Chapter 159: Chapter 159

“Hyah, hyah!”

Kakakang!

Hong Won-chang swung his sword wildly.

His sword was as fierce and threatening as a wild beast.

Even though only a year had passed since he began practicing martial arts, one could tell at a glance that he had reached a considerable level.

‘It was tough!’

He felt the respectful gazes of the constables.

He had spent all his money to buy and consume elixirs to raise his level of internal energy, because although he had learned martial arts, the foundational energy was too lacking.

Thanks to that, he had gained nearly sixty years of internal energy.

The problem was what came next.

Hong Won-chang’s weakness was that he had absolutely no real combat experience.

Therefore, he sparred with the constables every day; at first, it was one-on-one, but as time passed, he added to the number until he did not even flinch when facing ten opponents now.

He put in blood-sweating effort.

He had mastered the martial arts he had wanted to learn so badly.

If so, what remained was the desire to rise higher.

Kakakang!

“You crazy bastard!”

Chwaak!

The man’s blade grazed past his flank.

Since he had already been cut by blades here and there, his entire body was soaked in blood, and because he had not even stopped the bleeding, the bleeding did not stop.

If he dragged things out for too long, he could die from losing too much blood.

Despite that, Hong Won-chang gritted his teeth.

He confirmed his own existence.

He risked his life to rise to a higher place.

That was the very reason why he did not back down even while undergoing a blood-splattered battle.

“Kh!”

He heard the opponent’s groan.

The difference in skill was clear.

There was a massive difference between learning martial arts through a fast-track method and accumulating experience over several years.

However, the man, having lost all his subordinates, had already lost his composure.

He was even driven to despair by the fact that even if he defeated Hong Won-chang in front of him, Namgung So-hye and Gwon Mu-jin still remained.

In that situation, Hong Won-chang’s sword quickly pressured him, and since the opponent did not back down even when cut, it drove him crazy.

“To a guy like this…!”

The leading man shouted, gritting his teeth.

It was an opponent of a level he would have already killed under normal circumstances.

But why wasn’t he dying?

Why was he still standing fine?

The sensation felt at the tip of his blade had surely cut the opponent’s flesh; yet, without collapsing, the fellow stubbornly came closer and swung his sword.

Covered in crimson blood all over his body, the guy who cast a gaze so fierce that one could not tell if he was a human or a rakshasa stood right before him.

Tremble, tremble.

His entire body shook.

He had to move, but the moment he met that gaze, his body froze stiff.

“It is the Lord’s command. All of you, die!”

Seogeok!

The swung blade severed the man’s neck.

“He is crazy.”

Gwon Mu-jin, who was watching the whole situation with his arms crossed, shook his head.

While the swordplay was rough, what had become even rougher was none other than Hong Won-chang’s personality.

There was no sign of where that weak and fragile fellow had gone, and his appearance as he panted while holding the blood-stained sword was utterly alien.

“To develop that much in just a year…”

Namgung So-hye was also surprised.

She had already been surprised once by a similar experience.

It was because of Jang Sam-tae, whose skills had rapidly improved.

But looking at him now, Hong Won-chang had also become a martial artist who was not inferior to him.

To the point that any martial artist living by the sword in this Central Plains would be astonished.

If a person could grow in such a short period of time, the term third-rate martial artist would not even exist, and most would have moved between first-rate.

That was how astonishing Hong Won-chang’s growth was.

“He must have learned from the Lord from time to time, but that wouldn’t be all. That is… yes… venomous spite.”

“Venomous spite…”

Namgung So-hye nodded.

The venomous spite to fight with the mindset of not losing to anyone.

For there would be no one who would fight without taking care of their own body to that extent otherwise.

A hollow laugh leaked out from her sheer dumbfoundedness.

Dan Woo-hyun… Just what and how did that man do to turn the weak Hong Won-chang into such a proper martial artist?

“A… Amazing! Officer Hong!”

“Woooah! That was even more incredible than during training.”

“Aren’t you a complete martial artist now?”

“Khuuu! Please teach me too!”

As the surroundings were cleared, the cheers of the constables who had been watching the situation resounded. They wondered if this was the Hong Won-chang they knew as he showed such great swordsmanship, and since he stood out even more than Gwon Mu-jin or Namgung So-hye who were here, how could they not feel that way?

Respectful awe was in the eyes of the constables.

Hong Won-chang, who was catching his breath, sheathed his sword.

Chwaak!

He shook the blood off the blade and retrieved the sword in a relaxed manner. That appearance was so elegant that one might think he was the very martial artist the constables dreamed of.

“Bwahahaha! Yes, yes! I am indeed Hong Won-chang! Officer Hong, that is!”

“That’s right! Hahaha! Now no one will be able to look down on Officer Hong.”

“Shouldn’t you participate in the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament? You will definitely win first place!”

“Ehehehe! Should I?”

At the constables’ flattery that made his shoulders shrug with pride, Hong Won-chang’s face relaxed. The dignified look was nowhere to be seen, and he scratched his head with a silly grin.

It was as if seeing the Hong Won-chang of the past.

Namgung So-hye shook her head with a dumbfounded expression at the sight.

“Of course, how could a person’s personality change overnight?”

Namgung So-hye let out a long sigh as she listened to the ridiculous laughter of “Ehehe.”

Beside her, Gwon Mu-jin frowned.

“What are you doing? The rest of you, clean up the corpses and prepare to treat Officer Hong. He is bleeding heavily, so he will collapse soon.”

