Chapter 51
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: The Trap
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"Huh?"
Adu was flustered.
The person he'd been chasing had suddenly vanished.
He had seen the man turn the corner of the alley and immediately ran after him, but now there was no one in sight.
Moreover, it was a dead-end alley.
Just then, a cold voice came from behind him.
"Are you from the Poor Family Sect?"
Adu spun around in shock to see the man who had disappeared now blocking the entrance to the alley he had just entered.
"What knot disciple are you?"
"Huh?"
Adu was bewildered.
What on earth was the Poor Family Sect, and what were these knots? Then, something suddenly came to mind.
The Beggar's Sect, the greatest sect under heaven, said to be composed of beggars.
There was no place under heaven without beggars. Wherever people lived, beggars could be found, and a significant number of them belonged to the Beggar's Sect.
Of course, that had nothing to do with him.
Cowering under the pressure radiating from I Gyu, Adu answered in a barely audible voice.
"I'm not a martial artist."
I Gyu stared at Adu with cold eyes.
Indeed, there were no knots symbolizing a Beggar's Sect disciple anywhere on him.
"Then why were you following me?"
"It was to find someone named Neung So-mil..."
A glint flashed in I Gyu's eyes.
"For what reason?"
"I can't tell you that... Aaargh!"
A scream erupted from Adu's mouth.
I Gyu's hand, bent like a talon, had seized his shoulder. If he wasn't a disciple of the Beggar's Sect but just a street beggar, there was no reason for I Gyu to hold back.
"The Eagle Claw technique I've mastered can bore holes even in solid rock. What do you think would happen if the target were a human body?"
I Gyu's gaze turned chilling.
Overwhelmed by the excruciating pain, as if his shoulder were being torn off, Adu hastily spoke.
"A letter! I was told to deliver a letter!"
"Who?"
"I don't know his name! Aaargh!"
After searching Adu's body and finding the letter, I Gyu paused for a moment.
It was because of the red character written in the center of the letter.
Blood (血).
The moment he saw that single, scrawled character, he felt the blood boil in his veins.
*'It's him!'*
There was no other content, just that one character, but I Gyu instinctively knew this was from the mastermind who had ordered Neung So-mil to investigate the Martial Alliance.
Heaven had truly given him a golden opportunity.
I Gyu lowered his head, bringing his eyes close to Adu's.
"Follow me. If you try any funny business..."
I Gyu trailed off, then smiled quietly.
A layer of killing intent overlaid his eerie smile, making it a sufficient threat in itself.
Adu nodded with a frightened face.
"Good."
With a satisfied expression, I Gyu started walking. Adu hurried to follow him.
At that moment, raindrops began to fall from the sky.
The few scattered drops quickly turned into a heavy downpour, drumming loudly against the ground. People on the street began to run for cover from the sudden rain. But I Gyu continued to walk at a leisurely pace.
Consequently, Adu had to endure the pouring rain as well.
It was then that I Gyu, walking ahead, suddenly spoke.
"Have you ever delivered a letter like this before?"
"Yes..."
"When was that?"
Adu racked his memory and obediently revealed the date he had delivered the letter.
I Gyu's eyes narrowed.
*'So it was that day.'*
Ye Wol-hyang, the renowned courtesan of the Fragrant Banquet Pavilion.
It was the day Neung So-mil, who had boldly set out to win her, returned with a dejected look on his face.
Looking back, his behavior had indeed changed noticeably from that day on.
*'There was nothing written in the letter.'*
That meant the meeting place had been arranged in advance.
As the vice-chief of the Sinsobang, he was also well aware of all their secret meeting spots.
*'Heaven is truly helping me.'*
Meeting this young beggar who called himself Adu, and the fact that this beggar happened to be carrying a letter from the suspected mastermind.
It felt as if it had all been arranged for his sake.
*'Only a fool would kick away an opportunity like this.'*
At that moment, a chill ran down Adu's spine.
I Gyu had stopped in the middle of a bridge and was looking at him with a blank expression.
"Come to think of it, I haven't thanked you yet."
