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Bang!
“Aaah!”
Bang!
“Help me!”
Bang!
“Please spare me just once!”
Yeon Mujin shouted as he dodged and leaped about to avoid the even fiercer black veil.
“Put this down and talk!”
Raging Evil, who was being dragged around in Yeon Mujin’s hand, shouted.
“Your subordinate is trying to kill me!”
“Then just die quietly! Why make such a fuss over me!”
“If I die, you’ll be dragged along too!”
“Then put him down and fight fair and square!”
“You want me to fight the Demonic Cult’s Skilled Left Master now? Are you insane?”
In truth, it wasn’t impossible, but it wasn’t likely either.
As Yeon Mujin ran about using Raging Evil’s life as a shield, a fundamental question suddenly occurred to him.
‘But why am I protecting this bastard?’
Come to think of it, Yeon Mujin had no reason at all to be allied with Raging Evil.
His mission was simply to find Raging Evil and deliver him to the Heavenly Martial Manor Lord.
“Wait! Wait! Left Master, hear me out!”
Yeon Mujin thrust Raging Evil’s body forward and shouted toward the Demonic Cult’s Skilled Left Master.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
But Hyeon-ack had no intention of listening to him.
When Hyeon-ack ignored Yeon Mujin’s words and kept up the assault, Raging Evil cried out.
“Left Master! Are you going to kill me!”
“I’m prepared to take off an arm or so.”
“I’m not prepared to!”
Yeon Mujin seized the confusion and shouted.
“Left Master! Aren’t you acting on the Leader’s orders to take the junior sect lord away!”
Only then did the Left Master halt his pressure.
Yeon Mujin didn’t miss the opening and asked.
“He also ordered you through the Heavenly Martial Manor Lord, didn’t he? To help find Raging Evil?”
“……”
That seemed likely.
“I was on the Heavenly Martial Manor Lord’s request to extract Raging Evil. While the Heavenly Martial Manor Lord draws attention, I’m supposed to lead Raging Evil to safety and then rendezvous with the Lord.”
“…So what are you getting at?”
“I’m saying our goals might not be so different.”
At that, Raging Evil suddenly looked at Yeon Mujin as if to say what nonsense was this.
“You’re going to sell me out now?”
“We just met today, didn’t we? What deep bond is there between us? The Leader wants you to return to the Cult, the Left and Right Masters want it, and the Heavenly Martial Manor Lord wants it—why not just go back?”
Yeon Mujin kicked Raging Evil’s back and shoved him in Hyeon-ack’s direction.
How dare he kick the Demonic Cult young lord?
Angry, Raging Evil scattered Blue Ghost flame toward Yeon Mujin’s back, but Yeon Mujin had already fled three measure-lengths away.
“Take him back quickly. If you hadn’t attacked first I wouldn’t have come out like this. You struck first, and I took off the mask, so we’re even. Consider yourself lucky. My blade rarely finishes without bloodshed.”
Yeon Mujin put on a brave front and secretly hoped Hyeon-ack would just leave.
He had no reason to fight the Three Evils, nor to kill them and incur the Demonic Cult’s wrath.
But what about earning Raging Evil’s hatred?
If taken away, Raging Evil would be detained deep within the Demonic Cult headquarters—what could he possibly do to Yeon Mujin then?
The Skilled Left Master, Hyeon-ack, probed Raging Evil’s blood points and bound him for the time being.
“Uuuugh! Ugh!”
Raging Evil struggled and resisted, but there was nothing he could do against the Skilled Left Master who possessed the talisman.
Having subdued him, he slowly glared at Yeon Mujin.
“A wise man.”
“Isn’t it best if it’s mutually beneficial?”
“But your thought is weak. Did you think I’d back down simply because you handed over the young cult lord? If you expect to do the Demonic Cult’s bidding and walk away alive, that’s greed. I don’t leave without ensuring no future trouble remains.”
Hyeon-ack stretched out his dark hand once more.
