Chapter 172
Chapter 172
Even in that situation, there were a few courageous ones.
A dozen or so courageous ones rushed at me even in that situation, and in an instant, they became cold corpses and rolled on the floor.
In the end, only about twenty people completely surrendered to me.
They buried the corpses of those who had been their comrades until just a moment ago with their own hands, and they completely destroyed the buildings where they had lived.
"Sob, sob..."
Among them, there were also those who showed tears.
Although it was the first fight with the Demonic Cult guys that I had been looking forward to so much, and I had even won refreshingly, to be honest, I didn't feel good.
To them, I would look like a demon.
Because I suddenly rushed in, cut down all their comrades, and am telling them to destroy their own homes.
But I won't be weakened by just this.
It's just that a corner of my heart feels uneasy.
"Destroy everything. Don't even think of leaving a single trace."
When the Demonic Cult members' actions seemed to slow down, I would occasionally shout at them and thoroughly destroyed the place.
Even if other Demonic Cult members come here someday, they will never be able to find my traces.
I lined up the Demonic Cult members who had finished cleaning up the situation and shouted, "Who among you knows the most?"
"......"
"If you think it's you, come out right now. There must be someone who is the oldest and has been here the longest, right?"
Then, after exchanging glances, a man hesitantly raised his hand.
He was a middle-aged man with hair that was close to brown, and he seemed to be a person with a little bit of Western blood mixed in.
"Is it you?"
"That's... right."
He did not use honorifics to me.
Although he was captured by me now, it seemed he had not let go of his last pride.
I just let out a small laugh and didn't say anything to him.
Because I didn't cause this incident to hear honorifics from them anyway.
"I have three things I want to ask. If you answer those well, I will not torment or kill you any further here, and I will take all of you... to Kunlun."
As my words ended, despair flashed across everyone's faces.
Did they think I would let them go?
"I can't let you go, but if you go to Kunlun, you will at least not die. Whether it's the Demonic Cult world you desire so much or whatever, you have to be alive to achieve it, right? I am presenting you with the only way you can live."
No one answers.
I said in a slightly annoyed voice, "Alright. I'll do this. You put your hand down for now, and everyone listen carefully."
I let out a deep breath and then opened my mouth again.
"Anyone who can answer my question, raise your hand and speak. If you solve all my curiosities, I will let everyone here live. So, for one of you to answer my words is not to betray your so-called great Demonic Cult, but it is the only way to save the lives of your comrades. Understood?"
"......"
This time, too, no one answered, but their expressions were quite different from before.
I had provided them with a way to rationalize, and that expression was the result.
It seems my words have worked properly.
"First. Who among you has heard the story that a Wudang Taoist and the Taoists of Kunlun were recently captured and killed by you Demonic Cult guys?"
For now, what I was most curious about was the matter of Senior Uncle Hyeon Cheong.
But the Demonic Cult members, as if their mouths were glued shut, no one answered.
"You're not going to talk? Has no one heard such a story?"
This time, too, they were silent.
The moment I was about to get angry out of frustration, the middle-aged Demonic Cult member who had raised his hand earlier quickly raised his hand and said, "O-Over there. The question was a little wrong. That's probably why everyone can't answer."
"Where and how was my question wrong?"
"The Wudang Taoist and the Kunlun Taoists you mentioned a little while ago. I have a rough idea of who they are. Weren't they the ones who found out the location of our branch and were trying to figure out the location of the main camp?"
"That's right. As expected, you knew. But why didn't you say so?"
He shook his head and immediately said, "You just asked if anyone had heard the news that they had died. They are not dead yet. I know they are still being tracked... but I know that their location has not been fully specified yet. However... I know that a few Kunlun Taoists died in the process, so I think everyone couldn't answer because a Wudang Taoist was included in the question a little while ago."
"Really? You mean they're still alive?"
Although his words were long, I was glad that there was a high probability that Senior Uncle Hyeon Cheong was alive, more than that.
As expected, it seems my senior uncle knew exactly when to get out and got himself out.
"Good. Then second. What were you guys doing here? If you were closer to a private house, I would have thought you were doing missionary work, but this is too deep in the mountains, isn't it?"
"That's..."
He was about to answer right away, but this time he glanced at the surrounding Demonic Cult members.
Then one of the bald Demonic Cult members who was standing at the very end opened his mouth.
"I will speak this time."
"Good."
"There are two types of branches in the Demonic Cult. Branches for missionary work and branches for special purposes."
"You must be for a special purpose. What was the purpose?"
"This mountain has been full of medicinal herbs and spiritual creatures since ancient times. We... were given the mission of... digging up medicinal herbs and catching spiritual creatures."
He said so and his face turned a little red.
Although they were also martial artists who had learned martial arts, they were ashamed to say that they were just digging up medicinal herbs or catching beasts.
"Then where are the medicinal herbs and spiritual creatures you dug up?"
Then the bald man points to a pile of collapsed building debris.
"Over there..."
"No, you mean you buried them just like that without even taking them?"
"You said so earlier... you just told us to throw away all our personal belongings and destroy them as quickly as possible..."
It's true that I ordered it.
I frowned and pointed at him and a few people next to him and said, "You guys are an exception. Go and dig again now. Take everything you can. Hurry!"
"Y-Yes!"
When I even put internal energy into my voice and spoke, they answered hastily and ran to the debris they had destroyed and began to clear the debris.
I watched them for a moment and then said, "Last, third. What kind of guy was the White King Flag Master I fought with earlier? Although I don't know your Demonic Cult completely, I thought I had a pretty good grasp of it. Because it's a position I've never heard of."
