Chapter 41: Chapter 41
At the moment Ha Woo-jin, terrified by those who suddenly appeared, was about to hurriedly kick off the ground.
Swoosh…
There was someone even faster than him.
“Senior Hyeondoja?”
Hyeon-do looked at those in front of his eyes.
The face looking at them was filled with a killing intent that was hard to believe belonged to a Taoist.
“What an amazing lightness technique.”
Little White Ghost glared at Hyeon-do, who suddenly blocked his path, his eyes flashing.
“Are you the one who killed the Murderous Soul Squad?”
Hyeon-do’s eyebrows twitched.
Through the question asked in return, he could immediately tell that the man belonged to White Ghost Castle.
“So you’ve come from White Ghost Castle.”
“Has backup already arrived?”
“Hup!”
“White Ghost Castle?!”
At that moment, the expressions of Ha Woo-jin and the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, who were running over belatedly, stiffened.
“As expected, I was right.”
Hyeon-do gritted his teeth.
“Are you one of the Four Direction Lords?”
“Fufufu.”
Little White Ghost bore a cold smile.
“If you want to exchange names, shouldn’t you reveal your own name first?”
“…This bastard!”
“Hahaha! ‘This bastard,’ what a very unique name you have!”
As soon as the words full of ridicule ended, Hyeon-do couldn’t hold back and moved.
Pang!
It was a fast and elegant movement technique piercing through the blazing flames like pure white lightning.
“…!”
Little White Ghost’s pupils wavered.
It was because Hyeon-do showcased a movement technique that far exceeded his expectations.
As he, flustered, hastily raised his internal energy, a pure white frosty energy enveloped him.
Crack, crack…
The Evil Yin Ghost Manifestation Divine Art, directly taught to Little White Ghost by the Lord of White Ghost Castle!
A freezing cold, heterogeneous, and sinister energy, a mixture of Yin Qi and Ghost Qi, wrapped around his right hand.
Soon, his right hand moved.
Thump!
Along with a dull sound, he was bounced backwards.
Little White Ghost’s expression distorted as he took three steps back with a staggering gait.
“My Ghost Yin Palm was…!”
While he was surprised, he ground his teeth.
Who was he?
He was Little White Ghost, the absolute expert who would succeed his master to become the Lord of White Ghost Castle.
But to think he was forced to step backwards.
Right around the time his face, with its cracked pride, crumpled severely.
“Little White Ghost.”
A low voice flowed out from between the flames scattering in the fierce wind.
‘This voice is?’
For a moment, Hyeon-do’s head, who had been preparing a follow-up attack after launching a Plum Blossom Palm into Little White Ghost’s abdomen, turned.
Upon the broken wall, there was a man whose left sleeve was fluttering in the wind.
Hyeon-do, witnessing him, spat out his title that instantly came to mind.
“Beast Slashing Poison Sword…!”
“Oho, do you know this old man?”
Beast Slashing Poison Sword’s the corners of his mouth went up, and his yellow teeth slowly revealed themselves in between.
“But unfortunately, I don’t know who you are. Who are you?”
“Hyeon-do.”
Beast Slashing Poison Sword’s eyes widened.
“Mount Hua’s First Sword…!”
He had thought there would be a master in the Flying Wind Merchant Guild, but he never expected there to be someone called Mount Hua’s First Sword.
“But even so…”
Beast Slashing Poison Sword’s eyes narrowed.
According to the rumors spread throughout the world, he heard that Mount Hua’s First Sword was still in the Limitless Realm.
“He wouldn’t have been able to annihilate the Murderous Soul Squad alone…”
His eyes, which were scanning the surroundings while murmuring in a small voice, shone eerily.
“I see.”
He saw Ha Woo-jin looking for an opportunity while killing his presence on the side.
“If the Flying Swallow Sword Lord was also there, it would have been enough.”
His head felt refreshed.
If the Flying Swallow Sword Lord and Hyeondoja, known as Mount Hua’s First Sword, joined forces, they were people fully capable of annihilating the Murderous Soul Squad.
Of course, a few questions still remained.
Who was the one that unleashed the Flying Lightning Blade.
And how they killed the Murderous Soul Squad in one strike each.
But Beast Slashing Poison Sword didn’t have the time to care about that right now.
His opponents were Hyeon-do, Mount Hua’s First Sword, and the Flying Swallow Sword Lord, who was tacitly recognized as the one to become the next Sect Leader of the Zhongnan Sect.
