Chapter 414: Chapter 414

It was time to wrap up the journey in Sichuan.

Dan Woo-hyun and the remaining people packed their bags one by one and gathered what was needed to return to Hunan. Because they stayed longer than expected, everyone’s eyes were full of anticipation of returning again.

However, the expression of Mu Cheonpung, who had not obtained what he wanted, was not very good.

Let alone the treasures the Golden King Beast had hidden, he couldn’t even properly find its traces, and it felt like he had only worked without gaining a single thing.

If it was someone of Mu Cheonpung’s caliber, it would be quite expensive labor, but to Dan Woo-hyun, he seemed like someone who couldn’t even properly earn his keep.

Mu Cheonpung let out a long sigh, “Haa-,” and turned his head.

The children grabbed a bundle each and placed them in the carriage.

On the other side, Dan Woo-hyun was also packing this and that.

However, the servant who should have been seen was nowhere to be found.

“By any chance, that servant…”

Bang!

It was then.

Was it said that even a tiger comes when it’s talked about?

Suddenly the main gate opened wide and Jang Sam-tae could be seen running in panting.

Perhaps there was some urgent matter, his complexion was deathly pale, and seeing that, the expressions of Zhuge Un and Dan Woo-hyun stiffened somewhat.

“M… Manor Lord!”

“Yeah, did some big incident happen?”

Dan Woo-hyun asked nonchalantly.

Jang Sam-tae’s feeling was a little different. Also, seeing him rush in while throwing the door open to the point of breaking it, he must have brought a shocking story.

Zhuge Un naturally leaned in to listen.

“The Po… Potala Palace… has collapsed they say!”

“…!”

The one most surprised by that story was none other than Sa Do-hak.

He, who had been packing his bags with the children like it was nothing, opened his eyes wide at the news of the Potala Palace’s destruction. The Demonic Cult and the Potala Palace maintained a fairly close distance.

They were interacting with each other, albeit a little, so in a way, it wasn’t like they had no ties.

“What does that mean? Why would that place collapse? Did an earthquake happen or something?”

“N… no. T… they say all the buildings burned down, and everyone inside was killed.”

“Heo…”

It was still an unbelievable thing even after hearing it.

The Potala Palace has many experts to the point of being comparable to the Nine Great Sects and One Clan.

The Conqueror of Tibet.

Since it was a place with such a name, it was as strong as the Demonic Cult, and its endless power was a place that even the martial artists of the Central Plains feared.

That such a place was destroyed was something that could not be easily believed.

Dan Woo-hyun ignored the surprised people and looked at the children.

The children, who were packing their bags, stopped their hands and were listening to the adults’ story.

When he glanced at Mae-hyang, she nodded and took the children to another place.

“The Potala Palace is truly the Conqueror of Tibet… Just who would do that to them?”

Zhuge Un’s gaze turned towards Sa Do-hak.

It might have been the Demonic Cult’s doing.

The Demonic Cultists, who had been holding their breath until now, poured out their power all at once and swallowed up the Potala Palace.

In fact, even though it was said that the Demonic Cult and the Potala Palace interacted a little, they were no different from bitter enemies for a long time. Because each other’s influence was so large and fierce, clashing was also a natural thing.

They were maintaining a tense state where neither won nor lost, just like playing tug-of-war.

“By any chance, the Demonic Cult?”

“There’s no way. If it was those guys’ doing, rumors would have already spread everywhere.”

Sa Do-hak’s words were reasonable.

It was an act of attacking the world-renowned Potala Palace.

If so, the Demonic Cult must have also prepared accordingly, so a considerable number of personnel would have moved, and there was no way that rumor wouldn’t reach their ears.

Swallowing their groans, they looked at Jang Sam-tae.

“So where did they say it was?”

“Who did they say did it?”

“Why? For what reason?”

“…”

The gazes of Dan Woo-hyun, Zhuge Un, and even Sa Do-hak poured towards Jang Sam-tae. Since the one who brought the information hadn’t properly opened his mouth yet, they wanted to know everything about this situation.

Jang Sam-tae gulped his dry saliva.

With a resolute expression, he slowly caught his breath.

“I don’t know though?”

“…”

Jang Sam-tae scratched his head.

He had heard it using the information network of the Hao Clan. The Hao Clan was also still investigating and hadn’t found the culprit, so there was no way Jang Sam-tae would know anything other than that.

“No, why are you looking at me with those eyes? It’s not like I tried to find out, I just delivered what the Hao Clan guys told me.”

“It’s not like we expected anything from you, right.”

“Ahem…”

“…”

Sa Do-hak shook his head side to side.

However, Jang Sam-tae’s words were not wrong either.

Since he was merely passing on what he heard, if the Hao Clan didn’t know, Jang Sam-tae naturally wouldn’t know either.

Having organized his thoughts, Sa Do-hak turned his head and looked at Dan Woo-hyun.

“Are you going to go check it out?”

“I’m not interested.”

“We might be able to find traces of the Golden King Beast…?”

Dan Woo-hyun thought for a moment.

Honestly, it seemed like it would be fun to wander around looking for the traces of the Golden King Beast as well. The reality was that if he considered it a simple amusement, there was nothing he couldn’t do.

But something felt strange.

An unknown anxiety arose.

A bizarre wind blowing violently shook his mind.

That was why Dan Woo-hyun wasn’t very keen on the journey to the Potala Palace.

