Heavenly Demon looked at me with utter pity.
Irked by that gaze, I snapped back in anger.
"Don't keep it to yourself—spit it out."
Tsk tsk...
The Great Heavenly Demon shook his head and clicked his tongue.
"Didn't the Nine-Finger Flame Demon tell you everything? By defeating Cho Eun-seon, you've drawn the attention of all those Five Great Venerables or whatever. The Divine Monk subtly dumped the fight against the Demonic Cult on you. What a sly fox."
"So the Divine Monk knew they'd use the Virgin Pill against me next?"
The Great Heavenly Demon's voice rose a notch.
"I thought you had at least a bit of brains, but you're this dense... How would he know that? He just considered the possibilities."
My voice rose too.
"Why are you getting mad?"
"You brat! Does this look like a situation where I shouldn't be mad?!"
Roaring, the Great Heavenly Demon suddenly drew his sword and slashed at my neck.
I leaped back, but his blade tip was already closing in before my eyes.
Slash.
I stood behind the Great Heavenly Demon, watching my afterimage split vertically in two.
He turned slowly after cleaving my lingering shadow.
"Enough games. Let's get serious now."
But my mind was elsewhere.
"If I fall fighting the enemy... will you take over and fight them in my place?"
I'd never seen the Great Heavenly Demon look so stunned.
He stared at me motionless for a long while.
Then he burst into mad laughter.
Kuku... Kuhahaha...!
The wild guffaws went on for some time.
Finally, the Great Heavenly Demon stopped laughing.
"You're saying it's fine if I take over your body?"
"Isn't it?"
"What if it is?"
"There were some odd changes after you moved my body in my stead."
The Great Heavenly Demon cocked his head, as if baffled by my words.
"What are you talking about?"
"Didn't you just feel it? How I dodged your sword more smoothly."
His face slowly twisted, eventually contorting into a fiendish grimace.
His hair shot upward, and a murderous aura that could tear flesh surged out, filling the area.
"Your body remembered my techniques."
"Seems like it."
The moment I smiled, the Great Heavenly Demon before me vanished.
Uwaaaak! Aaaak!
Horrific screams shook the night sky.
The later disciples and Ha Hu-yeong watched Go Un-san writhing on the ground, limbs flailing as he screamed.
"Among all the states I've seen Little Brother in, tonight looks the most agonizing."
"I think so too."
Myeong-gak and Zhuge Ji whispered, and Ha Hu-yeong chimed in softly.
"Could it be qi deviation?"
He'd been unleashing martial arts across the courtyard, then suddenly started shrieking as if being torn apart—it was a reasonable suspicion.
The later disciples' gazes shifted to Ha Hu-yeong, then back to the courtyard.
"I don't know what happened up on the mountain, but it must've been a nightmare."
Hmm...
"He looks like he's about to die. Shouldn't we wake him?"
"Let's watch a bit longer. He's not going to die screaming, is he?"
As the later disciples talked, Go Un-san's frantic thrashing suddenly halted.
And in place of screams came roaring laughter.
Kuhahaha!
By now, even the later disciples were starting to get scared.
"Tonight... seems really serious..."
Cheongpung pulled a bundle of talismans from his robe.
Fling!
He tossed them, and they scattered into dozens, flying toward Go Un-san.
Whoosh...
Flames erupted on the talismans all at once.
Kraaa...!
The burning talismans formed a massive human shape before dispersing.
Witnessing this, the later disciples' eyes widened in shock.
"Namo Amitabha, Guanyin Bodhisattva."
"Primordial Heavenly Venerable."
Myeong-gak and Cheongpung chanted their Buddhist and Daoist invocations.
Go Un-san lay utterly still, like a corpse.
Approaching closely, the later disciples saw his breathing was calm, as if in deep sleep.
Cheongpung chanted again.
"Primordial Heavenly Venerable. It seems this Daoist has finally exorcised the clinging spirit."
Having seen it with their own eyes, the later disciples couldn't deny it.
"I never imagined ghosts were real."
Haha...
"This Daoist's specialty is precisely exorcism, Lady Namgung."
Then Ha Hu-yeong, who had been quietly observing, spoke up.
"But if Senior Brother's been fighting ghosts every night, doesn't that mean we won't get to see any martial arts demonstrations anymore?"
Cheongpung's face paled at Ha Hu-yeong's words.
"P-Primordial Heavenly Venerable."
"You damn Daoist brat. What are you going to do about this now?"
Myeong-gak grabbed Cheongpung by the collar in fury.
Zhuge Ji and Namgung Hye glared at him fiercely too.
Middle-aged Daoists in ash-gray robes entered the village.
After asking locals for directions, they headed straight for the river.
Their dust- and sweat-caked robes told of a long, nonstop journey.
Exactly twenty-three Daoists.
They were the Kunlun Twenty-Four Hands, excluding Chunrok-san, who had gone ahead to the next life.
Spotting a hill through the trees, the Kunlun Twenty-Four Hands quickened their pace.
"Are you there?"
Reaching the gate, they announced their arrival.
"The door's open. Come in."
A young man's voice came from inside, and the Kunlun Twenty-Four Hands pushed open the gate and entered.
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