Chapter 197 Water Demon (1)

“Now there won’t be any significant issues in continuing the mission.”

‘Oh no!’

Instantly, Mong Mu-yak’s expression stiffened.

He had been inwardly moved that the sensation in his severed arm had returned.

But there was something he had forgotten.

Now he had no choice but to go on the secret mission with Mok Gyeong-un.

‘shit!’

He should have used his injury as an excuse to immediately return to the Heaven and Earth Society and report this guy’s dangerousness to his father, the Vice-Leader, but that plan was completely ruined.

To the perplexed Mong Mu-yak, Mok Gyeong-un said as if he had forgotten,

“Ah! And there’s one more gift for you.”

‘Gift?’

In the midst of his troubled state, when Mok Gyeong-un said he would give him something, Mong Mu-yak looked at him with a face full of suspicion.

Then Mok Gyeong-un took something out from his bosom.

It was a bracelet made of chains.

‘Huh?’

Was he really giving him a gift?

To the puzzled Mong Mu-yak, Mok Gyeong-un said with a sardonic smile,

“It’s nothing special, but I’d like you to wear this.”

***

-Swoosh!

On a late afternoon with heavy rainfall.

A soldier with a protruding mustache was leading the way through a dense forest, guiding someone.

That someone was wearing a bamboo hat along with a bamboo raincoat, and in one hand, he was holding a black sword that looked charred.

Glancing at this unidentified man, the soldier clicked his tongue.

For over an hour, he showed no signs of fatigue while trudging through the muddy mountain path in the downpour.

‘Martial artists are different.’

“Haa…… Haa……”

On the other hand, even though he was a native of this place, he was out of breath and panting from exhaustion.

The weather was chilly, and his breath was visible.

Traversing the mountains in this weather was no different from an act of insanity, but money was the culprit.

‘So many silver coins.’

The silver coins in the pouch the man had shown were too numerous to count.

A soldier’s salary was barely enough to make ends meet, so his eyes couldn’t help but waver.

Simply put, it was too much money to refuse.

Moreover,

‘There’s nothing wrong with receiving this much money just for guiding someone to a place.’

After walking for about an hour deeper into the forest, the soldier saw red cloth pieces tied to several trees and said,

“We’re here, sir.”

The soldier pointed to a plot of land between the trees with red cloth pieces tied to them, where not a single blade of grass grew.

It was a truly bizarre place.

The color of the soil had a dark reddish hue, and the surroundings were eerie.

Although the sun hadn’t set yet, it was the first time he had come when it was this dark with such heavy rainfall.

Perhaps that’s why he felt an inexplicable chill running down his spine.

Then the man spoke,

“Dig the ground.”

“Pardon? You want me to dig the ground?”

“That’s right.”

“Oh, I only agreed to guide you to the place where the dead prisoners are buried……”

“I’ll pay you more.”

At the man’s words, the soldier looked at the ground that had turned into mud from the rainwater.

It was harder to dig wet soil than dry soil.

Moreover, he felt somewhat queasy about digging up the ground where corpses were buried all by himself.

However,

‘Oh, to hell with it.’

It was difficult to resist the temptation of the silver coins.

So, for about an hour, the soldier dug the ground.

Since it was a place designated by the government office to bury the corpses of prisoners, there were tools like pickaxes nearby, so he didn’t have to do it with his bare hands.

‘Son of a bitch.’

This was really too much.

Although he was doing this for the silver coins, since he was doing it alone, it would take quite some time, so the soldier thought the man would at least help a little.

But all he did was cross his arms and watch.

In the end, he did it all by himself.

-Thud!

‘Ah!’

The soldier who had struck down with the pickaxe swallowed his dry saliva.

This feeling just now wasn’t soil.

Soon, several corpses were revealed.

“Ugh.”

He felt like vomiting.

The stench of rotting corpses was even more pungent because of the rain.

‘But how can he identify anything with the corpses so decomposed?’

Then, the bamboo hat-wearing man, who had been watching with his arms crossed, approached and examined the decomposing corpses.

If they were in coffins, the decay would have been less severe, but since they were prisoners, they were simply buried in the soil, reaching a state where it was difficult to discern their condition.

“Hmm.”

Nevertheless, the man continued to examine the corpses.

Then he stopped at one corpse.

Unlike the other corpses, it was the only one with just a head.

As expected, the face was rotten beyond recognition.

The bamboo hat-wearing man looked at it and asked,

“Why is there only a head for this corpse?”

