Fist Demon of Mount Hua - Chapter 184

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 184. The Age of Dragons and Tigers — Part Two
Hae So Wol walked alone through the courtyard of the Sak Province branch.
It had been months since arriving in Sak Province, yet the life here still felt unfamiliar.
“Hmm?”
A figure entered Hae So Wol’s sight as she strolled through the courtyard.
A man standing alone beneath the moonlight—someone she knew well.
‘Un Gyeong the Daoist.’
He was a Daoist sent from Hua Shan Sect to retrieve Hyun So the Zhenren. But more than his Hua Shan origins, the fact that he was Dam Ho’s senior brother captivated her curiosity.
“Ah, Miss Hae.”
Un Gyeong noticed Hae So Wol’s approach.
“My apologies. I didn’t mean to intrude on your contemplation.”
“Not at all. But tell me, what brings Miss Hae to walk the courtyard alone at such a late hour?”
“I simply couldn’t sleep.”
“I find myself in the same predicament. Strange—the sleep won’t come.”
“Are you finding your stay comfortable?”
Thanks to you and the branch master, I’m managing quite well. Please don’t concern yourselves about us.”
“How are things progressing with Hyun So the Zhenren?”
“Hah, I’m embarrassed to say. The old grievances from our master’s school haven’t settled, so it hasn’t been easy.”
Un Gyeong’s smile turned bitter.
Hae So Wol had witnessed everything already. There was no reason to hide now.
Hae So Wol’s lips tightened for a moment. From her expression, Un Gyeong sensed something was amiss.
After a brief hesitation, Hae So Wol finally spoke.
“When you met Hyun So the Zhenren not long ago.”
“Yes?”
“I spoke with a child there—one called Ha Yeong. That child mentioned an uncle.”
“An uncle?”
“That’s what the child called Hyun So the Zhenren’s former disciple.”
“Ah! You mean Cheon Gyeong?”
“That person’s real name is… Dam Ho, isn’t it?”
“So the child told you that too? It’s true. Cheon Gyeong’s personal name is Dam Ho.”
“Then?”
“He’s known to the world by the alias Gwon Ma.”
Hae So Wol closed her eyes.
When she’d heard it from Ha Yeong, it hadn’t struck her deeply. But hearing it directly from Un Gyeong, the shock came unexpectedly heavy.
Sensing the shift in Hae So Wol’s expression, Un Gyeong asked carefully.
“Why? Do you know Cheon Gyeong, Miss Hae?”
“I’ve met him before, long ago.”
“Is that so?”
Un Gyeong’s curiosity was piqued.
Dam Ho was famous in the world by the alias Gwon Ma, yet Hua Shan Sect knew almost nothing of him—only fragmented rumors scattered through the world.
“What of Cheon Gyeong now? Does he still resent Hua Shan?”
“He has never once spoken of his master’s school.”
“Hmm.”
He’d suspected as much, but hearing it from Hae So Wol made his chest ache all the more.
It would have been easier if Dam Ho resented and yearned for Hua Shan. Instead, it was clear he had forgotten the sect entirely.
In this situation, it was a blessing he harbored no grudge against Hua Shan. Yet the elders of the master’s school were determined to exploit Dam Ho, dragging Hyun So the Zhenren into their schemes.
Un Gyeong thought it utterly contemptible. But he too was a Daoist of Hua Shan, bound by Jang Moon In’s orders, which he could not refuse.
“Do you happen to know where Cheon Gyeong is now?”
“After parting ways at the Murim Alliance, I came straight here, so I don’t know either.”
“I see.”
Un Gyeong’s smile had turned bitter when it happened.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, flames erupted from a pavilion near the front gate of the Sak Province branch.
“F-fire!”
“It’s a night raid!”
Voices erupted in a cacophony around them.
Both of their expressions changed instantly.
“What?”
Hae So Wol was the first to react.
She deployed her Gyeong Gong and rushed toward the flames. Un Gyeong hurled himself forward in her wake.
“How can this be?”
As they reached the main gate, a fierce skirmish erupted between the invading warriors and the fighters of the Sak Province branch.
Slash!
Each time sword light flashed, warriors screamed and fell.
The invaders were conducting a merciless massacre through the Sak Province branch.
“Infinite Buddha!”
Un Gyeong plunged into the fray without hesitation.
He didn’t know the identities of these attackers, but saving the branch warriors had to come first.
Meanwhile, Hae So Wol watched the battlefield with a cold stare.
“The Demon Cult.”
Having clashed with them before, she recognized the invaders’ nature at a glance.
The Demon Cult warriors carried an atmosphere fundamentally different from those of the Central Plain—a damp, suffocating presence that, once experienced, could never be forgotten.
At that moment, a booming voice thundered from among the Demon Cult fighters.
“Ha-ha-ha! I am Go San Woong, the Paramount Demon King of the Divine Teaching. I’ll sweep away the rabble of the Murim Alliance in an instant!”
Go San Woong was a master known even within the Demon Cult.
The warriors he led were a vanguard sent to crush the morale of the Sak Province branch.
Their orders were simple: rampage and destroy freely. Go San Woong was dutifully carrying out the massacre.
Whoosh!
Hae So Wol threw herself toward Go San Woong.
Her beloved blade, Byeok Sang, scattered a piercing light.
“Stinking bitch…”
Go San Woong, unafraid of Hae So Wol’s reckless assault, unleashed a fist toward her.
Boom!
Powerful Fist Force tore the air to shreds. Yet Hae So Wol didn’t evade—she drove her blade downward to meet it.
Clash!
The Sword Energy gathered on her blade erupted.
