Chapter 137
Chapter 137
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 137
Chapter Title: Heading to Jade Mountain (3)
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"Today…… your grudge…… I won't forget…… even in hell……."
Clutching the entrails spilling from his gut, the man spat venomous words before his body slumped lifelessly to the ground.
"Guys who are about to croak always say crap like that."
The masked men who had gathered around burst into mocking laughter at their leader's sneer as he watched the man die.
"Have you taken care of all of them?"
The leader glanced toward the forest on the left as he spoke.
It wasn't easy to ignore the fact that one of the terrified survivors had fled into the woods. Not just him—every masked man gathered there knew of the presence. They were simply leaving him be out of necessity.
"Yes. We've cut every last one's throat without mercy."
"Good work. Rest up for a bit, then we'll move out right away and hit the next target."
"Unit Leader."
"What is it?"
"Word is, the Cult's main force is about to strike the Nangong Clan. Are we sitting this one out?"
"Our mission is to aid the Nangong Clan by swatting down these swarms of flies coming from all directions. Sure, we won't witness the great feat of toppling the Nangong Clan firsthand, but we're playing our part. Don't be too bummed."
"Understood."
The masked men began taking a casual break under their leader's orders.
Hidden in the woods, trembling as he overheard their conversation, Yeo Yung of the Meteor Sect bit his lip until blood flowed from it, tears of blood streaming down his face.
His master who had cherished and loved him so dearly, his martial uncles, his senior brothers—all gone, their lives snuffed out.
The sudden ambush and the traps the enemies had prepared were far too vicious. Each foe individually was exceptionally skilled. But above all, the poison that had felled his master and uncles proved fatal. They hadn't even managed a proper fight before being massacred one-sidedly.
He had barely saved his own skin by hiding in the underbrush.
He should have fought alongside them, but fear had kept him from stepping forward in the end.
He couldn't forgive his own cowardice.
Still, he had to survive first. He needed to live to accurately identify the enemy and warn that Heavenly Demon Cult bastards were lying in ambush along the routes to the Nangong Clan.
As Yeo Yung steeled his resolve, the situation took a turn utterly unlike what he had expected.
"You're late."
"They got hit hard."
Startled by the sudden voices, Yeo Yung hunkered down as low as he could and peeked through the bushes.
"Argh!"
Unable to stop himself from crying out, Yeo Yung tumbled backward. The Black King looked at him pitifully before slowly turning around.
"Why scare the guy like that? He's already had it rough."
Thunderclap gave the Black King's rear a light kick as he spoke.
"Sorry if I startled you. No need to be scared. He's a good fellow at heart."
As Thunderclap tried to soothe Yeo Yung, the masked men—thrown off by the unexpected intruders—rushed to surround their leader.
"Who the hell are you?"
The leader demanded in a voice thick with tension.
"You can figure that out in time. I overheard something about 'our Cult' this and Nangong that. You guys from the Heavenly Demon Cult?"
Cheol Woo stroked the Black King's head as he approached and asked.
The man hesitated for a moment before shouting in reluctant admission.
"That's right."
"Bullshit!"
Cheol Woo twisted his lips in a sneer.
"Hey, any of you recognize this guy?"
As if on cue, the Black King stepped forward and spun in place.
"……."
The masked men, unable to comprehend Cheol Woo's words or the Black King's actions, said nothing.
"You claim to be from the Heavenly Demon Cult without even knowing him? What kind of scam are you pulling?"
"Nonsense! What the hell does a mutt like that know?"
"He's a wolf, sure. But anyone who holds a grudge against the Heavenly Demon Cult would know him on sight. Hell, he's more famous than the Cult Leader himself."
As Cheol Woo finished speaking, he gave the Black King a tap. The Black King launched himself at the nearest masked man.
With the masked man's thigh in his jaws, the Black King shook his head savagely side to side. The man let out an agonized scream, flailing wildly before going limp.
"Still not ringing a bell? Drop the Heavenly Demon Cult crap and spit out the truth. Who the hell are you?"
Cheol Woo pulled off the mask of the now-dead man as he questioned him.
A man in his mid-thirties stared back with eyes wide in terror.
The leader spat a single command at Cheol Woo's question.
"Attack!"
The space was cramped for over thirty men to maneuver, but the masked assassins moved with the natural grace of those long accustomed to forest life.
They made expert use of the terrain and foliage, and some displayed remarkable stealth techniques as they probed for openings in Sima Geon's group.
"These bastards! I can tell just by looking."
Cheol Woo snorted at the sight of them creeping in for stealthy strikes, using his comrades as bait.
Their movements, the narrow, dagger-like weapons—textbook assassin tactics!
"You from the Four Blood Woods?"
Cheol Woo kicked away a masked man slithering toward his feet and asked. Without waiting for an answer, he snatched the weapon from one lunging from the left and smashed his fist into the man's face. The assassin's features caved in; he died without so much as a gasp.
And that was the signal.
Where the masked men relied on numbers, Sima Geon's group overpowered them with individual skill. The Black King, who had rolled through battlefields alongside the Divine Demon Division, was a monster who reveled in the fight more than anyone. Flashing east and west, he left mangled corpses piling up from fangs and claws.
Merely fifteen minutes into the clash, the masked men lay crushed, suffering devastating losses.
"Ugh……."
