Chapter 251 : Nightmare (1)
Chapter 251: Nightmare (1)
Somewhere deep in Mount Baihe, in a dense thicket far removed from the Heavenly Demon Secret Cave.
A middle-aged man moved through the brush with an odd gait. Before long, the dense vegetation gave way to reveal a wide clearing sprawled out before him.
At the center of it all stood a massive altar. Near its base, two elderly men sat in quiet conversation while several people moved hurriedly around the clearing.
The man who had arrived at this location hurried toward the altar. Once he reached the two elders, he dropped to one knee in a gesture of respect.
"Greetings, Elders."
The elders barely acknowledged his bow. One of them, a man with a sturdy build just cut straight to the chase.
"What's the situation outside?"
"From what I've been able to confirm, at least a thousand martial artists have entered Mount Baihe by now."
"And what about the Tang Family, Qingcheng, and Emei?"
"...Aside from the initial group that entered, there haven't been any reinforcements."
The subordinate kept his head lowered as he delivered his report. The elder clicked his tongue lightly in response.
"Still playing it safe, I see. Even with all this going on, they're not making a move."
When you added up all the martial artists from the Tang Family, Emei, and Qingcheng who had entered Mount Baihe, the total barely reached a hundred and fifty. That meant each faction had sent roughly forty to fifty people, but none of the important people like Family Head or Sect Leader had bothered to show up.
“That’s barely ten percent of their numbers.”
The sturdy-looking elder said this with a hint of disappointment in his voice. The old man sitting beside him offered a consoling reply. “Nonetheless, the ones they sent aren’t just random rables, are they? They sent their elites. So in terms of actual combat
power, we’ve trapped about twenty or thirty percent of their strength.”
The old man finished his sentence with a sinister smile as he added one final thought.
"Besides, we need to watch the rest of them die with our own eyes. Isn't that right, Fifth Elder?"
"Hahaha! Third Elder speaks the truth! It would be a waste if they’d all fallen into the trap and died without us seeing it."
Fifth Elder let out a hearty laugh before turning his gaze toward the altar behind them.
"Once that thing is complete, wiping out Sichuan will be child's play."
"Why stop at just Sichuan?"
The gaunt-looking Third Elder nodded in agreement before adding his own commentary.
"With over a thousand martial artists gathered here, it's about time we started the preparations."
To perform this Grand Ritual, they would have needed the blood of thousands of regular people. That’s why they set this trap specifically to catch martial artists instead.
"After decades of lying low and making our preparations, the time for revenge has finally arrived for us.”
Third Elder's eyes gleamed with a wicked light as he spoke. Fifth Elder rose to his feet and responded in a voice filled with conviction.
"You just focus on the Ritual. If anything goes wrong, I’ll handle it myself.”
***
Meanwhile, back at the foot of Mount Baihe, a group of men in black martial robes moved alongside with beggar-looking martial artists.
All of them are moving up to the mountain with hurried lightness skills.
"Huff... I'm worried we might already be too late. What if a massacre has already begun?"
Elder Beggar Chaser of the Beggars’ Gang with eight knots tied around his waist muttered anxiously.
"Don't worry. We're not that late yet," said the Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord, Jeong Yeong.
"...I hope you're right."
Elder Beggar Chaser's voice trailed off as he answered.
Though he wasn't openly staring at the man, he couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling gnawing at him.
When the Beggars’ Gang had first requested aid from the Murim Alliance's Flying Dragon Pavilion at Little Tiger Beggar's behest, they'd expected things to go smoothly.
But ever since they arrived in Sichuan, Jeong Yeong had been acting suspiciously.
He'd claimed he wanted to track down traces of the Blood Cult, but he kept dragging them on one wild goose chase after another.
'Is the Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord really this incompetent?'
Elder Beggar Chaser's doubts about Jeong Yeong and the Flying Dragon Pavilion's abilities continued to pile up. That’s when they caught wind of the rumors about the Heavenly Demon Secret Cave.
Elder Beggar Chaser argued they should search for the treasure map immediately, but Jeong Yeong had other ideas.
