Chapter 48
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Here It Is, You Bastard (4)
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The moment they stepped into Ghost Cloud Ridge, thick clouds of mist swallowed Kang Moo-jin and Won Yu-hwa whole.
A chilling silence descended, and in an instant, Moo-jin and Yu-hwa couldn't see an inch ahead.
The thick mist had shrouded their vision.
"This isn't... just ordinary fog."
Unlike normal mist, the fog inside Ghost Cloud Ridge clung to Moo-jin and Yu-hwa with every step, tormenting them relentlessly.
"This vicious mist messes with your sense of direction. It even dulls your sight and qi sense. You can't even hear sounds unless they're right up against you!"
Yu-hwa clicked her tongue at how much more insidious the mist was than she'd expected.
She could understand why the feuding Sichuan Yun Family and Tang Family had designated this place a forbidden zone.
And the ferocity of this formation didn't end there.
"Ugh!"
A piercing chill burrowed into her body, forcing Yu-hwa to hurriedly circulate her inner energy.
To resist the cool aura emanating from the mist enveloping her, she had to form a thin barrier of qi around herself.
"Brother! The mist carries deathly qi. Be careful not to let the chill seep into your body..."
Yu-hwa's mouth fell open as she tried to warn Moo-jin.
Whoosh...
The mist that relentlessly stuck to her body to invade it was keeping its distance from Kang Moo-jin, as if avoiding him.
"W-What...?"
Yu-hwa's pupils filled with bewilderment.
The deathly qi-laden mist was shying away in fear of touching him? What in the world was going on?
"Hm. Yu-hwa, it looks like we should head that way."
Thanks to the mist subtly keeping its distance, Moo-jin's sense of direction, sight, and qi sense were all perfectly fine. He grabbed Yu-hwa's hand and strode forward.
Since the mist—the core of this formation—shunned Kang Moo-jin, the array might as well have been a child's maze game to him.
"Brother, the deeper we go, the thicker the deathly qi gets."
Yu-hwa's face grew paler as she followed behind Moo-jin.
The dense deathly qi was so heavy it made breathing difficult.
It was only thanks to Moo-jin that she'd reached the supreme realm. Had she come here before meeting him, she surely would have perished from the deathly qi.
"Be careful! If killing intent has pooled..."
"Graaaargh!"
Her warning fell on deaf ears as stiff corpses erupted from the ground.
When pure deathly qi lingered in one place for too long, corpses naturally transformed into stiff corpses.
"Graaah!"
Hundreds of stiff corpses burst from the earth, blocking Moo-jin's path.
So saturated with deathly qi were they that their claws were stained an ominous reddish-black.
"R-Reddish-black stiff corpses?!"
In the Central Plains, stiff corpses were ranked by claw color—the part most infused with deathly qi, which determined their power.
And reddish-black was the second most dangerous color among them.
"Tch. The corpses piled up, and then the formation activated. The deathly qi couldn't disperse and just stagnated."
Moo-jin looked at the stiff corpses with pity as he rolled up his sleeves.
"I've got ties to Shaolin, after all. I'll help you achieve rebirth in paradise."
"Brother, you know exorcism arts too?!"
Exorcism arts were what a select few Shaolin monks, who had studied the Radiant Mantra and Anti-Demon Mantra for decades, invoked through scriptures to wish for rebirth in paradise.
In simple terms, it was vanquishing evil with the merit accumulated by the monk himself and the power of the mantras.
Due to how profound and esoteric the study was, only a tiny fraction of Shaolin monks could perform it.
And he knew how to do it!?
Yu-hwa was beyond impressed—she was on the verge of fainting in shock.
"That's truly amazi..."
"Huh?"
Bam!
Kang Moo-jin's fist obliterated one stiff corpse's head from existence.
"...?"
Yu-hwa tilted her head at the sight.
That... wasn't exorcism?
"Ah, I don't actually know exorcism arts. I just said I'd help with rebirth in paradise."
"W-With your fists?"
"Yep."
Krunch!
Moo-jin grabbed a stiff corpse's head and yanked it while simultaneously smashing his rising knee into it.
"Na-mo..."
Krunch!
Kang Moo-jin's extended fist shattered another stiff corpse's head to pieces.
"A-mi..."
Boom!
This time, he shattered the stiff corpse's entire upper body with a kick, then unleashed a qi-charged strike that pulverized dozens more.
"Ta-bul!"
Now fully circulating his inner energy, Moo-jin swung his fists, and dozens of stiff corpses vanished into handfuls of dust with each blow.
"May you achieve rebirth in paradise!"
"..."
Yu-hwa was at a loss for words watching Moo-jin rip off stiff corpses' heads by hand while chanting for their rebirth.
Anyone seeing that would be just as speechless as she was.
No one wishes for someone to be reborn in a good place while smashing their skull to bits.
"Brother, honestly."
Yu-hwa shook her head and drew her sword from her waist, joining the fray.
Thanks to Moo-jin's overwhelming display, her fear of the hundreds of stiff corpses had long vanished.
With a man more terrifying than stiff corpses right in front of her, what was there to fear from them?
"Haat!"
The Moonlit Wanderer's Sword, sharpened even further by Kang Moo-jin, unfolded.
Silver moonlight painted the dark space,
Slice! Crunch!
and with every beautiful silver arc, stiff corpses crumpled to the ground.
"Huff... huff... whoo..."
