Chapter 165 : An Escort Like Surveillance
Chapter 165: An Escort Like Surveillance
The Zhuge Clan was quiet.
There were no particularly unusual movements, nor were there any abnormal signs such as an eruption of ghostly aura.
Perhaps because of that, Monk Ilju and his disciples, who had been monitoring the Zhuge Clan, received an order from Shaolin for the abbot’s recall.
The timing came immediately after the abbot personally went to retrieve Unyeon Dharma King and Shaolin’s younger generation talent, who had been captured by the Bright Cult, by paying the required price.
With Monk Ilju’s group also returning, it was not easy for the Martial Alliance’s Room 32 to continue staying near the Zhuge Clan.
Moreover, many events that could not be explained through ordinary means occurred all across the Jianghu more often than one might think.
Investigating those incidents, determining whether they were genuine, and responding to them were all responsibilities handled by Room 32 of the Martial Alliance.
In other words, while incidents that Room 32 had to resolve kept occurring, they had been staying near the Zhuge Clan for a very long time.
From the Martial Alliance, written dispatches arrived day after day ordering them to move immediately and deal with those incidents.
Even though Room 32 had been granted autonomy in its actions, it was difficult to ignore such persistent urging and remain at the Zhuge Clan without having achieved any results.
In the end, the members of Room 32 judged that they could no longer stay and withdrew from the Zhuge Clan.
The eyes watching the Zhuge Clan had been completely withdrawn.
The Zhuge Clan, which had been waiting precisely for that moment, moved quickly.
They ordered fifty prodigies who had consumed White Enemy Pellets to trigger their manifestation.
The prodigies had clearly seen what had happened to their companions before, but they did not dare refuse the relentless urging of the clan head.
Eventually, one by one, they began to activate the White Enemy Pellets.
At first, nothing changed.
However, after about half a Gak had passed, ghostly aura began to seep out little by little, and soon it started raging inside the Closed-Door Training Grounds like a storm.
The ghostly aura grew so dense that if one spread out a palm and brushed through it, it would feel thick and viscous.
Within that storm of dense ghostly aura, one by one, the heads of the Zhuge Clan’s prodigies snapped backward.
And then…
Creeeak.
A chilling ghostly wail echoed.
Flash.
One prodigy’s eyes opened.
The white, transparent eyes without pupils were soon dyed pitch black, as if ink were spreading through water.
Then the prodigy closed and reopened his eyes.
Now his eyes held clear pupils like those of a normal person.
The problem was that those pupils belonged to a completely different person than the prodigy before the White Enemy Pellet had manifested.
Perhaps because his body had stiffened during that brief moment, the prodigy rose with creaking movements, loosening his limbs as if moving them for the first time in a long while.
“Kehehe. This Iron Flower Demon Venerable sees the light of the living world once again. Kahahahaha.”
Starting with the one who called himself the Iron Flower Demon Venerable, those letting out strange laughter and those with their heads thrown back, trembling to the sound of ghostly wails, began to mix chaotically everywhere.
After riding for two days since leaving the Zhuge Clan, the people of Room 32 suddenly stopped.
The reason was that the seven sorcerers and Daoists belonging to Room 32 all halted at once.
Their gazes all turned south.
Sensing that their expressions were far from ordinary, Great Master Jeongbeop asked the Ghost Monk.
“What is it?”
“It seems something has occurred in the south. Even this humble monk has never experienced ghostly aura of this magnitude.”
At the Ghost Monk’s words, Great Master Jeongbeop looked south with worried eyes.
From their current location, the Zhuge Clan they had left behind was also to the south.
Seeing that worry in his expression, the Ghost Monk spoke.
“It seems we may have been too hasty.”
“What do you mean…?”
“Yes. It appears the Zhuge Clan has finally carried out their plan.”
“Then we must return immediately and—”
The Ghost Monk stopped him.
“If it were before the manifestation, we could have stopped it with our strength. But with ghostly aura of this level, it is impossible for us.”
At the Ghost Monk’s words, the other six Daoists and sorcerers nodded.
