Chapter 409: Chapter 409

“You there, come here for a moment.”

The moment Bi Cheon-ung received the letter and couldn’t come to his senses, a voice that stimulated his ears was heard.

A voice that could be heard even though he couldn’t feel a presence.

Unconsciously lifting his head with trembling eyes, he could see someone standing vacantly.

“You are……”

“It seems you know my face?”

Cheon Mugwang.

He looked down at Bi Cheon-ung from a high place.

Making a subtle expression, it seemed he couldn’t predict at all why Bi Cheon-ung was in this place.

“I did know. That among the Heavenly Martial Emperor’s subordinates, there is a guy who roams around the Central Plains like his own house. Of course, most of it must have been the Heavenly Martial Emperor’s orders.”

“…….”

Bi Cheon-ung did not answer.

No, he shouldn’t answer.

Cheon Mugwang was certainly a person under the Heavenly Martial Emperor, but wasn’t he someone even his lord was wary of because his inner thoughts couldn’t be known?

Peoeok-!

“Keok!”

However, Cheon Mugwang did not tolerate silence.

Originally, it was no exaggeration to say that he was the one who founded the Demonic Cult, created the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, and accomplished numerous great achievements for the Demonic Cult, making him a figure who was still referred to as a legend today; that was Cheon Mugwang.

In front of such a Cheon Mugwang in the first place, the Murder Emperor Bi Cheon-ung was an overwhelmingly shabby existence.

His struck body flew away helplessly and crashed into the wall.

Blood burst out and sprayed from his mouth.

It was a state hard to imagine as the one who annihilated the Potala Palace alone.

Looking at the flown-away Bi Cheon-ung, Cheon Mugwang reached his hand towards the empty air.

The letter that had flown away in the wind came into his hand.

“Dan So-mi……”

That name definitely referred to Dan Woo-hyun’s daughter.

Why was the Heavenly Martial Emperor targeting that child? Also, for what reason did he slaughter the Potala Palace, and what was he trying to find that he committed such a deed?

Cheon Mugwang’s figure, who had been looking at the letter for a long time, suddenly disappeared.

Appearing in front of Bi Cheon-ung at the same time, he swung his foot and kicked him in the chest.

“Keok!”

“Since the Heavenly Martial Emperor is not a fool…… does he really not know what will happen if he kills that daughter?”

“……Euk!”

“Or is there another reason?”

Give an answer.

Cheon Mugwang’s eyes were saying that.

As if telling him to open that heavy snout if he wanted to live, his sharp eyes didn’t leave Bi Cheon-ung.

That moment.

Saak-!

Something brushed past.

A sharp sword strike tore through the place where Cheon Mugwang had been standing. However, the sword vainly cut through empty air, and Cheon Mugwang, rather, smiled as if it was amusing and pressed down on his arm with his foot.

“Are you really going to answer only after a place or two is broken?”

“Kkeuaaaak!”

Udeuk!

The sound of a bone breaking rang out fiercely.

He tried to resist, but it didn’t work.

In a situation where the difference in skill with the opponent was stark, what Bi Cheon-ung could do was commit suicide so as not to spit out any words.

The moment he gritted his teeth and tried to bite the poison pill inside his mouth, Cheon Mugwang’s hand poked into his mouth. Soon, his fingers, as if having no hesitation whatsoever, grabbed and pulled out the molar where the poison pill was hidden.

“Kkeuaaaaaak!”

“Noisy.”

Soon, Cheon Mugwang, who had thrown away the molar, kicked Bi Cheon-ung’s face again.

Peoeok!

The sight of Bi Cheon-ung rolling around even looked miserable.

The action of handling one of the Five Emperors under the heavens as if playing with a toy was truly astonishing.

“From what I see, it seems the child named Dan So-mi is related to you…… and it seems you don’t even know why that Heavenly Martial Emperor guy is trying to kill her……”

Cheon Mugwang, reading the situation, sat down in front of the agonizing Bi Cheon-ung.

His state, bleeding from his face, looked truly miserable, but there was not a hint of sympathy in Cheon Mugwang’s expression.

Grabbing Bi Cheon-ung’s hair, he asked.

“Speak. What were you trying to find here.”

Cheon Mugwang’s lips curled up deeply.

* * *

Playing in the mountains is not an easy task.

Danger lurks everywhere, and one might easily get a serious injury.

However, the three children didn’t seem to worry about such things even a little bit.

They ran around and swung wooden sticks.

They played like they had become righteous warriors, soothing their childish hearts.

“Kkuwek!”

Hong Jinrang was hit on the head by a flying stick. Whether it hurt a lot, he sat down and wrapped his hands around his head.

It wasn’t just tingling.

It contained power that was hard to imagine coming from a small young girl swinging it.

“It hurts!”

“……Jinrang is weak.”

“Are you really practicing martial arts?”

Dan So-mi and Ju Jiyak looked at Hong Jinrang with dumbfounded expressions.

The only boy among the three was Hong Jinrang. Moreover, due to his size, he was called invincible in the streets of Yueyang or Changsha.

Just looking at the fact that he had never lost a fight with children his age, Hong Jinrang also had quite a bit of talent and was born with a martial bone.

But he couldn’t use his strength.

When he tried to suppress Dan So-mi with strength, she leisurely slipped away, and when he used swordsmanship, he was defeated in every single move.

“No, why are you so strong?!”

“Huh? I’m strong?”

“You have no self-awareness?”

“……?”

