Chapter 108: Abyss Valley (7)
Before his return, Chui had investigated Hong Gong’s whereabouts in detail.
This was in order to substitute his revenge by extinguishing any embers left behind before his death, if there were any.
‘There is a reason why Hong Gong tried to take over the Abyss Valley.’
To be precise, rather than the Abyss Valley, it was closer to Hong Gong targeting Beigong Seol, who belonged to the Abyss Valley.
At that time, Beigong Seol reigned over the Black Yaksha rank of the Abyss Valley while simultaneously being deeply engrossed in the study of Jiangshi research.
The material prioritized above all when manufacturing Jiangshi is the human body.
Furthermore, it must be a body whose physical form and mind have been trained to the limit to be used for Jiangshi manufacturing.
The physical form of an ordinary commoner rots and decays even before being refined into a Jiangshi.
Only those who have mastered martial arts to some extent have a high probability of being reborn as a Jiangshi.
At the very beginning, Beigong Seol made Jiangshi using the corpses of the targets killed by the assassins.
However, when that was not enough for specimens, she began to use even the assassins raised by the Abyss Valley as materials.
The assassins, who had trained their mental strength and physical forms to the limit, were materials perfectly suited for making Jiangshi.
Hong Gong had approached such a Beigong Seol and taught her how to use spear ghost instead of the mountain’s essence when making Jiangshi, and Beigong Seol taught Hong Gong the process of grafting human souls with the mountain’s essence, making the incomplete Spear Ghost Calling more complete.
In that manner, the two filled each other’s lacking parts and came to form a strategic alliance.
‘Hong Gong must have realized that his Spear Ghost Calling was incomplete upon seeing the Tiger Butcher run amok. Since he was well-versed in the secret histories of the Wulin, he probably also knew to some extent about Jiangshi sorcery, and must have found a way to complement Spear Ghost Calling from its oral formulas. That is why he visited Beigong Seol and proposed an alliance…’
The rest was the same as the original destiny Chui knew.
Hong Gong died in an nameless frontline battlefield, and Beigong Seol, enraged by that, dyed the entire Wulin in blood for revenge.
Vowing to repay the humiliation suffered by her lover, she singled out high-ranking figures of the Martial Alliance, Heterodox Alliance, and Demonic Cult, and dug up the graves of their ancestors and masters in their ancestral mountains.
And using the Jiangshi made from those corpses, she caused an unprecedented blood catastrophe.
The shock of those who had to destroy the remains of their ancestors themselves, on top of having the graves of their ancestors plundered, was tremendous.
Because of that, Beigong Seol was branded as a public enemy of the entire Wulin, including the Righteous Sects, Heterodox Sects, and Demonic Cult, and after fleeing for a long time, she was eventually captured by the Heterodox Alliance and suffered death by a thousand cuts.
Her shattered corpse was later buried in a remote mountain, and it is said that the procession of people coming to dig up the grave to whip the corpse after excavating the grave for revenge was enough to encircle that mountain once.
By the time Chui set foot in the Jianghu, many years had passed since her death, but in spite of that, wanted posters displaying her portrait were still fluttering all over the Jianghu Wulin.
This was because the deeds she had committed were so outrageous as to incur the wrath of both heaven and earth.
‘…At that time, she was definitely written down as the Left State Councillor of the Blood Cult and Hong Gong’s lover. It seems she hasn’t reached that stage yet right now.’
Chui extracted information from the spear ghost he made from the Blue Yakshas.
As a result, he could learn that Hong Gong and Beigong Seol had not met very long ago.
‘If so, there is a high probability that Hong Gong also hasn’t heard the method to stabilize Spear Ghost Calling from Beigong Seol yet.’
It was exactly what Chui hoped for.
If he could kill Beigong Seol right here and now, Hong Gong’s achievement would be delayed by that much.
…The problem was.
“Whether you know me or not doesn’t matter. Die.”
The fact that Corpse Ghost Beigong Seol was considerably strong.
She possessed peak martial arts, and separate from that, her skill in using hidden weapons to kill people had easily reached the divine realm.
Furthermore, beside Beigong Seol, one Red Yaksha and one Blue Yaksha stood like attendants.
Since a Red Yaksha normally reached peak martial arts and a Blue Yaksha reached first-class martial arts, those two would also be hidden cards.
Soon, Beigong Seol brandished her hands.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!
