Chapter 190
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 190
Chapter Title: Freeze Right There
"What the hell is that?"
Dang Ji-yeon asked once more.
"It's correspondence from the Blood Cult. Written in their secret code."
Everyone's eyes widened at Han Seol-bing's response.
Did that mean the Blood Cult had sent all those birds?
The idea that the Blood Cult had infiltrated Wuchang so deeply was shocking.
"Then Danan Merchant Guild really is..."
Dang Ji-yeon muttered.
Since they'd secretly spread the Blood Cult's poison at Moon Dragon Inn, it was a reasonable deduction that their main base, the Danan Merchant Guild, was tied to the Blood Cult.
"I don't know if it's all of them or just some. But they definitely revived the Soul-Confusing Poison used to make those cannibal ghouls. And it says they're sending the recipe and half their stockpile to Blood Cult headquarters."
"And?"
That alone wouldn't have made Instructor Ha rush off in such a panic.
"...They're going to spread the other half throughout Wuchang."
At Han Seol-bing's follow-up words,
Dan Mok Un-roe immediately tried to bolt.
"M-Mother! Un-hye!"
His family was in Wuchang, after all.
But he couldn't go.
Han Seol-bing held him back.
"Instructor Ha went ahead. He'll handle it somehow."
"B-But... that Soul-Confusing Poison turns people into those monsters. And it's irreversible..."
Dan Mok Un-roe's gaze shifted to the cannibal ghoul twitching on the ground.
Han Seol-bing had no response.
All they could do was pray desperately that Ha Mu-baek had stopped the poison's dispersal.
"We need to hurry."
Dang Ji-yeon said.
"Jin-san. Help me out."
With that, she approached the cannibal ghoul.
To resume the interrupted work, halted by the sudden flock of birds.
Her hands began moving busily.
How much time passed like that?
The small dagger in Dang Ji-yeon's hand sliced across the cannibal ghoul's skin, splitting it open and spilling black blood.
"Take it."
At her words, Dang Jin-san swiftly moved in.
"It's a ghoul, right? How does it even have blood..."
Dang Jin-san muttered.
Ghouls were corpses.
They shouldn't have blood, naturally.
"That's why the Blood Cult bastards are so vile. They use poison to turn living people into ghouls..."
Han Seol-bing, who had come closer, said with a face full of rage.
"Then..."
At Yeon Ha-min's murmur,
"Exactly. It actually makes them easier to fight. Just kill them like you would any person."
Han Seol-bing stated flatly.
Cannibal ghouls.
Neither Ha Mu-baek nor she had seen them before.
But thanks to countless battles against ghouls in the previous war,
the moment she saw blood flowing from the flesh Dang Ji-yeon had cut,
she instantly understood what these cannibal ghouls were.
"They'll be easier than the ghouls from Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest."
Even as Han Seol-bing said this, the disciples' faces remained grim.
Poison turns people into ghouls.
That could be their friends, their family.
Dan Mok Un-roe grew even more restless.
"Does this thing's bite have poison?"
At Han Seol-bing's question, Dang Ji-yeon donned thin leather gloves and lightly struck the cannibal ghoul's jaw joint with her fist.
The jaw dislocated with a snap, leaving the ghoul unable to move it freely.
She then examined its mouth with several reagents.
"No poison in the mouth. I heard Blood Cult's evil ghouls have venom in their bites that turns you into one too... but this cannibal ghoul seems fine."
A silver lining in the misfortune.
"Definitely easier than evil ghouls..."
Baek Ri-pyeong muttered,
only for Yeon Ha-min to shake her head.
"It might be harder."
Baek Ri-pyeong looked at her at her firm declaration.
"You. Could you strike down a disciple from Zhongnan?"
Baek Ri-pyeong froze at her words.
Yeon Ha-min's gaze turned back to Dan Mok Un-roe.
He was biting his nails in anxiety.
His mind was entirely consumed with worry for his family.
"Damn poison."
At Yeon Ha-min's words, Baek Ri-pyeong could only nod.
Evil ghouls were different.
Anyone could see they were rotting corpses.
She hadn't seen the process of becoming one, but she'd faced countless results of it.
Their faces barely held their shape amid the decay—pure corpses.
But the cannibal ghoul writhing on the ground was different.
It retained its appearance from life perfectly.
