Chapter 360: The Siblings' Ambition
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An island nation far across the sea.
In Jianghu, that place had been called the eastern lands beyond the borders since ancient times.
So-called the eastern foreign Jianghu.
The land said to be the base of the Japanese pirates who occasionally invaded the coastal regions of the mainland and plundered villages, and where warrior groups carrying distinctive great swords and ninja factions that had mastered various sorceries were said to be active in secret…
Shin So-sul suddenly felt as if he had been struck on the back of the head.
He had been completely unaware.
To think that Snake-Robed Hwa-rang and Snake-Robed Hwa-nong were originally easterners…
Moreover, they had said Hidden Endurance Curtain.
He recalled hearing that name at some point.
Hidden Endurance Curtain was one of the ninja factions, a group specializing in illusion arts and incantations.
Snake-Robed Hwa-rang quietly drew a smile.
“Hoo, is it unexpected?”
“Kuk! Hidden Endurance Curtain… Then were you spies from there?”
Snake-Robed Hwa-rang, having stepped forward, soon shook his head.
“That too is wrong.”
“You bastard! Then! Ugh…”
Shin So-sul’s expression contorted as he tried to berate him.
TUTUK, TUK…… JUREUREUK, JURYUK……
Blood drops falling onto the grass field.
It was the effect of the Illusion Chain Capturing Binding Secret Technique binding him even more tightly as his skin tore slightly.
Snake-Robed Hwa-nong again emitted cold eye light.
“Please lower your voice now. We can hear you even if you speak quietly.”
While saying that, she lightly waved one hand.
It was a threatening gesture that she could heighten the intensity of the Illusion Chain Capturing Binding Secret Technique at any moment and inflict terrible pain.
Also.
It also meant not to forget he was no longer the cult leader, but a captive.
‘Tchiik…!’
Thick veins like earthworms protruded on the forehead of Shin So-sul, who forcibly swallowed his rage while clenching his molars tight.
Snake-Robed Hwa-rang, who saw that look, gave a satisfied expression as he spoke.
“That’s better. Now let us have a calm conversation.”
He continued his voice in a relaxed posture with his hands clasped behind his back.
“Spies? If we were spies, would just the two of us have come?”
Snake-Robed Hwa-nong beside him also added coldly.
“As you know, the scale of the Hidden Endurance Curtain is by no means small.”
Shin So-sul’s gaze sank deeply upon hearing the two’s words.
‘True enough…’
As they said, that was so.
If Hidden Endurance Curtain’s purpose had been to seize the Heretic Cult, additional personnel would have long been dispatched to the Shiwan Mountains in time for the execution of the rebellion.
Snake-Robed Hwa-rang cleared up one mystery.
“We siblings are ninja from Hidden Endurance Curtain, but our names were erased from the registry a few years ago.”
Only then did Shin So-sul intuit the inside story.
“Expulsion…”
“Yes. We committed murder and fled.”
“…!”
“The target was Hidden Endurance Curtain’s thirteenth generation Curtain Master.”
A translucent ripple spread in Shin So-sul’s pupils.
What a shocking hidden history.
They killed a person?
In their younger years…?
What’s more, their appearance of speaking of such a thing as if it were nothing was also shocking.
Snake-Robed Hwa-rang remained perfectly composed.
“Don’t look at me like that. He was a bastard who deserved to die.”
“Your nature is wicked to the core. How can you say such things…”
“You can think of it as us doing what someone had to do instead of them.”
“Huh…!”
“No matter what, if you’re the head of a group, you should have ambition. It’s a part directly connected to achievement and development. But if there’s no great will, the entire membership including the head becomes stagnant, and eventually disperses.”
“So you killed him? At such a young age…?”
“Yes, he was a vessel too small to embrace my younger sister and me.”
“…”
“Don’t you know well? That complacency leads directly to stagnation, and in the end, that leads to incompetence… We couldn’t bear to stand by and watch that.”
“Kuk… Yet how can you so easily kill someone who took you in?”
“I told you just now. He was a bastard who deserved to die. No, he was a bastard who needed to die.”
No sooner had Snake-Robed Hwa-rang’s words ended than Snake-Robed Hwa-nong quietly opened her mouth.
“Incompetence is the greatest sin. Especially so when it’s the head. Brother and I realized everything early on. Everyone praised us, saying we were young geniuses. But we both yearned for a higher place, and our thirst for learning grew greater as time passed. But there was nothing more to learn from that bastard who was the leader. Simply put… he was a person who had become useless.”
Following that, Snake-Robed Hwa-rang beside her spoke again.
“At that time, I finally realized.”
“…”
“That the future we dreamed of did not exist within Hidden Endurance Curtain. He too had plenty of opportunities to live. We demanded positions in the leadership befitting our abilities. But that person refused, citing our youth. That ended up causing his death. After successfully executing the murder, we fled. And… we manipulated two corpses we had prepared in advance to deceive the eyes of those pursuing us. Using the so-called Corpse Transformation Replication Technique.”
“Corpse Transformation Replication Technique…”
“It’s a high-tier sorcery we created that makes a corpse’s appearance exactly like the caster’s. Adding illusion arts to it gives it the mystical application of transforming into a formation. Of course, we mastered that formation after entering the sect here. We’ll put it to good use going forward.”
“I unknowingly… raised tiger cubs that would bite me.”
“What, don’t be mistaken.”
“What?”
“Raising, who raised whom?”
“Keut…”
“We merely lived by playing along with you. It was just a matter of time before we surpassed your skill, Master.”
“Ridiculous talk… Surpass me? You’re still far from it.”
But Snake-Robed Hwa-rang completely ignored that response.
“In any case… we had to find a new path. A path leading to a higher place.”
