Swordless Demonic Path

"Keuk!"

Woo Jeong-bong, who had collapsed on the ground, lost his sword. Another woman approached with a smile and picked up Woo Jeong-bong's sword.

"It looks like a withered horse dung, but it's a martial artist, so it carries a sword... Wudang? Oh my!"

The woman who was looking at the sword opened her eyes wide and then instinctively retreated.

The other two women approached the woman who had dropped the sword.

"What's wrong?"

"What's the matter?"

"This horse dung bastard seems to be from the Wudang Sect."

"What?"

The eyes of the three women slowly looked up and down Woo Jeong-bong.

"What should we do? Senior uncle said not to mess with beggars, Taoists, or monks..."

"Why is a Wudang Sect Taoist here? Isn't that bastard impersonating the Wudang Sect?"

"But the sword is good. It doesn't seem like a sword that anyone can carry."

At the words of the woman who was looking at the sword, the remaining two women also took a look at the sword.

"If you retreat now, I'll pretend today's incident never happened. But if not, next year today will be your death anniversary. No, I'll even get rid of the sect you belong to. You crazy bitches."

Woo Jeong-bong staggered and showed his killing intent. Although his internal energy was pure, he had not yet lost consciousness.

The three women emitted a strong prayer at the words 'crazy bitches'.

"What are you saying, you fool."

"You might die soon. Tsk tsk! You look like horse dung. I'm letting you live because my type is a guy who looks like horse dung."

"I can't. This bastard, let's just take him. If he's a disciple of the Wudang Sect, his internal energy will be high, so his stamina will also be high. If we give him an aphrodisiac, we can enjoy him for a month."

"We can also suck his internal energy."

"And his stamina. Hohoho!"

As the three women approached with a laugh, Woo Jeong-bong opened his eyes wide and waved both his hands.

"Hey! Wait! You're crazy. Where is your sect?! Tell me quickly... No..."

Thump!

Woo Jeong-bong, who was shouting loudly, fell to the floor and fell asleep as the world turned black.

* * *

"Uwaaaak!"

Woo Jeong-bong, who opened his eyes with a scream, closed his eyes as the bright sunlight came in through the window.

"Hmph! Hmph! I'm alive, right?"

As he was gasping for breath, he saw a water cup in front of his eyes. Woo Jeong-bong, who had hurriedly received the water cup and drank the water, turned his head in surprise.

He saw Jo Geom-ok sitting in a chair.

"What happened?"

"What?"

"Was it a dream? Hoo... It was a dream."

Woo Jeong-bong let out a deep sigh and thought that he had had a bad dream.

"What kind of dream did you have?"

"Yesterday, that is, I was drinking with the courtesans at the brothel, and they said they would kidnap me. They said they would eat me up, so my arms and legs were torn off, I was bleeding, and my head was torn off."

"It's the Yin Immortal Palace."

"Huh? Yin Immortal?"

"Yes. The Yin Immortal Palace. The women who tried to kidnap Brother Woo last night were the Yin Demons of the Yin Immortal Palace."

"Ugh!"

Woo Jeong-bong opened his eyes wide as if he were dumbfounded.

The Yin Immortal Palace had not shown itself in the martial world for the past ten years. One of the things that men of the martial world had to avoid the most was meeting the disciples of the Yin Immortal Palace.

It was said that the men who were attracted to the beautiful appearance of the Yin Immortal Palace disciples and disappeared never returned.

"That's a relief. I thought it was a dream, but it was all true. What happened after I lost consciousness?"

"I saved you."

Jo Geom-ok answered, sighed, and then spoke to Woo Jeong-bong.

Jo Geom-ok had run first to deliver the news of Yeon Jeok-sim's corpse to the Namgung family.

Although she was going to move with Woo Jeong-bong, she had saved him when she saw him being dragged away by the women at the brothel.

The women were injured and ran away due to the fact that he was a disciple of the Wudang Sect and Jo Geom-ok's martial arts.

