Chapter 175 Land Stained with Death (1)
On a night shrouded in deep darkness.
Jaun, after confirming there were no other travelers nearby, pushed open an old wooden gate and entered a small manor.
─ CREEEAK
The dilapidated manor exuded a desolate and eerie atmosphere.
After glancing left and right for a moment, Jaun began to slowly walk towards the warehouse in the furthest corner.
As Jaun reached the warehouse and stepped inside, the strong scent of decaying medicinal herbs filled the air.
Jaun, who was examining the medicine shelves, tapped on a wooden box placed in the corner of the bottom shelf.
'...Is this it?'
Even though the wooden box was empty, he felt a heavy resistance.
As Jaun pushed the wooden box with force, a clattering noise occurred.
─ DRRRK
Jaun, who confirmed that the shelf in the opposite corner had moved slightly with the noise, pulled the shelf forward, and a small passage was revealed behind it.
Jaun, who extended his senses to examine the inside of the passage, began to walk into it without hesitation.
"Young Master Jaun!"
As soon as Jaun entered the room connected to the end of the passage, Pan Bing-yeong, who had been sitting on the edge of the bed, rushed to him and embraced him.
Jaun, who looked down at Pan Bing-yeong in his arms with surprised eyes, soon smiled faintly and patted her back.
'She pretended to be fine when she sent me off, but it seems she was very worried inside.'
As Jaun patted her trembling shoulder once more, Pan Bing-yeong cleared her throat with an "ahem" and took a step back.
"...I knew you would finish the job and come back. You're not hurt, are you?"
Pan Bing-yeong looked over Jaun's body with teary eyes, and after confirming that he was unharmed without a single wound, she let out a small sigh of relief.
"Of course. What about the others?"
"The former Alliance Leader said she would deliver the news in person and left immediately with Ha-rin and Cheol-myeong. The Tang Clan members are all fast asleep in the inner room. They arrived in the afternoon and collapsed as soon as they got here, and none of them seem to have any intention of waking up."
As Jaun nodded, Pan Bing-yeong glanced at the snoring bearded man and took out a letter from her bosom, handing it to Jaun.
"The Sado Alliance said they would send reinforcements in two days. The former Alliance Leader will probably be the one leading them. Ah! This is a letter from the Murim Alliance. It seems they were in a huge hurry, they sent it through the Hao Gate instead of the Beggars' Sect."
"The Murim Alliance?"
Jaun tilted his head, unfolded the letter, and began to read its contents.
The rather long letter contained detailed explanations of how many altars the Murim Alliance had discovered, how many spies from the Demonic Cult they had caught, and what countermeasures they had been taking.
Jaun's eyes, which were slowly reading the text, stopped in the middle of the letter.
「...I'm telling you this because I think you should know. The altar found on the outskirts of Mount Hua was loaded on a large wagon.
It was much smaller than the altars installed on the ground, but it was mobile. If the Demonic Cult members can transport altars in this way, it won't be enough to just find and destroy the currently installed altars. It means they can transport the altars to wherever they want, whenever they want.
Therefore, the Murim Alliance is trying to broaden the scope of its investigation, but... embarrassingly, we still don't have anyone who can properly sense the energy of the altars. We're at a point where we only get a slight sense of something unusual when we get close... so we're in desperate need of your help.
As soon as you see this letter, please contact the nearest Beggars' Sect branch. I'll be waiting.
Jegal Mu-ui-」
'The altars... can be moved?'
Jaun's brows furrowed.
He had been feeling that the number of altars the Murim Alliance and the Sado Alliance had discovered was not that large, considering they had been preparing for ten years.
If Strategist Jegal's letter was true, it meant that the Demonic Cult had been building and storing altars elsewhere.
'Moving altars made elsewhere by wagon... In that case, the reason they were so persistent in targeting Sichuan is also?'
It felt unsettling to say that they had conquered Sichuan simply to obtain herbs.
But if it was to transport altars, it made sense why the demons had so persistently attacked Sichuan.
Sichuan was a region connected to the center of the Central Plains through well-paved official roads.
It was the optimal place to move altars made outside into the center of the Central Plains.
'It seems they occupied Sichuan to transport the altars quickly.'
Pan Bing-yeong, who had seen Jaun's dark expression, came to his side and began to read the letter carefully.
Before long, a look of concern also appeared on Pan Bing-yeong's face.
"If this is true... we're in big trouble. We were already struggling to fend off the demons who weren't affected by the altars."
At Pan Bing-yeong's words, Jaun slowly nodded.
"We need to inform the Sado Alliance. Besides this, there are probably many things we haven't discovered yet. If we don't prepare properly, there will surely be great damage."
"I'll pass on the message through the Hao Gate. By the way... what are you going to do about the Murim Alliance's request?"
"The demons we encountered in front of the cliff back then will have informed the Demonic Cult about the Righteous-Unorthodox Alliance. In that case, the Demonic Cult will likely concentrate their forces in one place rather than targeting two places at once. So, I plan to watch the Demonic Cult's movements and move to where their sword is pointing."
"...That sounds good. I'll tell the Sado Alliance's informants to watch the Demonic Cult's movements as much as possible. So, until the Demonic Cult's movements are detected, Young Master Jaun should also rest and recover your strength."
Jaun nodded and extended his senses to check the condition of the Tang Clan warriors. Fortunately, they were only greatly exhausted, and there were no problems with their mobility.
Altars and Blood Bells.
And poison.
These were the methods that could cause the most damage to a large number of people when the Demonic Cult started an all-out war.
The matter of poison could be left to the Tang Clan, centered around the Poison King.
