Chapter 176 - The Black Flame Dragon That Swallows the Sea of Blood (6)

-Qingcheng Sect and lay sect casualties: twelve.

-Emei Sect and lay sect casualties: six.

-The elder leading the group is missing.

Gu Jeongryong, the Seungho Hall Leader, wore a stiff expression at the short message delivered by the carrier pigeon.

"... My god."

He thought this operation was just meant to give Jin Sowoon a little bit of support.

Although Jin Sowoon had been building up a vague sense of fear about the enemy the entire way here, it hadn't actually resonated with them.

Ever since the Murim Alliance designated the 'Ten Forbidden Arts' that caused chaos in Jianghu, the seeds of heterodox sect arts had dried up.

Because of that, even if they knew about them in theory, they couldn't know how terrifying they actually were in reality.

"If it's the Qingcheng Sect... aren't they an orthodox Daoist sect?"

And to think that even the disciples and an elder of such a Qingcheng Sect were taken down.

He could intuitively tell that this was not at the level of 'sorcery' that couldn't penetrate a righteous mind, which was commonly taught at the Murim Academy.

What was even more of a problem was...

"Gam Cheon-ak... Do you remember learning about destroying evil and subduing spirits?"

Gam Cheon-ak, the Vice Hall Leader of Seungho Hall and a junior who had been with him for a long time, scratched the back of his head.

"Destroying evil and subduing spirits? What's that? Is it a Sichuan specialty that Jin Sowoon decided to treat us to?"

"..."

This was their reality.

"Did you pack your Spirit-Subduing Orbs?"

"What's that?"

At Gam Cheon-ak's expression as he asked so matter-of-factly, a vein bulged on Gu Jeongryong's forehead.

"... You bastard. You don't even know what supplies the Alliance issued us?"

"... Spirit-Subduing Orbs??"

After tilting his head in thought for a long time, Gam Cheon-ak struck his palm with his fist.

"Ah! I remember now. You mean those beads made of wood and jade, right?"

"Yes! That! It's an essential supply we're supposed to pack every time we mobilize!!"

"I don't have them."

"You bastard!!!"

Gam Cheon-ak smoothly dodged Gu Jeongryong's fist and asked back.

"Did you pack yours then, Hall Leader?"

The fuming Gu Jeongryong suddenly froze.

Gam Cheon-ak asked, slightly furrowing his brow.

"No, wait, do you even still have yours at all?"

"..."

"Go ask all the guys in the Alliance. See if there's anyone who still has them."

Gam Cheon-ak shook his head and continued.

"Nine out of ten probably won't have them."

"Then what? It's not like we've ever fought against the heterodox path, so where did you waste them?"

"How else would the guys get the money to go to the taverns every day before their first monthly salary came in? Besides, they look pretty, so they sell for quite a high price to the gisaengs."

He was seething inside, but he knew it all too well himself.

This was the current reality of the Murim Alliance.

Because the absence of the heterodox path, the wicked path, and the Demonic Path had been so long, the existence of 'sorcery', 'witchcraft', and 'demonic arts' had become beings of fantasy to the Murim Alliance, much like the Jade Qilin or the Phoenix.

'How did I end up getting dragged into something like this...'

To repay his debt to Maeng Ju-won.

And partly because he was curious about Jin Sowoon, who was reportedly engaged in a war of nerves with the Orthodox Council, the White Path Council, and the Twelve Peaks and Castles within the Murim Academy, he had come on this journey with a light heart.

From the perspective of Gu Jeongryong, who already harbored animosity toward the establishment, he had thought it would be a good opportunity to torment the Council of Elders using Maeng Ju-won and Jin Sowoon as an excuse.

He had come half treating it as a leisurely trip, yet suddenly, they were in this kind of situation.

As those thoughts kept surfacing, the desire to escape from reality kept rising within him.

"Do you think this is accurate?"

Gam Cheon-ak looked at the missive and shook his head.

"Why are you asking me that?"

"What?"

"You're the one who said we should come here, Hall Leader, and you're also the one who decided we should take a day off in Sichuan in the middle of this 'urgent' situation."

Look at this bastard. Is he trying to back out now?

"Then you're the one who has to make the judgment, Hall Leader."

"You punk! If this turns into a problem, do you think I'll be the only one to die? A Hall Leader and Vice Hall Leader are practically one body! You'll die with me!"

"What did I even do?!"

"You were the one who encouraged the guys to push ahead to stay in a better guest house! If I get dragged to the Inspection Pavilion, I'll make sure to drag you down with me!"

When Gu Jeongryong threw a fit, practically foaming at the mouth, Gam Cheon-ak let out a small sigh.

