Go San-gong is the squad leader of the Namgung Family's Heavenly Wind Group Third Squad.
Starting as a countryside warrior and eating sword-rice at the Namgung Family to become a squad leader of the Heavenly Wind Group—from one perspective, it's a fairly successful life.
The problem is just one thing.
"Euaaham—"
He's always bored.
The fact that he's yawning right now is also because of his daily tedium.
Today as well, he brought the ten squad members of the Third Squad and came out in front of the Eastern Heavenly Guest Hall at the third watch to change shifts with the Heavenly Wind Group's Second Squad. These monotonous daily routines were tiresome and boring.
A little over ten years ago, he entered the Namgung Family as an Outside Surname Disciple... Even back then, his heart always pounded with excitement, and he looked forward to tomorrow. It was because of the sense of achievement from finally fulfilling a dream he had longed for.
The story he'd heard since he first learned martial arts from the master he served at a countryside martial hall, and the dream.
Become a warrior of the Martial World.
Stride through the world to your heart's content.
Go San-gong thought he had achieved that dream by entering the Namgung Family.
Naturally, he began to dream bigger dreams.
Since he'd already set foot in the Martial World, let's become a hero.
Victory through bloody battles spattering blood against the Demon Soldiers of Heavenly Demon Castle.
Beheading the Evil Soldiers of the Hall of Gathering Evil and dominating Jiangnan.
Crushing the conspiracy of some unknown force hiding in the darkness and saving the Martial World.
He made such grand resolutions every single day.
Back then, it seemed like he could achieve such things right away. But dreams were just dreams. Reality was completely different from what he had thought.
The Heavenly Wind Group's original mission was to pursue and annihilate enemies or conduct enemy position reconnaissance and intelligence gathering.
That's what it originally was.
The Heavenly Wind Group's main work currently was.
As Go San-gong was doing right now, nothing more than standing guard.
Due to long peace, there were few occasions to fight, and especially for major sects like the Namgung Family, which was the hegemon of a region, it was even more so. Moreover, the only major Martial World force in Anhui Province was just the Namgung Family alone.
Someone needed to pick a fight for him to achieve victory, dominate, or become a hero, but such things had only happened once in over ten years. Furthermore, ten years ago he was such a low-ranking warrior that he didn't even have a chance to distinguish himself in battle.
Now it's different. That's what he believed.
"They say a real man should cut off enemy heads on the battlefield, drink blood from their skulls while singing, but what am I doing here? Damn."
He was confident he could win against anyone, but the reality that he wasn't even given a chance to become a hero was endlessly resentful.
"If only even those Eighteen Yangtze Waterway Strongholds bastards would attack again. Even those guys have been completely quiet lately, so this is just... I, Go San-gong, am rotting away standing guard like this in the end."
Eighteen Yangtze Waterway Strongholds.
Though they say the current Central Plains is the World of Three Hegemons, they aren't the only ones in the Martial World. Countless minor sects are scattered throughout the Martial World, and among them, there were quite a few forces that fell short of the Three Hegemons but were large compared to other various minor sects.
The so-called 'Third Forces.'
Among them, the Eighteen Yangtze Waterway Strongholds was a major force that called itself the Blue-Green Twin Heroes together with the Thirty-Two Green Forest Mountain Strongholds.
Though they didn't belong to Orthodox, Evil, or Demonic, these were the Yangtze Waterway Strongholds and Green Forest—forces whose prestige on mountains or rivers no one could ignore. Though people called them the Blue-Green Twin Bandits, meaning water bandits and mountain bandits, their influence was so great in the Martial World that no one could ignore them.
Blue on water, green in mountains.
Above water it's blue, in the mountains it's green.
Martial World people evaluated their dominance on water and in mountains with this short phrase. It expressed in six short characters the might of the Yangtze Waterway Strongholds controlling the Yangtze River, the lifeline of the Central Plains, and the Green Forest manipulating mountains without major Martial World sects.
Though these forces by nature didn't unite as one group with strong cohesion, they were connected as one large nominal alliance like the Murim Alliance. That's why though they're divided into eighteen strongholds and thirty-two strongholds respectively, broadly speaking they're called the Yangtze Waterway Strongholds and Green Forest as they're essentially one group.
The reason Go San-gong is talking about the Eighteen Yangtze Waterway Strongholds now is because the most recent major armed conflict the Namgung Family had was precisely with the Eighteen Yangtze Waterway Strongholds. And that was in the very year he entered here as an Outside Surname Disciple when the clash between the two forces occurred.
The reason they usually call the Namgung Family the First Force of Anhui isn't because the Eighteen Yangtze Waterway Strongholds are weaker than the Namgung Family, but because only one of the Eighteen Yangtze Waterway Strongholds is located in Anhui Province. If all eighteen waterway strongholds gathered in Anhui Province, even the Namgung Family would find it difficult to maintain its dominance.
They were spread throughout the Yangtze River, and naturally appeared frequently along the waterways in Anhui Province, which the Yangtze crosses greatly. The Eighteen Yangtze Waterway Strongholds, true to being water bandits, constantly wanted to expand their influence in Anhui Province, and the Namgung Family tried to stop them, so inevitably the two had to clash.
Ten years ago.
The general stronghold chief of the Eighteen Yangtze Waterway Strongholds, Yangtze Dragon Hero Sa Sa-ho, ignored Namgung Byeok's warning and attempted to expand influence toward Chaohu Lake. At this, Namgung Byeok, the family head of the Namgung Family who felt threatened regarding hegemony over Anhui Province, immediately mobilized nearly all the family's military organizations and advanced to Chaohu Lake.
The two confronted each other intensely across Chaohu Lake and eventually clashed. The fight developed fiercely, but the period wasn't very long.
Because both judged there was no need to overextend and pulled back forces at the point when the battle should have escalated. They realized that even if they fought to the death, it would only give the benefit of the fisherman to other sects eagerly eyeing their territories.
In the end, the two forces only engaged in tedious skirmishes for about a year more before finally ceasing fire. Due to the agreement made at this time, all interests arising from Chaohu Lake became entirely the Namgung Family's, and on the promise that the Eighteen Yangtze Waterway Strongholds wouldn't make additional advances into Anhui, they obtained a pledge from the Namgung Family that their business conducted on the Yangtze River wouldn't be interfered with. It was an agreement where they yielded what should be yielded and gained what should be gained rather than growl at each other.
That incident was already over ten years ago, and it was the only battle-like battle Go San-gong experienced. In fact, since he was a newcomer who had just entered the Namgung Family at that time, he was hardly deployed in actual combat and only did things like scouting duties or standing guard.
Nevertheless, he was in a position where he milked that one deployment until now and bragged greatly to his squad members.
But the squad members also knew well that he wasn't that great.
If he had been great, with over ten years of seniority accumulated, he wouldn't be just doing squad leader of a guard squad here.
The reality Go San-gong faced was nothing more than being a guard squad leader standing watch on the Eastern Heavenly Guest Hall's Cloud Bridge side from the second watch to the third watch. Especially on days like today when the Crimson Sail Ship went out for a Chaohu Lake outing, he even had to take on the chore of searching the pleasure boat. Since the time the pleasure boat returned was likely to be at this time without fail, usually among the guard squad leaders, those with the least ability were assigned as the guard squad leader for this time.
"Here. Go San-gong. Work hard then."
The Second Squad's squad leader finished the handover to Go San-gong and returned to quarters with his squad members. Among them were squad members who had just washed the drunk guest of the Heavenly Guest Hall.
"Ah, but do we really have to search that thing?"
Go San-gong frowned while looking at the Crimson Sail Ship moored at the deepest part of Chaowan. In fact, there were personnel standing guard on the Western Heavenly Guest Hall side right now too. The pleasure boat was clearly in the lake bay at the midpoint between the island with the Eastern Heavenly Guest Hall and the island with the Western Heavenly Guest Hall, yet he was dissatisfied that the Heavenly Wind Group's guard squad always handled the search.
But it couldn't be helped.
The Heavenly Thunder Squad in charge of the guard on the Western Heavenly Guest Hall side was also in charge of standing guard at the Earthly Guest Hall beyond it. In that situation, it was also ridiculous to quibble over something like searching a pleasure boat, which wasn't even a daily occurrence.
"Hey, leave just three guys here and everyone else get on the sailing ship."
"Yes, Squad Leader."
No matter how unreliable a squad leader, a squad leader was a squad leader. The Third Squad members left just three for minimum guard personnel and moved toward the Crimson Sail Ship.
As they went around following the lake bay, the light from the fire strikers they were holding reflected on Chaohu Lake. At that, the surroundings of Chaowan temporarily brightened.
