Gongdong Storm (2)

Neung Je-gang was descending the mountain at a quick pace when he felt that something was strange.

“What is it?”

He suddenly stopped walking. There had been nothing strange at all about the Taoists he had just met. Their conversation had been courteous, and their chanting of the Taoist invocation had also been exactly the typical appearance of Taoists.

But even so, there was something that kept grating on his nerves. As Neung Je-gang thought about what it was, his head suddenly shot up.

He spoke as though chewing the words and spitting them out.

“Crane-Feather Fan!”

That was it. It was the Crane-Feather Fan. The one Crane-Feather Fan held by the man who had spoken with him among the Taoists of Gongdong.

“Lord of Hyeon-ok, Godan!”

Had the warning letter he had received not clearly told him to beware of the one holding a Crane-Feather Fan?

If so, that meant the people just now were not Taoists of Gongdong, but people of the Necromancer Cult.

“Then does that mean they have set some kind of trap to deal with me if I go down this path?”

It was not that he feared traps, but the fact that this place was none other than Gongdong Mountain made him worried.

Gongdong Mountain was the most vicious place among the Nine Sects and One Gang. Once they formed a grudge, they were a place that carried out revenge even more viciously than the Black Path sects.

If the trap made by the Necromancer Cult was one that created a misunderstanding between Gongdong Sect and himself, he could become the target of revenge so vicious that the Jinju Eon Clan would not even be a concern.

Whoosh.

Neung Je-gang immediately concealed himself in the darkness. Then he went back up to the place where he had lit the fire. There, only the scattered remains of the extinguished fire were left, with no one around.

Neung Je-gang followed the traces left by the Taoists and tracked them. Soon, he discovered the figures of the Taoists. The Taoists were descending the mountain while giggling in a manner that was not Taoist-like at all.

“Shh! Be quiet. We are almost there.”

As soon as they received Godan’s order at a certain point, they hurriedly hid themselves. Then they moved while concealed in secrecy. When they were giggling, he had not noticed, but each and every one of them was an expert to the point that it was difficult to detect their presence.

Neung Je-gang likewise hid himself with illusion arts and followed behind them. They hid in a secretive spot without knowing that Neung Je-gang was behind them and watched one place.

It was then. Dozens of Taoists ran out from another direction.

“Huh! Junior Disciple Myeong In!”

“Senior Brother Myeong Hak is here…….”

“Junior Disciple Myeong Su is here.”

The Taoists soon became noisy, as if they had discovered something in a place hidden by the thickets.

“Be quiet. A few of you gather the corpses, and the rest of you search for traces of the culprit. We must find him no matter what.”

Only after a middle-aged Taoist stepped forward and gave orders did they begin searching the surroundings again in silence.

Only then could Neung Je-gang understand what kind of trap Godan had set. His intent was to shift the deaths of the Gongdong Sect Taoists onto him and, even if they failed to catch him here, turn him into a villain so that he would have nowhere to stand.

If he became enemies with the Gongdong Sect as Godan intended, he would have nowhere to stand in the Central Plains. Because Gongdong Sect was one of the Nine Sects and One Gang, a single word from them possessed powerful influence incomparable to the breath of the Jinju Eon Clan.

Godan waited only for Secret Shadow to appear. However, Secret Shadow, who should have appeared already, did not appear.

He sent a sound transmission to one of his subordinates.

〔Why is he not appearing? Did you make the path properly?〕

〔Yes. Could this fellow possibly have left the path?〕

〔It cannot be helped. One of you go and find where Secret Shadow is, then send a signal. So that the Gongdong Sect bastards can see it.〕

〔U-understood.〕

Neung Je-gang saw one fellow beside Godan move. He wondered whether they were simply trying to withdraw because he had not appeared. Naturally, he could not watch them withdraw without anything happening.

Crack.

Because of Neung Je-gang, who had hidden himself with illusion arts, one tree branch above the place where Godan and his subordinates were hiding snapped and made a loud noise.

In that instant, Godan and his subordinates’ bodies stiffened. In the posture where they were hiding, they could not even breathe loudly.

“Who is it?”

Rustle, rustle, rustle.

The Taoists of Gongdong Sect all moved toward the place where the sound had come from.

The place where Godan and his group were hiding was about to be discovered soon. In that tense moment, the saliva on their lips and tongues dried up completely.

At that moment, Godan sprang up and shouted.

“It is over there.”

Everyone’s gaze turned in the direction Godan’s hand pointed.

Pabababababak!

“Aaagh!”

“Gghk!”

Godan did not miss that instant’s opportunity. The white feathers that shot out from his Crane-Feather Fan pierced into the necks of the Gongdong Taoists and absorbed their red blood. The sight of the white feathers slowly being dyed red even seemed beautiful.

