novelraw Chapter 205 : The Sichuan Turmoil (1)
Chapter 205 : The Sichuan Turmoil (1)
Chapter 205: The Sichuan Turmoil
Those who arrived late and confirmed the horrific scene of the Heaven-Piercing Gang were pouring out their bewilderment.
“……!!”
“W-What is this?”
Tang Serin, along with Gong Taemun and Yongbi of the Martial Exalt Union, stood there with their mouths agape.
Everywhere the wind passed, bloodstains had been smeared over everything.
Amid the collapsed halls, melted bone fragments lay scattered in all directions. Even for veterans who had weathered countless storms of the jianghu, it was a sight so horrific they could not suppress their shock.
No one could easily bring themselves to speak.
This was not the aftermath of a battle.
It was the result of nothing but retribution left behind to completely annihilate the opposing side.
No matter how great their crimes were, to say this was Sewoon’s handiwork was far too cruel.
“Hooh?”
Only Nameless looked around with interest, an unusual gleam in his eyes.
At a glance, Nameless realized that these traces were not Sewoon’s, but the work of the Poison Demon.
“……It wasn’t Tang Gongja who did this, right.”
At that moment, Hayoung cautiously muttered to herself.
Her complexion was deathly pale.
Though she did not want to recall it, the image of Sewoon, steeped in madness and carrying out a blood calamity inside the spell formation, kept flickering before her eyes.
“Sewoon!”
“Clan Head!”
But only briefly—soon the others raised their voices again, searching for Sewoon.
Kuuurung!
At that moment, the piled-up debris twisted as if an earthquake had struck.
A single vortex of wind surged upward.
Just as everyone searching placed their hands on their weapons.
“Looks like everyone’s here.”
“Clan Head!”
Sewoon, having obtained the full power of Qiongqi, revealed himself before them.
“Sewoon, are you all right?”
“We are relieved to see that our liege is unharmed. Might all of this have been done by you, my liege?”
Tang Serin asked about Sewoon’s condition in a worried voice, while Gong Taemun posed his question with proper courtesy.
To that, Sewoon slowly replied.
“No. All of this devastation was done by the Poison Demon.”
“Ah.”
“……T-The Poison Demon, Yelü Sheng!”
“Why would that old demon do something like this?”
At the mention of the Poison Demon’s actions, the gloom that had settled on Hayoung’s face lifted.
“It seems they caused internal strife among themselves. Or perhaps the Blood Cult took advantage of the chaos to covet something the Heaven-Piercing Gang possessed.”
“……!!”
Everyone was shocked by Sewoon’s words.
Even so, it was hard to understand why the Poison Demon would massacre them like this.
However, since even Sewoon himself did not clearly know the reason, he immediately shifted the topic elsewhere.
“Yeo Seon.”
“Yes!”
“I have found Heaven-Piercing Gang’s hidden treasure vault within the ruins.”
“!!”
“All the wealth, cursed objects, and secret manuals sleeping there will be moved to the main house. You will take responsibility and prepare the transport.”
“I obey!”
Yeo Seon clasped her hands in salute and showed her respect.
Gong Taemun’s and Yongbi’s eyes shone brightly.
When a war ended in victory, what remained was the winner’s sole claim.
Starting with the treasure vault, everything Heaven-Piercing Gang had held would now become the Tang Clan’s.
Following Guizhou, the Five Evils of the Demonic Alliance, and now Heaven-Piercing Gang as well, Sewoon’s name would soon shake the jianghu.
Just as the hearts of the two from the Martial Exalt Union were swelling with grandeur.
“Ahem, then what do you plan to do now, Palace Head.”
Nameless, who was disguised as the Beast Palace warrior Pata Myeong, spoke up.
“By good fortune, the Poison Demon took care of this place for us, but we still have two battlefields left.”
“Two battlefields left……?”
Gong Taemun tilted his head, but Sewoon nodded and answered.
“Yes. The Southern Sea Sun Palace, and the Sichuan Tang Clan.”
“……!!”
Once again, Gong Taemun’s mouth fell open wide enough to see straight through.
