Swordless Demonic Path

Chapter 78 : The Revived Body

A high wall stretched long beyond the back garden. The wall, which surrounded two artificial mountains called Seosan and Namsan, was a boundary.

Inside it was a forbidden area where no one from the inn could enter.

Pavilions that looked like watchtowers were located with the wall in between.

Although it was originally a place where one could enjoy the scenery, now there were warriors standing guard.

"The higher-ups have ordered a two-shift system. It seems we've lost our night's sleep for a while."

"Since someone died in the separate room, we'll have to suffer for a while."

"Damn it. Why did he have to die there and make us suffer?"

Jin Sa-wol, who was sitting inside the wall, listening to the grumbling voices of the guards, moved to the side.

But he couldn't go far and stopped again.

He saw warriors in black patrolling. Five of them were walking slowly around the wall in a single file.

As Bi-sun had said, there was almost no gap.

Jin Sa-wol continued to move to the left. Jin Sa-wol, who was moving under the wall, was as silent as a snake.

Although he went around the Namsan area along the wall, he could not see a way to get inside.

He also saw warriors standing guard at every path on the mountain.

A place with such heavy security was about the level of the Demonic Cult's main headquarters or the Cheon family. Even the Namgung family was not to this extent.

'He's hiding a lot.'

At this rate, it was a problem not only to get in but also to get out.

When he went to the part that met Poyang Lake, a reed field appeared.

Although it seemed okay to go around that place, a plank road had been built on the water, and patrol warriors were coming and going.

Still, that place was the most suitable for infiltration compared to other places.

"Hey! Be careful of your footing. If you accidentally fall into the water, you won't be able to get out. The iron spikes embedded in the water are not just there."

"Understood."

"Be careful of the swamp too. A few days ago, one person fell in and died."

"Yes."

The voices of the warriors walking on the plank road flowed with the wind.

'Died?'

-What should we do?

-I think we need to find another way. We need to find an easier way.

-That's also good.

Jin Sa-wol, who had heard Bi-sun's answer, decided to go back for today, although it was a shame. It wasn't that there were no gaps, but there was no need to overdo it.

* * *

A single lamp was casting light in a small stone chamber filled with cool air.

In the stone chamber, four coffins were neatly placed in a row.

They were the coffins containing the deceased disciples of the Chung Pavilion.

Among them, three coffins had their lids closed, and one was open. Inside the open coffin, the deceased Yuk Seol-jeong was lying.

Wriggle! Wriggle!

A dozen or so worm-like bugs moved around Yuk Seol-jeong's neck and Tiantu acupoint and then slowly disappeared into her body.

How much time had passed after that? Yuk Seol-jeong's eyes flashed open.

"Hmph!"

Thump!

She, who had raised her upper body from the coffin, grabbed her neck and her eyes glittered with killing intent. The cold feeling of the sword that had pierced her neck still remained.

"What kind of bastard is it? How dare... kill me?"

Her pronunciation was not accurate, as if her throat was not yet fully healed.

"I'll find you somehow and kill you."

"You're awake."

"Hmph!"

Yuk Seol-jeong, who opened her eyes wide at the suddenly heard voice, quickly turned her head. She raised both her hands behind her head to grab the hidden flying needles.

But she lowered her hands.

The person sitting in the chair and looking at her was someone she knew well.

"Great... Great Senior Brother."

Yuk Seol-jeong kept staring at Jang-cho with rabbit eyes, very surprised.

Jang-cho, who was sitting in a chair in a comfortable posture in a white robe, quietly looked at Yuk Seol-jeong, who was slowly getting up.

"When did you come?"

"I left the Chung Pavilion the day after you guys left. I expected there would be a dogfight, but I didn't expect you to kill them all."

"I... I didn't kill..."

Yuk Seol-jeong waved her hand, thinking that he might kill her for her crime. But Jang-cho had no intention of killing her.

"Since you and I have a living-blood ghost, I thought you would live again unless your neck was cut or your heart was stabbed. You're lucky. The enemy's skill was outstanding."

Although a sharp sword had pierced Yuk Seol-jeong's Tiantu acupoint and neck, the size of the wound was not large.

As her body was dying, the living-blood ghost that was parasitizing her had blocked the wound and stopped the bleeding.

If her heart or head had been cut, she would not have been able to come back to life.

It seemed the enemy did not know well about the masters of the Chung Pavilion. That was the reason she had been able to live.

If he had known about the living-blood ghost, Jin Sa-wol would have cut her neck.

"By the way! Since I fed you a twin-blood ghost worm, it's better not to have any useless thoughts."

At the words 'twin-blood ghost worm', Yuk Seol-jeong's eyes widened. But she smiled.

"No way. Would a great senior brother share life and death with a lowly junior sister like me... Huh? A living corpse?"

As she mentioned a living corpse, a smile hung on Jang-cho's lips.

Yuk Seol-jeong trembled her shoulders without realizing it.

"Whether to make you a living corpse or not will be decided by your loyalty. For now, since everyone is dead, I will become the Chung Pavilion's pavilion master. If I die, who do you think will become the Chung Pavilion's pavilion master?"

When Jang-cho asked, Yuk Seol-jeong frowned.

"A certain steward."

She thought of the steward's face.

"When you go back, kill the steward first. New wine should be put in a new cup."

"Yes."

Yuk Seol-jeong, realizing that she had no choice, bowed her waist.

Thump!

A centipede fell in front of Yuk Seol-jeong's eyes. It was a large centipede.

"It's the Insect Armor Ghost that our master used. You take it. It's also your job to protect your body."

"Thank you."

Creak! Thump!

With the sound of the door opening, Mae Jeong-mun, the brothel master in a white robe, came in.

Her eyes widened when she saw Yuk Seol-jeong.

