novelraw Chapter 109 : Chapter 109
Chapter 109 : Chapter 109
Chapter 109 Secret Scheme (2)
“There, don't you see a gap!”
Along with Mad Dragon’s shout, three or four martial artists tumbled and were deflected backward.
“If the lower body is shaken, everything is shaken. You should look at where to step first!”
Once again, a group of martial artists was pushed backward in a cluster.
“Snap out of it! A major battle with the Demonic Cult fellows is not a practice. If you slip up, everyone is walking the path to the yellow springs.”
Mad Dragon’s body danced here and there among the fifty or so Man-wol Squad members.
‘He has certainly recovered quite a bit.’
Mad Dragon’s saber was gallant, and the skill of the Man-wol Squad members was better than expected.
Mad Dragon’s movement shown in a one-versus-many situation was also of significant help to Jaun.
Muhyang cautiously approached Jaun, who was watching the sparring between Mad Dragon and the Man-wol Squad for a long time.
Then, after hesitating with her head bowed for a while, she spoke toward Jaun as the sparring momentarily stopped.
“Young Master. Now what should I…… do?”
Jaun looked at Muhyang, who was standing modestly while holding her Seven-stringed Zither.
Jaun, who was lost in thought for a moment, spoke.
“For now, please do not step out to the front. Since we will kill all the Demonic Cult members who infiltrate this way, you will be able to return to the Demonic Cult again after this battle is over. You can say that you survived after many twists and turns.”
“Yes. Since they won't care much about someone like me, returning to the Demonic Cult won't be a big problem. However, because such an event occurred…… from now on, I will likely never again receive a mission to go outside the Demonic Cult. I also want to somehow help in blocking the Blood Cult’s movements though……”
“Please gather as much information as possible within the Demonic Cult. When the time comes, please pass the collected information to me. That alone can be a great strength.”
Muhyang was lost in thought for a moment, then nodded and spoke with a determined expression.
“I understand. I will do my best as far as I can. And it may be presumptuous of me to say this, but…… please definitely persuade Lord Sword Demon. If Lord Sword Demon joins us, we will be able to shake the Blood Cult from the inside as well, rather than simply gathering information.”
“I’ll do that. I was planning to see Lord Mad Demon and Lord Sword Demon anyway.”
At Jaun’s words, Muhyang opened her eyes wide.
“Pardon? Lord Mad Demon and Lord Sword Demon? How?”
“I plan to visit the Demonic Cult once the work I am currently doing is organized to some extent. I have a method in mind.”
Hearing Jaun’s words, Muhyang showed a surprised expression and then nodded with a bright smile.
“If you could do that, it would be truly great. We aren't able to do anything because the exclusion by the Blood Demons is severe. In such a situation, if the Young Master, who is the successor of Lord Sword Demon, comes for us, it will be a great driving force.”
Muhyang nodded with a much brighter expression.
Meanwhile, Mad Dragon, who finished the sparring, slowly approached the two people who were sharing the conversation.
“You’re sharing an interesting story. Going to see Lord Mad Demon?”
Mad Dragon stared intently at Jaun and then shrugged his shoulders once.
“When the work is finished well, have a talk with me too. It feels like more interesting things will happen if I follow you around.”
The moment Mad Dragon cackled and tapped Jaun’s shoulder once, a presence was felt from behind.
Mad Dragon turned his head.
“You should move a bit faster. Your hips are so heavy…… tsk tsk.”
“It’s because you obtained a new body and are wandering around here and there like a foal in heat. Be grateful that I even came all the way here with a completely broken body. Tsk tsk.”
The Grand Elder, who was tapping his waist, and the two people standing next to him were all personnel belonging to the Council of Elders whom he had seen at the Alliance Leader’s Palace.
Jaun, who scanned the momentum of the three people quickly with his eyes, bowed his waist slightly and offered a greeting.
“You have worked hard to come a long way.”
The Grand Elder, who glanced at Jaun, waved his hand.
“Enough. I heard you went through a lot of trouble.”
“Mad Dragon went through more trouble than I did.”