“Hmm? Are you worrying about me? Hahaha! Don’t worry, with just this much…”

Laughing loudly, Hong Won-chang heartily thumped his chest. As the blood flowing from his body increased in volume every time he did so, he could not even finish his words properly and collapsed right there with a thud!

“Of… Officer!”

“W… What are you all doing! Medicine! Bring the medicine!”

The fussing constables moved in a hurry.

* * *

“Oh dear…”

“Groooan…”

Jang Sam-tae and Ma Jang-gang groaned while trapped in a dark space.

Although the damp place was extremely unpleasant even to sit in, they quietly lay down and caught their breath.

They were covered in blood.

Not only Jang Sam-tae but Ma Jang-gang was in the same state.

Traces of torture were clearly visible here and there.

“D… Damn bastards… Even if we sneaked in, isn’t this treatment too harsh?”

“Ugh… I told you we shouldn’t go…”

Jang Sam-tae frowned as he rubbed the area where he had been whipped. Their plan to gather information by disguising themselves as members of the Demonic Sect was exposed in an instant, and they were imprisoned after being tortured for several days.

Because they had not even been able to sleep properly during that time, leaving them physically and mentally exhausted, it was actually amazing that they were even conversing like this.

“Kugh… What do we do now?”

“Ah, what else? We have to escape.”

Jang Sam-tae scanned the surroundings with blurry vision.

Although he already knew that this place was a prison, they had been dragged quite far from where they were tortured, and for a prison, the breathing of prisoners around them was all too faint.

Moreover, he could not even sense the presence of anyone monitoring the area. If those hiding were highly skilled experts, it might be a different story, but since even Ma Jang-gang was not saying anything, it seemed no one was watching.

“Damn it… What kind of security is so tight?”

Ma Jang-gang grumbled and stood up from his spot. Although he resisted fiercely, it was not enough.

The fact that he, who was called one of the top hundred experts even if at the bottom of the list, was captured made him realize once again that this Demonic Sect was a place stronger than expected.

“Ah, damn it! Isn’t this all because of you? Telling me to leave it to you since you’re one of the top hundred experts, and in the end, causing this disaster…”

“Hey, you crazy bastard! How was I supposed to know they would spray something like anesthetic powder?”

“No, if you’re one of the top hundred experts, shouldn’t you detoxify that much right away?”

“Kugh…!”

Ma Jang-gang gritted his teeth at Jang Sam-tae’s remark.

Yes, he admitted that he made a mistake. However, the moment they sprayed the anesthetic powder and their movements were on a different level from the martial artists Ma Jang-gang had experienced until now.

It was indeed worthy of being called the Demonic Sect.

But Ma Jang-gang also had something to say from his perspective.

“It became a bigger mess because you mentioned Elder Sa!”

“No, then what was I supposed to do? I had to sell that name at least to get out safely!”

“Sell what? As soon as the Elder’s name came out, those bastards pounced on us with fire in their eyes!”

“……Damn it!”

The members of the Demonic Sect had extremely high loyalty to their Cult Leader.

It was no exaggeration to say that this giant Demonic Sect was built solely on that.

Therefore, if Sa Do-hak’s name came out of someone’s mouth, it would be normal for them to verify it no matter how suspicious they were.

Yet they did not do so.

Instead, they came at them even more hurriedly with swords drawn.

Seeing that they were asking for Sa Do-hak’s location even while torturing them, some strange things were definitely happening in this Demonic Sect.

“If we had spoken, we would have died, right?”

Ma Jang-gang asked with a hollow laugh.

Even while undergoing harsh torture, he did not say a single word. If they had opened their mouths, their heads would not have been properly attached to their torsos.

Jang Sam-tae also nodded.

There were times when he wanted to open his mouth again and again, but he held it in.

Because it was something he had prepared himself for to some extent the moment he came to the Demonic Sect.

Clang!

Just then, a sound was heard.

Jang Sam-tae and Ma Jang-gang’s heads turned quickly.

From around the middle of the massive dungeon, a small groan of “Uu…” was heard, and soon an incomprehensible voice echoed.

“……Do you know……?”

“Who?”

“……I asked if you know……”

“So, what?”

A voice completely drained of strength could be heard quietly.

Yet, contained within the weak voice that wouldn’t make it strange even if he died right away, was undoubtedly hope.

“I asked…… if you know…… the Cult Leader……”

“The Cult Leader? You mean Elder Sa? Well, I do know him……”

Jang Sam-tae clung close to the iron bars and checked the direction the sound came from. A faint figure could be slightly seen in a spot located near the middle of the dungeon.

Although he could not tell exactly who it was, he could confirm that there was someone else who was still sane besides them.

“Is…… Is he…… Is he alive?”

“He’s perfectly fine! He’s practically flying.”

“Hehehe…… I see…… That’s a relief, a real relief.”

Jang Sam-tae’s eyes turned toward Ma Jang-gang.

He had also noticed the strangeness and clung close to the iron bars.

“Who are you?”

Ma Jang-gang asked, squinting his eyes.

No murderous intent was felt in the opponent’s voice.

If so, it was proof that he was at least not someone trying to harm Sa Do-hak.

But why was such a person imprisoned in a jail?

“I am Dongfang Gu…… Once, the Chief Strategist…… of this Demonic Sect.”

“!?”

“Gasp……!”

The two were startled at the name.

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