Chapter 55
Until now, a new domain he had never properly opened—Palmun, Du Gate (杜門).
The moment he unleashed it, golden energy erupted explosively from every part of Jaseong's body.
'My whole body is brimming with strength... It feels as if I could even cut down those enemies with a single strike...'
But just as quickly, the internal power in his dantian began to drain at an alarming rate.
There wasn't much time left.
To end things quickly, Jaseong activated Heaven Evading Phantom Step and charged at First Soul.
At that moment—
Ssak!
Jaseong's form vanished before everyone's eyes.
It was such incredible speed, the saying 'Moving Form, switching Position' came to mind.
"What the—?!"
First Soul sensed a black shadow flicker before him.
By instinct, he swung his sword forward.
Kaaaang!
First Soul's sword clashed against Jaseong's.
A tremendous shockwave rippled out, shaking the roof tiles.
Next—
Kwakwa-kwaang!!!
First Soul's body was hurled backward, slamming violently into the wall of a nearby house.
"Ke-heok?!"
Coughing blood, First Soul wore an expression of disbelief.
When Jaseong had only opened the Seventh Gate, the two could barely keep up in offense and defense.
But with the opening of just one more gate, Jaseong's power was now on a completely different level.
First Soul couldn't withstand even a single exchange.
Ssak!
After sending First Soul flying, Jaseong moved behind Second Soul's back.
Before Second Soul could notice, Jaseong brought down the Heaven Evading Flash Sword's Ultimate Heaven Evading Shadowless Slash.
Chuaaak!!! Kwakwa-kwaang!!
Second Soul was deeply slashed from shoulder to chest in a single blow.
That wasn't all—his body crashed through the roof, falling below.
'Wh-what incredible strength...!'
'How can any human possess such power...?!'
Everyone watching was shocked.
Jaseong himself was thrilled by the explosive might of the Eight Gates, eager to test this overwhelming strength even further.
Unfortunately, his internal power was now utterly depleted.
The time left amounted to barely two breaths.
So in the next instant, he prepared his final strike.
'Heaven Evading Flash Sword—First Technique: Heaven Evading Flash Radiance (天遁一閃光輝)'
As Jaseong swung his sword, a long arc of light slashed horizontally.
Next, from First Soul's chest—CHUAAAAK!!!!—a blood fountain spurted more violently than ever before.
"Ke-heok!"
With a scream, First Soul collapsed on the rooftop.
Then, the power swollen by Devil Soul Frenzy faded, and his body shrunken rapidly.
His veins bulged beneath his skin and then—peok! peok!—burst, spraying a fountain of blood everywhere.
Such was the price of using Devil Soul Frenzy, a secret brew of the Demonic Cult.
"This can't...be... Our Three Souls Hall... to fall so pathetically like this...."
Those were his last words.
Under his mask, First Soul's eyes gradually lost their light.
Watching, Jaseong let out a long breath and sheathed his sword.
The prodigy of the Red Light District, executor of Heaven's Mandate.
He, called the calamity sent from heaven, had wiped out Three Souls Hall, the Central Plains' most feared force of the Dark Path, in this very moment.
* * *
After ending the fight, Jaseong immediately closed the gates he had opened, in reverse order.
Then—
"Uweeegh!!!"
He vomited blood, wracked by nausea.
The aftereffects of opening the Eight Gates surged upon him at once.
But instead of groaning in pain, Jaseong burst into laughter.
"Kukukuk...."
He felt as though he had closed the distance to his mortal enemies.
'With this strength... I might be able to cut down at least one of them....'
Jaseong's manic laughter was chilling.
The surrounding onlookers stared at him, holding their breath.
Still, Jaseong paid no mind, descending from the rooftop in Wandering Warrior Village.
There, he found Second Soul, not yet dead, gasping blood and on the verge of death.
Jaseong had questions for him.
"The Devil Soul Frenzy you used is the Demonic Cult's drug. How did you obtain it?"
Perhaps sensing death, Second Soul answered honestly.
"We... supplied the Demonic Cult with hundreds of children.... Heh heh...."
"Just as I suspected. Where is the base of the Demonic Cult? Is it in Ten Thousand Mountain Range?"
He needed to locate his enemies.
But Second Soul chuckled.
