Swordless Demonic Path

"Keok! Shii... Ugh! No... Let... go..."

'You son of a bitch! How am I supposed to talk when you're stabbing me in the stomach and choking me! You crazy bastard.'

Jin Sa-wol, without even having time to feel that the man in blue was cursing, let him go and disappeared.

Thwack! Thwack!

With Jin Sa-wol's afterimage, two sabers that had cut through the man in blue's body were stretched out long in front.

The two blind swordsmen, who were holding out their sabers, stood still in that spot.

Thump!

Although they heard the sound of the man in blue collapsing, they did not move. It was as if time had stopped. They felt like moving stone statues.

It wasn't just them. The dozen or so people standing around also stood still with their sabers and spears in hand.

The ones holding the spears were in a posture as if they were about to run, and the ones holding the sabers also stood still with their sabers in hand.

It was a strange sight.

Although they were clearly breathing, there was not even a feeling of being alive.

Swish! Rustle!

After a moment, they moved their faces slightly from side to side and pricked up their ears, looking for a sound.

Thump!

Jin Sa-wol, who had landed at a distance of ten zhang, looked around at the blind men who were standing like stone statues.

They were relying on their hearing for everything.

If there were living dolls, they would be like the ones in front of him right now.

Thump! Thump!

As he slowly walked from a distance of ten zhang and approached to eight zhang, six zhang, the two swordsmen who were standing at the very front instantly swung their sabers at Jin Sa-wol.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

As a sharp flash flew in, Jin Sa-wol's figure flew back. They cut through the empty air and then stopped in that spot.

They, who had stopped in the posture of cutting with their sabers, focused all their nerves on their ears to find Jin Sa-wol.

'Six zhang.'

Jin Sa-wol knew that the distance at which their hearing moved sensitively was six zhang.

If he approached within six zhang, they would move.

Jin Sa-wol approached the nearest blind warrior.

Rustle!

Jin Sa-wol, who had moved forward lightly as if sliding, looked at the blind warrior who was swinging his saber at him after hearing the sound.

When that person's saber emitted light, he quickly went behind him, twisted his arm, and pressed his neck.

Swish! Whoosh!

In that instant, sabers and spears flew in from the left and right. Jin Sa-wol let go of the blind man he was holding and retreated.

Thwack!

Although the sabers and spears pierced the blind warrior's chest and waist, there was not even a scream.

Thump!

As he stomped his foot, two who were about six zhang away flew in, and the two who had just stabbed their comrade also rushed in.

Jin Sa-wol grabbed the nearest blind man on the left and dodged behind him.

Thwack!

The sabers and spears pierced the blind man's body. There was still no scream.

Jin Sa-wol, who had appeared in front of the blind man who was opening his mouth wide, cut the necks of the blind men who were trying to pull out their sabers and spears with his Yuseom Sword.

Shwaak!

As a sharp sword energy cut through the empty air, three people collapsed. Although blood flowed from their necks, he still could not hear their voices.

"They have no tongues."

Jin Sa-wol grabbed the chin of the blind man who was standing with his mouth wide open and opened it. The tongue that should have been there was gone.

They were those whose eyes had been plucked out and whose tongues had been cut.

"What a wicked hobby."

As Jin Sa-wol's voice flowed out, the remaining blind men who were standing around attacked at once.

Jin Sa-wol turned his body diagonally and stabbed his sword into the empty air at the rushing blind men.

Ping! Thwack! Thump! Thump!

Dozens of sword lights pierced the blind men's faces and chests. Small holes were pierced in the blind men's bodies. The size of the holes was about the thickness of an index finger.

If an ignorant person saw it, they would say that they had been hit by a finger attack.

Jin Sa-wol had named it the Sword Bullet Qi.

It was a lump of sword energy that had been made smaller than a sword pill and reduced to the thickness of a finger.

If this grew, it would become a sword pill or a sword membrane, and if it became stronger, it would become a sword gang.

Its range was one zhang longer than the One-Sword Annihilation Ghost of the Seven Swords of the Ghost Soul, and its power was also strong.

It was a martial art that had been naturally created as he had continuously unfolded the One-Sword Annihilation Ghost.

It was a sword qi art that flew like an arrow, with strong internal energy contained in the force that occurred when he stab the empty air with the tip of his sword.

Thump! Thud! Thud!

The blind warriors collapsed helplessly on the floor.

Although he heard them collapsing, Jin Sa-wol still only looked at the corpse whose chin he was holding.

From the lower jaw to the Goryeo and Daeyeong acupoints, there were slightly larger holes, and blood was flowing from them.

It seemed that he had even blocked the blood vessels in the face and made him unable to move.

"Did he make it so that he couldn't even laugh?"

Jin Sa-wol thought that this face would be creepy if it laughed.

Jin Sa-wol threw the corpse on the floor and turned his body.

'Who is it?'

He had plucked out their eyes and cut their tongues.

It seemed like an unavoidable choice to protect the secrets of this place. But it was too cruel a method.

Jin Sa-wol, who was looking at the collapsed corpses, somehow felt as if they were smiling.

'They were waiting for death.'

Jin Sa-wol passed the corpses with an indifferent face and stood at the entrance of the main hall. There was the man in blue, who had been cut into several pieces.

The blind men might have killed him on purpose. While pretending to follow orders.

A strong smell of blood brushed past his nose.

"It's like the esoteric sect."

Jin Sa-wol muttered without realizing it and entered the main hall.

The main hall was wide and high. The light coming in through the wide-open door illuminated the interior of the main hall, but it was not a pleasant sight.

On the floor, there were piles of rotten corpses and skeletons, and on the pillars, there were rows of skeletons tied with iron chains and covered in dust.