The wind was blowing quite strongly, so the not-so-calm ripples sparkled receiving the light. Though that sight produced a quite impressive night view, since it was scenery that anyone from the Heavenly Wind Group could see often, they didn't pay much attention and just walked toward the Crimson Sail Ship.
Pong—
At that moment, a small sound like something submerging in the water occurred.
It was too faint, so none of the Third Squad members heard it. Also, the position from which that sound came was behind the Eastern Heavenly Guest Hall, precisely in the direction of Chaohu Lake inside Chaowan, and it was also a blind spot with the view blocked by the Eastern Heavenly Guest Hall building.
In fact, the position where they stood guard wasn't the island side with the Eastern Heavenly Guest Hall, but precisely beyond the Cloud Bridge connecting the island and this inland area. It was guard duty performed under the assumption that all guests staying at the Heavenly Guest Hall were people whose identities had been verified.
The squad members soon went around the bay's edge and arrived at the mooring where the Crimson Sail Ship was anchored.
The sailing ship moored in one corner of the dark lake bay was a quiet small fortress. It was so quiet that from one perspective it even looked scary.
It was only because they had done this work so many times that they could be nonchalant about it. They stepped on the ship stairs, the stairs temporarily placed at the ship's bow for boarding and disembarking, and boarded the ship one by one.
A short while later, the fire striker light that had been flickering on the deck completely disappeared. Probably all of them had finished searching on deck and gone down to the Crimson Sail Ship's lower cabin.
As the fire striker light of the squad members visible in the distance disappeared, Go San-gong, as he always did normally, rested his arms on the end of the Cloud Bridge and fell asleep standing. The remaining three squad members also didn't mind it as it was now a familiar matter and were faithful to their work of standing guard.
That's how 30 minutes passed.
However...
None of the squad members who had gone to search the Crimson Sail Ship returned.
No, they couldn't return.
Drip, drip, drip...
While Go San-gong was dozing while drooling, his seven squad members had already turned into a handful of blood and were flowing down along the tip of Dong Bong-su's sword.
-x-X-x-
The lower cabin of the Crimson Sail Ship.
Slice. Thud, Swish.
The sounds of flesh being sliced and bones being crushed wander through the darkness.
Each time Dong Bong-su's hand moved, the corpses lost their original form.
The number of corpses was seven.
Originally, he had intended to carve one 'character' on each corpse's chest, but he was short by one person. So instead, he was chopping the corpses into pieces and embedding bone fragments into the lower cabin floor to create the writing.
The strength of salt-cured cedar wood was stronger than expected. To precisely embed bones into the lower cabin floor, Dong Bong-su had to stomp on them with all his strength with his feet.
Thud, Crack.
He stepped on a rib that had just been separated from a corpse, making a sound. The bone shattered and embedded deeply into the lower planking made of cedar wood. With that, one stroke of the character he intended was completed.
Dong Bong-su continued that work.
Thud, Crack. Thump...
The spine-chilling sound of bones crumbling continuously echoed inside the lower cabin.
Just how did Dong Bong-su appear here and what was he doing?
In fact, when Dong Bong-su was being carried to the Eastern Heavenly Guest Hall by the Heavenly Wind Group Second Squad members earlier, he had already completely grasped the surrounding geography and structure.
He waited for Tang O to stop by his room and leave, then immediately began his 'work.'
Since it was night, all the masters staying at the Heavenly Guest Hall were sleeping. All the warriors standing guard were on the mainland side beyond the Cloud Bridge, not on the island with the Eastern Heavenly Guest Hall. Of course, this was also something he had already confirmed earlier.
In this situation, as long as he didn't exit through the door facing the Cloud Bridge, he wouldn't be caught by the guard warriors or congratulatory guests who weren't asleep yet.
However, there was only one door.
Where should he exit to deceive the guard warriors' eyes and escape the room?
The answer was simple and clear. The houses in this Anhui region were all prefabricated buildings. Bongyang was like that, and the Namgung Family was the same. The Heavenly Guest Hall, a building inside the Namgung Family, was also the same.
To Dong Bong-su, prefabricated buildings had 'doors' in every direction. That fact had already been proven during the Suicide Epidemic incident.
He perceived the guard soldiers' movements through the door gap, and taking advantage of the confusion as they moved toward the Crimson Sail Ship, he put one pillar from the rear of his room into his Inventory and escaped through it.
That location was a blind spot that the guard soldiers beyond the Cloud Bridge couldn't see no matter how hard they tried, and normally it was a place they didn't need to worry about. Because that place was connected directly to Chaohu Lake, like a cliff.
For Dong Bong-su, that point was rather fortunate. Because places like water in darkness were rare places for a person to hide.
He immediately dove into Chaohu Lake. Then he stealthily moved following behind the guard soldiers moving to the Crimson Sail Ship.
A short while later.
As scheduled, the seven Heavenly Wind Group Third Squad members boarded the ship.
Dong Bong-su took that opportunity to move toward the smelly oar port where he had stuck his head during the night outing. As the boatman had said earlier, the oar port still had no oar, and the hole was open.
The oar port was small, but Dong Bong-su's body was also small. Though he wasn't short, Sosam's physique itself was small. His narrow shoulders and pelvis, his gaunt body were sufficient to squeeze into the oar port.
In that process, remaining fecal residue, urine stench, and yellow grime from accumulated urine stuck to various parts of his body, but he paid it no mind.
He snuck into the ship's lower cabin through the oar port.
Soon.
Not knowing that the monster called Dong Bong-su was hiding there, the Third Squad members who came to search came down to the lower cabin one by one.
Then.
They all became people who exchanged their experience points and lives for Dong Bong-su's Three Talents Sword Technique unfolding in the darkness.
The reason Dong Bong-su appeared here at night risking danger was of course to break through the current situation of being between a rock and a hard place, and that method was extremely 'like him.'
The writing he was now carving with bones was a kind of 'warning message.'
Thud, Crackkk—
Dong Bong-su continued separating the corpses' bones and carving the message.
At some point after 30 minutes had passed like that.
"Squad Leader. Something's strange, so we should report to the Group Leader..."
"Hey, you son of a bitch. What are you going to report to the Deputy? That we sent the squad members up the ship alone and they didn't come down so we were too scared to check? We should find out what's going on first before reporting, shouldn't we? Huh?"
Someone's voice was heard. Not just one person but several people.
'Someone?'
He could tell without thinking deeply. Both from hearing the conversation content and from deducing who might come here, it was obvious.
The ones who came must be the remaining squad members belonging to the same squad as the owners of the bones that were now being transformed into strokes or dots of characters one by one. Judging from the conversation, it was certain their squad leader had also come with them.
'Took too long.'
Trying to make the warning a bit more forceful, he had delayed too much time. He still hadn't finished carving all eight characters he had planned.
The characters completed so far were only four.
Squeak, squeak.
The upper deck right above where he was trembled. They must have already boarded the ship and were walking on deck.
Now there was no time to carve the remaining four characters with a sword, let alone the 'bone writing' he had originally planned.
In fact, just four characters could convey half the message. But the four characters after that were much more important.
Should he withdraw now, or write all the remaining four characters before withdrawing?
If he chose the latter, he had to eliminate all the obstructors. He had already confirmed that the guard squad members' combat ability was significantly inferior to his own.
However, the squad leader's ability was still unknown. From Spirit Eyes being quiet, he could only confirm that he and the guard squad leader didn't differ by more than level 10.
Squeak, squeak.
"It's too quiet. Squad Leader. Something is definitely strange."
Again confused footsteps were heard, and the voice of someone presumed to be a squad member was heard. It was quite a bit closer than before. They must have come near the cabin. There were stairs leading to the lower cabin right below the cabin, so they would come down to the lower cabin soon.
The moment of decision had come.
Dong Bong-su's eyes sparkled in the darkness. He had made a judgment in an instant.
The moment he finished his decision, his body was already moving instinctively.
"I'll know when I see it too, you bastard!"
While the squad leader was irritated at the squad member's nagging, Dong Bong-su was already escaping through the oar port he had used when sneaking onto this ship.
Had he chosen the former option of escape?
The moment Dong Bong-su just escaped through the oar port, four shadows came down to where Dong Bong-su had been standing until just before. The light from the fire strikers they were holding soon brightly illuminated the interior of the lower cabin.
"Huk!"
"...!"
"Th-this is!"
Though the reactions varied, the emotion they expressed was the same.
Horror.
The emotion felt when frightened by an unexpected event.
The interior of the lower cabin reeked of blood, and human corpses were torn like rags and scattered here and there—who wouldn't be shocked?
Also, if those corpses were their comrades... no words would be necessary, would they?
"Shi... t... Everyone out! Leave the ship right now!"
Squad Leader Go San-gong shouted, and the squad member at the very back was already climbing up to the deck before his words even finished.
Crash, crash!