Only the focus in its eyes was gone.
When the poison spreads and people are infected, lunging to devour their fellows,
could you really draw your sword?
Against your comrades, friends, family?
No one knew.
Just look at that gloomy beggar from the Black Path over there.
Even those rogue bandits were gazing sadly at their ghoul-turned comrade from afar.
"Hm?"
Then Han Seol-bing's brow twitched.
"Everyone, gather up."
She spoke in a wary tone.
"Someone's infiltrating the formation."
The tension was palpable.
It had to be.
A non-gate section of the formation was being forced open by immense power.
"Haha, it's me, Instructor Han. My apologies. The formation was set extra strong today, so it took some effort to force my way in."
Han Seol-bing let out a sigh of relief at the kindly voice emerging from the frosty mist.
"Phew. Elder."
"Master!"
Ha Seol-ran rushed forward as Wi Ji-gun appeared.
"I heard the situation from Mu-baek."
"Is Wuchang safe?"
Ha Seol-ran asked urgently.
Wi Ji-gun nodded.
"Ah..."
Dan Mok Un-roe sighed in relief and collapsed to the ground.
"They did spread the poison, but Mu-baek's quick thinking recovered most of it. A little got away, but it was a tiny amount dispersed widely, so no one should turn into a cannibal ghoul right away."
At Wi Ji-gun's words, Ha Seol-ran immediately sat in lotus position and focused her mind.
Why hadn't she thought of this sooner?
She could just scan with her energy sense.
The shocking news had thrown her off.
She poured all her energy sense into probing Wuchang.
She felt countless people moving about.
The flood of information nearly split her head, but she focused harder.
'Cannibal ghouls.'
She scoured for any presences like the one beside them now.
"Thank goodness..."
Ha Seol-ran murmured softly as she opened her eyes.
"None. Not a single one."
Everyone's faces brightened a bit at her words.
"Still, we need to wrap this up quickly and treat people. Those who ate at Moon Dragon Inn or Moon Dragon Tower could have the poison activate anytime. We have to cure them before then."
At Wi Ji-gun's words, Dang Ji-yeon's eyes gleamed.
"I'll find a way to neutralize the Soul-Confusing Poison before it manifests, no matter what."
Now it was a race against time.
The poison's onset or the antidote's creation—which would come first?
But could they even make an antidote?
"Urk."
The Thunderclap Beggar felt the ground give way beneath him and tried to leap up using his feet as leverage,
but the collapsing roof of the building crashed down on him, sending him plummeting.
The structure buried him entirely.
Gwang Hwe-cheon had triggered the building's demolition mechanism and immediately leaped out the window.
Having activated it right at the window,
he used the falling debris to perform lightness skill, descending slowly to the ground.
"E-Elder!"
As the building crumbled, Beggars' Sect disciples fighting throughout Moon Dragon Manor rushed over in alarm.
They knew the Thunderclap Beggar was there.
"Now's our chance. Attack!"
Moon Dragon Manor—no, Blood Cult warriors ambushed them from above.
Some Beggars' Sect members tried to clear the debris, others blocked the Blood Cult's assault.
The evenly matched battle quickly turned desperate.
Confirming this, Gwang Hwe-cheon swiftly withdrew.
None of the Blood Cult warriors recognized him.
How could they?
They only knew Hyeong Cheon-saeng's face.
Once out of Moon Dragon Manor, Gwang Hwe-cheon moved quickly.
The area around Moon Dragon Manor was chaotic.
A battle had broken out, after all.
But
'What?'
Wuchang was far too peaceful.
If the Soul-Confusing Poison had been spread as ordered, this shouldn't be.
The plan was to scatter it at Dragon Training Pavilion first to sow chaos in Righteous Heaven Alliance, then hit nine more spots simultaneously to throw all of Wuchang into turmoil.
It hadn't even started.
It should have happened long ago by the timeline.
'Looks like some variable cropped up.'
Gwang Hwe-cheon frowned.
'No choice.'
The situation favored the enemy now.
He had to secure the secret vault's location and key somehow.
It would have been easier if the cannibal ghouls had wrecked Wuchang.
But at least he'd dealt with the Thunderclap Beggar.
By a different method than planned.
Now, no one guarded the Dan Mok household.
'Maybe this is even better.'
Whoosh.
The scenery blurred past rapidly.