“No, I don’t feel like it. We’re going to Hunan.”

“I am curious though.”

Sa Do-hak swallowed a groan.

The existence that destroyed the Potala Palace.

Thoughts about that strong person shook his mind. If there was such a person, the thought of wanting to fight them again was desperate. His competitive spirit had unnecessarily arisen.

However, Dan Woo-hyun had no intention of moving.

Going alone seemed like it would be fun too, but he didn’t feel like leaving Dan Woo-hyun’s side.

Sa Do-hak soon let out an “Ayy!” and began packing his bags one by one with a reluctant expression.

“What are you doing? Why aren’t you hurrying up?”

At Sa Do-hak’s sharp glare, Jang Sam-tae bowed his head and moved quickly.

There was nothing good about provoking him when he was in a bad mood.

* * *

The day was dark and the moonlight could not be seen, hidden by the clouds.

The falling raindrops gradually intensified before one knew it. The cold wind whipped past, seeming to push this quiet night further into silence.

Even the ground he walked on was muddy.

With every step he took, his feet were soaking wet.

“Keugh!”

Bi Cheon-ung, who lost his balance in the mud, staggered wildly.

Normally, he would have righted his posture as if it was nothing, but his current situation was not very good.

It felt like every bone in his body was crushed.

Actually, just holding onto his consciousness like this was difficult.

Because he fought desperately, not much internal energy was left either. It truly wouldn’t be strange if he stopped breathing right now.

In that situation, remaining alone and isolated, Bi Cheon-ung had to fight his loneliness and endure.

An unknown place.

He didn’t even know how long he had walked or where he was.

In a state where he couldn’t grasp his mind, he just rode a horse recklessly to live.

He ran for days on end without even having a meal, but he didn’t even feel hunger. When the horse, out of strength, finally collapsed, he was now walking endlessly toward an unknown destination.

Then suddenly, he stopped at a certain place.

There was a huge tree.

It wasn’t suitable for taking shelter from the rain, but Bi Cheon-ung collapsed against the huge tree and caught his breath.

“Haa, haa…”

The breaths he let out were rough.

If an expert of Bi Cheon-ung’s level was breathing this roughly, it was clear that he had suffered severe injuries to the point of hovering between life and death.

“Serves me right…”

Bi Cheon-ung muttered and chuckled.

His vision suddenly blurred.

Hunger and cold fiercely stimulated and shook him.

However, what was shaking him more than those things was none other than loneliness.

Was this how absolute solitude felt?

A loneliness he had never thought of until now rushed in. It was said that just having someone by your side when you are sick was comforting, and although he hadn’t understood it until now, that was exactly what Bi Cheon-ung was experiencing now.

Since he was young, he was alone.

He didn’t know why he was born, who his parents were, or where he was abandoned. When he came to his senses, he was working as a servant for a small village landlord.

He suffered all sorts of abuse.

Sometimes he even had to offer his body to the landlord who engaged in sodomy.

It must have been from then.

That the murderous intent to kill someone arose.

That was his first time.

Slitting the landlord’s throat and committing murder with a single small kitchen knife.

Running away was also not easy. Shaking off the pursuing guards and crossing the line of life and death happened more than once or twice.

Every time that happened, a sense of self-reproach arose, questioning why the world was so harsh to him, and why he should live.

Then he met ‘him’.

A man with a pure white beard smiling benevolently. The hand that reached out was merciful, and he still couldn’t forget his one word of ‘It’s okay’ and the warmth as he stroked his head.

It would be no exaggeration to say that made the Bi Cheon-ung of today.

Thus he followed him.

And that choice completely changed Bi Cheon-ung’s life.

The Martial Emperor gathered countless young children, locked them in a place like a massive labyrinth, and put swords in their hands.

That was the second sword Bi Cheon-ung held since he was born.

A weight entirely different from the kitchen knife that cut the landlord’s throat.

That single iron sword contained the weight of lives.

Now he had to swing the sword to live.

The blood on his hands could no longer be washed off. The word friend did not exist there, and he only had to swing the sword and bet his life to live or to survive.

Five years like that.

Bi Cheon-ung killed all the children, who must have numbered in the hundreds, and survived. And the moment he survived, Bi Cheon-ung was born again, no longer a human but merely a heartless murderer.

The Martial Emperor smiled as he looked at him like that.

Praising him for doing well, he stroked his head and handed him a secret manual.

The Martial God’s Manual.

Decades had passed since he learned it and lived solely for the Martial Emperor.

Now Bi Cheon-ung, who didn’t even have the strength left to hold a sword, was just chewing on solitude and dying like that. However, the one thing tormenting him until the end was a single command left in his mind that hadn’t disappeared.

Kill Dan So-mi.

The Martial Emperor’s order was tormenting Bi Cheon-ung even until his dying moment and extending his breath.

With his head lowered, Bi Cheon-ung unknowingly let out a chuckle.

And that moment.

The pouring rain suddenly stopped.

“Are you okay?”

A clear and bright voice ringing in his ears stimulated them. He, who hadn’t felt anyone’s presence, raised his head in a flash.

There stood a small young girl.

The child covered Bi Cheon-ung with the umbrella she held in her hand and asked worriedly.

His gaze trembled.

A thrill ran through his entire body.

That innocent look was extremely benevolent, shaking Bi Cheon-ung’s heart.

“You are…”

The moment he spat out the words with difficulty, his vision went dark and his consciousness was sucked into the darkness.

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