Adu wanted to say something, but he couldn't.
I Gyu had rushed him like a thunderbolt and struck his paralysis point.
As his body instantly stiffened, Adu's face turned pale.
"You've done well."
With those words, I Gyu pushed Adu over the bridge railing.
Adu screamed, but even that was swallowed by the sound of the pouring rain.
*Splash.*
With a splash, Adu sank beneath the stream.
With night falling and the rain pouring down, there was no one crossing the bridge. Even if his body were luckily discovered somewhere downstream, no traces would be left on a drowned corpse.
It was, in short, the perfect way to destroy evidence.
"All that's left is to negotiate with the Martial Alliance, then?"
Believing he now held all the cards, I Gyu immediately started walking towards the Martial Alliance branch.
* * *
An abandoned temple on the outskirts of Lanzhou.
The temple, untouched by human hands for a long time, was utterly dilapidated. No, it was beyond dilapidated; it looked as if it would collapse with the slightest touch.
The pillars supporting the walls were slanted, and the roof, barely held together by mud and tiles, had half-caved in and looked ready to collapse at any moment.
"Tsk."
Cho Ak-ryang clicked his tongue.
The effort to take shelter from the rain had been pointless, thanks to the severely leaking roof.
He had long been soaked to the bone from the rainwater pouring in from all over.
What was even more irritating was that Neung So-mil was still nowhere to be seen, even though the appointed time had passed.
How much time had passed like that?
Cho Ak-ryang's eyebrow twitched.
He had sensed presences surrounding the abandoned temple. And it wasn't just one or two people.
*'Twenty... No, twenty-one?'*
Just then, someone stepped into the temple.
Cho Ak-ryang could immediately identify the person's face.
*'That bastard?'*
It was someone he recognized.
One of the trusted subordinates of the now-traitorous Seven Severing Demonic Lord, No Dan-yang. A man named Wang Il-cheon, the Eight-Armed Disrupting Hand.
Cho Ak-ryang felt a bitter taste in his mouth.
Because Wang Il-cheon was dressed in the uniform of the Martial Alliance—specifically, the Evil-Shattering Corps.
*'Did he sell me out...?'*
He thought he was a decent judge of character, but it seemed that wasn't the case. To think Neung So-mil would betray him.
*'Can't be helped.'*
Now that things had come to this, there was no reason to stay here any longer.
"How amusing."
Wang Il-cheon was startled by the voice coming from the darkness.
"Who's there!"
As soon as Wang Il-cheon's words fell, warriors of the Evil-Shattering Corps swarmed into the abandoned temple. The torches they held flickered, dispelling the darkness inside.
Cho Ak-ryang, who had been hidden in the shadows, walked out into the flickering torchlight.
"What a sight. To think the Evil-Shattering Corps would follow a mere lackey from some unorthodox sect."
Wang Il-cheon, who had been looking bewildered for a moment, soon recognized Cho Ak-ryang and gasped.
"B-Blood Hand Honored One!"
His voice trembled violently, showing just how flustered he was.
He had never imagined he would suddenly run into Cho Ak-ryang in a place like this.
*'Dammit!'*
Nothing the man who identified himself as the vice-chief of the Sinsobang had said mentioned anything about him.
He had only said that there was a person suspected of ordering Neung So-mil, the chief of the Sinsobang, to investigate the Martial Alliance, and that this was the presumed meeting place.
Still, once the intelligence came in, it was something they couldn't just ignore.
But to find Cho Ak-ryang here.
It was like poking a rabbit hole only to have a tiger jump out.
*'What should I do?'*
Wang Il-cheon's mind was filled with a single thought: he had to get out of here right now.
If the entire Evil-Shattering Corps had concentrated their forces here, it might have been a different story, but with this number of men, he didn't dare to even think about putting up a fight.
Like fire spreading through dry kindling, his agitation quickly spread to those around him.
Just then, one of his subordinates spoke up.
"L-Leader. Shouldn't we report to the Corps Commander first?"