Gwang Hwe-cheon arrived at Yeo Hwa's house, which he'd scouted beforehand.
"I don't know who interfered, but I'll handle it fast and go."
Gwang Hwe-cheon vaulted over the fence.
At that moment,
Yeo Hwa was about to have tea with Dan Mok Un-hye.
This place was
a fair distance from where the first cannibal ghoul appeared, from Moon Dragon Manor, and from Dragon Training Pavilion's main gate.
Thus, it remained undisturbed, just like any other day.
The street might buzz with whispers, but inside the house, the mother and daughter enjoyed a normal day.
Except
the instant Gwang Hwe-cheon cleared the fence,
Yeo Hwa felt an inexplicable chill run down her spine.
"It's been a while."
A unforgettable voice rang out simultaneously.
Yeo Hwa instantly scooped Dan Mok Un-hye into her arms.
And bolted out the door without looking back.
In the opposite direction from where the voice came.
But it was futile.
"Heh. You know you can't escape, Yeo Hwa."
Gwang Hwe-cheon blocked her path in an instant.
He wore an eyepatch, but the face was unforgettable, appearing before her after years.
"Gwang Hwe-cheon..."
Yeo Hwa murmured his name with venomous hatred.
"M-Mom..."
Dan Mok Un-hye called out to her mother in terror.
"Ho. You've grown. You were just a baby who couldn't walk back then."
Slash.
At his words, Yeo Hwa pulled Dan Mok Un-hye deeper into her embrace.
"Where is it?"
Gwang Hwe-cheon glared at Yeo Hwa and demanded.
"What are you talking about?"
Yeo Hwa snarled back, her face twisted with resentment.
But behind it hid her inner fear.
There was no escaping this monster now.
"You know. The Dan Mok secret vault. I searched everywhere. Even dug up the Dan Mok estate grounds. Nothing. I had dozens of mechanism experts on it. Old man Dan Mok Cheon-seung surely told you, his daughter. And gave you the key."
"Nothing like that!"
Yeo Hwa declared firmly.
Gwang Hwe-cheon smirked at her defiance.
"Right. Of course. Why else would your only son end up in a place like Fierce Dragon Corps? Scraping by in the slums."
Yeo Hwa's eyes widened.
Finding this place was surprise enough, but how did he know about the slums?
"Took real effort tracking you down. Never thought you'd hide there. Yeo Hwa, the noble flower of the Dan Mok Clan."
Complex desire flickered in Gwang Hwe-cheon's eyes.
Yeo Hwa stepped back warily.
"But you were venomous. More than me."
A cruel smile curled Gwang Hwe-cheon's lips.
"I gouged out my own eye. Sealed my own martial arts. Lived as a grotesque pig for years. But you're worse. That's how you survived in the slums with the vault intact. No idea how you cured your daughter, though."
Yeo Hwa glared furiously.
He even knew Un-hye had been ill.
"Your daughter finally got healthy. What if you lose her here?"
Crack crack.
Gwang Hwe-cheon flexed his fingers.
Despair filled Yeo Hwa's eyes.
Dan Mok Un-hye in her arms.
Infinitely more precious than some Dan Mok secret vault.
She pitied Dan Mok Un-roe's martial arts thirst, but how could it compare to life?
'Should I have told him back then...'
A few nights ago,
regret surged: she should have told Dan Mok Un-roe about the vault and sent him there.
"I'm busy. Let's end this quick."
One step.
Gwang Hwe-cheon advanced on Yeo Hwa.
One step back.
Yeo Hwa retreated.
Revealing the vault's location and handing over the key.
It wasn't hard.
Not compared to family lives.
The problem was that it was Gwang Hwe-cheon.
Would he really leave peacefully after getting it?
She couldn't trust him.
Gwang Hwe-cheon took another step.
And slowly raised his arm.
As his fingertips reached toward Dan Mok Un-hye in Yeo Hwa's arms,
"Freeze right there."
Gwang Hwe-cheon whipped around at the sudden voice from behind.
He hadn't sensed a thing.
The figure that appeared behind him.
"Y-You..."
He shouldn't be here.
He should have turned into a cannibal ghoul due to his own stupidity...
'Come to think of it.'
Before spreading the poison, that one should have been turned first. Yet how?
Only one had become a cannibal ghoul.
Counting him, it should have been two.