Episode 79
“Cheoksa Sword (斥邪劍). Is that correct?”
“That’s right.”
“What is your name?”
“yes?”
“Not a nickname, but a name. “I’m sure it doesn’t have a name.”
“…There is no such thing as a name.”
“I dont have a name?”
“I am from the Salmabang n. From a time when I was a child that I can barely remember anymore, I underwent rigorous training to be a lifesaver. Salmabang used numbers instead of names when referring to the bands. First, second, third. Like this.”
There was a heavy silence.
After staring at the man’s face in silence for a while, I suddenly spoke.
“Seo Ho-seon.”
“…!”
The man’s expression hardened like a stone.
My pupils shook as if there was an earthquake.
“After destroying Salma Ark alone, he went to his hometown to find his identity based on the list of people that Salma Ark had. He finally found his parents, approached them while hiding his identity, and asked them for the name of the kidnapped child. That’s how I learned that my name was Seo Ho-seon.”
“…How do you do that?”
How do you know?
I know this because I heard it directly from the person involved.
‘I never thought I’d see this person here again.’
Seo Ho-seon.
From Salmabang (殺魔幇).
A rare killing star that wouldter be called Cheonmyeonsal (天面殺).
‘Have you notmitted yourself to the Demonic Cult yet?’
Apparently, during this period, he was wandering around as a ronin (浪人).
Salmabang was a martial arts faction located in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, and had many assassins with outstanding skills.
The killers who grew up through all kinds of inhumane practices for heart killing boasted skills and missionpletion rates that were iparable to those of martial artists raised in other killing gates.
However, among the assassins who grew up through the harsh training, there was a mutation mixed in.
His heart did not break despite the cruel training of stabbing the heart of a brother-like colleague and chopping up the body.
I just held on and held on and waited for my chance toe.
Finally, Seo Ho-seon, who became Salma Bang’s special assassin,unched a surprise attack on his first encounter with Salma Ark and took his supplies, and took full advantage of the characteristics of the dot structure to eliminate all the assassins belonging to Bangpa one by one.
In the end, he seeded in killing all the assassins, left Fujian, and Salma Bang disappeared into the back of history.
‘What should I do with this?’
My mind becameplicated.
How should I deal with this person?
Wouldn’t it be better to just kill him here?
Seo Ho-seonmits himself to the Demonic Cult in the near future.
I don’t know the exact circumstances, but I knew that he was chased by a famous warrior from the Baekdo family out of resentment and ended up in the Demonic Church.
Seo Ho-seon’s outstanding potential began to bloom when his second brother, Sosalmagun (笑殺魔君) from his previous life, took notice of him.
The Sosalma Army supported Seo Ho-seon, who was wandering due to his inability to adapt to the religion, both materially and spiritually, and also brought him into their faction.
The magical skill of ascension, the magic dan, the vision of the ruined Ghost Valley, a new recruit, etc.
Seo Ho-seon, who achieved explosive growth thanks to all kinds of support, even achieved the feat of killing Taowang, an absolute master whoter upied the first seat of the Ten Heavenly Emperors.
Even considering that the King of Dao was weakened by injuries and poisoning at the time, it was undeniable that it was a great achievement.
‘I don’t want to let youmit yourself to a demonic cult like you did in your past life.’
In my past life, my rtionship with Seo Ho-seon was not that good.
It was inevitable that he was a member of the second death penalty faction.
Not only I, but the other disciples of the sect leader also found him disturbing.
What more can I say, since even Prince Cheonak, who lives in a state of pride, seemed to avoid him.
If Seo Ho-seon had not lost his life after failing to assassinate Maehwashingeom (梅花神劍), some of the sect’s disciples, excluding Sosalmagun, might have been killed by his hands.
“I told you to answer, not to tell lies.”
“…….”
“There is no next time.”
“yes.”
“You said you received a request from the Ark of the Five Ghosts.”
“That’s right. Originally, since we had joined hands with the Ark of the West, we should have refused the request from the head of the hostile force, but the request money was muchrger than expected, so we became greedy.”
“Is it just that?”
“……?”
“Wasn’t there a calction that the longer the struggle for Bidongsts, the more profits you can make?”
“I didn’t think so.”
I squatted down in front of Seo Ho-seon, made eye contact with him, and spoke.
“If you want to live, listen carefully to what I say from now on.”
* * *
Fifteen days passed quickly.
Early morning.
The warriors of Seodobang rushed out of the guest room and headed toward Seoldusan Mountain.
Cheon Ga-ryeong and I moved safely and protected in the center of the formation they had established.
As soon as I stepped foot into the mountain, a bloody smell filled my nose.
I felt like I knew how many fights had taken ce here so far.
Climbing a mountain over two days.
Finally we reached the first gate.
Although I couldn’t tell with the naked eye, I knew that there was a hugebyrinth spread out here.
The West Dao Ark looked back at Damun and said.
“From now on, it’s your turn to step forward.”
“All right.”
Damun took the lead and led the way.
Cheon Ga-ryeong and I followed behind him like shadows.
The calligraphers were surprised by Damun, who leisurely made his way as if he were at home, but at the same time reacted as if it were natural.
