Chapter 16
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: The Dark Blood Heaven Cult
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Crack.
Crunch.
It was the sound of him biting down on the suicide poison pill implanted behind his molar.
The instant the crack sounded, my hand moved like lightning.
I grabbed the leader's jaw, twisted it to spill most of the poison out, and then shoved him away.
"Gah!"
The leader, unable to bear the pain, began to writhe on the ground.
The man on the right could only watch his leader thrash about, his eyes filled with terror.
"Fool. I warned you."
I clicked my tongue, remaining seated.
Biting a suicide pill doesn't kill you instantly.
Shady organizations usually implant these pills behind their members' molars.
The principle was simple: in an emergency, you bite down, the poison is released, and you swallow it to die.
The leader had just broken his, but I immediately twisted his head and forced most of the poison out. That's why he was suffering in agony instead of dying.
Suicide poison pills.
When you get down to it, they're cheap poisons.
To kill instantly, the poison must be extremely potent, which makes crafting a container for it very difficult.
But for a pill implanted behind a molar, it has to be light, sturdy enough not to break accidentally, yet fragile enough to be crushed by biting when needed. The conditions are quite demanding.
Creating a suicide pill that perfectly meets these difficult conditions and providing it to every member is easier said than done. It's an incredibly difficult task.
That's why, if you fail your suicide attempt like this, you're left with a pain worse than death.
That was the reason for my warning.
"Name? And organization?"
I asked the man on the right, my gaze indifferent.
He trembled in fear before speaking.
"Will you let me live?"
"Even if I let you live, would your organization leave you alone? Are you confident you can escape and survive?"
He shuddered at the thought of his organization.
Seeing him tremble in terror, I realized what a ruthless group it must be, and I even felt a twinge of pity.
"I'll tell you everything. Just kill me."
"No family?"
"I was kidnapped as a child and raised there anyway."
"Fine. Tell me what you know."
He began to spill everything.
But his knowledge was extremely limited.
The Dark Blood Heaven Cult.
He knew nothing of substance beyond the name.
Specifically, he knew there was a branch in Shanxi, but not its location.
The information he revealed was just a collection of minor details about being kidnapped, undergoing grueling training, and following orders.
He also revealed the passwords, but they changed daily, so it wasn't very useful.
*Slice.*
I ended his suffering with a single slash to the neck and walked over to the leader.
*Press. Press. Press.*
I pressed the acupoints that alleviate pain, and the leader's screams subsided.
"You must know more. Tell me everything you know about the Dark Blood Heaven Cult. Don't try anything stupid again, or the pain will only get worse. Don't waste your energy."
"Wh-who are you?"
"Hard to say. I'm not exactly sure of my own identity."
"Do you have any idea how terrifying our cult is?"
"Surely not as strong as the Dark Heavenly Cult led by Cheok Mu-hyeok? Now that would be a bit troublesome."
He was so stunned that his jaw dropped, and he was speechless for a long moment.
It was understandable, given how casually I'd mentioned the name of the widely feared Cheok Mu-hyeok.
"Speak. Everything you know."
"I can't."
"Then I have no choice. Look at me."
I suddenly twisted his face to meet my gaze.
"Ugh, ugh, what are you doing?"
He trembled and tried to avert his eyes, but it was useless.
The technique I was using was the Soul-Seizing Evil Command Art.
An art from the Evil Emperor Union, it was a useful method for breaking an opponent's mind to extract information.
Having fought against the forces of evil for a long time, I had acquired many of their techniques.
I learned a great deal from him, but important, specific details remained a mystery.
This man also knew neither the location of the Dark Blood Heaven Cult's headquarters nor its Shanxi branch.
"Such ruthless bastards."
He died, vomiting blood.
The advantage of the Soul-Seizing Evil Command Art was that it easily extracted information; the disadvantage was that the target almost always died.
And using it left me feeling foul for days.
That's why I tried to avoid using it unless I had no other choice.
"What now?"
I used my internal energy to dig a grave and bury them, then climbed a tree and sat on a branch, lost in thought.
A rough organizational chart and the scale of the Dark Blood Heaven Cult began to form in my mind.
Given that even legendary demons of the old generation, who were thought to be retired, were part of it, I figured the cult leader was no ordinary person.
"This is tiring. If Zhuge Mun-hyeon were here, he would have solved this in a heartbeat."
I found myself missing Zhuge Mun-hyeon, my military strategist from my days as the Alliance Leader of the Martial Arts Alliance.
He would gather information from various sources, report the enemy's scale and location to me, and I would lead an elite force to crush them.
But now, trying my hand at information gathering and analysis—something I was never meant to do—only gave me a headache without any real progress.
