Chapter 63: Chapter 63
Cheon Yu briefly glanced at Cheon-hwi following behind before quietly asking Hyeon-jin.
“Is it okay to bring Junior Brother along?”
“Cheon-hwi is now also a Taoist of the Mount Hua Sect. It’s something he will experience someday, so wouldn’t it be good for him to observe this kind of mission as soon as possible?”
“But the place we are going to right now is…”
“It is fine.”
Hyeon-jin said firmly.
“Aren’t we here?”
Meanwhile, a Plum Blossom Swordsman approached Cheon-hwi’s side.
The man with a warm impression like a bear was Gu Gyeom-wi, who, despite entering the sect at a later age than others, had been recognized for his outstanding skills and became a Plum Blossom Swordsman.
“Make sure to stick close to my side.”
The voice he let out while looking at Cheon-hwi was full of affection and worry.
‘His outward appearance has gotten better though.’
He briefly glanced at Cheon-hwi.
The appearance of the handsome young man who had become tall and well-built was far from the image he remembered.
Because the Cheon-hwi he knew was stuck in the image of a frail child, gaunt and looking like he could collapse at any moment.
Therefore, he could rejoice.
Thinking, ‘He’s finally cured.’
But perhaps because of that.
Gu Gyeom-wi was even less welcoming of Cheon-hwi coming along on this mission.
Because he barely recovered his body and became healthy, he didn’t want to take him on a mission that risked such danger.
And most of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen shared Gu Gyeom-wi’s thoughts.
To them, Cheon-hwi was a haven for their hearts and the youngest Junior Brother they had cherished and found adorable since the past.
“Does Junior Brother know about this mission?”
“I don’t know.”
“…You don’t know? Even so, you said you’d follow along?”
“Yes.”
“T, then you followed?”
The flustered Gu Gyeom-wi scratched his cheek.
Then he soon looked to the side.
The Plum Blossom Swordsmen who had been glancing over flinched at that gaze and let out continuous fake coughs.
“Ahem. How about Senior Brother informs him?”
“Since Senior Brother Gu explains things perfectly, it seems he would be the best.”
Perhaps embarrassed that they had been continuously stealing glances, they briefly turned their heads away.
“Haa.”
Gu Gyeom-wi let out a deep sigh.
“Junior Brother. Then listen well.”
Cheon-hwi perked his ears.
What he had heard from Cheon Yu last night was nothing but incredibly simple information.
That they were going to dispose of a demonic practitioner living in the mountain.
‘Because he left to prepare before I could hear more explanation.’
Gu Gyeom-wi slightly bent his knees to make eye contact with Cheon-hwi, whose height was about a span shorter.
“The one ordered to be killed this time is a demonic practitioner that the Beggars’ Sect found out about while investigating rumors spreading recently that commoners in the village were going missing. They said he learned a wicked demonic art that absorbs the death energy of the dead after killing commoners…”
Gu Gyeom-wi recited the gathered information.
As the explanation continued like that, Hyeon-jin stopped his steps two hours later.
“We have arrived.”
The place they arrived at was Tongshan, located not far from Hubei Province.
“…He should be in there.”
When Hyeon-jin’s low words ended, a strange tension circulated.
“Then everyone, move.”
The Plum Blossom Swordsmen scattered in all directions, and.
“Cheon-hwi, follow me.”
Hyeon-jin initiated conversation.
Having drawn his sword at some point, he was keeping guard while exuding faint internal energy.
Ending with those words, Hyeon-jin advanced.
‘How simple.’
Their intentions were blatantly obvious.
A method of surrounding and gradually narrowing in.
It was a simple yet efficient method.
‘But is this the true skill of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen?’
Cheon-hwi recalled their movements as they left.
Although their footwork of kicking off the ground and disappearing in a single breath was quite fast.
‘To think this is a Plum Blossom Swordsman.’
Compared to the Plum Blossom Swordsmen of the past, they were absurdly weak.
‘Still, is this level something to be grateful for?’
He shook his head.
The current Mount Hua Sect and the past Mount Hua Sect were different.
‘Since each and every one of them is vastly superior to Jeok-geom and Seol Ran.’
Crunch… Crunch…
A short while of advancing while stepping on leaves.
“…!”
Hyeon-jin stopped and turned his head.
‘They met.’
Cheon-hwi also turned his head.
A clash of Qi felt from the direction he was looking at was being felt.
“Do you know the way we came?”
Hyeon-jin said urgently.
