Return of the Heavenly Sword

Chapter 209

Chapter 209. Heavenly Emperor Cult (2)

After looking down at the corpse of the shaman whose head had exploded for a moment.

I turned my head and looked at the scattered men in black.

Junior Sister Choyeon had subdued them all, leaving them alive.

When I looked with my second eye, the sinister energy that had been lingering in their heads was dissipating.

"It seems these people were victims of this guy's spell."

I had roughly expected it.

The future Heavenly Emperor Cult had built a fairly large force.

Among them, there were many pieces of trash who had simply latched onto the Heavenly Emperor Cult, but there were also hundreds who had been affected by their spells.

No matter how outstanding a shaman the Teaching Demon was, it was not an easy task to control hundreds of people at the same time.

"And this guy must have been bound by that Teaching Demon's spell."

So, the Teaching Demon only controlled his disciples and worthy martial artists who could be used as guards and carriers with his spells.

I guessed that he probably controlled the other miscellaneous people through the disciples who were under his control.

I turned my head and looked toward Ningdu, where we had come from.

As if she had noticed the meaning in my gaze, Junior Sister Baek Hyang asked.

"Then the shamanism that was on that Four-Knot Beggar must have been lifted too, Senior Brother."

"Then the Beggars' Sect will be moving soon. Are you planning to wait and move with them?"

I shook my head at that Dang Clan guy's question.

"Since this guy was under the Teaching Demon's shamanism, it is highly likely that the Teaching Demon has noticed his death. We will depart immediately without delay."

Fortunately, we had succeeded in finding out where the Teaching Demon was hiding.

Unable to withstand the torture, this shaman had revealed the location and then his head had exploded immediately after.

"Kuhahahaha! As expected of Brother Jin! We should just charge in right now and wipe them out without waiting for those beggars, shouldn't we!"

Hwangbo Ak added, pounding his fists.

"Brother Jin, just destroy the formation of those sneaky shaman bastards! This Hwangbo will crush the skulls of the rest of them."

***

The brightly burning talisman quickly turned to ash and disappeared.

The Heavenly Emperor Cult leader, who had been looking at the burnt talisman for a moment, frowned.

"What a pathetic fool. To think he got caught by those damn beggars."

The cult leader's impression of his disciple's death was incredibly cold.

The cult leader, who turned his head, spoke to the fourth disciple who was still prostrated on the floor.

"Summon everyone here immediately."

"A-are you planning to fight a battle with the Beggars' Sect?"

"Hah. Do I look like a man who would be scared of mere damn beggars in your eyes?"

The disciple hastily apologized, striking his forehead on the floor.

"H-hiiik. I-I am sorry."

Blood flowed from his forehead as his skin peeled off.

The Heavenly Emperor Cult leader, who had been watching the scene for a moment, waved his hand as if to tell him to get lost.

At that, the disciple quickly got up.

And just as the disciple was turning to leave, the cult leader asked him.

"Do you remember my command?"

"Y-yes! Master! I-I will send a letter to everyone right away!"

The cult leader, who nodded, propped his chin on his hand and grinned.

"This is for the better. I was disappointed that I didn't have enough useful men anyway."

If he succeeded in capturing the elders of the Beggars' Sect, and furthermore, the Beggars' Sect Leader, his military strength could be strengthened several times over.

He could even dismantle the Beggars' Sect that had been searching for them.

From then on, there would be no need to act so secretly.

Although it was a contradiction to face the Beggars' Sect head-on, which he had been avoiding all this time, the Heavenly Emperor Cult leader was confident.

On the mountain where the cult leader was staying, a very large and powerful absolute formation had been installed.

An absolute formation that he had personally installed with great effort.

No matter how widely known the Beggars' Sect Leader was in the martial world, he could not be a match for the Heavenly Emperor Cult leader within this formation.

Although it was not what he had intended, it turned out that he had inadvertently lured the Beggars' Sect members into a trap.

***

In the dead of night.

In a cave on a back mountain near a village called Sanming in central Fujian Province.

"Oh, Heavenly Emperor!!"

"Please lead us to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss!!"

Residents from Sanming and nearby villages were repeatedly praying and shouting screams that sounded like screams.

The inside of the cave was filled with a hazy smoke.

