Chronicles of the Mad Demon - Chapter 159

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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 159. The Source of Echoes (4)

Following Neung Hyeong’s guidance as he wandered around the rear garden, they entered the abandoned house where a single woman came into view.

Plain clothing. She appeared to be in her early twenties.

Whether her paralysis points and mute acupoint had been struck, the woman could only roll her eyes around. Meanwhile, thread-like blood was flowing from the corner of her mouth.

Moyong Bi glanced at Neung Hyeong.

Neung Hyeong turned his head and grumbled.

“I’m not fully adapted to the secret arts yet.”

When striking the mute acupoint, he had misjudged the force and the shock had reached her gums.

“You should be ashamed.”

“If you had learned demonic arts, you would have done worse than me.”

Moyong Bi snorted and crouched down in front of the woman, then released her mute acupoint.

Just as the woman who had been breathing roughly was about to scream.

“If you want to chew meat with only your upper teeth, feel free to scream.”

It was a brutal threat to rip out her lower jaw. The woman’s mouth closed involuntarily.

Neung Hyeong was dumbfounded.

“Then would she even be able to chew at all?”

Moyong Bi calmly ignored the snickering of the terrible hybrid demon who had learned Buddhist martial arts and asked indifferently.

“Name.”

“Why, why are you doing this to me?”

It was a voice filled with terror.

Moyong Bi tilted his head.

“Name.”

Only his expression was different; his voice was no different from before.

The woman spoke with as calm a demeanor as possible.

“I don’t know who you are, but please release me quickly. You’re Murim Warriors, right? The warriors of Jianghu that I know are all chivalrous heroes. This kind of behavior is something only demons would do.”

Neung Hyeong’s face contorted sharply.

Moyong Bi smiled.

“We have someone similar on our side, so it’s fine.”

“What?”

“And well, it’s the truth, but what’s with you when you’re also a demon?”

“Wh-what are you talking about?!”

Moyong Bi looked back at Neung Hyeong and asked.

“Can you tell what it is?”

Though it was a sudden question, Neung Hyeong’s answer was immediate.

“It’s a slightly modified version of the Hidden Demon Art. I don’t know the name.”

“Colorless Seed?”

Even for a Colorless Seed, this is surprising.

Moyong Bi looked back at the woman.

Though she wore a bewildered expression, he could tell. The surprise cast in the woman’s eyes.

“Hey, demon.”

“I, I’m not a demon…!”

“You’re not showing off your claws in front of a tiger. Whatever you’ve learned, whatever you’re hiding, it’s useless in front of this stupid-looking person here.”

Neung Hyeong’s face became strange.

He felt pleased that he seemed to be getting some recognition, but since he was also being called stupid, he didn’t know how to react.

“From what I can see, you haven’t even reached the Demon Sea Realm.”

“…!”

“Do you want your demonic arts shattered?”

People categorize martial artists’ levels with terms like peak and super-peak, but these are merely external evaluations meant to easily distinguish levels of strength.

Since people differ and the martial arts they learn vary, how each person expresses the realm they’ve reached is entirely up to individual discretion. Even with similar skill levels, there’s a reason why the martial studies pursued and distinguished by Taoism and Buddhism are all different.

However, there are several realms that Murim Warriors clearly distinguish among themselves.

A representative example is the realm of Sword Energy Harming People. Being able to condense the energy released externally without damaging one’s weapon means the boundary between the external sword and oneself has collapsed.

In other words, it’s an absolute standard, and strictly speaking, terms like peak and super-peak were closer to dividing the level differences in energy release, which is the foundation of internal energy projection.

Demonic arts have much clearer standards than that.

While general martial arts have various large and small differences making realm distinctions ambiguous, demonic arts, regardless of type, can only create opportunities for explosive growth by transcending certain realms.

One of these is precisely the Demon Sea Realm, which was similar to the peak realm in Murim Warrior terms.

To explain, it’s entering the sea of demons.

It’s a period when demonic energy becomes more vigorous than ever, and a realm where demons can unleash almost all the power of their demonic arts.

“You haven’t even reached the Demon Sea Realm, let alone the Demon Control Realm, so the moment your demonic arts are shattered, your body will rot away miserably.”

The woman’s face gradually grew pale.

Moyong Bi shook his head.

“Even if it’s not a noble death, you wouldn’t want a miserable end, right? Don’t waste our time and go comfortably.”

He had already seen through everything.

The woman’s face, which had been full of tension and surprise, gradually became vicious.

“If I’m going to die anyway, I don’t care what happens to my corpse.”

Her voice instantly became heavy.

It seemed as if a low male voice had seeped between the high tones characteristic of a female voice. It was an eerie and terrifying voice.

Moyong Bi’s eyes gleamed.

“You don’t fear death.”

“Of course not.”

“But you have no poison pill, your demonic art achievement is low, yet you were assigned to a mission monitoring Hubei Branch members?”

“…?”

“You’re also in the information handling side.”

Surprise appeared on the woman’s face.

Moyong Bi smiled.

“Name.”

“…”

“Are you not telling me, or do you not have a name?”

“…”

“Do you know that the way your eyes are rolling around is showing your wavering heart exactly as it is?”

The woman growled like a beast.

“If you’re going to kill me, hurry up and do it.”

“I need to find something out before I kill you.”

“I won’t say anything. Hurry up and kill me.”

“What if I don’t kill you?”

“No matter what you do, it’s useless. It would be better to kill me.”

“Do you really wish for death?”

“There’s nothing else you can do.”

“…I was wrong.”

“What?”

Moyong Bi’s playful face instantly became serious.

