Chapter 291 – People Who Are Meant to Meet Will Meet (1)

Read it only at Utoon.net!
Discord         

Every time Eum Yu-kyung’s sword cut through the air, warriors of the Blood Mist Squad fell, spilling blood.

At that moment, Shin Moo-wol shouted:

“Be careful of their blood! It’s made of extreme poison!”

At his cry, Eum Yu-kyung became alert and hardened her expression.

The sound of the signal arrow had guided her to this place.

Shin Moo-wol’s miserable appearance stirred her killing intent. Though he sometimes showed frivolous behavior, Shin Moo-wol was one of the few people she could trust.

Eum Yu-kyung raised her internal energy and deployed her Repelling Force Shield. The blood sprayed by the enemies struck her Repelling Force Shield and was destroyed.

“Krgh!”

Cho Moo-yang’s face contorted hideously.

Holy Maiden Eum Yu-kyung.

She was a target marked for death. But she was also someone who couldn’t be easily approached. Befitting a Holy Maiden, her martial arts were extremely formidable.

Even for someone like Cho Moo-yang, she was an opponent whose victory or defeat was difficult to predict.

‘There’s no choice.’

Cho Moo-yang thought now was the time to retreat.

“But before that…”

His gaze turned toward Shin Moo-wol, who was sitting helplessly on the ground. He was in a completely defenseless state.

Swoosh!

Cho Moo-yang’s sword flew toward Shin Moo-wol.

Shin Moo-wol sat powerlessly, staring blankly at the scene. Right now, he didn’t have the strength to move even a finger.

‘Is this the end?’

Strangely, he could see the approaching sword vividly.

CRASH!

At that moment, a black shadow in human form came crashing down.

Shin Moo-wol learned for the first time that a person could break apart like a corn stalk.

Cho Moo-yang’s arm, which had been thrusting the sword, bent grotesquely, and his waist bent like a shrimp. Following that, his back burst open as if a thunderbolt had exploded, and both his legs broke with bones protruding.

“Kraaah!”

BANG!

A massive fist struck the screaming Cho Moo-yang’s face.

Cho Moo-yang’s screams were cut short. A person whose head had burst couldn’t scream.

“Who are you?”

Shin Moo-wol stared blankly at the black shadow.

It was Dam-ho, a man who could freeze people’s minds and bodies just by looking at him.

Cho Moo-yang collapsed at Dam-ho’s feet like a rotten log.

“Ha… ha!”

It was so absurd that an awkward laugh almost burst out.

Dam-ho’s indifferent gaze turned toward Shin Moo-wol. Even while looking at the ruined Shin Moo-wol, he said nothing. But that appearance actually brought more relief.

“How did you…?”

“Practice your energy circulation.”

“Understood.”

At Dam-ho’s cold answer, Shin Moo-wol nodded and entered meditation.

He wasn’t worried. Though Dam-ho was a fearsome master, Eum Yu-kyung’s skills were also formidable. Even now, Eum Yu-kyung was slaughtering the Blood Mist Squad warriors with terrifying momentum.

Shin Moo-wol no longer worried. Instead, he devoted all his strength to circulating his energy to burn away the poison that had penetrated his body.

Hot steam rose from his forehead. Dam-ho watched this for a moment, then turned his gaze toward Eum Yu-kyung.

In the darkness, Eum Yu-kyung moved gracefully. Every time she swung her sword, someone from the Blood Mist Squad invariably lost their life. It was swordsmanship that could only be called terrifying.

Seeing Shin Moo-wol’s miserable state, Eum Yu-kyung’s killing intent had greatly stirred. Her techniques were cruelly merciless to a degree unimaginable under normal circumstances.

“Kek!”

“R-run away!”

Finally, the few remaining Blood Mist Squad warriors chose to flee, but Eum Yu-kyung pursued them to the last man and killed them all.

Having deployed her Repelling Force Shield throughout the battle, she had consumed tremendous energy, making her complexion pale. And it was filled with regret.

The Blood Mist Squad were also Demon Cult members like her. Though their circumstances differed and she had unleashed great killing intent, her heart couldn’t be at ease.

After briefly looking at the corpses of the Blood Mist Squad, Eum Yu-kyung approached where Shin Moo-wol was practicing energy circulation.

Shin Moo-wol could be seen practicing energy circulation. The steam rising from his forehead had become thicker, and foul-smelling liquid was flowing from his pores.

Eum Yu-kyung unconsciously frowned. She could feel terrifying poison emanating from the liquid flowing from Shin Moo-wol’s pores.

