The Heavenly Demon Goes to See the Plum Blossom (9)
If the Blood Cult Leader were to bring his true body and face me directly, it might prove troublesome. But that man would never reveal himself, so there was no need for concern.
“Haa. Fine. Do as you please.”
When I made my resolve clear, Baru let out a sigh—whether in acceptance or resignation, I couldn’t tell. Since she had agreed to the plan, there was no turning back now.
I leapt down from the tree, drew my sword, and stepped out of the undergrowth. The workers’ gazes immediately snapped toward me.
“Who’s there!”
“Baek Hwaryeong.”
“The real one?!”
“I saw us on the stream!”
“I’m a fan! I’ve replayed the Outer God hunt so many times!”
“Hey. We’re the enemy right now.”
“Oh, right?”
Listening to their pointless chatter, it was obvious every single one of them was a player. I swept my eyes across the clearing, gauging their levels. They were all pathetically weak—hard to believe they had been stationed here to guard a divine spirit.
What was the Blood Cult Leader thinking when he placed them here? Hmm. Perhaps I should crush them all first and figure it out later.
I severed the leg of the first one who had spoken and the arm of the one spouting nonsense beside him. Only then did the players finally draw their weapons.
I had expected something to come flying at me the moment I moved, yet they reacted this late. For Blood Cult lackeys, they were remarkably upright. I nearly mistook them for members of the righteous sects.
No. Even the righteous sects wouldn’t react this slowly. So what should I compare them to? I had no idea. Nor did I need to.
Though the start of the battle had been disappointing, the fight itself wasn’t bad. The players seemed accustomed to group combat and moved with a degree of coordination. Even after I eliminated the one who appeared to be in command, their teamwork didn’t collapse. They had clearly done this sort of thing more than once or twice. Far better than your average street gang.
More than anything, I liked that they didn’t retreat even while facing me. Though their bodies couldn’t die, fear was still fear—yet instead of running, they charged as if they would rather die. But what did that matter? Their opponent was me. Strategy and tactics only held meaning against someone you could actually overcome. Against an opponent you had no chance of defeating, everything was meaningless.
Normally I might have enjoyed watching their antics, but I had no time for that now. The divine spirit trapped in the center was dying. I had to save it as quickly as possible.
Subduing the players wasn’t difficult. They charged without fear of pain or death, but in the end they still possessed human bodies. A severed neck meant death; losing even a single limb left them crippled. Removing people from a fight was all too easy.
The jiangshi that occasionally interfered were the same. Unlike the players, they possessed strong vitality, yet their performance was far inferior to what I remembered. The jiangshi I had fought in the past retained the abilities their original martial artists had possessed in life. These ones were nothing more than pale imitations.
So this was what the current jiangshi were like. Had the Blood Cult Leader been refining them through repeated improvements since the ones I once faced? In short, among the Blood Cult’s underlings, there was no one who could threaten me.
Because of that, when I finally laid them all out on the ground, my body remained completely unscathed.
“Nothing but weaklings.”
“…I believe you are simply too strong.”
Baru gave me an incredulous look as I clicked my tongue at the bodies scattered across the floor. I couldn’t accept that. I was only using second-class level techniques—how could an entire group fail to land even a single scratch? At the very least, they should have posed some kind of threat.
Grumbling inwardly, I turned toward the iron cage.
“Hey.”
“Listen. Na-yul! It’s me! Baru!”
I called out to the divine spirit, but no answer came. Was it even struggling to regain consciousness? If I wanted to help, I had to get it out first.
The moment I touched the bars, a sinister energy flowed out and repelled my hand.
“A spell, is it?”
This was troublesome. Destroying it wouldn’t be difficult—the formation itself wasn’t particularly durable. If I used force, I could smash it to pieces. But I had no idea what might happen if I did so recklessly. Back when I fought the Blood Cult, I had suffered more than once trying to brute-force my way through their tricks.
The divine spirit inside was barely clinging to life. Even a small backlash could endanger it. Since I had promised Baru I would save it, I couldn’t act recklessly.
“Baru. Do you know how to remove this cage?”
“Wait a moment. I have never seen this type of spell before.”
Even Baru, a divine spirit herself, seemed unfamiliar with the Blood Cult Leader’s techniques. Well, a forbidden art was forbidden for a reason. If she had known about it, that would have been stranger.
The best way in this situation was still to ask the others. It was fortunate I hadn’t crushed every last one of them.
“Stay here. I’ll go ask a few questions.”
I turned and approached the man leaning against a rock, breathing heavily.
“Aren’t you a bit too strong?”
The young man who had been looking up at me while leaning against the rock glanced around at the signs of defeat scattered everywhere and let out a hollow laugh.
