novelraw Chapter 138 : The Battle for the Corpse Retrieval
Chapter 138 : The Battle for the Corpse Retrieval
Chapter 138: The Battle for the Corpse Retrieval
She made quite a dangerous suggestion.
She wanted to hand the real blade over to the Heaven-Slaying Star and awaken his killer instinct, telling him to just swing it around.
If my master Hwang Geolgae heard this, he’d throw a fit.
Of course, she probably didn’t know anything and just made the suggestion out of curiosity.
Clatter.
I quietly looked down at the steel sword of Jinju Eon Clan lying nearby.
A plain sword forged in a smithy—but the moment it touched the Heaven-Slaying Star’s hand, it would be reborn as a weapon of slaughter, capable of drenching the entire Central Plains in blood.
Once I grabbed the handle, just like before, those vivid red lines would appear across my vision. If I followed them with my strikes, blood would gush out and heads would be severed clean.
Lines of death, slicing not just through Jo Harang in front of me, but cutting through the world itself.
‘Kill (殺)!’
‘Kill (殺)!’
‘Kill (殺)!’
And the moment I tried to raise the sword against Purple Tenuity Star, the killer inside me started rampaging as well.
A blazing red aura surged up, seemingly in violent agreement.
It was probably urging me to take this chance and kill her. Always looking for an excuse to kill, really.
“Hey, it’s just a spar. Let’s not get too worked up, just one light round.”
But truth be told, I was curious about the strange power I had used to split that Jiangshi before.
Didn’t Hwang Geolgae once mention the small scalpel blade used by physicians to slice flesh?
Even a blade, when held by a physician, could become a tool to save lives instead of taking them.
In the end, it all came down to the user.
Even a talent solely meant for slaughter—if I could control the killing intent and use it only in the right way...
“Seongnyeong Hoilche, Sujeon Gipase.”
To carry the stars of the sky and illuminate the world. That was the chant of the Starfall Heart Cultivation Method.
Hwang Geolgae must have believed I could use my talent the right way. That’s why he taught me a cultivation method to oppose the Evil Stars without resorting to killing.
So I decided to follow that intention. With resolve, I firmly gripped the sword handle.
“…Hmm?”
But despite steeling myself and holding the sword, I didn’t see any notable change in my vision.
Normally, red lines would appear over Jo Harang’s body, telling me where to cut.
“What the—nothing’s happening.”
After all that buildup, now that I was ready to try it, there was no response.
Was there some special condition? Or was it because I was still a beginner in swordsmanship?
Or maybe, like last time, I needed to be in a life-or-death situation for it to activate.
‘No-kill (沒殺)…?’
Even the killer inside seemed confused.
Whatever the reason, it felt like the effect had worn off.
“Tch, let’s just do it next time.”
I returned the sword to the Jinju Eon Clan martial artist with a disinterested face.
“Why? Didn’t you have some kind of epiphany back then?”
She seemed to want me to refine what I gained from our fight.
“I guess… for now, the Hell-Piercing Demon-Slaying Staff is still more my style.”
I picked up the crude but familiar weapon once more.
Jo Harang gave a slight nod, seemingly a bit disappointed, and stepped back.
“You made the right choice, Captain.”
“…What?”
And then, Ilhong suddenly came over and commented out of the blue.
“Not using the sword.”
“Why?”
I tilted my head in confusion, and she hesitated for a moment, as if recalling the past.
“Back in the basement… how do I put this. You didn’t feel like you. The killing aura was so intense, it was a bit scary.”
She said it didn’t feel like me. That something about me felt rough, the killing intent so overwhelming it made her skin crawl.
Like I was about to cross a line and fly off somewhere far and dangerous.
Having lived with me for so long, she was now quick to notice even the smallest changes in me.
“I scared you? Really?”
“Well… maybe it was kind of attractive in a wild way, but… anyway, yeah.”
She trailed off, realizing she was rambling nonsense.
A power that, if used properly, could be a great boon—but if not, could bring great harm. Truly a double-edged sword.
‘Grip the sword (執劍)!’
The killer inside immediately started clamoring for me to grab the sword again after I opted for the safer Dog-Beating Staff.