Jo Geom-ok did not chase the fleeing women. If it were Jin Sa-wol, he would have killed them all.

"It's a good thing Sa-wol didn't come."

"That's right. If it were Younger Brother Jin, he would have killed them all."

Woo Jeong-bong also answered as if he had roughly grasped Jin Sa-wol's personality and then asked.

"What about the Namgung family?"

"Since I sent a person, they will come."

Jo Geom-ok turned her gaze out the window and waited for Jin Sa-wol to come. Since he was not next to her, she felt empty for some reason.

* * *

"Kraak!"

A loud scream echoed in the main hall.

The deceased was the steward, who was Chae Gong-gong's cousin. On top of that, most of the men among Chae Gong-gong's relatives were lying as corpses.

In front of them, a bald man was standing, holding a blood-soaked saber. Besides him, the masters of the Wall Demonic Hall, who were wearing red martial arts uniforms and holding sabers, were standing on all four sides of the main hall.

The bald man smiled and then held his saber at a young man who appeared to be just of age.

"P... please save me."

The young man was the steward's son, and he trembled all over with a face full of fear. But the bald man did not seem to have any intention of letting him live.

"Go with the adults. They say the afterlife is also okay if you go."

"Did you go? You bastard. Stop."

As the bald man raised his saber, the middle-aged man in the seat of honor said. The bald man took a step back.

The middle-aged man in the seat of honor. He was their leader.

He was a person wearing a red martial arts uniform, red leather gloves like blood on his hands, and a red cloak.

He was well over six feet tall, and his build was also huge. His face also looked like a lion's, so an ordinary person would be intimidated the moment they saw him.

Jeong Heon-yeong, the deputy master of the Wall Demonic Hall, the Great Blood Demonic Madman, looked down at Chae Gong-gong, who was kneeling.

"The four people who are called the four great guardian demonic gods of our sect are people who will never die. One of them is Lord Yeon. But he's dead? Say something that makes sense. If he's dead, you must have killed him."

"What kind of absurd speculation is that! Absolutely not."

"I heard he was recuperating from a severe internal injury. He is a person that the orthodox sect is looking for with gritted teeth. But he died here. He died here. Jin Sa-wol? Who is that bastard?"

As he received Jeong Heon-yeong's gaze, the bald man shook his head. Jeong Heon-yeong let out his killing intent at Chae Gong-gong and then spoke again.

"Since you sold Lord Yeon to the orthodox sect, you have to die. Of course, I won't kill the women and will take them, so know that."

"It's absolutely not a lie."

Rustle!

The bald man's saber cut Chae Gong-gong's body. Immediately after, the bald man, who had cut the chest of the surviving young man, smiled happily when he saw the blood.

"Since you couldn't serve Lord Yeon properly, you all have to die."

Ma-gung, the right-hand man of Jeong Heon-yeong and the pavilion master of the Gwi-hyeol Pavilion of the Wall Demonic Hall, the Tragic Blood Saber, wiped the blood on his saber with Chae Gong-gong's clothes.

Thump!

A subordinate ran into the main hall.

"What is it?"

When Ma-gung asked, the subordinate knelt and answered.

"The master's son and daughter are not in sight. It seems they ran away, knowing that we would come."

"You bastard."

Ma-gung spat at Chae Gong-gong.

Jeong Heon-yeong, who was sitting in the seat of honor, smiled.

"It seems he knew in advance that he would die."

"Should I send a tracking team?"

"There are many eyes of the Martial Alliance. If we just retrieve Lord Yeon's corpse, we will withdraw."

"Understood. Clean up the corpses."

"Yes!"

At Ma-gung's voice, the warriors in red martial arts uniforms began to clean the main hall.

* * *

Rattle! Rattle!

A single horse was slowly pulling a cart containing a coffin. Jin Sa-wol was sitting in the driver's seat, appreciating the quiet countryside scenery.

