Namgung Heavenly Demon - Chapter 99

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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 99

The entrance to Nakwachin Village.

Every time a desolate wind blew, the branches of the pear trees planted at the village entrance swayed roughly.

Moreover, strange howls like the cries of beasts could occasionally be heard from within the village.

But what was even more eerie was the green barrier that surrounded the village in layers.

They were warriors of the Sichuan Dang Clan.

They were all dressed in dark green martial robes, and what was peculiar was that they all had half their faces covered with thick cotton cloth.

“…Hah.”

Mujin let out a hollow laugh at the sight.

“All those people just surrounding the village and staying put. What the hell is happening inside that has those Dang Clan bastards so scared they won’t even budge?”

He was right.

The Dang Clan, experts in poisons and medicines.

It was widely known that they were also deeply versed in medical arts.

So if there truly was a plague spreading inside, they would have gone in and somehow resolved it.

But they were only surrounding the village’s perimeter, not taking a single step inside.

Namgung Cheon, who had been quietly observing them, slowly opened his mouth.

“They already went in.”

“…?”

“An advance team went in, but… even they must have been consumed by those strange symptoms. So those people aren’t standing there for rescue or resolution.”

“Then don’t tell me…”

Mujin’s expression hardened.

Namgung Cheon spoke as if driving in a nail.

“Containment. Preventing whatever’s inside from coming out. That’s probably their only purpose. Since the situation has already occurred, saving the common people won’t change anything.”

“That means…”

Mujin’s fists trembled.

“They’ve abandoned the people inside? Including Elder Jukrim Uiseon and his disciples?”

“Probably. Until all the screams from inside stop, and no more signs of the living can be felt…”

Namgung Cheon’s gaze turned toward the firmly blocked village entrance.

“They’ll keep guarding that position. Until everything inside dies and disappears.”

“These damn bastards!”

Enraged, Mujin rose as if he would charge out immediately.

But Namgung Cheon raised his hand to stop him.

“Don’t get excited. Let’s try talking first.”

“What conversation could work with people who would let a village die?”

“We have to make it work.”

Namgung Cheon took the first step.

Step, step.

At the sound of the two men’s footsteps in the quiet situation, the gazes of the Dang Clan warriors all turned toward them at once.

Their eyes sharpened.

Outsiders, and armed warriors at that, were approaching.

Click.

The Dang Clan warriors in the front row all moved their hands to their waists simultaneously.

Then one of them, a middle-aged man who seemed to hold rank, stepped forward.

He too had his nose and mouth firmly covered with thick cotton cloth.

“Stop.”

His voice echoed with a muffled sound due to the thick cotton cloth.

“This place is a forbidden zone sealed by order of the Head of the Dang Clan. Further approach is not permitted, so if you value your lives, turn back immediately.”

A clear warning.

Then Mujin calmed his emotions and spoke composedly.

“I am Mujin of the Jeokmeolgeom. Jukrim Uiseon is inside. Do you plan to let him die?”

At Mujin’s words, the middle-aged man’s eyebrows twitched.

The story that Mujin, disciple of the Wandering King, owed a life debt to Jukrim Uiseon was widely known.

Of course, not only that, but countless people in Chengdu owed him life debts.

His medical skills were that outstanding.

However.

“…The situation is too grave. If the plague inside spreads outside, all of Chengdu could be in danger.”

“So you’ll let everyone die?”

As Mujin’s emotions began to intensify, Namgung Cheon grabbed Mujin’s shoulder and stepped forward.

“I’ll speak.”

Namgung Cheon approached with calm steps right up to the Dang Clan warriors.

“I am the Third Young Master of the Namgung Clan, Namgung Cheon.”

When the name Namgung was mentioned, unrest arose among the Dang Clan warriors.

Moreover, Namgung Cheon’s name had already become known to the Dang Clan.

But the middle-aged man did not back down easily.

“Even for Young Master Namgung, there are no exceptions.”

His words were almost tragic.

It was proof of how serious this situation was.

Namgung Cheon nodded.

He confirmed that words alone wouldn’t work.

In that case.

‘I’ll have to show them.’

Namgung Cheon reached into his robes.

At that movement, the Dang Clan warriors tensed and prepared to throw hidden weapons.

But what Namgung Cheon pulled out was not a weapon.

A jade plaque emitting green light.

“Will you still block us even with this?”

Namgung Cheon held up the jade plaque.