For them now, confirming the enemy's presence wasn't important. The scene unfolded in the lower cabin was that horrific. Now what they had to do was go to the Heavenly Wind Group Leader and report this matter.
Along with the noisy footsteps they made, the ship swayed slightly.
Because Go San-gong had been in the lead when going down to the lower cabin, he was now lagging at the very back.
He continued to guard his rear while following behind his subordinates toward the ship stairs. Because the one who did such a horrific thing might still remain in the lower cabin.
However, that cruel intruder had apparently already left the ship, as he didn't reveal himself despite their noisy sounds.
Just as Go San-gong relaxed somewhat and turned his body to look toward the ship stairs!
"Huk! Euaaa!"
The subordinate at the very front stepped on the ship stairs. No, more precisely, he tried to step on the ship stairs but stepped on empty air and fell straight toward Chaohu Lake.
"The ship stairs... disappeared!?"
Because the ship stairs that should have been there suddenly disappeared, the Third Squad member at the very front misstepped and fell down to Chaohu Lake.
Splash—
Following that, the heavy sound of a sword embedding in flesh and the dull sound of bone being split occurred.
Slice—
That was his last.
The one who killed him was of course.
Dong Bong-su.
He hadn't fled.
He had chosen the latter. He decided to finish what he was doing.
He escaped through the oar port and immediately hid below the ship stairs connecting the mooring and the ship, waiting for the guard warriors to leave the ship.
As expected, one of the enemies stepped on the ship stairs, and he suddenly put the ship stairs into his Inventory. Since one step of the ship that should have been stepped on disappeared, the enemy had no choice but to misstep.
Thud.
He stuck his sword into the mouth of the enemy falling headfirst. Such a thing was too natural a 'guest welcoming service' for him.
'One.'
A total of 4 people came up on deck.
Having eliminated one, now...
Three remained.
"Wh-what!?"
He heard them shout in alarm, startled. They can't come this way now. They must be mistaken that the enemy or enemies are waiting for them outside the mooring. So they can't easily get off the ship now.
Though they had fire strikers, it was now past midnight in the dead of night.
With enemies waiting below the mooring in this darkness, there was no fool who would get off.
Enemies had completely fallen into confusion.
Now he had to finish it.
Dong Bong-su quickly climbed the corner edge he was hanging from and moved back toward the oar port. Then without a moment's delay, he entered the lower cabin. The pungent blood scent emanating from the corpses half-transformed into writing stimulated his nose.
Soon that blood scent would become even stronger.
Dong Bong-su immediately moved toward where the cabin stairs were.
-x-X-x-
Just before he reached the stairs!
One shadow with its back to the moonlight stretched long into the lower cabin.
'Are they coming down?'
Dong Bong-su immediately retreated back to the partitioned room inside the stern.
It was easy to hide his body in the darkness, and with the partition there, there was no worry of being caught. If the enemy came this way, he could just escape through the oar port again.
The danger level was.
Of course 'zero.'
Dong Bong-su slightly stuck out his eyes to observe the enemy's movements. If all three came down to the lower cabin, it would be clearly difficult for him to handle them simultaneously.
'Change the plan.'
However,
Only one enemy came down to the lower cabin.
'The enemies scattered?'
Probably the other two went toward the mooring and were shining their fire strikers here and there. If not that, they were panicking on the upper deck.
Either way didn't matter.
Dong Bong-su had confirmed when being carried in earlier that the guard squad leader and squad members wore different outfits. Squad members wore green, squad leaders wore blue.
That person was.
'Green clothes.'
A squad member.
The guy was distracted by the bone fragments he had embedded in the lower cabin floor. No need to hesitate.
Dong Bong-su took out a dagger from his Inventory. He moved stealthily in the darkness of the partitioned room.
At one moment.
Slice—
A finely tearing sound of cutting through air echoed faintly in the lower cabin.
Thud.
The dagger embedded precisely in the side of the squad member's head.
The squad member died a violent death without leaving even a single last word as a dying scream.
Dong Bong-su quietly but quickly approached the falling squad member and put him into his Inventory. This was to prevent in advance the sound that would occur when the floor and corpse collided.
'Two.'
Two dead, two remained.
Dong Bong-su went toward the cabin stairs and threw the squad member he had just killed onto the deck.
Bang.
As the corpse fell on the deck, small vibrations and noise occurred.
"Sq-Squad Leader! Over there!"
Following that, the voice of the last remaining Heavenly Wind Group Third Squad member reached Dong Bong-su's ears.
The other two were indeed near the bow where the ship stairs had been.
Pat.
Dong Bong-su immediately moved.
He went out through the oar port again. And this time, instead of going toward the ship stairs, he went straight from the oar port, inserted his hands into the small gaps between the planks of the ship's bottom planking, and climbed up onto the deck.
Since the oar port's location was at the stern, there was a distance difference of ten meters from the cabin and over twenty meters from the bow.
Dong Bong-su perfectly climbed onto the stern of the deck with the shadow of the tall cabin as his background. Since there was a long bench commonly found on pleasure boats at the stern, it was easy for him to hide.
He was hidden in the darkness and the enemies were still wandering on deck holding fire strikers. Go San-gong and the squad member had moved from the bow to near the cabin in the middle of the ship and were examining the corpse Dong Bong-su had just killed.
A situation where they couldn't even dream that someone was watching them from the stern.
Dong Bong-su took out daggers again. This time two blades.
Without a moment's hesitation, he threw them straight at the backs of the enemies' heads. His Throw Passive had already reached level 8, so his action bonus reached a full 40%.
Whoosh—!
Though he had never learned throwing knife techniques, the daggers he threw truly flew swiftly.
Thud.
Clank!
Two different sounds rang simultaneously.
While the squad member was defenseless and died instantly with the dagger embedded in the back of his head, the guard squad leader Go San-gong sensed the sound of cutting through air and blocked it with the sword-drawing technique he had honed for ten years at the Namgung Family. It was truly a hair's breadth difference and a victory of instinct.
"There!"
Go San-gong shouting while looking toward the stern where Dong Bong-su was hiding. However, he couldn't rashly approach Dong Bong-su's direction. No, he rather retreated backward. Because he thought the enemy wasn't just Dong Bong-su alone.
Probably anyone would do that. Who would think someone alone had moved mysteriously using the oar port?
Dong Bong-su secretly observed Go San-gong while continuing to accelerate his brain.
'Three.'
Three of four dead, so now one enemy remained.
The problem was that person was the guard squad leader. Dong Bong-su had honestly thought he could kill Go San-gong when throwing the flying daggers just before. But Go San-gong blocked it too easily as if mocking that.
'Could he win?'
It was a meaningless question. Already committed. He had to win no matter what.
Dong Bong-su took out the Novice's Sword.
He carefully approached Go San-gong.
'That person has a higher level than me. I can't win normally. To win unconditionally, there must definitely be a method or strategy to win.'
Then what method and strategy were needed?
Ultimately, one thing it came down to.
'Utilize the skills I have to the maximum.'
He, Dong Bong-su, had skills. He had to subdue the enemy by operating his skills and all techniques he could mobilize appropriately at the right time in the right way.
Dong Bong-su began checking all the skills he had while walking.
First, the Active Skills he currently had were.
[Three Talents Sword Technique 1st and 2nd Forms], [Lightness Arts], [Circulating Energy]
These three.
The rest—Spirit Eyes and Slash, Thrust, Throw, Block, etc.—were Passives that were always applied.
Besides these, there was the Inventory Divine Art. This was actually the best survival skill and attack skill among all the skills Dong Bong-su possessed.
Adding to that, the Novice's Sword, Clothes, Shoes, and Hood were 'supreme items' that didn't exist here. In this New Murim Online—that is, the Martial World—no one had items. Only he possessed such divine objects.
Just by wearing these items, a level difference of about 1 or 2 would be easily narrowed.
Chak, chak, chak, chak.
In the few steps he walked, his outfit completely changed.
He put the black robes and mask he wore as the Nameless Vigilante into his Inventory and changed into the Novice set.
Immediately, stats increased due to wearing items.
Whirrrr—
He immediately used the Circulating Energy skill. Attack power and defense power were also enhanced. Preparation was complete.
Now he just had to fight and win.
A few seconds later.
Dong Bong-su finally left the cabin's shadow and fully revealed his appearance under the moonlight.
Indifferent eyes, gaunt frame, height a bit tall compared to his small body.
Anywhere you looked except his gaze, it was Sosam's appearance.
"You are!?"
Go San-gong was shocked seeing Dong Bong-su finally reveal himself.
The reason was simple. Though not familiar, he had seen Dong Bong-su a while ago. Though the clothes he wore had changed, he could recognize him sufficiently.
