Chapter 196
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 196
Chapter Title: Did I Annoy You That Much?
"Number One. What is it?"
A voice still heavy with drowsiness.
Gae Se-ak looked at Il-ro, who had come to find him, and asked.
"I'm afraid you'll have to move your quarters..."
At those words, Gae Se-ak furrowed his brow.
Seeing that expression, it seemed they needed to go even deeper than this place.
This spot already felt suffocating enough—like he wanted to burst out at any moment.
And now they had to go even deeper? Why?
"Gwang Hoe-cheon has made the mistake of trampling on the grass to scare the snake. That monster bastard found out we're researching and experimenting with Soul-Confusing Poison..."
Il-ro trailed off.
Yesterday, there had been a report that someone called the East Branch Chief had arrived from Wu Chang.
The letter had arrived even earlier than that.
As had the Soul-Confusing Poison capable of poisoning five hundred people.
"He'll definitely come charging here without fail. Ha Mu-baek knows about this Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest."
Gae Se-ak frowned at Il-ro's words.
He knows?
But how does he know we're staying here?
And that we're calling for the revival of the Blood Cult?
Is he insane?
Such thoughts flashed through Gae Se-ak's mind.
"But he doesn't know about this place."
What did that mean?
Hadn't he just said a moment ago that he knew about it?
"He already turned the surface fortress upside down once... but he doesn't know about the underground. Truth be told, even we haven't fully mapped out this labyrinth yet."
Gae Se-ak nodded as if he understood the follow-up explanation.
"Then..."
"We don't know when that mad dog will sniff this place out. So, for now, we should hide in the deepest area we've scouted."
Irritation filled Gae Se-ak's face at those words.
"Even that ghost-like bastard can't properly find his way around here."
Il-ro said with a face full of conviction.
It was based on experience.
Back when he'd torn up the surface.
Ha Mu-baek hadn't been able to properly find the underground.
That guy who sniffed out anywhere you hid like a ghost.
No one knew why.
But the results were what they were, so this place became the Blood Cult's headquarters.
"Hoo. Got it."
Gae Se-ak replied with a deep sigh.
He prepared to flee even deeper to escape the monster.
The massive chaos that erupted in Wu Chang.
It wasn't something that could be contained at the Righteous Heaven Alliance's Wu Chang branch.
Naturally, reports went up to headquarters, and the Righteous Heaven Alliance was thrown into an uproar.
After all, it was the Blood Cult remnants spreading a poison that turned people into jiangshi in Wu Chang.
The Elder Council was in an uproar.
Even talk of the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest came up.
After all, that was the only place where the Blood Cult remnants could be hiding.
Its deep core.
No one from the Righteous Heaven Alliance had ever gone there to see what lay within.
They'd built the Mountain-Crossing Great Wall precisely to avoid the cost and sacrifices needed to conquer that far.
Of course, there were other reasons too.
Gong Son Dan-gyeong watched the pointless back-and-forth for a while before shaking his head and standing up.
He couldn't expect anything from these people.
Those gathered here were simply chasing their own interests.
'In the end, looks like I'll have to go myself.'
Soul-Confusing Poison was no ordinary substance.
And with the formula still in the Blood Cult's hands, along with a significant amount transferred to their main base...
'It's been a while since we'll meet.'
He'd considered making a move during the Zhongnan incident, but held back.
It might have looked like interference in the Righteous Heaven Alliance's internal Zhongnan affairs.
But this was different.
It was Wu Chang's problem—the Dragon Training Pavilion and the Righteous Heaven Alliance Wu Chang branch's issue.
Gong Son Dan-gyeong finished preparations immediately and set off for Wu Chang.
The journey was swift.
Thanks to traveling light and pushing as fast as possible.
Thus, Gong Son Dan-gyeong arrived just as the chaos in Wu Chang was starting to die down.
While sorting out the Dragon Training Pavilion's main training grounds, a smile crept onto Ha Mu-baek's lips.
"What's that about?"
Han Seol-bing noticed and asked.
"The old man's finally here—the one I've been waiting for. Annoying old coot, but I'm glad to see him this time."
At Ha Mu-baek's response, Han Seol-bing pictured the person he always called that annoying old man.
"Looks like the Chief Strategist has come to Wu Chang. Makes sense... with all this mess."
Han Seol-bing nodded, but then her eyes gleamed.
A sudden shift.
Ha Mu-baek sensed something off and tried to pull back,
but Han Seol-bing was faster.
In an instant, a white frost mist spread around him.
Ice Soul Illusion Maze Formation.
A formation that trapped the target in a maze.
It was purely for containment, with no killing power.
"What is this?"
Ha Mu-baek frowned and asked.
Inside the frost mist, only Ha Mu-baek and Han Seol-bing remained.
"It's because of a deal with that annoying old man."
Han Seol-bing averted her gaze and said slyly.
"A deal?"
"In exchange for assigning me to the Dragon Training Pavilion... someday, if the old man shows up where you are, to hold you back once."
Han Seol-bing explained slowly with an awkward expression.
"Bribery. Nepotism. Tsk tsk."
Ha Mu-baek clicked his tongue at her words.
"Should I report this to the Discipline Hall? Getting an assignment through bribery."
At Ha Mu-baek's light threat, Han Seol-bing pouted.
"It's basically an exile posting. How is that bribery? There's no gain in it."
"You didn't bribe, the old man did. And in return, he got you out of the tough Hocheon Corps and into this cushy Dragon Training Pavilion."
It was absurd nonsense.
Han Seol-bing stared at Ha Mu-baek in disbelief.
"You think that makes sense?"
"Depends on who's saying it."
Ha Mu-baek smirked.
He was right.
It was ridiculous, but he had the power to make it true.
