Scholar Demon Venerable

CLANG! CLASH!

Swoooosh!

The sound of clashing weapons rang out loudly along with the sound of the rain.

The man in the bamboo hat also rushed forward, swinging his large, oddly shaped saber diagonally upwards at the Baihuzhang.

The Baihuzhang took a step back and deflected the saber. Then he swung his sword like a whip, thrusting it towards the neck of the man in the bamboo hat.

Ting! Clang!

The man in the bamboo hat had already raised his saber to block. At the same time, he launched his body into the air and thrust his saber forcefully.

As the attack came in, rotating with his body, the Baihuzhang's sword quickened.

Chajajajang!

The Baihuzhang deflected the saber consecutively but was pushed back by the force. His upper body bent backward, and he had no choice but to let the attack flow past.

From the perspective of a guard, it was a situation where he was giving way.

Fortunately, another man who was with him swung his sword forcefully and blocked the attack of the man in the bamboo hat.

The Baihuzhang found an opening in the meantime and leaped up.

"You bastard!"

Then he twisted his body and thrust his sword at the man in the bamboo hat.

Chaeng!

The man in the bamboo hat raised his saber to block the Baihuzhang's sword, then used the momentum of being pushed back to slash the waist of another Jinyiwei member.

"Keok!"

A fountain of blood spewed out with a scream.

The man in the bamboo hat did not hesitate and flew towards where Cheongun was. But he could not achieve his goal.

The Baihuzhang had already approached him and was thrusting his sword at his vital points.

"Back off! You bastard!"

Hee-hing.

At that moment, the sound of a horse neighing was heard from behind.

For a moment, the Baihuzhang realized his mistake.

Other men had broken through his subordinates' defense and were approaching Lee Cheongun.

He hurriedly tried to retreat. But the man in the bamboo hat wouldn't let him go.

The smile that appeared from under the bamboo hat was like the laugh of a yaksha from hell.

"Hehehe, where do you think you're going?"

"You bastard!"

The Baihuzhang shouted and deflected the attack of the man in the bamboo hat.

The attack of the man in the bamboo hat changed from hard to soft.

The saber is based on hardness. To unfold it with the subtlety of softness meant that his martial arts were stronger than what he had shown so far.

Sure enough, the man in the bamboo hat did not let go of the Baihuzhang's sword.

For a moment, the Baihuzhang's hair stood on end. If this continued, he might not be able to protect Lee Cheongun, the person he was supposed to be guarding.

"Escort the Samwon and get out of here!"

He shouted as if he was screaming.

Taking advantage of that opening, the man in the bamboo hat attacked with all his might.

Jwaaak, seogeok.

The middle-aged guard's eyes widened in cold pain.

"Team leader!"

He heard someone calling him, but his whole body was as if struck by lightning and wouldn't move.

Jureureuk.

Blood flowed from his chest.

Still, he stood tall and glared at the man in the bamboo hat. As if he would never give way.

"Quickly... run... away."

"Break through! Quickly escort the Samwon!"

Of the Jinyiwei members in black cloaks, five survived.

One of the members grabbed the reins of the horse Cheongun was riding and galloped towards the darkening forest.

Another member blocked the masked men and ran with him, while the remaining three members blocked the rear.

A fierce killing intent emanated from their eyes, as if they would not let anyone go.

At that sight, the man in the bamboo hat shouted.

"Chase them! We have to catch them before it gets darker!"

They couldn't let them get away. The opponents were the Jinyiwei. Their tenacity and viciousness were already widely known throughout the world, and since they had touched the Jinyiwei, the emperor's direct military force, they had to clean up the mess completely.

The man in the bamboo hat rushed towards the Baihuzhang standing in front and swung his saber.

The Baihuzhang's energy was already exhausted. He was only standing there, holding on with the last bit of his true energy.

Seogeok!

The saber of the man in the bamboo hat cut a long gash across his chest.

The Baihuzhang glared at the man in the bamboo hat and fell forward.

Only then did the man in the bamboo hat realize that he had been deceived by the Baihuzhang's bluff and gritted his teeth as he gave an order.

"Kill all the survivors and erase all traces!"

"As you command!"

The only survivors were a few porters who were carrying the luggage.

They cried out for their lives, but the attackers showed no mercy.

At that moment, a masked man flew down next to the man in the bamboo hat.

"Uncle, what should we do? We might lose them if it gets darker."

"Hmph! They won't be able to escape, so don't worry."

As he spoke, the man in the bamboo hat used his lightness skill and ran along the forest path.

Not far away, a Jinyiwei was blocking the path and fighting his subordinates. The other two were lying on the ground.

Passing that place, he quickly ran along the mountain path. About ten masked men followed him.

After running for a while, when the darkness had deepened, the man in the bamboo hat found the horse.

But when he reached the place where the horse was, he realized that he had been deceived. The person was nowhere to be seen, and the horse was standing alone.

"Split up and search! They couldn't have gone far!"

The masked men scattered in all directions.

Cheongun pushed his way through the dim forest, breathing heavily.

He didn't know how many times he had fallen on the wet ground.

His clothes were torn, and his whole body ached from more than one or two wounds.

But at least he seemed to have shaken off the enemy's pursuit.

But it was not yet time to be relieved. The ambushers would search for him all night if they had to. They would try to catch and kill him no matter what.

They wouldn't be unaware that if they let him go, they would incur the wrath of the imperial palace and die themselves.

'Who on earth are they?'

Who was trying to kill him?

Why?

Cheongun swallowed his questions and looked to the side.

Two Jinyiwei were escorting him. One of them seemed to be seriously injured, as blood was constantly flowing from his shoulder.

Cheongun felt nothing but sorry for them.

They were people who were in danger because they were trying to escort him. Several of their colleagues had already been killed.