Because he had a physique that looked weak unlike a guest visiting the Namgung Family, and he had clearly witnessed him being carried into the Heavenly Guest Hall by Heavenly Wind Group Second Squad members earlier.
"Why are you?"
To Go San-gong's question, Dong Bong-su indifferently tossed out one word.
"For the Namgung Family."
"..."
To say that gruesomely killing Heavenly Wind Group squad members was for the Namgung Family.
To Go San-gong, what nonsense was this, but Dong Bong-su's words were true. Because the Namgung Family had to live for him to live, though the method was a bit extreme, for him it was the best 'advice' he was leaving on this ship.
"This crazy..."
The moment the last word 'bastard' was about to come out of Go San-gong's mouth.
Pat—!
Dong Bong-su's attack began.
From Go San-gong's position, he might think it cowardly, but to Dong Bong-su it was natural, and something he had already been thinking about since Go San-gong asked the question.
Fair play?
There are no such rules in fighting.
If such things existed, wouldn't that be even more ridiculous?
Fighting is done to win. Are methods and means important in winning? Especially talking about cowardice in life-or-death matters is even more ridiculous.
Most things encountered here were fine, but formalities. That one thing alone didn't suit Dong Bong-su's taste.
Fighting isn't a sport. No matter how much formality you observe, fighting is just fighting.
Tap, Tap, Tap.
[Lightness Arts Lv.5 Proficiency: 47.75%]
Martial art that lightens the body. By learning Lightness Arts, you can jump higher and run faster.
Current Applied Level: Lv.5 (Player can adjust this skill's level)
Jump Power Bonus: 50%
Movement Power Bonus: 50%
Energy Consumption per Second: 5 JP
Dong Bong-su's Lightness Arts had now reached level 5 with jump power and movement power bonuses each reaching 50%. His movements using Lightness Arts were completely different from just before.
Additionally, Dong Bong-su using level 2 Circulating Energy also had attack power and defense power bonuses reaching 60%. Not only his movements but the sword's power also couldn't be compared to when slaughtering the Heavenly Wind Group Third Squad members earlier.
Swooshhh-!
The Novice's Sword cut through the air and flew sharply toward Go San-gong's neck.
That form was the Three Talents Sword Technique 2nd Form Direct Strike at the Yellow Dragon, which had reached level 4 from steady practice.
[Three Talents Sword Technique 2nd Form Direct Strike at the Yellow Dragon Lv.4 Proficiency: 45.7%]
A sword technique extremely common in the Martial World. Even ordinary people without internal energy can learn it.
Direct Strike at the Yellow Dragon is an enhanced version of thrust.
All action bonuses of this skill are related to related skill proficiency and presence/absence of Sword Energy/Sword Aura activation.
Current Applied Level: Lv.4 (Player can adjust this skill's level)
Thrust Range Bonus: 4%
Thrust Attack Power Bonus: 4%
Thrust Casting Speed Bonus: -3%
Energy Consumption per Use: 60 JP
Kang!
Go San-gong was also formidable. Even at Dong Bong-su's sudden attack, he quickly raised his sword and deflected the Novice's Sword.
He immediately followed with a counterattack at Dong Bong-su.
Having honed his sword for ten years at the Namgung Family, his sword momentum was quite extraordinary and that sword name was also quite fierce.
The form Go San-gong used was precisely the Heavenly Wind Sword Technique 1st Form Heavenly Wind Flowing Cloud. The Heavenly Wind Sword Technique was the Heavenly Wind Group's exclusive sword technique, a heavy sword style that struck opponents violently like heavenly wind. Among them, Heavenly Wind Flowing Cloud was the fastest sword form specialized in horizontal strikes.
Whoosh—
Like wind gently roaming above clouds, Go San-gong's sword swept across Dong Bong-su's waist.
Dong Bong-su was still in a state where he couldn't properly control his body due to the rebound from Go San-gong's strike just before, so he wasn't in a condition to properly block Go San-gong's form.
In that situation, Dong Bong-su forcefully twisted his wrist to point the sword tip downward. With that, a blocking posture with the sword tip facing the ground vertically was completed. The Block Passive had an extremely low level compared to other skills because there were actually few occasions to block. Only level 2. Action bonus 5%.
Clank!
Go San-gong's sword perfectly horizontal with the ship's deck clashed with Dong Bong-su's sword blade at a ninety-degree angle.
-x-X-x-
"Pup!"
A bursting sound occurred as sword clashed with sword.
Simultaneously, Dong Bong-su's body, swept up by Go San-gong's form, was flung far to the side.
From the impact, Dong Bong-su unknowingly spat blood from his mouth.
He had suffered internal injuries.
'If the Circulating Energy level had been LV 1 instead of 2, perhaps...'
He might have died from this single sword strike.
'Stronger than expected.'
The level difference with Go San-gong was one thing, but there seemed to be quite a gap between someone who had formally learned Martial World swordsmanship and himself who merely handled a sword as a game skill.
Dong Bong-su opened his Status Window to check the damage situation. Despite successfully defending, his health gauge had worn down by as much as a tenth. If he received it with his real body, there would be only death.
He wiped the blood from his mouth and rose again. Though he had suffered internal injuries, his expression remained the same.
Seeing such a him, Go San-gong gritted his teeth and attacked again. Go San-gong, who thought there were more enemies besides Dong Bong-su, intended to make a quick decision.
From his hand unfolded the Heavenly Wind Sword Technique's 2nd Form Heavenly Wind Thunderbolt.
Like wind following lightning striking down, Go San-gong's sword fell straight from top to bottom.
Woong–!
Because the Heavenly Wind Sword Technique itself was such a heavy sword technique, when the sword cut through the air, its wind pressure was tremendous. With a wind sound like forcefully swinging a club through the air, the sword was falling down over Dong Bong-su's head.
However,
Dong Bong-su had no thought of dodging or blocking and was just blankly staring at that sight. Looking more closely, the corners of his mouth were slightly raised as if smiling.
'What was so good?'
He who had no emotional fluctuations in any situation—what on earth was he looking at and smiling about in this critical moment?
In fact, Dong Bong-su was simply enjoying this situation.
This situation where he was now injured felt strangely good. Everything flowing according to his calculations to a futile degree, he was feeling a strange pleasure he couldn't feel on modern Earth where he enjoyed killing too easily.
There had been several such times since coming here, and now was the same.
He had easily thought he would win sufficiently, but he was unexpectedly struggling. No, in a way, he was being pushed back to the point of not even being a match.
At that unexpected result, he was paradoxically feeling extreme pleasure.
Perhaps hunting predators on modern Earth was also in a way expecting such unexpected situations. It's just that all those predators failed to fulfill his wish and died.
Perhaps he thought he might be able to die happily even if he died right now.
However,
Not dying was... much better.
Because.
In this 'New Murim Online,' there seemed to be far more unpredictable incidents and monsters that could please him.
Pak—!
One step before Go San-gong's sword split Dong Bong-su's head in half!
He took out one lump of metal he normally kept in his Inventory for emergencies at the spot right below his forehead where there was no hood and rolled to the side as is.
It was a technique that wasn't a technique commonly called Lazy Donkey Roll here. A name attached because it's similar to a lazy donkey frantically rolling on the ground.
Of course, Dong Bong-su absolutely disagreed with that.
Something like a lazy donkey doesn't strive so fiercely to live. The name Lazy Donkey Roll itself was wrong. Does one throw away life because of mere shame? For Dong Bong-su, there was no need to understand or do so.
If necessary, what would be the big deal about rolling on the ground a hundred or thousand times?
SCREEeek.
Go San-gong's sword cut through the iron plate that suddenly appeared in mid-air and embedded straight into the deck.
"...!"
Go San-gong couldn't understand.
Where did the iron plate suddenly appear from? But he didn't have the time to ponder that matter for long. Because Dong Bong-su attacked immediately after rolling to the side.
Whoosh.
Along with a sharp sound of cutting through air, Dong Bong-su's sword flew aiming at Go San-gong's side. The skill Dong Bong-su used this time was also Direct Strike at the Yellow Dragon.
"Where do you think!"
From Go San-gong's perspective, it was laughable.
At first, he had panicked a bit because he was attacked by surprise, but now he was already prepared. Yet Direct Strike at the Yellow Dragon again.
Go San-gong pulled out the sword embedded in the deck and immediately lifted it in the direction Dong Bong-su's sword was coming. He thought he could easily deflect Dong Bong-su's sword this time too.
However!
A strange thing happened.
Right at that moment when his sword and Dong Bong-su's sword should clash.
Dong Bong-su's sword suddenly disappeared. Because of that, Go San-gong's sword cut through empty air and was lifted straight above his head.
At that moment, though very brief, a gap appeared in his body.
Whoosh—!
A sharp sound of cutting through air.
Dong Bong-su's sword that had disappeared was flying again.
