Chapter 32

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Translated by Seoulbound

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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The problem was the blood sprayed from the body of the ripped black dog.

I immediately stopped breathing and discarded its corpse.

Fortunately, because the amount of poison I inhaled was not large, there was no problem in detoxifying it just by circulating my internal force once.

However, the child lying on the ground was the problem.

“Ugh!”

“Hold your breath.”

A situation where the villagers were being slaughtered by monsters that defied the natural order. Although it must have been confusing and painful, the child immediately held their breath according to my words. It was a clever child.

However, the child’s face was pale.

The body movements were also unnatural.

It was a symptom of poisoning.

“To face a monster with bare hands… By the way, are you alright?”

At the question asked in a nasal voice by the Beggars’ Sect member who approached while holding a bamboo staff in one hand and keeping watch on all sides, I answered immediately.

“Please guard me.”

“What? Hey!”

From having faced it, the dog monster called Penghou seemed to have the same body dynamics as a four-legged beast. As long as one was careful of the sharp teeth and the poison mixed in the blood, it was not even more threatening than a panther or wolf in the mountains, so it was considered that guarding by a Beggars’ Sect hall member, whose martial arts were not grand, would also be safe.

Therefore, I immediately seated the child in an upright posture and examined their body.

‘The natural skeleton is excellent.’

Having lived as an orthodox disciple for a long time, I was someone who had seen many young disciples. The child had a heavenly martial frame. Thanks to that, they seemed to be holding out well despite the poisoning. However, as is usually the case with slash-and-burn farmers in the mountains, the nutritional status was not good,

‘The pulse is too weak.’

The child’s qi, blood, and body were not sufficient to withstand the Primal Chaos Tai Chi Art’s detoxification formula. At this rate, their qi and blood seemed likely to be damaged even by the internal energy I would channel.

In a way, it was a natural thing.

I pondered for a moment, then immediately thought of the spiritual medicine nestled in my chest.

I immediately took out the Flesh-Generating Tendon-Connecting Pill from my shirt.

Sang-won, who had pushed away a Penghou with his Beggars’ Sect Dog-Beating Staff, saw the Flesh-Generating Tendon-Connecting Pill and shouted.

“That precious thing?”

As he said, it was a precious item.

For a moment, greed reared its head, but

The child’s pale, bloodless face snapped the neck of that greed.

In addition, a passage from a certain book I had read in the Library Pavilion came to mind.

—Between heaven and earth, each thing has its master.

It meant that every object in the world rightfully had its owner. Between a healthy me and a child groaning from poisoning, because it was clear who the owner of the Flesh-Generating Tendon-Connecting Pill was between the two of us,

“Open your mouth.”

Even though it must have been painful due to the poisoning, the child opened their mouth without letting out a single small groan. I placed the Flesh-Generating Tendon-Connecting Pill received from the Tang Clan into the child’s mouth.

While the medicine’s energy circulated, I nourished the child’s qi and blood through the Primal Chaos Tai Chi Art’s internal energy. And finally,

“Cough!”

The child spat out a black blood clot, and their complexion began to return.

“Please take care of the child.”

At my words, Sang-won nodded with slightly blank eyes, then took the child and retreated to the back.

Reflecting on myself for having hesitated even for a brief moment, I scanned the surroundings.

“…Swiftly, swiftly, in accordance with the laws and decrees!”

One of the Secret Arts Pavilion’s senior brothers took out a talisman, chanted a spell, and threw it into the air.

With a roaring sound, the talisman turned into a sphere of deep blue flame and began to circle around the black dog monsters, the Penghou, herding them.

Furthermore, Senior Sister Yi Chae-yang, with her fists clenched, dodged the fireball and leapt into the pack of Penghou that were being gathered into a single mass.

“Keke-kyang!”

Though they might be threatening to ordinary people who did not know martial arts, they could not exert any power before an expert who had mastered orthodox arts. It seemed she only needed to be careful of the scattering blood droplets, but this senior sister was breathing freely and swinging her fists.

‘Ah, the Flesh-Generating Tendon-Connecting Pill.’

Senior Brother Myeong-hun and Senior Sister Yi Chae-yang also seemed to be free from the Penghou’s poison because they had also consumed the spiritual elixir.

Only then was I able to set my mind at ease regarding the poisoned child.

And,

Crack.

Clenching my fists, I leapt beside Senior Sister Yi Chae-yang.

**

To the side of the Secret Arts Pavilion’s senior brothers who were putting talismans on the pile of broken and torn Penghou corpses, the Beggars’ Sect members Sang-won and Yi-so approached.

