Ascension of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 97

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 97

 

 

“You son of a bitch!”

At the sudden turn of events, Hwa Jacho’s subordinates all drew their swords at once.

Stupid fools.

Are they really this thoughtless?

They had broken through the main building.

None of the people inside had been able to pursue them.

What could that possibly mean?

It meant they were strong enough to defeat dozens and reach the back garden unharmed. But there was no need for Zhuge Munhyeon to step forward and enlighten those stupid fools one by one.

Swish!

A single gust of wind swiftly passed between them.

“Urgh!”

“Ahhh!”

Their wrists were severed as if cut by something sharp, forcing them to drop their weapons.

And before them stood Mujin with his sword drawn.

“Stay right there. Unless you want your necks cut.”

“…”

A calm voice and indifferent eyes.

The warriors swallowed their saliva, unable to pick up their fallen weapons.

Not only was it fast, but over ten people had been cut precisely on their wrists.

Meanwhile, a red aura glimmered in those eyes.

The words about dying if they moved seemed sincere, and they only had one life to test it with.

Well then, what remained now?

Zhuge Munhyeon cracked his interlaced fingers with a popping sound as he looked at Hwa Jacho.

I don’t have time.

So I hope you’ll answer my questions immediately.

Hwa Jacho flinched at the sight of Zhuge Munhyeon approaching with killing intent and swallowed his saliva.

His subordinates had been subdued in an instant.

Just who the hell were these guys…?

But as a branch manager, he couldn’t show a cowering appearance.

Like how a frightened dog barks louder.

“You bastard! Do you know who I am!”

Hwa Jacho shouted angrily and glared, but what returned was a sneering laugh.

“A branch manager, right?”

“What?”

“I have something urgent to ask right now, you see? So answer well on your own. I’m quite tired, so I might suddenly get angry.”

“…”

Hwa Jacho, who was sprawled on the ground with only his upper body barely raised, couldn’t make a sound as his breath caught at Zhuge Munhyeon’s gaze looking down at him.

“You know where the nearby bandit gangs’ strongholds are, right?”

“What?”

“I urgently need those guys’ locations, you see? Answer obediently and I’ll just break a few things and let you live.”

“…You damn bastard!”

The moment Hwa Jacho tried to assert his pride, Zhuge Munhyeon picked up a branding iron from a nearby brazier. And stabbed.

Thunk.

It was a very simple motion, but for Hwa Jacho, it was the beginning of hellish agony.

You try experiencing it once too.

“Kyaaaaaahhhhh!”

The moment the heated branding iron touched flesh, the surroundings were instantly filled with a terrible and foul smell.

The nauseating smell of burnt meat mixed with the awful odor like chunks of cut hair burning all at once.

But Zhuge Munhyeon asked Hwa Jacho with a smile, without even a frown.

“You know the bandit gang stronghold locations, right?”

“Grrrrr…”

There was no way he could answer.

Very few people could endure the pain of living flesh melting away.

Moreover, Hwa Jacho, who had grown fat from relying on comfort, had even forgotten how to endure pain, so it was remarkable that he hadn’t lost consciousness.

“Not answering?”

Zhuge Munhyeon grasped another branding iron from inside the brazier, as if he wouldn’t give even time for the pain to subside.

“W-wait! Just wait!”

Even in pain, the terrified Hwa Jacho sat collapsed, flailing his feet and waving his hands frantically.

“Why? Did you decide to answer?”

“Th-that’s…”

“This bastard isn’t even trying to provoke me…”

Sizzle!

As expected, the motion was concise.

Zhuge Munhyeon seemed intent on giving no respite as he branded Hwa Jacho’s body directly.

“Grrrrrrgh!”

Known pain is more frightening than unknown pain.

Having already been branded once, Hwa Jacho screamed even louder than before and trembled all over like someone struck by an arrow.

Both those who had been tortured until just before and those who had tortured them trembled at the cruelty and squeezed their eyes shut.