Though their number was only seven, they were individuals said to have reached the very pinnacle of the Central Plains’ sorcery and Daoist arts world.
If all of them shared the same judgment, it had to be trusted.
“Then are you saying we should stand by and do nothing?”
At Great Master Jeongbeop’s question, the Ghost Monk pondered for a moment before answering.
“It is not that there is no method at all… but for people in our position, it is rather troublesome.”
“What method is that? If it can be stopped, could we not even go to hell?”
Feeling the firm resolve in his voice, the Ghost Monk looked at him quietly before answering.
“If you say so… then the answer may lie with the Ghost Eyes.”
“The Ghost Eyes…!”
Realizing who the Ghost Eyes referred to, Great Master Jeongbeop’s eyes widened.
Looking around, he saw that the sorcerers and Daoists were each nodding.
It meant that all the sorcerers and Daoists of Room 32 agreed with the Ghost Monk’s words.
Great Master Jeongbeop asked in a startled voice.
“Then are you truly suggesting we ask the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult for help?”
“You were willing to go to hell, yet you say you cannot go to the Bright Cult?”
The Ghost Monk’s calm voice felt sharper than a blade.
In the end, after much deliberation, Great Master Jeongbeop slowly nodded.
With that decision, the footsteps of Room 32—who had been heading toward Hebei—turned west.
They set out on the road toward the Heavenly Mountains, known as the breakwater of the Central Plains.
Zhuge Giyeon was cautious.
Even though he was selecting only those with no connections—people living at the very bottom whom no one cared about—the frequency of the acts and the number of targets had grown too great.
At first people had been pleased that the beggars were disappearing.
But when even the vagrants in the area began to vanish, they started tilting their heads in suspicion.
Moreover, even though he had targeted only beggars with no ties anywhere, the eyes of the Beggars’ Sect had approached.
Even if they had no connection to them, beggars were still beggars.
Because of that, when he paused for a while, Man-Sa Calamity Emperor threw a fit.
Eventually, even the Blood Corpse Demon that had gone long without food began to rampage.
Although the Closed-Door Training Grounds had been prepared within an Absolute Formation that prevented vibrations and aura inside from leaking out, even that had its limits.
Moreover, lately the Blood Corpse’s level looked unusual even to Zhuge Giyeon.
According to Man-Sa Calamity Emperor, it was about to surpass the extreme of the Manifestation Realm.
He was not confident that the Absolute Formation could block power of that level.
If by any chance the formation broke and the Blood Corpse’s ghostly aura and blood energy leaked out, the Martial Alliance would instantly become like a hornet’s nest.
There were too many who would not fail to sense that level of aura.
In the end, despite the risks, those circumstances forced Zhuge Giyeon to move again.
To avoid the approaching eyes of the Beggars’ Sect, he lured thirty people with food and money from a place five hundred li away from the Martial Alliance, loaded them into a carriage sealed on all sides, and brought them into the Martial Alliance.
The Military Office’s Command Token possessed enough authority to accomplish such things without difficulty.
The people brought into the Martial Alliance in this way were then moved to the Closed-Door Training Grounds by the martial artists of the Military Office who followed Zhuge Giyeon.
Perhaps because of the Bewitching Drug mixed into the food, the thirty beggars and vagrants slept like dead mice.
The moment they were placed inside the Closed-Door Training Grounds and the doors were shut, the sounds that followed—
Crunch, smack, smack—
were so horrific that even Zhuge Giyeon, who knew everything, felt chills run down his spine.
Rumble—bang.
Turning back toward the completely sealed Closed-Door Training Grounds, relief finally appeared on the faces of Zhuge Giyeon and the martial artists.
Though nothing had leaked outside, the thick smell of blood that had filled the training grounds still clung to their noses.
None of them wanted to stay there any longer.
“Let’s go.”
At Zhuge Giyeon’s command, the martial artists hurriedly followed him down.
Because they were in such a rush, Zhuge Giyeon failed to notice something.
The voice of Man-Sa Calamity Emperor, who had always complained whenever they left the Closed-Door Training Grounds, had not been heard this time.
