Chapter 113: One Cherry Blossom Day (2)
The location was not difficult to find. The weeping of children and the thick stench of blood vibrated through the plum blossom forest.
The mangled corpses of the fallen soldiers and the sight of children sitting and sobbing throughout the woods made Il-gwang’s hands tremble with rage.
Arriving at the horrific scene, Il-gwang scanned his surroundings as he stepped forward. A moment later, the children spotted him and rushed over.
“Waah… Uncle…”
“Sob, sob…”
Dozens of children clung to Il-gwang’s waist, weeping sorrowfully.
“Our teacher was taken too… hiccup…”
Il-gwang barely managed to swallow the curses rising in his throat. His gaze then fell upon a fallen soldier lying nearby.
It was the squad leader who had come to the Wolf Fang Squad’s barracks just yesterday. He was still breathing but unable to move due to a deep sword wound to his abdomen.
“Centurion…”
Il-gwang’s massive hand gently lifted the soldier’s head.
“Who did this to you?”
“They weren’t the remnants of the Hui Dynasty… They were masked men dressed in black…”
“Just tell me which direction they went.”
The soldier’s trembling hand pointed toward a path.
“Please… save the children…”
Il-gwang gently laid him back down and said softly,
“I understand. Leave it to me and get some rest.”
Standing back up, Il-gwang clenched his fists. Instantly, the children surrounded him, pleading.
“Uncle, are you going to save our friends?”
“Please save our teacher… sniff.”
Grinding his teeth, his face contorted in anger. But he didn’t want to frighten the children.
Forcing his rugged features into an awkward smile, he patted the heads of the children clinging to his waist.
“Yes… I’ll be right back. So-so will bring the other uncles soon, so wait here bravely.”
Il-gwang’s dependable presence seemed to calm the children down. One by one, the weeping orphans wiped their tears and nodded.
“Yes… Uncle…”
“Please make sure to save our friends…”
With a single nod, Il-gwang leaped off the ground.
Whoosh—!
Covering more than fifty feet in a single bound, his movement speed was incomparable to his past self. He sprinted like a madman along the path the squad leader had pointed out.
Before long, he came across a man in black writhing on the ground. The injuries were severe but not fatal—undoubtedly So-so’s handiwork.
“Urgh…”
Sensing the unpleasant demonic qi radiating from the man, Il-gwang realized the attackers were from the Demonic Cult he had only heard stories of. He grabbed the man by the throat and hoisted him into the air.
“I don’t have time. Where did they take the kids? Spill it.”
“Kh… Kh… You crazy bastard. Do you really think I’d tell you…?”
As expected, he wasn’t going to talk easily. Il-gwang knew the look in this kind of man’s eyes all too well. Threatening to kill him would achieve nothing; they would keep their mouths shut to the end.
“Fine.”
His right hand clenched into a fist, his joints popping loudly. The fist was massive, nearly the size of an adult face. Watching the fist tighten, the masked man looked bewildered.
“What… what are you trying to do…?”
“If you change your mind and feel like talking, raise your left hand.”
A moment later, his hammer-like fist smashed into the masked man’s face.
Boom—!
The mask tore away in a single strike, sending several teeth flying. Il-gwang had carefully controlled his internal energy to ensure it wouldn’t kill him.
“Agh!”
The Black Fog Squad member’s pupils shook violently as he saw the giant fist coming at him again.
Boom! Boom!
Fists continued to rain down. Gradually, the man’s face turned into a bloody pulp.
“K-kill me…”
His pleas fell on deaf ears.
“You don’t have to talk.”
Il-gwang’s fists did not stop. Since he kept his internal energy to a minimum, the man couldn’t even die.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
“Pfft!”
The masked man felt a terror that surpassed death itself—the agonizing fear that this torture might never end.
By the time Il-gwang’s fist had slammed into his face for the twentieth time, the man’s left hand began to tremble weakly. When the strikes finally stopped, blood dripped from Il-gwang’s knuckles like rain.
“You have one chance.”
The Black Fog Squad member nodded, his face a complete wreck. His nose was crushed to powder, and he had no teeth left.
