Chapter 51 - The First-Rate Warrior Peering Into the Darkness (4)

-How fast is your footwork?

Moyong Sangwon suddenly spoke to me through sound transmission.

Knowing his intention, I told him the speed I had before I learned the World-Traversing Lone Footwork.

-It takes me about half a quarter-hour to travel ten li.

-... Is that when you run at full speed?

The Taiyi Sect's footwork was at a level so pathetic it was embarrassing to even call it footwork.

-I will buy you about two quarter-hours of time. Run away as fast as you can during that time.

Moyong Sangwon spoke with a determined expression. In one hand, he had pulled out the carefully preserved Fire Monkey's core and his own name plaque.

-... If you are lucky enough to escape, please drop by my house. Tell my child and wife my story.

I pushed the Fire Monkey's core and the name plaque back toward him.

-This is not the time for false bravado.

My contingency plan, prepared just in case, had fallen perfectly into place.

The men with red bandanas had the same unchanging habits now as they did in my past life.

-Will you trust me just one more time?

When I absorbed the demonic qi in Moyong Sangwon's body, a certain demonic qi came to mind.

There are thousands of demonic arts that originated from the Heavenly Demon Scripture, but each demonic art has its own unique characteristics.

The demonic qi of the ones who attacked Moyong Sangwon had a particularly stealthy, poison-like characteristic that gnawed at the opponent, and I had already experienced this demonic qi to a sickening degree during my days in the Minor Orthodox Unit.

-This could be your last chance.

The twenty men with red bandanas approaching.

I nodded my head.

-Let us go together. I also need to receive the Cheongmyeong Pills from the Minor Patriarch, do I not?

Moyong Sangwon let out a scoff at my nonchalant words and nodded.

-From now on, follow exactly where I step. It is the Taiyi Sect's footwork, but it should not be too difficult for you, Senior.

As we started running, Moyong Sangwon was a little confused at first, but he quickly grasped the trajectory of the footwork and began running, stepping exactly where I stepped.

Although he did not know the profound principles of internal energy operation behind it, his inherent enlightenment in martial arts was high, so he was following along with no real difference from how I ran.

The problem was that because the men with red bandanas were moving so fast, Moyong Sangwon's face gradually began to turn pale.

-Look here, how about I just carry you and run instead?

I spoke firmly.

-You must never step even an inch past where I have stepped.

Feeling a chilling murderous intent that seemed as if it would pierce the back of my head, I looked back to see that the men with red bandanas had already drawn extremely close.

'The wicked habit of radiating murderous intent from behind their hunted prey is still the same.'

Damn it all, despite being assassins, these bastards would radiate a gruesome murderous intent right before killing their opponent to plunge them into even greater terror.

SHING. SHING. SHING.

Even the spine-chilling sound of drawing swords.

Driven by tension, Moyong Sangwon finally let out his voice.

"Sowoon! They are right on..."

At that moment.

CLANG!

With the dull sound of iron crashing together, an agonizing groan, muffled as if someone had bitten their tongue, rang out.

"Halt!"

The guy at the very front, who was about to swing his sword, looked at the guy standing on the far right.

The guy had his ankle severed clean off by a bear trap.

-I set up a few traps along the way when I went to get food earlier.

-What on earth...

-I figured that whoever possessed enough martial prowess to ambush the Minor Patriarch of the Moyong Noble Clan would not be a mere coincidence.

-...

Moyong Sangwon had an expression of utter disbelief.

-You must never step away from where I step. They are bear traps, so they will bite clean through an ankle.

-A-All right.

As the two of us moved diligently, the men with red bandanas sprinkled Bone-Melting Powder on the man whose ankle was severed and began to charge at us.

"Kuhuhuk!"

The one covered in Bone-Melting Powder while still alive could not endure the agony of his flesh melting away and let out his first loud scream.

Glancing back at that sight, Moyong Sangwon turned even paler than before.

-W-What vicious bastards.

-Indeed, they are.

The red-bandana men began to catch up once again.

Now wary of the traps, the bastards began executing Grass-Skimming Steps.

At that sight, Moyong Sangwon turned deathly pale in shock once more.

Because there was no sect in the Jianghu where an entire group specializing in assassination could use Grass-Skimming Steps.