"The Great Heavenly Demon War... ended ages ago... Think they would still be in the Ten Thousand Mountain Range...? Keh heh... On my deathbed, I'll tell you... Those wretched Demonic Cult bastards...."
"?"
"They are everywhere in the Central Plains now... Keh heh heh...."
"......!"
With that, Second Soul breathed his last.
Jaseong's eyes flickered at these words.
... The Demonic Cult is everywhere in the Central Plains?
How did their forces grow so vast?
Especially when the Murim Alliance is vigilantly monitoring the land.
'I'll have to make use of the Hao Sect's intelligence network.'
Jaseong thought of Gal Seo-ryeong, the Hao Sect's guardian general he'd met at the Dark Path Duel Banquet.
If anyone knew about the Demonic Cult's hidden agents across the land, it would be her.
Having reached this conclusion, Jaseong turned to survey his surroundings.
The White-haired Blade Elder was approaching Jaseong, who had just finished the fight.
Thanks to emergency treatment from Dark Needle Venom Empress, the White-haired Blade Elder had narrowly survived.
As was common for martial artists who used needles as their main weapons, Dark Needle Venom Empress was also skilled in medicine.
Of course, despite surviving, the White-haired Blade Elder's condition was dire.
His white hair and robes were drenched in blood.
Seeing this, Jaseong felt a strange emotion.
The elder was in this state because he had taken a blade for him.
Sseuk—
The White-haired Blade Elder approached, and gently closed the eyes of the dead First Soul, Second Soul, and Third Soul.
His hands trembled slightly.
He then thanked Jaseong.
"Thank you."
"......."
"If not for you, I would've died at my disciples' hands today. And... I'm sorry."
"......?"
"It's my fault for raising my disciples poorly and causing so many innocents to be harmed."
"......."
"Thirty years ago, when I first met them, they were not like this. They were just poor, hungry children in tears. But through my lack of virtue, they... became the worst villains in the world...."
Tears welled in the elder's eyes.
"But thanks to you, they did not commit more sins... Because of you, the children of Wandering Warrior Village are safe, and I still draw breath. So... thank you, truly."
The White-haired Blade Elder bowed deeply.
The Shadowless Divine Thief, once a legend of the martial world, bowing to him left Jaseong with mixed feelings.
"I am thankful as well."
"You mean, for taking the blade in your stead? Hmph... Even if it wasn't me... you would have...."
"And about the manual—I read it well."
"Hmm...? What manual???"
Just as the White-haired Blade Elder's eyes widened in confusion, swoosh! swoosh! two shadows leapt onto the roof.
Lee Rin and Gu Janghu had arrived.
They too had finished their fight with the Faceless Ghost and the Mocheon Sect elites.
"Great hero! Are you alright?"
Seeing Jaseong, Lee Rin hurried over and asked.
"Sorry for not getting here sooner! The masked ones we were fighting split up and ran in all directions, so we had to chase them...."
When Lee Rin spoke, behind her lay the corpses of the Mocheon Sect's elite.
Even the Faceless Ghost, once the right hand of Murong Dangcheon, was dead.
It showed just how high-level Lee Rin and Gu Janghu's martial arts truly were.
The Faceless Ghost was as skilled as any of Three Souls Hall's three chiefs.
Because these two defeated the Mocheon Sect's top experts, Murong Dangcheon remained oblivious that both Three Souls Hall and his plans had been thwarted.
Thanks to this, Jaseong now had the chance to launch an unexpected counterattack against his foe.
"Leader, something strange happened."
Gu Janghu said.
"Strange?"
"The men dressed in black used the Murong clan's techniques."
At these words, Jaseong's eyes grew cold.
"... They used the Murong clan's martial arts?"
"And the boss of these masked men we defeated at the end—he seemed desperate to hide something. When his subordinates were incapacitated, he slew them all with throwing weapons himself."
"......!"
"And then finally, he also took his own life."
Why the Faceless Ghost did this—
In case any subordinates were caught by Jaseong's group and spoke of the conspiracy between Mocheon Sect and Three Souls Hall.
If the truth were exposed, his lifelong lord Murong Dangcheon would be imprisoned by the Murim Alliance, the Mocheon Sect would be disgraced and annihilated, and even the main Murong clan would face disaster.
Thus, the Faceless Ghost chose death to keep their secret.
Still, at this moment, Jaseong faintly sensed the truth.
