Chapter 1433: You Will Have To Kill Me First. (3)

“Oh, they’re coming!”

The blood drained from the faces of the Tang Family elders.

They had stepped forward with resolve in their hearts. But the moment they saw the Ten Thousand People Clan fiends charging like beasts, the three-letter word “fear” surged over them.

“Evil Sect bastards who wouldn’t be enough even if we chewed them up!”

Ordinary people would have been consumed by that fear, but these were the elders of the Sichuan Tang Family. Though they had not faced proper combat their whole lives, the effort etched into their bodies and the pride carved into their chests did not vanish.

“Pull yourselves together! If we break, our family will suffer!”

Tang Byeok shouted at the top of his lungs.

‘Hold them off!’

A fierce resolve clouded his face.

The location was bad. The open plain was the worst place for the Tang Family to show their strength. Still, when it came to holding back enemies, wasn’t the Tang Family a sect unmatched under heaven?

“Scatter it!”

As the enemies closed within range, a ripping shout tore from Tang Byeok’s mouth. At the same time, dark poisonous fumes billowed from the elders’ sleeves like clouds.

The poisonous clouds rising across the windless plain formed a massive wall between the two groups.

The toxic haze exuded an eerie chill at first sight. Tang Byeok’s gaze, who had created that cloud, shot upward.

‘Hidden weapons!’

A handful of feather needles appeared in his hand. If they couldn’t break through ahead, the attackers would surely try to leap over the poisonous cloud. What they had to do was pierce a wind-hole before those unprotected bodies leapt back to the ground!

The elders who had trained together all their lives seemed to think the same; drawing up their energy, they gripped sharp hidden weapons in both hands and stared intently at the poisonous veil.

But then.

Fwahhhh!

The center of the poison cloud, tinged with an ominous color, rippled as if wrapped. Before their minds could register the change, a group clad in red had pierced the cloud and surged forward in an instant.

‘What?’

Tang Byeok, startled as if his heart would leap from his throat, hastily released hidden weapons. But before those weapons left his hands, the blades hurled by the Ten Thousand People Clan members sliced between them.

A blade struck the torso of the lead elder and sank mercilessly in.

“Aah!”

A single scream. Before it could fully sound, the body, bisected, flew and sprayed crimson blood in all directions.

“Ugh!”

Several elders were cut down by successive swings of the blades before they could even retaliate.

“R-retreat!”

“Don’t give them distance! Fall back!”

Tang Byeok’s eyes flitted wildly amid the elders’ desperate cries.

‘W-without hesitation!’

It wasn’t surprising they burst through the poison cloud with bare bodies. Poison works that way, no matter how deadly, poisoning still takes time.

What shocked Tang Byeok wasn’t that they pierced the poison cloud with bare bodies, but that there was not a moment’s hesitation in the process.

Any person would flinch at sight of a rising poison cloud. Yet these men, knowing it was the Tang Family’s lethal poison, plunged in without the slightest pause.

‘This, this is the Ten Thousand People Clan?’

“Kuhahah!”

A black aura spread across the faces of the Ten Thousand People Clan swords charging at the front. Yet the blades wielded by those darkened-faced men swung with ferocity unbefitting the poisoned.

“You, you bastards!”

The Tang elders weren’t idle either. Their feather needles, released with full force, rained down and pierced the Ten Thousand People Clan fighters; those who took hundreds of poisonous needles became like hedgehogs in an instant.

However.

Fwahhhh!

Still, a swung blade plunged straight into the chest of the elder standing there.

“Ughh…”

A Ten Thousand People Clan blade pressed its head against the shuddering elder’s shoulder, as if tearing him vertically. Wearing an indescribable grin, the fighter twisted the blade buried in the elder’s chest with all his might.

“Aaaaaaah!”

The pain of organs being shredded within the body, unable to bear it, the elder let out a heartrending scream.

“Tang Muuuuu!”

Even though they watched their sahyung-sajaes dying right before their eyes, the elders could do nothing. Fiends were already upon them too.

“Aaaaah!”

Short blades like lightning shot from the elders’ hands. These close-range blades pierced the enemies’ chests in an instant, but the Ten Thousand People Clan fighters still drove the blades into their own chests and stubbornly swung their swords to cut them down.

Slash! Slash!

The swung swords severed the elders’ arms and cut through their necks.

There was no time even to spread poison. With madmen right before them rolling their eyes and swinging blades, where was the leisure to poison them slowly?

Nor could hidden weapons solve it. The hidden weapons they threw surely landed on enemies, but that was all. There was no way to stop men who continued swinging swords with weapons lodged in their bodies.

“Aim for the head! Aim for the head! Kill them instantly!”

Tang Byeok roared, straining.

But the enemies were no fools. They ignored weapons stuck in their bodies but thoroughly blocked those flying toward their heads and hearts.

And in that moment Tang Byeok realized his mistake.

They should have created distance. They shouldn’t have clumsily stood their ground to hold them. The Tang Family, who rely on hidden weapons rather than close combat, and who subdue enemies by scattering poison, inevitably lack stopping power.