But Mujin.

‘Punish evil and promote good.’

Punishing evil to reveal good is also called guidance.

He grimaced but admired(?) Zhuge Munhyeon’s aggressive personality.

The benefactor who saved his life.

The master who gave him enlightenment like a moment of destiny.

Though he had learned mercy, magnanimity, and consideration as a disciple of the Taoist sect, he had reached the point where whatever Zhuge Munhyeon did seemed justified.

“Sob sob, you damn bastard… For a fellow unorthodox warrior to attack a Black Cat Room branch, do you think the Bang Leader will leave you alone? Also, this is Black River Gate’s territory…”

“…”

Hwa Jacho, whose lips had turned blue, tried to invoke his backing to somehow survive.

Who was unorthodox?

A current Zhuge and former Demon Cult member.

But perhaps because he was someone who had lived as orthodox then turned traitor?

If he thought of himself as unorthodox, then an unorthodox warrior attacking unorthodox forces was perfectly natural.

And.

“Are you stupid?”

“What?”

“You don’t know much about the unorthodox sects, do you?”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“We’re just two people right now. Would Black River Gate step forward because of a branch that got destroyed by an attack from just two people? Especially when it’s not even the main room but a Black Cat Room branch that just gathers information. Do you think you guys are that important to Black River Gate?”

Hwa Jacho couldn’t say anything and kept his mouth tightly shut.

As he said, there was no reason for Black River Gate to step forward.

This was a situation where they were attacked by unidentified masters whose names or surnames were unknown. It wasn’t even a factional war, so why would they waste their strength unnecessarily?

“And if I kill all of you here… who’s going to tell them?”

“Th-that… someone will…”

“Hmm, that could be possible. There’s no law saying there can’t be a single rat around. But so what if it gets out?”

“…”

“Black Cat Room? Black River Gate? Do I look like someone who would fear those bastards?”

This was the third branding iron.

Having experienced twice the agony of searing heat boring through flesh into his organs and resonating through his bones, Hwa Jacho finally looked properly into Zhuge Munhyeon’s eyes.

Flickering pupils.

And even the reddish madness swirling within them.

That’s when he realized.

He was a former Gaebangdo.

No matter how much he had grown soft from comfort and forgotten his old life, he prided himself on his ability to read people never failing him.

Being in pain, that old ability immediately kicked in.

This bastard… is insane.

His eyes have gone mad.

And he had mentioned backing to someone who seemed full of confidence, naturally causing the opposite effect.

Then what?

“Please spare me, Young Master!”

“…”

Hwa Jacho suppressed his pain and quickly grabbed Zhuge Munhyeon’s pant leg.

“I’ll tell you everything. The bandits’ true strongholds? I know them! Of course! Naturally I know them. Black Dragon Stronghold, Silver Scale Stronghold, Blood Water Stronghold… What kind of information do you need? I’ll find out even things I don’t know and report them to you.”

There was no point in needlessly provoking this madman’s temperament, and when nothing else works, active cooperation is the best strategy.

The only way to survive was to give him what he wanted.

It wasn’t about Black River Gate anyway, just information about bandit groups, so there wouldn’t be any problems.

“Young Master, please, I beg you. Please…”

When Hwa Jacho, who had belatedly grasped the situation, earnestly pleaded once more, Zhuge Munhyeon chuckled and put down the branding iron.

He should have done that from the start.

The smell was so foul he could barely stand it.

“Then speak.”

“Could… could I prepare some materials to explain? Just words alone might confuse you, so it would be proper to give you more precise locations.”

“You want to do that?”

“Of course!”

“Good. Then you there, go find these so-called materials.”

Zhuge Munhyeon nodded and pointed not at a Black Cat Room member, but at one of the subordinates of that Yacho fellow who had been captured and was kneeling.

The enemy of my enemy is my ally.

When captured comrades might save their lives, would he really try to escape?

“But why are those guys just standing there blankly?”