'So, Murong swordsmen colluded with Three Souls Hall... Was the Mocheon Sect scheming with Three Souls Hall before we came to the Wandering Warrior Village?'
At that moment—
Whoosh!
As Jaseong was lost in thought, a black shadow fluttered above his head.
Flutter—flutter—
A black hawk perched on the edge of the eaves.
Right on time—Hyang-I had sent new information.
[I pray this correspondence reaches the leader safely.
Reporting as the Hao Sect Ansun branch's secretary, Hyang-I.
The urgent information concerns the Mocheon Sect.
The fourth son of the Mocheon Sect, Murong Jin, is secretly making his way to Wandering Warrior Village in disguise.]
"What...?"
[This is confirmed information gathered from all the brothels near Ansun.
Even Elder Jang, the ferryman, sent the same report.]
Upon reading this, Jaseong was filled with questions.
Murong Jin was someone Jaseong had once forced to consume gu poison, turning him into a secret agent.
'Why is Murong Jin suddenly coming to Wandering Warrior Village?'
In fact, the reason was simple.
Because of a promise once made between Three Souls Hall's leader and Murong Dangcheon.
—We cannot trust you so easily. As proof of our agreement, send one of your sons to us.
To secure the deal with Three Souls Hall, Murong Dangcheon decided to send his fourth son, Murong Jin, as a hostage.
But, unaware that even his trusted lackey, the Faceless Ghost, had been taken out by Jaseong's party, he was now sending his fourth son directly into their hands—a completely tangled turn of events from Murong Dangcheon's perspective.
Of course, Jaseong didn't know the full story.
But it didn't matter.
'Good. Murong Jin is a pawn within my grasp... I can use him to uncover what kind of schemes the Mocheon Sect has set in motion.'
* * *
The next morning.
Murong Jin climbed out of a worn ferryboat and wrinkled his nose.
At the fetid dock of Wandering Warrior Village, shabby-looking ferrymen and wanderers lingered here and there.
"... To think the fourth son of Mocheon Sect ended up coming to such a lowly place. Why did those Three Souls Hall bastards set up here, of all places? Tch."
For someone of Murong blood, setting foot in such an impoverished village was itself a humiliation.
Yet Murong Jin, clicking his tongue, recalled his father's words.
'Just settle this case well, and all your past failures will be forgotten. I'll cherish you above even your other brothers, my youngest.'
Ambition burned within Murong Jin.
If he pulled this off, he might even expose the Hao Sect's leader—the one who forced him to consume gu poison—and bring him down.
'I no longer need to go to Ansun. I just have to see this matter to the end...!'
But the moment Murong Jin and his attendant stepped onto the riverbank—
"Hello!"
A young errand boy stood waiting.
Barely ten years old, the child wore tattered clothes and his face was dust-streaked with exhaustion.
"On orders from Three Souls Hall, I've come to guide you, young master."
The boy whispered.
Murong Jin raised an eyebrow in puzzlement.
'... A child as Three Souls Hall's errand boy?'
But he saw no real cause for concern.
"Very well. Lead the way."
Murong Jin spoke with dignity.
The child bowed respectfully and led the way.
His small footsteps trod the muddy path of the dock.
Yet as the errand boy led Murong Jin, something felt off.
The scheduled meeting place was an abandoned temple in the middle of Wandering Warrior Village.
But instead, the child led them to a rundown inn.
[Sword Guesthouse]
The inn was dilapidated and gloomy.
Its doorframe creaked, the paper windows were torn and flapped in the wind.
The area was deserted, silence hanging heavy.
"This way, please."
Even inside the Sword Guesthouse, the boy pointed at stairs leading to a basement.
Seeing the ominous darkness below, Murong Jin hesitated for a moment.
'... What a fitting lair for shady thugs. But if I succeed here, I'll be the Mocheon Sect's next successor...!'
Muttering to himself, he descended the stairs alongside his attendant.
Soon, the musty, moldy scent led them to a steel door sealing off a hidden room.
Kiiiiiik—
The rusty iron door groaned ominously as it opened.
But the moment Murong Jin entered the underground secret room—
"Y-you're...?!"
Murong Jin's eyes went wide in shock.
Inside, someone familiar was waiting.
"It's been a while."
A strange man in a human-skin mask.
Hao Sect's leader, Jaseong, sat back on a chair, waiting for Murong Jin with leisurely composure.