By Zephyria Choice (8)
Even if he doesn’t know who that man is, judging from his tone, attire, and behavior, he is definitely not affiliated with the Jegal Clan or any other orthodox sect. This means that his plan to escape secretly has been foiled due to the intervention of a third-party outsider.
As the man entered without hesitation, Seong Mu-yeon instinctively retreated and pressed himself against the wall.
“Haha! Looks like you’re scared!”
The man burst into laughter at his reaction. He raised a hand as large as a pot lid and gripped the iron bars. As if applying force to his hand, which was covered in hair at each knuckle, the heavy iron bars were pulled out whole with a cracking sound.
Bang!
The man carelessly threw the bars behind him. Seong Mu-yeon broke out in a cold sweat at the tremendous brute force.
“Blood Rain Demon!”
At that moment, Jegal Un burst into the prison. As he brandished his iron fan, several fan ribs, as sharp as blades, faintly glowed and flew towards the Blood Rain Demon.
The Blood Rain Demon twisted his body with unbelievably agile movements for his large size, dodging the attack. However, he was directly hit by the fan energy that followed immediately after.
“Kugh…! Jegal Un!”
The Blood Rain Demon, pushed back several steps, gritted his teeth while rubbing his throbbing chest.
“You’ll regret committing such an act against the Jegal Clan so recklessly.”
Jegal Un glanced at Seong Mu-yeon and coldly spat out the words as he approached the Blood Rain Demon.
“Relying on your family and acting arrogant. I can crush a greenhorn like you more easily than twisting a chicken’s neck!”
Jegal Un chuckled as the Blood Rain Demon growled.
“Looks like you’ve already forgotten that I spared your life once earlier? A nobody commoner is running wild without knowing his place.”
“Alright! Let’s properly test our skills!”
The Blood Rain Demon drew out a guandao. He stylishly swung it through the air, creating a threatening sound that cut through the air.
The two men clashed fiercely. However, neither of them could fully display their skills in the narrow space. The Blood Rain Demon’s massive guandao was hindered by the low ceiling, preventing him from swinging it properly, and Jegal Un’s iron fan’s power was weaker than usual because he couldn’t create enough distance.
Eventually, the Blood Rain Demon threw aside his guandao and charged at Jegal Un with a roar. The two men broke through the iron bars and crashed into an empty cell.
Seong Mu-yeon seized the opportunity to escape outside. And he was taken aback by the pandemonium that unfolded before his eyes.
People were running around, trying to avoid the Jegal Clan martial artists. Some, with hasty tempers, wielded weapons and fought back, only to be struck by swords and fall, but most seemed to be trying to cause confusion rather than attack, repeatedly hitting and running, and mocking the Jegal Clan martial artists.
‘What on earth is going on…?’
Seong Mu-yeon was able to spot Sang-geol in the chaos. He seemed at a loss, unable to do anything against the overwhelming number of invaders surrounding the prison.
“Seong Mu-yeon!”
Suddenly, Seong Mu-yeon’s body was pulled backward with a pain as if all his hair was being ripped out.
“Kugh!”
Seong Mu-yeon groaned and looked up to see the Blood Rain Demon grabbing his hair and lifting him into the air.
“Tell me where the Spirit Pill is, obediently!”
The Blood Rain Demon roughly wiped the blood from his mouth and let out a low laugh. Over his shoulder, Seong Mu-yeon saw Jegal Un collapsed and covered in blood. The Blood Rain Demon also seemed to have suffered quite a few injuries, but he had ultimately emerged victorious.
“Judging from how desperately the demonic cultists are searching for it, it must be no ordinary item. I don’t know how amazing this spirit pill is, but I must have it.”
Seong Mu-yeon gritted his teeth.
‘He came for the Spirit Pill.’
“Feeling wronged? There’s no need to. The law of this martial world is originally like this. In a world where the powerless are guilty just for possessing precious items.”
The Blood Rain Demon pressed the guandao close to his neck. Blood trickled down as soon as the sharp blade touched his skin.
“If you tell me obediently, I’ll kill you without pain. You won’t even know what’s happening. But if you lie or keep your mouth shut, you’ll be begging me to kill you instead. What will you do!”
A deep greed flickered in his eyes. Seong Mu-yeon couldn’t understand them. To attack the Jegal Clan manor, especially in a place teeming with Mount Hua and Wudang Sect, for just one Spirit Pill, they would need ten lives to spare. To be blinded by greed and commit such a foolish act…
“Keeping your mouth shut? So you’re determined to drink the penalty shot. Your like-minded comrades will buy us time, so let’s have a long, leisurely conversation.”
Seong Mu-yeon frowned at the stinging pain. The Blood Rain Demon pressed down harder with the guandao against his neck, and he could feel blood trickling down his nape.
‘What should I do?’
Denying it is useless. Coincidentally, the Spirit Pill was in his inner pocket. He was exposed to the risk of having the Spirit Pill stolen with just a simple body search.
He couldn’t even secretly escape with Sang-geol’s help as originally planned.
‘Should I have eaten it when I had the chance…?’
It would be better for him to eat it himself than to give it to someone he didn’t even know.