"Are you suggesting we voluntarily walk into a place that might be a trap set by the Blood Cult? We should not be looking for the Heavenly Demon Secret Cave, but rather the source of these rumors.”
It sounded like a reasonable argument at the time, so they'd set out to find where the rumors originated.
But once again, things went subtly wrong, over and over. Eventually, after failing to trace the source of the rumors, they'd finally made their way to Mount Baihe far later than they should have.
Obviously, Elder Beggar Chaser couldn't help but feel uneasy. Meanwhile, Jeong Yeong was inwardly swallowing his own frustration.
'I'm sorry, Chief Strategist. Delaying any longer than this would be too dangerous.'
It wasn't that he was worried a massacre would happen because of his interference.
He was worried that they would get there too soon and that the beggars would stop the slaughter before it really got going.
***
Near the entrance to the Heavenly Demon Secret Cave.
Ssshhk!
Il-mok cut down three members of the Dark Poison Corps in rapid succession before launching himself toward the Tang Family’s Elder.
"Kugh."
Tang Cheol-jin, who had been pressuring Hwangbo Yeon, let out a groan as he was forced to retreat from the unexpected interference.
It didn't matter that it was a surprise attack; that single strike had been vicious enough that even he couldn't easily counter it.
Tang Cheol-jin scowled and shouted, "Who the hell are you people?!"
The ones who had barged into the battlefield weren't just limited to the masked bastard who'd swung his sword at him.
Five or six others wearing identical masks had swarmed in, all of them attacking the Dark Poison Corps members.
"Ever heard of the Maitreya Luminous Cult?"
The masked man who'd just attacked him asked the question with a mocking tone.
"Never heard of such a small fry." Tang Cheol-jin scoffed in response.
Il-mok almost laughed out loud at that response.
These bastards had plotted against Pingliang County, yet they didn't even know who ran the place.
'Are all of the Seven Great Families as arrogant as this retard?'
It reminded him of that dead retard Peng Ji-gwang.
But Il-mok soon realized that was an unfair comparison. Not everyone is Peng Ji-gwang or this retarded Elder.
"From this point forward, the Maitreya Luminous Cult will handle these guys. Stand down immediately!"
Il-mok shouted toward Hwangbo Yeon, who had been fighting Tang Cheol-jin just moments ago.
Whoosh!
While Il-mok was shouting, Tang Cheol-jin seized the opportunity and lashed out with a poison hand strike without hesitation.
Clang!
"Nice try with the obvious trick."
When Il-mok blocked the strike effortlessly and mocked him, a vein bulged on Tang Cheol-jin’s forehead.
But then, Il-mok heard something that made a vein pop on his forehead.
"How could we abandon our saviors and just leave?!"
"We’ll fight with you! The Tang Family must be punished for their crimes!”
The voices belonged to Hwangbo Yeon and Taoist Un-baek.
Thanks to Il-mok and the other Maitreya Luminous Cult experts joining the fray, they apparently had enough breathing room to shout like that.
Of course, from Il-mok's perspective, this was a complete and utter bullshit he didn't want to hear.
It wasn’t just because his plan relied on sending them home alive to start a civil war in the Orthodox Faction.
‘You guys need to get lost so we can actually use our power!’
As long as these Orthodox Faction’s kids stuck around, he couldn't freely use his Demonic Arts. They are basically fighting with one hand tied behind their backs just to keep their cover.
Il-mok himself didn't have much of an issue since the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword didn't obviously scream "Demonic Art."
But Seon-ah and Jin Hayeon had to suppress their internal energy as much as possible, which meant they could barely use the sinister Yin energy from the White Hand Demonic Art or the blood-colored Claw Qi from the Blood Fox Crimson Claw Art. Because of that, they are barely managing to handle one or two Tang Family warriors each.
Thwack!
Dam Bin's situation is even worse.
Since martial arts that use threads are extremely rare, she'd completely abandoned them and is fighting the Tang Family warriors using grappling techniques only.
Luckily, she is a master who has passed Extremity, so she wasn't struggling against the Tang Family warriors.
