novelraw Chapter 152 : Dropping a Stone into a Pit (1)
Chapter 152 : Dropping a Stone into a Pit (1)
Chapter 152: Dropping a Stone into a Pit (1)
Gui Yeongja instinctively felt that this situation was something like a well-rehearsed play.
The reason was simple.
‘……It was too smooth—too, too smooth.’
Everything had proceeded far too easily according to plan.
Of course, Gui Yeongja had already put countless schemes into motion within the Blood Cult.
And, as now, there were many moments when not a single variable occurred.
‘But that was only when all of my preparatory work had been completed perfectly.’
The current scheme had been interfered with by Ma Geollyun, who had barged into the plan and, together with Jeok Seongja, had altered things to suit their taste.
Yet up until now not even the smallest variable had appeared.
‘The enemies were acting as if they had been waiting, and were taking every hit.’
The escort party that had been sent by the Tang escort agency was composed of the weakest fighters among Tang’s forces.
When they hid a poisoned vial among the escort goods of the escort party, the security had been lax to the fullest extent.
And until the moment the escort party appeared over the ridge where they were hiding.
A good soldier checked whether the enemy’s involvement had been absent when misfortune piled up, but when unexpected fortune stacked up he also checked whether they were falling into an enemy’s trap.
From that perspective, this series of circumstances made him feel instinctively uneasy.
“Hmm, what’s the matter?”
“……!”
At that moment someone addressed Gui Yeongja.
It was Jeok Seongja.
But the expression that crossed Jeok Seongja’s face as he examined him was far from worried.
He smirked and said,
“Well, has something else displeased Sir Do?”
“……No. It’s just that I haven’t been feeling well since this morning.”
“Tsk tsk. To be unwell on such an important day.”
“I’m sorry. But it was nothing to worry over.”
“Then understood. But…….”
“Yes?”
Jeok Seongja hesitated briefly, then spoke casually.
A cold chill had crept into his gaze as he looked at Gui Yeongja.
“Well, it seems you have no more business to attend to here. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to go see Ma Geollyun.”
“……!”
The meaning was clear: don’t hang around looking for something to scavenge—leave.
Although Gui Yeongja had been forced into a liaison with the Heaven-Piercing Sect, Jeok Seongja had kept a leash on Do Hoemyeong until the end.
A worthless little vermin of a orthodox faction.
Gui Yeongja wanted, in his heart, to snap Jeok Seongja’s neck on the spot.
“……Yes. I will do so.”
He bowed his head and then stepped back.
As he turned away, a cold murderous intent gleamed across Gui Yeongja’s face.
His mind raced quickly.
It could just be his hypersensitivity, something he did not need to worry about.
‘For now, it would be best to keep the main cult’s involvement to a minimum and start preparing to cut off tails.’
Still, he decided not to ignore the instinctive danger signal.
On Wol Mountain, whose terrain was savage beyond measure.
“You bastards! Can’t you stop there!!”
“Would you stop, you idiot!”
“You sons of—!!”
A breath-stealing chase had unfolded.
Of course, the pursuers were the tracking squad of the Qingcheng Sect, led by Ma Geollyun, and the pursued were the warriors of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
The Sichuan Tang Clan warriors pushed deftly through the mountain undergrowth, but outwardly they did not appear to be in normal condition.
They bore many large and small wounds across their bodies, and some ran carrying fallen comrades on their shoulders or backs.
‘Damn them! Why are they so fast? Did Tang only practice spiritual arts?!’
Ma Geollyun could not contain his excitement and thought bitterly.
The dangerously close distance never seemed to close.
The Qingcheng Sect’s spiritual arts were formidable and not to be underestimated in the jianghu.
Surprisingly, the crude spiritual arts displayed by Tang’s rank-and-file were in no way inferior to theirs.
Moreover, since the pursued seemed to understand the terrain here much better than they did, whenever they thought they had closed in the distance widened again several times.
Because of that, Ma Geollyun’s impatience burned.
‘Damn it! We wounded them badly, but we didn’t capture a single one!’
To frame them as the culprits who had manipulated the Tang clan, those men needed to be captured alive.
Yet despite Jeok Seongja’s threats, they had not secured a single divine weapon.
He ground his teeth.
‘Damn! This was supposed to be a catching opportunity!!’
Just then, when Ma Geollyun could not hold back his anger any longer.
One of his First Disciples, who had been chasing beside him, cautiously spoke.
“……Master. Something strange is happening.”
“What?”
Ma Geollyun answered irritably, but his disciple did not relent and continued.
“It seems they are driving us somewhere.”
“What nonsense is that!”
“Look, Master. Considering the severity of the injuries those men inflicted on us, they could not possibly keep running for this long.”
In the battle fought before the chase began, the Tang warriors had clearly inflicted heavy damage before them.
At first he hadn’t noticed anything odd, but the more time passed, the more he felt a prickling unease.
If they had been bleeding from such cuts, someone would surely have weakened and collapsed by now.
But among Tang’s people there was not a single one who seemed to be losing strength.
It was a reasonable question, but Ma Geollyun, whose eyes were fixed on the prospect of merit, did not hear it at all.
“Ha, is that something to say?! If one’s life were on the line, one would use every last drop of strength!”
“Master, you shouldn’t conclude so easily. And that’s not the only strange thing. There are also reports of strange beings who were cut by blades yet did not bleed…….”
“Shut up!”
