Chapter 144: The End of Childhood (3)

It was a strange thing.

Master Eunbyeok was visiting Flower-Haze Hall this early in the morning?

Even if it were not morning, that man no longer had any reason to come to Flower-Haze Hall.

There were no third-generation disciples left for him to teach.

But Soyak knew from the look in his eyes.

He had not come looking for Cheonju and Cheonhwa.

He had...

Come looking for her.

An unpleasant stench came from Eunbyeok.

A foul odor that would make anyone frown.

The reek of blood and something rotting mixed together and billowed from him...

The smell of a corpse.

In that instant, Soyak became certain.

He was not a living person.

But she could not draw her sword here and cut him down.

Because they were this close, Soyak could tell.

Inside that flesh, an unfathomable amount of Demonic Energy had gathered thickly.

If she cut him open now, it would likely burst out.

And that would...

Cover all of Flower-Haze Hall, and every third-generation disciple would be swept up in the Demonic Energy.

Those with good luck would suffer little damage and survive.

But the unlucky, or the weak children, might be stained by Demonic Energy as they were, or even be caught in deviation.

“Do you have something to say to me?”

Soyak asked with her head lightly bowed.

But Eunbyeok gave no answer.

Instead, he merely glared at Soyak for a fleeting instant longer.

Then he turned around as he was.

Watching Eunbyeok’s back, Soyak forced her heart to settle.

She had already seen his corpse in the cave.

Then how...

Only then did she remember what she had heard.

That the Young Cult Leader had not died even after his whole body had been cut to pieces, and so the righteous factions had divided and sealed each piece.

But if she wondered whether the Young Cult Leader had taken residence in Eunbyeok, the answer was no.

He had been lying there as a corpse after the incident had already taken place.

Then...

Someone in Mount Hua.

It meant the Young Cult Leader, having stolen someone’s body, had raised Eunbyeok back up.

Soyak slowly placed her hand on the sword at her waist.

Should she cut him down right now?

He was probably nothing more than a corpse moving as ordered.

Things that were alive, yet not alive.

But at that moment...

Cheonjeong quietly pressed down on the end of Soyak’s sword hilt.

“Soyak.”

“Eldest Brother, that is...”

“I know. But wouldn’t it be right to tell Master first?”

Soyak bit her lip.

That was unmistakably a walking corpse.

A puppet of the Young Cult Leader, soaked in Demonic Energy.

And such an abomination had come all the way to Flower-Haze Hall wearing the appearance of her Master.

How could she simply leave it alone?

Who knew how many third-generation disciples might be hurt by those hands?

If they only got hurt, that would be fortunate.

Looking like that, no one would be on guard against him.

Of course, it could not be said there was no sense that something was wrong.

One of his sleeves hung limply.

There was probably no arm inside it.

But who would lift his sleeve and discuss his arm?

They would simply think something was strange and leave it at that.

His gait, different from usual.

That dark, expressionless face they had never seen before.

“...I will do that.”

“Good.”

Soyak looked back.

Many of the Brothers still remained inside Flower-Haze Hall.

All those third-generation disciples...

She knew she had no reason or duty to protect them.

Even so, she did not want to abandon them.

Although Mount Hua had not helped her family because of the Sect Leader’s will.

Eunsong, Myeonggon, Jeonggang, and all the others were also people of Mount Hua.

“Then go to Master first.”

“What about you, Eldest Brother...”

“I need to look after the children, don’t I? As usual.”

Cheonjeong shrugged.

Soyak looked at him, then quietly nodded.

Then she kicked off the ground and ran ahead toward Eunsong’s residence.

*****

It did not take long.

Soyak’s lightness arts had also reached a certain level.

On top of that, she poured out her internal energy without sparing it, so at least her speed was excellent.

Soyak lightly landed in the front yard and approached the old house without hesitation.

She took the rusted door handle in her small hand and knocked.

“Master, are you there?”

Eunsong’s voice came from inside.

“This should not be the time you were supposed to come... Did something happen?”

“Yes. Something happened.”

“Huh.”

The sound of Eunsong hastily putting on his clothes came from beyond the door.

Before long, Eunsong, dressed properly in a white martial uniform, came out onto the wooden porch.

Soyak was already kneeling before him.

“Good. Tell me.”

Eunsong reached out, pulled over the low dining tray, and brewed tea as usual.

It seemed he expected Soyak’s story to be rather long this time too.

“Master Eunbyeok just visited Flower-Haze Hall.”