“If I talk… kill me…”
“If I like your answer.”
“Mount Xiaohua… I don’t know the exact location…”
Mount Xiaohua was not far from here.
Il-gwang nodded. If the man had given a precise location immediately, he would have suspected a lie. This was a reasonably credible lead.
Tossing the limp body aside, the man collapsed onto the ground.
“Now, kill me…”
Even if he miraculously survived, he would be crippled for life. He wanted to die, but he couldn’t. The man who had promised him death had already turned his back and was running away.
Il-gwang sprinted further along the path. Since he didn’t know the exact way to Mount Xiaohua, he kept searching the road and soon found another trace.
Two abandoned carriages.
His eyes gleamed as he inspected the area around them. On a path leading into the mountains, he spotted a small pouch.
‘A seed pouch?’
It was clearly a item dropped by one of the children.
‘They went into the mountains from here. They couldn’t have taken the carriages up.’
Il-gwang entered the mountain path, advancing along the narrow trail. Before long, he had to stop once more.
The path split into two directions. He had to choose.
‘Please…’
Il-gwang grew increasingly anxious.
As he scanned the ground, his face suddenly brightened. He had found a clue.
On the right path lay a simple hair ribbon, the kind a young girl would wear.
‘Good job, kids…’
Il-gwang sprinted down the right path.
Every time he reached a fork in the road, he found another clue: a shoe, a school supply, or a bracelet made of tiny seashells. The children had left them behind, trusting that someone would come for them.
Since he had to keep checking for trails, he couldn’t run at full speed.
After about fifteen minutes, he finally arrived at his destination.
It was a massive two-story pavilion situated in a basin. A broken wooden plaque engraved with the words “Biseon Sect” lay rolled on the ground. The building bore the fresh, violent marks of a recent battle. It was clear that another faction had seized the place.
Concentrating his internal energy into his ears, Il-gwang listened to the sounds inside the pavilion. The superhuman hearing of the Flower Realm quickly picked up the children’s voices.
— Let me go…
— Sob… Please let us go…
The whimpering of the children came from the second floor. Meanwhile, on the first floor, several men were talking.
Il-gwang crept up to the outer wall to listen.
“Great work, everyone. To think we struggled so much before when this was so easy.”
“We had no choice. The Crone ordered us not to draw the attention of the government forces. Though I suppose we don’t have to walk on eggshells anymore.”
“Yeah. Once we absorb the essence of the children we captured today, the Fiendish Demon Soul-Slaying Claw will finally be complete. Luckily, we finished just in time on the final day.”
“When did the Crone say she would arrive?”
“She said she would be here before sunset, so she should arrive shortly.”
“We should start preparing. And don’t touch the girl we brought. The leader said he has separate plans for her.”
“Hehe… I’m not that stupid.”
He could sense the presence of over fifty people spread across the first and second floors. Despite the high numbers, there was no reason to hesitate. Clenching his fists, which glowed with a crimson light, Il-gwang smashed them straight into the wall.
Boom—!
The entire structure of the pavilion shook as if hit by an earthquake, and a massive hole opened in the wall. Through the dust, a giant man stepped inside. The twenty or so Black Fog Squad members on the first floor shouted in shock.
“Wh-what?!”
“Who is this lunatic?!”
They were startled first by his sudden entry, second by his gargantuan size, and third by his face. His expression, contorted like a demon, made him look like the incarnation of wrath itself.
“Every single one of you bastards here today, get ready to die.”
But the Black Fog Squad was not a force that would back down easily. They were the elite forces of the Demonic Cult, created by the Silver Flower Crone herself.
“What are you doing? Kill him!”
One of the nearby members drew his sword and lunged first. The tip of the blade thrust straight toward Il-gwang’s throat. Looking at the incoming strike, only one thought crossed Il-gwang’s mind.
‘Too slow.’
In the past, such a strike might have posed a threat. But now, it seemed to move in slow motion.
With a slight tilt of his head, he let the blade slip past. Instantly, Il-gwang’s massive hand clamped onto the man’s face, completely covering it. Spinning halfway around, he slammed the man headfirst into the stone wall.