"Regardless of whether we can confirm this or not, isn't this an issue that's beyond us to handle on our own?"

Setting aside the casualties among the academy students affiliated with the Qingcheng Sect, an elder of the Council of Elders had gone missing.

This was absolutely not an issue they could easily overlook.

"Let's send a missive to the Alliance."

"It'll be too late if we wait for an answer before making a move."

However, they couldn't just blindly wait for the Murim Alliance's answer either.

According to what Jin Sowoon had said, it was clear that these enemies were targeting the remaining academy students and elders as well.

'Who in Jianghu could possibly challenge the Alliance right now?'

Because it was such a preposterous notion, he couldn't quite believe it, even while being aware of reality.

If it was a simple war of nerves, that could happen at any time, but acting this aggressively meant they were willing to see this through to the end.

"Anyway, didn't that guy Jin Sowoon leave us instructions? I think it's right to act according to them for now."

"Right, let's move out right away too."

Gu Jeongryong immediately turned his head toward Seungho Hall.

As expected, the Seungho Hall members, who seemed to have been listening to their conversation, made eye contact with him in unison.

"We're increasing our speed from here on out!"

"Yes, sir!"

Realizing the severity of the situation, the momentum of the Seungho Hall members shifted in an instant.

Those who had been slouching around and exchanging jokes began checking their armaments again, and they didn't slow their horses' pace a single time.

After riding continuously for two hours without resting, they were able to meet up with the Twelve Peaks and Castles' Namgung Seonhwa and her group, who had departed half a day ahead of them.

Namgung Seonhwa was continuously trying to enter the ranks of the Zhongnan Sect, but the Zhongnan disciples stood blocking her way.

"Lady Namgung."

"Ah! Hall Leader!"

"What is going on?"

"I'm sorry. No matter what I say, they won't listen."

Gu Jeongryong immediately dismounted and approached the group.

While the academy students, who recognized Gu Jeongryong, hesitated with expressions of not knowing what to do with him as he tried to enter the group.

Gu Jeongryong led Namgung Seonhwa and approached the spot where Elder Suheo of the Zhongnan Sect was.

"What?"

Hearing the story, Suheo scoffed and said.

"What nonsense. Who in the world could possibly interfere with an event of the Murim Alliance?"

"... By any chance, may I ask when you last contacted Elder Hyeseong or Elder Myeonghyeon?"

"..."

Gu Jeongryong let out a long sigh without realizing it.

"Then have you not contacted the other leading groups?"

"We agreed to scatter individually and gather again in Padang. I came here this time to tell them the history of how our Murim Alliance established the righteous spirit of the Orthodox faction in Sichuan."

"..."

Listening to this, Gu Jeongryong cursed inwardly.

From the very beginning, they had no thoughts about investigating the hidden mastermind or anything else.

They really just came all this way to get some fresh air under the pretext of an investigation.

"For now, please come with us."

As if he still hadn't come to his senses despite Gu Jeongryong's words, Suheo reacted sharply.

"Are you telling me to listen to Jin Sowoon's story and act on it?"

"..."

Where exactly did things go wrong?

He's an elder of the Council of Elders, yet he's engaging in extreme escapism in the middle of all this?

"Hall Leader."

Because Gam Cheon-ak suddenly interrupted the conversation, Elder Suheo's face crumpled fiercely.

To be fair, there probably wasn't a human bold enough to interrupt while an elder of the Murim Alliance was speaking.

But that bastard Gam Cheon-ak is really something else. Did he go out of his way to interrupt, knowing the elders' nasty tempers?

"You need to see this."

Upon seeing the new missive Gam Cheon-ak held out, Gu Jeongryong's head turned freezing cold.

This was no longer a matter of maintaining pride or saving face.

"Elder, you must come with us."

"What have you been listening to this whole time?!"

"This is an order from the Mantong Bureau."

At the mention of the 'Mantong Bureau', Elder Suheo's face looked as if it would explode at any moment.

Gu Jeongryong handed the missive he had just read to Elder Suheo.

"If this turns out to be a lie, Elder, you will be able to sever Jin Sowoon's neck, just as you desire."

The fuming Elder Suheo roughly unfolded the missive as if he might tear it.

And then.

"..."

-Mount Hua Sect and lay sect casualties: fifteen.

-Kongtong Sect and lay sect casualties: twenty-two.

-Elder So Chunghyeon of the Mount Hua Sect confirmed dead.

-Elder Jeong Sa-ik of the Kongtong Sect confirmed dead.

Elder Suheo's eyes trembled furiously as he stared at the missive.