The moment they allowed the enemy swords to reach them, the outcome was essentially decided.

“Kraaaaaah!”

At that moment, two enemies lunged toward Tang Byeok. He gritted his teeth, and poisonous intent flared in his eyes.

“You fucking bastards!”

From his sleeve Tang Byeok drew something like lightning and leveled it at the attackers.

And then.

Kwaaaaang!

A tremendous blast exploded and swept across the area.

“What?”

Even the Ten Thousand People Clan elites, who had been raging as if the Tang Family’s poison and flying weapons were invisible, turned their heads in shock. What they saw were three bodies shredded so badly they no longer resembled human forms.

“Don’t underestimate the Sichuan Tang Family!”

Tang Byeok shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Don’t panic, use the thunder cannon! Pour everything you’ve got into it!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than overwhelming detonations echoed from all around.

Wails and explosions followed, and the barren ground soon boiled with blood and death.

“Hmm?”

Jang Ilso’s eyes narrowed slightly. A small wrinkle appeared between his brows, as if he disliked the scene before him.

“Cannons?”

“Probably forbidden concealed weapons.”

“Forbidden concealed weapons…”

There’s no other reason for the term ‘forbidden’ to be attached. They are weapons that shouldn’t be used, quite literally.

The Tang Family unilaterally designates these as forbidden concealed weapons because their power is so great that using them risks drawing the world’s attention as a crime.

But in reality there was an even more sensitive reason.

“Not even the Evil Sect, but gunpowder, so the Tang Family must have been desperate, huh?”

Jang Ilso chuckled.

No matter how small the cannon, the use of gunpowder is the same. Gunpowder inevitably invites official intervention. That’s why even the Evil Sect avoids touching it unless it’s on the Yangtze, where official involvement can be minimized.

Yet the Tang Family elder brought out a weapon that used gunpowder.

“The damage will be great.”

Jeok Ho’s concern was by no means exaggerated. Whatever the reason, it was clear the Tang Family’s forbidden concealed weapons possessed staggering power.

Those forbidden concealed weapons were not simple cannons. They combined gunpowder’s force and internal qi to rapidly throw the Tang Family’s special hidden weapons.

If you charged directly into that, the result would be obvious, wouldn’t it?

“Well.”

But Jang Ilso remained completely at ease.

“That cannon.”

“Yes, Alliance lord.”

“Doesn’t it look pretty big?”

Jeok Ho narrowed his eyes at that. It certainly looked too heavy to be wielded with one hand.

“Since it uses gunpowder, they probably can’t fire many times…”

A grotesque twist shaped Jang Ilso’s lip.

“How many of those could fit inside that wide sleeve? Hidden weapons that become useless after one use.”

Jeok Ho immediately understood and nodded.

“Annihilate them!”

“Yes!”

Those around Jeok Ho sprang forward at once.

The forbidden concealed weapon they used wasn’t purely to their advantage. The blast pressure from the thunder cannon scattered the poison cloud they had created in all directions. With no chance to spread poison again, they were effectively exposed on this wide plain.

Left like this they’d collapse soon enough. But Jang Ilso had no intention of taking it so slowly.

“Red Dogs.”

The Red Dogs who guarded Jang Ilso like an iron wall all turned to look at him.

There wasn’t even a reply. A reply would only show the command was heard. Why would those who had all their attention fixed on Jang Ilso need that?

Jang Ilso slowly licked his lips with his tongue.

“How boring. Facing old men always saps my energy.”

Madness flared in the Red Dogs’ eyes.

“Clear them all out. I’m a busy man.”

At his words, the Red Dogs turned to stare at the elders of the Sichuan Tang Family.

And then.

Fwahhhh!

Without a gesture or brief reply, the Red Dogs surged. Like famished wolves finding prey on a snow-covered plain, their feral cries swept across the bleak Sichuan land.

“We’ll be back.”

Jeok Ho, as if understanding Jang Ilso’s intent, bowed deeply to him.

“Don’t get too rowdy. Let those kids have their fun too.”

“Yes, Alliance lord.”

Jeok Ho bowed once more and drew his sword.

A blackened sword, an ink blade. Gripping his favored weapon, Jeok Ho surged forward with killing intent in his eyes.

“Oh my, oh my.”

Jang Ilso shook his head.

“Everyone’s so excited, really.”

Come to think of it, it made sense. The Ten Thousand People Clan had grown through countless wars. But since the Four Sects Alliance stabilized, they hadn’t really tasted blood, had they?

What might have been a brief respite for others had been a long period of suppression for them.

“I hope it’s not too brutal…”

Gifts are good, but an excessive gift can offend the recipient.

But…

“There’s nothing to be done.”

Jang Ilso shrugged and slowly took a step.

“That’s because you arrived late. The Poison King, and… Mount Hua’s Sword Saint.”

Jang Ilso chuckled and walked across the blood-soaked ground as if taking a stroll.