“So… you chose our cult?”
“We had long heard of the Heretic Cult’s fame since childhood. They said it was a cult of the evil and heretical unmatched in Jianghu, surpassing the level of ninja factions. However, we didn’t come straight here. The first place we arrived after crossing the vast sea was Hainan Island.”
A distinctive light rose in Shin So-sul’s pupils.
“Hainan Island…?”
It was a giant island in the sea near the Guangdong region.
On Hainan Island, one martial organization had existed since ancient times.
Mount Hainan Sect.
It was a martial organization of the Taoist Orthodox lineage, particularly famous for its quick swordsmanship.
The Flying Fish Flowing Sword Art, the foremost absolute technique of that place, had even been included in the tier of the Eighteen Great Orthodox Sword Studies during the era when Evil Emperor Yul-Cheon reigned as Supreme Hegemon.
“What crime did you commit there too? Don’t tell me, against Mount Hainan Sect…”
“It was kidnapping and research.”
“…!”
“We stayed there for three months, used corpses to refine the Corpse Essence Pill that was taboo in the eastern lands, and put it in our bodies.”
“Corpse… Essence Pill…?”
“It prevents one from being affected by sorcery wielded by others. Especially against types like brainwashing… But because it uses corpses, it’s one of the taboo techniques. We had always wanted to try it, and conveniently, Mount Hainan Sect was there, so things were somewhat easy. Because using corpses of martial artists who have mastered internal energy arts makes the strengthening effect even more outstanding. It was a kind of precaution. Since at first, we had no information about Master. Same with regard to the Heretic Cult’s sorcery. If, having come all this way, we were forcibly brainwashed by sorcery, everything would come to nothing.”
At that moment, Shin So-sul perceived something.
“Could that pale skin be…?”
At that, Snake-Robed Hwa-rang answered with a nod.
“Correct. If you consume the Corpse Essence Pill, the skin of your entire body turns pale like a corpse. Hoo.”
Having snickered, he continued in a low voice.
“Fortunately, Master accepted us siblings as disciples. Deceived by our feigned goodness.”
“Kuk… Who could I blame…”
“Yes. Master was the problem. Things have come to this point because of Master’s foolishness.”
Shin So-sul’s expression turned gloomy for a moment.
‘If only I had gotten rid of that…’
He was reminded of a conversation he once had with Snake-Robed Hwa-rang.
-Master, what is that?
-It’s an incomplete research tome related to sorcery.
-Ah… the one you mentioned before…
-Yes, that’s right. That’s why the first generation Gate Master of the Dragon Martial Gate came to this place in the past. I placed it in one corner of the room as a reminder. So that I don’t forget my resolution whenever I look at it…
-But isn’t it dangerous? If someone sees it and continues the research…
-Hoohoot. It’s fine. No one but me can do it.
‘I believed that so firmly…’
Shin So-sul, whose self-deprecating light grew thicker.
If he had known Snake-Robed Hwa-rang and Snake-Robed Hwa-nong would get involved, he would have incinerated that book long ago.
Great regret washed over him.
In the midst of that, Snake-Robed Hwa-rang’s voice struck his ears.
“Master, you should have completed that research. Not some half-baked mental method…”
“Shut it.”
“You displeased me from the start. Your acts of denying our cult’s history, tradition, and identity… And then, the Darkness-Craving Blood Clan happened to make secret contact. We got along well since their ambition was great. And so… we decided to prepare a home for them here in exchange for receiving various help.”
Shin So-sul pleaded with the desperation of clutching at straws at the edge of a cliff.
“It’s not too late yet. Give up the research. That will, in the future,… lead you and everyone else to the path of destruction.”
At that moment, Snake-Robed Hwa-nong formed a cold sneer.
“No, it’s the path of glory.”
Snake-Robed Hwa-rang, having nodded, also sneered coldly.
“Hoohoo. Please wake up from your futile dream now. Advance into the light and be active? Do you think the Orthodox and Unorthodox factions will recognize our cult’s efforts just because we do that? Once our fame rises, it’s self-evident they’ll try to trample us instead.”
Then he gestured with his chin and asked.
“Will you stand on our side?”
“…”
“I am giving you one last chance.”
Shin So-sul burst out with the rage he had been straining to hold back.
“Aghh! You’re foolish! So foolish! What kind of… keok!”
Sure enough.
KWAKWAK-
The Illusion Chain Capturing Binding Secret Technique’s binding force intensified even more as Snake-Robed Hwa-nong immediately reacted.
Fresh blood fell ceaselessly as the illusory chains dug into his skin.
TTUK, TTUTTUK…… JURYUK, JUREUREUK……
Snake-Robed Hwa-rang, who had approached directly in front of him, pressed his face close.
“You’re the foolish one.”
A completely changed manner of speech.
Following that, his one hand lifted Shin So-sul’s chin.
“Look at yourself. You think it’s amusing to spout such words?”
“Keu… heu…”
“Do you know what we did first after imprisoning you here?”
“I don’t… want… to hear. Keukeug…”
“It was making the Ink Blood Heart. You wouldn’t know what it is. Oohuhoo.”
Shin So-sul, amid his suffering, felt a certain ominousness.
About that thing called the Ink Blood Heart.
* * *
The crowd who had been listening to Shin So-sul’s story each tilted their heads.
“Ink Blood Heart?”
“What on earth is that…?”
“Somehow just hearing the name gives me chills…”
“R-right.”
At that moment, Shin So-sul spoke with a heavy expression.
“It’s a kind of enormous heart artificially created. To supply blood in large quantities needed by the Darkness-Craving Blood Clan…”
Suddenly, Cheol Ryu-heun’s gaze turned toward Gun Mu-ak.