“For a disciple with immunity to a hundred poisons to be poisoned… Just how vicious must this extreme poison be?”

Of course, immunity to a hundred poisons didn’t mean immunity to all poisons. But reaching this level of mastery usually meant being able to withstand ordinary poisons to some degree. For such a Shin Moo-wol to be poisoned meant it had to be an extremely vicious poison.

Eum Yu-kyung watched from a distance as Shin Moo-wol practiced energy circulation. Since he had already entered meditation, there was nothing she could do to help. She could only hope he would safely complete his energy circulation and drive out all the poison.

Whether his energy circulation had reached its peak, Shin Moo-wol’s body trembled violently. At the same time, his entire body was enveloped in thick mist.

As the poison from his body spread into the air, the trees and grass in the area turned yellow and withered.

“Ah!”

Seeing this, Eum Yu-kyung suddenly remembered something and looked at the Blood Mist Squad corpses. Everything touched by the blood flowing from the Blood Mist Squad corpses was turning yellow, withering, and dying.

“Poison people? What kind of poison did they use to raise these people?”

The history of the Demon Cult already exceeded several hundred years. During that time, countless martial arts, techniques, and strange arts had been created. Naturally, poison arts that used poison to build strength were also created.

The method of using poison arts to build internal energy was simple. One would consume or absorb poison, then digest it as one’s own using special mental techniques.

The problem was that the balance between the two had to be right. If the poison was stronger than expected, or if the mental technique wasn’t excellent enough to digest the poison, the practitioner of poison arts would instead die or be injured.

Therefore, even within the Demon Cult, only an extremely small number practiced poison arts. There had never been a case where an entire organization practiced poison arts like this. Most importantly, there didn’t exist poison that could allow so many people to practice poison arts.

“What on earth…”

Eum Yu-kyung bit her lips until they bled.

When she was within the Demon Cult, such things didn’t exist, so her suspicions only grew.

That’s when it happened.

Dam-ho suddenly knelt on one knee, dipped his finger in the Blood Mist Squad’s blood flowing on the ground, and brought it to his tongue.

“It’s dangerous!”

Eum Yu-kyung belatedly realized this and tried to stop him, but Dam-ho had already tasted the blood.

As soon as it touched his tongue, it instantly went numb and poison penetrated his body. When the poison penetrated, the Dark Soul Cultivation Method activated. The powerful internal energy generated by the Dark Soul Cultivation Method instantly burned away the poison that had penetrated Dam-ho’s body.

Eum Yu-kyung asked:

“Why on earth are you doing that?”

She couldn’t understand Dam-ho’s actions. But Dam-ho seemed to have no intention of answering, remaining still with his eyes closed. He looked as if he was savoring the taste of the poison.

After a moment, he opened his mouth.

“It’s the same!”

“What do you mean?”

“The same as the poison used by the soul-lost people.”

“Then?”

It was the moment when her worst fears became reality.

The Tang Sect and the Demon Cult had joined hands.

For some unknown reason, they were secretly collaborating while sharing each other’s secret techniques.

It was truly the worst situation.

Eum Yu-kyung looked at Shin Moo-wol, who was still practicing energy circulation, with a confused expression.

As if proving the hardships he had endured, he was truly in a complete mess. Pus was flowing from wounds that hadn’t yet healed.

Shin Moo-wol’s complexion during energy circulation wasn’t very good. Normally, after this much energy circulation, he should have driven out the poison to some degree. But the poison that had penetrated his body was so terrifying that it wouldn’t budge.

Large beads of sweat formed on Shin Moo-wol’s forehead, and his body trembled. Blood vessels protruded all over his body, and his face had turned pitch black.

“Krgh!”

At this point, Shin Moo-wol had no choice but to practice energy circulation desperately. He gritted his teeth and fought against the poison.

Dam-ho and Eum Yu-kyung watched silently.

It was Shin Moo-wol’s battle. There was nothing the two could do to help him.

“Whew!”

Eum Yu-kyung sighed while remaining alert to their surroundings. She was preparing for any possible surprise attacks.

Clearly, Shin Moo-wol had been moving with Geom Yul-cheon. Yet here he was, far from Muli, being hunted by the Blood Mist Squad.

Something had definitely gone seriously wrong.

Though she had countless questions, for now she could only wait for Shin Moo-wol to awaken.

‘Yul-cheon.’

She remained on guard while thinking of Geom Yul-cheon.

Shin Moo-wol’s energy circulation didn’t end until the next morning. When he finished his energy circulation, his entire body reeked of a terrible stench. It was the smell of poison expelled from his body through his pores.