But if there’s one thing I’ve learned since coming to the Murim world—it’s that doing the opposite of what that bastard tells me usually keeps me out of trouble.
‘Nope, not doing it.’
Hearing my defiant tone, straight from Earth, the killer inside erupted with fury.
A blazing red aura filled the air as if trying to threaten me into submission.
Tssszzzzz—
But to me now, it was laughable.
Maybe it scared me in the past, but look at all the good karma I’ve racked up since.
Heck, back in my Troubleshooter days, they used to say I was possessed by the god of money. And even that guy occasionally gave up profit to do good deeds.
‘Killer, sit your ass down.’
At this point, calling myself a living Buddha wouldn’t even be an exaggeration.
I immediately invoked the full power of the Starfall Heart Cultivation Method and forcibly suppressed the crimson energy.
Shwaaaa—
White energy surged around me and devoured the killer, expelling it instantly.
‘KIEEEK!’
The writhing red aura seemed to scream in agony.
What a pathetic little bastard, really.
But then suddenly, I sensed a shocked gaze from nearby.
“…!”
I locked eyes with Eon Wolyeong—someone I had been avoiding meeting eyes with until now.
She had been watching me, it seemed, and her eyes were wide with disbelief at what she had just seen.
“Dan Mujin, young master… just what exactly are you…?”
“Huh? What about me?”
Why did this scary woman keep spouting these cryptic lines?
Was she trying to stir anxiety again by warning me to be cautious?
“No, it’s nothing… I think we’ve rested enough. Let’s go.”
As soon as our eyes met, she averted her gaze again and stood up.
Seriously, why had she been avoiding me ever since that first introduction through Eun Hwaran? She wasn’t like this before.
“Captain, whatever it is… make sure you apologize later.”
“…Apologize for what, exactly?”
At this point, I seriously began to wonder if I’d unconsciously offended her in some way.
Totally baffling.
“Rest time over! Let’s move out!”
While Working as a Warehouse Assistant, I Heard This a Lot
The warriors of the Jinju Eon Clan began to groan and rise from various spots.
Their short rest was over, and the group resumed transporting the coffin along the road.
At this point, they were about six days away from the Murim Alliance.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Tall trees blurred past on both sides.
Each step from his large feet struck the ground with a thud-thud.
A man dashed through the forest, displaying explosive movement techniques.
“Who the hell is it…?!”
The disheveled hair of Left Blood Law Gwang Hyeolso fluttered violently against the wind. His eyes, marked by a malicious light, flickered between anxiety and rage.
“What kind of bastard keeps interfering with the great cause of our Blood Cult…?!”
Even as he leapt off a branch, his mind was in chaos.
A message had come from a Blood Cultist who had been surveilling the Jinju Eon Clan from the outside. It said the head of the Blood-Asura Heaven-Slaying Jiangshi had been cut off.
And that the ones responsible were trying to bring it to the Murim Alliance to publicize it across the Central Plains.
Incomplete or not, that Jiangshi wasn’t something that could be taken down by just any martial artist.
It was something the Blood Cult had invested years in secret preparation to create.
And yet, there had been no trace of a peak-level master in the area—yet the head was gone?
“Was it that Nangabong bastard?! Or someone else?! Who the hell keeps ruining our great work?!”
His scream of fury echoed through the forest.
Everything they had been preparing beneath the surface for decades—plans they believed to be perfect—had started to fall apart, one by one.
Ta-at!
Gwang Hyeolso launched himself forward again, chasing the trail left by the heavy cart carrying the corpse.
What had already happened was enough to make him unworthy to face the Blood Cult Leader.
Failure was no longer an option.
He ran after the cart with every ounce of strength he had.
And as if his efforts had paid off, he spotted a cart carrying a coffin just two days’ distance from the Murim Alliance.
Shashashak!
With killing intent radiating from his entire body, Gwang Hyeolso charged forward.
Soon, in his field of vision appeared the arrogant fools who dared obstruct the cult’s path.
Boom!
He slammed into the ground in front of the procession, halting the carts and sending the horses into a frenzy. Everything came to a grinding stop.