"But it's not like I can go find Zhuge Mun-hyeon."
I was at a loss.
After much deliberation, I decided to ask Pure for help.
Once my mind was made up, I set off without delay.
Yangwon County.
A small restaurant in the town center.
"Welcome."
"A bowl of noodles. With chili powder."
The waiter's expression stiffened for a moment before relaxing.
"We don't put chili powder in our noodles, sir."
"Put it in anyway."
"Very well. I'll bring the chili powder separately, so you can add it to your liking."
"Do that. And bring me some clear water."
Having placed my order, I waited for my meal.
This place looked like an ordinary restaurant, but it was a contact point that connected handlers with field agents.
My order was, in fact, a coded message exchanged between us.
About fifteen minutes later.
The waiter set down the noodles and, dipping his finger in water, wrote the number three on the table.
"Enjoy your meal."
"Thank you."
I wiped away the character he had written and started eating my noodles.
He wrote 'three,' which meant Pure would find me within three days.
I left the restaurant and spent my time in Yangwon County.
After two days had passed.
Pure appeared.
"I heard you were looking for me."
"There's something I need to discuss."
"What is it? I thought you already took care of Doyang and the three Gok brothers."
I scanned our surroundings, then motioned for her to come closer and spoke quietly.
"Do you know anything about the Dark Blood Heaven Cult?"
"Not the Dark Heavenly Cult?"
"That's right. The Dark Blood Heaven Cult, specifically."
I explained everything that had happened, and her eyes widened in surprise.
"The Blood Demon Saber, Seop Yu-heun, is still alive? My goodness, he must be over ninety."
"Besides Seop Yu-heun, several other legendary demons of the old generation have been recruited. They maintain such strict secrecy that it's difficult to find the location of their headquarters, let alone the Shanxi branch."
"Affectionate. You need to back off from this. I know your martial prowess is incredible, but Seop Yu-heun is too much for you."
It wasn't just 'too much'—my chances of winning against him were less than ten percent.
He reached the level of a supreme master forty years ago; a cunning warrior who might have even reached the State of Perfection.
I gave a slight nod, accepting her suggestion.
"Keep me updated with any new information."
"I will. And reporting this to the Martial Arts Alliance will earn you a hefty reward. The Alliance treats any information related to the Dark Heavenly Cult with extreme importance."
She wrote down the details meticulously, and I corrected any mistakes and filled in the missing parts.
"Affectionate."
She called to me as she folded the paper and tucked it into her robes.
"Yes? What is it?"
"Are you perhaps planning to join the Demon-Slaying Pavilion?"
"What are you talking about?"
"The Demon-Slaying Pavilion already has its eyes on you. After I report this information, they'll likely extend an offer for you to join."
"How will they make the offer?"
"The offer will come to me, and I will relay it to you."
"And I'll be assigned a new handler?"
"That's right. I'm part of the Demon-Dispelling Pavilion."
"In that case, I'll stay with the Demon-Dispelling Pavilion."
"You're deciding without even hearing the terms?"
"If they offer me five hundred thousand taels, I'll consider it."
"Hahaha."
Pure let out a charming laugh.
There was no way they would pay that much.
"By the way, you captured them quite easily."
"I nearly died from sleeping in a tree for days. It wasn't easy."
"That's amazing. You were certain they would come."
"The fact they mastered an evil art that allows movement even after being struck by a demonic pressure point is proof of large-scale experiments. That means a very large organization had to be behind it. So naturally, they would come looking for the Taiji Sword, Doyang."
"Then more might come."
"Perhaps."
I trailed off, frowning.
As she said, a stronger master might come to investigate the truth, but my gut told me it was more likely they would cut their losses.
"And it seems they're conducting their research through human trafficking. If you focus your investigation there, you might find a clue."
"You truly are a veteran, Affectionate."
I smiled faintly and stood up.
"I'm heading back to Jeongju County. Contact me there."
"Understood."
I immediately set off toward Jeongju County.
Pure remained where she was, gazing in the direction I had disappeared.
After a long while, she finally spoke.
"The Dark Blood Heaven Cult... With Alliance Leader Hwa gone, the heretical factions are stirring as if they've been waiting for this. The Dark Blood Heaven Cult must have been secretly expanding its influence in the shadows, only to have its tail stepped on by Affectionate. He's so peculiar. At first glance, he seems like a newcomer to the martial world, but the more time passes, the more I sense a deep, seasoned experience. It's like dealing with a ghost."
She shook her head and vanished.
The room where they had talked now felt desolate and cold.
A small, bloody incident that began in Shanxi.
At the time, no one knew that this incident would shake the entire Central Plains.