“Several disciples are increasingly suffering from the poisons hurled by them while being pursued. The more we chase, the weaker our forces feel, Master. It feels like we’ve walked into a trap, so we should halt the pursuit for a moment—!”
“Shut up!!”
Thwack!
Ma Geollyun struck the disciple who had been speaking bluntly with a palm.
Perhaps unprepared, the First Disciple could not block; he took the blow in the face and rolled on the ground.
He passed out, groaning in pain.
To the stunned other disciples, Ma Geollyun shouted with force gathered in his cultivation.
“If you spout nonsense I’ll kill you first! Chase them at once!!”
“…….”
Anger flared in the eyes of the First Disciples, but they soon gave up and obeyed Ma Geollyun’s orders.
Already realizing that if they did not obey that crazed madman’s orders, they would meet the same end, the disciples continued the chase.
The pursuit pressed on, and the two groups entered deep into the very heart of Wol Mountain.
Yet perhaps because Ma Geollyun had clenched his teeth and urged them forward relentlessly—
The distance had shrunk to the slightest gap.
‘Good, I’ve got them! Just one more step, one more!’
At the moment when Ma Geollyun reached out to grab the enemy’s nape just within arm’s reach—
Thud!
‘Huh?’
The sensation beneath his right foot suddenly felt strange.
The ground sank sharply, and he felt his body being pulled straight down.
This was dangerous.
Whoosh!
Ma Geollyun instinctively realized it and twisted his body, springing sideways in haste.
But because he moved against momentum, his motion was uncontrolled.
Crash!
His body slammed into the trunk of a tree and stopped.
“Ugh.”
As he groaned and tried to assess the situation—
“Khk!!”
“W-what?!”
“……!!”
Cries of pain erupted from his disciples where he had just escaped.
A swamp had suddenly appeared, and their bodies were half-submerged within it.
“Everyone, stop!!”
“Freeze!!”
When ten of their comrades sank into the swamp, the twenty First Disciples behind them halted abruptly.
“Fire!”
“Throw everything!!”
“……!!”
Then, from all directions, chilling shouts rang out.
Whiz!
Thwip-thwap!
The air split apart with shrieking sounds from the dense surrounding thickets.
“Block it!”
“Ambush!!”
It was a trap set by the Sichuan Tang Clan.
Slash!
Swish-swish!
Those who had stopped before the swamp drew their swords and struck down the flying projectiles.
Thud!
Thwack-thud!
“Gahk!”
“Ugh!”
But those who had fallen into the swamp couldn’t even defend properly, and their bodies were riddled with hidden weapons flying in from all sides.
A horrifying scene unfolded in an instant.
Like cacti sprouting in the desert, the First Disciples’ bodies were studded with countless hidden weapons as they turned into cold corpses.
The warriors of the Qingcheng Sect, whose eyes lost their light in a blink, sank deeper into the swamp below.
“Ah, ahh.”
“Cheongun! No!!”
“Don’t move! If you try to save him, you’ll die too!”
Some First Disciples tried to rescue their comrades, but others, keeping their wits about them, held them back.
The remaining disciples quickly formed a circular sword formation to block the enemies’ attacks.
‘It—it really was a trap?’
In the midst of this chaos, Ma Geollyun, standing alone, blinked his eyes.
Clang!
Clang-clang!
But only for a moment—when the fierce battlefield scene came into view, he realized the situation clearly.
‘Damn it, we’re doomed.’
The image of Jeok Seongja’s contemptuous gaze flashed through his mind.
There was now only one way to reverse this situation.
Shing!
Flash!
‘I’ll cut down every last insect of the Tang Clan!’
The instant he drew his sword, he charged into the dense undergrowth.
Gathering his supreme True Qi, his eyes swiftly caught the figures hidden in the brush, shooting hidden weapons.
Shraaa!
His sword swing wasn’t even visible—
Already, the blade had carved through the air, tracing a chilling arc.
It was a perfect strike, where the subtleties of fast and slow were exquisitely intertwined.
‘You think killing a few of my men will give you the upper hand?’
Whatever his vile temperament, Ma Geollyun’s skill was genuine.
Dozens of interwoven sword lines shimmered brilliantly—
The Qingcheng Sect’s supreme sword art, the Seventy-Two Wave Sword (七十二波劍), had been unleashed.
Kwa-ga-ga-ga!
Pazzzz!
The sword waves tore through the air, ripping apart the thickets like a storm.
“Hmph!”
The Tang Clan warrior hiding within was revealed.
Caught completely off guard, his face froze in shock.
At that critical moment—
Flash!
‘What?!’
Ma Geollyun’s eyes widened.
The shadow before him flickered, and suddenly the enemy’s figure vanished.
“Tang brother, be careful.”
“Th-thank you.”
‘……That man?’
Unlike the Tang warrior, a man with bronzed, muscular skin bared to the world spoke kindly.
As Ma Geollyun stood, bewildered—
‘Tch, really now. Leaving all the troublesome work to your senior, are you?’
Moomyeong, who had come to Wol Mountain at Sewoon’s request, thought inwardly.
Moomyeong turned his gaze away from the warrior he had just saved.
Twitch.
Ma Geollyun involuntarily shuddered.
‘Well, since I already gave him the promised gift, I suppose I should do my part too.’
Recalling the item tucked inside his robes, Moomyeong smiled.
“Haha! You Central Plains people are far too weak!”
He charged at the enemies, transformed into a proud warrior of the Beast Palace (野獸宮).