‘It wouldn’t matter if there was only one opponent…’
It was too much to face both of them alone.
He gave a look towards Little White Ghost.
“I will take care of Hyeon-do, so the South Direction Lord should take the White Ghost Squad and handle the Flying Swallow Sword Lord and the Plum Blossom Swordsmen over there.”
“I shall do so.”
Little White Ghost answered as if he had been waiting for that.
He could feel at ease if Beast Slashing Poison Sword took charge of Hyeon-do, the most troublesome opponent.
‘It’s a shame that I can’t kill him myself, but it can’t be helped.’
He was angry at Hyeon-do’s single move just earlier, but fulfilling the mission took priority over that.
“Then I will leave this place to you.”
He swiftly turned his body without delay.
Ha Woo-jin and the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, staring stiffly, entered his field of vision.
“South Direction Lord?”
Ha Woo-jin’s mouth dropped open as he recalled the title Beast Slashing Poison Sword used to call Little White Ghost.
“So you were Little White Ghost…!”
The South Direction Lord of White Ghost Castle was the only disciple of the White Snake God, and a genius known to have reached the Limitless Realm at a young age.
He was a figure who, a long time ago, was tied together with himself, Hyeon-gang, and Little White Ghost in front of him, and called one of the Three Great Rising Stars who would lead Shaanxi, so he knew him very well.
‘For him, who doesn’t step a single foot out of White Ghost Castle unless it’s a matter of great importance, to appear here…’
Right around the time Ha Woo-jin felt that the current situation was flowing uncommonly.
Swish!
The hands of the White Ghost Squad members, who were surrounding them from a distance, moved, and hidden weapons flew in.
Pababak!
The abrupt surprise attack was effective.
Especially the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, who were tense while being wary of Little White Ghost and Beast Slashing Poison Sword, had no choice but to be flustered by the hidden weapons flying from an unexpected place.
“Unleash the Plum Blossom Butterfly Dance!”
At the shout of Jeok-geom, who was the first to regain his senses, the Plum Blossom Swordsmen drew their swords.
“Hap!”
“Hap!”
“Heup!”
Shouts of concentration erupted from here and there.
The swords of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen left dozens of sword trails, before gradually becoming dense like a net.
The true essence of the Plum Blossom Butterfly Dance that Jeok-geom spoke of.
In other words, it was a sword curtain.
The sword curtain blocked the attacks by altering the direction of the incoming hidden weapons or striking them down.
It was an impossibly accurate and fast movement to believe they were the ones who were terrified out of their wits by the opponent’s attacks just a few days ago.
“Heup!”
“Another surprise attack…!”
But that was just a trick on the eyes.
At the same time they threw the hidden weapons, the White Ghost Squad raised their swords and rushed in.
The Plum Blossom Swordsmen, who were on guard against the White Ghost Squad that was throwing daggers and attacking from all directions, fought back, and they instantly began to tangle together.
Jeok-geom raised his sword high and shouted.
“Deploy the Plum Blossom Sword Formation!”
In an instant, the Plum Blossom Swordsmen formed a circle and leaned their backs against each other. Subsequently, a red energy enveloped the bodies of the five.
A slightly rough energy for Taoists.
However, that was exactly the manifestation of the Plum Blossom Sword Formation that the Mount Hua Sect boasted of.
Jeok-geom and the Plum Blossom Swordsmen stared at those rushing in like a pack of dogs.
It was on a different level from the Supreme King Sect disciples from a few days ago.
Each and every one was at least a first-rate master.
They were indeed ones who could be called the martial artists of White Ghost Castle, which was called one of the Six Imperial Sects.
However, they never wavered.
So what if the opponent was White Ghost Castle?
“We are Plum Blossom Swordsmen!”
“Uwaaah!”
“Come!”
“I am Mount Hua’s Jeokbi!”
Starting with Jeok-geom’s shout, the remaining four who were deploying the Plum Blossom Sword Formation also let out vigorous shouts and raised their swords.
Before long, the two groups clashed.
Pang! Clang! Kang!
The sound of drums bursting, the sound of swords clashing with swords, and the sound of the air exploding.
All sorts of collision sounds.
Even against the continued attacks of the White Ghost Squad, the Plum Blossom Swordsmen were solidly blocking them.
With each person not having a single tiny opening, it was just like an iron fortress.
Among them, the three who had received the rare torture… no, training… of Altered Body Qi Art from Cheon-hwi were completely different from before, when they were rigid.
They easily blocked the attacks and counterattacked.