The surrounding snow flipped as a loud explosion was heard.
Chui heard the sound of the wind blowing minutely between those roaring sounds.
…Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!
In the blink of an eye, as many as eight flying daggers carved into Chui’s entire body.
If he had not heard the sound of the wind and crouched his body, it would not have ended with merely having his skin slightly cut.
Swish—
Chui’s spear also shot forward.
“……!”
Beigong Seol twisted her head to the side.
The Plum Blossom Ghost Spear had merely sliced a few strands of her white hair.
“So it’s you. The red Heavenly Killer Star that fellow Hong Gong spoke of.”
“…….”
Chui did not say anything in particular.
He had thought that Hong Gong would have vaguely noticed his existence.
Because he possessed a strange talent for looking at the stars in the night sky and divining the future.
Regardless of that, Beigong Seol continued speaking with an enraged air.
“Thanks to you, the Blood Jiangshi I buried underground have become unusable.”
Blood Jiangshi. In other words, Living Jiangshi.
It refers to a Jiangshi that is so full of vitality that a healthy complexion returns to the face.
These are powerful enough to use a portion of the martial arts from their lifetime, and manufacturing each one costs astronomical expense and time.
Chui said.
“It seems gathering the mountain’s essence was for the purpose of making Blood Jiangshi. Since the Qi node has been cut off by the iron stakes, you’ll have to start over from the beginning.”
“Just the years to dig up again the Blood Jiangshi that were buried in the ground to mature is five years. The price for daring to waste my time will be heavy.”
Beigong Seol raised her flying daggers again.
Four in one hand, eight flying daggers in total, flashed their sharp edges in her white hands.
At the same time, the Red Yaksha and Blue Yaksha guarding Beigong Seol dashed forward.
“Where do you think you are going!”
“You cannot pass!”
Gyeon Sul and Namgung Yul stood in their way.
Clang! Clang!
Gyeon Sul’s Dog-Head Guillotine and the Red Yaksha’s deformed sword clashed, and Namgung Yul’s Fish Gut Sword and the Blue Yaksha’s curved saber collided.
The Red Yaksha swept in fiercely, fluttering the white beard hanging below his red mask.
The young Blue Yaksha beside him used a sword art similar to the Red Yaksha’s; they appeared to be master and disciple.
“Wow, this old man has quite some skill?”
“His sword art is considerably fierce. I thought an assassin would be at least half a hand below a martial artist of the same class… it was a very big miscalculation.”
Gyeon Sul and Namgung Yul were breaking out in cold sweat as they faced the Red Yaksha and Blue Yaksha respectively.
Meanwhile, the battle between Chui and Beigong Seol grew even more heated.
Every time Beigong Seol’s flying daggers flew in, Chui swung his spear to block them.
…Clang!
Sparks flew from the spear shaft struck by the flying daggers.
Beigong Seol’s flying daggers flew in aiming only at vital points from blind spots that were difficult to avoid or deflect.
In addition, because extremely thin silk threads were tied near the hilts of the flying daggers, they also changed trajectories according to Beigong Seol’s finger movements.
Swish—
Every time Beigong Seol swept her hand from top to bottom once.
…Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!
Eight flying daggers fell like meteors, striking Chui’s spear shaft.
“…….”
After the flying daggers scraped and passed the spear shaft, countless sparks without fail flew and blocked the vision.
Chui continuously backed away.
Beigong Seol’s flying daggers were just like eight long whips.
She pressed Chui by brandishing the silk threads tied to the flying daggers, and at the decisive moment, she cut the threads to fly the daggers.
There was no particular rule in their movements, so defending was extremely difficult.
But.
…Swish!
Chui crouched his body low, avoiding a flying dagger that scraped past his forehead.
And from bottom to top, he thrust his spear in the direction exactly opposite to the trajectory through which Beigong Seol’s flying daggers passed.
“……!”
Beigong Seol’s eyes widened.
A curve-trajectory thrust penetrating from the front of the groin to the crown of the skull.
This was not an ordinary stance of a Jianghu martial artist.
An assassin’s stance.
It was an extremely dry and cold hand movement that existed solely to kill humans.
“You. You are an assassin.”
“…….”
Chui did not bother to answer Beigong Seol’s words.
Chrrr—
Beigong Seol also did not expect an answer.
