Side Story 57. Crimson Fighting Fiends, Fire And Rain (2)

One day, the Iron Blood Merciless Baek Ryu-san summoned the Twin Tigers of the Peng Family and spoke.

“Do you know Seok Sung?”
“Yes, isn’t he the richest man under heaven?”
“His son was killed by the Crimson Fighting Fiends.”
“Huh. His heart must be in a terrible state.”
“They say he died with his belly split open. And it seems they recovered the Guihon Jade. Even if rumors were widespread that Seok Sung’s son was a scoundrel, as a father, his heart must still be torn apart.”
“I imagine so.”

It was a pitiful matter. But in the end, it was also someone else’s story, unrelated to them.
Then why had Iron-Blooded Merciless gone out of his way to summon them and tell them this?
It was obvious he had not called them to share idle talk about those people.

“Seok Sung is a ghost-like figure. He is famous for never forgetting debts or grudges. Because we once helped him in the past, he did not betray us even when the Evil Cult ran rampant.”
“If not for those people, the Alliance would have completely collapsed as well.”
“It will be the same this time. He will avenge his dead son’s grudge by drawing out the Crimson Fighting Fiends’ organization and annihilating it.”
“So, should we go help him?”

Iron-Blooded Ruthless nodded.

“I will attach several others as well, including you. The Crimson Fighting Fiends are very strong. You must not let your guard down.”

At that, the Twin Tigers of the Peng Family grinned.

“There is no need to worry. We also gained something this time…”

A red energy flashed in the eyes of the Twin Tigers of the Peng Family.
They had consumed Guihon Jade.
Not only the two of them, but among the masters of the Murim Alliance, there were several who had consumed Guihon Jade.
It had happened before the consumption of Guihon Jade was officially prohibited.
Afterward, Guihon Jade was forbidden, but naturally, it was absurd to split open the bellies of innocent people and recover the Guihon Jade.

Fortunately, the Twin Tigers of the Peng Family had not had their natures turn evil, and only their realms had risen instead.
They had already been Transcendent masters, and now they had obtained vast internal energy as well. It was only natural that they were overflowing with confidence.
But Baek Ryu-san was cold, befitting his title.

“Arrogant. There are many stronger than you.”
“Ah…”
“Among the Crimson Fighting Fiends, there may even be someone stronger than me. No, there certainly will be.”
“Aren’t you overestimating them too much!?”

Baek Ryu-san was an Absolute master acknowledged by the entire gangho.
The difference between an Absolute master and a Transcendent master was enormous.
They were absolute beings who transcended countless laws of reality and manifested the unreality known as a ‘Supreme Ultimate Technique.’
And that very Baek Ryu-san was saying such a thing.

“Even if it is Guihon Jade, it is merely a spiritual medicine. I have never heard of someone becoming an Absolute master through spiritual medicine.”

That was what the Twin Tigers of the Peng Family argued, but.

“Spiritual medicine? Who said such a thing? Because your internal energy increased after eating it, do you think Guihon Jade is spiritual medicine?”
“……”
“It is not spiritual medicine. It is the inner core held by the worst yokai in history, and a fragment of its soul.”

The yokai Guihon, which had once appeared in Hangzhou.
Even though several Absolute masters had gathered, they had been unable to subjugate that yao monster.
If Heaven Pillar Baek Yi-gang had not been there, Hangzhou would likely have been reduced to ruins, and all the Absolute masters would have died.

“What kind of change will a talented person undergo when they consume that Guihon Jade in large quantities? We must not place limits on our imagination.”
“We will bear that in mind.”
“Go to Seok Family Manor. I will go to Beijing and prepare there.”

Many masters, including Baek Ryu-san, would head to Beijing rather than Hangzhou.

“The Crimson Fighting Fiends and their leader probably won’t go to Hangzhou instead of Beijing, but… do not slacken your preparations.”
“Yes!”

The Peng Family Twin Tigers had answered loudly.
They did not think the realm of the Crimson Fighting Fiends’ leader would surpass that of an Absolute master.
But they undertook the mission while truly assuming that possibility.

And Ahim, whom they actually faced.
The sensation of fighting that leader was…

‘Certainly strong.’

Kwajajak!