The moment he heard his terrified subordinate's voice, Wang Il-cheon felt as if a ray of light had pierced the darkness before his eyes.
It was a plausible excuse.
In any situation, reporting was the top priority.
No matter how ruthless No Dan-yang was, he would likely reward such an action, not punish it.
It was then.
"Still a coward, now as you were then. Fine, for old times' sake, I'll give you one special chance. Leave."
Hearing Cho Ak-ryang's words, a look of puzzlement appeared in Wang Il-cheon's eyes.
*'He's just letting us go?'*
The Blood Hand Honored One would never show mercy without a reason.
Then, he suddenly remembered something he had heard before.
The masters from the Martial Alliance sent to kill Cho Ak-ryang had all lost their lives, but the word was that he hadn't escaped unscathed either.
The one who had recovered the bodies at the time was his superior, No Dan-yang.
He too was a master of the martial world.
Since that was the conclusion he had drawn based on the traces left at the scene, it was highly credible. Wang Il-cheon decided to probe a little, even if he ended up retreating.
"Are you truly the Honored One I once knew? I never realized you were so magnanimous."
Cho Ak-ryang frowned.
"Too much suspicion is a sickness."
Wang Il-cheon's suspicion deepened.
Cho Ak-ryang was not the type of man to waste words like this; he would have just killed them.
At this moment, Cho Ak-ryang's appearance caught his eye.
There was something strange about the sight of Cho Ak-ryang, soaked like a drowned rat.
Then, something suddenly occurred to him.
Cho Ak-ryang was a master who had reached the state where his internal energy moved with his intent alone.
Moreover, he absolutely despised getting his clothes wet.
He would even use his protective aura to completely block the rain if he couldn't avoid being out in it.
The sight of raindrops sliding off an invisible barrier just before they reached him had been a marvel to behold back then.
Now, the situation was a stark contrast to that time.
Looking closely, he could see that his fingertips were also trembling faintly.
Furthermore, despite his efforts to hide it, there was a clear sign of anxiety about him.
"..."
Wang Il-cheon was certain.
Various pieces of circumstantial evidence pointed to the fact that Cho Ak-ryang was injured.
Wang Il-cheon secretly sent a telepathic message to his subordinates.
The atmosphere among the intimidated Evil-Shattering Corps changed in an instant.
They began to glare with chilling eyes, like starving wild dogs surrounding a wounded beast. When the heightened killing intent reached its peak, Wang Il-cheon's cold voice shook the air inside the temple.
"Attack!"
As soon as his command fell, the warriors of the Evil-Shattering Corps charged toward Cho Ak-ryang in unison.
At that moment.
"...?"
As expected, Cho Ak-ryang was backing away. But what was the meaning of the faint smile playing on his lips?
A deep sense of suspicion arose in Wang Il-cheon's eyes.
*'Could it be?'*
Wang Il-cheon felt his heart sink.
"A trap...!"
Wang Il-cheon hastily opened his mouth to warn his subordinates.
But before he could finish his words, the room was suddenly plunged into darkness. A powerful force had swept in and extinguished all of their torches.
Darkness instantly swallowed the surroundings.
A series of gruesome sounds erupted from within it.
*Crack.*
"Kuaargh!"
*Crunch.*
"Guh!"
Startled, Wang Il-cheon hastily pulled back.
In that instant, with a searing sensation, the tip of Wang Il-cheon's nose was torn off. Without even time to scream, Wang Il-cheon scrambled backward frantically.
If he had been a moment slower, he would have been among those screaming.
*'Damn it all!'*
Overwhelmed by a terrible despair, Wang Il-cheon couldn't think straight.
He had been completely deceived.
If even one of them escaped, a report would reach the Martial Alliance. To prevent this, Cho Ak-ryang had lured them within a range where he could kill them all in an instant.
Wang Il-cheon turned and started to flee.
With the night deep and the rain pouring down, it was difficult to even get his bearings, but he just ran blindly.
However, this too was a meaningless escape.
Because when he reached the entrance of a village, running until his breath was ragged and sweet, Cho Ak-ryang was already standing there like a ghost.