Heavenly Demon of Mount Hua

Chapter 33

—–CROW—– 

Hidden behind the wall of the Swift Wind Trading Company, Yuk-hon’s brow furrowed as he secretly observed the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.

A member of the Soul Slaughter Squad, one of the Hundred Ghosts Castle’s combat units, he was carrying out the orders given by his leader, the Reclusive Slayer, before his departure a few days prior.

Surveillance of the Swift Wind Trading Company and identification of the perpetrator.

His primary focus was the surveillance of the Swift Wind Trading Company…

Or, to be more precise, assessing the strength of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen staying there.

Thanks to his continuous surveillance, he had gathered a considerable amount of information about them.

That they had come to protect the Swift Wind Trading Company from the Hegemon Clan’s attack, that one of them was the son of the Trading Company Leader, and that they were all relatively new Plum Blossom Swordsmen.

But now, he was confused.

‘Who is that guy?’

The young man who had suddenly appeared amidst the Plum Blossom Swordsmen was enough to shake the information he had gathered.

He knew the Taoist priest’s identity.

He had focused on gathering information about the young Taoist priest when he first started surveilling the Swift Wind Trading Company.

Because the Trading Company Leader paid special attention to him, and the Plum Blossom Swordsmen treated him with respect.

But he had soon dismissed him as a threat.

The Taoist priest was very young and not a Plum Blossom Swordsman.

Moreover, his aura was very faint.

As if he hadn’t learned any martial arts.

So, he had concluded that Cheon-hwi was just a Taoist priest of high rank.

It wasn’t uncommon for elderly Taoist priests of high rank to take in young orphans in the martial world.

But now, he had to revise his assessment.

‘Such martial arts prowess…’

Yuk-hon grimaced as he recalled the scene of the young man overwhelming the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.

‘Is that young brat an elder-level expert from Mount Hua Sect leading the Plum Blossom Swordsmen?’

His eyes wavered, and it hit him like a bolt of lightning.

Why had he been surveilling the Plum Blossom Swordsmen?

He had been searching for traces of an elder-level expert who would be leading them.

But he hadn’t found any traces, and the Soul Slaughter Squad members had been toiling away for nothing…

He had been looking too far afield.

The person he had dismissed as an ordinary Taoist priest was the elder-level expert.

‘He must have planned this.  No one would suspect a young Taoist priest of leading the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.’

Yuk-hon was impressed by his cunning, which seemed unbecoming of a Taoist priest.

‘Did he cultivate the Child’s Cultivation Technique?  They say Taoist priests who cultivate the Child’s Cultivation Technique look young even as they age… But why did he suddenly reveal his skills today?’

He narrowed his eyes, observing the Taoist priest, Cheon-hwi, as a sudden question arose.

Sweep—

Cheon-hwi’s head turned.

His dark eyes locked onto Yuk-hon, staring intensely.

‘D-Don’t tell me…’

He shook his head in disbelief.

‘No, it’s a coincidence, a coincidence.’

Yuk-hon swallowed hard.

He was at the edge of the wall, at least fifty zhang away.

Even he would appear as small as an ant from that distance unless he focused all his internal energy on his eyesight.

He tried to calm himself and straightened his head when.

Flinch!

His eyes trembled.

The young brat was still staring directly at him.

And now he was pointing his index finger directly at him!

‘H-He discovered me…!’

Yuk-hon, sensing danger, hurriedly turned to flee.

Flash!

A blinding red light engulfed his vision, and he lost consciousness.

“Did they send this as an assassin?”

Cheon-hwi, who had killed him, chuckled.

The man had tried to use stealth techniques, but they were pathetically clumsy in his eyes.

‘He’s not even worthy of licking the boots of the assassins sent by the Shadow Witch.’

The six assassins sent by the Shadow Witch when he wasn’t interested in the position of Cult Leader.

They at least possessed unique abilities to deceive the senses of experts and had excellent instincts.

It was an insult to compare them to this man.

“Clumsy or not, they targeted me, right?”

***

Later that evening, Sam-hon, who had gathered the Soul Slaughter Squad members, frowned.

There should have been eighteen members.

But only seventeen were present; one was missing.

“This time…”

Sam-hon’s face crumpled as he confirmed the missing person’s identity.

“…Did Yuk-hon get taken out?”

