Chapter 178 :

The Black Flame Dragon Who Swallows the Sea of Blood (8)

"Damn... that's an iron jiangshi?"

Nam Hwaseong asked, dazed.

I replied in disbelief,

"You can't tell just by looking?"

Its joints moved awkwardly, and its skin was hard as stone.

It was the lowest-grade type of jiangshi from the Demonic Cult, but even this kind could make a martial artist's life a nightmare if it appeared in the world.

There was no way not to recognize it.

During the Righteous-Demonic War, that iron jiangshi had killed more martial artists than anything else.

Nam Hwaseong shouted, his hands still trembling.

"You're the weird one for recognizing it right away! I-I've never seen one before in my life!"

"Anyway, you did your best."

His actions deserved praise.

He'd done more than I'd asked of him.

He must have wanted those Demon-Subduing Talismans pretty badly.

"Good work. As promised, I'll give you five."

"Damn it...! I don't need them!"

Honestly, that guy couldn't be straightforward.

Spend enough time with someone like Cheol Sunjik and you were bound to become that devious.

I pulled the taut Flying Dragon Claw tighter.

The iron jiangshi struggled to escape. Then it saw me and charged like mad.

I leapt straight over it, wrapped the Flying Dragon Claw around it, and hoisted its body into the air.

Thwack! Boom!

The iron jiangshi slammed headfirst into the ground and thrashed wildly.

Rustle. Rustle.

It easily dug its way out through the surrounding dirt and gravel as if they were mud, then came charging at me with its ridiculous little steps.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Just as iron jiangshi had been a nightmare for low-ranking warriors in my previous life, it had been a nightmare for me too.

An iron jiangshi had lost its reason and couldn't feel pain.

Whether an arrow was embedded in its eye or sword energy split open its head, it kept moving fearlessly to kill its enemy.

That indifference was what made it a nightmare for anyone who faced it.

"But that's all just a story from my previous life now!"

I shook off my thoughts, stepped into the Taeul Eight Myriad Divine Steps, and charged at the iron jiangshi.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Faced with a movement technique that left afterimages in every direction in an instant, the iron jiangshi could only swing its sharp claws wildly at empty air.

I got behind it, gathered a great deal of internal energy, and kicked it hard in the back of the head.

Thud!

Crash.

The sound of solid stones colliding rang out as both of the iron jiangshi's arms sank deep into the ground.

"Look at that idiot trying to beat an iron jiangshi to death."

Nam Hwaseong had just spat up a mouthful of blood, but he sneered as if he wanted revenge.

I ignored him.

A sparrow could never understand the Great Peng's lofty ambitions.

The iron jiangshi wriggled, trying to pull its arms out of the ground.

I stepped on its back, set the Blood Dragon Sword against it, and took the stance of someone chopping wood.

Just then, the sparrow with all the words and none of the sense piped up again.

"Idiot! They say even sword energy can't cut an iron jiangshi's skin!"

The man who had been trembling as if he were about to die a moment ago sure was good at shouting.

I glared at Nam Hwaseong.

"You're all right now, aren't you? Get over here and help."

"...Cough. My-my internal injuries..."

How could his internal injuries flare up when he hadn't done anything?

As Nam Hwaseong said, an iron jiangshi's skin was harder than most iron.

To cut through it, you needed a weapon at least as strong as ten-thousand-year cold iron.

"Lucky for me, the Blood Dragon Sword I received as a gift is made of Vajra Indestructible Iron."

I coated the Blood Dragon Sword in sword aura.

Nam Hwaseong's eyes widened as he coughed.

"Y-you can use sword aura?"

Nam Hwaseong, you bastard. Are you sure you aren't hurt anymore?

I focused on the iron jiangshi again and swung the sword with all my strength.

The impact felt like striking a massive bell. A tingling shock ran through my grip.

Even though I'd raised my internal energy to protect my hand, the force still traveled through my bones.

Perhaps all that effort hadn't been in vain.

For the first time, the iron jiangshi felt fear of death and began thrashing violently.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

It flailed its arms, still buried in the ground, and blasted apart the dirt in an area roughly three meters around it.

Boom!

The soil turned over, and dirt buried deep beneath the ground flew in every direction.

I leapt away from the blast and landed beside Nam Hwaseong.

He asked with concern,

"Is it... a little angry?"

"Wouldn't you be angry if someone had cut off part of your neck?"

"I-it lost that much of its neck...?"

Rather than answering Nam Hwaseong, I used the World-Solitary Divine Movement to evade the iron jiangshi's claws and darted past it.

