Chapter 605
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 605
Chapter Title: Looks like bad luck
Early in the morning, Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek left Luoyang.
He had obtained all the information Nak Woo-jin could provide, so there was no need to meet the Beggars' Sect headquarters' rear elder.
The important thing was to deal with Bang Sa-uk.
Ha Mu-baek spread his senses as widely as possible.
He backtracked all the way to the place Nak Woo-jin had described, but nothing caught in his senses.
Not even at the site of the battle, nor despite moving quite a distance in the direction of the escape Nak Woo-jin had indicated.
Ha Mu-baek tilted his head in puzzlement.
If he had come this far and still detected nothing even after expanding his senses, he would have to check Cheonjung Mountain.
However, Ha Mu-baek's intuition held his feet back.
Somehow, he didn't think that guy would return to Cheonjung Mountain.
Bang Sa-uk, who had developed an immense killing intent toward the Beggars' Sect for some reason.
And if, as Nak Woo-jin and Heavenly Eye Pavilion Lord Gong Son Dan-gyeong had said, he had also gained tremendous power?
Ha Mu-baek fell into thought.
'If I were in that situation, what would I do?'
No need to wonder. He would have immediately charged to Kaepyeong and smashed it with sheer force.
Then what about Bang Sa-uk?
His personality and intellect remained the same, they had said.
In that case, he needed to consider the tendencies Ha Mu-baek had briefly observed during the previous war.
He was cautious.
He thought things through two or three times.
And above all, he moved like lightning only when a perfect advantage presented itself.
He was someone who had already been repelled once by Nak Woo-jin and the Hocheon Corps.
Since the Hocheon Corps had appeared out of nowhere, he would assume additional forces might be present.
'He'll gather more power and try to accurately gauge the enemy's strength.'
In that case, the method would be to sneak into Kaepyeong covertly and assess the situation.
"Tch. What a hassle."
The reason Ha Mu-baek had personally left Kaepyeong and raced here while expanding his senses was simple.
To finish it quickly and return quickly.
With no one reliable in Luoyang except old man Gong Son, he had told Iron Staff Beggar to head there.
But Gong Son Dan-gyeong.
Who knew what schemes that man might pull with Gong Hae-bin and Gong Hae-jun.
He probably wouldn't do anything malicious.
But everything that man did was like laying groundwork for the future.
Ha Mu-baek wanted to return as soon as possible, pick up the kids, and head to the western front.
Once they reached the western front, his master would be there, after all.
It was proper etiquette to introduce his disciples to his master, entrust the kids to him, and handle the task Heavenly Eye Pavilion Lord Gong Son Dan-gyeong had requested assistance with.
But there was a high chance Bang Sa-uk had slipped away and hidden.
'For my senses to miss him entirely... Has he reached a higher realm than I thought?'
Having made his decision, Ha Mu-baek moved swiftly.
He raced back toward Kaepyeong.
About this much time passed after Ha Mu-baek disappeared.
In the dense forest floor about twenty jang away from where Ha Mu-baek had been lost in thought, the ground suddenly writhed and moved.
Bang Sa-uk revealed himself there.
It wasn't something he had done intentionally.
The power of darkness, which had been continuously infusing him with energy, suddenly dragged him in and devoured him.
He had been deep underground for a full four si.
He hadn't breathed.
He hadn't felt anything.
He had simply existed there, as if he had become the earth itself.
The instinct flowing in through the darkness had compelled him to do so.
In that process, he realized one fact.
'Dark Blood Jiangshi. Heh heh heh.'
That was it.
He had possessed reason, thought, and moved by his own will.
Yet even buried deep in the earth without breathing, survival posed no issue.
Impossible for a human.
Bang Sa-uk had no choice but to accept what he had suspected.
It was natural because he, infused with the power of darkness, was a demonic creature known as a Dark Blood Jiangshi.
It wasn't because his will was weak.
"I wonder who it is."
This was the territory of the Righteous Heaven Alliance, so perhaps Alliance Leader So Hwi-woong had come?
It was an immense presence.
Enough that the power of darkness held its breath and hid him completely.
"Well, I'll find out when I get there."
Bang Sa-uk muttered as he started walking.