“Then, where should I start…”
The Blood Rain Demon stopped speaking and abruptly turned his head back. He felt a faint vibration beneath his feet, which soon turned into a violent tremor that shook the ground.
The next moment, the Blood Rain Demon suddenly collapsed, scattering blood. As the strength left his hand, Seong Mu-yeon fell to the ground. Turning his head at the thud, he saw the Blood Rain Demon dead with his eyes wide open.
“Yeon-ah!”
‘This voice is…’
Seong Mu-yeon lifted his head at the familiar voice, and there was Seong Mu-ryong.
“Brother?”
“Yeon-ah. I’ve come to save you.”
Seong Mu-ryong reached out his hand with a gentle smile. Seong Mu-yeon, taken aback by the appearance of an unexpected person, could only stare blankly at his brother in a daze.
Eventually, Seong Mu-ryong took his hand and pulled him back inside.
“Wait, Brother! My belongings that were taken when I was imprisoned must be somewhere. I need to take them.”
“I have brought your belongings.”
Just in time, Il-gwang appeared carrying a basket. Inside were his belongings that had been taken away when he was imprisoned. Only then did Seong Mu-yeon slowly regain his sense of reality.
“You… you came to save me? All the way from Xinjiang?”
“Yes. Now, there’s no time. We must leave this place quickly.”
Seong Mu-yeon’s eyes wavered as he looked at his brother. The words Peng Yuan-jin had spoken when he died vividly resurfaced in his ears.
〈How did the Cult Leader know that the Seventh Young Master and his mother were planning to escape that day? …Second Young Master Seong Mu-ryong is the one who betrayed you.〉
“Yeon-ah? What’s wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?”
For a moment, something surged up from his chest, but as he saw Seong Mu-ryong looking at him with concern, his heart calmed down.
“No, it’s nothing.”
Seong Mu-yeon gave a faint smile.
What Peng Yuan-jin had said was complete nonsense. It must be a ploy to separate him from his only family.
Seong Mu-yeon hastily gathered his belongings.
“Il-gwang, did you bring everything?”
As the basket emptied, Seong Mu-yeon asked Il-gwang.
“Is something missing? This was everything.”
“…The necklace is gone. Where did it go? It was definitely with me…”
He frantically searched the bare floor, wondering if it had fallen through the gap, but the necklace was nowhere to be found.
“Yeon-ah, we have to go now.”
While Seong Mu-yeon was gathering his belongings, Seong Mu-ryong, who was looking outside and guarding against the enemy, anxiously urged him.
“B, but…!”
“Seventh Young Master, hurry! We don’t know when the enemy will attack.”
Even Il-gwang urged him, and he finally forced himself to move his reluctant feet. But he kept looking back with lingering attachment.
That necklace was a memento left by his mother… Perhaps the only thing that could connect him to his mother’s family…
“Yeon-ah, what are you doing!”
Eventually, Seong Mu-ryong scolded him, and only then did he quickly move his steps.
“Demonic Cult! The Demonic Cult has appeared! Everyone, take up your weapons!”
The external scenery had changed from before. Suddenly, demonic cultists had burst in, wielding their swords without hesitation and pushing their way into the prison. A brutal battle was taking place, with blood splattering everywhere.
‘This is…’
No matter how much it was an act to save him, it wasn’t a pleasant experience to see people falling because of him right before his eyes.
Seong Mu-yeon, who was groaning with a bitter heart, suddenly realized something and widened his eyes.
“B, Brother…”
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
Seong Mu-ryong, whose arm was pulled as Seong Mu-yeon stopped like a fixture, turned to him with a puzzled face.
He pointed with a trembling finger at the demonic cult martial artists wearing black clothes.
“Aren’t those… Third Brother’s Demon Slayer Unit?”
“Yes. Thankfully, Third helped us. Without him, I wouldn’t have even thought of breaking through the impregnable.”
Ah.
Seong Mu-yeon tightly closed his eyes.
“Is there a problem?”
“Seong Mu-yeon! So you were in league with those bastards!”
A Wudang Sect member discovered Seong Mu-yeon and spat out an angry cry.
The people who had protected the surroundings while Seong Mu-ryong drove out the Hwasan Sect members guarding the prison and rescued him were none other than the Demon Slayer Unit.
“What are you doing? Come on, let’s go.”
Seong Mu-ryong, who knew nothing, kept pulling his arm and urging him. Seong Mu-yeon yanked his arm free.
“Brother has been deceived by Seong Mu-geuk!”
“Yeon-ah?”
“The one who killed Fourth Brother wasn’t Sixth Young Master, but Third Young Master… Seong Mu-geuk!”
“…”
Seong Mu-ryong’s pupils dilated.
“I met Sixth Young Master here. He witnessed Third Brother killing Fourth Brother and ran away to survive!”
“…”
“Say something! Don’t you believe me?”
Frustrated by Seong Mu-ryong, who was frozen like a stone statue and just staring blankly at him, he shook his shoulders.
But soon he realized that Seong Mu-ryong’s gaze was subtly avoiding him and staring at his back.
“The youngest is right.”
A slow, chilling voice that he hated to hear even in his dreams struck his ears. Swallowing hard, he slowly turned around to see Third Young Master Seong Mu-geuk standing there.
“I killed Fourth.”