“Pardon?”

“When their leader is kneeling, how can his subordinates rudely remain standing?”

“Ah!”

Gaining great enlightenment(?) from those words, Hwa Jacho scolded his subordinates.

“You bastards! The Young Master has spoken words precious as gold and jade! Kneel immediately!”

“Pardon?”

“Come over here and kneel!”

“…Yes!”

When he shouted angrily, they came running over dripping blood from their wrists and knelt in a row.

A moment later.

“Look here. This shows the nearby Yangtze River area.”

“Hmm. Very detailed.”

“Of course, we’re originally experts in this kind of thing.”

“Cut the chatter and just explain.”

“Yes!”

“As you can see, all the places marked in red are false strongholds. Blue ones are true strongholds. I’ve carefully examined and updated even the places where bandits have recently nested, so it should be accurate. You see the dates beside them? Those are when they changed from false to true strongholds.”

“Oh? Impressive. The updates are quick.”

“This is what we do for a living. This gets reported to the main office, so you can consider it almost error-free.”

“Very well done. Can I take this?”

“Of course. Naturally you should. How could you travel without a single map?”

Hwa Jacho began wagging his tail completely.

“Well done. This was a great help.”

“Not at all… I shall regard the grace of sparing my life as vast as the ocean.”

“I’d appreciate that. But…”

“Yes?”

“Still, it wouldn’t be good if rumors spread. It’s bothersome when things get complicated for no reason.”

“Wh-what do you mean by that…”

“Don’t worry. I won’t kill you.”

“Won’t kill…? Su-surely not?”

Hwa Jacho, who couldn’t understand the situation for a moment, widened his blinking eyes.

Crack!

There was no time to curse.

Since Zhuge Munhyeon immediately broke his arms and legs, he had to scream instead.

“Ahhh…”

But he couldn’t even scream to his heart’s content.

Thud!

He lost consciousness and collapsed.

Zhuge Munhyeon grinned and looked back at Mujin.

“Mujin.”

“Yes?”

“Deal with these guys.”

“…Pardon?!”

“Should I do it?”

“N-no. I’ll do it.”

Mujin shut his mouth tightly and struck pressure points on the Black Cat Room branch warriors one by one, making them lose consciousness.

Hmm, I thought he’d at least sever their limb meridians.

The kid’s too soft-hearted, that’s the problem.

But then.

“Thank you for saving us.”

Jeokju, who had been tied to a chair while being tortured, nodded his head to express gratitude.

He was said to be a subordinate of someone called Yacho who had rebelled against the Black Cat Room.

Zhuge Munhyeon, who had been quietly observing him, asked.

“You guys… are Jagwi’s subordinates, right?”

“Do-do you know Branch Leader Jagwi?”

“Seeing how you still call him branch leader, I guess you were his subordinates.”

When he chuckled, Jeokju sighed and shook his head.

“No. We are traitors.”

“…?”

“We betrayed Branch Leader Jagwi. And only now have we realized that betrayal was not for the sake of our sect members.”

“Hmm.”

At his words filled with regret, Zhuge Munhyeon’s eyes narrowed.

It seems they’re trying to correct their mistake. But whatever the case, that’s their problem to handle.

“Consider it Jagwi who saved you.”

“The-the Branch Leader did?”

“Well, good luck. I’ve freed you, so getting to safety is up to you.”

Zhuge Munhyeon and Mujin departed just like that, swift as the wind.

And.

“Just who on earth was that person…”

Jeokju, who had been staring blankly in bewilderment at their unknown identity, suddenly snapped back to his senses.

A benefactor.

Though they possessed terrifying martial prowess, there was no need to leave traces behind.

“Erase all traces! We’ll disguise it as if we attacked the Black Cat Room Branch ourselves.”

“Yes!”

Having received salvation, repaying the favor was only natural.

After all, they still considered themselves ‘Beggar Sect members who revered righteousness.’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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