She retrieved the flying daggers and reversed their direction even before they had fully returned to her hand.
At that time, Chui was swinging his spear horizontally with all his might.
Whoosh!
Chui’s spear was brandished like a club.
It collided with Beigong Seol’s eight flying daggers, emitting a roar as if a bolt out of the blue had fallen.
Crack!
The surrounding atmosphere split.
Internal energy and internal energy clashed, bursting violently.
…Boom!
Chui’s spear was deflected from his hand.
The silk threads connected to Beigong Seol’s fingers also entirely burst.
The spear and flying daggers all left their owners’ hands and landed on the snow.
However, the confrontation between Chui and Beigong Seol entered the second phase without the slightest hesitation.
Screeech—
Chui immediately drew two awls from his bosom.
Clumsy, ink-colored iron tools without any patterns.
The tips were sharp, the length was eight and a half inches, and the hilts were wrapped in dry-land crocodile leather, held near the waist.
Sshk!
Beigong Seol also drew two awls from her bosom.
Seven-and-a-half-inch-long pieces with sharp tips and curved blades, like a pair of large venomous snake fangs.
Soon, the four awls in total clashed closely and began to entangle like the tongues of a man and a woman.
Slash—
A bright red bloodline was drawn on Beigong Seol’s cheek.
Thud!
A pinch of flesh was torn from the nape of Chui’s neck.
After a few exchange of killing moves, Beigong Seol said.
“There is no waste in your killing moves. It is the skill of someone who has done this a lot.”
“…….”
“It is certain you are from the Abyss. In which valley did you learn? Could you be a direct disciple of Old Master Abyss?”
“…….”
Chui did not answer.
He merely cast a glance sideways to look at the battle nearby.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Gyeon Sul and Namgung Yul were also holding out well against the Red Yaksha and Blue Yaksha.
Gyeon Sul was pushing the Red Yaksha back little by little, while Namgung Yul seemed to be struggling quite a bit against the single Blue Yaksha.
At that moment.
“……. ……. …….”
Beigong Seol’s eyes flipped white.
Immediately after, she began to chant an incantation in a low voice.
“Disciples, disciples, pray to the heaven, women, women, pray and pray to the earth, new heavenly lord, create and report to the spirit, before the heavenly spirit lord pray for long life, study the three layers and three steps, report to the god of death, pray to the mysterious god of the three layers and three steps…”
An anomaly broke out right away.
…Crack!
From the ground below the ruined snowfield, a hand suddenly shot out.
A hand dried up like a mummified corpse.
That hand, which had only skin clinging to bone, flailed madly before long, gradually rising above the ground.
Soon, humans with only bones and skin left began to raise their bodies from beneath the snowfield.
Jiangshi. Half-finished.
Dozens of mummified corpses of unpleasant appearance dragged out their dark red bodies.
And Gyeon Sul and Namgung Yul, who saw that, had no choice but to be shocked.
“Huh!? Those guys! They are the Hundred-Head bastards who were in my mountain fortress in the past!?”
“That is the clothing of the previous generation Purple Moon Special Task Force! Why are they here!?”
The mummified corpses, who were only half-finished Jiangshi, wore various clothes and similarly held various weapons.
Every single one of them was a famous figure of the Wulin who had died long ago or gone missing.
“…….”
Chui watched the dark red energy moving, clinging to the mummified corpses.
Although faint, they were definitely spear ghost.
“I must dispose of all of those things as well.”
One experimental rat for Hong Gong is enough.
Precisely himself.
Soon, Gyeon Sul and Namgung Yul stood on either side of Chui, who held his spear.
Their expressions were stiffened hard with anger.
“Wow, that bitch isn’t a one-third public enemy, but a genuine ten-tenths public enemy of the Wulin?”
“Indeed. If they knew about this, the Righteous, Heterodox, and Demonic paths would be unified instantly.”
Chui, Gyeon Sul, Namgung Yul.
And the unfinished Jiangshi who crawled out of the ground just before dying of dryness due to the iron stakes.
Standing before those dark red corpses, Beigong Seol declared toward Chui.
“I will turn you bastards into Jiangshi as well.”
“It will be faster for you to become a spear ghost.”
The one who wants the body, and the one who wants the soul.
The Corpse Ghost and the Spear Ghost.
It was truly the clash of the two ghosts.
Unrivaled Spear Ghost