“Doesn’t the Cult Lord’s order come first for the Left Master? The Lord will want to see his treasured only son as soon as possible.”
“The Lord would hate more to see the Demonic Cult’s Left Master tuck his tail and run.”
“Outside there are dozens of righteous martial artists lying in wait for Raging Evil. What if I run off and they start shouting all over the place?”
“Don’t worry. Dealing with someone like you won’t take even a moment.”
The demonic aura enveloping him grew dense.
Damn, handing over Raging Evil, who was serving as a shield, had apparently been a mistake.
He had given the unrestrained Left Master free rein to rampage.
The moment the negotiation failed, thick mist billowed from Yeon Mujin’s sword.
It was a long-unused Yin Flame Sword technique.
“Grandma! Don’t come close, move far away! Better yet, just run!”
Unless one escaped this dense fog, they couldn’t avoid the Yin Flame Sword’s effects.
Another advantage of the Yin Flame Sword is that it can deceive an opponent’s eyes and sensing.
“Trivial gimmickry!”
The moment Hyeon-ack saw the Yin Flame Sword, he knew Yeon Mujin intended to buy time.
He clasped his hands strongly and spread demonic energy, creating a radius of about ten meter around him that the spirit fog couldn’t penetrate.
A battle between the fog and the demonic aura.
But the one pressed for time was the other side.
Just as Hyeon-ack gathered his spear-heart and was about to unleash the Demonic Flame Palm technique that would blast force outward in all directions,
“Ugh…!”
He felt a sharp pain pierce his chest from the square behind him.
‘He turned around that quickly?’
At the last moment he twisted his body and narrowly avoided his heart being pierced.
The pain wasn’t from a sword. It was thinner, like a needle made for assassination…
“Hit confirmed. Identified as the Demonic Cult’s Skilled Left Master.”
A cold, businesslike voice.
Sensing the presence, Yeon Mujin sheathed the Yin Flame Sword.
Then….
Along the wall, in the trees, and in the gaps of the alley, dozens of martial warriors revealed themselves.
‘Namgung Family?’
They were not. The Namgung Family’s warriors did not wear such light, dark-colored light armor.
Moreover, many among them were faces Yeon Mujin already recognized.
“Do we kill them on sight?”
A man in the tree asked the man beside him.
In his hand he held an ox-hair-thin cattle-hair needle.
“Capture the target alive first. Even the Skilled Left Master, struck by a poisoned needle, won’t be able to resist for a while.”
“Understood.”
At the captain’s order, the other waiting warriors rushed at Raging Evil.
Raging Evil? He couldn’t resist. He’d already had his pressure points probed by the Left Master.
In the end, without fighting, the men secured the Demonic Cult young lord’s person without a drop of blood.
The fallen Left Master watched the scene with bloodshot eyes….
“……”
The captain also watched closely, observing Yeon Mujin’s movements.
Yeon Mujin was one man against several. Here they had to concede a move.
“The Demonic Cult young cult lord seems popular, I see.”
“……”
Yeon Mujin put his sword away, showing he had no intention to fight.
They probably knew who Yeon Mujin was. Why they were here, however, was unknown.
“Why is the Flying Swallow Manor’s External Protection Troops leader here?”
“I was pursuing the young lord at the Heavenly Martial Manor Lord’s request.”
For now he invoked a notable name so they wouldn’t rashly engage.
“The Heavenly Martial Manor Lord wouldn’t recklessly reveal the young lord’s identity.”
Yeon Mujin pointed with his finger to the opposite side of the village beyond the wall.
“There are over a hundred righteous martial artists chasing him across the whole place. There was no time to hide or reveal anything.”
“So, will you take the junior sect lord?”
Yeon Mujin sensed that they were considering killing to obliterate traces.
He meant he didn’t care whether it was the Flying Swallow Manor’s External Protection Troops leader or an ally of the Heavenly Martial Manor.