The atmosphere turned somber.

“Damn it…!”

Sam-hon barely swallowed the curse that rose to his throat and glared at the Swift Wind Trading Company a hundred zhang away.

With the Reclusive Slayer gone for several days, the Soul Slaughter Squad followed Sam-hon’s orders, as he was effectively their acting leader.

But one of them hadn’t returned?

That meant defying the Hundred Ghosts Castle.

‘He wouldn’t have disobeyed my orders and gone into hiding unless he was insane.’

Sam-hon’s eyes narrowed.

It was clear that something had happened to Yuk-hon.

There had been no problems with the missions he had led the Soul Slaughter Squad on so far.

Something had felt off ever since he assigned them the mission to surveil the Swift Wind Trading Company.

‘This is the third time we’ve lost contact with someone sent to the Swift Wind Trading Company. And this time, it’s Yuk-hon!’

“What is going on?”

Sam-hon’s face contorted as he spoke in a voice laced with irritation.

After all, it was the Reclusive Slayer himself who had given the order to surveil the Swift Wind Trading Company and gather information on the perpetrator.

But they had failed to carry out the order?

There was only one consequence for that.

Death.

And now, they had lost contact with three people.

Moreover, one of them was Yuk-hon, one of the most skilled members of the Soul Slaughter Squad, so it was natural for him to feel frustrated.

He started biting his nails anxiously and muttered,

“Was it the Plum Blossom Swordsmen? Or…”

As he was pondering who could have done this.

“It wasn’t the Plum Blossom Swordsmen. They don’t have the skills to detect Yuk-hon’s presence, let alone eliminate him so silently.”

Sip-il-hon interjected.

He was one of the few in the Soul Slaughter Squad who, along with Yuk-hon, was skilled in stealth techniques.

“Then did the perpetrator who annihilated the Hegemon Clan reappear?”

Sam-hon’s voice was sharp.

Sip-il-hon flinched slightly at his aura but shook his head.

“…I don’t know.”

Sam-hon’s forehead creased as they returned to square one.

“So we have no choice but to be cautious.”

“May I investigate?”

“You?”

“If three members assist me, I can infiltrate deep within the Swift Wind Trading Company with my stealth techniques.”

“…Hmm. Is that so?”

Sam-hon fell into thought.

The reason they hadn’t infiltrated the Swift Wind Trading Company was because of the Reclusive Slayer’s order to remain undetected until his return.

But if he gave the order himself and they were discovered?

He would have no excuse.

He made up his mind.

“But make sure you don’t get caught.”

“Understood.”

Sip-il-hon’s eyes gleamed with determination.

A short while later, Sip-il-hon and three other members headed towards the Swift Wind Trading Company, while the rest scattered in all directions.

After leading his team for a while, Sip-il-hon reached the wall of the Swift Wind Trading Company and whispered, lowering his voice,

“Conceal your presence and hold your breath.”

Although they could easily climb over the wall right in front of them, Sip-il-hon remained vigilant.

Then, without a word, the three members scattered.

Sip-il-hon watched them disappear into the darkness and circulated his Concealment Technique, slowing his breathing.

His breathing and presence gradually faded.

Blending into the darkness, he entered the Swift Wind Trading Company as if he owned the place.

‘…Our trading company has grown!’

‘The Trading Company Leader gave Hyang-i’s family a generous sum of money…’

‘Hey, aren’t the Plum Blossom Swordsmen so cool? They’re so noble…’

A feast of information filled his ears.

He continued gathering information and noticed that things quieted down as dinner time approached.

‘There’s no useful information yet.’

Sip-il-hon’s eyes narrowed.

Although he had gathered a lot of information, there was nothing about the person who killed Yuk-hon.

‘Did Sa-sip-gu-hon gather any information?’

Realizing he couldn’t gather any more information here, he turned to find out what the other members had learned.

As he was about to move, sensing Sa-sip-gu-hon’s presence, he froze.

‘He’s gone?!’

Sa-sip-gu-hon’s presence had disappeared.

As if he didn’t exist.

‘When did he disappear? D-Don’t tell me!’

He hurriedly turned his head and looked towards Sam-sip-yuk-hon, whose presence he could still sense.

Fortunately, Sam-sip-yuk-hon was still there.