“Ah……”

The soldier hesitated on what to do upon seeing the corpse.

That was a corpse that was silenced by the magistrate’s orders.

What he was asked to do was guide them to this place and dig up the soil anyway, so he had no obligation to reveal the secret that had to be kept.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know either.”

“You don’t know? It hasn’t been years, but only a month and a few days since it happened. To say you don’t remember that……”

“I really don’t know. I’m just a lowly soldier……”

-Shh!

“Gasp!”

Before he could finish his words, the black sword touched his neck.

If it pierced just a little, a hole would be made in his neck.

Startled, the soldier hurriedly said,

“Wh-what is the meaning of this?”

“Have you ever had a hole pierced through your neck?”

“The…… The magistrate told me not to speak of it.”

“I see. But I need to know. So speak.”

“If you threaten a government official like this……”

“I don’t think it would be a problem if your corpse mixed in with the prisoners’ corpses.”

The killing intent flowing with those words.

‘Eek!’

Terrified, the soldier finally revealed the truth.

“I-I’ll tell you.”

“Speak.”

“There…… There was a vicious prisoner called Sickle Slaying Demon among the death row inmates.”

At those words, the corners of the bamboo hat-wearing man’s mouth slightly rose.

He had finally found it.

The traces of that bastard.

He seemed to have wasted quite some time looking for a soldier with no relatives and willing to take money.

The bamboo hat-wearing man said to the soldier,

“And?”

“But the day before his execution, an incident occurred in the prison.”

“Incident?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of incident?”

“Whether it was done by someone who held a grudge against Sickle Slaying Demon, he was found dead with his head cut off during the night.”

“…… Found dead?”

“Yes, but then his body disappeared without a trace, leaving only his head.”

At those words, the bamboo hat-wearing man’s eyes narrowed.

Someone suddenly entered the government’s prison and killed a death row inmate.

But the inmate’s body, except for his head, had disappeared?

This wasn’t something that could be overlooked.

“But why did the government office just let this slide?”

“We-well, he was going to be executed anyway, and if this gets out……”

“Ah.”

The bamboo hat-wearing man waved his hand.

There was no need to hear more.

It would have put the magistrate in charge in a difficult position.

So they must have kept the fact that someone had infiltrated the prison and committed such an act a secret.

Anyway, such information was of no significance to him.

What mattered was,

‘They didn’t take the head but took the body. That means……’

There was indeed sufficient room for suspicion.

Now, if he investigated the Yeon Mok Sword Manor, an answer to this suspicion would emerge.

Then the soldier, who had been terrified, cautiously said,

“Y-you can just give me the silver coins you originally promised, so please……”

“Ah. You mean the payment?”

“Yes.”

“Right, I should give it to you.”

“Ah!”

The soldier’s face brightened.

He had been worried that the man might just take the money and leave, so it was a relief.

However,

-Stab!

“Ack!”

The black sword pierced the soldier’s neck.

With a final scream, as the sword was pulled out, the staggering soldier collapsed into the pit he had dug, with an expression full of agony.

-Splash!

The pit was filled with muddy water from the collected rainwater, which quickly turned red.

“I’ll at least give you enough for the underworld toll.”

-Ting!

The bamboo hat-wearing man flicked a silver coin into the pit.

Then he promptly left the place.

***

-Swoosh!

The downpour was so heavy that it was difficult to see.

It was literally a torrential rain.

Piercing through this downpour, three men were moving northward.

They were Mok Gyeong-un, Seop Chun, the Third Captain Commander of the Heaven and Earth Society’s main sect, and Mong Mu-yak, the son of the Vice-Leader.

The downpour that had started the day before yesterday had already continued for three days.

Even for masters of the martial arts world, traveling in this heavy rain wasn’t easy.

Mong Mu-yak, who was using light-body skills at the very rear, glanced at his splinted left arm.

Gradually, the sensation was returning, and his fingers could move properly.

‘Phew.’

But now, this wasn’t particularly joyful.

In a way, it was like being given a disease and then the cure, and as his severed arm healed, he had no choice but to continue the mission.

‘shit.’

It might have been better if his arm had remained severed.

Then he could have returned and reported all of this to his father, the Vice-Leader.

This bastard was more terrifying than any person he had ever seen.

Not only did he have an inhuman side, but he had also mastered all sorts of miraculous skills beyond martial arts, making him even more frightening.

A prime example was,

-Shh!

This chain bracelet he was wearing on his right wrist.

