Heavenly Demon of Mount Hua

Chapter 40

—–CROW—– 

Tatatat!

Like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, around seventy men suddenly appeared from all directions on the hillside overlooking the Swift Wind Trading Company.

“What’s this?”

“This can’t be…”

Dressed entirely in white, they frowned at the sight of dozens of decaying corpses strewn across the trampled undergrowth.

All the corpses were unusual.

There were no signs of struggle, and each had a hole in the crown of their head, piercing straight down to their groin.

As if a sword had been impaled from above, like a skewer.

Then, the group parted.

Sweep—

A man emerged from between them.

A middle-aged man with a gentle appearance, seemingly in his early to mid-thirties.

Except for his jet-black hair, eyebrows, and eyes, he was completely covered in white cloth, giving him a unique aura.

He was the White Ghost Lord’s only disciple and the Southern Guardian, known as the Little White Ghost.

—Master. You summoned me?

—We’ve lost contact with the Soul Slaughter Squad.

—…!

—Take the White Ghost Squad and investigate.

The Little White Ghost recalled the order.

An order given directly to him by his Master.

Furthermore, the command to bring the White Ghost Squad emphasized the gravity of the situation.

‘…The Soul Slaughter Squad should have gathered here.’

He had brought and read the letters sent by Eun-su-chamsal before leaving, allowing him to head to the Soul Slaughter Squad’s meeting place.

But what was this?

The place was filled with corpses wearing black masks.

The Little White Ghost took a step forward with his left foot.

Sweep—

His gait was peculiar.

Although he was clearly taking steps, there was no sound of footsteps, nor any swaying motion.

Like a ghost without feet, he glided forward silently.

If seen in the dead of night, he would have been mistaken for a phantom.

It was the White Ghost Night Walk, a movement technique that had once shaken the martial world, used by the White Ghost Lord, an absolute master of the evil sects.

Tap.

Reaching the corpses in an instant, the Little White Ghost knelt on one knee and removed the masks from their faces.

“…This is!”

The Little White Ghost’s eyes widened.

He recognized the faces hidden beneath the masks.

Not just recognized, but he had often encountered them within the Hundred Ghosts Castle.

“The Soul Slaughter Squad?”

A chilling rage filled his face as he confirmed their identities.

His gentle expression turned sharp, and a palpable killing intent emanated from him.

“Gasp!”

“S-Southern Guardian!”

His subordinates, aghast at his killing intent, knelt.

“Control yourself.”

A stern voice stopped him.

He turned to see a man, seemingly between middle and old age, standing there.

The man had a stoic expression.

But despite his indifferent face, his gaze was chilling.

He was the Eastern Guardian of the Hundred Ghosts Castle.

Known as the Hand-Severing Lone Sword, he was considered the strongest among the Four Guardians.

The Hand-Severing Lone Sword scanned the Little White Ghost from head to toe with a predatory gaze and spoke,

“Calm down and think about why the Soul Slaughter Squad died here.”

“…!”

The Little White Ghost’s face hardened slightly.

Consumed by rage, he hadn’t properly assessed the situation.

“Thank you, Elder.”

“Maintain your composure, no matter how shocking the situation.”

Heeding the man’s advice, the Little White Ghost calmed his emotions and began to think.

“It seems there’s an expert at the Swift Wind Trading Company who detected the Soul Slaughter Squad’s presence.”

The man nodded at the Little White Ghost’s conclusion, then his eyes widened.

“That’s not all.”

His voice was as deep and沉 as the depths of the Yangtze River.

“There’s no trace of anyone disposing of the bodies.”

“…?!”

The Little White Ghost and the White Ghost Squad lined up behind him flinched at his words.

The martial world was a place filled with grudges and vendettas.

Especially when it came to matters involving clans, it was a ruthless place.

Therefore, if someone from a clan was killed, the body would be disposed of by scattering their bones or burying them to avoid further entanglement.

But to leave the bodies as they were?

It was an incomprehensible act in the martial world.

“Unless the opponent is a fool, they would have realized that we’ve come.  And yet, they left the bodies untouched.  That means…”

The man’s voice trembled slightly.

