Chapter 272 – The More Wicked the Karma, the More Persistent It Is (1)

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As always, Dam-ho’s gaze was truly terrifying. Just meeting his eyes made one feel like their soul might fly away.

Yun-jeong gritted her teeth. Only then could she barely maintain her sanity.

“What’s in Sichuan Province?”

“Are you curious?”

“Honestly, yes.”

“If you’re curious, tell Gi Ye-hwa to come find me herself.”

“But the Sect Master is…”

“Don’t make me repeat myself.”

“…”

Yun-jeong pressed her lips tightly together. Her eyes were filled with fear. She reminded herself once again that Dam-ho was the Fist Demon, a man without blood or tears.

He was too overwhelming for her to handle. Only someone like Gi Ye-hwa might be able to get some answers from Dam-ho’s mouth.

After gathering her thoughts, Yun-jeong barely managed to answer.

“I’ll send a message to the Sect Master.”

“Before that…”

“Yes?”

“We need to catch the rat first.”

“Rat?”

Just as a look of confusion appeared on Yun-jeong’s face, Dam-ho raised his fist and struck the wall.

BOOM!

“Kuhk!”

The wall exploded with a thunderous sound. Simultaneously, someone’s stifled groan could be heard.

Only then did Yun-jeong realize that someone had been hiding behind the wall, eavesdropping on their conversation.

“How dare they!”

Yun-jeong rose in anger. But by then, the presence of the person hiding behind the wall had already disappeared.

“What happened?”

“Are you alright?”

The manager and guards of Heaven Cloud Pavilion rushed into the room after hearing the loud noise. They had been standing by in case Dam-ho might harm Yun-jeong.

Yun-jeong told them:

“What’s going on? A spy has infiltrated.”

“What?”

“A spy?”

Bewildered expressions appeared on the faces of the manager and guards.

Heaven Cloud Pavilion, as a branch of the Hao Sect, had established an impenetrable security network. It was understandably shocking that such a network had been breached.

The manager and guards looked at the collapsed wall. There was no one there. Neither the spy who had been eavesdropping nor Dam-ho, who had been conversing with Yun-jeong just moments ago.

“What in the world?”

***

“Huff, huff!”

A middle-aged man dressed in luxurious clothes was running through the night streets of Hanzhong.

His name was Ro Gwak, a member of the Dark Cloud Team Two.

Dark Cloud Team Two consisted of twenty members. Each individual was not only skilled in stealth and tracking but also had mastered martial arts to a considerable level, allowing them to perform special missions such as assassinations when needed.

Namgung Chang had realized the importance of information early on. So, after becoming a general of the Martial Alliance, he focused on developing the Dark Cloud. His persistent attempts to merge with the Hao Sect were also to make his information network more comprehensive.

The Dark Cloud could transform into any person. They could become a woman passing by on the street or an ordinary market merchant. Their disguise skills were that exceptional.

Ro Gwak specialized in disguise. He could become anyone in the world. When he saw Dam-ho entering Heaven Cloud Pavilion, he disguised himself as a regular customer. He had naturally entered the pavilion, intending to eavesdrop. But his attempt was immediately discovered by Dam-ho.

He thought as he exerted all his internal energy to perform his lightness technique:

‘He’s a cripple. If I give it my all, he absolutely can’t catch up.’

Fortunately, he couldn’t sense Dam-ho’s presence. So Ro Gwak could feel somewhat relieved.

That’s when it happened.

“What’s the matter?”

A shabbily dressed woodcutter passing by suddenly spoke to him. He too was a warrior belonging to Dark Cloud Team Two.

Ro Gwak hurriedly said:

“I’ve been discovered by Fist Demon.”

“That’s…”

“There’s no time. Erase the traces and tell the others to withdraw.”

“Understood.”

The woodcutter quickly replied.

Having worked in the information world for a long time, he immediately grasped the overall situation from Ro Gwak’s few words.