At the moment the Gongdong Taoists’ response faltered from the sudden attack, Godan shouted.

“Strike!”

It seemed he had acknowledged that the trap had failed anyway and decided to kill all the Gongdong Taoists.

Clang, clang, boom, tak, tak!

In the fight between Gongdong Sect and the experts of the Necromancer Cult’s Hyeonok Territory, Gongdong Sect was far more disadvantaged. Their numbers were overwhelmingly greater, but they were no match for the experts of Hyeonok Territory, each of whom possessed skills above the peak level.

“Request aid from the main mountain.”

At the words of the middle-aged Taoist commanding them, a young Taoist beside him took something from his robe and pulled it.

Tak, whiiiiiiing, bang!

Five-colored fireworks bloomed wide in the sky.

“Support will come soon. Hold out a little longer.”

Even before the middle-aged Taoist’s words, the Gongdong Taoists who had survived after seeing the signal were already gathering their strength.

“Damn it!”

Godan looked around. The Gongdong Taoists charged in tenaciously without fearing death, and though no one had died yet, his subordinates were being wounded one by one.

From Godan’s behavior, Neung Je-gang realized that he was thinking of escaping for now. However, Neung Je-gang had no intention whatsoever of letting him go.

“Withdraw.”

When Godan shouted and rushed through the Taoists’ encirclement, the experts of Hyeonok Territory also dashed after him one by one.

“Pursue them! We must not let those bastards descend the mountain.”

The Gongdong Taoists placed cutting off their enemies’ lives ahead of gathering the corpses of their comrades. In an instant, only the corpses of the dead and Neung Je-gang remained in the field.

Neung Je-gang searched the robes of the dead bodies. He was looking to see whether they had the signal flare used by the Gongdong Taoists.

Fortunately, he was able to find three signal flares. Not all Taoists carried them, but quite a lot did.

“This should be enough.”

Neung Je-gang put them into his robe and launched himself away.

The thick forest, the dark shadows.

This kind of environment on Gongdong Mountain was precisely the environment Neung Je-gang liked the most. It could be said that the misfortune of the one called Godan had begun from setting a trap on Gongdong Mountain, where such forests were thick.

Neung Je-gang quickly found the figures of Godan and his subordinates who had fled. Perhaps because their martial skills were ahead, they had shaken off the pursuit of the Gongdong Taoists without too much difficulty and were hiding themselves in a secret cave. Because it was a dark night, it was a place where it would be difficult to find the entrance even if one looked carefully.

“What should we do?”

One of the subordinates asked Godan.

“Before talking about what to do, where did this Secret Shadow bastard go?”

“Could he have already gone down the mountain?”

“It cannot be helped. We will rest briefly, then break through the encirclement and descend the mountain. We will have to catch Secret Shadow somewhere else.”

Godan briefly sank into thought, then made that decision.

“It does not seem like going down will be easy. Did you not hear the middle-aged Taoist bastard giving orders earlier? Did he not shout that we must not be allowed to go down the mountain? A heaven-and-earth net must already have been cast around this area.”

“So? Are you saying we should just die here like this?”

Godan glared at the subordinate who had spoken ominous words.

“N-no.”

“We were not created to collapse before the likes of Gongdong Sect. Pull yourselves together. We are the elites of Hyeonok Territory. Think of the families waiting on the Mountain and think of your juniors.”

“Understood.”

At Godan’s words, his subordinates nodded and each began Breathing Cultivation. There was no method better than Breathing Cultivation for recovering energy.

However, the time they could rest comfortably ended there. Outside the cave where they were hiding, a powerful enemy by the name of Neung Je-gang was lying in wait.

Boom, rumble!

The sound of thunderbolts striking was heard.

The experts of Hyeon-ok Territory, who had entered Breathing Cultivation inside the cave, jumped up. The sound of that thunderbolt had come from right above the cave where they were hiding. And clumps of dirt poured down at the cave entrance. If things went wrong, they could be buried alive at that moment.

“Uwek!”

“Keok!”

When one tried to stop Breathing Cultivation in a hurry, side effects were bound to appear. In severe cases, it became qi deviation; in lighter cases, one’s blood and qi boiled up, resulting in serious internal injuries.

But was that the problem right now? If the cave collapsed, they would be sealed inside a tomb while alive.

Papapak!

They crawled out of the narrow cave with all their might to survive. And they saw it. Though not much time had passed since the sound of thunder had been heard, the swords held in the hands of the Gongdong Sect Taoists were densely surrounding them.

The lights of the swords glittering under the moonlight made their eyes sting.