Even in the overcast weather, the jade plaque was emitting a clear green radiance.

The moment he saw that plaque.

“…!”

The middle-aged man’s eyes widened as if they would pop out.

He stared at the plaque intently, doubting his own eyes.

It couldn’t be fake.

There was only one such item in all of Tianxia.

“This is…”

The middle-aged man’s lips trembled.

During the past Righteous-Demonic War, the Sichuan Dang Clan faced the crisis of annihilation.

The League had deployed full force to protect them, and this was the green jade plaque that the Head of the Dang Clan had given to the League.

Such a green jade plaque was in the hands of a Namgung Clan young master.

“How, how does the Young Master have this…”

“The League Master entrusted it to me.”

To be precise, Jegal Hyeon, his strategist, had given it to him, but since Jegal Hyeon wouldn’t have failed to report this to the League Master, the meaning wasn’t much different.

The middle-aged man hurriedly bowed his head.

“I apologize! I have committed a discourtesy.”

“May we enter?”

After pondering for a moment, the middle-aged man took a breath and answered.

“Understood. However…”

The middle-aged man raised his head and spoke earnestly.

“Inside is a living hell. I cannot guarantee your safe return. Will you really enter?”

“Yes, I’ll go in.”

At Namgung Cheon’s resolute answer, the middle-aged man could no longer dissuade him and nodded his head.

“Lift the blockade! Open the way!”

With his shout, the Dang Clan warriors moved in perfect unison.

The wooden barriers were slowly cleared away, revealing the path leading to the village.

“Let’s go.”

Namgung Cheon took the lead.

Mujin stared at that dark path for a moment, then gripped his sword properly and followed behind Namgung Cheon.

As they crossed the blockade line, the sound of wooden barriers moving again could be heard from behind them.

Thus, the two men stepped forward into Nakwachin Village, where nothing could be known.

* * *

The heavy yet sticky energy felt immediately upon entering the village.

‘…It really is demonic energy.’

Moreover, another energy cleverly mixed in the atmosphere.

Namgung Cheon’s eyes narrowed.

‘It’s poison.’

A light concentration that ordinary people would only feel as slight breathlessness.

But this was the greatest trap.

‘The more uncomfortable breathing becomes, the more instinctively people try to breathe more frequently.’

By breathing more frequently like that, demonic energy would eventually accumulate more often and in greater amounts inside the body.

‘So they turned innocent civilians who knew no martial arts into undead.’

But it didn’t end there.

“Young master, there seems to be demonic energy and poison energy.”

The moment Mujin said this and tried to use his internal energy to drive away the two energies.

“Don’t circulate your internal energy.”

Namgung Cheon grabbed Mujin and said.

“And you must control not only your internal energy but also your breathing. The moment you breathe deeper because you’re short of breath, you’ll be caught in the trap.”

At Namgung Cheon’s words, Mujin was quite flustered.

To a martial artist, internal energy was like air.

Breathing, moving hands and feet, even seeing and hearing often involved using internal energy.

Rather, being able to use internal energy in all such matters was considered necessary for achieving harmony of body, energy, and spirit.

Therefore, telling him not to use internal energy was like telling him to temporarily give up being a martial artist, and at the same time, it was like telling him to let demonic energy and poison energy ravage his body.

“…Must I do that?”

To Mujin’s question, Namgung Cheon answered.

“If you don’t want to catch that strange disease.”

Namgung Cheon continued his explanation.

“The moment you circulate internal energy, the demonic energy will rampage through your blood vessels and seize control of your dantian. For a martial artist, this air is like an immediate poison.”

Mujin’s face hardened.

Now he understood.

Why the Dang Clan had surrounded the village so thoroughly without entering.

‘As the young master said, advance teams must have entered and instinctively drawn up their internal energy to drive away the poison and demonic energy.’

But that would have been the root of disaster.

“Hah… I understand.”

Mujin swallowed dry saliva and gathered all the internal energy flowing through his body into his dantian.

Namgung Cheon did the same.

Then their bodies became as heavy as a thousand pounds.

“This way, we’re no different from ordinary people who have trained their bodies a little.”

“It can’t be helped. Let’s go again.”

Not long after they started walking again.

“Grrrrr…”

A bizarre sound like a beast’s cry came from somewhere.

Mujin flinched and grabbed his sword hilt.

“Ahead.”

Namgung Cheon whispered quietly.

Forms began to reveal themselves one by one from the darkness.

