Chapter 176: Chapter 176
-Twelve casualties from Qingcheng Sect and its lay-affiliated sects.
-Six casualties from Emei Sect and its lay-affiliated sects.
-The elder leading the group is missing.
At the brief contents delivered by the carrier pigeon, the face of Victory Tiger Hall Master Gu Jeong-ryong stiffened.
“……Heavens.”
He had thought this operation was merely one meant to give Jin So-un a little support.
Though Jin So-un had created a vague sense of fear toward the opponent the entire way here, it had not actually felt real on his skin.
After the Murim Alliance designated the “Ten Forbidden Arts” that caused chaos in the murim, the roots of Unorthodox Side Path arts had dried up.
Because of that, even if one knew them in theory, one could not know how terrifying they truly were in reality.
“If it is the Qingcheng Sect…… they are still an orthodox Daoist sect, are they not?”
And yet even the disciples and elder of that Qingcheng Sect had been struck.
He could instinctively tell that this was not at the level of “witchcraft” that, as they had commonly learned at the Murim Academy, could not infiltrate a proper centered mind.
Moreover, the problem was…….
“Gam Cheon-ak…… do you remember what you learned about Dispelling Evil and Spirit Suppression?”
Gam Cheon-ak, the Deputy Hall Master of Victory Tiger Hall and a junior who had spent a long time with him, scratched the back of his head roughly.
“Dispelling Evil and Spirit Suppression? What is that? Is it a Sichuan specialty Jin So-un promised to shoot at us?”
“…….”
This was reality.
“Did you bring a Spirit-Suppression Bead?”
“What is that?”
At Gam Cheon-ak’s expression, which asked as if it were far too natural not to know, veins bulged on Gu Jeong-ryong’s forehead.
“……You bastard. You do not even know what supplies we received from the Alliance?”
“……Spirit-Suppression Bead??”
After thinking for quite some time, Gam Cheon-ak struck his palm with his fist.
“Ah! I remember. Those beads made of wood and jade, right?”
“Yes! Those! They are essential supplies we are supposed to carry every time we are dispatched!!”
“I do not have one.”
“You bastard!!!”
Gam Cheon-ak subtly dodged Gu Jeong-ryong’s fist and asked back,
“Then did you bring yours, Hall Master?”
Gu Jeong-ryong, who had been huffing in anger, flinched and stopped.
Gam Cheon-ak quietly furrowed his brow and asked,
“No, did you even have one in the first place?”
“…….”
“Ask everyone in the Alliance. See if there is still anyone who has one.”
Gam Cheon-ak shook his head and continued.
“Nine out of ten will not have one.”
“Then what? It is not as if we have fought the Unorthodox Path. Where did they use them up?”
“What money do you think the guys used to go to taverns every day before their first monthly salaries came out? Those things are also quite pretty in appearance, so they sell for a rather high price to courtesans.”
He was inwardly furious, but he knew it well too.
This was the current reality of the Murim Alliance.
Because the absence of the Unorthodox Path, the Demon Path, and the Demonic Path had gone on for so long, the existences called “witchcraft,” “sorcery,” and “demonic arts” had now become like jade qilin or phoenixes to the Murim Alliance—beings of fantasy.
‘How did I get dragged into something like this…….’
He had come out lightly, partly to repay his debt to Maeng Ju-won.
And partly because he was curious about Jin So-un, who was supposedly already engaging in a war of nerves with the Righteous Path Association, Orthodox Path Association, and Twelve Peak Citadels within the Murim Academy.
From Gu Jeong-ryong’s perspective, as someone who already held antipathy toward vested interests, he had thought this was a good opportunity to use Maeng Ju-won and Jin So-un as excuses to harass the Elder Council.
He had come with this half as a wandering trip, yet now this situation had suddenly unfolded.
As such thoughts kept arising, the urge to escape reality kept welling up.
“Do you think this is certain?”
Gam Cheon-ak looked at the carrier pigeon letter and shook his head.
“Why are you asking me that?”
“What?”
“You were the one who said we should come here, Hall Master, and you were also the one who had us rest for a day in Sichuan amid this ‘urgent’ situation, were you not?”
Look at this bastard. Was he backing out now?
“Then you should be the one to make the judgment too, Hall Master.”
“You bastard! Do you think I am the only one who will die if this becomes a problem?! The Hall Master and Deputy Hall Master are practically one body! You will die with me!”
“What did I do?!”
“You were the one who encouraged the members by saying we should advance the schedule and stay at a better inn! If I am dragged to the Execution Pavilion, I will definitely drag you in with me!”