'If they weren't protecting me, they would have been able to escape easily...'

Cheongun took off his official robe and hat to move more freely.

The rain-soaked official robe and hat not only hindered his movements but were also quite heavy. To avoid being a burden to them in any way, he had to lighten his body.

At that moment, he heard a whistle.

Piiiiiik!

"Split up and search! They couldn't have gone far!"

A furious shout was also faintly heard.

Cheongun also heard the sound and hurriedly rolled up his removed official robe and hat.

"I'll carry it, Your Excellency."

The less injured of the Jinyiwei members took the rolled-up official robe and hat and tucked it under his arm.

Then he immediately moved forward.

Cheongun also followed behind and began to flee again. His body movements were much freer than before.

The man in the bamboo hat, unable to contain his anger, struck the horse standing alone in front of him with his palm.

"Damn it!"

Peng!

Hee-hing.

With a thud, the horse with its head burst open fell helplessly.

He looked around and gritted his teeth.

The mountains were being covered in darkness, and it was even raining.

A damp fog was also rising, obscuring everything, making it difficult for those with weak internal energy to even walk. If they were determined to hide, it would not be easy to find them.

At that moment, a frantic whistle was heard from the valley. It seemed they had found something.

He asked a subordinate who knew the local geography well.

"What's over there?"

"It's a valley with a waterfall."

For a moment, the man in the bamboo hat's brow twitched.

"We must kill him. If even one of them survives, we will die. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Of course."

"Pursue them! And send people downstream to thoroughly watch for anyone who might be washed down!"

"Yes!"

The pursuit continued. The rain, though lighter, showed no signs of stopping.

Before long, they found a trace. A broken tree and a dug-up ground. The trace continued down the valley.

"Found them. The rat-like bastards."

The man in the bamboo hat smiled wryly as he looked at the traces leading downstream.

"We'll catch them before they get out of the mountains. Hurry up."

The pursuit team found the two men on top of a cliff waterfall.

One was in Jinyiwei attire, and the other was wearing an official robe and a broken official hat.

"You bastards, was this the only place you could run to?"

A cold and wry voice pierced through the sound of the waterfall.

The man in the bamboo hat slowly approached the two.

The two men, seeing the ever-tightening encirclement, staggered backward.

The one in the official robe couldn't even stand straight. The Jinyiwei was holding his waist with one arm, and his body was limp and his head was bowed, as if he was seriously injured.

The corners of the man in the bamboo hat's mouth rose as he approached the two.

Cheongun, hiding in a crevice in the rock fifteen or sixteen zhang away from the cliff, watched the scene with eyes blazing with anger.

While fleeing, they had come across a dizzying cliff waterfall. It was too high to climb down or jump off.

From below the mountain, the voices of the ambushers could be heard.

A Jinyiwei had urgently said to him.

"Go up and hide. We will lure them away and escape, so come down the mountain at an appropriate time."

In any case, he was of no help to the Jinyiwei. It was better if he wasn't there.

Having made that judgment, he climbed up the mountain as the Jinyiwei had said. Then he happened to see a split rock not far to the right of the cliff and crawled under it to hide.

It was dark, raining, and a light fog was rising, so it seemed he wouldn't be easily discovered.

But the opponents were martial artists mixed with top-level masters.

Weren't they people who could move around in the dark as if it were broad daylight?

But just as his breathing was subsiding, the ambushers appeared. The man in the bamboo hat was also there.

The problem was that the Jinyiwei's escape route was blocked, and they had returned to the cliff.

Moreover, one of them was wearing his official robe and even his official hat.

Surprised, he breathed as shallowly as possible and didn't move a finger.

At that moment, he saw a masked man appear and approach the man in the bamboo hat. Soon, he heard a voice.

A fire of anger blazed in Cheongun's eyes.

"We finally caught him, uncle."

"Hehehe, didn't I tell you? That he couldn't escape."

"You are truly amazing, uncle."

The masked man said in an excited voice and then looked towards the cliff and said.

"Hehehe, Cheongun. What did I tell you? Didn't I tell you not to come to the palace examination? If you had, you would have at least been able to keep your life."

He couldn't even see the people standing in front of him properly.

Nevertheless, he did not doubt that the blurry figure was Lee Cheongun.

His head was bowed low, so his face was not clearly visible, but he was wearing the official robe of a civil official.

"Kekeke, a lowly orphan with no parents gets a big head just because he's a little smart, so you end up like your father. If you had crawled at my feet from the beginning, you wouldn't have died."

As he taunted and insulted Lee Cheongun, the man in the bamboo hat standing next to him stepped forward.

"That's enough. Let's cut off his head and leave before it gets completely dark."

"Yes, uncle."

The man in the bamboo hat approached the two with his saber hanging diagonally.

Cheongun, who was lying prone in the crevice of the rock, gritted his teeth so hard they might break.

His body trembled.

'Was it you? Was it really you, Hyeokryeon Hui!'

At that moment, he felt something crawling on him in the deep crevice of the rock. He didn't know if it was an insect or something else, but it was a fairly large object.

The object gradually crawled up his leg and reached his thigh.

Even in the midst of his surging anger, a shiver ran down his spine.

The object that had reached his thigh was going down between his crotch.

Cheongun unconsciously moved his leg.

Tuk.

His leg hit a piece of rock. It made a rather loud noise.

'Damn it!'

The man in the bamboo hat, who was walking, stopped and turned his head to glare to the right.

"What's wrong, uncle?"

The man in the bamboo hat did not answer the masked man's question and narrowed his eyes, turning his body to the right.

He had felt some kind of presence. It was not the presence of his subordinates. Because his subordinates were not there.

Feeling that something was strange, he took a step in the direction where he had felt the presence.

'Was there a survivor among the Jinyiwei bastards?'