“No, instead…”
Yeon Mujin pointed to the struggling Left Master and said.
“I’ll take this one.”
At that the captain shook his head.
“Denied.”
“Do you think I’ll send you back and quietly let you handle the Left Master without reporting to the Heavenly Martial Manor? You have two choices: kill me and the Left Master together, or spare us both.”
At Yeon Mujin’s words, the man holding the ox-hair needle immediately assumed a combat stance.
Yeon Mujin swallowed hard.
If they lost the young lord and the Left Master died too, the scales would tip far too much.
“Stand down. We’ve secured the target; we’re leaving.”
The hesitant captain made a decision.
No sooner had he given the order than the warriors vanished one by one.
The last remaining captain looked at Yeon Mujin and left a warning.
“External Protection Troops leader. You’d best not get too deeply involved in this matter.”
“I’ll handle my own affairs.”
He disappeared without waiting for Yeon Mujin’s reply.
Yeon Mujin approached the Skilled Left Master, who was still collapsed and struggling.
“Don’t try to move; slowly use your inner strength. The poison they used severs the link between inner power and the body. First, use qi cultivation to drive out the poison, and if you then move your body you’ll recover quickly.”
The Left Master looked up at Yeon Mujin with eyes that couldn’t understand why he was helping him.
But only for a moment; realizing he had no choice but to follow his words, the Left Master cautiously began cultivating his qi and regulating his breath.
Even while cultivating qi, he remained on guard, showing he still didn’t fully trust Yeon Mujin.
“Hmph.”
Yeon Mujin, carried away, sat down beside him.
“When things start to get tangled, they get filthy and worse.”
He could see the Left Master’s ears twitching.
“What is going on? Who are those guys?”
Shapeshifter Demon, who had been hiding at a distance, appeared and asked Yeon Mujin.
Yeon Mujin looked over the devastated surroundings, lifted his head to the sky, sighed deeply, and answered.
“Those are warriors secretly raised by the Bukgung Family’s Grand Young lord.”
Meanwhile, at the place where Bukgung Yeong-no was, the fighting was in full swing as well.
Namgung Geom had consistently pressed down on Dong-ack, the Demonic Cult’s Skilled Right Master, with sheer force, while Dong-ack stretched out his pressure defensively, searching for an opportunity to immobilize Namgung Geom.
The fight between the Victorious Fighting Monk Jong Haeng and the Heavenly Martial Manor Lord Bukgung Yeong-no was not much different in pattern.
A deadlock where neither side held a clear advantage.
All four felt that to win over their opponents, they’d have to stake their lives.
Is this truly the place where they will be buried?
Namgung Geom, hesitating, heard a transmitted message from someone.
—We have secured Raging Evil’s person. Being transported to the imprisonment camp.
Namgung Geom’s movements came to an abrupt halt.
He cast his gaze toward Jong Haeng.
Jong Haeng seemed to have heard the same transmission, and the two men’s eyes met.
—We should withdraw as well.
Jong Haeng sent that message to Namgung Geom.
Namgung Geom hesitated.
Lowering his blade without any honor or gain did not suit his temperament.
—Namgung Family Lord, consider what takes priority. The Grand Young lord is moving separately from us. We need to ascertain his intentions and confirm the captured Raging Evil. Are we going to gamble life and death here?
“……”
What he said was right.
This fight would yield nothing.
Clang!
As Namgung Geom and Jong Haeng both withdrew their stances at once, Bukgung Yeong-no and the Skilled Right Master looked puzzled.
“Bukgung Family! Everyone, return!”
Namgung Geom shouted loudly and then turned and retreated first.
Jong Haeng gave a heavy-nodded glance toward the Right Master and the Heavenly Martial Manor Lord, then withdrew.
“…What is this?”
Dong-ack hadn’t noticed yet, but Bukgung Yeong-no had realized what it meant.
He said to Dong-ack.
“Damn it! While we were distracted by the fight, it seems Raging Evil was captured by those bastards.”
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