Chapter 9: Chapter 9
Hwang Byeok, leader of the Western Sky Society’s Tiger Hunt Unit.
He stood at the crossroads of a once-in-a-lifetime choice.
Would he betray the organization and yield to the fear before his eyes?
Or would he uphold loyalty and fidelity, boldly meeting his death?
Cheon Woo-jin resolved to help Hwang Byeok, who appeared to be in deep deliberation. A dark haze, even deeper than the ink-colored Crescent Moon Staff, gathered upon it.
Seeing this, Hwang Byeok brought his contemplation to an end in an instant.
“I will guide you, Great Hero.”
Thus, Zhuge Rin and Cheon Woo-jin set off, following Hwang Byeok’s guidance. Meanwhile, Zhuge Rin checked the poisons, hidden weapons, and sword hilt she had brought along.
After all, they were on their way to meet none other than the Shura Demon Lord, a second-grade public enemy of the martial world…
* * *
The Slaughter Unit, which selectively raided only villages with few martial artists or government soldiers. Meeting them did not take very long.
Since the mission Cheon Woo-jin had received for the second exam was originally the subjugation of the Slaughter Unit, they had been heading toward the village expected to be their next target in the first place.
The place they arrived at under Hwang Byeok’s guidance was Ankang County, a small village in Shaanxi Province.
It was a village with a peaceful atmosphere like its name, but by the time Cheon Woo-jin’s party arrived, it was already dyed crimson.
Houses were ablaze, and smoke billowed up from all around.
If one were male, whether adult or child, they lay bleeding on the ground without exception.
Women were being dragged along by their hair by robust men in black.
The small, peaceful village had turned into a living hell where screams and weeping never ceased.
Cheon Woo-jin’s party watched this while hiding their bodies in the bushes some distance away. To be precise, it was a situation where Hwang Byeok and Zhuge Rin were also waiting because Cheon Woo-jin was not stepping forward.
It was at that moment.
“Let go! Let go of this, you bastards!”
A snot-nosed boy clung to the trouser leg of a woman presumed to be his mother.
Tears streamed down the boy’s face, yet he showed no fear.
Finding that sight quite amusing, the men in black chuckled heartily and kicked the boy.
At that light kick, the boy rolled on the ground, clutching his stomach. Even so, he glared at the men in black with venomous eyes.
“I will kill you. I will definitely kill you bastards.”
The voice of the boy shedding tears of blood was heavy beyond his years. The boy, having witnessed humanity’s cruelest aspect before his eyes, had become a man.
Seeing this, the gaze of the men in black changed.
At times, vengeance turned people into monsters.
Dismissing it lightly as a matter of the distant future was bound to return as a sharp blade, such was the martial world.
The men in black, who had rolled in the Unorthodox Path for a long time, knew this well.
One man in black grabbed the hem of the boy’s mother’s clothes.
The boy looked at this with a frightened face.
“Stop, stop it…!”
It was at that moment.
The woman, already half-unconscious, bit the hand of the man in black.
Throwing the woman aside, the man in black spat out a curse and raised his ink-colored long sword.
The woman hastily shielded her son, and the son, even while embraced by the woman, glared clearly at the man in black.
The man in black felt a chill deep inside at that gaze, yet thought he must kill them without fail.
Watching this, Zhuge Rin could not endure it and stepped forward.
“We have to stop them!”
At the same time, Cheon Woo-jin grabbed her arm and stopped her.
“Not yet.”
Zhuge Rin was anxious.
Yet Cheon Woo-jin’s gaze remained calm.
Soon, unable to suppress his anger, the man in black swung his blade toward the boy and his mother.
Just as the mother and son faced death right before their eyes.
Clang!
A sword abruptly blocked the attack of the man in black.
Regrettably, it was not the appearance of a hero.
“Do not touch things carelessly when they are not yours.”
“Why, these wretched wretches…!”
“Number Seven.”
At that low voice, the man in black called Number Seven flinched.
Number Three had deliberately issued a warning by mentioning rank rather than name.
The man called Number Seven spat toward the mother and son, then walked away. Number Three looked at the mother and son with a dry gaze, then grabbed the mother’s hair and dragged her along once more.
Like that, the women of the village were being loaded one by one into carriages brought by the men in black.
Zhuge Rin spoke as if frustrated.
“Why come all the way here and not step forward?”
Cheon Woo-jin watched the entire scene with still composed eyes.
How much time had passed like that?
“It is fine now.”
“What is?”
“There was a need to confirm.”
At any rate, the Shura Demon Lord was a disciple of the Dark Emperor. There was no way a villain of that caliber would do such things for amusement. Master Black Elder had repeatedly said that every evil deed of a proper villain always had a justification.