“Yes.”
“Then go back first.”
Along with those words, Hyeon-jin moved.
Tat!
In an instant, as he stamped his foot, the leaves laid out soared into the sky, and through them, Hyeon-jin’s departing figure was seen.
“With that level, he’ll take care of it on his own.”
Cheon-hwi lost interest and turned his body.
The energy of the one called a demonic practitioner was weaker than expected.
‘Even so, it’s not demonic energy either… It’s an energy I’ve seen somewhere?’
Around the time Cheon-hwi, who was tilting his head, was going back the way he came, the Plum Blossom Swordsmen were surrounding an old man and keeping guard.
“What business do the Taoists of the Mount Hua Sect have deep in this mountain?”
An unpretentious-looking old man with white hair and white eyebrows laughed heartily and stroked his beard.
“Don’t you know that well?”
He looked as if he had transcended the secular world, but the Plum Blossom Swordsmen were not fooled.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Did you think you could slaughter commoners and easily get away with it?”
The old man’s eyebrows twitched and convulsed.
Following that, his face suddenly distorted, and gloomy killing intent bloomed.
“How did you find out?”
The Plum Blossom Swordsmen did not answer.
No, they couldn’t.
Because the old man’s killing intent intensely weighed down on them.
At that moment.
Flash!
A streak of flash cleaved his killing intent.
“…!”
The old man sharply turned his head. Hyeon-jin stood there holding a sword.
“How about you stop talking nonsense and obediently pay the price for your sins?”
“Price for my sins?”
The old man wore a sneer.
“This seat has no sins to pay for.”
“Even after slaughtering commoners?”
“Hmph, since they became the nourishment for the Blood Qi Art that this seat has mastered, shouldn’t it rather be something to be thankful for?”
“If it’s the Blood Qi Art!”
For a moment, Hyeon-jin’s pupils trembled.
“…Black Valor Slaying Demon.”
The old man’s lips twisted bizarrely.
“Hehehe. You know this seat.”
The flustered Hyeon-jin looked back and said.
“Everyone, fall back.”
The Plum Blossom Swordsmen flinched.
For Hyeon-jin to say such words meant the opponent was not an easy adversary.
“Hmph, even so, do you think I’ll let you live?”
The snorting Black Valor Slaying Demon revealed the true colors he had hidden.
Cold killing intent flowed out from his entire body, encroaching on the surroundings and depriving them of their Qi sensing.
“…!”
The Plum Blossom Swordsmen panicked and retreated.
And the Black Valor Slaying Demon, who did not miss that brief moment, moved.
Closing the distance in a single breath, he swung his hand towards the abdomen of Cheon Yu, who was standing on the far left.
Smack!
A dull sound rang out, and Cheon Yu’s knees buckled powerlessly.
But as if that wasn’t the end, the Black Valor Slaying Demon’s hand was raised with a flash once again.
Flash!
At that moment, sword light surged from below.
“This bastard!”
The Black Valor Slaying Demon, who dodged to the side, threw a fit.
“…Urgh.”
The sword that was somehow held in Cheon Yu’s right hand, who was clutching his stomach, was pointing at the sky.
Meeting the gaze of Cheon Yu, who was glaring with bloodshot eyes, the Black Valor Slaying Demon felt a chill and drew up his internal energy.
“You’re a bastard who shouldn’t be left alive!”
Clear red strong Qi began to gather in his right hand.
It was the distinct hand Qi emitted by the Blood Qi Hand, the hand martial art he had mastered.
“Die!”
The furious Black Valor Slaying Demon’s Blood Qi Hand raged like a storm and slashed through the space.
The red hand Qi stretching out in all directions strand by strand looked as if it would tear Cheon Yu apart at any moment.
However, there was one thing he was forgetting.
That the opponent wasn’t just one person.
Clang!
A very small sound rang out.
The Black Valor Slaying Demon panicked and looked at Hyeon-jin, who suddenly appeared and swung his sword.
The next moment, an explosion roared.
Kwaaaang!
The Black Valor Slaying Demon and Hyeon-jin were blown away from each other.
Grrrk…
The two who bounced off from the impact unfolded the Thousand Catty Fall and urgently straightened their bodies.
At that moment, the Plum Blossom Swordsmen also moved.
Unfolding the Drifting Steps in unison, the Plum Blossom Swordsmen surrounded the Black Valor Slaying Demon, who had yet to catch his balance, and swung their swords.
“A joint attack?”