“Either the opponent is an absolute master who doesn’t even care about the Soul Slaughter Squad, or they deliberately left the bodies as bait to lure us out.”

His tone was chilling.

Whatever the reason, this unknown opponent was looking down on the Hundred Ghosts Castle.

“That means they might have already sensed our presence.”

The man shifted his gaze.

His eyes fixed on the Swift Wind Trading Company, which hadn’t yet fully recovered from the recent attack.

Swoosh—

A heat emanated from Eun-su-chamsal’s body, distorting the air around him.

Then, someone came running.

“C-Castle Lord!”

“What’s wrong…?”

The Little White Ghost turned at the panicked voice and froze.

There was a mangled corpse.

The left side of its face was a gaping hole, unrecognizable, but it was still identifiable.

“…Eun-su-chamsal?”

“What?”

The Hand-Severing Lone Sword reacted.

Standing next to the Little White Ghost, he examined Eun-su-chamsal’s corpse and his eyes widened in surprise.

“This mark… Thunderclap Palm?!”

Even the Hand-Severing Lone Sword couldn’t believe his own words.

It was incomprehensible.

Thunderclap Palm was Eun-su-chamsal’s signature technique.

And yet, he had been defeated by it.

The Little White Ghost, staring intently at the corpse, felt the same.

At first glance, it looked like his head had simply been blown apart by a hidden weapon, but the unique cauterized wounds and the faint lingering internal energy confirmed it was the mark of Thunderclap Palm.

“Why was Eun-su-chamsal hit by Thunderclap Palm?”

The Hand-Severing Lone Sword frowned at the Little White Ghost’s question and muttered,

“Did the opponent reverse Thunderclap Palm?”

Reversal was the first thing that came to mind.

“I don’t think so.”

The Little White Ghost countered.

“This mark is far more powerful than the Thunderclap Palm Eun-su-chamsal used.”

The traces of Thunderclap Palm left on Eun-su-chamsal’s corpse far surpassed his known level of mastery.

“Eun-su-chamsal might have been hiding his true strength.”

“Even if that were true, it would take at least the Sword Immortal of the Wudang Sect to reverse Thunderclap Palm to this extent.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“The opponent must have used Thunderclap Palm.”

The Little White Ghost’s theory was more plausible.

Eun-su-chamsal’s past was shrouded in mystery.

Perhaps one of his former colleagues happened to be staying at the Swift Wind Trading Company and encountered him, leading to a conflict.

Of course, this was just a hypothesis.

How could they know for sure just by looking at the corpse?

It only deepened the mystery.

Therefore, the Little White Ghost added,

“Of course, this is just a hypothesis.”

“I see.”

The Hand-Severing Lone Sword bit his lip.

The corpses bore clear traces of the opponent, but the more they looked, the more questions arose.

“We haven’t learned anything despite all these clues.  It seems we have to take action ourselves.”

The Hand-Severing Lone Sword shifted his gaze.

His gaze landed on the place where all these questions converged.

The Swift Wind Trading Company.

***

“They’re no different from those bastards.”

Ha Woo-jin tilted his head at Cheon-hwi’s sudden remark.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

Cheon-hwi brushed him off and looked at Ha Woo-jin, who had approached him.

It had already been seven days and nights since he had personally met with Go Gye-yeong and settled into the Swift Wind Trading Company.

Ha Woo-jin, who had been awkward at first, had unknowingly blended into the Swift Wind Trading Company.

Of course, there were still some awkward moments.

One of them was the training Cheon-hwi imposed on the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.  Having witnessed Cheon-hwi’s training firsthand, he was horrified.

That was torture, not training.

And it didn’t stop there.

At every meal, the Taoist priest not only didn’t abstain from meat but seemed to relish it, leaving him speechless.

He tried to subtly guide Cheon-hwi towards the righteous path, but to no avail.

It was to be expected.

How could something the Mount Hua Sect had failed to achieve in five years change in just seven days and nights?

Hyeon-do had also told him to give up, but he refused.