When Gu Jeong-ryong foamed at the mouth and struggled, Gam Cheon-ak let out a small sigh.
“Putting aside whether we can verify it or not, this is not a matter we can handle by ourselves, is it?”
Leaving aside the fact that casualties had occurred among Academy students related to Qingcheng Sect, an elder of the Elder Council had gone missing.
This was absolutely not a matter that could be passed over easily.
“Let us send a carrier pigeon letter to the Alliance.”
“It will be too late if we wait for a reply before moving.”
However, they also could not simply wait for the Murim Alliance’s reply forever.
According to Jin So-un, it was clear that these people were also targeting the remaining Academy students and elders.
‘Who in the current murim could challenge the Alliance?’
It was such an absurd matter that even while he recognized reality, it still did not feel real.
If it were merely a simple war of nerves, such a thing could happen any number of times, but acting this seriously meant they intended to see it through to the end.
“In any case, that bastard Jin So-un gave us instructions, did he not? For now, it seems right to move according to them.”
“Yes, we will move immediately as well.”
Gu Jeong-ryong immediately turned his head toward Victory Tiger Hall.
As expected, the Victory Tiger Hall members seemed to have been listening to the conversation, and all of them met his eyes at once.
“From now on, we increase our speed even more!”
“Yes, sir!”
The momentum of the Victory Tiger Hall members, who had recognized the gravity of the matter, changed in an instant.
Those who had been slouching around and exchanging jokes began checking their arms again, and the horses’ speed did not slow even once.
After running without rest for one double-hour like that, they were able to meet Namgung Seon-hwa’s Twelve Peak Citadels group, which had departed half a day earlier.
Namgung Seon-hwa kept trying to enter the Zhongnan Sect group, but the Zhongnan disciples were blocking her.
“Miss Namgung.”
“Ah! Hall Master!”
“What happened?”
“I am sorry. No matter how much I speak, they will not listen.”
Gu Jeong-ryong immediately dismounted and approached the group.
While the Academy students who recognized Gu Jeong-ryong awkwardly hesitated, not knowing what to do about him trying to enter the group.
Gu Jeong-ryong led Namgung Seon-hwa and approached the place where Elder Suheo of Zhongnan Sect was.
“What?”
After hearing the story, Suheo snorted and said,
“You are saying absurd things. Who in the world could possibly interfere with an event of the Murim Alliance?”
“……May I ask when you last contacted Elder Hye-seong or Elder Myeonghyeon?”
“…….”
Gu Jeong-ryong let out a long sigh without realizing it.
“Then have you not contacted the other leading groups either?”
“We agreed to scatter separately and gather again at Badang. I came here on this occasion to tell them about the history of how our Murim Alliance established the righteous spirit of the Orthodox Path in Sichuan.”
“…….”
Gu Jeong-ryong, who was listening, cursed inwardly.
From the beginning, these people had no thoughts whatsoever about investigating the culprits or anything else.
They had really come all this way using the investigation as an excuse to get some fresh air.
“First, please come with us.”
Even at Gu Jeong-ryong’s words, Suheo reacted sharply, as if he still had not come to his senses.
“Are you telling me to listen to Jin So-un’s words and move now?”
“…….”
Where exactly had things gone wrong?
Had he become an elder of the Elder Council only to engage in extreme escape from reality at a time like this?
“Hall Master.”
Because Gam Cheon-ak suddenly cut into the conversation, Elder Suheo’s face crumpled violently.
Well, there likely did not exist many people bold enough to cut in while an elder of the Murim Alliance was speaking.
But then again, that bastard Gam Cheon-ak too. Did he have to cut in even knowing the temper of the elders?
“You need to see this.”
When Gu Jeong-ryong saw the new carrier pigeon letter Gam Cheon-ak held out, his head cooled.
This was no longer a matter of pride or face.
“Elder, you must come with us.”
“What have you been hearing all this time?!”
“This is an order from Mantongbu.”
At the mention of “Mantongbu,” Elder Suheo’s face looked as if it would explode at any moment.
Gu Jeong-ryong handed Elder Suheo the carrier pigeon letter he had seen.
“If this is false, then as you desire, Elder, you will be able to cut off Jin So-un’s head.”
Elder Suheo, who had been huffing angrily, unfolded the carrier pigeon letter so roughly that it seemed it might tear.
And then.
“…….”
-Fifteen casualties from Mount Hua Sect and its lay-affiliated sects.
-Twenty-two casualties from Kongtong Sect and its lay-affiliated sects.
-Death of Mount Hua Sect Elder So Chung-hyeon confirmed.