“Wow. Are you not even gathering this precious blood of the Penghou?”

It was said that if Penghou’s blood was diluted, it could be used as a good medicinal ingredient to repel pests and prevent food from rotting.

In other words, it was a valuable material.

To the extent that there were even cold, disapproving gazes criticizing that other prestigious Taoist sects exterminating Bringer of Chaos was merely a part of their income.

However, Senior Brother Myeong-ryun shook his head.

“We have no time to spend on drawing blood. Exterminating the monsters takes priority.”

And as he immediately chanted a spell, a bright red flame surged up, and the black dogs turned into black charcoal.

Only then did a few surviving slash-and-burn farmers approach.

“Thank you, Taoist Masters…”

“How can we ever repay this grace…”

Amidst the villagers’ gratitude, I first looked for the child’s parents. However,

“The Yi family is already…”

They said that the child’s mother had died of a plague a few years ago, and the child’s father was already deceased beside the child.

“It cannot be helped.”

Senior Sister Yi carried the sleeping child on her back. Having been poisoned, and with the villagers as well as their only remaining family losing their lives before their eyes, it would not have been easy for their mind to endure.

We discussed the next course of action.

“The fact that only Penghou were seen here means we are on the outskirts of the Empty Gate, the stronghold of the monsters. We must find the Qiuer. Only by exterminating it can we rectify this chaos.”

The Empty Gate was the source of the demonic qi that caused bizarre phenomena. The explanation of the Secret Arts Pavilion’s senior brothers was that a strong monster like the Qiuer would be guarding it.

At that moment, the Beggars’ Sect member Sang-won quietly spoke.

“Pardon me for interrupting, but… What if that Empty Gate has opened in the Shaanxi region? Just one step further from Yunxi County here is Shangluo.”

At Sang-won’s words, Senior Brother Myeong-ryun was temporarily lost for words.

It was because Shangluo was not the territory of the Wudang Sect, but the territory of the Mount Hua Sect, the sole hegemon of the Shaanxi region.

“Hmm. I did not think of that.”

Senior Brother Myeong-ryun let out a low groan, then soon replied.

“Let us first set out on a search. The damage to the innocent people is severe, so we cannot delay the search any further. For now, this is our Wudang Sect’s territory, so if we happen to cross the border, we will worry about that matter when the time comes.”

Thus, we began to exert our footwork force once again.

Then, Yi-so, the Beggars’ Sect hall member, approached beside me with a friendly smile. Was it just my imagination that he seemed to treat me even more cordially after we exterminated the Penghous?

“Hehe. The Wudang Sect’s Bringer of Chaos probably does not know much about the friction and squabbling between prestigious orthodox sects, do you?”

At his words, which seemed to be trying to inform me of something, I could roughly guess what the situation was.

‘Is it similar to professors fighting over the order of their names on a research paper?’

With that guess, I opened my mouth.

“Is it because of the position of the premier Taoist sect?”

At my question, Yi-so paused for a moment, then soon nodded.

“Indeed, you are clever. After all, does the Mount Hua Sect not have a longer history and tradition than the Wudang Sect? Yet the people of the world coin the phrase ‘Shaolin of the North, Wudang of the South’, so it is understandable that the Mount Hua Sect feels uncomfortable about it. Even if a Mount Hua Sect warrior picks a fight, it is this beggar’s hope that the Wudang immortals will understand with a broad heart.”

From Yi-so’s words, I could catch a glimpse of him possessing a broad, strategic perspective. It was because I could sense his intention behind saying such things.

“Above all, the current Sect Leader of the Mount Hua Sect is a pragmatist well-known as a martial combatant. The people of the world sometimes call him a gambler rather than a Taoist priest.”

The explanation that the Mount Hua Sect, which had once declined due to the invasion of the northern empire, recovered its prosperity to the point of being counted among the Nine Sects and One Association was a bonus.

‘Rather than such matters, martial arts are indeed more interesting.’

Washing the chaotic Murim political situation from my mind, I focused once again on applying the footwork of Mysterious Void Stride executed by the Secret Arts Pavilion’s senior brothers to the footwork force of my Slender Willow Flutter.

**

Senior Brother Myeong-ryun took out a small treasure tool from his shirt. It was a treasure tool called the Demon-Pointing Needle, which tracked nearby demonic qi based on a principle similar to a compass.

The problem was,

“It seems there is a force interfering to prevent us from capturing the direction.”

