Chapter 122
Chapter 122
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: Dark Schemes (1)
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“Haa!”
Yeongho Jung let out a deep sigh as he gazed up at the unusually bright moon.
A dozen or so empty liquor bottles lay scattered at his feet, yet no matter how much he drank, he couldn't seem to get drunk.
'It's almost midnight. I have to make a decision.'
The closer the appointed time drew, the more anxious he became.
“Will I choose death, or...”
The unspoken words lingered only on his lips, too abhorrent to voice aloud.
“I never should have gone there that day.”
Yeongho Jung's face twisted in anguish as he recalled the Moonlit Pavilion, the origin of it all from a fortnight ago.
The man had shared a similar plight, making them kindred spirits.
For the first time in ages, he'd met someone who understood him. They'd spent the night drowning their sorrows, cursing the world, their clan, and the heavens for granting him talent that he could never fully bloom.
When the drunken haze lifted, the friend he'd opened his heart to and shared drinks with had left behind a horrific demonic creature called a Soul-Stealing Gu.
'That pain was truly...'
It was, without question, more excruciating than any torment he'd ever endured. Only on the verge of ending his own life, unable to withstand it, did those words reach him.
I'll give you the Yeongho Clan.
The man's proposal was a fatal temptation that made even the agony fade.
To prove his words, the man had silently subdued the clan head—his own father—who was guarded in the clan's most secretive sanctum.
More than rage, it was terror; more than sorrow, a surging desire that filled him with self-loathing!
Having proven his claim by eliminating the clan head, now it was time for Yeongho Jung to give his answer.
Another heavy sigh escaped his lips.
“It's time.”
His body jolted back at the sudden voice, pure warrior instinct.
A man stood there, arms crossed, staring at him with an impassive expression—he hadn't even noticed his arrival.
“S-sorry. I didn't mean to.”
“Have you made your decision?”
His body shrank involuntarily under the man's icy, emotionless tone.
“I'd be disappointed if you still haven't. Honestly, I thought I'd hear your answer that very night.”
“......”
“If you want to remain a loser, there's nothing I can do.”
As the man's gaze turned frigid, Yeongho Jung bit his lip until it bled.
“Can I ask one thing?”
“Want to know who I am? I said I'd tell you after you decide.”
“I made my decision that night. I've only hesitated because of this pathetic scrap of conscience.”
A sly smile crept across the man's lips.
Satisfaction at having accurately gauged Yeongho Jung's desires.
“What do you want to know?”
“What exactly do you want from me? I won't be your puppet. If betraying my father and clan just turns me into that, it's a joke. I'd rather die right here.”
“We rule but do not reign. That's our creed. And that rule won't be overt.”
“Can I believe you?”
“Whether you believe me is entirely up to you, but it's a creed forged from painful past experiences. You can trust it.”
“I'll trust you.”
He knew that trust was worth less than a handful of dirt, but it was solace—an excuse he gave himself.
“A wise choice.”
The man was visibly pleased with Yeongho Jung's decision.
“Then tell me now. How exactly will you hand me the Yeongho Clan?”
“You've already experienced the method, haven't you?”
“You mean just using that bug?”
Yeongho Jung's disappointment showed.
“It's not just about inflicting pain, so don't worry. One who harbors the child gu can never defy the host of the mother gu. They'll fear and cower without realizing it, gradually submitting.”
“Then the one in my head is...”
“The mother gu. And the child gu is right here.”
The man pulled a small wooden box from his bosom. Inside writhed a dozen tiny larvae, smaller than grains of rice.
“These are freshly hatched. They're limited in number, so use them only on those absolutely essential for seizing the clan.”
Yeongho Jung was already picturing who he needed to kneel before him, even before the man finished speaking.
“Now, will you tell me who you are?”
“Once you hear it, there's no turning back. Not even death will absolve you.”
“I'm prepared.”
“Good.”
Gazing into Yeongho Jung's eyes brimming with desire, Gam Chuk, master of the Blood Oath Cult's Bronze Token, smiled in satisfaction.
Thus, the Blood Oath Cult's covert operations to dominate the murim world across the Central Plains continued in secrecy.
“Wh-what the hell?”
A somewhat youthful voice cried out. Umjeok So stood before the Undying Cave in his nightclothes, his face drained of color.
The guards meant to protect the cave lay collapsed—that meant trouble inside.
“N-no!”
Clutching his hair, Umjeok So bolted frantically into the cave's depths.
“It's gone! They're gone!”
With a roar of fury, Umjeok So burst back out of the Undying Cave.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
His wail, like the shriek of a ghost, shook the entire Myriad Poisons Valley.
Moments later, the valley's sole elder, Bloodfiend Granny, came rushing in disheveled—hair a mess, clothes haphazardly thrown on, as if jolted awake from sleep.
Bloodfiend Granny shot a questioning glance at the subordinates who'd arrived first. But they, having beaten her there by mere moments, knew nothing.
“Valley Lord.”
Bloodfiend Granny cautiously addressed Umjeok So.
He whipped his head around, eyes anything but sane.
Madness gleamed in them, far worse than his usual fervor.
“Gone, I said! Gone!”
“What's gone?”
“You idiots! You let it escape.”
Umjeok So stormed toward the fallen subordinates at the cave entrance and began stomping them wildly.