-Death of Kongtong Sect Elder Jeong Sa-ik confirmed.
Elder Suheo’s eyes trembled violently as he stared at the carrier pigeon letter.
It was news that went far beyond the limit for a joke, and yet was far too unbelievable to accept as truth.
“If this is a trick Jin So-un staged to protect his insignificant position, I will personally drag him to the Execution Pavilion and punish him.”
“…….”
“However, right now, we must carry out Mantongbu’s order.”
After hesitating briefly, Suheo eventually nodded.
“Let us go……. If it is true, then we must save them.”
Gu Jeong-ryong had succeeded in persuading Elder Suheo, whose stubbornness seemed so sealed off at front and back that even ventilation would not work properly, but his heart was deeply uneasy.
If Zhongnan, which was at the very rear, had come this far out, then it was only a matter of time before the people ahead met the unidentified enemy.
Moreover, Victory Tiger Hall’s numbers were endlessly insufficient, so they had to keep bringing Academy students along on the way.
He expected the damage to grow.
“We depart without delay.”
The only thing they could do now was move even one step faster.
And.
‘Please, just be alive. Jin So-un.’
He could only hope for the survival of those who had gone ahead.
Murong Jae-hwa, who was nocking an arrow to the bowstring, sensed something strange about the arrowhead.
‘It is heavier…… and looser…….’
This was Jin So-un’s consideration for him, since he had not yet completed the Thunderbolt Arrow.
“Truly, Brother, how do you know me this well?”
It was the worst situation, but a smile formed on his lips.
He squeezed out inner arts he did not have and put strength into his arms.
The steel rod bent strangely.
Because of that, the tremendous tension put a burden on his arms, and it felt as though his fingers would be cut off by the Heavenly Silkworm Thread.
Even so, he did not feel the anxiety that it might break like a horn bow.
TWANG. WHIZZ.
The arrow cutting through the sky advanced along the arc he had expected.
When the blood-robed men realized that Murong Jae-hwa had begun shooting again, they started raising those thick shields and rocks as before.
THUD!
It pierced halfway into the rock, but in the end, the arrow did not reach the blood-robed man.
Even so, Murong Jae-hwa drew the bowstring again.
RIIIIIP.
It felt as though the muscles in his arms were tearing.
Every time he drew the steel bow, his entire body screamed, but instead, he felt a sense of stability.
The power of the Heaven-Earth Wave-Splitting Sword was loaded into the arrowhead.
At that moment, Jin So-un’s voice from when they had shot bows together during the Regular Exam rang in his ears.
-A bow is a weapon that pierces the opponent’s blind spot. At an unexpected moment, in an unexpected way, it takes the opponent’s life. When faced with such fear, even assassins whose sense of death has grown dull can be made to tremble in fear.
Murong Jae-hwa immediately shot the arrow toward the sky.
TWANG. WHIZZ.
Then he nocked another arrow to the bowstring and shot it at the bastards.
TWANG. WHIZZ──
When the second arrow was fired, the blood-robed men raised their shields and lifted their stones.
THUD!
This time too, when the arrow was blocked by a shield reinforced with three layers, the triumphant blood-robed men began coming out from behind the rocks.
And at that very moment.
When the arrow that had flown into the sky fell straight down and came onto the same line as the blood-robed men.
It exploded in midair and shattered to pieces, shooting fragments of iron in every direction like Hidden Weapons.
BOOM.
RUMBLE.
Those standing behind the rocks could not prepare in time for the flying iron fragments.
THUD THUD THUD THUD THWACK.
The blood-robed men, whose bodies were riddled with holes as if they had received the Ten Thousand Flowers Rain, collapsed to the ground.
The blood-robed men who had barely been standing behind and had not been struck by the Thunderbolt Arrow now retreated even farther back, entering the blind spot of this damned archer.
-Just because they cannot be seen does not mean they are not there.
It was advice that seemed perfectly tailored to him.
However, before he knew it, the voice he heard had changed from Jin So-un’s to that of someone whose face he did not know.
‘Who is that?’
A man showing his broad back.
He looked lonely, solitary, and desolate.
Yet on his shoulders, he carried a burden of tremendous weight.
That man spoke.
-Draw where they are inside your head. If you can draw where they are, the bow can target them at any time.
It was clearly something Jin So-un had said, yet the voice sounded like that of an unknown man.
A man he had never seen even once, yet who felt far too familiar and accustomed.
Following his advice, he drew the arrow again.
-There is no need to confirm with your eyes.
Because you can draw it in your head.
-There is no need to be exact.
Because you are not aiming at one person.