I handed him three throwing daggers.

-Throw these at them. We cannot let them concentrate on their Grass-Skimming Steps.

Moyong Sangwon quickly took the throwing daggers and threw two of them at the same time.

SWISH.

CLANG! CLANG!

I also infused a heavy amount of internal energy and threw three daggers toward the opposite side of where Moyong Sangwon had thrown his.

Like the ones who had blocked Moyong Sangwon's daggers, they also tried to deflect them with their swords, but due to the sheer internal energy packed into them, some were sent flying backward, or had their swords broken and the daggers embedded in their necks.

THWACK!

CLANG! CLANG!

One was caught by a dagger, and two were caught by the bear traps, resulting in a severed hand and blown-off ankles.

The comrades chasing right behind them sprinkled Bone-Melting Powder without delay, and those melting away died amidst screams.

We were certainly overcoming the crises at every moment, but Moyong Sangwon already looked psychologically exhausted by the opponents' horrifying ruthlessness.

It was nothing strange.

The Demonic Cult's combat method constantly piled mental fatigue onto their opponents, even in situations where they hadn't seized the upper hand.

I passed the hill and turned toward the forest.

The men with red bandanas kicked off the trees, trying to avoid touching the ground altogether, and, as if I had been waiting for this, I slashed the two vines I had set up.

SWOOSH. CRASH!

The moment we passed, eight rocks the size of human heads fell onto the spot we had just left, and two of them smashed into the men with red bandanas.

Naturally, traps sprang into action at the spots where they fell.

CLANG! CLANG!

"Keugh!"

"N-No!"

For the first time, one of them cried out in refusal of his own death, but the outcome was the unfailing application of Bone-Melting Powder once again.

-Senior, it is better if you do not look back.

-... I understand.

Despite the continuous casualties, the bastards did not shrink back in the slightest; instead, they began to radiate an even thicker murderous intent.

And so, I triggered every last trap I had set to decorate the grand finale.

When I cut the tautly pulled strings, wooden spears shot out from all directions.

Following that, the aforementioned rocks flew everywhere, and those struck by either a wooden spear or a rock ended up caught in the bear traps below.

When two more died in an instant, the footsteps of the men with red bandanas finally began to slow down.

In the meantime, we widened the distance, escaped the forest, and stood before a forked road.

"Senior, you should take the right path."

"What about you?"

"I will go left."

"Why not go together?"

"The traps I set end here. While the bastards are intimidated by the traps and hesitating, we need to confuse them and escape as quickly as possible."

"Understood. Come to the Cheongmyeong Escort Agency in Wujiang."

"Understood. I will see you there."

Moyong Sangwon and I simultaneously bolted down the forked roads.

* * *

The masked men who escaped the forest followed the path and emerged at the forked road.

Whether their anger over losing comrades to the unexpected traps was that immense, their murderous intent was so thick it was suffocating.

And upon noticing the traces of two people leading down the respective paths, they attempted to split into groups of eight and four to pursue us.

Until I returned.

"!"

As I walked out, the one making hand signals at the very front stopped his hand.

"It's been a while... Ah, I suppose not for you guys yet."

The masked man with a red bandana made a hand signal once again, ordering them to chase after Moyong Sangwon.

"Is there any point in chasing him now?"

"!"

The man with the red bandana was quite flustered that I had recognized his hand signals.

During my days in the Minor Orthodox Unit, as we engaged in sickening battles of chasing and being chased by them, I had memorized all of their hand signals.

In the end, four men dashed off down the path.

"Do you not even plan to catch up after seeing an old acquaintance you haven't met in a long time? Flame Demon Ghost Eye Squad?"

"!"

"!"

"!"

The bastards who had been running off stopped in their tracks.

"What should I say? Should I call it a fresh wave of emotion? Back then, I was only ever desperately chased."

"Who are you?"

A voice like scraping metal rang out.

"Does that matter? Isn't what's important the fact that I know your habits perfectly well?"

When the red-bandana man nodded, the four red-bandana men standing at the back vanished.

I tossed three throwing daggers from my robes into the air.

Guhk, keuk. Urk!

Along with three screams, I turned around and swung the Black Dragon Sword.

