""Senior Brother Meatbun!""
The bloodied Monochrome Bears approached Number Four. Although they were startled by his sudden appearance, they soon broke into bright smiles of relief.
Before they could get any closer, however, Number Four unleashed the Savage Tiger's Domination. The same dreadful energy that had knocked out dozens of martial artists now weighed upon their shoulders.
Faced with a Number Four who was completely different from usual, the Monochrome Bears flinched and stopped.
The Silver Tiger raised his hackles, recalling his experience on Mount Heng. "Grr..."
The Monochrome Bears smiled awkwardly.
"Senior Brother? Where have you been all this time?"
"If you were going to help, you should've done it sooner. A lot of people got hurt."
Number Four ignored their pleading gazes. His cold expression filled them with bewilderment.
"Go." He mouthed only a single word, as if he had no intention of ever exchanging words with them again.
They didn't seem to know it yet, but the man they affectionately called Senior Brother Meatbun was an apostle of the Blood Cult, a terrible villain who had accumulated countless sins over several decades. On the battlefield between the Blood Cult and the jianghu murim, they were fated to meet as enemies, just like him and his old instructor.
"Go? What do you mean?"
"Why are you suddenly acting like this, Senior Brother?!"
The Monochrome Bears stared at Number Four curiously, confused by his behavior.
Why is our Senior Brother looking at us like that? Why did he use the Savage Tiger's Domination on the students as well as the Blood Cultists? How do the Blood Cult followers recognize him and address him as 'you'...
They couldn't understand... No, they refused to understand.
Number Four offered no explanation. He merely repeated the same mouthed word with a frigid expression. "Go."
Surprisingly, Ya Suhyeok was the first to give in. He glanced at the deep wound on Geo Sangwoong's waist, grit his teeth, and pulled his Senior's arm. "Let's go. I don't know why he's acting like this, but he doesn't seem to be the Senior Brother Meatbun we know."
"...I'll ask just one thing." Geo Sangwoong regarded Number Four seriously despite his ashen face. "Is Mr. Baek alright? I heard he walked into a trap prepared by the Blood Cult."
"......" Number Four said nothing. He didn't know his old instructor's whereabouts for certain, but he could guess what kind of trap the Cult had prepared, and what would happen to someone caught inside it.
Despite reuniting on a battlefield, neither showed any emotional turmoil.
Perhaps my old instructor is already...
Geo Sangwoong nodded. "That's a relief."
"...?"
"Your expression is enough to tell me all I need to know, Senior Brother."
Grinning, Geo Sangwoong turned away without any lingering attachment.
Number Four watched from a distance as the pair woke the students and led them away. The students, barely conscious, supported each other and departed in the direction of the roaring thunder.
Only when he confirmed they were gone did he completely withdraw the Savage Tiger's Domination.
"Keoheok..." a Blood Wolf Captain coughed, regaining his senses. Among the unconscious Blood Cult martial artists, he was the highest-ranking one. Kneeling before the Fourth Apostle, he asked in a shaky voice, "Apostle, why did you let them go?"
"......"
"Could it be that you have a separate plan? If you would just inform me, I would gladly follow you. This subordinate knows a little sign language."
"......" Number Four offered no excuse. He simply stared at the captain, watching impassively as the fear on his face slowly gave way to anger, then distorted into something grotesque.
"Don't tell me... have you betrayed our Cult and joined the enemy? If I'm wrong, please behead me for the crime of insolence."
"......"
He thought of the young students of the Azure Dragon Academy whom he had shared drinks, cards, and meatbuns with. His gaze swept over the corpses of the Blood Cult fanatics sprawled around him, who had sacrificed their lives ignorantly, drowning in blood with no idea what exactly they were fighting for.
"You... filthy apostate!"
Without warning, the Blood Wolf Captain leapt to his feet and launched a fierce attack, his drive as intense as if he were burning through the last of his life force.
CRASH!
Regardless, he was no match for Number Four. He didn't even know what hit him as he slammed into the ground.
"Fufufu!" he laughed weakly between uncontrollable spasms. "You think this is the end? The rear guard will arrive soon. The First Apostle himself will annihilate the riffraff of the jianghu and capture the Azure Dragon Hero..."
Number Four's eyes widened at the mention of Number One. Grabbing the captain by the collar, he shook the man in a wordless demand for him to spill out more.
Unfortunately, the captain had burned all his life force and was moments from death. Shedding tears of blood from his dulling eyes, he gave a ghastly smile. "No one... escapes this hell. No one..."
His body went limp, and he took his last breath.
Number Four spun around, his expression hardening. The other Blood Cult followers had woken up and were now shouting and charging at him.
"Kill the apostate!"
"......"
After a long moment, he made up his mind. From now on, he would hesitate no more.
BOOM!
He shot up into the sky, flying out of the gorge at breakneck speed.
Ak Yeonhwa drew upon her energy reserves to meet the attack, recognizing the changes as the prelude to a demonic technique.
"Students, retreat to the estate! Your top priority is to protect the injured and the non-fighters!" Ak Yeonhwa screamed, swinging the Ak Clan Spear again and again in a frenzy. The relic from the Patriarch was stained with blood the moment it fell into her hands.
As the Young Lady of the Ak Clan, she felt the full weight of this incident on her shoulders. Her late father, Ak Bi, was undoubtedly the one who had brought the Blood Cult's forces here.
"I'll be away for a while. There is someone I must meet."
Her father had left to meet someone and returned as a corpse, his decapitated head impaled on his own spear. Recalling that horrific sight, Ak Yeonhwa grit her teeth.
What in the world were you trying to do?!
Well, whatever his plan was, Ak Bi had clearly failed. Consequently, the martial artists of the Ak Clan, along with instructors and students from the Azure Dragon and Vermilion Phoenix Academies, became embroiled in a violent conflict.
Even if they won this battle, the Shandong Ak Clan's reputation would be dragged through the mud for its involvement with the Blood Cult. Perhaps this was her family's karmic retribution, the fitting end for a clan that had long condoned the sins of its patriarch.
"Noonim! Don't get too far ahead!" Ak Yeonho bellowed.
His voice snapped Ak Yeonhwa back to her senses. Looking around, she saw Blood Cultists rushing toward her, their eyes bloodshot.
"She's here! The Young Lady of the Ak Clan is here!"