"The White King Flag Master is..."
"That person is..."
"The Flag Master is!"
This time, words came out from several places at the same time.
I pointed to the Demonic Cult member who had spoken first and told him to speak.
"The Cult Leader, in preparation for the time when all the masters of this generation have grown old, has personally given flags to a few young martial artists and has been teaching them martial arts."
"Then you mean he's a disciple of the Cult Leader?"
"Strictly speaking, that's not it. I know that it is to check their qualities before accepting them as disciples."
I glanced at the place where I had fought with the White King Flag Master and said, "Then the White King Flag Master is eliminated from that disciple candidate list."
"Th-That's right."
As I was thinking for a moment, the Demonic Cult members, who had been searching through the debris, came back with medicinal herbs or spiritual pills covered in dirt.
Although they didn't look that great, I took them as spoils of war and, after taking them, I left the branch and moved my steps towards the place where we had decided to gather after finishing the mission.
A small spoil of war and about twenty prisoners.
It was a great victory.
***
I arrived at the meeting place first, and then the Kunlun martial artists I didn't know well.
Finally, my master and Yu Cheongja arrived.
Although it was a matter of destroying several branches at the same time, fortunately, no one died.
Only about two of the Kunlun Taoists had bandages on their arms and shoulders, and they decided to return to Kunlun for recuperation.
Since we needed someone to escort the Demonic Cult members I had captured to Kunlun anyway, they decided to take them.
I sealed their internal energy with acupressure so that they could not resist, and made them unable to use both their arms.
Even if they were injured, two people would be able to handle about twenty Demonic Cult members who could not use martial arts or their arms.
"You... your achievement is great. To think that there were not about thirty, but fifty in the branch. And to capture twenty of them in the midst of that."
"Actually, the ordinary cult members were not a problem. The one who was a problem was the one called the White King Flag Master. Did you know anything about them by any chance?"
"Are you talking about the Demonic Cult members who carry flags on their backs?"
"Yes."
"I don't know in detail, but I have heard intelligence reports that such people have been discovered from time to time. Because they carried flags of various colors on their backs, they could be recognized even from a distance."
Yu Cheongja nodded his head.
According to what he had found out, the Cult Leader had distributed flags of various colors, such as the White King Flag, the Blue King Flag, the Black King Flag, and the Red King Flag.
He said they were all people who were being tested to see if they could become disciples of the Cult Leader.
"Anyway, it's amazing. In fact, Yu Seon was no match for your qualities."
"Is it just Yu Seon? He is already on par with our generation."
"A great blessing has descended on Wudang. In twenty years... no, in just ten years, the era of Wudang will open again."
The Kunlun Taoists, who had been half-believing about me raiding the branch on my own until a little while ago, all praised me in unison.
These Taoists who live only in the mountains have a pure side, so they don't even know how to be embarrassed when they give such compliments to someone's face.
"Don't praise the child so much in front of him. He is a child who still has more room to develop."
At that time, my master stealthily intervened and stopped their barrage of compliments.
But is it just my illusion that my master's expression seems bright today?
"For now, I think we can rest and then talk about the next plan."
"Let's do that."
As soon as the words fell, the Kunlun martial artists moved very skillfully.
Although they didn't look like it on the outside, they seemed to be very accustomed to camping or sleeping outdoors.
As if he had read my thoughts, Yu Cheongja came up to me and said, 'Living in the barren Kunlun is no different from camping every day,' and then he went back to preparing for camping.
A little while later.
After they had finished preparing to rest, they gathered again before resting and began to have a meeting.
This time, too, the ones leading the conversation were my master and Yu Cheongja.
"Now that we've stirred up the hornet's nest, they will be in a state of chaos. And on top of that, I heard from the ones Unhwi brought that Hyeon Cheong seems to be still alive."
At Yu Cheongja's words, the eyes of the Kunlun Taoists sparkled.
For now, what they wanted to confirm the most was whether Hyeon Cheong and the Kunlun Taoists were alive or not.
Because if they were already dead, all the actions they were taking now would be nothing more than a waste of time.
"However, it is said that some of our Kunlun martial artists have already passed away. Although we don't know who died..."
Yu Cheongja trailed off as if it were difficult to speak, and then he continued, "So for now, we must do our best to save even one person."
He couldn't continue speaking, as if he were overcome with emotion.
Instead, Hyeon Yang stepped forward and opened his mouth.
"So from now on, we must carry out a diversionary operation."
"A diversionary operation?"
"We will divide ourselves into a small group and a large group. The large group will raid the branches as we did today and disperse the enemies, and the small group will search this area and find where the survivors are hiding."
At that time, Taoist Gu-ma opened his mouth.
"Then please entrust the branch raid to me and my junior brothers."
"... I understand."
My master immediately nodded his head.
It was probably because he had a guess as to what kind of heart Taoist Gu-ma had made that proposal with.
Although he shouldn't be swayed by emotions as a Taoist, since he had heard that a Kunlun Taoist had already died, he would want to take revenge.
"I understand. Then we will go as a group of three, with me, my disciple, and Yu Cheongja."
"Let's do that."
My master glanced at me and said, "Hwi-ya."
"Yes, master."
"I will run very fast. Can you keep up?"
Although it sounds like he is worrying about me at a glance, I know well that my master's real meaning is not that.
'Try to keep up with all your might.' It sounded like he was saying that.
I nodded my head greatly with a confident face and said, "Yes. I will follow you no matter what.”
(End of Chapter)
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