After slicing through dozens of stiff corpses, Yu-hwa wiped the sweat from her brow and caught her breath.
"Not a drop of sweat on you."
Yu-hwa's gaze turned to Moo-jin's broad back, boasting massive muscles.
Despite felling dozens of times more stiff corpses than she had, Moo-jin showed no sweat—not even a hint of labored breathing.
'I'm still so far behind. I have a long way to go.'
Confirming the gap with Moo-jin once more, Yu-hwa bit her lip.
'To be of help to Brother, I've still got a ways to go.'
"Yu-hwa, come here."
Kang Moo-jin, brushing dust from his hands, turned his gaze to one side.
The direction his trembling gaze pointed toward.
There lay the wreckage of a carriage marked with "Diamond Escort Agency."
The shattered carriage looked like the mangled corpse of a beast torn apart.
The gold-embellished agency banner was caked in dark red dust and ripped to shreds, and the axle was completely snapped.
The horses that had pulled it were nowhere to be seen, and one wheel lay in pieces on the ground.
"..."
Moo-jin clenched his fists without a word.
Seeing the Diamond Escort Agency plaque, mingled with dirt and losing its golden sheen, left him speechless.
"Brother..."
Sensing Moo-jin's churning emotions, Yu-hwa gently clasped his hand in comfort.
Curiously, the mist hadn't spread around the carriage, allowing her to see the wreckage too.
"Don't worry. They're surely fine..."
As Yu-hwa tried to console him, her eyes shifted to the wreckage's far side.
On the mud-caked ground, faint footprints were visible.
"B-Brother! There are footprints—and they continue!"
Yu-hwa pulled Moo-jin along, following the tracks.
"Not just one or two!"
Some were faint or smudged beyond recognition, but there were at least eight sets.
Meaning at least four or more escorts had likely survived!
"...!"
Moo-jin, who had sensed his eldest brother's death upon seeing the wreckage, snapped his eyes wide.
"Let's hurry."
Moo-jin hoisted Yu-hwa onto his shoulder. She felt as light as a feather.
"Kyaa!"
Ignoring Yu-hwa's scream, Moo-jin blasted forward at explosive speed, pursuing the footprints.
The velocity was so intense that everything blurred around Yu-hwa in spinning streaks.
"Brother, stop!"
Moo-jin gouged the ground to halt his lightness skill abruptly.
A single bead of sweat traced his forehead. Before him loomed a massive lake.
Vast as if it had swallowed the sea, its depths stretched endlessly.
In the far corner of the opposite shore, silhouettes of several people were visible.
"...!"
"Brother!"
Moo-jin and Yu-hwa's eyes widened in shock.
"Those are... the escorts."
With almost no light inside the formation, Yu-hwa couldn't make them out clearly, but Moo-jin's eyes saw them vividly.
The escorts in tattered Diamond Escort Agency uniforms were staggering about.
"They're still alive."
Moo-jin clenched his fists amid surging joy and relief like crashing waves.
"What about Great Hero Kang Moo-woong?! He's alive too, right?"
"...I don't see him. Not with my eyes, at least."
A shadow fell over Moo-jin's face.
Even with his exceptional eyesight, he saw only the escorts—no sign of the brother he'd been desperately searching for.
"Then could it be..."
"Too early to say. We'll ask them. They should have the answers."
Moo-jin scanned the surroundings for a way across the lake, but there seemed no alternative to crossing it directly.
"Hm."
Moo-jin glanced at Yu-hwa.
'Wouldn't be easy for Yu-hwa.'
He could manage, but the lake was too wide for her to swim across.
Moreover, an ominous aura emanated from the water. Like the deathly-qi mist, this wasn't ordinary lake water.
"I'll be fine, Brother! Go on ahead."
Yu-hwa pushed at Moo-jin's back with both hands.
"I'll be right back."
Before entering the lake, Moo-jin stripped off his Windbreaker Robe and clothes, folding them neatly.
"B-Brother!?"
Yu-hwa flushed crimson and hastily averted her eyes as Moo-jin stripped down to his undergarments in an instant.
"W-What are you doing!?"
"Can't let my clothes get dirty."
Moo-jin replied calmly, setting his neatly folded clothes aside.
How could he swim with clothes on when he didn't even know how filthy the lake was?
"B-But still..."
Peeking through the gaps in her fingers covering her face, Yu-hwa stole a glance at Moo-jin.
Mountainous shoulders, thick arm muscles bulging vividly with every movement, prominent tendons.
Not an ounce of unnecessary fat—his body was like steel-clad armor forged from pure muscle.
"Yu-hwa, watch my clothes so they don't get dirty."
Entrusting them to her like a soldier's gear, Kang Moo-jin stepped into the lake.
A biting chill crept up his ankle but vanished instantly.
Rumble...
Suddenly, the lake churned violently, sending ominous ripples outward.
"...?"
Was there a problem with the formation?
Even in the bewildering situation, Moo-jin's calm gaze fixed on the lake's center.
At the epicenter scattering waves everywhere, a massive creature thrashed as if to overturn the lake.
Boom!
In an instant, an enormous water column erupted from the lake's middle. With a heaven-shaking explosion, a gigantic form burst through the dark blue waves.
"...!"
Scales gleaming like pitch black, a long body coiling around the lake, golden eyes flashing lightning-like as it glared.
Its true identity was an imugi, bearing the epithet of the Yi Dragon.