It was news that went far beyond the line to be a prank, yet was too unbelievable to be the truth.

"If this is some trick Jin Sowoon pulled to protect his measly position, I will drag him to the Inspection Pavilion myself and condemn him."

"..."

"But for now, I must execute the Mantong Bureau's orders."

After contemplating for a moment, Suheo finally nodded.

"I will go... If this is true, we will need to save them."

Although he had managed to persuade the completely rigid and stubborn Elder Suheo, who seemed like a stuffy room incapable of ventilation, Gu Jeongryong's heart was far from at ease.

If the Zhongnan group, which was the very rearguard, had made it this far, it was only a matter of time before the groups ahead of them encountered the unidentified enemies.

Furthermore, Seungho Hall, which was hopelessly lacking in numbers, was in a situation where they had to continuously gather academy students on their way.

It was expected that the casualties would grow.

"We depart without delay."

The only thing they could do now was to move even a single step faster.

And.

'Please just stay alive. Jin Sowoon.'

He could only hope for the survival of those who had gone ahead.

* * *

While nocking an arrow on the bowstring, Moyong Jaehwa felt something strange about the arrowhead.

'It's heavier... and loose...'

This was Jin Sowoon's consideration for him, who had not yet perfected the Thunderbolt Arrow.

"Really now, how do you know me so well, Brother?"

It was the worst possible situation, but a smile formed on his lips. Squeezing out the non-existent internal energy left in him, he applied force.

The rod made of steel bent bizarrely.

Because of that, the tremendous tension placed a heavy load on his arm, and it felt as though his fingers were going to be sliced off by the Heavenly Silkworm Thread.

Even so, he didn't feel the anxiety that it would snap like a horn bow.

THWANG. SWISH.

Cleaving through the blue sky, the arrow flew in the expected arc.

Realizing that Moyong Jaehwa had begun firing arrows again, the blood-robed figures began to raise their thick shields and rocks as usual.

THUD!

It penetrated halfway through the rock, but in the end, the arrow failed to reach the blood-robed figure.

Even so, Moyong Jaehwa pulled the bowstring once more.

CRRRREAAAK.

It felt as if his arm muscles were tearing apart.

Every time he pulled the steel bow, his entire body screamed, but he felt a sense of stability instead.

The power of the Heaven and Earth Breaking Flash Sword was loaded into the arrowhead.

At that moment, he heard the voice of Jin Sowoon, who had shot arrows alongside him during the standard exam.

["A bow is a weapon that catches the opponent off guard. In an unexpected moment, it unexpectedly takes the opponent's life. If they face such terror, it can make even assassins whose sense of death has dulled tremble in fear."]

Moyong Jaehwa immediately fired an arrow into the sky.

THWANG. SWISH.

And then, he nocked another arrow on the bowstring and fired it at them.

THWANG. SWISH—

As the second arrow was fired, the blood-robed figures raised their shields and rocks.

THUD!

When the arrow was blocked by the triple-layered shields again this time, the triumphant blood-robed figures began stepping out from behind the rocks.

And right at that moment.

The arrow that had soared into the sky plummeted straight toward the ground, and just as it aligned with the blood-robed figures.

It exploded in midair, shattering to pieces and shooting out iron fragments in all directions like hidden weapons.

BOOM.

RUMBLE.

Those standing behind the rocks were unable to prepare for the flying iron fragments.

THWACK-THWACK-THWACK-THWACK!

As if they had taken the brunt of a Rain of Ten Thousand Flowers, the blood-robed figures collapsed to the ground, their bodies pierced full of holes.

The blood-robed figures who had narrowly avoided the Thunderbolt Arrow's strike by standing further back now retreated even deeper, entering the blind spot of this damn archer.

["Just because you cannot see them does not mean they aren't there."]

It was advice perfectly tailored to his situation.

However, before he knew it, the voice had morphed from Jin Sowoon's into that of an unrecognizable presence.

'Who is it?'

A man revealing a massive back.

One who looked lonely, solitary, and desolate.

All while bearing a tremendous weight upon his shoulders.

That man spoke.

["Picture where they are in your mind. If you can picture where they are, your bow can target them at any time."]

It was clearly a story Jin Sowoon had told, but the voice sounded like that of the mysterious man.

A man he had never seen before, yet felt so intimately familiar and accustomed to.

Following his advice, he drew an arrow once more.

["There is no need to confirm with your eyes."]

["Since you can picture it in your mind."]

["There is no need to be perfectly accurate."]

["Because you aren't aiming for just one person."]

["There is no need to be fast."]

["Because they will already be too paralyzed by fear to leave their spots."]