If it were one or two people it might be different, but when all five Plum Blossom Swordsmen showed skills above standard, the White Ghost Squad was flustered.
“To have such swords at that age…”
The moment Jeokbi grasped the opening of the astonished White Ghost Squad member, he unleashed the Plum Blossom Falling Petal.
Slash!
“Keuheok!”
With a bloodstain engraved from his shoulder blade down to his waist, the White Ghost Squad member fell to his knees.
‘Was it this easy to move?’
‘Was my sword this light?’
‘I just attacked, right?’
When he calmly blocked the attack and even succeeded in counterattacking, he was rather flustered.
His body was lighter than he thought, and perhaps thanks to the vitality overflowing from his entire body, his internal energy moved faster than his will.
Moreover, what about the opponent’s attack?
A palm art laden with internal energy had slammed into his abdomen, but it didn’t hurt.
More accurately, compared to the excruciating pain he felt when suffering from the Altered Body Qi Art, it was extremely ticklish, like a mosquito bite.
It wasn’t just Jeokbi.
Jeokjae and Jeok-un also began blocking the attacks of the White Ghost Squad members and counterattacking.
Thinking back to how they struggled against the Supreme King Sect disciples who were much weaker than them just a few days ago, it was a ridiculous growth.
‘Was that really training?’
‘Was it actually training?’
‘Wasn’t he just tormenting us?’
The three made dumbfounded expressions.
Actually, even though Cheon-hwi called it training, the three had thought until now that it was a punishment handed down to them for refusing the training.
The three made eye contact with each other.
Nod…
Confidence glimmered on the faces of the three who nodded their heads once.
It had only been ten days.
But the change was noticeable.
“Let’s go!”
“Let us go!”
“Let’s gooo!”
Soon, as the three ran wild.
“I can comfortably leave it to them.”
“Senior Brother! Focus on the opponent in front of you!”
Jeok-geom and Seol Ran, as if their reins were untied, showcased swordsmanship far superior to before.
The skills of the two were superior to those three.
To the point where the White Ghost Squad was rather overwhelmed by their momentum and stepped back while hesitating.
It was then.
Swoosh… Swoosh…
Those who had been rushing in blindly retreated.
Following that, they gave up on rushing in and gradually spread out wide, slowly pressuring the huddled Plum Blossom Swordsmen.
They had started a battle of attrition.
“Damn it…”
“They noticed.”
Jeok-geom and Seol Ran’s faces darkened.
As if proving they weren’t the White Ghost Squad for nothing, they grasped that the Plum Blossom Sword Formation was incomplete, and sought to shift to a war of attrition.
Kang! Kang!
They repeatedly struck and retreated.
If they thought they were going to counterattack, they immediately leaped backwards to widen the distance, and in the meantime, another White Ghost Squad member attacked continuously again.
On top of that, because they engaged in a timely manner, the battle situation didn’t tilt easily, and instead flowed in a disadvantageous direction for them.
The Plum Blossom Swordsmen gripped their swords tightly.
They wanted to chase after the retreating White Ghost Squad right this instant, but they simply couldn’t do that.
Because if they did, the Plum Blossom Sword Formation would collapse, and the situation would become worse than it was now.
“To think the terrifying White Ghost Castle is running away in fear like this.”
“You’re fleeing with your tails between your legs.”
Jeok-geom and Seol Ran spoke words to provoke them, but they remained calm.
Swoosh… Clang!
Far from reacting, even sharper hit-and-run tactics were continuously repeated.
‘Damn it!’
A bloody smell lingered inside Jeok-geom’s mouth. It was because he bit his lip hard.
‘We’ve completely become captive meat.’
The opponents’ numbers were ten times theirs.
Ultimately, as the war of attrition prolonged past fifteen minutes, Jeokjae and Jeok-un wavered greatly.
“Are you alright?”
“Keu, keuk. I am fine.”
“I am still intact.”
Jeok-geom bit his lip firmly.
If time passed like this, it would be a certain defeat.
* * *
Whoosh!
The flames, of which no one knew where they started, completely swallowed the Flying Wind Merchant Guild.
Go Gye-yeong, who was watching the fire trying to spread even to the main building, urgently shouted.
“Everyone evacuate!”
Perhaps because it was the second time experiencing it.
Grasping the situation more level-headedly than before, he took care of the surrounding servants first.
Buildings could just be rebuilt, but if a person died, it was the end.
Go Gye-yeong suddenly glared his eyes.
“Ma, Madam?”