Bloodfiend Granny sensed something off when they didn't even twitch under blows that twisted limbs and cracked skulls.
Too intimidated by Umjeok So's frenzied rampage to intervene, she approached and examined the battered men.
A gaping chest wound came into view.
Her body froze. That wasn't a wound Umjeok So could have inflicted.
Gone? Escaped? No way!'
Only then did Umjeok So's frantic words make sense.
“What happened to the Poison Blood Fiends?”
At the mention of Poison Blood Fiends, Umjeok So halted his mad kicks on the already-dead men.
“Valley Lord!”
Umjeok So turned his head weakly.
Confirming the madness fading from his eyes back to normalcy, Bloodfiend Granny inwardly sighed in relief and pressed on.
“What happened?”
“I dreamed of my sister crying blood tears. I was boasting that the Poison Blood Fiends, forged by the Undying Myriad Poison Sovereign Art, would soon be complete when I woke up. Felt off, so I came to check on them, and these fools were down.”
His eyes flickered oddly as he pointed at the men he'd been trampling, then returned to normal. Bloodfiend Granny flinched, fearing the madness's return, but relaxed inside.
“Panicked and went inside— one was missing.”
“The others are fine?”
“Yeah. Twelve are still there. Just one gone.”
“Did the ritual fail, or... Hic!”
Bloodfiend Granny covered her mouth, hiccuping at Umjeok So's suddenly shifting gaze.
“Forgive this old woman's slip of the tongue, Valley Lord.”
“Are you insane? Who dares speak of failure? It can't fail.”
Umjeok So's tone grew increasingly chilling.
“F-forgive me. I lost my wits for a moment...”
Bloodfiend Granny bowed desperately, at a loss.
Just then, a saving voice rang out.
“Traces over here.”
Umjeok So's demeanor flipped dramatically at the word “traces.”
“Right. It's not fully formed yet. It would leave tracks.”
His eyes blazed with madness as he dashed toward the traces.
Men with torches frantically combed the mountainside.
“Find it! It couldn't have gone far.”
Bloodfiend Granny screeched in a voice like scraping metal.
“Don't let it escape. We must find it.”
But scouring that vast mountain with dozens of men was practically impossible. Moreover, even if not in peak condition after long confinement, it was a Divine Demon Division member, rated among the Heavenly Demon Cult's elite. If it hid with intent, finding it wouldn't be easy.
“Search every inch. Not even an ant can escape!”
Bloodfiend Granny urged her men, shouting until her throat was raw.
'Damn that hag!'
So Surin, the sole Divine Demon Division member to escape the Undying Cave's sacrificial experiments, was burrowing into the earth beneath bushes just ten paces from her, hiding perfectly.
'I'll kill them. All of them.'
Minimizing even her breaths, So Surin burned with the will to live.
Trapped in the Undying Cave, subjected to endless experiments.
Treated worse than beasts, enduring horrific agony daily.
Nurtured amid soul-searing torment, her thirst for vengeance.
If she escaped safely, if she regained her former body, she'd repay their torment a hundred—no, a thousandfold.
The raucous noises around her gradually faded.
Bloodfiend Granny's shouts no longer echoed.
As So Surin sighed in relief at the receding footsteps...
An unpleasant sensation swept over her entire body.
Her senses, honed to the extreme, caught something—a faint disturbance.
A subtle whoosh through the air.
A sound so stealthy she'd never notice normally.
Before reason could process, her lifelong warrior instincts kicked in.
Just before Bloodfiend Granny's palm strike landed, So Surin burst from the soil.
“You rat! Hiding there after all.”
The soil's color differed ever so slightly from the surroundings.
In the night, harder to discern than daytime, it was flawless camouflage—save for one idiot subordinate accidentally dropping his torch.
She hadn't been certain, but it worked.
“Hohoho! Thought you could run?”
Bloodfiend Granny cackled venomously, unleashing another palm strike.
So Surin couldn't block; she rolled desperately across the ground.
Her thin red garment shredded to rags in an instant, yet miraculously, not a scratch on her body. But the unruly internal energy rampaged, inflicting dizzying pain. Moving her limbs brought waves of agony.
Bam!
Bloodfiend Granny's palm slammed into So Surin's side.
Astonishingly, it sounded not like flesh yielding, but metal clanging—like striking an iron wall.
'Damn it! What is this body?'
Bloodfiend Granny was stunned watching So Surin tumble far away, stagger to her feet, and flee.
Her full power, enough to shatter boulders, foiled by one frail human form. Irritation mixed with pride.
Proof that the seemingly impossible Undying Myriad Poison Sovereign Art had succeeded. Not yet fully birthed as a Poison Blood Fiend—the most perilous phase incomplete—but it didn't matter. Umjeok So's madness and genius, bloomed from his sister's death, tolerated no failure.
“It's not normal! Don't fear—pursue!”
Before Bloodfiend Granny finished shouting...
“Ugh!”
A scream erupted. The man about to slash at So Surin vanished in a blink.
Crunch!
A grisly sound from somewhere.
By the time they pinpointed it, five more men lay dead.
“It was you, you cute... little...”
Even in her fading consciousness, So Surin clung to the fur she'd grabbed.
Awooooo!
A massive wolf—the Divine Demon Division's symbol, the Black Wolf—bore So Surin on its back, vanishing in the blink of an eye with a furious howl.