“That fellow needs to go through some trouble to snap out of it. Because he always does whatever he wants and wanders around, even as the second-in-command of the Sado Alliance, he can't receive a single proper official post. Thanks to that, am I not sitting in the Grand Elder's seat and embracing all that burden? If he hasn't matured yet, when does he plan to?”
As if the Grand Elder's scolding was not heard, Mad Dragon picked at one of his ears.
“Ak Cheol-gun, So Du-heon. How did you guys end up getting involved here?”
Ignoring the Grand Elder's words, Mad Dragon asked the two people standing next to him.
The old man with a grand stature called Ak Cheol-gun glanced at Jaun.
“It’s not much different from you. I came along because I was curious about what kind of thing that brat was up to.”
“Eh…… I came because the Alliance Leader told me to……”
The old man called So Du-heon, dressed in scholar-style official robes, replied while scratching his head.
“Well, anyway, she attached reliable fellows to me. Since you guys have come as support, I don't have to worry much. Ah! Where is the Man-wol Squad Leader fellow?”
“He said he would look around the Guangdong Province area beforehand. Oh, right. Tsk tsk. Look at my memory.”
The Grand Elder turned his body and headed toward the Man-wol Squad.
“Everyone move to a place about a hundred li south of this stone mountain. The Squad Leader said he would wait for you there.”
“As you command!”
At the Grand Elder's words, the Man-wol Squad members, who bowed their waists deeply at the same time, began to run down the stone mountain.
The Grand Elder, who took a quick look around, gave a smile.
“It’s utterly desolate…… but looking at it again, it has its own charm.”
“Heh. It’s a better place than it looks. Quiet and secluded. I should have lived this kind of life long ago.”
At Mad Dragon’s reply, the Grand Elder, who gave a wide smile, gestured toward the grotto.
“Let’s go inside for now. Having come a long way, I feel thirsty. Let’s go in and wet our throats a bit.”
When the Grand Elder took out a wine bottle from his robe, Mad Dragon’s eyes sparkled.
***
“Mmm?”
Jaun, who was sleeping at the grotto entrance, felt something and slowly raised his body.
It was quite a distant place, but faint Demonic Energy was clearly being felt.
Jaun jumped up from his spot and began to concentrate his energy.
‘Could it be, from the Demonic Cult already?’
The only place to suspect was the Demonic Cult.
However, it was too early for the Demonic Cult to have noticed the death of the Tyrant Blade Pavilion Lord.
‘Did I just become overly sensitive?’
Jaun, who looked back once and confirmed that all the members were in a deep sleep, slowly expanded his energy.
Somewhere in the south, quite a distance away.
Something with a feel clearly similar to Demonic Energy was moving south little by little.
Jaun bit his lip slightly and looked back again.
Inside the grotto filled with the smell of wine, wine bottles were rolling around, and the group was unable to come to their senses.
It was because a grand drinking session had taken place last evening, as high-quality and strong wine had constantly poured out from the Grand Elder's robe.
Ice Rakshasa Pan Bing-yeong also joined the drinking session, and the drinking session, which Muhyang belatedly joined, continued until late dawn, so everyone, including the elders, was in a deep sleep under the influence of alcohol.
Jaun, who was lost in thought for a moment, slowly raised his body.
Since nothing was certain yet, it didn't seem necessary to wake the group.
Jaun, who made up his mind to track the energy even by himself for now, took out the Mangru Blood Sword placed in a corner and fixed it to his waist.
‘I’ll check the situation, and if it really is the Demonic Cult, I can request support.’
Jaun, who took a flare from Muhyang’s luggage and put it in his robe, wrote a simple letter and placed it on top of Ice Rakshasa Pan Bing-yeong’s luggage before heading out of the grotto.
In the early dawn just before daybreak, Jaun, who quickly descended the stone mountain, began to run toward Guangdong Province in the south.
As if the vicinity of the stone mountain was the last managed area of Hunan Province, the official road soon ended and a dirt road continued.
Jaun, who was running forward along the dirt road, turned toward a mountain path, following the flow of energy.
The smell of rotting trees and the scent of mountain beasts began to waft in thickly.