That upon setting out to track, the Demon-Pointing Needle was failing to perform properly.

“Haha. This has never happened before?”

“Considering that demonic qi is not being captured even by the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition… could this be some kind of artificial phenomenon…”

“Hmm.”

At the sight of the Secret Arts Pavilion’s senior brothers being perplexed, I also exerted the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition to try and track the demonic qi, but

‘It is not felt.’

Looking to the side, Senior Sister Yi Chae-yang also shook her head from side to side.

An unknown force seemed to be neutralizing the vibrations of the demonic qi. At that moment, I suddenly recalled the training of olfactory amplification I had learned from Tang Baek-seon.

“Excuse me, senior brothers. Is the dog monster called Penghou that we faced earlier always around that fellow called the Qiuer?”

At my question, Senior Brother Myeong-ryun nodded,

I immediately began to amplify my sense of smell among the sensitivities of the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition. Thanks to the internal energy that had reached the Elixir Condensation Stage, I could select and sniff out scents more clearly than before,

“It seems to be that way.”

I pointed in the direction where the gamey smell emitted by canine beasts was particularly strong.

Senior Brother Myeong-ryun tilted his head and asked me,

“Can you feel the demonic qi, Junior Brother Yeon?”

“No.”

And I pointed to my nose.

“I caught the scent.”

“The scent?”

“The monster called Penghou has a strong gamey smell like a dog or wolf. Added to that is the scent from tree bark. Because the smell is unique, we will be able to capture a more precise location as we get closer.”

At my words, one of the Secret Arts Pavilion’s senior brothers closed his eyes,

“Oops!”

And burst into a nosebleed.

“This is… an achievement that one should not follow recklessly, indeed.”

“Have all martial arts disciples mastered this kind of achievement?”

At the sight of Senior Sister Yi Chae-yang slightly shaking her head, Senior Brother Myeong-ryun scratched one side of his cheek and showed a sheepish smile.

“Haha. Though this is embarrassing as a senior brother, could you lead the way, junior brother?”

Although it was a gaze I had grown accustomed to by now, every time I received it, a corner of my chest tingled. I suppressed the twitching corners of my mouth with effort and calmly stepped forward.

“Of course.”

And then, I utilized the Mysterious Void Stride secret technique in a slightly more visible manner.

‘Ah, I should not be doing this…’

I thought that I was hopeless at being reborn as a true Taoist or a great hero, but this tingling feeling in a corner of my chest was not bad.

**

As we approached the scent that had come from the Penghou, I was able to be more certain.

—Clang! Clang!

In addition to the sound of weapons clashing,

—Keke-kyang! Keke-kyang!

It was because the sounds shrieked by monsters like the Penghou were gradually growing closer.

Senior Sister Yi Chae-yang and Senior Brother Myeong-hun also noticed this, as expected,

“Please prepare your spells!”

At Senior Brother Myeong-hun’s shouting, the Secret Arts Pavilion’s senior brothers once again took out talismans from their shirts.

The moment we broke out of the forest and entered a new slash-and-burn farmers’ village, what we saw was,

“You must not injure it recklessly! The Qiuer’s inner core must be secured intact!”

The corpses of Penghou lying scattered and bleeding everywhere, the slash-and-burn farmers poisoned by their poison, and a group of people who were hunting and cornering a gray-furred tiger-shaped monster even as the people lay fallen.

Those warriors were wearing Taoist robes embroidered with white plum blossom patterns. One of them locked eyes with me, scanned me up and down, and shouted,

“Huh? Wudang Sect?!”

Following those words, the man who was commanding from behind also turned his head and looked at us.

On the sleeves of the man’s Taoist robe, pink plum blossoms were elaborately embroidered,

‘Plum Blossom Swordsman!’

It was that very Plum Blossom Swordsman, to the extent that there was a saying that if the Wudang Sect had the True Martial Pavilion, the Mount Hua Sect had the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.

Moreover, the pink plum blossom pattern was a symbol that only the high-ranking Plum Blossom Swordsmen among them could receive. The people of the world called them the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Swordsmen.

The one who appeared to be one of those Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Swordsmen shouted,

“Wudang Sect! Do not interfere!”

Following the shout, the formation of the other white plum blossom-patterned Plum Blossom Swordsmen also fell into disarray. At that moment,

“Oh! The Qiuer!”

“Block it!”

“Grrr!”

The gray-furred monster, the Qiuer, broke through the encirclement and disappeared to the other side of the forest.