"...!"
Pit—
Go San-gong avoided the Novice's Sword by a hair's breadth. However, he couldn't avoid it completely, so a long sword wound formed on his face.
He couldn't tell what on earth had happened. For the flying sword to disappear then reappear. Wasn't this enough to make even ghosts cry?
However, now wasn't the time for such things to matter. Dong Bong-su's attack wasn't finished yet.
Papat-!
Go San-gong hastily retreated backward.
At that, Dong Bong-su immediately followed and this time executed the Three Talents Sword Technique 1st Form Sweeping Away a Thousand Soldiers.
[Three Talents Sword Technique 1st Form Sweeping Away a Thousand Soldiers Lv.4 Proficiency: 33.0%]
A sword technique extremely common in the Martial World. Even ordinary people without internal energy can learn it.
Sweeping Away a Thousand Soldiers is an enhanced version of sideways slash.
All action bonuses of this skill are related to related skill proficiency and presence/absence of Sword Energy/Sword Aura activation.
Current Applied Level: Lv.4 (Player can adjust this skill's level)
Horizontal Slash Range Bonus: 4%
Horizontal Slash Attack Power Bonus: 4%
Horizontal Slash Casting Speed Bonus: -3%
Energy Consumption per Use: 60 JP
Sweeping Away a Thousand Soldiers had also reached level 4 like Direct Strike at the Yellow Dragon.
When just looking at the unfolding form, Sweeping Away a Thousand Soldiers was very similar to Heavenly Wind Flowing Cloud, the form Go San-gong had used earlier.
This time Dong Bong-su was attacking and Go San-gong had to defend, so only the situation was reversed from before.
Now Go San-gong raised his sword with the tip pointing downward and blocked Dong Bong-su's sword. No, he tried to.
Dong Bong-su's sword disappeared again this time at the instant when sword and sword were about to collide...
Right at that instant when Go San-gong was blankly bewildered trying to raise his sword forward.
Whoosh–!
Dong Bong-su's sword reappeared. However, the sword was held in his left hand instead of his right hand. His right hand had already cut through empty air and passed Go San-gong's front, and the sword that had been in that right hand was in his left hand. Anyway, since the rotational force from swinging was preserved intact, Dong Bong-su's sword's power remained the same. Only the hand position had changed.
This time too, Go San-gong blocked the Novice's Sword by raising his sword to the side without time to think about what had happened.
"Keuk!"
Because he defended suddenly rather than blocking while prepared, he couldn't fully transmit his internal energy to the sword. At that, Go San-gong also flew to the side like Dong Bong-su had flown earlier.
Thud.
Unlike Dong Bong-su, Go San-gong struck hard against the ship's side. Though he hadn't suffered internal injuries like Dong Bong-su, the psychological shock was considerable.
'What kind of sorcery is this!?'
A sword technique he had never heard of or seen.
'No. Could this even be called a sword technique?'
He didn't know.
Whoosh—
Again the sound of cutting through air occurred and Dong Bong-su's attack continued.
Though he was avoiding with difficulty, having grasped the irregular attack pattern, Go San-gong could block or avoid Dong Bong-su's attacks more easily than before. To prepare for irregular attacks, he had switched his method of dealing with it to keeping as much distance as possible.
Afterward for a while, Go San-gong's Heavenly Wind Sword Technique and Dong Bong-su's Three Talents Sword Technique mobilizing the Inventory Divine Art clashed. At a glance, it seemed difficult to determine superiority between the two.
But the reality was that Dong Bong-su was cornered.
'Now 1 minute left.'
[Circulating Energy Lv.2 Proficiency: 38.9%]
A training method that artificially induces energy through meridians distributed in the body using energy accumulated in the Dantian.
When activated, attack power and defense power temporarily increase.
Duration/Cooldown: 5/10 (minutes)
Energy Consumption per Use: 200 JP
Current Skill Bonus: 60%
Circulating Energy's duration was only 5 minutes. In contrast, the cooldown was 10 minutes.
Already 4 minutes had passed. In just 1 more minute, for the 5 minutes after that, he would have to fight without Circulating Energy.
Death.
Under the current situation, wouldn't that word be synonymous with being told to die?
'What should I do?'
Dong Bong-su was now fighting, mobilizing most of what he could do. Yet he hadn't subdued Go San-gong. There were one or two more things left, but the probability that even those wouldn't work was high.
Though he was conserving as much as possible and watching for an opportunity, Go San-gong, who had already grasped the weakness of the Inventory Divine Art, was repeating the method of not trying to block normally but retreating then attacking.
'Then did that mean this was the end?'
Even while continuing combat, Dong Bong-su's head never rested for a moment. Grasping the enemy's action pattern, predicting future attacks, and ultimately continuing to think of a method to kill Go San-gong. However, a method didn't easily come to mind.
Pak—!
Since his attention was dispersed anyway, a gap appeared.
Not missing the opening, Go San-gong's sword that wedged in lightly grazed Dong Bong-su's arm. Stinging pain was transmitted to his central nervous system and his body became slightly numb. Simultaneously, his health gauge went down very slightly.
'...Health gauge went down? Health gauge... Health gauge...!'
Seeing the health gauge go down slightly, a lightning-like thought flashed through Dong Bong-su's mind.
Finally, he thought of a method to eliminate Go San-gong.
'There's no time. I must implement it immediately.'
-x-X-x-
Dong Bong-su had no time to hesitate even for a moment.
When his sword strike finally landed on Dong Bong-su's body, Go San-gong thought he had seized the upper hand and unleashed the final technique of the Heavenly Wind Sword Technique, Heavenly Wind Opening Heaven.
Thud, Thud, Thud—
As if the sky opened at the wind's call, dozens of sword strikes rained down on Dong Bong-su accompanied by sounds of cutting through air. Despite being a heavy sword, it was fast and had many variations. Even if Dong Bong-su tried to dodge, it looked impossible to avoid getting hit in one or two places.
In fact, blood splattered as the sword lightly grazed Dong Bong-su's legs, chest, and arms.
However,
At this moment when he should have been dodging, Dong Bong-su instead raised his sword and executed the Direct Strike at the Yellow Dragon technique, thrusting toward Go San-gong's eyes. His entire body, which disregarded defense, was full of openings, and naturally the wounds from Go San-gong's sword strikes increased exponentially.
Thud, Thud!
Blood splattered and flesh tore, but Dong Bong-su's sword continued forward.
'Mutual destruction?'
Go San-gong judged it as such when he saw Dong Bong-su charging in without caring for his own body.
He sneered at that action with a smirk. To achieve mutual destruction, one must use an appropriate technique for it.
Only techniques like Cold Destruction of the Cold Yin Shura Palm Technique or the Merciless Sword Art, which consists solely of mutual destruction methods, could be called true mutual destruction techniques.
'Just Direct Strike at the Yellow Dragon?'
Go San-gong retracted the Heavenly Wind Opening Heaven technique he had been extending and instead executed the horizontal strike, Heavenly Wind Flowing Cloud. His sword drew a long horizontal line and cleanly severed Dong Bong-su's arm as it stretched toward him.
Pat—!
Dong Bong-su's right arm flew high into the sky while still gripping the sword, then fell into Lake Chao.
Plop.
'Not yet!'
Although his opponent had become nearly self-abandoned and one-armed, Go San-gong didn't let his guard down. From their previous clashes, he already knew Dong Bong-su used strange death arts. This time, a sword would surely emerge from his left arm to attack again.
Swoosh!
Go San-gong's sword swung once more, flying toward Dong Bong-su's left arm. Just as he predicted, a sword popped out from Dong Bong-su's left arm, and with the same momentum from executing Direct Strike at the Yellow Dragon with his right hand, he tried to execute Direct Strike at the Yellow Dragon again with his left hand.
However, they were already too close for Direct Strike at the Yellow Dragon to be properly executed.
Moreover,
Go San-gong had already predicted all of this.
The outcome seemed already decided to anyone watching.
Pak!
Puk!
Go San-gong's sword severed even Dong Bong-su's left arm. Dong Bong-su was now in a position where he could no longer attack. Or at least, he should have been.
However,
If only Dong Bong-su's left arm had been severed, the cutting sound should have ended with just one 'pak.'
Sound. Yes, there was one more sound. Puk. A brief but clear penetration sound.
"Kkeuk..."
What on earth had happened?
The Novice's Sword was embedded in Go San-gong's eyes.
Crunch, Thud.
Dong Bong-su's teeth firmly bit the sword handle and pushed forward with the momentum from his charge.
Two Object Entry and Exit.
The card Dong Bong-su pulled out at the last moment was the technique of simultaneously taking out two items from his Inventory. Go San-gong, who had only been focused on the left and right hands, must have thought it was over the moment he cut off both arms.
