Chronicles of the Mad Demon - Chapter 153

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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 153. The Bloody Storm Beyond Change (3)

Throughout the Hong Clan Sword Family territory, countless warriors in uniform had set up camp. They were all Martial Alliance warriors belonging to the Hubei Branch.

“Who are you? This is a restricted area designated by the Martial Alliance Hubei Branch…”

“Here.”

Sama Hyeon took out an unknown identification plaque from his chest and showed it.

The Ji Dan Warrior who confirmed the plaque hardened his face, then immediately bowed his head.

“Identity verification complete. Please enter.”

“Thank you.”

Following Sama Hyeon through the prohibition signs, Moyong Bi’s eyes fell upon the Hong Clan Sword Family Manor.

The wall was so large and wide that it could even be mistaken for a castle wall. A small river flowed around it like an enclosure dozens of zhang ahead.

The main gate of the Hong Clan Sword Family visible in the distance was wide open, and warriors could be seen busily moving in and out.

“Let’s cross.”

“Let’s do that.”

While crossing the bridge over the river, Sama Hyeon spoke.

“I was going to send word ahead, but the branch suddenly got busy. I knew the Grand Young Master would be patient and wait.”

“It’s fine.”

“We should greet the Family Head first, but given the circumstances, I’m sorry about this.”

“That’s also fine.”

“Actually, I wondered if I really needed to bring the Grand Young Master, but since you’re connected to most of what’s happened in Wuhan these past few months, I wanted to show you directly.”

“Is that all?”

“Well, you’re also someone who joined hands with the Main Family House.”

That wouldn’t be everything.

When they crossed the river, passed a low hill, and reached the main gate.

‘Stench.’

He had been sensing a faint aura of death since they were almost there.

But now, in addition to the death aura, he could smell a stench.

The smell of rotting corpses. Though the cold had lessened considerably, it was still clearly winter, yet the stench was quite strong.

“Not only the warriors, but all the laborers, servants, and handmaidens who didn’t practice martial arts lost their lives.”

In the distance, dozens of corpses were laid out near the familiar Outer Courtyard Training Ground.

They were covered with black cloth over their faces and upper bodies, and all were swollen.

Sama Hyeon grabbed a physician who had come out to examine the bodies.

“How is it?”

“It’s truly strange.”

The physician’s face was serious.

“Most of the corpses show no signs of external wounds. I’d need to perform autopsies to be certain, but there’s over a ninety percent chance they were poisoned.”

“I see.”

“The problem is the condition of the corpses. There are countless types of poison, and many that rapidly rot flesh and bone, but these corpses are somehow different.”

“In what way?”

“There are no liver spots, yet extreme decomposition has occurred. All the corpses are like this.”

“Hmm.”

“Originally, decomposition begins in areas with more fat and softer skin, but with these, almost all parts of the body have decomposed with little difference. This is truly my first time seeing such a case.”

“Is that all?”

“The biggest problem is still the weather.”

The physician waved his hand through the empty air.

“After checking footprints, the condition of weapons, the dining hall and dishes, the estimated time of death is at the earliest around the Hour of the Pig last night to near midnight.”

“I heard the same.”

“It’s late winter now. In this cold air, what we call the corpses’ self-decomposition should slow down rapidly. But somehow the corpses here have decomposed as if several days had passed.”

“…”

“Honestly, I’m not even sure if it’s really poison.”

His expression was bewildered.

Sama Hyeon, who had been nodding gravely, looked at Moyong Bi.

Before he knew it, Moyong Bi was crouched in front of a corpse, smelling it.

Sama Hyeon clicked his tongue.

‘I knew he had unusual composure, but.’

Seeing him sniffing around in front of a rotting corpse, even if covered with cloth, he really wasn’t an ordinary person.

“May I remove the cloth?”

“As long as you don’t touch it.”

Sama Hyeon removed the cloth from the corpse Moyong Bi was examining.

Instantly, Moyong Bi’s eyes deepened.