-There is no need to be fast.
Because they will already be too frightened to leave their positions.
TWANG. WHIZZ──.
The arrow fired in that arc fell behind the cover where the blood-robed men had hidden.
BOOM.
Aaaagh.
Uaaaagh!
Kraaaagh!
From far away, the hateful blood-robed men’s screams rang out.
“Hah…… hah…….”
Murong Jae-hwa, who had reached the very limit of his limit, was in a state that could scarcely be called human.
After taking hold of the iron bow, he had once again made the blood-robed men tremble in fear, but the more he did, the worse Murong Jae-hwa’s condition began to grow.
“Young Master Jae-hwa, your blood…….”
Murong Jae-hwa’s fingertips had gone beyond being wounded and were split and torn.
His fingers had been ruined from drawing the powerful iron bow’s string.
Murong Jae-hwa looked at his fingers with indifference and said,
“Miss Eun, could you freeze them a little?”
“Y-You have to stop. Young Master Jae-hwa……!”
“They will never leave us alive.”
“…….”
At those words, Eun Seol-ran eventually took hold of his fingers and raised the Plain Hand Divine Art.
When the blood that had been dripping down stopped, Murong Jae-hwa raised the bow again.
The unknown man’s voice rang in Murong Jae-hwa’s head once more.
-Merciless people leave damage even as they die. Fighting them head-on to stop them is also a one-sided loss for us.
So we must stop them before they approach. We must make them afraid so they cannot approach.
Not only the merciless, but also the indifferent, those mad with slaughter, those who see only their own desires, even those who have lost their humanity—make them afraid.
Murong Jae-hwa’s bow was drawn.
To plant fear and stop them from approaching.
The arrow shot as if to shoot down the sun passed over the rock that had become cover and headed into the middle of the enemy camp.
BOOM! RUMBLE!
Kraaaagh!
Keheuk!
Avoid it!
That was precisely the Breaking Bow.
Screams rang from far away.
The blood-robed men who had been approaching had, before he knew it, retreated backward and farther backward, as if they wanted to flee even one step farther.
Il-gak, who took that sight into his eyes, trembled all over.
‘Heavens…….’
Who else could possibly accomplish such a thing?
What had been impossible even with Shaolin’s martial arts and Diancang’s martial arts, Murong Jae-hwa had accomplished with a single bow.
His illusion regarding the martial arts of Shaolin Temple, which he had thought to be the Mount Tai and Big Dipper of the murim and the pinnacle of martial arts, shattered completely.
‘Even though I knew that nothing absolute and perfect exists…….’
Il-gak squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them.
‘This too is enlightenment…….’
Along with that, the iron bow and arrows that Jin So-un had supposedly sent.
He instinctively felt that Murong Jae-hwa’s hidden power was also related to him.
Just how much had he known?
In any case, hope could now be seen.
Hope that they could return alive.
As Murong Jae-hwa had said, if Jin So-un and the support group came, he would not have to see the horrific scene he had imagined…….
“Huh……?”
Murong Jae-hwa, who had created this thrilling situation, looked ahead with strange eyes.
Il-gak, Eun Seol-ran, and Nam Hwa-seong followed his gaze as well.
A figure emerged alone from between the pieces of cover.
Unlike those who had only worn blood-red robes until now, this one wore strange accessories.
That was not the only odd thing.
“Its gait……”
The being hopped playfully with both feet together.
“Do not tell me…….”
“Fucking hell…….”
“Amitabha.”
While Eun Seol-ran, Nam Hwa-seong, and Il-gak were each horrified in turn.
Murong Jae-hwa frowned deeply and drew the bowstring to its end.
TWANG. WHIZZ──
The moment the arrow that flew as if cutting through the wind was about to pierce the strange man’s head.
The man who had been moving awkwardly suddenly whipped his head around and seized the arrow.
GRAB.
Of course, what Murong Jae-hwa had prepared did not end there.
BOOM!
With an explosion, the arrowhead burst, and iron fragments scattered in every direction.
Dense dust spread and completely covered the man’s entire body.
As the dust cleared, a horrific corpse pierced all over by iron fragments appeared…….
“Heavens…….”
“This is madness.”
It was not perfect, but it was the Thunderbolt Arrow that had made the blood-robed men tremble in fear.
However, although iron fragments were embedded all over the strange man’s body, he did not shed a single drop of blood.
Then, as if nothing had happened, he stared at this side, from where the arrow had flown.
Il-gak groaned and uttered one word.
“Jiangshi…….”
A Demonic Beast that was known to have already disappeared had appeared again.