Unfocused red eyes, drool flowing from their mouths.

They were undead.

“Kraaaak!”

One undead at the front screamed and charged forward.

Mujin reflexively tried to draw up his internal energy but stopped.

Because of this, his reaction was delayed by a beat.

‘Damn!’

Mujin hastily swung his sheathed sword to block the undead’s attack.

Clang!

A dull impact traveled up his wrist.

The undead’s strength was beyond imagination.

This was thanks to demonic energy forcibly raising the limits of the physical body.

“Be careful! Their strength is no joke!”

Mujin shouted.

In an instant, the remaining undead also charged.

Namgung Cheon held his sheathed sword and penetrated between the undead with graceful footwork.

Though he couldn’t use internal energy, he had a strong body reborn through the Heaven-Defying Muscle Transformation Method.

Thwack! Ugh!

His sheathed sword precisely struck the joints and vital points of the undead.

It was an extremely controlled technique that broke bones and severed tendons to neutralize movement.

But the fallen undead felt no pain.

Even with broken legs they crawled forward, even with twisted arms they bared their teeth trying to bite.

“This seems endless?”

Mujin clicked his tongue.

Since he couldn’t use internal energy, he couldn’t deliver decisive blows, and since they might return to normal, he couldn’t cut them all down either.

Then, a group of undead wearing different colored clothing from those who had appeared so far came into their sight.

Green martial robes.

They were warriors of the Sichuan Dang Clan.

They held poison-coated hidden weapons in their hands, and internal energy mixed with demonic energy could be felt from them.

Namgung Cheon frowned.

‘Peak level, perhaps. This is troublesome.’

Undead who had learned martial arts.

And they had to face such opponents while unable to use internal energy.

“Be careful.”

As soon as Namgung Cheon’s warning fell, the Dang Clan undead rushed forward.

Swish swish swoosh!

Hidden weapons poured down like rain.

Namgung Cheon spun his sheathed sword to deflect the hidden weapons.

But taking advantage of that gap, one undead targeted Namgung Cheon’s opening and penetrated.

A poison-coated dagger aimed for Namgung Cheon’s neck.

‘Fast.’

If he had used internal energy, it would have been a laughable speed, but not now.

Namgung Cheon leaned his upper body back and avoided the dagger by a hair’s breadth.

At the same time, he kicked out his foot to strike the Silhonin’s abdomen.

Thwack!

The Silhonin was pushed back, but immediately regained his stance and charged again.

His eyes gradually burned even redder.

“So persistent!”

Mujin was also struggling nearby.

He was breaking out in a cold sweat dealing with three Dang Clan Silhonin.

While Mujin was far superior in swordsmanship, subduing them without internal energy was not easy.

“Hup!”

Instead of drawing his sword, Mujin extended his scabbard like a spear and stabbed at the Silhonin’s solar plexus.

Thud!

A precise strike.

But the Silhonin, seemingly unable to feel pain, instead grabbed the stabbing scabbard and pulled Mujin toward him.

“This crazy bastard!”

Mujin didn’t panic and let go of the scabbard, then broke the Silhonin’s arm with his bare hands.

Crack!

With the sound of breaking bone, the arm bent grotesquely, but the Silhonin swung a hidden weapon with his other hand.

Swish.

Mujin’s collar was sliced off.

“Damn persistent.”

Mujin breathed roughly.

His opponents felt no pain and never tired.

Meanwhile, he had to be careful even with his breathing.

“Young Master! Got any tricks? At this rate we’ll be here all night!”

Mujin shouted.

But far from having tricks, the situation was getting worse.

Clatter clatter clatter!

Before they knew it, dozens of Silhonin who had rushed from all directions filled the surroundings.

Red eyes glinted from all directions.

At that moment, five Silhonin dressed as Dang Clan warriors simultaneously charged toward Mujin.

In their hands were poison-coated daggers.

Swoosh!

“Hup!”

Mujin gritted his teeth and threw himself forward.

He rolled on the ground to avoid two attacks, then used the momentum of getting up to kick one of them in the jaw.

Thwack!

But the remaining three closed in on Mujin from both sides.

Swoosh!

There was no space to dodge.

A moment of life and death.

‘Damn it!’

Mujin made his decision.

He would draw upon his internal energy for a quick decisive finish.

Just as he was about to explode the internal energy in his dantian.

A familiar hand reached out in front of Mujin.

Whoosh—.

The sound of something burning rang in Mujin’s ears.

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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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