‘Fist Demon never gives up.’

He never let anyone who defied his eyes live. By now, he was probably tracking Ro Gwak’s traces.

Ro Gwak knew this fact as well.

“You go first. I’ll erase my traces and join you later.”

“Please be careful.”

“Then…”

The two passed each other.

Their conversation took place in an instant, and to an unknowing observer, they would have appeared to be just strangers passing by.

Though it was night, many people were still moving about the streets of Hanzhong. The woodcutter blended in among these people. But he remained vigilant.

He circled the marketplace several times to ensure he wasn’t being followed. Only after confirming that no one was on his tail did he finally open the door of a small mansion on one side of the marketplace.

Creeeeak!

The wooden door opened with the scream of old hinges.

“Kuhb!”

At that moment, an intense smell of blood assaulted his nose.

The woodcutter unconsciously covered his nose and widened his eyes.

A horrific scene unfolded in the courtyard of the mansion. Five men lay in pools of blood.

Heads burst open, chests caved in—it was truly a scene too gruesome to behold.

“What?”

The woodcutter’s pupils shook as if an earthquake had occurred.

That’s when it happened.

THUD!

A large object flew from somewhere and rolled at his feet.

“Ro… Gwak?”

The woodcutter’s voice trembled involuntarily.

The blood-soaked object was none other than Ro Gwak, whom he had parted with just moments ago. Ro Gwak’s life had been extinguished, his tongue hanging out.

Though his breath had ceased, his face was filled with terror. His unseeing eyes revealed the fear and dread he had felt in his final moments.

It had been just a brief moment since the woodcutter and Ro Gwak had parted.

In that short time, Ro Gwak had lost his life, and the Dark Cloud warriors waiting at the mansion had been killed. It was unbelievable. But he had to believe it. It was the reality unfolding before his eyes.

“Who’s there?”

He raised his head convulsively. Then, from the shadowed area under the long eaves of the mansion, someone revealed themselves.

The moment he confirmed the person’s identity, the woodcutter’s eyes widened in shock.

“F-Fi, Fist Demon?”

The one who walked out from the shadows was none other than Dam-ho. The moment he confirmed his appearance, the woodcutter sensed that the worst situation had befallen them.

‘Damn it!’

A question suddenly arose.

The Ro Gwak he knew was a master of lightness technique. He was someone who could escape with his life from any danger. Yet, he had been caught and killed by Dam-ho, who was merely a cripple. It was incomprehensible by his common sense.

‘I can’t match him in martial arts.’… As soon as he made this judgment, the woodcutter leaped backward.

Dam-ho stood in place, indifferently watching the woodcutter flee.

Drip, drip!

Blood trickled down the back of his hand.

It was the blood of Ro Gwak and those hiding in the mansion.

Catching the fleeing Ro Gwak wasn’t that difficult. Making him confess the location of the mansion where the watchers were hiding wasn’t that difficult either.

Dam-ho didn’t understand them.

They had a preconception that Dam-ho couldn’t properly perform the lightness technique just by looking at his outward appearance. But Dam-ho’s lightness technique was by no means weak. For short distances, he possessed a lightness technique second to none. Yet, they blindly judged that they could shake off Dam-ho by simply fleeing with the lightness technique.

Ro Gwak paid for that misjudgment with his life. And he spilled everything he knew. This happened while the woodcutter was circling the same spot, thinking he was evading Dam-ho’s pursuit.

Dam-ho moved forward.

The night was long, and there was still much time left. Dam-ho intended to make full use of that long time.

“H-how?”

Moon Su-gyeol’s pupils trembled.

Last night was a nightmare for him. The communication with Dark Cloud Team Two, which he had deployed in Hanzhong, began to be cut off in the early evening.

Before he could respond, the communication with Dark Cloud Team Two rapidly ceased.

