Novel Full Chapter 606: Hop-Hop (3)
A soul-summoning bell was an extremely rare and powerful artifact.
Even by rank alone it was A+, and in practice it was worth even more than that.
A brutally meritocratic group like the Blood Cult would never hand something like that to just anyone.
It was proof the old man’s status was anything but ordinary.
And just looking at him, he clearly had real skill to back it up.
“…….”
From the moment he revealed himself, he kept his eyes locked on me.
Since he didn’t seem inclined to speak first, I threw the question out myself.
“Are you with the Blood Cult?”
“You know full well, yet you ask something so obvious. This old man is called Ghost Demon.”
A soul-summoning bell was an artifact that called and controlled the souls of the dead.
If he used that, then the martial art he possessed would also be deeply tied to that domain.
He was probably the one creating and commanding the jiangshi too.
I nodded.
“I see. Then what brings you here?”
It was a big battlefield, sure, but for someone at an elder-class level, there had to be more important places.
Ghost Demon answered.
“My link with the iron jiangshi kept being severed. One after another. Earlier than intended.”
Right. Most of the Dang family fighters were probably struggling to some degree.
Meanwhile, we were moving forward while crushing the jiangshi legion every time we ran into it.
Of course he’d want to confirm what was going on.
Ghost Demon continued.
“I thought that even with a few guests present, it wouldn’t be a major variable… but it seems I misjudged.”
As he spoke, he looked over our party one by one.
Zhuge Soso, Seo Ye-in, Dang Gyu-young, and even the shadow undead.
Ghost Demon’s gaze lingered on the Blood Sword Squad Leader.
“In terms of skill, he was recognized even within our sect. Though in other respects, he left much to be desired.”
“His mental discipline was especially lacking.”
All we did was throw off-timed palm strikes, chain-grab him, and match up high and low.
Yet he lost his composure, went berserk, and met his end.
Ghost Demon spoke again.
“From what I see, Dark-Shadow Commander, Phantom Demon, and other experts of our sect have also fallen to you. Their traces cling to you—faintly, but undeniably.”
“You can see that?”
“Did you forget who I said I was?”
“You’re Ghost Demon, sir.”
Based purely on the conversation so far, he felt closer to a shaman than a Blood Cult elder.
So I went ahead and asked.
“You’re ridiculously good. Do you do fortunes too? Like fate readings?”
“Do you truly think this is the time for that?”
“It’s just one or «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» two questions. If you can’t, we can drop it.”
“……What is it you want to know?”
“My money luck, please.”
Master, will I be acquiring a soul-summoning bell in the near future?
At that moment, Dang Gyu-young and Zhuge Soso stepped in on either side of me and gave me pointed looks.
“How about romance luck instead of money?”
“I’m extremely curious about romance luck as well.”
“This isn’t a common opportunity.”
I decided to be very receptive to my party’s demands.
“Then I’ll switch to romance luck.”
“……You’re walking a truly smooth-free path.”
“I’ve had that feeling.”
“But you already know it. The one who chose that path wasn’t anyone else—it was you.”
“Mm.”
“And it still isn’t the end. You’re a remarkably greedy one.”
Dang Gyu-young and Zhuge Soso took turns firing off comments.
“Little sovereign, wouldn’t it be better to let go a bit at this point?”
“Yeah, yeah. Just stop at me, at least.”
“Ugh, every time I think you’ll forget, you ask to be included again.”
“He said it isn’t the end.”
They started bickering without even being able to hold it in.
Seo Ye-in stared at me too, then repeated the same phrase like a broken doll.
“……Playboy. …Playboy.”
“Don’t get drawn in. It’s the Blood Cult trying to drive a wedge.”
To take down three people in an instant—terrifying technique.
Ghost Demon looked dumbfounded at my shamelessness, but remembering his real purpose, he changed the subject.
“Either way, things have become troublesome. It is obvious you will be a major obstacle to our sect’s great undertaking. We must remove you here… but with talent like yours, how am I to face all of you?”
“You’re not planning to give up anyway.”
“Of course not. It’s simply regrettable that, at my age, a road of hardship has opened.”
It was right as Ghost Demon grumbled that—
thin blue lines traced through the air from all directions, giving the illusion that they were connecting to him.
While we were talking, the Hyeseong Group gunners had stayed concealed and taken sniper shots.
Ghost Demon clearly noticed.
But instead of dodging or blocking, he didn’t move a single finger.
Instead, figures sprang out from somewhere and swatted the mana BB pellets away.
Their identities were, of course, jiangshi.
But at a glance they weren’t normal.
Iron jiangshi and poison-absorbing jiangshi had standardized appearances in their own ways—
but these were all different.
Their movement was less rigid.
And most importantly, each one carried a weapon.
A longsword, a spear, and a staff.
Worse, a faint blue aura gathered on those weapons—
meaning they could operate internal energy.
Seeing that, I made a guess.
“Yin-Yang Blood Jiangshi.”
“Your eye isn’t bad. You saw correctly.”
The culmination of everything in jiangshi creation.
They possessed that signature defense, could operate internal energy, and could even reproduce some portion of the martial prowess they had in life.
Ghost Demon pointed at the Yin-Yang Blood Jiangshi holding the longsword.
“This one, in life, was known by the sobriquet Divine-Eagle Sword Hero. Now he is merely this old man’s loyal hand and foot.”
Zhuge Soso’s face tightened with gravity, like she’d heard the name before at least once.
He must have been an exceptional expert.
