Chapter 174
Chapter 174
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7
4. <The Black Flame Dragon That Swallows the Blood Sea (4)>
The darkness cleared, and dawn approached as light began to shine, but the space around the area was filled with an ominous red energy.
“……
Amitabha.” (Ilgak)
Unlike the benevolent voice reciting the Buddhist invocation, Ilgak gazed at the red energy with fierce eyes.
Powerful energy condensed in his two hands, pressed together in prayer.
As he stretched out one hand and slowly moved it as if pushing away space, a massive Thousand-Hand Tathagata Palm unfolded in accordance with the shape of his hand and began pushing away the evil art.
Though it was clearly a collision between things without substance, in midair, a gigantic golden hand and the red space struggled against each other and produced a strange sound of flesh tearing.
Jijijijik──Kyaaaaaaaaaak───As the unidentified red space was torn apart, the screams leaking out excessively shook his righteous mind.
He had thought he had tasted transcendence
through the deep cultivation of wall-gazing meditation
and silent practice,
yet Ilgak was deeply disappointed in himself for being so violently shaken by even a small wickedness. ‘How did things come to this…….’ (Ilgak) Afflictions that he did not usually suffer from filled his head. But those wicked sounds could not be the cause.
Only deep regret over the past he had overlooked.
No, contempt for himself, who had reassured himself that it would be fine and had not faced the truth. ‘They say regret is late no matter how quick it is…….’ (Ilgak) As he glanced around, countless disciples of Shaolin and disciples of its secular branch sects were clutching their heads and reciting Buddhist scriptures.
They were desperately resisting in order to push away those strange sounds and illusions infiltrating their minds.
At least they were in relatively good condition.
The disciples of Diancang and its secular branch sects, who had accompanied them, were foaming at the mouth, their eyes rolled back, and convulsing.
Seeing even Hyesung, who had been their only hope, clutching his head together with Myeonghyeon, helplessness that there was no longer anything he could do surged over him. ‘Could there be an end-time corruption worse than this?’ (Ilgak) There had been a chance.
When Jin Soun’s letter had been delivered.
At the very least, he should have thought seriously about the “dangerous being” Jin Soun spoke of.
Even if Myeonghyeon and Hyesung had shown contempt and anger, he should have considered it.
If he could not go against that, he should at least have kept strict vigilance.
And the price of casting away all those unease as afflictions
was precisely this present moment.
“Amitabha…….” (Ilgak)
Repeating the Buddhist invocation was no solution at all.
Even so, what Ilgak could do now was only cast away all stray thoughts and recite the Buddhist invocation.
“Amitabha.” (Ilgak)
He drew up the power of the Bodhidharma Muscle-Tendon Classic and further amplified the energy of the Thousand-Hand Tathagata Palm.
A golden light like radiance spread in all directions, but the wicked things showed no intention of being pushed back at all.
To unfold the Thousand-Hand Tathagata Palm even more strongly, his energy was already beginning to hit bottom, and to withdraw it, he could not guarantee the safety of those behind him.
Step, step, step, step.
The sound of footsteps suddenly rang out, filled with military discipline.
Ilgak’s anxiety intensified. ‘Surely…….’ (Ilgak) Through the red spaces, people dressed from head to toe in red blood-robes began to emerge in a single line.
The red space covered them like a curtain, so he could not even tell how many there were. ‘Is this as far as I go…….’ (Ilgak) Ilgak, who had lived as a disciple of Shaolin Temple, had never once expected this kind of natural lifespan.
His heart was filled not with desperation for survival, but with regret over a life in which he had failed to properly put into practice what he had realized.
Chachachachachang.
The blood-robed people all drew their heavy swords at once.
Within the weighing of his own death against the deaths of others, it was only natural that Ilgak chose the former.
“Amitabha…….” (Ilgak)
The blood-robed people slowly approached, as if trying to cut the throat of prey struggling in a trap.
At the sight of death approaching leisurely, Ilgak had achieved an unmoving mind,
yet he had no choice but to close his eyes.
Soon, he would feel the sensation of a cold blade piercing the nape of his neck…….
The moment he thought that.
Peng! Tukang!
Along with a sound like a drum tearing, an impact rang out.
In Ilgak’s opened eyes, he saw that the formation of the blood-robed people approaching in a single line had been completely shattered. ‘What in the world…….’ (Ilgak) Swaaaek──The sound of wind being torn rang in Ilgak’s ears.
His large earlobe burned hot, and something flew past his vision. ‘An arrow?’ (Ilgak) As if the blood-robed people had seen it too, they held up their heavy swords, drew up qi, and tried to strike the arrow away.
Peng! Tukang!
The arrow, which should naturally have been cut apart by a sword imbued with qi, pierced through the body of the blood-robed person who swung the sword and flew on.
A penetrating force so great that he could not believe it even after seeing it with his own eyes.
“Monk, are you all right?” (Moyong Jaehwa)
“…….” (Ilgak)
When he turned his head, Moyong Jaehwa, whose eyes were bloodshot, was looking at him with worried eyes.
The person who had fired the arrow seemed to be him, as he held a bow in his hand.