Having joined Sewoon’s forces not long ago, this was the first moment he truly grasped how vast the grand design Sewoon had laid out was.
“As you know, the Sun Palace attacked the Southern Sea Sword Sect. Given that the Southern Sea Sword Sect is established on Hainan Island, it will be difficult for them to receive reinforcements from the Murim Alliance. If we do not hurry, they could be wiped out.”
“That’s true.”
“……However, if I may dare to speak frankly. For us, the main house is actually more urgent, my liege.”
Originally, Sewoon’s plan extended only to saving the Southern Sea Sword Sect.
But Yeo Seon added another remark.
“No less than three forces have joined together and are pressing directly against the main house.”
At that moment, three names surfaced in Sewoon’s mind.
The sect leader of the Kongtong Sect, the Demon-Suppressing Charcoal Sword, Myeongwolja.
One of the Ten Great Experts Under Heaven, the Golden Wave Dignitary, Roh Gyeongmyeong.
And.
The one who, after crossing Gansu, rose to prominence as a key pillar supporting the White Path Union at the same time as becoming a leading figure among the Four Great Trading Companies Under Heaven.
The owner of the Iga Trading Company.
“Lee Jamyeong.”
A being fated to share an ill destiny with Sewoon.
Then Sewoon spoke.
“Was there no word about the Mount Emei Sect joining the battle?”
“Yes. Even when we received the last carrier pigeon, neither the Divine Physician nor the Mount Emei Sect showed any movement.”
“It seems that after their talks with the Alliance, they have broken the pact they made with you, Clan Head.”
“…….”
“Hm.”
At this unexpected revelation, Hayoung’s eyes trembled as if struck by an earthquake.
As someone from that sect, and as a disciple, she herself could not help but be utterly bewildered as to why her sect and master were failing to keep their promise.
At that moment, Gong Taemun spoke.
“The Southern Sea Sword Sect is a member of the Murim Alliance anyway, is it not? Is there any need for us to expend our strength to save a place that has no relation to you, Clan Head. Please head straight to the main house, my liege.”
“……!”
As someone from the unorthodox path of Guizhou, Gong Taemun saw not the slightest reason to help the Southern Sea Sword Sect, and thus coldly suggested abandoning them.
Yet Tang Serin, and even Hayoung, could not bring themselves to refute him.
How could one abandon their own blood kin and instead go help another place?
Sewoon silently looked up at the sky.
The sky, heavy with dark clouds, was unbearably gloomy.
At last, when Sewoon opened his mouth, everyone’s gaze converged on him.
“I……”
For depending on that choice, salvation would descend upon one place, and ruin upon another.
The border between Sichuan and Gansu.
Deep within the rugged mountains of Jiuzhaigou County.
Chaechang!
Uwaaaah!
Terrifying clashes of blades and the roars of martial artists thundered loudly through the air.
Against the allied forces of the Iga Trading Company that had descended from Gansu, the forces of the Sichuan Tang Clan were continuing the war.
But naturally, this was not a full-scale frontal battle.
Facing the overwhelmingly superior numbers of the Iga Trading Company’s martial artists, the disciples of the Kongtong Sect, and wandering warriors, the Tang Clan’s forces were engaging in guerrilla warfare throughout the mountains.
“Block them all!!”
“Kill them!!”
“Don’t retreat!!”
And at the very heart of that chaos, two figures were rampaging through the enemy ranks with overwhelming prowess.
Sswaeaek!
Pa-at!
Along with shockwave sounds that tore the air apart, brilliant silver light flared in all directions.
“Keogh!”
“Kk, kkeuk!”
Pupuk!
Seogeok!
At the same time, horrific sounds of flesh being pierced and the groans of enemies erupted everywhere.
Hidden weapons, embroidering the air like spiderwebs, were precisely boring into the throats of enemies on all sides.
Tang Muyeol.
The former Clan Head of the Sichuan Tang Clan, and Sewoon’s father, was gripping daggers and hidden weapons instead of the life-saving needles he had held for so long.
“He’s just a fool who lost the position of Clan Head to his own son!”
