The Heavenly Demon Cult’s Strongest Maid - Chapter 295
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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 49
When I arrived at Geumhwa Tower, I felt something strange.
Normally at this time, it should be bustling with customers without room to step, but it was eerily quiet.
Even if the Martial Arts Alliance had entered an emergency situation, was there reason for it to be like this?
They might exercise restraint, but not seeing even a single ant, let alone customers, didn’t make sense.
At the very least, there should be waitresses, cooks, or courtesans.
“I can’t detect any presence at all.”
“This is suspicious.”
It was true that I had specifically targeted Geumhwa Tower, but I didn’t expect it to have such an openly suspicious atmosphere.
Was Tam-rang that rushed?
When an opponent skilled at hiding traces revealed flaws, I was rather flustered.
“It might be a trap.”
Seo-ryeon, experienced as the ace of Yeom-wang Unit, instructed the three witches.
“Hyeol-nyeo, Gwi-nyeo, Gwang-nyeo. You three monitor the outside. Report immediately if you detect anything suspicious.”
“Yes!”
“The rest follow me.”
Whatever it was, we had to go inside to find out.
I breathed calmly and opened the door to move forward.
Creak.
Squeak. Squeak.
Sounds that normally wouldn’t be heard echoed throughout the hall. As expected, not even a shadow of a person could be seen.
“Start searching systematically from downstairs!”
“Yes!”
At my command, the Bongwang-dae members exchanged glances and scattered.
I stood in the center and looked up at the space that opened all the way to the top floor ceiling along the spiral stairs.
There was no sign of people, but it seemed like I could faintly hear some sound.
Bang!
Then Jeon Hye-yun rushed inside and shouted.
“There’s a fire on the fifth floor!”
Fire?
Was that sound from earlier the sound of burning then?
I immediately stepped on the railing and leaped upward.
“To the right!”
Jeon Hye-yun indicated the direction from below.
“Thanks!”
I drew Mabang Bicheongang to its peak and ran at full speed.
“…!”
A musty smell stung my nose from somewhere.
Following the smell, I found a room with black smoke seeping through the door cracks.
Crash!
I smashed the door in one blow.
Whoosh!
As the door broke, the blocked flames shot out even outside.
‘This is… the smell of oil?’
As expected, it wasn’t a simple fire.
Someone had deliberately committed arson with intent.
Naturally, it would be Tam-rang.
‘What was he trying to hide by setting the fire?’
It was just one room for now, but if we had been a little later, the entire Geumhwa Tower would have been engulfed in flames.
I protected my body with internal energy and rushed inside.
“Haaah!”
I first unleashed a palm strike to suppress the fierce flames.
Bang! Boom boom bang!
The powerful palm force forcibly pressed down the flames and drove out even the smoke.
And I doubted my eyes at the scene revealed inside the room.
Over ten corpses were burning.
Whoosh!
Without time to examine the corpses closely, the fire flared up greatly again.
Fire that caught on oil wouldn’t be easily extinguished.
The flames that shot up instantly rushed at me as if to devour me.
“Miss! Come out!”
“We brought water!”
“No!”
I urgently blocked the members carrying water buckets.
“It’s oil! The fire could spread even bigger!”
I shouted to the members while unleashing palm strikes.
“We need cloth to smother the fire! There should be plenty in the courtesans’ rooms!”
At my command, the members immediately scattered in all directions.
Then suddenly Eok Hwi-gyeom stepped forward.
“Sister! Let me try to blow out the fire all at once!”
Whooooo!
Tremendous energy flowed from Eok Hwi-gyeom.
Though young, befitting the son of Cheonma, the amount of internal energy he emitted surpassed the level of the Bongwang-dae members.
The martial art he had learned was also a supreme martial art passed down only to the son of Cheonma.
Just as tremendous energy was about to fill the entire room.
“Hey!”
Yang Ha-rin grabbed Eok Hwi-gyeom’s ear and pulled.
“Ow! It hurts!”
The internal energy that had been surging like a storm instantly subsided.
“Are you an idiot? Do you have no intelligence? Don’t you think at all?”
“What?”
“Would Sister Seolha be doing that because she can’t put out the fire?”
“…Then why is she doing that?”
Only then seeming to sense something strange, Eok Hwi-gyeom asked in a deflated voice.
“Do you see those corpses inside or not?”
“I see them.”
“If you put out the fire with that great power of yours, would those corpses be safe? Obviously Tam-rang pulled that stunt, so if we want to find evidence, we need to examine them carefully!”