Then I wrapped the Flying Dragon Claw around its neck again.

I infused the taut Celestial Silkworm Thread with internal energy.

It began to contract rapidly.

The iron jiangshi struggled to protect its severed neck, but its body shot past me even faster than I could move and slammed into the cliff face.

Rumble.

I immediately poured energy into the Blood Dragon Sword and sent sword energy flying at it in a barrage.

This was why I'd kept stuffing myself with elixirs.

Crash! Boom! Crash! Crash!

Explosions roared with a force too great to describe as merely satisfying.

Rocks and clods of earth flew everywhere.

Seeing the creature that had tormented me so much in my previous life lying helpless like a moving target, I felt a rush of relief, even as the internal energy in my dantian drained away.

Rustle.

The iron jiangshi stood up from the collapsed rubble, jerking like a broken puppet.

Its wounds must have spread further. Its neck had separated by another inch.

Just then—

"Th-there..."

Nam Hwaseong pointed in alarm.

I shook my head and mocked him.

"You still don't get it? An iron jiangshi—"

"No! Those men are charging over here, you idiot!"

"..."

The Blood Cult's martial artists were running toward us at full speed, perhaps worried that the iron jiangshi would be destroyed.

"Tsk. I knew."

"Don't lie, damn it! You weren't even paying attention!"

The sparrow had sharp eyes, at least.

Ignoring Nam Hwaseong, I turned around.

"Ilgak, academy student."

Ilgak, who had been staring blankly in our direction, snapped back to his senses.

I looked straight into his eyes.

"I can leave those men to you, can't I?"

Ilgak glanced toward the direction I'd indicated, then nodded.

"...Leave them to me, Benefactor."

"I told you not to call me that."

Was he rebelling because I'd called him an academy student instead of a monk?

Whether or not I complained, Ilgak hurriedly got to his feet and began beating down the Blood Cult's martial artists.

Even though he'd spent all his Vajra power, he was still a Shaolin disciple.

He could buy enough time for me to deal with the iron jiangshi.

"Then my opponent is..."

Grrrr.

The wounded iron jiangshi growled like a beast, its former indifference nowhere to be seen.

Yes. After taking that much punishment, of course it wanted to kill me.

Instead of its usual ridiculous little steps, it now darted forward like an arrow, closing the distance in an instant.

Boom!

I used the Lotus Flower technique to turn the direction of its charge.

The iron jiangshi rushed past me and crashed into a field of solid rock.

Crash! Crash!

It crushed the rocks as if they were tofu, shoved its way through the falling rubble, and crouched again.

It seemed that a single clear purpose remained in its mind: to kill me.

"Yeah. I remember vividly how many people your persistence drove to their deaths."

I thought of the members of the Sojeong Unit who had fallen because of it—and of the comrades we'd been forced to sacrifice.

No matter how much we struck you or swung our swords, you wouldn't die.

We cursed you again and again.

We took it for granted that someone would have to be sacrificed in front of you.

We took it for granted that we would run away from you.

You were the most vicious symbol of the Demonic Cult.

"Your indifference makes me even angrier."

You were a demonic beast made from human beings for the purpose of killing human beings.

Your vicious purpose left me not an ounce of sympathy.

"Come on!"

Boom!

The iron jiangshi kicked off the ground and shot forward like an arrow.

At the same time, I launched myself toward it.

Kyaaaah!

The creature bared its teeth, black blood running from its mouth.

I thrust the Blood Dragon Sword at it.

Clang!

The Blood Dragon Sword collided with its fangs, ringing like metal.

The monster held my thrusting sword in place with nothing but the strength of its bite.

At the same time, it tried to crush me with its black claws.

Slash! Slash!

Its claws tore through my black martial uniform and dug into me, but I didn't dodge.

The Heavenly Silkworm Treasure Garment hidden beneath it, a secret treasure of the Wang Family Estate, would protect me from the jiangshi's claws.

"If you had any sense, you would've tried to pull this sword out right away."

Energy gathered at the tip of the Blood Dragon Sword and formed sword energy.

The sword, wreathed in golden sword energy, didn't stop there.

Sword aura began to form around it.

Krrrrk.

The iron jiangshi sensed something was wrong and began shaking its head violently.

"Too late."

I continued pouring in energy, making the sword aura grow larger.

Thrust!

The sword aura pierced through the roof of its mouth and out the back of its head, shining brightly.

"Kraaaaaah!"

Just as the iron jiangshi had done in my previous life, I kept forcing it backward.