SLASH!

Blood spilled into the air as a man with a red bandana appeared, his upper and lower body split apart.

"Why do you lack any sense of improvisation?"

"...!"

The two pupils of the red-bandana man were trembling violently.

"Wow, you're as silent as ever. Making a guy feel awkward. Still, you weren't this quiet before. Was it because you could play with us like toys back then? You rats of the Demonic Dogs."

'Demonic Dogs' was a derogatory term they used to refer to themselves within the Demonic Cult.

In the Central Plains, it was a word only used after they had advanced into the Jianghu.

"... Who are you?"

"We also asked you that question a ton in the beginning. Not that you ever answered us once."

"..."

"Anyway, it's so nice to see you guys after such a long time."

I gathered the energy of the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm in both hands.

And I blasted it at them.

CRRRRUMBLE!

The Radiant Heaven Divine Palm possessed a level of insane destructive power that even the destruction-crazed bastards of the Demonic Cult would shake their heads at.

And these bastards were not at the level where they could deflect the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm with Four Ounces Deflecting a Thousand Pounds like Yong So-ah could.

"Hoh..."

Two guys hit directly by the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm vanished without a trace, and one guy caught in the palm's aftershock lost an arm without a trace.

I immediately executed the Taiyi Eighty Thousand Divine Steps.

The lightfoot technique, which harmonized footwork and movement techniques into one, created illusions wherever my feet stepped, bringing confusion to the opponents.

Just like that, I grabbed the neck of the guy who had his arm severed and activated the Azure Dragon Bracelet to fill my completely emptied Dantian.

"Gheeeeurggh!"

The guy shriveled up into a mummy in an instant, and at the same time, my empty Dantian filled up to thirty percent with internal energy.

"If I knew this would happen, I would have made you swallow an Exploding Blood Pill at least."

"..."

The emotion reflected in their eyes.

I had seen that a lot in my comrades in the Minor Orthodox Unit.

Our figures from the past when we faced the Flame Demon Ghost Eye Squad were now being projected onto them.

"You guys weren't even that strong of opponents. Why were we so afraid back then?"

"..."

The bastards began to roll their eyes frantically.

Knowing what their intention was, I smiled and spoke.

"Are you going to run away even though your identities have been exposed?"

"!"

The Demonic Cult bastards appearing in the Central Plains at this time was something that didn't even exist in my memories.

This meant that they had been doing preliminary work over the course of several years before the Orthodox-Demonic Great War.

This naturally led to the conclusion that the Orthodox faction and the Underworld must not find out that they were active.

As if their minds were made up, the five moved simultaneously and deployed a sword formation.

The Flame Demon Ghost Sword Formation.

They layered their demonic qi with one another, turning the area into a living hell.

"This is also a nostalgic formation."

I also drew upon the Taiyi True Scripture with full power.

The demonic qi that tried to burrow into my acupoints was pushed back by the purity of the Taiyi True Scripture and could no longer enter.

I scattered the Ascension Form of the Lesser Heaven Sword Technique.

SWISH.

With a speed unlike before, it tore through not only the demonic qi but also the space itself, slicing off the neck of the one occupying it.

The Twin Heaven Sword Art.

Swords where illusions and reality were mixed sprang out in all directions.

The sword thought to be an illusion was reality, and the sword thought to be reality was an illusion.

Furthermore, illusions could also become reality.

THWACK. THWACK. SLASH.

Three met their deaths simultaneously.

The one who appeared to be the squad leader kicked off the ground at the phenomenon before his eyes and began to flee.

"If you cannot silence the witness, then delivering this news to the Demonic Cult is a good idea too."

Having perhaps unleashed a supreme footwork technique, his figure already looked as small as a sesame seed.

I roused the World-Traversing Lone Footwork.

And I immediately folded space, overtaking him to occupy the spot right in front of him.

"!"

As if he couldn't believe it even after seeing it with his own eyes, his reaction was delayed.

"T-That's impossible!"

A voice like scraping metal, as if predicting his own end.

And the result was exactly as he expected.

SLASH!

With his neck and body separated, he was looking at his own body spurting blood like a fountain right before he died.

"Go and tell your god. Your fellow believers will soon be lining up to meet you."