It was a smoke that blurred the mind.

To prevent this smoke from dissipating, the gatherings of the Heavenly Emperor Cult were usually held in enclosed spaces like caves.

Looking at the people who were repeatedly praying, the shaman shook the cursed object in his hand.

With the sound of the bell echoing from the cursed object, the energy inside the cave began to resonate.

In time with this, the shaman chanted an incantation.

His spell and the sound of the bell, along with the ritual objects placed in the cave, harmonized to form a formation.

The sight of the cave disappeared from the vision of those whose minds had already become blurred.

Instead, they were witnessing a completely different scene.

"Oh, my baby!! Oh. Oh, my baby!"

The daughter who had lost her life to an illness a few years ago appeared in the mother's eyes.

- Mother! It's so, so painful. Please. Please get me out of this hell.

- Please send me to paradise, Mother!

The daughter, screaming in pain, shouted for help.

"J-just wait a little longer, Huiwon! M-mother will definitely save you! Okay? I'll pray to the Heavenly Emperor and definitely send you to paradise!"

Some others also encountered their deceased parents.

Those who encountered their family, lovers, and friends shouting for help from hell all shed tears and rubbed their palms together.

They wanted to save them, even if it meant offering everything they had to the Heavenly Emperor.

Some others, instead of encountering the dead, saw paradise unfolding before their eyes.

"Haa."

Paradise was a place full of peace and pleasure.

It was so different from the present world, which was full of only pain.

It was to the point where they wanted to go there somehow, even if it meant offering their lives to the Heavenly Emperor.

"Aaaah!! Oh, Heavenly Emperor!!"

"Please look down upon us!!"

Screams mixed with pleasure and screams, tears and sorrow, echoed repeatedly in the cave.

The shaman who had cast the formation looked down at the scene with a smirk.

Among them, there were also a number of beautiful women mixed in.

"Hmm. Today, I shall bestow the Heavenly Emperor's mercy upon that wench."

The shaman, who was looking at a young woman with a gaze full of lust, frowned.

Someone was approaching.

He wondered if it was the Beggars' Sect beggars who had recently become a problem, but it wasn't.

The shaman clicked his tongue and left the cave.

A man dressed in black was waiting for him there, prostrated on the ground.

"You are the fourth junior brother's follower."

"That is so, O Messenger of the Heavenly Emperor."

The eight messengers, who were disciples of the Heavenly Emperor Cult leader, each led their own followers.

They were different from the believers who were praying in the cave over there.

The followers were people who were bound by shamanism. In other words, they were a kind of slave.

And the fourth messenger's slave handed a letter to the shaman.

The shaman who confirmed the contents of the letter, the third disciple of the Heavenly Emperor Cult leader, frowned.

"Tsk. What a foolish fellow."

The sixth messenger was dead. The assailant was likely the Beggars' Sect.

Because of this, his master, the Heavenly Emperor Cult leader, was gathering the messengers.

"I have confirmed it, so you may leave now."

"I will obey your command."

After the man in black left, the shaman turned around and headed for the cave.

His excitement had cooled. The lust that was about to rise had also disappeared.

His power over life and death was in his master's hands.

Now was not the time to enjoy amusements.

Inside the cave, the figures of the believers slowly waking from their illusions could be seen.

The third disciple spoke to them.

"There is a sinister group of people who are trying to oppose the Heavenly Emperor who will save you."

"Ooooh!! Oh, Heavenly Emperor!!"

"Such impudent fellows deserve to be punished by heaven!!"

To think they would oppose the being who would save them, and furthermore, their precious ones in hell.

It was something they had to stop, even if it meant sacrificing their lives.

"Good. From now on, I will select those who will fight against that sinister group."

"Please! Please take me with you!"

"Even if this life of mine ends, I will definitely protect the Heavenly Emperor!!"

At the passionate reaction of the believers, the third disciple grinned.

Events like this were happening in Fujian and the surrounding area.

***

A few days later.

Hundreds of people gathered on the mountain where the Heavenly Emperor Cult leader was staying.

The seven disciples of the cult leader. And the followers are bound by the disciples' spells.

Finally, there were the ordinary believers who had come here on their own accord after being brainwashed by drugs and shamanism.