Leaving behind that unsettling change, the Martial Alliance remained sunk in darkness.
Ten days after Namgung Chang-yeon and Huayoung had shut themselves inside Seogak, the Azure Dragon Sword King of the Namgung Clan visited the Bright Cult’s Main Fortress.
There had never been a precedent of an Orthodox master of such a level visiting the Bright Cult’s Main Fortress.
In the past, it would have been considered a perfect opportunity to explore the strengths and weaknesses of the Bright Cult’s stronghold.
But this time, he had no such leisure.
From the moment he passed through the main gate of the fortress, four masters of the Manifestation Realm surrounded him from all sides as they moved.
At first, he thought it was surveillance.
But—
“Bear with it even if it’s uncomfortable. The kids are itching to slice you open, so we can’t help it either. You know, right? There’s more than one of our people whose heads you’ve taken. Their comrades, masters, and disciples are all over the place.”
Only after hearing Iron Demon’s explanation did the Azure Dragon Sword King realize that they were escorting him.
His expression hardened.
Along the path he walked, he could easily see people glaring at him as if they wanted to kill him.
The problem was that every one of them was at least at the Supreme Peak.
Among them, a few had even reached the Transcendent Realm.
In other words, it was a dragon’s pool and tiger’s den.
Even the Martial Alliance—the central pillar of the Orthodox faction—was not like this.
The same went for Shaolin and Wudang, the pillars of the Jianghu.
In truth, if not for the four Manifestation Realm masters escorting him, it felt as though he would not be able to withstand it if all of them rushed at him at once.
The Bright Cult was swarming with masters.
And the majority of them showed strong hostility toward the Azure Dragon Sword King.
It was a time when he could feel the true power of the Bright Cult to the bone.
As the Azure Dragon Sword King walked up the long path, Yul Han watched him quietly from the far end of his residence.
Blood Sword Unit Commander approached him.
“The Cult Leader asks for you.”
“Is it because of the matter with the Azure Dragon Sword King?”
“Yes. He said we should meet together.”
Yul Han thought for a moment before shaking his head.
“I have already agreed to follow Senior Brother’s decision regarding the price. Tell him to do as he sees fit.”
“You will not attend?”
“I’m not particularly inclined to.”
At the end of those words, Yul Han’s gaze shifted slightly toward Seogak.
The Blood Sword Unit Commander noticed it and bowed silently.
“Yes. I will report it to the Cult Leader that way, Vice Cult Leader.”
After glancing once at Yul Han, who simply nodded silently, the Blood Sword Unit Commander withdrew carefully.
Shortly after the Blood Sword Unit Commander reported the Vice Cult Leader’s decision to the Cult Leader, the Azure Dragon Sword King—who had walked an uneasy path—finally arrived at the Cult Leader’s residence.
Freed at last from Iron Demon and the other Manifestation Realm masters, the Azure Dragon Sword King faced the Cult Leader, who sat on a high Grand Preceptor’s Chair.
“The Azure Dragon of Namgung greets the Cult Leader of the Bright Cult.”
Perhaps because of the reason for his visit, the Azure Dragon Sword King showed proper etiquette.
The Cult Leader chuckled.
“What courtesy between us. First, you should confirm the kids before the deal begins. Bring them.”
At the Cult Leader’s command, the Blood Sword Unit Commander signaled with his eyes.
The eight surviving younger generation talents of the Namgung Clan were brought forward by members of the Blood Sword Unit.
They lined up in a row.
Their appearances were haggard, but they did not seem to have been tortured.
After confirming that, the Azure Dragon Sword King clasped his fists.
“Thank you for not treating them harshly.”
“I just maintained them so their price wouldn’t drop.”
At the Cult Leader’s indifferent reply, the Azure Dragon Sword King’s expression stiffened miserably.
How could it not?
The younger generation talents who would carry the future of the Namgung Clan were being treated like cheap goods at a marketplace stall.
The Cult Leader asked him.
“You’re prepared to pay the price, right?”
“If it is something I can bear… then yes.”
The moment the Cult Leader was about to state the price he had in mind—
“Wait a moment!”