The leader, his ribs shattered by Cheol Woo's punch, groaned as he leaned against a rock.
"Let's see the face of the clown impersonating the Heavenly Demon Cult."
Cheol Woo yanked off the leader's mask, drawing a low groan from Gwa Yu's lips.
"You know him?"
Sima Geon asked.
"Yes."
"Four Blood Woods?"
"Yes."
Gwa Yu's gaze fixed on the leader, Go Pung Lu, the top assassin of the Four Blood Woods. Only now, past the overwhelming presence of the Black King and Cheol Woo, did Go Pung Lu recognize Gwa Yu's face—and horror washed over his own.
"Strip the rest too."
At Cheol Woo's order, Thunderclap and Manchu removed the masks from the wounded and fallen.
"All Four Blood Woods assassins? No other weirdos mixed in?"
"Looks that way."
Gwa Yu answered weakly.
"Interesting. Four Blood Woods assassins disguised as Heavenly Demon Cult, ambushing reinforcements headed for the Nangong Clan? Captain, you seeing the picture here?"
"Yeah."
Sima Geon nodded and turned to Manchu.
"No unusual activity from the Heavenly Demon Cult, right?"
"Yes. Even after the Zhuge Clan made the Blood Fiend Cult's existence crystal clear, they haven't halted their assault. But something's stirring internally, don't you think?"
"I agree. Not just the Heavenly Demon Cult—every sect warned by the Zhuge Clan is burning the midnight oil hunting Blood Fiend Cult spies. That's why they're pulling stunts like this."
"Worried we might call off the fight."
"Anything else wouldn't explain suddenly playing such a reckless hand. These guys have always moved in the shadows until now."
"Why overthink it? They got exposed, so now they're just gonna turn it into total chaos."
Cheol Woo summed up the situation simply before approaching Gwa Yu, who looked lost on what to do next.
"What're you gonna do with these?"
When Gwa Yu didn't answer right away, Cheol Woo clapped a hand on his shoulder.
"People aren't worth fixing. Especially traitors."
Cheol Woo flashed Gwa Yu a grin before turning away.
Gwa Yu pondered briefly, then strode toward the groaning assassins.
He had witnessed his family's slaughter right before his eyes. Hadn't he shed tears of blood and sworn vengeance?
"M-Mercy……."
The blade of an icy blue sword plunged into the throat of the man begging for his life.
Having made his choice, Gwa Yu's hands moved without hesitation.
In the blink of an eye, he severed the breath from every assassin except Go Pung Lu.
"Why leave that one?"
Cheol Woo asked, arms crossed as he watched Gwa Yu's revenge from a step back.
"Figured we'd need at least one alive to interrogate."
"Interrogate? About what?"
"This and that."
"Waste of time. Grunts like these don't know squat. Just nab some higher-ups for that."
At Cheol Woo's words, Gwa Yu swung his sword without regret.
Go Pung Lu's eyes pleaded to say something, but Gwa Yu ignored it.
Confirming Go Pung Lu's end, Cheol Woo shouted toward the bushes.
"Hey, it's over. Come on out."
A rustling sounded, and Yeo Yung emerged, hunched and terrified.
The attackers had scared him, but the men who dispatched them so casually were just as frightening.
"No need to look so spooked. We're not out to get you."
Cheol Woo tried for a gentle tone, but his massive build and rough features only made the already petrified Yeo Yung shrink further.
Unable to watch, Manchu stepped forward.
"Manchu, disciple of the Beggars' Sect. How'd you end up ambushed by those guys?"
At the mention of the Beggars' Sect, Yeo Yung's face visibly brightened.
"Y-Yeo Yung of the Meteor Sect."
The name didn't ring a bell, but Manchu didn't show it.
"What brings Meteor Sect all the way out here…… Ah, on your way to the Nangong Clan?"
"Yes. We set out to aid the Jiangnan martial world. But those bastards ambushed us out of nowhere……."
Spotting his master's and brothers' pitiful corpses just then, Yeo Yung couldn't hold back his tears.
"I see."
Manchu waited solemnly until Yeo Yung composed himself before speaking.
"You might've overheard, but those weren't Heavenly Demon Cult."
"What? Then who the hell did this?"
Yeo Yung blurted in shock.
Half out of his mind facing the Black King earlier, he had missed the exchange between Go Pung Lu and Cheol Woo.
"Assassins from the Four Blood Woods."
"Ah, right…… Four Blood Woods."
Inexperienced as he was, Yeo Yung had never heard of them.
"More precisely, they were acting on orders from the Blood Fiend Cult."
"I…… see."
Manchu took Yeo Yung's lukewarm reaction to mean he knew little of the Blood Fiend Cult too.
"Think of them as scum trying to fan the flames between the Heavenly Demon Cult and the Jiangnan martial world."
"Those vicious bastards!"
Everyone cracked bitter smiles at Yeo Yung's belated outrage.
He was a greenhorn straight out of the sect—obvious to anyone.
"We'll talk more later. For now, better to gather your comrades' bodies."
At Sima Geon's words, Yeo Yung realized his blunder and rushed to his master's side, now cold as ice.
The poison had blackened his master's skin, and though he hadn't been dead long, decay was already setting in.
"M-Master……."
Yeo Yung dropped to his knees, sobbing uncontrollably.
It was grief for his master's death, but also self-reproach for surviving alone like a coward.