Someone was killing the members of Dark Cloud Team Two. Like a salmon swimming upstream, they were killing the lower-ranking individuals and tracking backward.

“It’s Fist Demon. He’s tracking us in reverse.”

“W-what should we do?”

Jo Won-myeong asked with a terrified face.

The usual confidence and self-assurance had long disappeared from his face.

Though his nephew’s appearance was pathetic, there was no time to blame him.

“You should leave this place quickly. The Martial Alliance must be informed that Fist Demon is trying to enter Sichuan Province.”

“What about you, Uncle?”

“I will buy time.”

Moon Su-gyeol answered resolutely.

“But…”

“There’s no time. If you die too, the chance to convey this information to the Martial Alliance will be lost forever.”

“I… understand.”

Jo Won-myeong replied with difficulty. But a strange sense of relief appeared on his face.

Though it was regrettable to Moon Su-gyeol, he truly wanted to live. Even if it meant using his uncle’s life as collateral.

‘It’s not wrong, is it? I’m still young. It’s not wrong to want to live more.’

He consoled himself as he leaped.

He felt Moon Su-gyeol’s gaze on his back, but he deliberately ignored it. He knew that his uncle was risking his life for him. That fact weighed on his mind, but the fear that consumed his heart at this moment was too great.

‘We’re not even blood-related anyway.’

Jo Won-myeong hardened his heart.

He planned to leave Hanzhong immediately after jumping over the wall in front of him.

That’s when it happened.

THUD!

Jo Won-myeong’s body, which was jumping over the wall, stopped in mid-air as if caught in a net. Seeing this, Moon Su-gyeol shouted:

“Won-myeong!”

“Nngh!”

Jo Won-myeong couldn’t answer. No, he couldn’t. A hand as large as a pot lid was pressing against his entire face.

It was Dam-ho. He had intercepted Jo Won-myeong as he was fleeing with the lightness technique. Caught in Dam-ho’s hand, Jo Won-myeong was flailing like a fish caught on a hook.

“You! Release him this instant!”

An enraged Moon Su-gyeol charged towards Dam-ho. At that moment, Dam-ho threw Jo Won-myeong’s body at him.

CRASH!

“Kuk!”

“Kheuk!”

The two collided in mid-air and fell entangled. They rolled on the ground with their limbs intertwined. But Moon Su-gyeol was also a master. He quickly pushed Jo Won-myeong’s body away and rose to his feet. However, Dam-ho’s reaction was even faster.

BOOM!

Dam-ho’s fist, which had already approached within arm’s reach, struck Jo Won-myeong’s chest. Right before Moon Su-gyeol’s eyes, Jo Won-myeong’s chest burst open.

Jo Won-myeong looked at his own burst-open chest with an expression of disbelief.

“U-Uncle?”

“No!”

“I…”

Jo Won-myeong’s body trembled, and then he collapsed. That was his pathetic end.

Moon Su-gyeol convulsively shouted at Dam-ho:

“You demon! How could you kill someone so mercilessly… Kuhk!”

GRIP!

But his voice didn’t continue to the end. Dam-ho had already grabbed his throat.

“Nngh!”

As Moon Su-gyeol struggled, Dam-ho raised the hand holding his neck high and then slammed him to the ground.

BOOM!

With a thunderous sound, Moon Su-gyeol was embedded into the ground. A hole in the shape of his body was deeply carved into the ground, and his limbs were bent abnormally. Blood flowing from his body was filling the hole with red.

“Nngh!”

Even in that state, Moon Su-gyeol’s breath didn’t cease. His strong internal energy was barely keeping him alive.

Dam-ho bent down to look into his eyes.

“Who sent you?”

“Nngh!”

“Was it Namgung Chang?”

Moon Su-gyeol widened his eyes. Dam-ho’s face filled his clouded retinas, making it hard to breathe.

“Tell Namgung Chang. It’s not far off.”

“W-what?”

“The day I’ll come for him.”