"Oh my? As the pavilion master said, you're really alive. On your neck... Disgusting."

Mae Jeong-mun, as her eyes met Yuk Seol-jeong's, shook her head and avoided her gaze.

Yuk Seol-jeong, at the word 'disgusting', raised her killing intent, but she endured it because she did not know Mae Jeong-mun's identity.

Jang-cho answered.

"I'm not the pavilion master yet."

"Who else is there to become the Chung Pavilion's pavilion master besides the young pavilion master?"

At the words 'pavilion master', Jang-cho smiled as if he were in a good mood and asked.

"Song Ha-sang?"

"He's not here. It's hard to find a rat when it's hiding."

"Did you find the one who killed the youngest?"

"How can I find that? It must be someone related to Song Ha-sang. Or Jin Sa-wol."

"Jin Sa-wol?"

"Jin Sa-wol in Nanchang is now missing. They say they can't find where he disappeared."

At Mae Jeong-mun's answer, Jang-cho turned his gaze and asked Yuk Seol-jeong.

"Did you see him?"

"Yes."

Yuk Seol-jeong had tried her best to see the enemy's face as she was falling after her neck was pierced.

When she fell to the floor, she saw the face of a handsome young man.

Although she couldn't see it in detail because she had to look up from below, he was definitely a handsome young man.

"That bastard is... handsome."

"Ha..."

Jang-cho sighed and shook his head.

"Leave Song Ha-sang's matter to us."

At Mae Jeong-mun's words, Jang-cho stood up from his seat.

Song Ha-sang was not related to them anyway. If Jin Sa-wol's whereabouts were unknown, there was no need to look for him.

"Do that. I'll take the corpses."

When the disciples of the Chung Pavilion died, they had to become food for the insect ghosts. That was a long tradition.

Mae Jeong-mun asked with a curious face.

"I definitely confirmed that her breath had stopped, so how can she be alive?"

It was a matter of course for Mae Jeong-mun not to believe it.

But there were many strange things in the martial world. Especially among the demonic arts, there were also special demonic arts that ordinary people could not know.

"The original name of our Heavenly Divine Cult is the Heavenly Demonic Cult. That's why it's called the Demonic Cult. Among them, there are quite a lot of forbidden demonic arts. The ones who openly researched those forbidden demonic arts were the esoteric sect."

"The esoteric sect was exterminated."

"That's right. There are also several demonic arts in the Chung Pavilion. This is one of them. It's a demonic art that creates a Soul-Stealing Steel Body to become a living corpse. A living-blood ghost is essential for that. A living-blood ghost is a bug that parasitizes our bodies. It's a parasite, so if I die, they also die. Naturally, if my body dies, they become active because they don't want to die. Although the body looks dead, it's in a state of hibernation like a snake hibernating in winter."

"How strange. They say there are mysterious martial arts in our sect that I don't know, and this must be one of them. Can I also eat that living-blood ghost and learn it?"

"You'll die if you eat it now. You have to eat it before the age of five to have a slim chance of living. Besides that, it's a secret of our pavilion."

At Jang-cho's story, Mae Jeong-mun nodded as if she understood. Although she was more curious, she did not ask. Since he said it was a secret, she could not ask.

"Yes. I understand. I'll prepare the carriage. When are you leaving? The innkeeper said to send the people of the Chung Pavilion out as soon as possible."

"I thought he would welcome us."

"The innkeeper hates the insect ghosts of the Chung Pavilion."

"Alright. I'll go out. This is the promised fee for your trouble."

Swish!

As Jang-cho held out a jade box containing a demonic essence pill, Mae Jeong-mun smiled and took it.

"I haven't done anything, so is it okay for me to receive this precious thing?"

"Because it went as planned. Take it."

"Yes."

Mae Jeong-mun put the jade box in her sleeve. Jang-cho said to Yuk Seol-jeong.

"We're returning."

"I'll stay. I have to catch that bastard who killed my body once and tear him to pieces."

"You can come after you've recovered at Chung Pavilion."

At Jang-cho's words, Yuk Seol-jeong nodded. Right now, recovering her body was the priority.

As Jang-cho went out, Yuk Seol-jeong came out of the coffin and moved, following him. Just then, Mae Jeong-mun blocked her front.

"What is it?"

Yuk Seol-jeong looked at Mae Jeong-mun with a face full of annoyance. Mae Jeong-mun raised her hand and covered her nose and mouth because of the strong smell of bugs and corpses.

"I'm saying this because I think you'll be upset if I don't. The young pavilion master said that if you guys came to this inn, you would cause a dogfight, so he told me to kill you all when the time comes. He knew you would all die. From far away in the Chung Pavilion. And he said he would give me a demonic essence pill as a reward. The young pavilion master could have killed you all with just one letter. You know what that means, right? When you were fighting to the death with your sworn siblings here, the young pavilion master just wrote one letter."

Yuk Seol-jeong nodded as if she understood what he meant. It was a statement that she would die if she betrayed him unnecessarily.

Her eyes, which had nodded, turned to a spider that looked to be the size of a child's fist, crawling on the wall.

It was half a zhang away from Mae Jeong-mun's shoulder. Mae Jeong-mun, who had turned her eyes, saw the spider and instinctively waved her hand.

"Gasp! Disgusting!"

Papapat! Rustle!

"Aaaak!"

As the spider separated into dozens of pieces and fell to the floor, Yuk Seol-jeong grabbed her head and twisted her whole body.

"My human-faced spider baby!"

It was a very precious young human-faced spider, of which there were less than ten in the Chung Pavilion. She had raised it for ten years to make it that big, but Mae Jeong-mun had killed it.

"You bitch! I'll kill you!"

Yuk Seol-jeong couldn't hold back her anger and extended her hand towards Mae Jeong-mun.

(End of Chapter)