Jaun, who had been running at full speed for a long while, gradually slowed his speed.
Coming closer, the texture of the wafting energy was a bit strange.
‘It is Demonic Energy, but…… what is this feeling that seems to lack vitality?’
For accurate confirmation, Jaun looked around once and began to expand his energy to the fullest.
The energy that filled the surroundings began to stretch forward.
Jaun’s energy, which stretched far ahead past a small peak situated in front, quickly detected something moving.
‘Something with faint Demonic Energy remaining and one martial artist moving while carrying that something.’
Not a bit of Demonic Energy was felt from the martial artist, but Demonic Energy certainly remained in what that martial artist was moving while carrying.
‘For now, I should check it.’
Jaun began to run forward, picking up speed again.
As Jaun used lightfoot arts with determination, the distance from the martial artist running ahead quickly narrowed.
Having narrowed the gap like that, Jaun soon reached a distance where he could confirm the martial artist’s appearance with the naked eye.
As Jaun concentrated energy into his eyes, the appearance of the martial artist racing forward insanely was clearly visible far away.
He was a man wearing worn-out martial robes, and a corpse was tied to his back.
‘……A corpse of a Demonic Cult member?’
The vaguely felt Demonic Energy was the energy flowing out from that corpse.
Faint Demonic Energy was wafting from the corpse of the Demonic Cult member, who seemed not to have lost his life long ago, and the man of unknown identity was running forward frantically with that corpse on his back.
‘A martial artist running alone while carrying the corpse of a Demonic Cult member under the moon.’
He had no sense of what the situation was at all, but it certainly felt suspicious.
Having confirmed that no particular presence was felt other than the fleeing man, Jaun kicked off the ground forcefully and shot forward.
─ BOOM!
“Aaaaagh!”
The martial artist, who confirmed Jaun approaching, was terrified and quickly untied the corpse of the Demonic Cult member he had tied to his back and threw it on the ground.
Following that, the man, who turned his direction to the right, began to run into the forest with all his strength.
Jaun, who watched the martial artist running through the forest for a moment, did not chase him further and approached the corpse fallen on the ground.
‘Confirming the Demonic Energy is the priority for now.’
Jaun, who was slowly heading toward the corpse, opened his eyes wide.
‘Eh? This person is……?’
The side profile of the man lying down was familiar for some reason.
Jaun turned the head of the lying man to the front and examined him carefully.
‘Ah!’
The man who used to walk around the Ak-yang marketplace selling sweets.
It was definitely that man.
Since he had purchased sweets from this man several times to give to Ice Rakshasa Pan Bing-yeong, Jaun was able to find out his identity as soon as he checked the front of the corpse.
‘The faint smell of sweets wafting from the clothes. It’s that man. But this man was a Demonic Cult member?’
No matter how much he hid his Demonic Energy while pretending to be a sweet merchant, there was no way he would fail to recognize the energy of someone who had learned demonic arts.
Thinking so, Jaun opened the man’s front lapel and pulled and tore the clothes.
‘……As expected.’
The red silk hidden inside the clothes the man was wearing was revealed.
These clothes were an infiltration robe specially manufactured in the Demonic Cult to hide Demonic Energy.
Jaun, who swept the Demonic Energy scattering into the air with his hand as soon as he lifted the infiltration robe, tilted his head.
‘If he is to receive an infiltration robe, he is a person with a fairly high position even among spies. For such a person to be dead while emitting Demonic Energy so thickly that it's almost clumsy?’
Jaun scanned the man’s body once more.
‘……As expected. Someone deliberately spread Demonic Energy. Because such a level of Demonic Energy cannot flow out through the infiltration robe.’
Jaun, who tilted his head, once again expanded his energy greatly.
The energy of the man who had been fleeing with all his strength was already quite far away.
‘Carrying the corpse of a spy alone at this late hour, and in such a remote mountain forest?’
He felt a strange sensation.
Jaun, who was concentrating his mind to know the man’s location more accurately once more, suddenly raised his head.
Not in the direction the man was fleeing, but due south.
From far away in the south, massive Demonic Energy was approaching this way.