Crash—!
The wall cracked, and the man’s head was buried in the masonry. His limp body slid down, dead on impact. The terrifying display of power sent a wave of tension through the remaining men.
At that moment, a squad leader attempted a sneak attack from the side, aiming for his ribs.
Whoosh—!
A sharp sword qi coated the tip of the blade as it sliced through the air. Yet, this too appeared agonizingly slow to Il-gwang. His left hand moved with the speed of light, clamping onto the man’s sword wrist.
Grab!
Under his monstrous grip strength, the sword qi vanished instantly, and the man let out a pained shriek.
“Aaagh!”
In that split second, a heavy fist like a block of iron smashed into the man’s face.
It was the first form of the Mountain-Cleaving Fist: Striking the Mountain.
Boom—!
With a thunderous explosion, the squad leader collapsed, his head completely pulverized. The remaining Black Fog Squad members gasped in horror. The squad leader’s head was simply gone. They had never seen such a brutally simple yet devastating martial art.
Il-gwang’s hands erupted in a bright crimson force. His cold voice echoed through the hall.
“If you fight me, I’ll send you off in one blow. But if you try to run, I’ll tear off every single one of your limbs.”
It was a spine-chilling threat. To kill them painfully if they fled. Several men felt goosebumps break out across their skin.
Still, none of them retreated. There was only one enemy.
“Swarm him all at once!”
But this time, Il-gwang moved first. His fists, coated in crimson force, punched out in rapid succession.
The second form of the Exploding Annihilation Fist: Flying Strike, Mighty Kill.
Boom! Crash!
“Kh!”
“Agh!”
Four Black Fog Squad members were thrown backward, their chests caved in with deep fist impressions. Before they could hit the ground, Il-gwang charged into their ranks like a furious lion rampaging through a flock of sheep.
Every time his hand lashed out, another head shattered.
Crack! Splat!
His lightning-fast movements surpassed the speed at which the Black Fog Squad could react. Their biggest issue was that the narrow interior of the pavilion prevented them from forming their battle arrays.
Against his fists, everyone was a one-hit kill. His strength was unbelievably raw and monstrous.
Panic quickly gripped the room. Another squad leader tried to shout a command.
“D-don’t back down—”
He couldn’t finish his sentence. A palm as large as a roof tile slapped him across the face.
Snap!
His neck snapped, and his body flew through the air, crashing hard against the wall.
“This is insane…”
“Why is a master of the Flower Realm here…?”
He was definitely a master of the Flower Realm. Otherwise, there was no way he could overpower them like this. Although more members were pouring down from the second floor due to the commotion, they all froze at the sight.
Il-gwang’s movements grew faster and smoother. This was his first real battle since breaking through to the Flower Realm. His innate battle instincts were rapidly adapting to his new, powerful body.
“Aaaargh!”
Il-gwang’s roar shook the pavilion. As the Black Fog Squad stood frozen in fear, the force enveloping his hands shone even brighter. Punching out, his fists left dozens of afterimages, striking multiple enemies simultaneously.
Thud! Smash!
“Argh!”
“Aaagh!”
The power of the Exploding Annihilation Fist unleashed by a Flower Realm master was truly terrifying. In terms of destructive capability, it was an advanced martial art that surpassed even Shaolin’s Hundred-Step Divine Fist.
The leader of the Black Fog Squad finally appeared on the second floor and yelled,
“We must hold out until the Crone arrives!”
But his voice failed to reach his men’s ears. Their eyes were filled with nothing but raw terror—even though they were the elite of the Black Fog Squad, whose souls had been hardened through hellish training.
As the slaughter continued, someone screamed,
“Leader, we can’t kill him unless we can deploy our formations!”
The Black Fog Squad leader hesitated. There was no reason to fight to the death here.
“Everyone, fall back outside!”
The men rushed toward the entrance to escape, but Il-gwang was not about to let them go. His figure vanished from his spot, and in the next instant, he was blocking the exit.
“I believe I told you. If you try to run, I’ll tear off every single one of your limbs.”