That was why he had watched for a short while.
Kill the males, and abduct several of the women.
If it were to satisfy lust, young women would be preferred. Even if one had bizarre tastes, there was bound to be a common trait among those abducted. However, the abducted women were diverse in age and appearance.
Cheon Woo-jin noticed one common feature of the abducted women. Their yin qi was exceptionally dense.
This meant that rather than objects of lust, they were abducting them to absorb energy.
The reason for selectively abducting only women with dense yin qi was obvious.
“Severed Meridians Disorder.”
If Cheon Woo-jin’s conjecture was correct, the Shura Demon Lord must be suffering from Severed Meridians Disorder. Soon, Cheon Woo-jin strode out from the bushes without any prior warning.
At his sudden action, Zhuge Rin and Hwang Byeok were flustered.
“W-wait, let us prepare a bit…”
At any rate, the opponents were dozens of trained unorthodox martial artists.
No matter that she was a vice squad leader of the Martial Alliance, she could not face them alone. Of course, a monster named Cheon Woo-jin was with them, but she was not of a disposition to merely watch from behind either.
However, the most flustered of all was definitely Hwang Byeok.
“Who the hell are you?”
The men in black who spotted Cheon Woo-jin spat out some curses, then spotted Hwang Byeok behind him.
Soon, Number Three spoke.
“Are you not the Tiger Hunt Unit Leader?”
“Hahaha…”
Remembering his rank again, Hwang Byeok let out an awkward laugh.
Number Three cautiously observed the atmosphere around Hwang Byeok, Cheon Woo-jin, and Zhuge Rin, then shouted.
“It is a raid!”
At the same time, the men in black who were burning the village gathered together in unison. Even though it happened in an instant, there was no sign of panic. It meant they were that well-trained.
Suddenly, a red-haired giant pushed through the men in black and strode forward. Written across his chest was Number One.
Hwang Byeok gulped nervously.
“Slaughter Unit Leader.”
Though they were fellow unit leaders, their martial prowess was worlds apart.
The Tiger Hunt Unit was an assassin organization, while the Slaughter Unit was an action squad.
Sneaking up from behind and thrusting a dagger into the neck might be one thing, but in a direct confrontation, there was no chance of victory whatsoever.
The Slaughter Unit Leader surveyed the situation for a moment and burst into laughter.
“Bwahaha! Tiger Hunt Unit Leader, what is that pathetic state? Could it be you betrayed the Society Leader?”
The Slaughter Unit Leader was not tense at all despite the sudden turn of events.
One traitorous unit leader, and two young men and women.
There was no reason to be tense in the first place.
Scratching his head vigorously, Hwang Byeok spoke.
“…I had no choice if I wanted to live.”
“Khahaha! Do you think such an excuse will work on the Society Leader? Do you think the Society Leader will let you live?”
It was a reality he already knew, but hearing it through the mouth of another unit leader made Hwang Byeok’s heart sink even deeper into gloom.
“Fuck…”
Side with this side and die, side with that side and die.
Hwang Byeok’s heart felt suffocated at his own plight.
Furthermore, facing that beanpole of a giant made him feel pathetic for coming all the way here trusting such youngsters.
‘Should I side with that fellow even now?’
The Slaughter Unit Leader was insolent, but he was not without sentiment.
Rather, if he made use of that insolence to beg profusely and grovel, the fellow might relish it and accept him back.
Just as Hwang Byeok was turning his mind like that.
Cheon Woo-jin glanced slightly behind him.
Meeting his gaze, Hwang Byeok drew in a sharp breath.
Cheon Woo-jin’s words followed.
“Are you going to choose?”
“…”
Hwang Byeok cursed inwardly.
‘The Society Leader, and the Demon Lord as well… do all high masters learn mind-reading arts?’
However, it was nothing like a mind-reading art.
A master observes everything about an inferior. Breathing, pulse, even the trembling of the pupils. Through those, he merely deduced it.
Hwang Byeok met Cheon Woo-jin’s serene and resolute gaze.
He did not know why, but a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
‘I just cannot picture that fellow getting beaten up.’
In his mind, he thought the Slaughter Unit Leader, the Western Sky Society Leader, and the Shura Demon Lord were stronger than that youngster.
Yet a sense akin to a martial artist’s instinct endlessly sounded the alarm. The danger concerning Cheon Woo-jin, that was.
Soon, Hwang Byeok scratched his head wildly with both hands and spoke.
“I do not know anymore, dammit. Just come at me!”
Hwang Byeok charged toward the Slaughter Unit Leader, resolved to die.
However, something blocked firmly in front of him.
It was an ink-colored iron staff.
Cheon Woo-jin looked at Hwang Byeok with a dumbfounded expression.