[Since you’ve already pledged loyalty, I’d like you to wear this chain on your arm and swear an oath to me.]

At that time, although it felt somewhat ominous, he thought there wouldn’t be any problem with wearing a bracelet, so he followed those words for now.

But after making that oath, he realized.

He realized that he could no longer refuse anything Mok Gyeong-un said.

At one point, he thought about attempting to escape, but the moment he had such thoughts, the chain dug into his flesh, nearly making him lose his right arm.

As a result, Mong Mu-yak could no longer harbor any ill intentions.

Now he was no different from this bastard’s slave.

‘shit.’

All that came out was cursing.

As he was grumbling inwardly and lamenting his situation,

The leading Mok Gyeong-un and Seop Chun, who had been advancing through the heavy rain, suddenly stopped in their tracks.

Wondering why, he looked ahead and,

“Ah!”

A sigh mixed with perplexity flowed out of Mong Mu-yak’s mouth.

That was because a river overflowing from the heavy rain appeared before them.

-Swoosh! Gush!

Seop Chun spoke in a troubled tone,

“This…… It will be difficult to cross the river.”

Looking at the river’s currents, it wasn’t at a level where one could swim across even if they had mastered martial arts.

In the first place, it wasn’t a distance that could be covered by swimming.

The river’s scale wasn’t as vast as the Yangtze River, so if the river hadn’t overflowed due to the heavy rain, they could have borrowed a boat or raft to cross the distance.

But now, they could be swept away by the currents and risk an accident.

“I was worried because of the heavy rain, but it seems difficult to cross the river right away.”

“I agree.”

Mok Gyeong-un nodded his head, seemingly agreeing with Seop Chun’s words.

In the face of the laws of nature, even a master of the martial arts world was merely human.

“For now, my Lord, I think we should rest in that nearby village and wait for the rain to stop.”

At Seop Chun’s words, Mong Mu-yak interjected.

“Hey. Have you already forgotten?”

“Huh?”

“The most important thing in this mission is to make it to the rendezvous point on time. If we’re delayed by even a day, it becomes difficult to meet the deadline.”

At these words, Seop Chun sighed and said,

“That may be true, but how do you propose we cross the overflowing river?”

Floods and overflowing rivers were natural disasters, not man-made ones.

In the first place, it wasn’t a problem that could be solved by human power.

However,

“…… We need to find a way to cross.”

Mong Mu-yak’s stubbornness was evident.

That was because the given deadline to reach Annak, Henan Province, was ten days.

Ordinary people could never make it in ten days, but for them, who were masters above the Transcendent Realm, it was a distance that could barely be covered if they diligently used light-body skills with minimal rest.

“So, by what means?”

“Hmm, that’s……”

-Shh!

Mong Mu-yak then looked at the nearby village not far from the riverbank.

The main occupation of those living in a village situated by the river was usually related to the river.

Staring intently at that place, Mok Gyeong-un said,

“I can see boats moored near the village entrance. And that boat over there……”

A large boat was moored by the overflowing riverbank.

That wasn’t the size of an ordinary boat.

“It looks quite big. With a boat of that size, couldn’t we cross the river?”

“Ah! It might be possible.”

Mong Mu-yak nodded his head in agreement.

The currents were so strong due to the heavy rain that it seemed impossible to cross with small boats or rafts, but with a boat of that size, it seemed possible to cross by drifting downstream with the currents.

However, there was another problem here.

Seop Chun raised this issue.

“But, my Lord. With a boat of that size, it seems impossible to control without boatmen and workers.”

If it were an ordinary raft, although not as skilled as boatmen, they could row and cross.

But that boat seemed difficult for them to control with their own strength.

In the end, they needed the help of the boatman who owned that boat.

“I don’t know if the boat owner will launch the boat in this weather.”

“He must have that boat to make a living anyway, so if we pay him enough, he’ll launch it.”

“Well……”

Seop Chun answered indifferently to Mong Mu-yak’s words.

They had brought enough travel expenses and had sufficient money to pay for the boat fare.

But the rain was too heavy, the river was overflowing, and the currents were so fast that the boat could capsize and wreck if they were unlucky.

“Even if the money is good, would they readily take a gamble where their life is at stake?”

To Seop Chun’s question, Mok Gyeong-un smiled and said,

“They will.”

“What?”

Why was the Lord so confident?

As he was puzzled,

“It would be better than having their throat slit and dying for refusing.”

“………”

Mok Gyeong-un was already planning to launch the boat with the premise of threats.