The gain from being sucked deep into the ground and spending over four si there.
All the darkness pooled in that place had flowed into him.
Digesting it was another matter, but there was no reason to stay here any longer.
Bang Sa-uk slowly oriented himself toward Kaepyeong.
Not knowing what enemies might be there.
Cautiously, even if slowly.
This was Bang Sa-uk's way, not the Dark Blood Jiangshi's.
Seven days passed.
Ha Mu-baek had been staying at an inn north of Kaepyeong during that time.
Nak Woo-jin was staying there as well.
"Man, what kind of monster is about to show up... For the corps leader to find no trace."
Nak Woo-jin muttered in disbelief.
It sounded like worry, but in truth, it was teasing Ha Mu-baek.
Three times a day, every day, without fail.
At set times, no less.
"I'll let it slide until today."
Ha Mu-baek replied calmly.
This was the third time as well.
Nak Woo-jin had just muttered for the third time today, and Ha Mu-baek had responded exactly three times today too.
Nak Woo-jin looked at Ha Mu-baek.
Ha Mu-baek's eyes were utterly serene.
"Tch. Got it."
This was the first time Nak Woo-jin had properly responded to Ha Mu-baek's words.
He knew well that the third warning was the last.
Even he felt like he'd get at least one hit if he said it again.
He'd pass on that.
Even one hit could swing between life and death depending on how much sincerity Ha Mu-baek put into it.
"When the hell is that bastard coming?"
Night was deepening.
"Who knows."
Ha Mu-baek's senses currently blanketed all of Kaepyeong.
Ever since returning to Kaepyeong, he hadn't retracted them for even a moment in the seven days.
The moment Nak Woo-jin set down his empty liquor cup on the table with a clink.
Tziiing.
A small sound accompanied a crack in the cup.
"Hm?"
Nak Woo-jin's eyes turned to the cup.
Ha Mu-baek looked at it too.
"Looks like bad luck."
"This is bad luck..."
The words slipped from both men's mouths simultaneously.
Probably coincidence, but on the battlefield, whenever something like this happened, trouble inevitably followed.
Especially for Nak Woo-jin.
His hunches were eerily accurate, to the point of being ghostly.
It felt like a night when something bad would happen.
Deep into the night.
Midnight.
When darkness enveloped the world.
Bang Sa-uk became able to move by riding the darkness.
Once he fully digested the darkness he had absorbed, it came naturally.
Like a bird taking flight when the time comes.
Merging into the darkness and erasing his presence felt utterly natural.
Just like that day, assimilating with the deep earth underground.
Thus, when darkness vanished from the world, he hid deep underground, and moved only after darkness fell.
Today.
He had finally entered Kaepyeong.
It had been a truly long time.
Seven days, no less.
But in exchange for that time, he had fully digested the absorbed darkness, making it his own.
And now he could completely erase his presence by merging into the darkness.
Upon entering Kaepyeong, he realized how brilliant that choice had been.
The faint energy blanketing the entire darkness of Kaepyeong.
A dense web like a spider's, scrutinizing every corner inside the walls.
It was an inescapable net no one could sense.
If he hadn't been able to merge into the darkness.
If Bang Sa-uk had simply concealed his presence as best he could and scaled the walls?
He would have been detected by that inescapable net.
He had no idea who had spread such an absurd presence over all of Luoyang—no, Kaepyeong.
But someone capable of such a feat... he could well imagine their power.
Even so, it wasn't frightening.
Not for Bang Sa-uk, who already wielded the power of darkness.
Bang Sa-uk was certain the master of that inescapable net was not from the Beggars' Sect.
'Probably someone from the Righteous Heaven Alliance.'
In that case, that guy would be last.
No need to clash from the start.
The Beggars' Sect.
He could deal with it after delivering death from within the darkness.
Merged as one with the darkness, Bang Sa-uk headed toward the Beggars' Sect headquarters in northern Kaepyeong.
Beyond the northern walls, Mang Mountain was visible in the distance, and the headquarters stood as a large compound in the northern part inside the walls.
With grave-filled Mang Mountain so close, it was an even better spot for Bang Sa-uk.
The deathly yin energy of the dead seeped into the darkness and flowed to him.