Most of the hair of what appeared to be a handmaiden’s corpse had fallen out. It had fallen out as decomposition progressed.

Sama Hyeon covered his nose and mouth with his hand and asked.

“How is it?”

“It’s a handmaiden I know.”

“Hmm?”

Complexity appeared on Moyong Bi’s face.

Though it was a corpse swollen here and there from decomposition, looking at the bone structure and clothing, it was definitely the handmaiden who had almost been harmed by Hong Jun Ak back then.

‘Damn.’

After looking at the handmaiden for a while, Moyong Bi covered her face with the cloth again.

“Have you seen enough?”

“Are all the corpses like this?”

“It seems so.”

Moyong Bi silently entered the Inner Courtyard.

Sama Hyeon also followed behind him.

The Inner Courtyard wasn’t different from the Outer Courtyard. The smell of death, which didn’t match the splendid and antique buildings, vibrated through the air.

Moyong Bi, who had been seriously surveying the surroundings, suddenly brightened his eyes. He saw four corpses all covered by one particularly large cloth.

“Let me see those corpses.”

A moment later, the four revealed corpses were in much worse condition than the handmaiden’s corpse.

“Like the other corpses, these four decomposed particularly quickly.”

Moyong Bi silently lifted the corpse’s arm to show it.

An uncomfortable expression appeared on the physician’s face. If Sama Hyeon hadn’t asked for understanding in the middle, he would never have allowed it.

“We can’t estimate who they are yet, but judging by where they were found…”

“Jang Mu Saeng.”

“…?!”

“The one who was the second-in-command of the Hong Clan Sword Family, and the three masters who seized control of the Sword Family with him.”

The physician’s eyes widened.

“Do you know who they are?”

“I haven’t seen them before.”

“Then how?”

“Though decomposed, their bone structure is considerably trained. The lingering echoes of scattered qi are also denser than others.”

Moyong Bi stood up from his spot.

“I’ve seen enough.”

“Ah, yes.”

Sama Hyeon asked.

“Don’t you need to look around more?”

“I think it would be enough to just look around the Rear Outpost.”

“Let’s do that.”

A moment later.

After checking everything from the Rear Outpost to the Family Head’s Office rear garden, Moyong Bi left the Hong Clan Sword Family.

Sama Hyeon asked.

“Did you discover anything?”

“It’s obvious.”

“Obvious….”

Tension cast over Sama Hyeon’s face.

“Does the Grand Young Master also think it looks like Demonic Art?”

It seemed he had already expected this to some degree.

Moyong Bi shook his head.

“It is Demonic Art, but the cause of death isn’t Demonic Art.”

“What do you mean?”

“As the physician said, if that many people had been killed in the dead of night, it would have been quite noisy.”

“The Hong Clan Sword Family is also located in Wuhan, but in a fairly isolated place. Isn’t it nearly half a hour’s walk from your residence?”

“Such things don’t matter to the culprit.”

Sama Hyeon nodded.

“They needed to kill as quietly as possible in case of unforeseen circumstances?”

“Crucially, there are no traces of fighting. There aren’t even minimal signs of resistance.”

“Then?”

“It’s definitely poisoning. They clearly committed mass slaughter with poison.”

“…Ha!”

Though there were some questionable aspects, they were still physicians directly selected by the Martial Alliance. Their judgment in estimating over ninety percent probability of poisoning was accurate.

The problem came after that.

“After killing with poison, they were exposed to Demonic Art.”

“…?!”

“That’s why they’ve decayed like this.”

Sama Hyeon unconsciously shook his head.

“I’ve heard that demons who haven’t mastered Demonic Art to a high level, or even those who’ve reached master level, can rapidly decay after death depending on the type of Demonic Art.”

“That’s correct.”

“Not all of them would have learned Demonic Art. But to say they were affected…”

“Among Demonic Arts, there are types that rapidly rot the struck area or drastically accelerate the decay rate of corpses.”

“Don’t tell me?”

Sama Hyeon unconsciously exclaimed.

“Black Type?!”