As for Ouyang Mun and Ju Seo-yeon, they are also stuck using the basics of their arts, not daring to unleash any of their major moves.
Twaaaang!
The only reason they are holding their ground is because of their master archer, who remained hidden to provide support.
If this dragged on, their only choices would be to give up and reveal their true identities or simply die.
Clang!
Clang!
Il-mok applied the principles of Swift Sword to unleash a series of rapid strikes, forcing the Tang Family’s Elder to retreat. Then he shouted at the kids again.
“Your current levels are too low and will only get in the way! Get out of here before you get us killed!”
"!!!"
The faces of the Orthodox Faction rising stars couldn’t help but twist. Their initial shock at the unexpected remark quickly gave way to indignation.
The look felt strangely familiar, and Il-mok found himself shouting again.
"If your pride is hurt by what I said, then go home, get stronger, and come back later!"
Only after he shouted that did he remember that he’d said something similar before.
That was what he had said to Dokgo Pae when those fanatics besieged them.
But unfortunately, these kids weren't Dokgo Pae.
"Don't worry about us!"
"How could we abandon our saviors and just leave?!"
“Even if we die, we will fight together until the end!”
They are so annoyingly kind that they are getting in the way.
'Damn it.'
While Il-mok was swallowing his curse, Tang Cheol-jin roared at the top of his lungs.
“Stop playing with the poison and get over here!!”
It was humiliating for an Elder to ask for help against some random nobody, but he didn't have a choice.
Not only are the enemies' skill levels higher than expected, but—
'Because of that damn weird sword, I can't even use my techniques properly.'
His poison-infused hand would be sliced clean off the moment they touched that sword.
And more urgent than that was—
"Kill those bastards immediately!"
The horrifying future that would befall the Tang Family if these Orthodox Faction rising stars made it back alive.
At his furious command, even those who'd been spreading poison inside the Heavenly Demon Secret Cave stopped spreading the poison and prepared to join the battle.
At this rate, they'd either really die or they'd have to massacre even the Orthodox kids.
In that desperate moment, a crucial piece of information surfaced in Il-mok’s mind.
"Fist Phoenix! Are you going to let your sister die too!”
After their last encounter, Dam Bin had informed Il-mok that the veiled woman was most likely Hwangbo Se-hui, one of the Five Flowers of the Martial World.
Hearing Il-mok’s shout, the resolute expression on Hwangbo Yeon’s face finally cracked.
She quickly turned her head to look toward her sister.
Taoist Myeonghwan, Zhuge Eun-yeong, and a few masked individuals are protecting her, but anyone could see it’s a precarious situation.
'...In the end, I'm nothing but a hypocrite after all.'
Even when faced with injustice, protecting her little sister had to come first.
Hwangbo Yeon gritted her teeth and made her choice. She turned and ran toward Hwangbo Se-hui.
She smashed her iron fist at a Tang Family warrior who'd been throwing hidden weapons nearby, and shouted while clearing an escape route.
"I swear on my name and my life! If we survive to meet again, I will grant you any one request without fail!”
Realizing she intended to escape, Taoist Un-baek also stepped in to assist Hwangbo Yeon and shouted. “I, Un-baek of Wudang, swear that if we meet again in the future, I too shall grant any request you ask of me!”
With those two clearing the way and Taoist Myeonghwan and Zhuge Eun-young covering the rear, the group grabbed Hwangbo Se-hui and started to run.
Il-mok, who was in the middle of single-handedly fighting the Tang Family elder, smirked at their declarations.
‘I wonder if they’ll keep those promises when they find out we’re actually the Demonic Cult.’
Well, that was something he'd have to find out when the time came.
And for that day to come, he needed to survive now.
Ssshhk!!
Il-mok’s sword flashed and severed Tang Cheol-jin’s left hand cleanly, leaving a grotesque mix of green and red blood spurting from the wound.
Unlike before, Il-mok had cut through the Elder’s defense with terrifying ease. His sword was now rippling with Demonic Energy.
It was no longer time to fight as an Incarnation of Maitreya.
It is time to fight as the Eighth Young Master of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.