How in the world had he not been caught in the illusion formation?
While Ilgak was blankly thinking that.
“Benefactor Jaehwa…….” (Ilgak)
“Ah! Oh no, Monk, your ear…….” (Moyong Jaehwa)
When Ilgak felt it with his hand, there was a small wound on his earlobe, and blood was flowing.
“I apologize. The situation was too urgent, so I could not aim properly.” (Moyong Jaehwa)
“I, it is all right.” (Ilgak)
Jaehwa looked at the blood-robed people and said,
“First, I will drive them back. Monk, please wake everyone.” (Moyong Jaehwa)
“Wake them? What do you intend to do after waking them?” (Ilgak)
The opponent used wicked evil arts, and their numbers could not be known.
Those whose righteous minds had been shaken after being intoxicated by evil arts were not opponents they could rise up and fight again.
“We have to avoid them and hold out.” (Moyong Jaehwa)
“Hold out, you say…….” (Ilgak)
Seeing Moyong Jaehwa’s face, with all the veins in both eyes burst from fatigue and even his cracked lips bleeding, Ilgak felt anew his own foolishness.
Even if they gathered the people here, there was no way they could escape.
Just looking at the enemy’s numbers, that was already impossible.
“……
I am sorry. Benefactor Jaehwa. This is all my fault.” (Ilgak)
At Ilgak’s guilt-ridden words, Moyong Jaehwa shouted fiercely.
“Monk! Please pull yourself together. How can you collapse like this now?” (Moyong Jaehwa)
At Moyong Jaehwa’s appearance, speaking even of vain hope, Ilgak became even more ashamed.
“We only need to hold out a little longer. If we hold out just a little longer, everything will be resolved.” (Moyong Jaehwa)
“What do you mean…….” (Ilgak)
Moyong Jaehwa spoke with a face full of certainty.
“Brother Soun will come.” (Moyong Jaehwa)
“Soun? You mean Representative Jin Soun?” (Ilgak)
They were already surrounded by unidentified blood-robed people.
The second
line and the third
line were likely the same.
There was no one who could break through this battlefield of carnage and come.
And yet, Moyong Jaehwa’s gaze was firm.
“Did he not clearly say in the letter that he would come?” (Moyong Jaehwa)
“That is…… true, but…. This place is already…….” (Ilgak)
Ilgak spoke with an expression full of doubt, but Jaehwa shook his head firmly.
“Brother said he would come! Then he will definitely come.” (Moyong Jaehwa)
Moyong Jaehwa spoke repeatedly, as if Ilgak himself had been reciting the Buddhist invocation.
The difference from himself was that he believed what he had said with certainty, as if it were the truth.
“…….” (Ilgak)
At the sight of Moyong Jaehwa drawing his bowstring while staring at the blood-robed people with unwavering eyes, Ilgak could no longer recite the Buddhist invocation.#I recalled in my head the routes the Sisan Blood Cult had taken in my previous life.
At the same time, I overlaid the routes the Murim Academy students had taken in this life.
When the two maps drawn in different time periods interlocked, a pessimistic result came out. ‘Damn it…….’ (Jin Soun) The first
line is facing the main force of the Sisan Blood Cult.
On the road ahead that we are now running along, a moving Blood Cult unit must also be blocking the way.
Jumping into that would be no different from rubbing oil all over my body and leaping into a fire pit.
My head grew even more complicated. ‘I can no longer seek help(?)
from the Green Forest Bandits either.’ (Jin Soun) Since I had already overcome one crisis with the help(?)
of a Green Forest keep, hoping for anything more from them would be a thief’s mentality.
And unlike those bastards, I am not a thief.
While I was desperately devising a way to break through the front, Nam Hwaseong spoke to me.
“There is something I am curious about.” (Nam Hwaseong)
Did this bastard really leave his sense of timing at home?
“Now?” (Jin Soun)
“Yes. Now.” (Nam Hwaseong)
“Do you have to ask a question in this urgent moment?” (Jin Soun)
“I do.” (Nam Hwaseong)
“Damn bastard…….” (Jin Soun)
The bastard nodded with a face stiffer than ever.
Fine, let’s hear it.
“Talk.” (Jin Soun)
“Moyong Jaehwa and Eun Seollan are not people of your sect either. So why are you going this far?” (Nam Hwaseong)
“What kind of dogshit are you spouting now?” (Jin Soun)
“You know it too, do you not? Against an enemy of this level, they have already been…….” (Nam Hwaseong)
“What? You think they are dead?” (Jin Soun)
As if what I said was correct, Nam Hwaseong nodded without answering.
Well, for other people, giving up around now would probably be natural.
“But we have not confirmed they are dead yet.” (Jin Soun)
“…….” (Nam Hwaseong)
“Is it not possible that they are desperately resisting right now, waiting for a rescue team?” (Jin Soun)
“……
Is that not too optimistic an attitude?” (Nam Hwaseong)
“If I have not seen their corpses, then to me, they are not dead yet.” (Jin Soun)
I looked at Nam Hwaseong and said,
“And if they are not dead, then no matter when, I will definitely go save them.” (Jin Soun)
“…….” (Nam Hwaseong)
Nam Hwaseong continued speaking.