Should it be called adding frost on top of snow? Unfortunately, because this had happened while they were in Breathing Cultivation, most of them had ended up suffering internal injuries. If they had simply been in their normal state, breaking through this level of encirclement would not have been that difficult, but now they were in a situation where they had to risk their lives.

“Secret Shadow! Where are you, you son of a bitch?”

Godan shouted, driven by rage. A martial art that produced thunder and lightning was obvious.

Heaven-Shattering Thunderbolt Sovereign!

Was it not the martial art Secret Shadow was known to have learned?

Because of that, Godan realized that Secret Shadow was hidden somewhere, watching them.

Murmur, murmur.

Murmuring sounds could be heard among the Taoists. The name Secret Shadow had the power to startle people like this.

At that moment, the middle of the Taoists split wide open, and one old Taoist appeared.

“Immeasurable Buddha! Who are you people?”

“Damn it! Secret Shadow, you son of a bitch! This will not end like this.”

Godan ignored the Taoist’s question and shouted. Even in the darkness, it was visible that the old Taoist’s face had turned red.

“Pull yourselves together. Do you want to die?”

Godan shouted at his subordinates as well. Then he tightly gripped the Crane-Feather Fan in his hand.

“We can get out. Resolve yourselves to bring down Gongdong Sect with your own hands. We have the ability to do so.”

At Godan’s words, his subordinates lifted their heads one by one. Of course, before they had suffered internal injuries, they had possessed more than enough ability to do that. But now, no one could know.

The one fortunate thing was that among the Taoists of Gongdong Sect, there were not many peak experts. Because of the Necromancer Cult, many skilled Taoists had descended the mountain to work on the Martial Alliance’s affairs.

“Immeasurable Buddha! You are fellows whose wicked hearts pierce through you. You are not ones who should seek forgiveness. We must absolutely not let them leave this mountain alive.”

“Immeasurable Buddha!”

“Deploy the Demon-Subduing Sword Formation.”

At the old Taoist’s command, the Taoists formed groups of four and blocked the experts of Hyeonok Territory one by one.

Four Taoists likewise blocked Godan, and unlike the other Taoists, those four were middle-aged Taoists who had entered the peak realm long ago.

A decisive battle began between Gongdong Sect’s Demon-Subduing Sword Formation and the experts of Hyeonok Territory.

Neung Je-gang climbed onto a tall tree near the place where their battlefield had opened and watched.

Basically, the reason for creating and using a sword formation was to easily obtain victory when facing the enemy. To do so, most sword formations were things that made good use of organic cooperation between attack and defense.

For example, if one person attacked, the two on his left and right would defend against the enemy’s counterattack, and the remaining person would rest and recover energy. That kind of operation was a sword formation.

But the Demon-Subduing Sword Formation was different. This was a desperate sword formation in which one person defended against the enemy’s attack, and the remaining three simultaneously used mutual-destruction methods against the enemy. It was a sword formation where, if the defender made a mistake, one of the four had no choice but to die.

It was the harshest sword formation, infused with the desperate philosophy of the Gongdong Taoists, who braved sacrifice in order to catch demons.

“Aaagh!”

“Kraaagh!”

The effectiveness of the sword formation was astonishing. The experts of Hyeonok Territory, who would not have been caught so easily if they had fought normally no matter how much internal injury they had suffered, collapsed one by one.

Godan, too, could not instantly pull himself away from the attacks of four peak experts.

“I had not meant to use this alone…….”

As Godan heard his subordinates’ screams, his eyes became red and bloodshot. Whether good or bad, they were subordinates who had shared hardships and joys with him, so he could not remain calm at their deaths.

Moreover, until now, they had only done the work of killing enemies and had never taken on the role of dying like this. The resentment that arose from that broke down the wall inside Godan’s heart.

Godan tucked his weapon, the Crane-Feather Fan, into his waist. He clenched both hands and placed one at each side of his waist.

“Secret Shadow, watch carefully. This is the Nine Thunderclap Divine Fists that I had been saving to use on you.”

Godan suddenly shouted toward the empty air.

Neung Je-gang could not help but flinch in surprise at the martial art name Nine Thunderclap Divine Fists. That was because it was another forbidden martial art. It was the strongest fist art, known to be capable of bringing down Mount Tai with nine punches.

But the ones more surprised than Neung Je-gang were the Taoists of Gongdong Sect. The Nine Thunderclap Divine Fists? What kind of sudden bolt from the blue was this?

“Do not be afraid. The Nine Thunderclap Divine Fists is a lost martial art. He is saying that to falsely break through the encirclement.”