“You don’t fear death, but rather want to die as quickly as possible.”

“…?!”

“Your death will become a signal flare and your superiors will definitely move immediately in some way. Where is the contact?”

“…”

“So there’s no contact after all. You’re both in charge of this Golden Crane Pavilion and handling contacts.”

“What…”

“Yangyang County is the Jegal Family’s front yard, but it’s not far from the Mu Dang Faction either. No matter how swollen their guts are, if they want to do the job properly, it’s reasonable to keep the number of demons to a minimum. It’s easy to cut off tails too.”

“…!!”

“Usually contacts don’t reveal themselves like this. If communication is cut off in the middle, there’s no disaster like that disaster. But you moved. It doesn’t mean you took a risk, but that it doesn’t matter if you die.”

The woman said nothing.

Moyong Bi felt the need to shake her once more.

“The fire bombs your subordinate threw were quite impressive. We can’t mass-produce fire bombs to replace what was consumed in the war with Seongheolgung, but the knowledge gained from that war remains intact.”

“….”

“Still, not just anyone can make them. Rather, such knowledge is passed down in strict secrecy. Naturally, they’re not something you can make for a coin or two either.”

The corner of Moyong Bi’s mouth rose.

“Sanjin Hall, was it?”

“…!”

“You’re directly connected to them.”

Since they’re trained to throw away their lives like grass, they’re also educated not to waver under various tortures and temptations.

But there are countless methods of torture and persuasion in this world, and the ways people pressure other people are too numerous to count.

It’s impossible to be educated in all those methods, and even if you were, the degree of pressure varies from person to person even with the same approach.

Without realizing it herself, the woman opened her mouth.

“Where is Sanjin Hall? I don’t know such a place!”

“Anyone interested in the martial world would know Sanjin Hall, the financial organization of the Jegal Clan. Especially someone active in Hubei, and moreover a member of an intelligence organization.”

“…!”

“Thank you. So your superior is indeed lurking in the Jegal Clan’s main family house.”

The woman’s face turned pale.

Her change in complexion delivered another truth to Moyong Bi’s keen senses.

“I said the Jegal main family, not Sanjin Hall. Yet your reaction is intense.”

“…?!”

“Not Sanjin Hall, but connected to Shin An Dan?”

Though her heart nearly jumped out, the woman thought she should hide her expression even now.

That unnatural change only told Moyong Bi even more.

“You’re turning speculation into certainty. I heard that Shin An Dan and Sanjin Hall came under Jeogal Myeong’s command.”

“…!”

“I had my doubts, but indeed that bastard exists at the center of all this.”

Neung Hyeong grumbled inwardly.

‘He could slap a ghost in the face. No wonder we had such a hard time dealing with someone like that.’

They said that despite being the Martial Alliance Leader, whenever he had time, he would personally interrogate enemies.

At first, he thought that intelligence was a joke. It’s uncommon for a leader to personally handle such menial tasks.

But apparently it was true. Seeing him toy with a properly trained demon, he had clearly mastered this approach.

“Jeogal Myeong is famous for being a dullard. Yet I heard that three years ago, he eliminated the Three Heavenly Fiends. Whatever method he used, it wouldn’t be easy with the skills rumored about him.”

Moyong Bi stroked his chin.

“Bang Hyo’s Bi Chang Moon… Hong Clan Sword Family… Don’t tell me Jeogal Myeong also learned incomplete demonic arts?”

“…?!”

“But even if incomplete, it would be hard for the Jegal Clan not to notice… Perhaps it’s a much more complete art than the incomplete demonic arts we’ve seen so far.”

It was more like muttering to himself than a direct question.

At this moment, the woman’s guard was completely down.

“Who, who the hell are you?!”

It was the moment when all of Moyong Bi’s speculations were confirmed as fact.

Swoosh.

The spear blade touched the woman’s abdomen.

“Whether you die or not, as long as no contact reaches them, those bastards will move somehow, right?”

“….”

“Then there’s no need to keep you alive.”

Malice bloomed in the woman’s eyes that had been colored with confusion.

“The day when God descends is not far off. No matter how much you bastards struggle…”

Thunk!

“Huk!”

The woman whose dantian was shattered and spine severed gaped her mouth wide.

Hissssss.

The rampaging demonic energy frantically wrapped around her entire body, destroying her vital energy.

The woman’s skin dried up in an instant.

Fear appeared on her face as she realized her own death. Feeling her entire body shrivel and decay vividly, no matter how harsh her training had been, facing an end different from ‘normal death,’ she was lost in terrible fear.

Moyong Bi pulled out his spear and turned around.

“Let’s go.”

Neung Hyeong looked down at the woman for a moment.

From the abdomen of the woman who had instantly transformed into a mummy-like appearance, barely any blood flowed.

Moyong Bi asked calmly.

“Do you feel sympathy?”

“….”

“Most of the Seongheolgung demons who died by our hands met such an end. Even those stained with fanaticism writhed in terrible pain and fear when they died.”

“….”

“Perhaps that’s why they raged even more fiercely.”

They couldn’t flee because they believed in God’s existence. But they didn’t want to die either.

On a path with nowhere to retreat, the demons of Seongheol had no choice but to rage half-mad.

Neung Hyeong turned around.

“Are you going straight there?”

“I’ll go when Jegal Chung Ho contacts me.”

“Don’t touch anything until the contact comes.”

Moyong Bi had something he wanted to ask Neung Hyeong, but he didn’t ask now.

The next day, until receiving the letter from Jegal Chung Ho, Neung Hyeong drank alcohol until dawn.

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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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