It was a main hall full of the smell of death.

Although he didn't like the strange blind warriors, he didn't like the atmosphere of this main hall either.

Behind the pillars on the left and right, there were large incense burners, and a sour scent was burning from them.

In the seat of honor of the main hall, there were not chairs, but men in black wearing ghost masks, standing in a line. There were five of them.

In the hands of the five, there were small bells and chimes.

Clang! Clang!

A strong ringing sound filled the entire main hall.

Jin Sa-wol opened his eyes wide with a hardened expression.

'Soul-Sucking Art? If not, is it the Soul-Stealing Great Law? What is it? Is it the Demonic Spirit Illusion Art?'

The sound that rang in his ears sounded like the cry of a ghost. The scent tickled his nose, and the sound made his mind dizzy.

"Hohoho!"

A woman's coquettish laughter echoed low in the main hall.

The gloomy main hall, full of corpses, froze even colder.

The man in black standing in the middle of the five stepped forward. It was a woman with a small build, wearing a black cloak.

"Your eyes look like they've gone crazy. Hohoho! My Sound Soul Bell has taken your mind, so now you are mine."

Clang! Clang!

The sound of the bell rang once more. Then the four ghost masks surrounded Jin Sa-wol on all sides.

The woman with the ghost mask, as if she were finally at ease, approached one zhang in front of Jin Sa-wol.

"You're handsome. Your martial arts are high, and you're a pretty good guy, but it's a shame, but it can't be helped. Since you've seen us, we have to pluck out your eyes and cut your tongue."

Clang!

The woman wearing the ghost mask took out a small dagger from her chest.

"Now open your mouth and stick out your tongue."

Swish!

As she held out the dagger, a small, circular light flew past her wrist with a 'thwack!' sound.

"Huh?"

The woman with the ghost mask looked at the hand holding the dagger. In that instant, the hand holding the dagger fell down with a 'thump'.

"Ugh! Aaaak! My hand!"

The woman screamed as blood splattered and collapsed. The woman with the ghost mask, who was holding her wrist, raised her head.

In her eyes, she saw the face of Jin Sa-wol, who was looking down at her. Jin Sa-wol's eyes were indifferent.

Thump!

It was then that the four ghost masks collapsed.

Jin Sa-wol held up the dagger, Night Flower, in his hand and said.

"Don't order me."

"How... how did this happen? You must have smelled the red flower scent."

"The red flower scent and the Sound Soul Bell are child's play."

Jin Sa-wol's dagger passed the ghost mask.

Crack!

The ghost mask split in half, and the face of a middle-aged woman who appeared to be in her late thirties was revealed.

A very thin face. Her cheekbones were protruding, and her eyes were small. Those small eyes were full of disbelief and fear.

"That kind of trick doesn't work on me."

Jin Sa-wol was already a demonic person who had gone through a metamorphosis and was not immune to all poisons, but was immune to a hundred poisons and had approached the realm of extreme demonic power, surpassing the stage of old age.

To him, the tricks that induced hallucinations and hypnosis were just child's play.

"Are you a group of apostates?"

"Apostates? This is the esoteric sect, and I am one of the four great martial gods of the esoteric sect."

"How ridiculous."

Swish!

He raised his dagger and lifted the woman's chin.

"The esoteric sect is gone."

The woman, who felt a strong killing intent, shouted loudly.

"Who are you to be able to come here without going through the Musalgwan? What kind of bastard are you!"

Rustle!

The blade of the Night Flower pierced the woman's neck. Immediately after, he lightly turned the blade and lifted it up.

Thwack!

Blood splattered.

Jin Sa-wol looked at the blade of the Night Flower first, rather than the collapsed middle-aged woman. Not a single drop of blood was on the blade.

"Good."

Jin Sa-wol muttered, put the dagger in his bosom, and looked at the middle-aged woman.

"Did you want me to tell you what you were curious about before you died?"

He tilted his head and thought that if it were him, he would have run away.

In that instant, countless swords and men in black fell from above his head.

Jin Sa-wol, who saw the group coming down like a shower, unfolded the Soul-Severing Sword and the Thousand Ghost Killing Sword at the same time at the empty air.

Countless light groups filled the empty air.

Shwaak! Thump!

The roof exploded, and thud! corpses fell. Behind them, a shower of blood poured down.

The figure of Jin Sa-wol, who should have been in the main hall, had already disappeared.

* * *

Thump!

As the door of the stone room opened, a plaza appeared.

An old man, who was sitting alone, leaning on a staff, in that plaza, turned his head. Behind the stooped old man, there were stairs going up.

If you went up the stairs, the pavilion of the esoteric sect would appear.

Jin Sa-wol knew that the old man was blind because his eyes were white. But his face was familiar.

"It's Steward Yang."

The old man, who was raising his internal energy, reacted to the words 'Steward Yang'.

"Huh? What kind of bastard is this? Hmm... His voice is young, and his tone is insolent, so he's a brat, but he's probably not Jeok Sa-yeong. It's a smell I've smelled somewhere... besides the smell of blood."

"Jeok Sa-yeong is dead."

"The real one is dead, and the guy sitting up there now is a fake. He used to be a loyal outer steward of the esoteric sect, and his name is..."

"It's Chun-sam."

"That's right, Bae Chun-sam."

The old man showed a faint smile.

Only then could Jin Sa-wol roughly guess what had happened.

On the day the esoteric sect was annihilated, Bae Chun-sam had fled far away with his subordinates. After the subjugation team had retreated, he had taken over the empty house.

Also, he had learned various demonic arts from the secret warehouse of the esoteric sect that the subjugation team had not taken.

The old man raised his staff and pointed at Jin Sa-wol.

"But, who are you?"

(End of Chapter)