But it wasn't actually over.
Dong Bong-su pulled out swords simultaneously from his left hand and mouth. Among them, the real attack was the Novice's Sword pulled out with his mouth.
It splendidly succeeded, and Go San-gong met his end.
Go San-gong's wish—that a man should cut a person's throat, drink their blood, and sing—was achieved at the very moment he lost his life.
Except that the blood was his own and the song he sang was merely the single syllable 'kkeuk'… it was accomplished exactly as he wished.
Pierce—!
The power of Dong Bong-su's death-defying charge was so tremendous that the Novice's Sword pierced through Go San-gong's eye, penetrated the skull, and protruded out the back of his head.
Huuk huuk.
Gasping for rough breaths, he finally collapsed onto the deck as if falling.
The sacrifice to kill Go San-gong had been too great.
Because he had become disabled.
Both arms were severed, blood endlessly poured out from lacerations all over his body, and he had sustained serious internal injuries.
If he stayed like this for just a few seconds, he would die.
However,
Even setting aside the tremendous pain assaulting him, despite the situation where he would soon die, the smile forming on Dong Bong-su's lips only deepened.
The reason was.
Flash-! Flash-! Flash-!
Because he knew well that he would soon recover.
The moment Go San-gong's corpse fell onto the deck, a strange and mysterious flash burst out from Dong Bong-su's body three times in succession.
Once again, the moment of evolution had arrived.
And three times in a row at that.
By killing Go San-gong, Dong Bong-su reached Level 10.
Simultaneously, his lost arms regenerated, and all his wounds healed as well.
The holy light generated by Dong Bong-su's level up spread beyond the sailing ship's deck to various parts of the Namgung Family. Like the brightness of midday.
***
At the very moment the Namgung Family brightened due to the light emanating from Dong Bong-su's body, the Danri Family in Bongyang was also bright as midday.
However, the difference was that the Danri Family wasn't just bright—the entire family estate was engulfed in flames.
"Keuaaak!"
Buildings everywhere were collapsing, engulfed in flames, and black-masked figures in black robes were indiscriminately slaughtering the family's members.
To stop them, the Cross Heaven Sword Group, the family's only martial force, deployed, but every time the black-robed figures' swords moved, the heads of Cross Heaven Sword Group members were merely severed.
By the time Danri Cheon-u woke from sleep hearing the screams and sounds of clashing swords, the name Cross Heaven Sword Group had already been erased from the Martial World.
"..."
The Danri Family, which was everything to Danri Cheon-u, was burning, and the family's members were dying horribly, but he couldn't say anything or do anything. No, he couldn't even think of anything in the first place.
'Why? Who on earth would do such a thing?'
He should have been able to conjure such thoughts, but his body went completely limp from the overwhelmingly vast difference in power.
Before long, he alone remained in the family estate. He held his sword drawn, but he couldn't cut down even one of the black-robed figures. No, he couldn't even swing his sword. He merely trembled.
Tap, tap—
Through the sound of the Danri Family burning, footsteps could be heard.
They belonged to the black-robed figures who had created this carnage.
They soon stopped at a distance of nine meters in front of Danri Cheon-u.
Only five. Although the Black Five Group had withdrawn, still, for the Danri Family to be so helplessly defeated by just five people.
Danri Cheon-u couldn't believe it.
"...Who are you?"
Danri Cheon-u looked blankly at the black-robed figure standing at the front with a dazed expression.
The black-robed figure's terribly cold gaze quickly devoured Danri Cheon-u's unfocused eyes. Just as the flames were now erasing the Danri Family from the world.
The black-robed figure silently approached closer to Danri Cheon-u.
Tak.
The black-robed figure stopped again at a distance of one jang in front of Danri Cheon-u.
Danri Cheon-u's lips quivered, and he ultimately spat out the same words he had just said.
"...Who are you?"
The black-robed figure lifted his head slightly and spoke in a cold voice.
"Does that matter?"
Danri Cheon-u's lips trembled once more. Perhaps he wanted to say something but was too devastated to speak.
Only after biting his tongue slightly could he finally get out the words he wanted to say.
"...Wh-what's the reason?"
Slice.
He asked, but there was no answer. No, there was one. It's just that the answer wasn't words.
The black-robed figure's sword slashed diagonally from bottom to top. That was the end. Cut from the lower right hip to the left shoulder, Danri Cheon-u's upper body smoothly slid down his cleanly severed lower body to the ground.
Thud, thud.
Through the lower part of his cleanly severed upper body, shredded organ fragments spilled out. Even in such a state, Danri Cheon-u's mouth still remained in the shape of asking 'what's the reason.'
Crush!
The black-robed figure's foot crushed that mouth.
Only then could Danri Cheon-u hear an answer that wasn't an answer.
"Don't keep asking useless things. Because it's something the likes of you don't need to know."
Though he was the family head of Bongyang's greatest family, to the black-robed figure, Gwang-un, he was merely 'the likes of you.'
The Danri Family vanished from the world in vain.
At least fortunate for Danri Cheon-u was the fact that Danri Jiang-hae and Danri Hui had left the Danri Family and thus avoided this calamity.
However....
The unfortunate thing was....
That the calamity hadn't struck only this place.
If 'clouds' hung densely here, then 'shadows' were cast heavily toward the southern Anhui region, and Danri Hui had already entered within that shadow's domain.
***
Seungryong Mountain.
A small mountain rising at the northern edge of Hefei. In fact, considering its height and scale, it was difficult to even call it a mountain—it was more at the level of a hill. Nevertheless, since it was a mountain, if one climbed to its peak and looked down, one could see the entire view of Hefei, and in the distance, one could even appreciate the water mist rising from Lake Chao.
Naturally, from the summit of Seungryong Mountain, one could also observe at a glance the Namgung Family's manor adjacent to the Lake.
The reason this mountain was called by the grandiose name Seungryong Mountain, disproportionate to its scale, was because the rocks connected closely along this mountain's ridge resembled the form of an ascending dragon.
"Ah! St-stop! Aheuk!"
Right now, atop the peak rock corresponding to the head of the ascending dragon, a heat wave fierce enough to drive away the night's cold air was raging.
The man was roughly moving his lower body from behind the woman, and the woman whose back had been forcibly taken by the man was sobbing with her head bowed.
Strangely, the man's body was glowing silver, bathed in moonlight. This was a typical phenomenon that appeared in those who had mastered the strange art, the Silver Naked Lecher Art.
In the current Martial World, there was only one person who had mastered this martial art.
The protagonist who continued the rape with a fishy smile was none other than....
Pa, Pa.
"Aaah!"
The vice-leader of the Anhui branch of Heavenly Demon Castle, Silver Naked Lecher Paga Blood.
Paga Blood grabbed the woman's hair from behind and pulled it back while thrusting his waist forward even more roughly. The woman once again writhed, feeling maddening pleasure from it.
However, even while moving so violently, Paga Blood's eyes weren't on the woman.
The Namgung Family.
His eyes were only looking at the Namgung Family faintly visible in the distance.
-x-X-x-
As the epithet Silver Naked Lecher in his name suggested, he enjoyed embracing women, but there was something he liked even more.
Blood.
The reason Paga Blood had waited for 'his' orders for over ten years was because of the anticipation that once the orders came down, he would be able to taste blood to his heart's content.
Now, in a few days when the First Stratagem officially commenced, the Namgung Family would disappear. In that process, a terrible bloodbath would naturally unfold.
Imagining the Namgung Family dyed red, Paga Blood's body transformed into an even more intense silver glow. Along with it, the movements of his lower body also became more violent.
"Heuk heuk!"
"Kyaa, kyaak!"
The poor sacrificial lamb, not knowing she would die, writhed in ecstasy with her eyes rolled back, overwhelmed by pleasure.
She was a martial artist his subordinates had captured yesterday. Since she had been on her way from Bongyang to the Namgung Family, she must have been going to congratulate Transformed Shadow and Namgung Hye on their wedding.
Though the sacrificial lamb was completely unaware, her family or sect of origin would probably disappear from the Martial World soon as well.
'Perhaps they've already been eliminated.'
Gwang-un was by no means a merciful person. Since he had gone to spread the groundwork for the 'Second Stratagem,' the Anhui Province martial world would be completely devastated.
Probably, multiple 'clouds' had been mobilized for the Second Stratagem. Only the order was different. No sect in Anhui Province could escape Gwang-un's hands.
On the other hand, a total of seven shadows had been mobilized for the First Stratagem.
'Myself and Transformed Shadow, the four who infiltrated the Namgung Family. And.'
The other one was in charge of the Lake area.
If the Heavenly Demon Castle Anhui branch he was leading, the Namgung Family, and that force commanded by another shadow all clashed in Anhui, the result was self-evident without even watching.