Countermeasures for the remaining two methods quickly flashed through Jaun's mind.
***
"Right now... you say?"
─ SLAP!
Demonic Brain's hand slapped the middle-aged man standing in front of him across the cheek. The middle-aged man, who had touched his reddened cheek once, bowed his head low.
Demonic Brain, who was filled with venom, stared blankly at the middle-aged man and then opened his mouth.
"Do it now, immediately, right away."
"...But Lord Demonic Brain, we don't have enough information yet. If we proceed like this..."
"Don't you see my condition?"
At Demonic Brain's words, the middle-aged man flinched. Demonic Brain raised his wrinkled hand and brought it in front of the middle-aged man's eyes.
"If I can't open the Blood Heaven as soon as possible, I'm a dead man anyway. What do I have to be afraid of?"
At Demonic Brain's self-deprecating words, the middle-aged man gulped.
The middle-aged man, who had been silent for a while, raised his head and looked at Demonic Brain.
"I fully understand Master's position. But if we rush things, we may end up in a situation that can never be reversed. So, just one month. Give me just one month. If you do... I will send the Third Young Master to the Central Plains."
At the words "Third Young Master," Demonic Brain flinched and looked at the middle-aged man.
"The Third Young Master... to the Central Plains?"
"Yes. Master. The Third Young Master, who already possesses a level of martial prowess that no one in the Demonic Cult can touch, will be able to survey the Central Plains and return without any hindrance. I will proceed with this matter alone and will not tell anyone. Even if things go wrong..."
"...You're saying you'll take all the responsibility."
"Yes. That's right."
Demonic Brain narrowed his eyes and quickly racked his brain.
Demonic Brain, who had been lost in thought, tapping his head for a while, turned back to the middle-aged man.
"He always wanted to go out to the Central Plains, so it won't be difficult to persuade him. You have that much authority too. But how do you plan to control him?"
"I don't plan to control him. Master's life is at stake. This disciple will also risk his life and take a gamble. It would be best if he moves according to our intentions, but even if he doesn't, if chaos arises in the Central Plains, that something we're missing will surely be revealed."
Demonic Brain, who was staring at the middle-aged man, slowly opened his mouth.
"...I will pretend I didn't hear anything."
"Thank you. Master. This disciple will definitely... return this situation to its starting point."
Demonic Brain, who was looking at the middle-aged man's shining eyes, smiled faintly and nodded.
"Yes. Now that things have come to this, we have nowhere to retreat."
Demonic Brain, who looked down at his wrinkled hands once more, clenched both his fists.
"Go ahead and do as you wish. In the meantime, I will go over every piece of news from the Central Plains one by one and check if I missed anything."
"As you command!"
As the middle-aged man bowed deeply and slowly left the room, Demonic Brain, who was watching him, looked at the desk piled high with documents and bit his lip hard.
"...I don't know who you are, but your movements must be recorded in there. I will find your tail no matter what."
Demonic Brain walked to the window, closed all the windows, and then sat down at the desk.
In the dark room, Demonic Brain's blazing eyes shone alone.
***
"Really?"
"Yes. Young Master."
The middle-aged man, who was completely prostrated on the ground, answered without raising his head.
"Did Lord Blood Demon permit this?"
"...Of course."
"Hmm?"
The figure lying on a slender branch disappeared and then appeared in front of the middle-aged man.
It was an astonishing level of movement technique.
"Is it true?"
The young man, who was wearing a large robe carelessly over his body without a shirt, bent down, and the enormous scars engraved on his upper body were revealed through the robe.
The middle-aged man slowly raised his head and looked at the young man.
"How would I dare to lie in such a safe place? The great event is just around the corner, so the order is to move first and push the Central Plains into chaos."
"That's strange."
The young man scratched his head vigorously.
Although his hair was disheveled, the young man's outstanding beauty shone brightly from within.
He was a young man with a calm appearance that did not match his scar-filled body.
"Are you saying it's okay for me to step forward now?"
"... Yes."
A wide smile spread across the young man's lips, who was staring blankly at the middle-aged man.
The young man, giggling, approached the tree he had been lying on and stretched his hand towards the ground.
─ THUD
A dark sword was pulled up by the young man's hand, which had been thrust into the hard ground all too easily.
[Asura Demon Sword]
At the very bottom of the very ordinary-looking scabbard, these four characters were deeply engraved.
The young man, who had picked up the sword and slung it at his waist, turned his head towards the middle-aged man.
"I won't ask any more questions. You definitely said it was Lord Blood Demon's order, and I just received Lord Blood Demon's order. Right?"
"Yes. Third Young Master."
As the middle-aged man prostrated himself on the ground again and answered, the young man burst into a loud laugh.
"Ahahahahaha!"
As the young man's clear laughter spread in all directions, the surrounding trees and grass turned yellow and began to wither.
A terrible aura of death filled the surroundings.
After a short while, there was nothing left alive within a fifty-zhang radius except for the middle-aged man.
The young man, who had looked around the area that had instantly become a land of death, launched himself into the air.
The young man, who had looked down at the middle-aged man for a moment from the air, smiled widely and then disappeared into a small dot in the distance.
The middle-aged man, who had been prostrated for a long time even after the young man had disappeared, slowly raised his head.
In the midst of the deathly aura that filled the surroundings, the middle-aged man slowly wiped the sweat from his forehead.
He looked back once at the place where the young man had disappeared, and then, with his trembling legs, he struggled to get up.
"The grace of saving my life and raising me to this point. I will repay it in this way. Master."
Mahyang Peak, the highest and greenest peak in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains.
But the middle-aged man muttered to himself as he descended the peak, which had now completely turned into a land of death.