“Wh-Who the hell are you?!”
“What kind of killing intent is this…?!”
“Everyone, battle formation!”
The Jinju Eon Clan warriors scrambled into formation at the obvious display of hostility.
And just as Gwang Hyeolso was about to draw his sword to tear them apart—
“…Hmm?”
He spotted a familiar face.
That annoyingly handsome face, the one who persistently provoked him and disrupted the battle where Murong Cheonghye was captured.
“You… it was you…!”
At last, Gwang Hyeolso realized the identity of the one who had repeatedly thwarted them.
“Dog-Beating Dragon, Dan Mujin—! It was you! It’s always been you!”
From the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament, to the interference at the cliff, to this very moment when their second great undertaking was about to be exposed—
He had been there every time.
It was that bastard’s fault he’d fallen and lost favor with the Blood Cult Leader.
With that realization, Gwang Hyeolso’s eyes flared red like blood, almost as if weeping crimson tears.
“You bastard, why are you popping up again?!”
Dan Mujin practically jumped in disbelief at Gwang Hyeolso’s sudden appearance.
In this vast Central Plains, the two had once again crossed paths through a persistent grudge.
“For the love of—just get lost! Why do you people show up wherever I go?!”
It was time to bring this cursed bond to an end.
Determined, Gwang Hyeolso let out a furious roar and charged at him.
“I’LL RIP YOU TO SHREDS—!”
A maniac with blood-red eyes barreled toward us like a tidal wave.
BOOM!
The Coordinated Formation Strike desperately formed by the Jinju Eon Clan’s masters was torn apart by a single slash of his bloody sword flux.
He had seemingly come alone to retrieve the Jiangshi, which had been imbued with all manner of the Blood Cult’s spells before it could fall into the hands of the Murim Alliance—but even alone, his strength was overwhelming.
Schaak!
A ray of killing intent ripped through the ground.
The martial artists who stepped up to stop him were struck down one by one.
“So it was you?! The one who took down the Blood-Asura Heaven-Slaying Jiangshi!”
“Hey! Jo Harang is right next to me and there are other masters here too! Why am I always the one who gets blamed?!”
Well… fine, this time was my fault.
“DIE!”
Even while fending off multiple opponents, Gwang Hyeolso still launched bursts of sword flux at me, fueled by his obsession.
A moment of carelessness, and a murderous slash sliced through the air—I barely dodged, predicting the red trajectory.
SCHAAK—!
As I dove to the side, one slash came so close it nicked my hair.
“It has to be you! No—it IS you! You’re the only one capable of such acts—!”
This lunatic… seemed to have developed an unhealthy obsession with me.
Maybe I provoked him too much back at the cliff.
“Mujin!”
THUNK!
Just as I caught my breath, Jo Harang blocked an incoming slash with her broadsword.
Even she looked strained—the blue blade aura surrounding her sword flickered, on the verge of shattering.
“It must’ve been a mistake! For the Cult to label you a third-rate threat! That’s absurd!”
Apparently, I was now quite infamous within the Blood Cult.
I had begged to become famous in Beijing, but all I got were weird rumors like “School-Breaking Fiend.” It was like one of those cursed wishes from a monkey’s paw.
“I’ve decided. No matter what, today—I’m going to kill you!”
His voice was full of resolve.
And with it came a storm of sword flux flooding in from all directions.
“Shit!”
Schaak! Srek!
I twisted my whole body like I was dodging bullets.
The murderous arcs came without pause. I was riddled with gashes, but honestly, just surviving was a miracle.
But as the price for staying alive—
Clatter.
“No! My Hell-Piercing Demon-Slaying Staff…!”
The staff I had named while vowing revenge for the Corpse Staff was split clean in two.
And the bastard charged at me, seeing I was now weaponless.
“…Captain, catch!”
In that moment of desperation, Ilhong threw a sword to me.
I snatched the flying hilt like an arrow—
And crimson vision returned.
“DIE—!”
Not with sword flux, but with his own blade, Gwang Hyeolso lunged at me—
And I saw lines drawn across his body, red and vivid, showing me exactly where to strike.
‘…!’