“Killing should be avoided.  If you disregard even the life of a small ant…”

Ha Woo-jin clung to Cheon-hwi’s side, reciting Taoist teachings.

Their roles had reversed.

He had initially come to the Swift Wind Trading Company to uncover the culprit behind the Hegemon Clan’s destruction, but he had completely forgotten about it, now obsessed with reforming Cheon-hwi.

And Cheon-hwi, the subject of his efforts…

‘They’ll be suitable opponents.’

Completely ignoring Ha Woo-jin’s words, he scanned the panting Plum Blossom Swordsmen and Jeok-geom and Seol-ran, who were wielding their swords.

He compared them to the individuals outside, emitting a murky and sinister aura.

‘Excluding the two with the strong auras, these guys are slightly better individually.’

He shifted his gaze.

He stroked his chin as he watched Hyeon-do, who was meditating, and Ha Woo-jin, who was still talking.

‘With those two added, it’ll be just right.’

He nodded, having roughly gauged their strength. He could easily handle them himself, but he deliberately held back.

‘They need to gain some experience.’

He had vaguely known that the Mount Hua Sect was weak, but he had acutely realized it while training the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, the sect’s elite, for amusement.

‘Without me, the Mount Hua Sect is doomed.’

It was an arrogant thought, but sadly, it was true.

It wasn’t just that the Mount Hua Sect was weak, but that Cheon-hwi was simply too powerful.

‘I need the Mount Hua Sect to become stronger so I can roam the martial world freely.’

Although they were an orthodox sect, he quite liked life at Mount Hua.

There was no one trying to kill him or interfere with him, no one poisoning his food or attempting ambushes.

And there were no two-faced individuals plotting behind his back or bothering him with requests.

What a comfortable life.

It was incomparably more peaceful than his days as the leader of the Heavenly Demon Cult.

To maintain this lifestyle, he believed the Mount Hua Sect needed to become stronger.

‘As strong as the Heavenly Demon Cult should be enough, right?’

It was an absurd thought.

The Heavenly Demon Cult was the most powerful single sect in the martial world, boasting a history of thousands of years.

Even the Shaolin Temple, and no other power in the Nine Provinces and Eight Deserts, had ever surpassed the Heavenly Demon Cult.

Anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of the martial world would dismiss his thought as nonsense.

But Cheon-hwi was different.

‘That’s the standard.’

As the former leader of the Heavenly Demon Cult, that was his benchmark.

“Huh?”

Cheon-hwi suddenly looked towards the main building.

His eyes, unfocused like tarnished silver, reflected the setting sun, bathing them in a reddish hue.

“They’re coming quickly this time.”

His gaze sharpened like a honed blade, targeting the throats of those concealed within the brilliant sunset.

Watching them approach, Cheon-hwi spoke to the collapsed Plum Blossom Swordsmen,

“What are you doing? Get up.”

They remained unresponsive, like corpses.

Normally, he would have kicked them, but Cheon-hwi didn’t press them further.

Instead, he added in a warning tone,

“You’ll be the ones suffering if you’re late.”

As soon as he finished speaking,

Kaboom!

With a loud crash, the wall of the Swift Wind Trading Company crumbled.

“W-What?!”

“What’s happening?”

The Plum Blossom Swordsmen scrambled to their feet in alarm.

But flames were already rising from all directions around the Swift Wind Trading Company.

Whoosh!

The wind fanned the flames, spreading them rapidly.

“I told you. You’ll be the ones in trouble if you’re late.”

At Cheon-hwi’s words, the Plum Blossom Swordsmen finally grasped the situation.

“A-An attack?”

The Swift Wind Trading Company, which had just been repaired, was once again engulfed in flames.

“Kyaa!”

“A-An attack!”

The people panicked and scrambled outside.

Tap, Tap.

Around forty warriors emerged from the collapsed wall, blocking their escape route.

“Gasp!”

“P-Please spare us!”

The servants of the Swift Wind Trading Company trembled in fear as they looked at the warriors emanating a murderous aura.

Step— Step—

Footsteps echoed through the smoke, and the Little White Ghost appeared from among the warriors.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

—–CROW—– 

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