Now that he was a Yin-Yang Blood Jiangshi, his prowess was roughly somewhere between the very top of B-rank and A-rank.
The other two would be similar.
Ghost Demon continued.
“With these three, I believe you will have a good match.”
“They feel a bit lacking if you’re trying to capture us.”
“For now, it is enough to bind your feet. But don’t worry. Your turn will come soon enough.”
He’d said we were obstacles that needed to be removed—
but for the moment, he intended to stay focused on the original objective: inflicting as much damage on the Dang family as possible.
The longer he stalled us here, the later our support would arrive elsewhere.
So he judged it worth spending Yin-Yang Blood Jiangshi to buy time.
The soul-summoning bell let out a grim, echoing cry.
In response, blazing light flared in the eyes of the Yin-Yang Blood Jiangshi—including the former Divine-Eagle Sword Hero.
Some kind of buff, apparently.
Ghost Demon turned his back and left a final line.
“Then we’ll meet again later.”
“It’ll be sooner than you think.”
“Kh-kh…….”
With a low chuckle, he disappeared into the darkness.
And the jiangshi charged us all at once.
‘They are strong.’
With skill this high, it was true that they’d take time to bring down.
Even more so if we added the condition of minimizing allied casualties.
‘Of course, that’s if we fight them head-on.’
We had absolutely no reason to fight the way Ghost Demon wanted.
And we had a far faster way to end this fight.
I kept my eyes locked on the jiangshi and spoke to Seo Ye-in.
“Let’s go with the confinement & trap operation.”
“Confinement & trap…!”
She got it instantly—an exclamation point practically popped over Seo Ye-in’s head.
She handed over the Immortal Kim Ho Kim Ho Pot.
The moment I took it and thrust it forward, a night-sky-like space opened up and swallowed two of the Yin-Yang Blood Jiangshi.
They’d been isolated in the [Severed Space].
That left only Divine-Eagle Sword Hero.
By now, the others seemed to grasp what “confinement & trap” meant.
Dang Gyu-young let out a hollow laugh.
“You’re scamming with the pot again. So we take them one by one, huh?”
“Close.”
“Fine. We start with that Divine-Eagle whatever.”
Even alone, Divine-Eagle Sword Hero attacked first without hesitation.
The tip of the sword trembled—then a ruthless sword form unfolded.
But that sword form unfolded for the first—and last—time.
Once the true combined assault started, the bastard’s blade kept getting blocked—by the pot, then by the club, then by Zhuge Soso’s longsword, over and over.
And through the opening that appeared—
special rounds came flying in.
Divine-Eagle Sword Hero’s body was engulfed in flames.
Jiangshi that he was, he still swung his sword like a madman even while burning—
but the talismans shriveled one by one, and in the end he too turned into ash.
Now we moved on to the next step—
“Trap.”
“Trap.”
Seo Ye-in crouched down and started placing capricious traps.
Ahn Jeongmi and the Hyeseong Group gunners gathered in a tight cluster beside her.
They’d identified the core of the confinement & trap operation.
“We’ll help as well.”
“I was just about to ask. Do you have traps?”
“Yes. We all have trap skills and items.”
As expected—since they were all gunner-type, they’d at least dipped a toe into the trap field.
‘Lucky Charm alone has a limit.’
Even though Seo Ye-in’s [Capricious Trap] had absurd performance, using it to process two Yin-Yang Blood Jiangshi would be pushing it.
At best it would do some damage and restrict movement.
‘But what if the number of traps increases fivefold?’
And what if the ones installing them were Hyeseong Group gunners with real skill?
We’d find out soon enough.
Not long after, a dense “death zone” was set up in front of us—over a dozen traps packed tightly together.
Everyone backed away a little, while I stepped forward and held out the pot.
“Then I’ll release them.”
A night-sky-like space opened, and it spat out the two Yin-Yang Blood Jiangshi.
And before they could even show hostility toward us—
a low click sounded under their feet.
Explosions in a riot of colors filled the view.
Red and blue flames bloomed, froze, detonated—electricity surged through in waves—absolute chaos.
We ended up watching an unexpected fireworks show.
The most excited, of course, was Seo Ye-in.
Eyes shining, she declared,
“Confinement & trap.”
A moment later, as the blasts cleared, the shredded forms of the Yin-Yang Blood Jiangshi were revealed.
I actually let out a impressed breath.
‘They survived that.’
They took that many traps all at once—getting outright deleted wouldn’t have been strange at all.
Yet their defense was so ridiculous they were still holding a human shape.
Still, they’d clearly lost functionality, so we finished them off.
‘So it really didn’t take long.’
Ghost Demon probably pictured us being tied down for a long time—
and burning through a huge amount of our strength.
In reality, we spent about as much time as it takes to drink a cup of tea, and our stamina loss was minimal.
‘He just wasted his precious Yin-Yang Blood Jiangshi for nothing.’
Maybe that was why.
We were in the middle of evacuating the wounded again—like we’d been doing all along—
when the familiar sound rang out.
I turned my head.
Ghost Demon was standing on that same pavilion roof as before.
“……!”
Maybe he was genuinely shocked, because his eyes were slightly widened as he stared at the remains of the Yin-Yang Blood Jiangshi.
And I tossed him a line.
“Like you said, we’re seeing each other again.”
“…….”
“But isn’t this a little too fast? You made that cool exit with the ‘Kh-kh…….’ and everything.”
“…….”
Ghost Demon’s face twitched.