“Who told you to fight? Stay in the back.”
“W-what?”
For a moment, Hwang Byeok was moved. He thought this monster-like, heartless man had just looked out for him.
However, Cheon Woo-jin’s following words were the exact opposite.
“If you die, who will guide us to the Western Sky Society?”
“…Fuck.”
Hwang Byeok cursed once more.
“Bwahaha! What are you bastards doing right now?”
At that sight, the Slaughter Unit Leader burst into laughter. His voice was so booming that the air seemed to tremble violently.
Cheon Woo-jin faced him with an indifferent face.
At that, the corners of the Slaughter Unit Leader’s mouth twitched.
“Why, are you going to attack alone? Putting that idiot Hwang Byeok aside, it seems that stunning lady behind you knows how to fight too?”
Zhuge Rin had already drawn her sword as well.
Meeting the momentary lust flashing in the Slaughter Unit Leader’s eyes made her stomach churn with disgust, and killing intent surged within her.
However, Zhuge Rin was not a woman who led emotions take precedence. She was a vice squad leader of the Martial Alliance, and a person of the Zhuge Clan.
Maintaining her composure, she surveyed the situation.
Under any circumstance, analyze the enemy and allied strength cool-headedly to make an appropriate judgment. That was a martial artist of the Zhuge Clan.
‘Young Hero Cheon’s martial prowess is unknown. But it is true that he is stronger than me. In that case, I will handle the rest of the rabble…’
It was at that moment.
Cheon Woo-jin’s silhouette seemed to blur for an instant, then vanished as if sinking into the earth.
Her eyes wide, Zhuge Rin hastily scanned the surroundings.
Crack!
Soon, a crisp yet horrifying impact echoed out. Zhuge Rin hurriedly looked toward the direction of the sound.
“W-what…”
A horrific scene unfolded.
Cheon Woo-jin’s ink-colored staff had crushed the Slaughter Unit Leader’s head, past the neck and chest, passing the dantian down to the crotch…
It had literally mashed his flesh in half.
“…”
A suffocating silence descended upon the area.
The men in black who were around also froze stiff.
No one could move. No, it was difficult even to breathe.
Amidst that terrifying silence, Cheon Woo-jin calmly retrieved the Crescent Moon Staff. With that, the halved Slaughter Unit Leader collapsed to the ground, and blood dripped from the Crescent Moon Staff Cheon Woo-jin held lowered downward.
Drip, drip.
It was so quiet that the sound of blood dripping from the Crescent Moon Staff echoed like thunderclaps.
Soon, scanning the men in black with movements neither slow nor fast, Cheon Woo-jin’s figure vanished once more.
The men in black of the Slaughter Unit were seized with sheer terror.
Because they had seen clearly how their unit leader had died.
Soon, when Cheon Woo-jin revealed himself once more.
Crack!
Another chilling impact erupted.
Where everyone’s gaze turned, a scene not one bit different from what was expected unfolded.
Even after that, Cheon Woo-jin calmly swung the Crescent Moon Staff.
For a while, blood sprayed across the village like mist.
However, no screams erupted. It was because most of the men in black died with their heads smashed before they could even open their mouths.
The men in black began to flee one after another.
Starting with that, those seized by fear ran toward the outskirts of the village without even looking back.
Cheon Woo-jin watched them with an indifferent gaze, and then.
Swish.
He drew out the pure-white Crane Feather Fan.
Soon, a light breeze gathered at the tip of the lightly waved Crane Feather Fan.
A wind like the fluttering of a butterfly’s wings headed toward the men in black, gradually swelling in size, until it finally transformed into a violent gale that shook the village.
Whoosh!
Just like that, it was a single strike.
Blood, flesh, bone marrow, and the fear of the men in black mingled with Cheon Woo-jin’s white gale, scattering into the empty air.
Thud, patter.
Soon, the miscellaneous things that had scattered into the air rained down like rain.
Watching this from some distance away, the expressions of Zhuge Rin and Hwang Byeok turned blank.
Indeed, Hwang Byeok’s legs trembled so violently that he could hardly even remain standing.
Standing solitary amidst the crimson bloody rain, holding the white Crane Feather Fan in his left hand with the ink-colored Crescent Moon Staff lowered.
He seemed like a demon fiend who had just finished a slaughter, yet also like an immortal who had subjugated evil spirits.
Neither Hwang Byeok, who had lived seeing all the sights fit and unfit to be seen in the Unorthodox Path, nor Zhuge Rin, who had encountered all manner of villains while carrying out missions for the Martial Alliance.
Felt certain that they would never forget the spectacle they were witnessing now for the rest of their lives. It was the moment an impression so intense as to be unprecedented in their lives was vividly engraved deep within their hearts.