“Yes, Brother Eunbyeok... What?”

Eunsong nearly dropped the kettle, but barely avoided that disaster.

However, the tea he had been pouring missed completely and soaked the low dining tray.

Still, Eunsong did not even think to wipe it up as he asked again,

“Did you not say you saw Brother Eunbyeok’s corpse inside that cave? Split in half, no less...”

“That is correct.”

“Ha. What in the world is happening? For now, let us go to Great Grand Master Jeonggang. When it comes to the Demonic Cult, he knows more than I do.”

Soyak nodded.

Eunsong thought for a moment, then took out a sheet of paper, dipped his brush in ink that had already been ground, and wrote something.

Then he pinned it to the door with a small needle.

It said he would be away for a short while, and that they should listen to Eldest Brother and continue training.

*****

There was no need to look for Eunbyeok’s location.

Because he was now standing in front of Elder Jeonggang’s residence.

Elder Jeonggang saw through his identity at once.

“A puppet, then.”

When he clicked his tongue, Eunbyeok’s flesh staggered into the inner courtyard.

With a single gesture from that thing, Jeonggang, who had lost all his internal energy and martial arts, would die.

Even so, Jeonggang remained calm and dignified.

“Why have you come all the way to this old man’s residence? There should be nothing more for you to gain.”

But Eunbyeok did not answer.

That was the nature of Demonic Energy.

Demonic Energy was not an all-purpose force that brought the dead back to life and restored what had rotted.

It merely made things move while dead, move while rotten.

Because of that, an unpleasant stench surrounded Eunbyeok.

And tangled Demonic Energy as well.

Jeonggang did not know how he had made it this far without being noticed, but he must have chosen paths people rarely used.

“Eunbyeok.”

Eunbyeok gave no answer to his call.

No, to be exact...

Eunbyeok’s corpse could not answer.

It was nothing more than a corpse puppet moving according to instructions.

Jeonggang looked at Eunbyeok’s dead body with pity in his eyes.

He was not a child who should have been broken this badly.

Though his nature had been somewhat lacking, if asked whether he was an evil man who deserved such a horrific end...

That was not true either.

“Tsk, tsk. How did you end up like this? It would have been good if I could bury you with my own hands...”

Jeonggang slowly sighed.

He had already guessed who had sent this corpse.

It was likely the Young Cult Leader, hiding inside Mount Hua and borrowing someone’s body.

However, it did not seem he had sent Eunbyeok’s dead body to kill him.

As proof, the corpse merely stood still as though nailed in place.

As if it were waiting for someone.

And if one thought about who it was waiting for...

The answer was obvious.

Cheon Soyak.

The person the Young Cult Leader would be most curious about.

A child who wore Mount Hua’s martial uniform, yet had been born under the same Heavenly Killing Star as the Heavenly Demon.

A young master who had achieved an unfathomable level of improvement in a short time and even defeated the Sword Sovereign’s grandchild.

And from far away, two people were flying toward this place.

Jeonggang clicked his tongue.

“He sent it here knowing she would come. Being read this easily, honestly.”

Then he sat on the wooden porch, poured a cup of green tea, and sipped it.

Sure enough.

The moment Eunsong and Soyak arrived in the front yard and saw Eunbyeok, they drew their swords.

“...Great Grand Master, are you all right?”

Eunsong pointed his sword at Eunbyeok and took position between Jeonggang and Eunbyeok.

Soyak stood at an exact right angle to him.

Because if she consumed a large amount of internal energy and Eunsong and Jeonggang were behind Eunbyeok, they might be caught in the aftermath.

“Yes. He did not particularly harm me.”

“What is this...”

Eunsong ground his teeth.

But Soyak, on the contrary, slowly breathed in and out.

Each time she did, the internal energy in her dantian boiled up through her eight extraordinary meridians.

When the internal energy that flowed down her slender arms, wrists, and fingers filled Falling Blossom Tranquil Edge...

A radiant brilliance poured from the black blade flashing in five colors.

It was a corpse puppet that could not speak anyway.

If they left it moving like this, there was no telling what might happen.

Soyak, too, knew why it was waiting for her here.

The Young Cult Leader wanted to test her.

Playing along was horrifying.

But here, she had to give this corpse a funeral so it could never move again.

Otherwise, it might rise again and again.

“No questions. No answers.”

Soyak murmured quietly.

At the same time, Soyak’s Falling Blossom Tranquil Edge, wrapped in Sword Qi, collided with the sword Eunbyeok drew.