Since Mubon's First and Second Stratagems had begun, there was no possibility that the Anhui Province martial world would remain intact....
None.
"Aaaahaak!"
Oblivious to this, the woman was wandering in paradise even as her yin energy was completely being extinguished.
Paga Blood, knowing that the time to finish was approaching, absorbed the woman's last remaining vital essence to his heart's content.
But at the very moment he was about to reach climax!
Flash-! Flash-! Flash-!
Three brief but very intense beams of light were caught by his eyes. The direction was toward the Namgung Family.
'What is that!?'
Just because the Namgung Family could be faintly seen from here didn't mean the distance was close at all.
Unless it was a considerably intense light, it could never reach from the Namgung Family to the top of Seungryong Mountain, especially on this night. Such intensely bright light would have to be at least an explosion of a Thunder Bolt Bomb, if not sunlight.
That was definitely not a signal sent by Transformed Shadow. Not only had Transformed Shadow not mastered the Solar Divine Art, he also didn't possess any Thunder Bolt Bombs.
Above all, how could such comfortable and mysteriously warm energy be carried in the heat emitted by the Solar Divine Art or the destructive explosive light released when a Thunder Bolt Bomb detonates?
That's why Paga Blood felt even more uneasy. Something unknown had clearly occurred at the Namgung Family. This was definitely not part of the plan.
"Aaaaak!"
Finally, Paga Blood and the woman reached climax.
Plop.
His member was pulled out from the woman's body, and the woman met her end. His body had already returned from silver to its original color, and his member also hung down limply.
"Immediately seal all routes leading to Hefei right now."
Who was he speaking to? He certainly wasn't speaking to the dead woman.
"Your command."
As if to prove it, a response came from somewhere below the rock.
Simultaneously with the sound, the shadows cast below the rock began to stretch in all directions, then soon separated into multiple strands.
Shadows quickly disappearing below Seungryong Mountain.
Multiple people had been secretly hiding beneath the rock where Paga Blood had been performing his lecherous arts.
Once the shadows disappeared, Paga Blood also vanished from that spot as if extinguished.
Whoosh—
The cold wind blew again over the summit of Seungryong Mountain, but now there was no one to receive it. There was one, but only an already dead corpse.
Though it meant nothing now, the corpse's name was Danri Hui.
***
At the same time, at the Namgung Family.
Two people stood on the sailing ship, facing the cold wind blowing from Lake Chao. Though Dong Bong-su had already left, the terrible scene he had left behind still remained, weighing heavily on their hearts.
One was Heavenly Thunder Squad Leader Namgung Hu, and the other was Heavenly Wind Group Leader Namgung Il, who bore responsibility for those who died here.
"What do you think?"
Namgung Il spoke first.
Even as he spoke, his gaze remained fixed on the ship's deck throughout. There, writing in magnificent calligraphy like an ascending dragon was inscribed. However, the scent rising from it wasn't ink but blood, making his brow furrow.
"..."
As the Heavenly Thunder Squad Leader, Namgung Hu had arrived here faster than Namgung Il.
When the three flashes originated from this place, the guard shift warriors closest by were the Heavenly Thunder Squad members on guard duty at the Western Heavenly Guest Hall. Namgung Hu had received the Heavenly Thunder Squad's report and reached this ship first, and afterward Namgung Il received a report from the fourth squad that came to relieve today's deceased Heavenly Wind Group third squad and rushed here.
Without giving an answer either way, Namgung Hu pointed his hand toward the lower cabin below the cabin.
"We can't fully understand the intent of whoever created this carnage just by looking at this. Follow me."
Namgung Hu took Namgung Il down to the ship's lower cabin. Thinking there must be some reason, Namgung Il followed Namgung Hu down to the lower cabin without saying much.
Since it was still deep in the night, the interior of the lower cabin was dark.
Thud!
Namgung Hu executed a palm technique on the side of the lower cabin, making a hole. Soon, the dim light emitted by the moon entered and illuminated the lower cabin. Thanks to that, the lower cabin scenery that hadn't been clearly visible came fully into view before them.
"This is!"
On the floor of the lower cabin, pieces that appeared to be human bones were very precisely embedded, forming a four-character sentence like the blood script on the deck. That terrible form was far more cruel than what was on the deck, but the neatness of the writing was as masterful as the writing on the deck—a calligraphy master under heaven.
"The Heavenly Thunder Squad members on guard duty at the Western Heavenly Guest Hall at dawn came here first. According to their investigation after arriving here, this bone script seems to have been written before the blood script on the deck. In other words, the intruder stripped the flesh and bones from the Heavenly Wind Group members here to do this, then went up to the deck and wrote the blood script."
Namgung Hu added an explanation to the surprised Namgung Il. Hearing those words, Namgung Il prayed briefly for his subordinates' souls and continued speaking.
"But why did the intruder go through such difficulty infiltrating only to write such words... no, to do such a thing? He should have been busy hiding."
"Well. I don't know either. Why write something like this after infiltrating the Namgung Family with such difficulty."
Combining the bone script in the lower cabin and the blood script on the deck in order yields the following eight characters.
Moon Full Emperor Falls, Slowly Going I Become King.
When the moon is full, the emperor falls, and I who go slowly becomes king.
After Namgung Hu and Namgung Il discussed those eight characters at length, as the day gradually brightened they moved their steps toward the Emperor King Hall. It seemed this matter couldn't be resolved at their level.
***
(Revised) New Murim Online 5th Law: When you level up, white light bursts from your body in all directions, and all wounds on your body are healed. Simultaneously, all stats increase slightly. In other words, strength increases, the body becomes agile, and intelligence rises.
Addition: What's healed at this time includes not only wounds but also all lost body parts.
※Still, all these laws are not fixed or certain.
***
"Hey, did you hear about what happened last night?"
"What?"
"Ah, you haven't heard yet? Well, it's about..."
The Namgung Family was very noisy this morning.
The cause was the three bright lights that had covered the Namgung Family last night.
Since ancient times, people had considered the number three sacred.
They had contrasted one (一) with yang and two (二) with yin, and since three was a number formed by the sum of one and two, they considered it a perfect number with harmonized yin and yang. Moreover, the light that had covered the entire Namgung Family yesterday was extremely bright and gentle by itself, as if purifying the entire world.
All the warriors on guard duty at that time and the small number of people who weren't sleeping unanimously said the matter was extraordinary.
Three Holy Lights.
Passing through many mouths, those three lights came to have the grandiose and plausible name of Three Holy Lights.
"The Three Holy Lights, you see..."
Despite many people not yet being awake since it was still early morning, rumors about the Three Holy Lights were spreading far and wide.
[This is heaven blessing the upcoming wedding of Namgung Hye and Do Heo-ok!]
Though it was unknown who said it first, by breakfast time, there was no one in the family estate who didn't know about this matter.
Even the core personnel and elders of the Namgung Family had all been summoned to the Emperor King Hall from morning regarding this matter of the Three Holy Lights.
However, the content of their meeting wasn't as hopeful as what the ordinary family members and congratulatory guests were thinking.
The reason was that what the Three Holy Lights had brought wasn't heaven's blessing, but was actually a harbinger of calamity called the Four Bone Scripts, Four Blood Scripts.
-x-X-x-
On the chair atop the platform at the center of the Emperor King Hall, Family Head Namgung Byeok naturally sat, with the heads and elders of the Emperor Sword Form, Vast Sky Sword Form, Flying Swallow Sword Form, Limitless Sword Form, and Flash Battle Sword Form lined up in rows to his left and right.
Among those who should have been present, only two were missing: Namgung Il, the Heavenly Wind Group Leader who had first brought this news, and Namgung Hu, the Heavenly Thunder Squad Commander.
The uniformly serious expressions on everyone's faces made it clear just how grave the matter being discussed here was.
Moon Full Emperor Falls, Slowly Going I Become King.
From early morning until now, every conversation taking place here had been about these eight characters.
At first, there had been some conflict of opinion regarding the interpretation of this phrase. But now there was no longer any opposition to that interpretation.
Moon full emperor falls.
When the moon is full, the emperor shall fall.
Without much thought, this was a phrase foretelling the downfall of the Namgung Family.
The Namgung Family had since ancient times called themselves the Imperial Family. Here, "emperor" referred to the Namgung Family, and "moon full" must refer to this wedding ceremony taking place on the full moon day.
There could be no room for debate about this from the start.
The difference in interpretation didn't arise from the first four characters written in bone script. It was the latter four blood scripts written in blood.
Slowly going I become king.
I who go slowly shall become king.
There had been heated debate among those gathered about who exactly this "I who goes slowly" referred to, but eventually a definite conclusion was reached that left little room for dispute.
The heated discussion currently underway was about what should be done with this person identified as "I who goes slowly."