The Heavenly Emperor Cult leader asked the gathered disciples.

"How is the movement of the Beggars' Sect?"

Unlike when they were dealing with the believers and followers, the disciples all answered cautiously, watching his expression.

"Th-there was no particular movement in the village where I was."

"I-I was also the same."

"W-when I was departing, o-only then did the B-Beggars' Sect members start to show some restless movements."

"Hmm. It seems those damn beggars are finally starting to gather."

The Heavenly Emperor Cult leader smirked.

"Heheheh. I am truly curious. How those damn beggars who call themselves the Righteous Path will deal with our believers scattered on the mountain."

Hundreds of believers were currently scattered throughout the mountain.

If they were to invade this place, the Beggars' Sect members would be caught in the formation and attacked by those believers.

Of course, most of them were ordinary people who had not learned a single martial art.

They were just intoxicated by drugs and the formation.

They had almost no martial power.

That was why he was curious.

Indeed, how those hypocritical damn beggars would deal with those powerless people.

And even while caught in a formation.

"Heheheh."

Something was felt by the Heavenly Emperor Cult leader's senses as he was imagining the amusing spectacle.

It was a vibration transmitted through the formation connected to him.

It meant that intruders were entering this mountain.

"Let's go out."

No sooner had the cult leader's command fallen than the disciples hurriedly exited the hall.

The cult leader also moved his steps leisurely.

The place where the cult leader was staying was a kind of mountain villa.

The cult leader who had exited the hall whistled softly.

At that, four men hurriedly approached the hall.

The four men were each holding one leg of a four-person palanquin.

It was a sight that would have made anyone who had been active in the martial world for a long time gasp in surprise.

All of those holding the legs of the four-person palanquin were martial artists who were quite well-known in the martial world.

They were skilled individuals comparable to the elders or leaders of the martial units of prestigious families or sects.

Such people were carrying a four-person palanquin.

Moreover, after stopping in front of the Heavenly Emperor Cult leader, they put down the palanquin and prostrated themselves.

The Heavenly Emperor Cult naturally got on that palanquin as if it were a matter of course.

"Depart."

"We will follow the will of the Heavenly Emperor!"

Only then did the four masters, who had gotten up, lift the palanquin and run out.

Before long, they reached a place where the front view was wide open.

The Heavenly Emperor Cult leader used a spell to enhance his eyesight.

Far away, at the entrance of the mountain, the figures of people climbing the mountain could be seen.

"Hmm. How strange."

Although their clothes were a bit tattered, they did not look like beggars.

Their number was also small.

At most, seven. Moreover, their ages all seemed to be between twenty and thirty.

It meant they were brats of an age to be called the rising generation in the martial world.

"Tsk. It seems some foolish things have rolled in by mistake."

They would die after getting caught in the formation anyway.

Just as the Heavenly Emperor Cult leader, who had lost interest, was about to give the order to return.

The fourth disciple, who was also examining the entrance of the mountain with a shamanistic spell, suddenly shouted.

"M-master! I-it's him!"

"Him? What do you mean by that?"

"The one at the very front! That's the Ghost Sword!"

"What?"

The Heavenly Emperor Cult leader's eyes bulged, and he cast a shamanistic spell again to examine the brats.

Ghost Sword.

Because of him, the Beggars' Sect had started looking for them. Even before they had properly increased their numbers.

Thanks to that, several of the Heavenly Emperor Cult leader's plans, which he had made when he first came down from the mountain, had been disrupted.

The corners of the Heavenly Emperor Cult leader's mouth went up as he looked at the Ghost Sword.

It was a smile deeply stained with killing intent.

"Heheheh. Oh yes. I will make you my slave before the Beggars' Sect Leader."

Just at that moment, the Ghost Sword's head turned slightly.

Was it his imagination?

The Heavenly Emperor Cult leader met the Ghost Sword's eyes.

Even though he was watching him from a very long distance with a shamanistic spell.

Also, a sinister red energy was flickering in the Ghost Sword's eyes.

At the moment when the Heavenly Emperor Cult leader drew the character for 'heaven' on his forehead out of curiosity and apprehension, the Ghost Sword's lips moved.

Although the voice was not heard, it was a very clear shape of the mouth.

- There you are, trash.