Dan So-mi stared at the stick in her hand.

She just swung it the way she wanted to. The way her grandfathers taught her, and sometimes the way Dan Woo-hyun taught her. That was all it was, but Hong Jinrang sprawled out without even being able to block it.

“Damn it! I’m strong despite looking like this.”

“Wasn’t it just that kids were scared of you because you’re big?”

Ju Jiyak dug into Hong Jinrang’s heart.

It was true that it was one of the reasons children were afraid. His size was more than twice as big as others and his bones were quite thick, so just looking at him had something that made people fearful.

That’s why some children gave up without even fighting.

Thus, it was a situation where one couldn’t exactly say Hong Jinrang was weak. Since he couldn’t even beat Dan So-mi in the first place, Hong Jinrang’s pride crawled on the rock bottom.

He sat down and despaired.

“It shouldn’t be like this……”

“Isn’t it funny in the first place to try and beat So-mi? This child, even though she looks small, beats people who are several years older.”

“That’s well…… I know that, but.”

Once, when they went to Yueyang to play, one of the beggars there stole Ju Jiyak’s pouch. Thus, the three children had a few fights while looking for that beggar, and Dan So-mi subdued the opponent in a single strike without even getting a scratch.

“Well…… it makes no sense to be weaker than me when you live in a monster’s lair.”

“Um…… my family is a little strange, but not monsters……?”

Dan So-mi smiled awkwardly.

As Hong Jinrang said, there were countless rumors about the Hunan Dan Family. The most famous one was that it was a place where immortals lived, and besides that, there were people who said it was a place where masters of the world gathered or that ghosts lived there.

Actually, there was one more thing that was even more famous than that, which was that it was the home of the Gentleman Sword and Demon Heaven Lord, who maintained public order in Yueyang and Changsha.

Just with that, it wasn’t strange for it to be called a monster’s lair by many people.

Especially among those whose main occupation was crime.

The moment Dan So-mi was forcing a smile.

A small cry saying ‘Meow-’ was heard from somewhere.

The gazes of the three children turned swiftly. It seemed the White Cat, which had disappeared somewhere, had finally appeared.

The moment Dan So-mi looked over there with a glad expression, the White Cat started moving towards somewhere.

“Where are you going again!”

Surprised, Dan So-mi hurriedly followed behind. As if telling them to follow, the White Cat stopped for a while and only moved again when it saw the children, repeating this several times.

“Did it find something weird again?”

Hong Jinrang grumbled.

The White Tiger did too, but the White Cat also picked up a lot of useless things.

The White Cat was even worse than the White Tiger; unlike its small body, it now showed tremendous strength by hunting down even a bear and bringing it back.

The two children made anxious expressions.

They wondered if there was something more dangerous than a bear.

Ju Jiyak and Hong Jinrang, who had been going for a long time like that, saw Dan So-mi sitting from a distance, quietly looking at something.

“What is it this time?”

“I’m really anxious?”

The two children approached the place with frightened expressions.

They saw Dan So-mi staring intently at the ground.

“This is……”

At the end of the three children’s gazes, a fox could be seen. Sprawled out with countless injuries, it didn’t try to move as if it had suffered serious injuries.

Dan So-mi slowly reached out her hand.

Was she trying to touch the fox’s body?

“You’ll…… you’ll get bitten!”

“I think it’ll be okay?”

“From what perspective……”

Hong Jinrang made a dumbfounded expression.

The fox was definitely a fox. However, just like the White Cat, it had a pure white color, and what was most striking were its nine tails.

Perhaps many people who saw this would say the same thing.

Nine-Tailed Fox.

Because it was a creature that only appeared in legends, practically no one would think it actually existed.

Such a fox was right in front of them?

Ju Jiyak and Hong Jinrang let out hollow laughs.

At that time, the White Cat let out a cry and looked up at Dan So-mi.

As if asking to save it, or asking to help it.

Whether it was acquainted with this Nine-Tailed Fox or if it simply looked pitiful was unknown, but there seemed to be no mistake that it needed Dan So-mi’s touch.

Dan So-mi’s eyes sparkled as if she had made up her mind.

Soon, she slowly reached out her hands and picked up the Nine-Tailed Fox in her arms.

“Let’s go home.”

“Are you really taking it? What are you going to do if something bad happens?”

“It’s okay. So-mi will feed it well and raise it.”

“From my perspective, it looks more like you’ll be raised……”

Ju Jiyak answered while sweating coldly.

A Nine-Tailed Fox must have lived for at least a thousand years. Even if the stories passed down for generations were true, it was a spiritual beast among spiritual beasts, so strong that neither the White Tiger nor the White Cat would be a match for it.

“But…… if it’s the inner core of a spiritual beast, there will be many people whose eyes will turn……”

At Hong Jinrang’s words, the two children were startled.

Come to think of it, they had heard such rumors. Among martial artists, there were those who increased their internal energy by catching a spiritual beast and taking its inner core.

In that sense, whether it was the White Tiger or the White Cat, it was the same dangerous situation.

In an instant, the faces of a few people flashed through the three children’s minds.

Especially the expression of Sa Do-hak, who still smacked his lips while looking at the White Tiger and White Cat, wouldn’t leave their minds.

Swallowing their groans, the children looked at each other’s faces.

“F…… for now, let’s hide it and just treat its wounds. I-it will be fine as long as we don’t get caught.”

“Yeah……”

A slight anxiety dwelt in the children’s voices.

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