"As I've been saying all along, this is clearly slander!"
Namgung Jung, the head of the Vast Sky Sword Form, looked around at everyone and spoke forcefully. He was the only elder of the Namgung Family who held the position of sword form head, and in terms of generation, he was high-ranking enough to be equal to Namgung Byeok. Naturally, his voice carried significant weight in such meetings.
"Blade Star has been with the family for less than a year. That means he still cannot exert any influence within the family. That won't change much even after he marries Hye-ah. Don't those of you here know this better than anyone? Blade Star is not even a Namgung in the first place. So how in the world could such a person threaten the position of Namgung Family Head?"
Blade Star was Do Heo-ok's epithet.
His voice was filled with conviction as if there could be no other possibility. As if to support Namgung Jung's words, most of the elders nodded their heads.
"To suspect the person who will become the family's son-in-law based solely on the bizarre writing created with the blood and bones of an intruder who killed the family's warriors in a brutal manner? The martial artists of the world will mock the Namgung Family. What could the person who will become the Namgung Family's son-in-law possibly lack that he would orchestrate such a thing? I simply cannot understand why the entire Namgung Family is in such an uproar over the slander of one wicked intruder."
However, Namgung In, the head of the Limitless Sword Form who was relatively younger than the elders, had different thoughts from Namgung Jung and the elders. As soon as Namgung Jung seemed to finish speaking, he immediately began his rebuttal.
Namgung In was one generation below Namgung Jung and the elders, but he had the support of the young warriors and was a candidate for the next Family Head of the Namgung Family. Therefore, regardless of generation, he was someone with considerable influence within the family.
"I do not agree with that opinion. While the intruder was indeed cruel and did trespass into the Namgung Family without permission, I believe we need to pay attention to the eight characters he left behind: 'Moon full emperor falls, slowly going I become king.'"
"Look here, Namgung In. Anyone can see that 'Slowly Going' is clearly a character puzzle pointing to Do Heo-ok. Are you saying that such an obviously transparent scheme by the intruder is worth noting?"
Namgung Jung immediately interjected at Namgung In's words.
Namgung In then raised a counterargument to Namgung Jung.
"I believe we need to pay even more attention precisely because of that point. The intruder went through the trouble of 'secretly' infiltrating the Namgung Family, only to kill the Heavenly Wind Group's warriors 'for all to see' and carve eight characters whose meaning is all too clear onto the ship. This means his purpose from the beginning wasn't to infiltrate the Namgung Family to kill someone or spy. And consider the three streaks of light he emitted as he left the ship—what the family members are now calling the Three Holy Lights. After completing his task, he even sent a powerful signal as if urging us to come quickly and see what he had done. Then he immediately vanished like a ghost again."
"So are you saying we should arrest Do Heo-ok based on the uncertain slander of an intruder? The bridegroom who will marry the Namgung Family's daughter in a few days? If it turns out to be slander, what will you do then? And if this matter becomes known to the martial artists of the world, how will you handle the aftermath, and how will Hye-ah show her face in the future?"
"Being shamed before the world is a later problem. Even if this is the intruder's slander, I believe we should first restrain Do Heo-ok's movements. What if, by any chance, the intruder's words are correct? Wouldn't that be an even greater disaster?"
Namgung In paused briefly, looked around at everyone once, then continued speaking.
"To dismiss it as mere slander, the intruder's actions were too bold and his abilities too exceptional. With apologies to the Family Head and the elder gentlemen, but who here could recreate such light as we saw at dawn? This isn't a matter of whether one has or hasn't learned the Solar Divine Art. Even if someone in the Namgung Family had learned the Solar Divine Art, there doesn't seem to be... I apologize, but there doesn't seem to be anyone present here with enough cultivation to produce such intense light."
"Your words are a bit harsh—"
One of the elders was about to bristle at Namgung In's somewhat presumptuous words, but Namgung Byeok raised his hand to stop him.
Namgung In's words were provocative and direct. But they were equally truthful. Namgung Byeok knew this well, which was why he cut off the elder's words.
At this, Namgung In lightly clasped his fists toward Namgung Byeok before continuing to present his opinion.
"Though we don't know how he created those beams of light, judging by the fact that the ship was unharmed, it's certain they weren't flashes from Thunder Bolt Bombs. Then we must assume it was from the Solar Divine Art or some similar martial art, and I believe such profound cultivation would be impossible unless one is among the Two Divinities, Three Eccentrics, Five Supremes, and Ten Greats. I dread to think what would have happened if such a person had attacked the Emperor King Hall at dawn. However, rather than attacking the Emperor King Hall, he chose to leave those eight characters. Considering these facts, I believe we must keep all possibilities open and prepare accordingly."
"You're saying he's one of the Twenty Great Masters?"
Namgung Jung waited until Namgung In finished speaking before countering again. From his perspective, Namgung In's words weren't entirely unreasonable, but he believed there was a fatal flaw.
"Then why wouldn't such a great person come forward openly and speak?"
"Not all of the Twenty Great Masters are from the Orthodox Faction. That must be why."
"Do you think that makes sense right now? If he's not Orthodox, why would he help us? No, the very fact that he secretly infiltrated the Namgung Family and killed the family's warriors is an act of deceiving and attacking us. How could that possibly be helping us? He's just a slaughter demon who brutally killed innocent warriors of our family, and a wicked swindler."
"What I'm saying is—"
"That's enough, both of you."
Seeing the atmosphere becoming too heated, Namgung Byeok could no longer stand by and intervened.
"Both of you are right. As the Vast Sky Sword Form Head said, the intruder is indeed suspicious, and as the Limitless Sword Form Head said, we cannot ignore even a small possibility. That's why the Heavenly Thunder Squad Commander and Heavenly Wind Group Leader are out investigating right now, aren't they? Just wait a little longer, everyone."
Namgung Byeok's words seemed effective, as everyone fell silent at once.
In truth, everyone gathered here was waiting for the Heavenly Wind Group Leader and Heavenly Thunder Squad Commander. The two had been the first to bring news of the Four Bone Scripts, Four Blood Scripts and the Three Holy Lights, and they were already absent from the meeting to secure evidence related to this matter.
Right now, the Heavenly Wind Group members were scattered throughout the family searching for the intruder who created the Four Bone Scripts, Four Blood Scripts and Three Holy Lights. If that person was hiding within the family, no matter how great a master, it would be difficult to escape the eyes of the Heavenly Wind Group.
Though the Namgung Family grounds were enormous, there weren't many places to hide. No matter how excellent one's concealment arts, if hiding within the Namgung Family, one could not escape the eyes of the Heavenly Wind Group. Everyone gathered here believed this.
Additionally, the Heavenly Thunder Squad had gone out to scout toward Hefei to prepare for any contingency. If some force intended to plot against the Namgung Family on the day the moon is full, there should be at least minimal movement by now. The Heavenly Wind Group had deployed outside the family early at dawn to confirm this in advance.
With Namgung Byeok's final words, the Emperor King Hall sank into heavy silence.
Regardless of whether Namgung Jung or Namgung In was right, the truth remained that someone had infiltrated the Namgung Family. No matter how one looked at it, from the Namgung Family's perspective, the situation was unsettling.
How much time had passed like this?
Swoosh!
The sound of fluttering sleeves came urgently, breaking the long silence of the Emperor King Hall. It was the sound of someone entering the Emperor King Hall using Lightness Arts.
It was Namgung Hu.
"Brother!"
Perhaps in his haste, Namgung Hu called Namgung Byeok "brother" instead of "Family Head" despite this being an official setting.
Normally Namgung Byeok would have scolded him for being reckless, but even he realized that Namgung Hu had brought some unusual news, so he only spoke one heavy word.
"What happened?"
At Namgung Byeok's words, everyone's eyes focused on Namgung Hu's mouth. Namgung Hu was the Heavenly Thunder Squad Commander. Therefore, whatever news he brought would not be about the intruder, but rather about outside the Namgung Family, especially regarding the Hefei direction.
Judging by Namgung Hu's grim expression, everyone present could tell the news he brought was not good.
"Not a single one of the Heavenly Thunder Squad members who went out on reconnaissance has returned to the family."
"Not one person returned...?"
"Yes, they were definitely supposed to return within one hour, but not a single person has come back."
Though Namgung Hu said they hadn't returned, Namgung Byeok understood without asking that it meant they couldn't return. It made no sense for the family's warriors not to return without reason.
That the martial artists who went on reconnaissance couldn't return was, simply put, no different from saying they were dead.
"What do you think happened?"
It wasn't a question about the warriors who went on reconnaissance. Their deaths were already a foregone conclusion; he was asking why they had died.
"We, the Namgung Family..."
Namgung Hu hesitated briefly before speaking heavily.
"...appear to be surrounded."