The flustered Black Valor Slaying Demon shouted.
However, the Plum Blossom Swordsmen swung their swords regardless of what he said.
Crack!
The Black Valor Slaying Demon swung both hands.
The hands that seemed to have been swung randomly scattered red hand Qi sharply.
Clang! Clang!
They briefly altered the trajectory of their swords to block the flying hand Qi.
And the Black Valor Slaying Demon did not miss that opening.
Crunch!
A gruesome sound rang out, and belatedly, the scream of the Plum Blossom Swordsman, Wun Hyeon, burst out.
“Kuaaaak!”
The Black Valor Slaying Demon grabbed Wun Hyeon, whose forearm he had smashed, and hurled him towards the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.
“Junior Brother!”
“Senior Brother!”
While they were trying to catch Wun Hyeon.
Tat!
The Black Valor Slaying Demon fled.
“Everyone, stop for now!”
Hyeon-jin shouted while clutching his chest.
Flowing a streak of blood at the corner of his mouth as if his internal energy was shaken from the previous collision, he forcefully drew up his internal energy.
“Gu Gyeom-wi, stay behind and treat the two who have collapsed.”
“I will also move together…”
“No, stay here. That person could return again and take them hostage. With your footwork, you can run away from him who suffered internal injuries, so I will trust and leave it to you.”
“Ah!”
Gu Gyeom-wi let out an exclamation of admiration.
Hyeon-jin was speaking while considering the worst-case scenario that could happen by any chance.
“Understood.”
Hyeon-jin bit his lip tightly.
“The rest of you, all follow me.”
Like that, while a pursuit began again following Hyeon-jin, who had gathered his body.
“Damn it…!”
The Black Valor Slaying Demon, who was running away urgently while clutching his shoulder, ground his teeth.
“If I just endured for a few more years, it would be a great completion!”
Anger surged up.
His goal was the great completion of the Blood Qi Art.
Because of that, being a little greedy and massacring a village was the source of trouble.
“Damn it, I lost all the internal energy I built up this time.”
His voice was dyed in anger.
Just how many people had he kidnapped and killed at the risk of danger to build this internal energy.
At that time, his Qi sensing reacted.
“That guy is…”
The Black Valor Slaying Demon’s eyes sharpened.
On the descending mountain path, there was a young Taoist bastard wearing the Mount Hua Sect’s Taoist robe.
“Keke. They left a disciple behind.”
His eyes shone eerily.
At a moment when he had ill feelings towards the Mount Hua Sect, perfect prey walked right in on its own.
Moreover, although it was a weaker momentum than expected, he was much more nutritious than commoners.
He immediately spurred on his speed.
“Quietly become my prey…!”
The moment he spread both hands wide to tear the Taoist to shreds with the Blood Qi Hand.
Swish…
He locked eyes with the Taoist who turned his head.
“…!”
In that instant, the Black Valor Slaying Demon’s body stiffened.
Cold and indifferent pupils.
The moment he saw that, he recalled an emotion he had long forgotten.
Namely, fear.
And that moment.
Squelaach!
His head burst.
“I wondered why it was familiar, and it was Blood Qi.”
Cheon-hwi looked down at the Black Valor Slaying Demon, who had collapsed onto the floor having lost his head.
What he had felt just before was the energy of the Blood Cult that he had crushed in the past when they caused a disturbance to make Jiangshi.
‘But is the legacy of the Blood Cult still remaining?’
Cheon-hwi looked down at him.
“Seeing as how he went around so openly, it’s not like the Blood Cult has risen again, and it seems he just accidentally picked up a martial art.”
He looked at the corpse and cut off his interest.
The Blood Cult was already an annihilated place.
Having interest was unnecessary.
“It will be annoying if I stay here, so.”
After watching Hyeon-jin approaching from afar, Cheon-hwi left the spot, and fifteen minutes later.
“…!”
The belatedly appearing Hyeon-jin and the Plum Blossom Swordsmen were astonished looking at the corpse.
“Who did this to the Black Valor Slaying Demon?”
In particular, Hyeon-jin’s shock was extraordinary.
Who was the Black Valor Slaying Demon.
He was a demonic practitioner that even the Namgoong Clan, which exerted influence in Anhui Province in the past, couldn’t catch.
However, such a person was dead cold.
That too, with his head smashed.
Hyeon-jin looked around the surroundings.
But there were no traces at all.
As if someone had one-sidedly killed off the Black Valor Slaying Demon.
“Who on earth…”
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