Although he had sent Jo Geom-ok first because he was worried about Woo Jeong-bong, he also had something to think about alone.

'The esoteric sect master tried to get rid of the martial world. He tried to get rid of all the orthodox, unorthodox, and demonic.'

Although he had said so, in reality, he had tried to put the martial world under his feet.

It was that man's dream to achieve hegemony and unify the world.

Of course, he had to face death due to the betrayal of his subordinates without even being able to properly unfold that dream.

It was his subordinates who had informed the world about the main headquarters of the esoteric sect and the esoteric sect.

Chirp! Chirp! Pududuk!

Sparrows flew out in a flock from the bushes.

Seeing that, Dokgo Shin-wi came to mind. The True Blood Demonic Art he had given him was a demonic art manual that was in the esoteric sect.

The Demonic Cult had taken that, and Dokgo Shin-wi had given it to him. He had returned it to its original owner.

The esoteric sect master was his biological father.

But he was a madman. He himself had also never once thought of him as a father. He had just thought of him as a wooden doll and had treated him that way.

He had frequently unfolded the Soul-Stealing Great Law on him and had given him tremendous pain.

One day, as he became accustomed to the pain and his senses disappeared, he had stopped the Soul-Stealing Great Law.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

At the sharp sound of wind and the light sound of footsteps, Jin Sa-wol turned his head.

He saw six men in black running from behind.

Their movements were quite fast. They seemed to be people who were accustomed to tracking.

Shwaak! Thwack!

A willow-leaf-shaped dart, like a silver light and a leaf, cut through the air and flew in. But before it could reach Jin Sa-wol's back, it hit an invisible barrier and bounced off with a metallic sound.

Clang!

At the light sound, the six who were tracking scattered to the left and right. They were quite surprised and widened the distance.

The cart, which was going slowly, stopped in the middle of the main road. Since it was a quiet place, there were no passersby.

Jin Sa-wol, who was sitting in the driver's seat, took off his bamboo hat.

Whoosh!

In that instant, his figure turned to the right and brushed past the backs of the three. Immediately after, he turned to the left and then at once, he returned to the driver's seat and sat down.

Swish!

Jin Sa-wol, who had put on his bamboo hat, grabbed the reins.

"Let's go. Giddy-up."

Thwack!

The horse moved again. A rattling sound echoed.

As the cart slowly moved along the main road, the figures of the six fell to the ground at the same time.

Thump! Thump! Thud!

Blood pooled around the fallen men in black.

* * *

Several pairs of eyes were watching the cart and the men in black from the forest. They were ready to attack at any time.

But they could not move.

The moment Jin Sa-wol's figure became blurry, they had to instinctively stop their actions.

Immediately after Jin Sa-wol pulled the cart and moved again, the men in black were collapsing helplessly.

"Damn it..."

A man in his late thirties spat out a curse and slowly approached the dead subordinates. Behind him, a dozen or so men in black followed.

The man in his late thirties was the leader of the tracking team of the Wall Demonic Hall. He asked his subordinates.

"Did you see?"

"What? Yes."

"This is out of our hands."

"If we return empty-handed, they might kill us."

"Should we die here?"

At the subordinate's words, the leader opened his eyes wide and got angry.

If he fought Jin Sa-wol now, he would die. But if he returned and reported the truth, he might have a way to live.

"Collect the corpses. We have to take them and show them."

"Yes!"

The men in black answered, hugged their dead comrades, and quickly disappeared into the forest.

That evening, Jeong Heon-yeong and Ma-gung were angry at the report of the tracking team that had returned to the manor.

Thump!

Jeong Heon-yeong, who had slammed the table, stood up from his seat and shouted at his subordinates.

"Catch that bastard right now and tear him to pieces! Leave at once!"

"Get ready!"

Ma-gung also shouted at his subordinates.

As they went out of the main hall, a dozen or so warriors ran into the wide yard.

They were the surviving warriors of the Yaksha Hall and the Gwi-pung Pavilion.

(End of Chapter)