“……
Is that because they are your people?” (Nam Hwaseong)
“You bastard, you are not tired, are you? Shall I raise our speed more?” (Jin Soun)
“Jin Soun!! This is an important question.” (Nam Hwaseong)
“…….” (Jin Soun)
Seeing that he had not come to his senses even after I put him through all that suffering, it seemed he had guts like Go Tae of the Sojeong Unit, at least. In the end, I raised the white flag and answered him.
“Yes, because they are my people.” (Jin Soun)
“…….” (Nam Hwaseong)
Nam Hwaseong’s face still showed that he did not understand.
Of course he would not understand. No, it was something he could not understand even if he tried.
To be able to understand this, he would have had to experience terrible solitude.
In the Orthodox-Demonic War, the Sojeong Unit had no hill to lean on.
The same was true for me, whose Taeul Sect had been destroyed.
That was why even when we were dropped alone in the enemy camp, we could not even hold the hope that someone would come save us.
Was it only us?
Moyong Jaehwa was the same, and Eun Seollan was the same.
Everyone who had devoted themselves to the Martial Alliance from behind the Martial Alliance was alone and lonely.
I saw them die alone and lonely.
That is why I do not want to repeat those things again.
“Because they are my people.” (Jin Soun)
So that I would not leave them lonely.
So that I alone would not be lonely.
So that even if the murim was destroyed by the Demonic Cult once more, I alone would not be afraid.
“I do not leave my people to die alone.” (Jin Soun)
A moment of silence.
Nam Hwaseong’s mouth opened heavily.
“Then why did you save me?” (Nam Hwaseong)
This bastard, seriously…….
“Are you only going to be satisfied if I throw you back into the illusion formation…….” (Jin Soun)
Nam Hwaseong shouted fiercely.
“Answer me! Jin Soun! You could have left me behind. But why did you save me?” (Nam Hwaseong)
Why is he suddenly getting angry and making a fuss? He is making things awkward.
I looked at the bastard’s face.
And, at the look in his eyes as he stared at me as if yearning for something, I had no choice but to tell him the truth.
“If you follow my order, does that not mean you have entrusted your life to me? Then while you follow my order, you are my person.” (Jin Soun)
“…….” (Nam Hwaseong)
Only then did Nam Hwaseong close his mouth tightly with a serious expression.
And Blood Cult units began to appear ahead.
“They have already come this far?” (Jin Soun)
Among them, there seemed to be those who noticed us, as sounds rang out among the blood-robed people and some drew their weapons.
No matter how good the Heaven Alone Divine Step was at extraordinary feats, breaking through that encirclement would be no different from saying we would be stabbed by blades and turned into hedgehogs.
In the end, it meant one person had to throw the unit into confusion and one person had to cross that death ground……. ‘Why does the Taeul True Scripture not have something like a clone technique?’ (Jin Soun) While I was engaging in such extreme escapism from reality.
Nam Hwaseong opened his mouth again.
“Leave that luggage to me.” (Nam Hwaseong)
“……
What are you talking about, when you have no strength left?” (Jin Soun)
“I just have to deliver that to Moyong Jaehwa, right?” (Nam Hwaseong)
Nam Hwaseong took on the luggage that was strapped to my back.
“……
What are you doing?” (Jin Soun)
“Does one of us not have to break through there?” (Nam Hwaseong)
Nam Hwaseong pointed at the Blood Cult unit ahead.
“It is frustrating, but right now, I have no confidence that I can stay here and fight those damned bastards, nor any confidence that I will not be caught in evil arts. ……
Instead, I will run like my life depends on it and deliver those items to Moyong Jaehwa.” (Nam Hwaseong)
Did this bastard suddenly take some kind of medicine or something? Why is he acting like this?
“……
If you go alone, you might die. No, you should assume you will almost certainly die. Will you be all right?” (Jin Soun)
Nam Hwaseong spoke while furrowing his brow deeply.
“Even if I become a ghost, I will make sure to deliver them.” (Nam Hwaseong)
Nam Hwaseong nodded as if making a resolute vow.
I did not know why he had suddenly decided to enter the jaws of death of his own accord, but for now, there was no other way.
At times like this, even if he was untrustworthy, I had no choice but to trust him and go.
I even trusted those bastards in the Sojeong Unit who cheated at gambling, so why would I not trust Nam Hwaseong?
“Good. I will draw their attention as noisily as possible.” (Jin Soun)
“Understood. See you up ahead.” (Nam Hwaseong)
I was grateful that the bastard was willingly stepping forward, so I offered him words of encouragement.
“If you survive this time too, I will give you five talismans.” (Jin Soun)
Nam Hwaseong, who was running ahead, glanced at me once, then shouted fiercely while running again.
“You fucking bastard!” (Nam Hwaseong)
Nam Hwaseong spat curses, as if he had been quite motivated.
Did he want the Demon-Subduing Talismans that badly?
I began running in the opposite direction from Nam Hwaseong.
“Bastards of the Blood Demon Sect! Over here! There is a promising chivalrous warrior of the White Path right here!!” (Jin Soun)
I will make a proper racket.