Since Yang Ha-rin was only saying the right things, Eok Hwi-gyeom’s expression became dejected.
Then feeling sorry for him again, Yang Ha-rin praised the boy.
“Still, it was admirable that you tried to step forward without sparing yourself. Now you’re starting to seem like a proper Bongwang-dae member.”
“Really? Do I really seem like Bongwang-dae too?”
“Yeah. You’ve developed quite a bit.”
Eok Hwi-gyeom seemed moved by Yang Ha-rin’s praise.
“Now, let’s move quickly too. We need to put out the fire.”
“Got it.”
“Hey, aren’t you going to call me sister? Did you forget again?”
“I didn’t!”
“Anyway, if you’re just a little nice to him, he gets all cocky!”
Yang Ha-rin grabbed Eok Hwi-gyeom’s ear and went to get cloth to extinguish the fire.
While I used my palm force to prevent the fire from spreading, fortunately the disciples brought cloth soaked in water and threw it over the flames.
Only after doing this for nearly an hour were we able to extinguish the fire.
The room where the fire had been put out was filled with ash and soot.
“Ah, Miss!”
Yu-un, who was removing cloth to examine the corpses, called out to me while stammering unusually.
“You should come take a look at this.”
“What is it?”
“Do you recognize anyone here?”
Not just me, but the disciples couldn’t contain their curiosity and approached Yu-un.
“Well… all their chests are pierced through.”
Thanks to suppressing the fire early, the condition of the corpses was better than expected.
Here, “better” referred to the degree of burns.
Excluding that, the state of the corpses was horrific itself.
“Isn’t this the Life-Absorbing Technique?”
“Like dried meat, only skin remains on all of them. Their life force was clearly drained completely!”
“…He must have treated his internal injuries.”
I agreed with Yun Ha-ram’s speculation.
Tam-rang had cruelly healed his internal injuries here using others’ life force.
The predecessor of Bloodsky Sect, the organization he belonged to, was the Blood Sect.
The Life-Absorbing Technique that drained others’ life blood was a representative demonic art of the Blood Sect.
“Judging by their clothing, these are waitresses and courtesans.”
“So this is where they went.”
“This one looks older, so he’s probably the owner of Geumhwa Tower.”
“It seems not all of Geumhwa Tower were Tam-rang’s subordinates.”
While examining the corpses more closely with the disciples.
“S-Sister!”
Eok Hwi-gyeom looked for me with a face about to faint.
“What’s wrong? What happened now?”
“L-look at this!”
“Th-there’s no face…”
“What are you talking about? No face?”
I rushed over in anxiety.
“…The facial skin has been carved off.”
Song Mu-hyeon spoke hesitantly, unable to face the corpse directly.
“Carved off the facial skin? Don’t tell me he made human skin masks?”
“That’s what we presume.”
Sigh, that bastard Tam-rang.
Life-Absorbing Technique and human skin masks too.
He’s really going all the way.
“But sister, about these clothes…”
Yang Ha-rin pointed to the clothing of the corpse whose facial skin was gone.
“It’s Martial Arts Alliance uniform.”
“What?”
“You know I practically lived at the Martial Arts Alliance before, right? Most of it burned away, but this pattern and material are definitely from the Martial Arts Alliance.”
Though Yang Ha-rin had a nasty personality, she had good observational skills.
Let me organize this then.
Tam-rang, who healed his internal injuries with the Life-Absorbing Technique, disguised himself again as a Martial Arts Alliance warrior.
Why?
To escape the Heavenly Net?
“Hah! Don’t think you’ve won!”
“I lost this time, but I promise. Next time, no matter what, First Miss, I’ll kill you first.”
His final curse particularly bothered me.
Could it be that bastard Tam-rang returned to the Martial Arts Alliance to kill me?
While serving as a strategist in the Military Department, he would have contacted many warriors.
If he had chosen someone among them and practiced their behavior and speech patterns in advance?
He could have been reborn as a completely different person.
“Ha-rini.”
“Yeah?”
“Are there any clues in this uniform that could identify someone? Like affiliation or rank?”
“No.”
Yang Ha-rin shook her head with an apologetic expression.
“This is just issued like everyday clothing.”
Well, if there had been any distinguishing features, he wouldn’t have left them.
Finding it before the fire spread was lucky.
“What should we do?”
“First, we need to inform the Alliance.”
This was also an opportunity to tell everyone just how vicious Tam-rang was.
“Preserve the scene 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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