‘At least Sam-sip-yuk-hon is…’

Just as he was feeling relieved.

“…!”

Sam-sip-yuk-hon’s presence vanished.

‘W-What is this…?’

Sip-il-hon’s eyes wavered.

Now, only one remained: I-sip-chil-hon, hiding ten zhang away, holding his breath.

‘The one who attacked Yuk-hon has appeared…!’

Grasping the situation, he sensed danger and quickly concealed himself in the deep darkness, heading towards I-sip-chil-hon.

‘I need to join forces with I-sip-chil-hon.’

He reached I-sip-chil-hon’s hiding spot and let out a sigh of relief.

‘At least they haven’t reached this far yet.  That means they’re over there.’

As he was looking in the direction where Sam-sip-yuk-hon had died.

Step— Step—

He heard footsteps.

Sip-il-hon’s eyes darted around, disturbed by the unsettling sound.

He saw a young man in strange red and black Taoist robes.

‘…Are those plum blossoms?’

The moment he saw the plum blossoms embroidered on the sleeves, a piece of information he had tucked away in the corner of his mind resurfaced.

‘Wasn’t he the Taoist priest accompanying the Plum Blossom Swordsmen?’

Tap.

The young man, Cheon-hwi, stopped walking.

He looked down at the small pond beside him and asked,

“Another bug?”

There was no answer to his question, spoken into the empty air.

But Cheon-hwi continued,

“Just how many of them are there?”

He then raised his index finger.

Plunge!

An earth spike pierced the pond.

Red water gushed out from the bottom of the pond, and a corpse floated to the surface.

“…!”

Sip-il-hon gasped in shock.

The person hiding at the bottom of the pond was I-sip-chil-hon.

‘Even I-sip-chil-hon, who has the sharpest instincts in the Soul Slaughter Squad…’

A moment later, the corpse floated on the surface of the pond.

Sip-il-hon broke out in a cold sweat as he examined the corpse.

The corpse had the same hole in its forehead as the Cold-Faced Blade Demon.

‘H-He’s the perpetrator!’

Sip-il-hon felt his breath catch in his throat.

Then Cheon-hwi raised his head and spoke,

“How long are you going to stay there?”

His gaze shifted towards the roof.

Thud!

A shadow leaped out from the darkness.

Sip-il-hon desperately circulated his Concealment Technique, trying to escape.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

But before he could move, an earth spike shot from Cheon-hwi’s index finger and pierced his throat.

‘N-No way…’

Sip-il-hon’s thoughts ceased abruptly.

Thump!

Cheon-hwi clicked his tongue as he watched the corpse fall to the ground mid-air.

“They only sent incompetent fools.”

He looked at the corpse with disdain, then scanned his surroundings and stroked his chin.

“I can’t just leave them like this, can I?”

The scene wasn’t pleasant to look at.

Gruesome corpses lying around the pond.

“Let’s see.”

Cheon-hwi approached the pond.

He looked around for a moment.

“This will do.”

He approached a patch of dirt near the pond where grass was growing and swung his arm.

Plunge!

Dirt flew in all directions, creating a deep hole.

“This should be deep enough.”

Cheon-hwi, looking satisfied at the deep hole, big enough to fit several people, picked up the corpses.

Whoosh—

He tossed all the corpses into the hole and swung his arm again.

The hole was filled in cleanly.

“Perfect.”

Cheon-hwi nodded, looking at the dirt patch, which looked unchanged unless one looked closely, and was about to turn around when.

“Senior Disciple!”

Jeok-geom came running.

The swelling on his face and eyes had subsided, presumably after applying medicine to his wounds. He looked at Cheon-hwi in surprise and spoke,

“What was that sound just now…?”

“I was just catching some bugs.”

“…Bugs?”

“There were a lot of them today.”

Jeok-geom looked around, puzzled.

Indeed, as summer approached, there were many insects flying around.

“There are a lot of them, but why suddenly in the middle of the night…?”

“It’s fine now. I took care of them all.”

“Huh…?”

Jeok-geom was bewildered.

His words made no sense.

There were still insects flying around.

As Jeok-geom stood there confused.

“What are you doing?”

Cheon-hwi walked towards Jeok-geom, who was still dazed, and said,

“Let’s eat.”

—–CROW—– 

#Only READ at DarkstarTranslations