He barely blocked Ahim’s fist.
A saber and a bare hand had collided, yet the one pushed back was Peng Gu-hwi.
However, Peng Gu-hwi wasn’t flustered.

‘But he can be handled.’

Even so, the opponent’s realm was manageable.
He was certainly not at the level of an Absolute master. If he had been, the Twin Tigers of the Peng Family would already have been miserably defeated.
Unless he was hiding more of his ability…

“Lady Jin!”

When he shouted that, Jin Li-yeon grabbed Peng Gu-hwi’s shoulder and leaped up.
It was a graceful movement, as if she were performing acrobatics.
If one swung a heavy sword in midair, one’s center of gravity would be disturbed.
But if it was a flexible sword as light as a sheet of paper, the story was different.

Chararararak!

The flexible sword moving like a living snake swept across Ahim’s body.

Pababak!

Cut strands of hair fluttered, and the hems of his clothes were sliced.
It seemed as if a valid hit had landed, but it hadn’t. Ahim’s body had not been cut at all.
Ahim kicked his leg straight upward.
What shone at the tip of his foot was clearly Aura Qi.
Jin Li-yeon was kicked away like a ball and bounced into the air.

There was no way the Twin Tigers of the Peng Family would miss that precious opening.

“You braaat!”
“Huaap!”

Thunderous shouts rang out from Ahim’s front and rear.
Five Tigers Severing Gate Saber.
The strongest saber art possessed by the Peng Family seemed about to cut Ahim in two.
This time, there should have been nowhere to dodge, but Ahim neither tried to block nor tried to evade.

“Kill each other.”

He merely gave that command.
The eyes of the Twin Tigers of the Peng Family were dyed red at the same time.
Their sabers clashed in the air.

Jjeoeoeong!

In their eyes, madness dwelled instead of fighting spirit.
Ahim smiled.

“I told you. I can make all those who have eaten Guihon Jade act according to my will.”

As fate would have it, the ones waiting here in Hangzhou were the Twin Tigers of the Peng Family.
And as fate would have it, those Twin Tigers of the Peng Family were people who had eaten Guihon Jade.
Watching the Twin Tigers of the Peng Family fiercely swing their sabers at each other, Jin Li-yeon, who had barely raised herself up, fell into despair.

Ahim’s “command” didn’t stop there.
He raised both hands and commanded as if conducting an orchestra.

“More. Run even wilder!”

The Crimson Fighting Fiends, who were already running wild in the audience seats, scattered blood like mad.

A red-faced middle-aged man with a long beard like Guan Yunchang.
He had once been the stockade chief of a place called Yu-gal Fort, one of the Thirty-Six Forts of the Green Forest.
He was a man who had been punished and driven out by the Alliance Leader because his banditry had been too brutal.
After becoming a wandering warrior, he had picked up and eaten Guihon Jade and became a Crimson Fighting Fiend.

The number of Guihon Jade pieces he had devoured until now was five.
He had once been a Peak master, but now he had become a proud Transcendent master.

“Euryaaaa!”

He swung his unique weapon, a wolf-tooth club, at a warrior of the Yellow Dragon Merchant Guild.
His opponent swung a sword to block it, but the wolf-tooth club broke the sword and struck the opponent’s head.

Peoseok!

The person’s head burst apart like a watermelon.

“Uwahahahaha!”

Even after committing such a brutal act, he threw his head back and laughed wildly.
Separate from his red-glowing eyes, he was clearly not in his right mind.

There were more than one or two Crimson Fighting Fiends who were not in their right minds.
Among them was also a hunched old woman.
She was the officer of the Crimson Fighting Fiends who had recently been called ‘Granny’ in the pavilion.
She held something like a tube in her mouth.

Pyut!

Something that looked like a silver needle shot out from the tube.
A warrior of the Murim Alliance who had been fleeing fell over the moment the silver needle embedded itself in the back of his neck.

“Kkeoeok, kkeueoeok!”

The warrior screamed in agony with his face turned pitch-black.
Soon, he vomited black blood and died, and that blood bubbled as it gave off acrid smoke.
The identity of the old woman scattering poisonous hidden weapons was a woman who had once been excommunicated from the Tang Clan.
She had aged while nurturing only vengeance, and after eating six pieces of Guihon Jade, she had reached the Transcendent realm.
Of course, she had also obtained poison arts comparable to those of a Poison Human.
She too burst into laughter while scattering an ominous red light from her eyes.
It was right after Ahim’s command, ‘Run even wilder,’ had fallen.