THWANG. SWISH—

The arrow fired in such an arc plummeted behind the cover where the blood-robed figures were hiding.

CRASH!

AAAGH!

AAAAAGH!

GAAHK!

The hateful screams of the blood-robed figures echoed from far away.

"Huff... Huff..."

Having reached the absolute limit of his limits, Moyong Jaehwa's condition was to the point where it was hard to even view him as a human.

Ever since grabbing the iron bow, he had once again driven the blood-robed figures into trembling fear, but the more he did so, the more Moyong Jaehwa's condition steadily deteriorated.

"Young Master Jaehwa, you're bleeding..."

The tips of Moyong Jaehwa's fingers were not merely wounded, but split and torn open.

His fingers had been left in a mangled mess from pulling the bowstring of the powerful iron bow.

Moyong Jaehwa looked at his fingers numbly before speaking.

"Lady Eun, could you freeze them a little?"

"Y-You have to stop. Young Master Jaehwa...!"

"They will never leave us alive."

"..."

At those words, Eun Seollan ultimately grasped his fingers and activated the Sosu Divine Art.

When the dripping blood stopped, Moyong Jaehwa raised the bow once more.

The voice of the mysterious man echoed inside Moyong Jaehwa's head again.

["Ruthless ones leave behind damage even as they die. Standing against them to stop them is also a one-sided loss for us."]

["Thus, we must stop them before they approach. We must terrify them so they cannot approach."]

["Terrifying not only the ruthless, but also the indifferent, those crazed by slaughter, those who look only toward their own desires, and those who have lost their humanity."]

Moyong Jaehwa's bow was drawn.

Instilling fear so that they could not approach.

The arrow, fired as if shooting down the sun, sailed over the rock serving as cover and headed straight into the center of the enemy lines.

BOOM! CRASH!

AAAGH!

URGH!

"Dodge!"

That was precisely the Breaking Bow.

Screams could be heard from afar.

The blood-robed figures who had been approaching had, before they knew it, backed away further and further, as if wishing to flee even a single step further.

Taking in that sight with his own two eyes, Ilgak trembled all over.

'My god...'

Just who else could accomplish such a feat?

Moyong Jaehwa had achieved with a single bow what was impossible with the martial arts of the Shaolin Sect or the Mount Cangshan Sect.

His illusion regarding the martial arts of the Shaolin Sect, which he had considered the pinnacle of martial arts and the Mount Tai and Big Dipper of Murim, was completely shattered.

'Even though I knew that nothing absolute and perfect exists...'

Ilgak squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again.

'This too is an enlightenment...'

Furthermore, that iron bow and those arrows that Jin Sowoon had allegedly sent.

He could instinctively feel that Moyong Jaehwa's hidden power was also connected to him.

Just how much did he know?

Whatever the case, there was now a glimmer of hope.

The hope that they could return alive.

Just as Moyong Jaehwa said, if Jin Sowoon and the support group arrived, he wouldn't have to witness the terrible spectacle he had imagined...

"Huh...?"

Moyong Jaehwa, who had created this exhilarating situation, was staring ahead with a strange look in his eyes.

Ilgak, Eun Seollan, and Nam Hwaseong all followed his gaze.

A single figure emerging from between the cover.

Unlike those who had only been wearing blood robes until now, this was someone adorned with bizarre ornaments.

That wasn't the only strange thing.

"Their gait..."

A being bounding up and down playfully with both feet stuck together.

"It can't be..."

"Fuck..."

"Amitabha."

While Eun Seollan, Nam Hwaseong, and Ilgak gasped in shock one after another.

Moyong Jaehwa scowled heavily and drew the bowstring to its absolute limit.

THWANG. SWISH—

Right at the moment the arrow that flew as if cleaving the wind was about to pierce the bizarre man's head.

The man, who had been showing awkward movements, suddenly snapped his head around and caught the arrow.

GRAB.

Of course, this wasn't the end of what Moyong Jaehwa had prepared.

BOOM!

Along with the sound of an explosion, the arrowhead burst open, scattering iron fragments in all directions.

A thick cloud of dust spread, completely obscuring the man's entire body.

As the dust settled, a gruesome corpse pierced all over by iron fragments was supposed to appear...

"My god..."

"This is driving me crazy."

It wasn't perfect, but it was the Thunderbolt Arrow that had made the blood-robed figures tremble in fear.

However, despite having iron fragments embedded all over his body, the bizarre man did not shed a single drop of blood.

And then, as if nothing was wrong, he simply stared in this direction where the arrow had flown from.

Ilgak spat out a single word as if groaning in pain.

"A jiangshi..."

A demonic creature known to have already vanished had appeared once again.