"Anyway, I wonder what annoying errand that old coot wants me to run this time, using you to tie my feet... You didn't have to go this far."
"Did I annoy you that much?"
A voice pierced through the frost mist at that moment.
Han Seol-bing jumped in surprise.
The maze formation breached from outside.
But Ha Mu-baek remained calm, as if he'd expected it.
Gong Son Dan-gyeong revealed himself.
Without notice.
Full of tricks.
True to his nickname, he'd effortlessly dismantled Han Seol-bing's formation and appeared.
"Sending me here was the first way you annoyed me."
"That was unavoidable since you beat up your superior."
Gong Son Dan-gyeong chuckled.
The man who'd been there with him was playing innocent now.
"One more superior assault, and you might finally get kicked out of this damn Righteous Heaven Alliance?"
"Hey, man. You take a joke that seriously?"
"It was a joke on my end too."
Gong Son Dan-gyeong shook his head at Ha Mu-baek's retort.
He was someone you could never win against.
Ha Mu-baek was.
"So, what exactly happened?"
Gong Son Dan-gyeong had come himself, thinking Ha Mu-baek would know far more than the reports to the Righteous Heaven Alliance.
And with Han Seol-bing's formation up, it was perfect for a quiet talk.
Ha Mu-baek explained everything in detail.
Thanks to that, Han Seol-bing heard even things she hadn't known.
"Heh..."
Gong Son Dan-gyeong let out a low sigh upon hearing the bizarre phenomenon that had happened to Gwang Hoe-cheon at the end.
"Do you know anything about that strange sorcery?"
Ha Mu-baek's expression was deadly serious. Seeing that, Gong Son Dan-gyeong nodded.
"That's why you didn't need to go out of your way for that vice corps leader. You needed something from me. Heh."
Normally, Ha Mu-baek would have shot back with sarcasm, but he stayed quiet.
As Gong Son Dan-gyeong said, he was the one in need.
That moment when Gwang Hoe-cheon had been Seok Mu-won.
It was clearly a Demonic Cult sorcery, but even Ha Mu-baek had never seen it before.
So he'd asked, thinking the all-knowing, full-of-tricks Gong Son Dan-gyeong might know.
"Ten Thousand Demons Soul-Devouring Incarnation Grand Method."
The answer came immediately.
Was there really anything this old man didn't know?
"One of the Demonic Cult's top-tier sorceries. As the name implies. It devours the soul of someone weaker than the caster and uses them as a host. A grand method that defies nature by consuming another's soul... A person can use it about three times at most."
Ha Mu-baek listened quietly, arms crossed.
"It absorbs all the memories of the soul it eats. And it can turn the host into an incarnation of the caster, manipulating them like puppets. A real headache of a sorcery all around."
"Can it make the host stronger too?"
"If you make the demonic energy planted in the host's body go berserk all at once. And use the host's life force as fuel. You could make them several times stronger for about an incense stick's worth of time."
"But they'd die after."
Gong Son Dan-gyeong nodded at Ha Mu-baek's words.
"The Blood Cult dragging the Demonic Cult into this too..."
"What I'm curious about is why it was Seok Won-cho's grandson who ate the soul of Gwang Hoe-cheon, that traitor."
Gong Son Dan-gyeong was looking at it from a different angle than Ha Mu-baek.
"Soul-Confusing Poison is fearsome, but the Demonic Cult has no need for it."
It could be, or it couldn't.
The fallen Demonic Cult was different from during the last war.
Just look at how they'd used that insane weapon on him.
They were disregarding all means and methods now.
They'd done it before, but now even more so.
"Anyway, I've told you everything I know, so clean up here properly."
Ha Mu-baek waved his hand and turned to leave.
The frost mist enveloped him, but he simply unleashed a burst of intense energy, breaking through the formation and exiting.
"Ugh, that brute."
Dan Mok Un-roe had finally returned home after more than ten grueling days and was taking a well-deserved rest.
Deep into the night.
Yeo Hwa came to find him.
"Mother."
Her sudden visit.
Mother and son sat facing each other across the table.
"...Do you remember the Dan Mok Clan?"
Yeo Hwa asked in a voice laden with complex emotions.
Dan Mok Un-roe couldn't bring himself to answer and simply nodded faintly.
He wasn't so young that he'd forgotten.
It had been a great clan.
Back then, it had enjoyed prosperity rivaling the Five Great Clans.
Some even called it one of the Six Great Clans, including the Dan Mok.
Though it had fallen overnight to the Blood Cult.
"Then, is it true that nothing was left of the clan?"
"..."
Dan Mok Un-roe had no words.
After all, he'd thought about it endlessly.
The desperate wish that even one family martial art had survived.
Yeo Hwa removed a worn bracelet and held it out to Dan Mok Un-roe.
"What's this?"
"A key. To the Dan Mok Clan Secret Vault."
Dan Mok Un-roe's eyes widened.
Something he'd imagined might exist someday.
And now his mother was saying it really did.
"It's located on the outskirts of Wu Chang. Elder Bang knows the exact location."
Elder Bang.
Now he knew. That man was a Beggar Clan expert.
And he even had ties to their family.
"Then, us living in Wu Chang was..."
At Dan Mok Un-roe's words, Yeo Hwa nodded.
"Because I thought we might one day go there. Gwang Hoe-cheon is dead now too, so it's safe to open the vault."
Gwang Hoe-cheon.
A name he'd heard in passing.
The traitor who brought their clan to near-extinction.
But he was dead?
No, how did his mother know that?
"Head to the vault at first light. I've already spoken to Elder Bang. Go find the martial arts you've always wanted there."
"Mother..."
Dan Mok Un-roe could say no more.