Unlike Red Type, Black Type has the fewest numbers even among Demonic Art categories.

The reason is simple. Demonic Arts classified as Black Type are difficult to cultivate regardless of what they are.

Even high-level Black Type arts have particularly high risk of Qi Deviation, and even if one avoids deviation, they must raise their achievements through extremely evil methods like consuming extreme poisons or absorbing death energy from corpses during cultivation.

Most died in this process, unable to overcome the poison and death energy.

Though practically classified, throughout history only a very few had demonstrated might with Black Type Demonic Arts. Even during the twenty-year war with Sacred Blood Palace, only two practitioners of Black Type Demonic Arts appeared.

‘As expected.’

Moyong Bi glanced at Sama Hyeon’s face.

‘He seems quite familiar with this.’

Young people living in this era might not know, but the generation that experienced the war knew that Demonic Arts were classified by color. Especially those belonging to the Martial Alliance – there wasn’t anyone who didn’t know.

Sama Hyeon wasn’t affiliated with the Martial Alliance, but he was also of similar age to Jeong Gal Ryun. Moreover, being from the Sima Clan, it was natural he’d be well-versed in Demonic Art classification.

“Are you certain it’s Black Type?”

“Yes.”

He could even roughly deduce which Black Type Demonic Art it was.

Sama Hyeon’s eyes deepened.

“Regarding Demonic Art classification, one can receive teachings from predecessors or gain knowledge from books. But being certain those corpses are Black Type is a different matter.”

Even if one knew about it, without having seen it directly, one could never be certain in such a situation.

Moyong Bi maintained appropriate distance.

“That’s what I think.”

Meaning if you don’t want to believe it, you don’t have to.

“But one thing is certain.”

“Please tell me.”

“The three masters led by Jang Mu Saeng – they definitely learned Demonic Art.”

Their decay was more severe than the other corpses.

Even without Black Type Demonic Art, it meant decay began immediately upon death.

Sama Hyeon, who had been thinking repeatedly, suddenly widened his eyes.

“Don’t tell me it’s cutting off loose ends?”

“It would be fortunate if it were just that.”

“What do you mean?”

If he thought calmly, it was something Sama Hyeon could understand too.

Uncle and nephew were equally lacking in experience.

“If it were simple loose end cutting, they would have called out just those four to kill them. Why would they massacre everyone?”

“Ah!”

“They combined loose end cutting with experimentation. They wanted to see if Black Type Demonic Art could demonstrate proper power.”

“….”

“Perhaps they did it for fun.”

Vivid anger rose on Sama Hyeon’s face.

“For fun….”

“Those who bear the demon are originally like that. They have no sanity.”

“Grand Young Master, let me ask one more thing.”

“My future answers won’t mean much. It’s certain that a demon has appeared.”

“But.”

“There are two things our Uncle Suk Su should consider.”

“Two things?”

“First, they’re crazy enough to conduct experiments instead of just cutting loose ends, but they absolutely couldn’t do this without permission from above. Though it’s different from back then, the Martial Alliance still exists now.”

Meaning they don’t care if rumors of demon appearances spread.

Sama Hyeon’s face hardened completely.

“What’s the other one?”

“Though the family head and two blood relatives died, the Hong Clan Sword Family was still intact. Yet such a Hong Clan Sword Family was completely destroyed in one night.”

“If you’re worried about Ten Sword Gate, I’ve already dispatched guards.”

Moyong Bi tilted his head.

“What does Ten Sword Gate have to do with anything?”

“…?”

“What I mean is, even during the sparring tournament, the demons kept themselves hidden. Even if they wanted to test their half-baked Demonic Art, they definitely felt it wouldn’t be good to be discovered.”

“…It’s different now?”

“They blatantly killed even civilians. Isn’t this provocation bordering on mockery?”

“…!”

“It will erupt simultaneously.”

Moyong Bi sighed.

“Perhaps it didn’t just erupt in Wuhan, but erupted in Wuhan ‘as well.'”

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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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