“He’s not a martial artist, he’s a physician! Charge again at once!!”
“Seal off all escape routes and slit his throat!”
In truth, the martial artists of the Iga Trading Company alliance had never considered Tang Muyeol a proper fighting force.
For many years, he had lived a life closer to that of a physician than a martial artist, and they thought of him as a backroom old man who had lost the Clan Head’s seat to a wet-behind-the-ears Sewoon.
However, after several days of warfare, not a single person among the allied martial artists still thought that way.
Pabat!
Sswaeaek!
“He, he’s coming!”
“Everyone, block hiiim!!”
Once more, along with shockwave sounds, a torrential rain of hidden weapons poured down from the sky.
‘No—when did he ascend to such a realm?!’
‘He’s using bizarre hidden weapons at exactly the right moments. Without fully mastering hidden weapon techniques, this would be impossible……!’
‘Didn’t he lose the Clan Head position to his son because his martial attainment had fallen far behind?!’
No one could even guess what had happened, but Tang Muyeol’s martial prowess had surged to an unimaginable degree.
At that moment, Tang Muyeol poured his formidable inner qi straight into a lion’s roar.
“Any who dare raise their blades against the Tang Clan—none shall return alive……!”
Chiiiiik!
In an instant, green-hued mist stormed through the enemy ranks.
Within it, flesh twisted and screams burst forth.
Tang Muyeol, now scattering all manner of lethal poisons and hidden weapons through the air, resembled an enraged ferocious tiger.
Yet the ones blocking the allied martial artists were not Tang Muyeol alone.
There was even a deceased expert from the previous generation—someone no one knew why had suddenly appeared here.
Kwaaaarururung!
In an instant, extreme flames, reminiscent of lava erupting from a volcano, surged through the air.
“Kkeuaaaak!!”
“My arm—my arrrm!!”
“Put it out, put the fire oooout!!”
Hwarureuk!
Chiii!
Along with the horrifying stench of burning flesh, enemies struck directly by the flames screamed in agony.
Deaths by burning—said to be the most excruciating way to die—were occurring everywhere.
And there was a single being who, with flames blazing across his entire body, was turning every enemy into mere handfuls of ash.
Faced with that unimaginable art of blazing flames, the allied martial artists trembled in terror.
“F-Flame King. Why is the Flame King here?!”
“Jin Mubek……! That evil spirit has returned……!”
Flame King Jin Mubek.
The old master, who had concealed his identity under the name Gu Yongyeon while leading the Tang Clan’s Ten Thousand Iron Hall, had finally revealed himself after many long years.
The allied martial artists could not hide their confusion.
‘The Flame King is clearly an expert from the previous generation. Why is the one who annihilated the Ghost Flame Sect and vanished suddenly appearing from the Tang Clan?!’
‘Damn it! I heard Jin Mubek had no particular ties to the Tang Clan either, aside from the long-dead Poison Commander Tang Eui-tae?!’
Step.
Jin Mubek took a single step forward.
Though he had lived for countless years in a smithy, doing nothing but hammering metal.
“Ghost Flame Extinguishing Fire.”
“……!!”
Kwaaaah!!
Precisely because of that, the martial instinct he had accumulated all those years was now erupting in full force.
Stamping his foot and charging forward, Jin Mubek spun his body and unleashed searing heat.
The flames spread like blossoming flower buds, engulfing every enemy spread across the surroundings.
Hwarureureuk!
Hwarureuk!
“Kkeuaaaak!!”
“S-Save me……!!”
Once again, screams began to pour out from all directions.
Wandering warriors, throwing away the weapons they clutched in terror as they fled, were caught by the pursuing flames and quickly burned black like charcoal.
Jin Mubek’s art of blazing flames had evolved to a level incomparable to his former state.
Only the well-trained disciples of the Kongtong Sect were able to raise their qi and withstand it; elsewhere, endless wails of agony echoed without end.
Thus, Tang Muyeol—swift and precise,
And Jin Mubek—violent and destructive.
Each of the two martial artists was ravaging the enemy ranks in his own way.