Baek Sang-ye and Tsering were also in that hellscape of utter chaos.

A mad Crimson Fighting Fiend also pounced on them.
Their great fortune was that So-ryu was by their side.
So-ryu’s sword light flashed, and the Heaven’s Shadow Sword Technique unfolded grandly.

Chiik.

The Crimson Fighting Fiend’s red-glowing eye was split by the sword.
The sword point swept past the neck of the screaming Crimson Fighting Fiend.

“Keok.”

The Crimson Fighting Fiend collapsed without even being able to scream.
But there was no room to relax.

“Sis!”

Hearing Baek Sang-ye’s scream-like cry, So-ryu looked in the direction she was pointing.
For some reason, the Twin Tigers of the Peng Family were fighting each other, and Azure Forest Peony was kneeling on one knee.
And Ahim was standing before the fallen Eastern Depot Eunuch.

“What is he trying to do…”

So-ryu felt a rising unease.
That feeling grew stronger when she saw Ahim take out the golden ladle and snap off the Guihon Jade on it.
He opened the Eastern Depot Eunuch’s mouth and force-fed him the Guihon Jade.
The eunuch resisted, but with his paralysis acupoints struck, there was nothing he could do.

Soon, the Eastern Depot Eunuch’s eyes were dyed scarlet.
The effect of feeding him the trace amount that had been ground up had already faded, but eating one whole piece was different.

His entire body began to be eroded by the energy of the Guihon Jade.
In other words, he had entered Ahim’s control.

“Speak. Who is in Beijing? How much Guihon Jade is stockpiled in Beijing?”

Even if he were tortured, the Eastern Depot Eunuch would not have leaked such secrets.
But now that his mind was being enslaved, he could not resist.

“Iron Blood Merciless and the Murim Alliance… the Heretical Alliance…”

After hearing the amount of Guihon Jade present in the Forbidden City, Ahim calculated something in his head.

“Yes, if it is that much, what I can salvage from here alone will be enough. What a relief.”

Then he snapped his fingers as if satisfied.
Having finished the exchange, Ahim threw out one last question with an expression that seemed to expect little.

“And what else? If there is any important information worth telling me, say it.”

He had heard everything he needed to hear, so he planned to crush the Eastern Depot Eunuch’s head.
Ahim raised his hand, then paused at the words that came from the eunuch’s mouth.

“There is… an imperial princess. There, an imperial princess is there…”

The eunuch, whose acupoints were sealed, couldn’t raise his hand to point and only moved his eyes.
Ahim looked in that direction.

“Well now… what an unexpected big catch!”

In that path were Baek Sang-ye and So-ryu.

So-ryu’s actions were truly a model example of a guard.
The Emperor had made her Baek Sang-ye’s personal guard not only because she was strong.
So-ryu was meticulous and clear-headed. Not a single one of her small actions or gestures was careless.
Even while trying to quietly escape with Baek Sang-ye, the person she was guarding, she had properly secured her position.
In other words, she had stood between the person she was guarding and the greatest threat.

The greatest threat, Ahim.
And Baek Sang-ye and Tsering.
When the Eastern Depot Eunuch indicated the imperial princess’s location with his eyes, So-ryu was exactly where that gaze first landed.

The smiling Ahim’s eyes met So-ryu’s.
So-ryu, whose senses were sharpened, had heard the conversation between the Eastern Depot Eunuch and Ahim even amid this hellscape.
The moment the Eastern Depot Eunuch leaked that secret.
So-ryu’s clear mind displayed astonishing quick thinking.

She made a ‘terror-stricken expression.’
Then she turned her head as if fleeing and sent a voice transmission to Baek Sang-ye in a firm tone.

-Run away, naturally.

And to Tsering as well.

-Withdraw with your Senior Sister.

Fortunately, Tsering also made the most reasonable decision in this situation.
She poked Baek Sang-ye, who was about to shout something, in the back, at the Bong-an Point.
Baek Sang-ye, whose mute acupoint had been struck, was powerlessly pulled back by Tsering’s hand.

Then Ahim gave his command.

“Capture that woman.”

The Crimson Fighting Fiends responded to Ahim’s order.