“You lot are simply too weak.”
“We’re above average, though.”
“Does that matter? You couldn’t even land a single hit on me.”
“When you put it that way, I don’t really have anything to say.”
I met the gaze of the man chuckling to himself.
“Tell me how to dispel that spell formation.”
“I don’t know either.”
I frowned at the casual denial.
“Do you think I’m asking you a question?”
“No, I really don’t know! The Blood Cult Leader never explains this kind of stuff to players!”
When I pressed him, the man hurried to continue. His tone sounded genuinely wronged, so I decided to hear him out. I could always verify the truth by asking the others later.
“We’re just bottom-rung members even within the Blood Fiend Faction. We only do what we’re told from above!”
“You expect me to believe that nonsense?”
“It’s true! Lady Hwaryeong, you use that killing intent thing, right? I don’t like scary stuff, so I don’t want to get hit by it!”
I had my doubts, but the man’s pathetic display made me lose any desire to press further.
“If you’re going to threaten me, just kill me cleanly!”
Listening to that outburst gave me a headache. It would have been easier if he had been shameless. Deciding it was too bothersome to keep listening, I sealed his acupoints to shut him up and moved to the next man, who was pretending to be dead.
“You. I know you’re still alive.”
Even after I spoke, the man didn’t move. If he was going to play dead, he should at least have the decency to stop breathing. When kicking him with my toe produced no reaction, I reluctantly drew my sword.
“I’ll start by taking one of your feet.”
“I’m awake now!”
Watching the man bolt upright, I could only sigh. How could the Blood Cult’s subordinates be this sloppy? Usually, anyone who joined the Blood Cult had clawed their way up from the bottom and possessed a vicious temperament. Why were these ones so different? Was it because they were players?
“Did you hear what that man just said?”
“I’m not sure what you mean—”
“Choose. A foot or a hand.”
“Yes, you’re right! We’re just bottom-rung members! We don’t know anything!”
I couldn’t even tell if this was an act. More importantly, was this man actually afraid of me? Why was I the one getting caught up in his pace when I was the one threatening him?
“So none of you know why you were stationed here?”
“Correct, sir.”
“Why hasn’t anyone questioned it?”
“Do we really need to know? We just figured it was some kind of quest. We’re not the type to care much about story.”
They were truly simple-minded. So long as they received decent compensation, they didn’t mind being used and discarded. Haa. No matter how I looked at them, they were nothing more than sacrificial pawns.
How strange. The Blood Cult Leader had left such a massive bait—a divine spirit—yet placed only disposable pawns here? This wasn’t normal. There had to be some intention behind it.
While I was lost in thought, my eyes fell on the divine spirit in the center. A sense of déjà vu struck me. Countless lives. A blood array drawn beneath them. A vessel placed at the center.
“One more thing. Did someone wearing a black mask visit this place recently?”
“How did you know?”
“And that person reinforced the blood array here?”
“Yes, that’s right. Wow, Lady Hwaryeong really does know everything.”
The divine spirit in the center wasn’t just bait. It was the very source of the trap.
“Baru! Get out of the blood array right now!”
“What are you suddenly—”
A sinister energy began to rise from the blood array on the ground. Realizing I wouldn’t make it if I waited for Baru to run, I dashed over and grabbed her by the scruff of the neck, then hurled her outside.
She shouted something as she flew through the air, but there was no helping it. This had been the fastest and most effective method.
After Baru crashed into a distant tree, the function embedded in the blood array activated. It was a spell that drained the life from everything within the array’s range.
I knew how to resist having my life force stolen, so I remained unharmed. The others were not so fortunate.
The players who had called themselves bottom-rung members didn’t panic when their life force was suddenly drained. They simply accepted death with resigned expressions, as if they had known this moment would come.
“So this isn’t the first time something like this has happened.”
“I can’t say anything from here on. It’s classified, and I might actually get excommunicated if I blab.”
“I thought you’d already said everything you could.”
“Is that so? Then I guess I’m screwed.”
The man smiled faintly before collapsing with a soft thud.
Hmm. Using players for human sacrifice. What an interesting method. These people could die and die again without end. They would have no hesitation offering up their lives. As long as death came with appropriate compensation, they would gladly die as many times as needed.
Blood Cult Leader. You certainly used your head well.
While I was thinking, the blood array’s effect finally ended. The iron cage in the center collapsed.
The lizard drank in the blood-red energy and gradually grew larger. Looking into its eyes, now dyed crimson, I knew saving the divine spirit was impossible.
It was no different from one of the Blood Cult Leader’s jiangshi now. The most valuable gift I could give it was a peaceful death.