Death, too, was part of the darkness.
Bang Sa-uk floated in the air.
The Beggars' Sect headquarters lay beneath his feet.
Grinning, he slowly descended, scanning the headquarters thoroughly.
Possible because it was shrouded in darkness.
Because he himself was part of the darkness.
However, with his current ability, the Beggars' Sect headquarters was the full extent of his reach.
Once he grew stronger, he could claim the darkness over wider areas.
'Next up, the Righteous Heaven Alliance.'
Since it was the Righteous Heaven Alliance trying to interfere with his plans, Bang Sa-uk naturally set it as his next target.
He didn't entertain even the slightest thought of failing to exterminate the Beggars' Sect.
One person caught in his senses.
Myo Su-gae.
The smile of murder on his lips deepened.
He sensed others too.
Someone staying in the rear elder's quarters.
A place that had once been Bang Sa-uk's own residence—he couldn't possibly mistake it.
Yet the occupant was not as expected.
'Not Yi Ung?'
The presence was familiar, but definitely not Yi Ung.
This presence belonged to Un Hak-gae.
He was exceptional, but a tier below himself and Yi Ung.
So why was he in the rear elder's quarters?
Well, it was all doomed to destruction anyway—what did it matter?
The absence of Yi Ung, alias Iron Staff Beggar, was a slight disappointment, but the culprit was Myo Su-gae.
First things first: Myo Su-gae.
As his killing intent grew more sinister.
The darkness moved.
"Gasp. Kkuk. Kkuuuuk. Uuuk. Uuuk."
Beggars' Sect elder Myo Su-gae, sleeping soundly, awoke to sudden pressure.
Something was strangling his throat.
He tried to muster his internal energy to resist, but his dantian felt frozen—his energy wouldn't budge.
His limbs could move, so he thrashed with all his might, but the force on his throat didn't yield an inch.
The strangling force kept just enough air open to barely avoid death.
It had no substance.
'H-how.'
Besides groans, he couldn't make a sound.
He wanted to scream and call his subordinates, but he couldn't even do that.
His body floated up into the air.
Without sensing any internal energy, it moved so naturally, as if it were meant to.
'W-what is this...'
The place he was taken to was the center of the Beggars' Sect headquarters compound.
A wide open plaza.
The Beggars' Sect members, startled by the sudden event and on alert, were shocked—but soon met the same fate as Myo Su-gae.
Bang Sa-uk, standing at the center of the plaza watching it all, was thoroughly enjoying himself.
No one had spotted him yet.
Because he still merged with the darkness.
"Hm?"
Ha Mu-baek's eyelid twitched.
Nothing tripped his senses.
But he felt some movement.
At the Beggars' Sect headquarters.
That area too was covered by Ha Mu-baek's senses, so he had felt every movement there over the past seven days.
After midnight.
Kaepyeong was deep in slumber, but the Beggars' Sect headquarters was different.
A movement unseen in the seven days appeared.
There was no rule saying it had to show the same patterns every day of those seven, nor was it possible to force it.
But there was such a thing as the range of a sect's normal activity.
What Ha Mu-baek sensed now clearly exceeded that range.
Myo Su-gae.
He had never moved like that at this hour before.
As a Beggars' Sect elder, Ha Mu-baek knew his face.
But he was steeped in a sense of authority.
One had to wonder how such a man became an elder of the Beggars' Sect.
One might even question if he was truly a beggar.
During the previous war, he had acted that way even before Ha Mu-baek, nearly suffering for it, but Alliance Leader So Hwi-woong had intervened just in time, saving him.
After that, he avoided Ha Mu-baek, and upon learning through the Hocheon Corps seven days ago that Ha Mu-baek had entered Kaepyeong, he had holed up in his quarters.
Yet now, that man had come out to the headquarters plaza at this hour of his own accord.
Something had happened.
Whether that bastard was plotting something or an incident had occurred at headquarters.
[Let's go.]
Nak Woo-jin, who had been sleeping soundly, heard Ha Mu-baek's Wisdom Light's Words in his mind.
He reflexively kicked off his bed and dashed toward the Beggars' Sect headquarters.
Ha Mu-baek was running beside him.