“Are you alright?”

“No.”

At Eum Yu-kyung’s question, Shin Moo-wol shook his head and answered. His complexion was extremely haggard.

It couldn’t be helped. He hadn’t completely expelled the poison from his body. Part of it was wrapped in internal energy and pushed to one side of his body. There hadn’t been enough time to completely drive out the poison.

Eum Yu-kyung asked urgently:

“What on earth happened? Weren’t you supposed to be with Yul-cheon?”

“I was.”

“Then why?”

“There was no choice. To disperse the forces concentrated on the elder brother.”

“Tell me in detail.”

“Dan Woon-hyang moved.”

“Don’t tell me…”

“That’s right.”

“She really moved personally?”

Eum Yu-kyung’s lips trembled. Even at such a reaction from Eum Yu-kyung, Shin Moo-wol wasn’t surprised. He had expected this from the moment he mentioned Dan Woon-hyang’s name.

Dam-ho silently looked at Eum Yu-kyung. For Eum Yu-kyung, who never lost her reason, to show such an intense reaction was extremely unusual.

“Are you alright? Fourth Sister.”

“She wouldn’t have moved alone.”

“…”

“Don’t tell me?”

Eum Yu-kyung, who had thought of something, opened her eyes wide. Then Shin Moo-wol spoke in a sunken voice:

“That ‘don’t tell me’ is correct. The Ten Soldiers were mobilized.”

“Ah!”

Eum Yu-kyung burst into lamentation. Her eyes had already become red with blood. Shin Moo-wol made a dark expression as if he understood her feelings.

“That’s why the elder brother was cornered. If it weren’t for them, there would have been no reason for the elder brother to flee to Muli.”

“Haah!”

“Are you alright? Fourth Sister.”

“I’m… fine.”

Eum Yu-kyung answered with difficulty. But her expression wasn’t as comfortable as her answer. Her fingertips trembled subtly.

Shin Moo-wol said nothing more. He knew the psychological shock Eum Yu-kyung would have received. He himself had shown the same reaction when he heard that the Ten Soldiers had been mobilized.

Dam-ho silently watched the two.

Their emotions were at their worst, as if they had fallen into a bottomless swamp. They were feeling as if their mood and body were both falling into an abyss.

It was quite some time before the two regained their composure.

Eum Yu-kyung looked at Dam-ho and apologized:

“I’m sorry. We were talking among ourselves.”

“Who is Dan Woon-hyang?”

At Dam-ho’s question, Eum Yu-kyung briefly closed her eyes.

It felt as if thorns had sprouted in her mouth, making it difficult even to move her tongue. It was Shin Moo-wol who spoke on her behalf.

“She is the former Holy… Maiden of the Divine Cult.”

“Holy Maiden?”

“Yes! And she was also the master who once taught Fourth Sister.”

At Shin Moo-wol’s explanation, Eum Yu-kyung’s shoulders trembled.

In the Demon Cult, the role of the Holy Maiden was absolutely crucial.

If the Cult Leader handled military force, the Holy Maiden handled the religious aspects. Many in the Demon Cult believed in and relied on the Holy Maiden for this reason.

The domains ruled by the Cult Leader and Holy Maiden were clearly different, so there was a strong tradition of mutual respect. This tradition that had continued for hundreds of years was broken during the time of the former Holy Maiden, Dan Woon-hyang.

“Master… no, the former Holy Maiden had very strong worldly desires. And she loved one man.”

“Are you saying he was the Cult Leader?”

“Originally, the Cult Leader and Holy Maiden cannot become husband and wife. If they did, the cult’s discipline would collapse. So she stepped down from being Holy Maiden. To be with the Cult Leader. And she called herself the Demon Mother.”

It was a hidden secret. Even within the Demon Cult, only a few in the leadership knew this fact. Most cult members believed that Eum Yu-kyung became the Holy Maiden because Dan Woon-hyang had died. But that wasn’t the truth.

Originally, it was the former Holy Maiden who educated the new Holy Maiden. Dan Woon-hyang was Eum Yu-kyung’s master and had been like a mother to her. Dan Woon-hyang’s betrayal had also been a great wound to Eum Yu-kyung.

It was no different from a mother she had believed in and relied on all her life abandoning her child after falling in love with another man.

Now Eum Yu-kyung’s reaction made sense. But there was still something that didn’t make sense.

“The Ten Soldiers?”

“The Ten… Soldiers are our friends. No, they were people who used to be our friends.”