So far, the warriors of Heukdo Ind have not been idle.
Many of the military bases installed on Mt. Seoldusan had already been conquered, and the destructionw was publicly known.
After passing the first gate and passing through a narrow rock gap, I reached the second gate.
Damun, who was fiddling around with the cliffs spread out in front of him, soon found a hidden opening and closing device and activated it.
Kugugoogung!
Part of the wall was pushed away, opening a path.
A dark and long passage appeared.
Seodo Ark opened his mouth with a tense expression.
“Now is the real beginning. Many people lost their lives while passing through the camp spread out here. “It is a ce where casualties continue to ur even after the destructionw became known.”
“Looking at it, it looks like it’s some kind of fantasy circle…”
Damun responded with a rxed expression.
It was a face with no sign of tension whatsoever.
It was inevitable that he would do so because he had already destroyed the illusion unfolding here.
“I will take the lead and move. “I will leave footprints, so instruct the bandits to step on them exactly and follow them.”
Damun stepped into the passage with slow steps.
I followed behind him and asked in a full voice.
-It seems like I’m moving slower than when I first came here.
-I n to take as much time as possible to move without being noticed. Shouldn’t we give the other forces participating in the struggle time to sense the change and chase after them?
-Is there any reason to do that?
-It is a kind of insurance.
-insurance?
-By nature, humans tend to have other thoughts when they have free time. Afterpleting the Bidong strategy, it is impossible to know how the Ark of the West will appear. Even though he signed a contract, Seodo Ark is a great man who can ignore such things. In the worst case, they may try to annihte you.
-So you’re saying you’re going to bring in other forces and put pressure on them? To prevent useless thoughts?
-That’s right.
By the time I got out of the passage, my son-inw was already immersed in darkness.
Seodo-bangdos were busy preparing to sleep in the open.
Damun, I, and Cheon Ga-ryeong ate the dry food we had prepared in advance.
The calligraphers offered to share the food with them, but they politely declined.
After finishing the meal, Seodo Bangju approached Damun and spoke to him.
“It was amazing. “I never thought we could get through that dangerous camp without a single casualty.”
“It wasn’t that difficult.”
“I hope that confidencests until the end.”
“For your information, thew of destruction that the Lord announced in advance was wrong. There were some slight mistakes here and there. I don’t know if it’s because the Jinbeopist’s skills arecking or if he deliberately spread the wrongw of destruction, but…”
“It’s probably thetter. “When I get back, I’ll have to kick that fox.”
“Please control your subordinates so they don’t wander around as they please. “You never know where another trap might beid.”
“Everyone will know even if you don’t say it. “It’s not like I’ve set foot here once or twice.”
The Western Ark leaves its ce.
Cheon Ga-ryeong asked Damun in anguid tone.
“What should I do to keep watch? Even if there are wild beasts and traps, western thieves must be on guard.”
“Well, shouldn’t we take turns standing there? This is an attack that will take ce over four days, maybe a day or two. “We can’t have the captain stand watch alone likest time.”
It was decided that the order of standing watch would be decided by drawing lots.
So the night passed and morning came.
As soon as the sun rose, the hike resumed.
The Western Taoists were amazed at Damun’s ability to discover, disable, and neutralize all the methods and institutions in advance.
On the other hand, I couldn’t hide myughter at Damwoon’s skit.
All of the formations and institutions that existed in Seoldusan Mountain had already been conquered once or were newly created by Damun and Tang Seoyeon.
If Damun wanted to, it would have been possible to reach his destination in one day.
However, he was deliberately moving in a cautious manner, taking time to neutralize all the traps one by one.
They even added exnations that were difficult to understand.
Not only was there a long dy, but an environment was created where it was easy forters to catch up.
Seodo Ark also seemed to have noticed this and frequently picked up Damun.
However, Damun, who was actually involved, maintained a rxed attitude.
“Nothing goodes from being in a hurry. If you force yourself to speed up, the damage will only increase. Rather, it is faster and safer this way.”
“…….”
Although the movement was frustratingly slow, it was also true that we were making the most progress in the attack so far.
Seodo Ark became mute after eating honey.
Three days passed and the group finally reached Bidong.
At the same time as Damun’s assurance that there were no more traps, the Western swordsmen rushed into Bidong.
Soon there was amotion everywhere.
“It’s Yamyeongju!”
“There are gold and silver treasures!”
“Huh! “Hundred waves of fists!”
Seodo Ark, who gathered all the items the bandits had gathered in one ce, let out a deep breath.
It must have been a touching moment for him.
Without even looking at the gold and silver treasures, he picked up a book and looked at its contents.
Soon he spoke in a low voice.
“I’m sure. This is the same content as what was written in the manuscript. “This is indeed the martial arts left behind by Sa Il-sang.”
Wow!
Cheers erupted.
Seo Dao Bangju looked at the contents of the martial arts secret list one by one with a satisfied expression.
That too for a while.
Suddenly, his face contorted like a murderer.
“What is this!”
On the outside of the martial arts book he was holding in his hand, the words calligraphy and painting were written.
He mmed his martial arts book on the floor and shouted.
“This is magic!”