Yeon Su-ran was nowhere to be seen.
“Because it’s the second time, your response is fast.”
At the voice suddenly heard from behind his back, Go Gye-yeong hurriedly turned his body.
Cheon-hwi was standing behind his back, which was definitely empty just a moment ago.
And that too, holding Yeon Su-ran with both hands.
“Madam!”
Cheon-hwi handed her, whom he was holding, over to Go Gye-yeong.
“She lost consciousness as if she inhaled quite a lot of smoke.”
“Thank you.”
Tears welled up in the corners of Go Gye-yeong’s eyes.
Intermittent pitch-black soot was smeared on the face of the Madam he was holding.
If he had been just a little late, she might have passed away trapped in the flames.
No, it was highly likely that would have happened.
Because the fire was that fierce.
“Benefactor, this grace…”
“Rather than that, please catch the fire.”
“But the water is…”
“I’ve smashed the wall heading towards the lake in the back garden.”
“The wall…!”
Go Gye-yeong shouted immediately.
“Everyone go to the back garden and draw water from the lake!”
When Go Gye-yeong’s order fell, the servants who had finished evacuating ran in a line.
“I will go first.”
Cheon-hwi looked at Go Gye-yeong, who ran straight away with Yeon Su-ran on his back, and lifted his head.
“The urgent fire is put out.”
When everyone left and he was left alone at the main building, only the sound of the pillars and walls burning in the flames pounded his ears.
“Fortunately, the wind is also stopping now, so the fire won’t spread further.”
He raised his head and looked at the sky.
The soot and flames that were scattering in all directions by the fierce wind had calmed down at some point, and were only soaring upwards.
“I was planning to just quietly spectate.”
He had planned to just watch after leaving his seat the moment the ambush started.
But he couldn’t do that.
Perhaps because they were from the Unorthodox Faction, they were despicable.
Those fighting against Hyeon-do, Ha Woo-jin, and the Plum Blossom Swordsmen weren’t all.
They divided their original personnel.
Into the main unit that openly revealed themselves, and the detached unit that tried to annihilate the servants.
Their intention was to secretly process the merchant guild after intentionally making the main unit appear openly and concentrating people’s attention.
“The Flying Wind Merchant Guild is quite important to the Mount Hua Sect right now, you see.”
Cheon-hwi’s pupils glistened.
His pupils, containing the blazing flames, soot, and darkness, were eerie.
The moment his eye light lengthened.
Pang!
The air burst, and the flames exploded.
The ones who were flustered by the sudden change were the White Ghost Squad members who had been watching while holding their breaths.
Around the time they met each other’s gazes.
Crunch!
Along with a smashing sound, a liquid redder than flames fell like rain above their heads and splattered.
“…!”
The White Ghost Squad members, forgetting that they were hiding, stared at the corpse in shock.
The corpse that fell into the flames was gruesome.
Its upper body was completely crushed as if torn apart by a beast.
Among it, its head was damaged the most severely, terrible enough that they couldn’t recognize its original form.
“Fo, Four-ho?”
When they, in a panic, muttered.
“You’ve gathered together on your own.”
Tadadak!
At Cheon-hwi’s sudden appearance, the White Ghost Squad was on guard, and raised their weapons.
Normally, people were bound to be flustered or shaken by an unexpected situation, but they quickly regained their composure.
They judged Cheon-hwi, not that person, as the enemy, and finished preparing to unleash their lethal moves.
It wasn’t the movement of those who did ordinary training.
It was the movement of those whose bodies were thoroughly imbued with training, accustomed to this situation.
However…
“Are there nineteen of you.”
Cheon-hwi whispered, scanning the White Ghost Squad members one by one with indifferent eyes.
And at that moment.
Thump!
One person flopped, and collapsed.
There was neither omen nor change.
The White Ghost Squad fell into confusion.
‘Wh-what in the world happened?’
‘What?’
The White Ghost Squad members spaced out.
The collapsed White Ghost Squad member could not think of getting up again.
Looking closely, he was bleeding hot blood onto the ground with a small hole pierced in his forehead.
It was as if they were possessed by a ghost.
At that moment, the ghost’s mouth tore open, and pure white teeth were revealed in the darkness.
“Then shall we finish this.”
The ghost’s voice was low.
In an instant, the White Ghost Squad members recalled the terror and fear they had forgotten about all this while.
A single cup of tea’s time after the teeth of the White Ghost Squad members crushed by terror chattered, not a single surviving member of the White Ghost Squad existed.
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