The old Taoist stepped forward and shouted for them not to believe it, but the stances of the Taoists who already knew the Nine Thunderclap Divine Fists had already fallen into disorder.

Boom.

Moreover, Godan’s words were by no means false. An explosive sound came from his fist.

In that instant, one middle-aged Taoist forming the Demon-Subduing Sword Formation was flung backward without even being able to scream. There was no need to look; he had died instantly.

Boom.

Another explosive sound was heard. Once again, two Taoists flew away as lumps of blood. The swords they held flew through the air, lodged into a nearby pine tree, and trembled.

Boom.

A third explosive sound rang out. The old Taoist who had been commanding the Gongdong Taoists and five Taoists near him likewise could not move at all and were swept up by the fist wind, spraying blood as they collapsed in a heap.

Boom.

Even the Taoists of Gongdong Sect, who had not feared death, were overwhelmed. Every time he extended his fist once, their senior experts turned into blood-soaked corpses along with a thunderclap. Who would not fear that?

Before even five explosive sounds had been fully heard, the terrified Taoists retreated one or two at a time.

Boom.

“Uwaaaah!”

And with the fifth explosive sound, the Gongdong Taoists screamed and scattered in all directions like a swarm of locusts. Then silence flowed. The sixth explosive sound was not heard. There were already no opponents left there to receive the Nine Thunderclap Divine Fists.

“Territory Lord!”

Godan’s surviving subordinates dragged their wounded bodies and gathered beside Godan.

“Be quiet.”

Godan barely spat out that one sentence, then collapsed heavily.

“Ugh! What is wrong? Territory Lord!”

“Do not make noise. We must quickly flee to a safe place. Gongdong will never give up.”

Godan said that, then closed his eyes and entered rest.

The Nine Thunderclap Divine Fists doubled in power. Compared to the first punch, the next punch was twice as powerful, and the third punch became twice as powerful as the second punch. Therefore, if it was used five times like Godan had done now, it displayed a power sixteen times stronger than the first punch.

On the other hand, in order to produce such power, strain could not help but go to the body of the one using the Nine Thunderclap Divine Fists. The more punches there were, the more the caster’s body was also damaged, so it could be said that its side effects were as great as its virtues.

“Did you hear? We must quickly escort the Territory Lord to a safe place. Hurry.”

They lifted Godan onto someone’s back and hurriedly left the place. Since Godan had lost his strength and collapsed, if they met the Gongdong Taoists again, that would truly be the moment they met death.

The horrific scene where Godan and his subordinates’ figures had disappeared.

On a tall tree overlooking that scene, Neung Je-gang was keenly feeling his own mistake.

“Damn it! If I had known this result would come out, I should have stepped forward. Only innocent Taoists ended up dying. In any case, the Nine Thunderclap Divine Fists……. I wonder if my Heaven-Shattering Thunderbolt Sovereign can block it?”

If it was only about the power of the fifth punch, it seemed Heaven-Shattering Thunderbolt Sovereign could maintain superiority. However, the Nine Thunderclap Divine Fists still had four more punches remaining. If they faced each other head-on, it did not seem like he would be a match.

“But is there any need to wait until he swings the ninth punch?”

That was right. The Nine Thunderclap Divine Fists became more powerful as it went on, but it had the restriction that one had to use the punches in order from the first. In the end, as long as he could endure the power of the first or second strike of the Nine Thunderclap Divine Fists, winning was not impossible.

“Shall I see where they go and hide?”

He launched himself again and went to find Godan’s subordinates. Although many Gongdong Taoists had died, Neung Je-gang also knew well that Gongdong was not a sect that would give up at this level.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

After he moved to find Godan and his subordinates, who had disappeared ahead, four old Taoists appeared at that scene a short while later along with the sound of wind.

“Mm! It seems it really was the Nine Thunderclap Divine Fists.”

“It does not seem his maturity is that deep yet.”

The old Taoists said that after looking at the corpses that had been blown away by the Nine Thunderclap Divine Fists.

“His maturity is something he can control himself, so we cannot make a judgment. At any rate, it seems the martial world will become chaotic. The heretical cult called the Necromancer Cult is gradually expanding its power, and after Heaven-Shattering Thunderbolt Sovereign, even a child who has learned the Nine Thunderclap Divine Fists has appeared.”

“But where did these things hide?”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk! I spent my whole life touching only swords, so I know nothing at all about tracking arts. Since I cannot find where they hid, this is a difficult matter.”

“That is why I said we should step forward after the children found them.”

“What were we supposed to do if all of the already few children died while doing that?”

“Have we ever lived separated from death?”

The old Taoists stood in that spot arguing, as if they had any intention of finding Godan’s group or not.