The two collided.
Neither of them knew it then: their clash was the beginning of a Great War that would decide the fate of the entire Murim.
The fighting that started here would consume all of the Murim in its flames.
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Luoyang was an ancient capital bearing a thousand years of history.
So many kingdoms had made it their capital that tales were told of nine dynasties calling it home. It was renowned especially as a center of learning and culture, and had produced countless scholars and masters of the age.
The Longmen Stone Caves, home to more than a hundred thousand Buddhist statues, and the Bai Ma Temple, known as the first Buddhist monastery in the Central Plain, were famous throughout the land.
Above all, near Luoyang stood Shaolin Sect, the patriarch of all martial sects in the Central Plain. Because of this, the city of Luoyang was suffused with Buddhist character.
The Jinhua Inn was a fairly large establishment located just outside Luoyang’s south gate. Though it lay on the outskirts, its substantial stable and courtyard attracted numerous merchant caravans.
The innkeeper of the Jinhua Inn rushed forward the moment he saw two horses approaching through the main entrance.
“Welcome, welcome!”
Two figures sat atop the horses. Both had their faces and necks wrapped tightly with scarves, obscuring their features entirely. Yet their build made it clear enough—one was male, the other female.
The figure presumed to be the woman asked,
“Do you have rooms?”
“Of course, sir.”
“Then prepare two for us.”
“Two, not one?”
“We sleep separately.”
“Understood. I’ll prepare two modest rooms for you.”
“Much obliged.”
“Please come inside. I’ll show you to your rooms once I’ve settled the horses in the stable.”
The two guests dismounted and entered the inn following the innkeeper’s words.
“My, what magnificent beasts.”
The innkeeper murmured as he gazed at the two horses.
In his three years working at the Jinhua Inn, he’d seen countless horses. Yet none had been as striking as the Black Horse his guests had just entrusted to him.
As the Black Horse moved, its coat rippled like silk. The sight was almost enchanting.
“Ah!”
Without thinking, the innkeeper found himself stroking the Black Horse’s shoulder.
As he led it into the stable, the other horses recoiled from the Black Horse’s presence and whinnied nervously.
Within moments, the stable filled with the sound of the animals’ cries.
The moment the woman stepped inside the inn, she unwound the scarf that had covered her face and neck, revealing a beautiful countenance.
“Phew!”
She was Jong Ri Yeon.
The man beside Jong Ri Yeon was Dam Ho. He too now unwound the scarf from his face and surveyed the interior of the inn.
Many people sat scattered at tables throughout the inn, yet none paid any attention to the two newcomers.
Jong Ri Yeon led Dam Ho to an empty spot.
“Let’s sit over there.”
Dam Ho followed her in silence.
Six days after leaving the Yegang River, they had arrived in Luoyang. Fatigue was written plainly across Jong Ri Yeon’s face.
When Myeong Cheon vanished, Jong Ri Yeon had suffered most. With nowhere else to turn, she had simply followed Dam Ho all the way here.
For reasons Dam Ho didn’t quite examine, he hadn’t turned her away—instead, he’d permitted her to travel with him.
“This is truly exhausting,” she murmured.
Jong Ri Yeon shook her head wearily.
The journey here had been uneventful enough, but the relentless rhythm of riding hard without rest had drained her reserves. Her face bore the marks of it plainly.
Dam Ho watched her in silence. At his gaze, Jong Ri Yeon’s cheeks flushed and she looked away, embarrassed.
That was when—
“Have you heard the rumors?”
Voices from a nearby table drifted into their ears.
The men engaged in conversation were merchants staying the night at the inn.
“What rumors?”
“They say the Murim Alliance and the Demon Cult clashed in Sak Province.”
“Is that something new? There was fighting in Baekun last year too, wasn’t there?”
“This time is different.”
“How so?”
“The scale and ferocity of it were far worse than usual.”
“They say hundreds were killed in a single night’s fighting. The Sak Province branch of the Alliance nearly came to ruin entirely.”
One of them whistled low.
“If not for the help of Un Gyeong from the Hua Shan Sect and Hae So Wol from the Haenam Sect—both happened to be stationed in Sak Province—they would have been wiped out.”
“Truly?”
Dam Ho found himself looking toward the merchants without meaning to. Two people he knew had been mentioned. The merchants, oblivious to his attention, continued their animated chatter.
“Indeed it’s true.”
“Good heavens! If that’s the case, Shanxi Province will become far more perilous.”
“Perilous hardly begins to cover it. The Murim Alliance has already dispatched more masters to reinforce Sak Province.”
“And the Demon Cult?”
“They must have done the same. Though we ordinary folk wouldn’t know, surely reinforcements have already been sent.”
“A hell on earth is opening.”
The merchants shuddered.
They were traders who wandered the realm in pursuit of profit. When chaos came, wealth could be made—but at the cost of one’s life.
Particularly in places like Sak Province where direct warfare was breaking out, one needed nerves of iron even to consider going there.
“For now, we’d best avoid any trading ventures into Shanxi Province and watch how this matter develops.”
“My thoughts exactly. No matter how much profit there is, a corpse can’t spend it.”
“Sigh—let’s have another drink. What on earth is happening to the world?”
“My sentiments precisely.”
“Those without power might as well stay quiet and accept their fate.”
The merchants raised their cups with bitter expressions.
Dam Ho felt something lurch strangely in his chest.
It wasn’t because of the Daoist name Un Gyeong, nor was it the name Hae So Wol. It had started the moment he heard the place name “Sak Province.”
Dam Ho’s brow furrowed deeply.

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