I didn't retreat even an inch as I drove it back.

The iron jiangshi flailed its arms and kept sliding backward until at last it struck a rock.

Krrrrk.

For a moment, it seemed as if the iron jiangshi's eyes were shaking violently.

"Do you feel the fear of death too?"

Kyaaaah!

The iron jiangshi growled like a beast again.

"Good. I'm glad!"

I drew upon the Taeul True Scripture with all my strength and split the iron jiangshi in half.

Crack...

A black line ran from its head to its groin, but it still tried to swing its claws.

Kyaah—

Then black blood poured from it like a waterfall, and it split into two pieces.

Crash.

The creature fell helplessly to the ground.

The iron jiangshi, cut in half, stopped moving.

As I looked at its horrifying corpse, for some reason I thought of the bastards from the Sojeong Unit.

"...The sight of this horrible monster must've reminded me of you horrible bastards."

An unnecessary sense of longing rose in my heart.

Moyong Jaehwa, who had been helping Ilgak fight off the blood-robed men approaching Jin Sowoon, turned at Jin Sowoon's shout.

"Aaaaaah!"

Jin Sowoon was fighting the iron jiangshi.

He wasn't even dodging its claws, focusing single-mindedly on killing it.

"If he gets infected with corpse poison..."

Moyong Jaehwa wanted to rush over and help, but right now, he would only be a burden to Jin Sowoon.

That was true even now.

He was using the arrows Jin Sowoon had sent him and firing Thunderbolt Arrows, but it wasn't enough to turn the situation around.

If he'd actually completed the Thunderbolt Arrow, would the blood-robed men have dared to approach again?

Moyong Jaehwa shook off the thoughts clouding his mind and drew the bowstring once more.

Twang. Whoosh—

Boom!

The arrow exploded, inflicting heavy casualties on the blood-robed men.

Behind it, Ilgak swept through the enemy and kept them from approaching.

But no matter how hard Moyong Jaehwa tried, he couldn't easily shake those thoughts.

"If only I'd completed the Thunderbolt Arrow... If only I'd tried a little harder..."

Brother wouldn't have had to fight so desperately.

No—he wouldn't have had to rush into this hell to save him.

The thought made his heart feel even heavier.

"What am I even doing...?"

The blood-robed men were no longer approaching.

They hesitated and backed away, no longer daring to come near Ilgak.

"Why?"

Moyong Jaehwa followed their gaze.

Jin Sowoon stood motionless, wrapped in golden sword aura.

Then he looked down to see what Jin Sowoon was watching.

The iron jiangshi lay cut in half, no longer moving.

"Good heavens..."

Brother had even killed the iron jiangshi on his own.

"Young Master Jaehwa! They're retreating!"

Despite Eun Seollan's delighted cry, Moyong Jaehwa couldn't bring himself to rejoice.

He felt guilty toward Jin Sowoon.

He hadn't lived up to Jin Sowoon's expectations.

"Brother Jin!"

As the blood-robed men began to retreat in earnest, Eun Seollan emerged from her hiding place and ran to embrace Jin Sowoon.

After a brief reunion with Eun Seollan, Jin Sowoon spoke with Ilgak and Nam Hwaseong as well.

"..."

Moyong Jaehwa took a step, then stopped.

In the end, he couldn't approach him.

Just then—

"Moyong Jaehwa!"

Jin Sowoon called his name.

"B-Brother...!"

"Are you out of your mind?!"

Jin Sowoon strode toward him angrily, and Moyong Jaehwa stepped back in alarm.

But when Jin Sowoon suddenly reached for his hand, Moyong Jaehwa couldn't pull away.

"Did you seriously keep shooting while freezing those torn-up fingers? Good heavens!"

Jin Sowoon's gaze was fixed on Moyong Jaehwa's right-hand fingers.

He examined the injuries and clicked his tongue.

"Tsk. I suppose it'll take you a while to adjust, since this was your first time shooting a steel bow."

Then he tore a strip from his martial uniform, applied wound medicine, and wrapped it around the injury.

"Still, you held out with the arrows I sent you."

"...What?"

"You have no idea how many people you saved..."

Jin Sowoon was praising him even though he'd only managed to do a little with his imperfect archery.

Moyong Jaehwa couldn't raise his head.

Jin Sowoon gently stroked his hair.

"You did really well."

"..."

His hand stung, and his body felt as if it might break apart, but somehow he felt his strength returning.

"Let's go back."

Those words from Jin Sowoon made Moyong Jaehwa feel all right again.