Chapter 135: Securing Evidence
The position of the people of Room 32 beca awkward, as it ended up seeming as though they had left the Bright Cult mbers free to act. Jiangsu, where Suzhou was located, was practically the Hundred Paths’ own front yard.
Moreover, not only Suzhou but Jiangsu as a whole lacked any clear Overlord.
It was more like a chaotic spread of small- and dium-sized sects of similar strength.
They had requested cooperation from them, but the mont the na Emperor Salyejin was ntioned, not a single one stepped forward.
It was not that I couldn’t understand them, but the problem was that we could not imdiately secure the strength needed to respond.
In the end, a ssage Hawk was sent to the Martial Alliance, and Room 32 had no choice but to keep watch from a distance.
No matter how much we talked about compromise and the like, there was no helping the worry.
Given the circumstances, the original mission assigned to Room 32 was pushed aside, and it effectively turned into a surveillance operation over the Bright Cult martial artists.
While they were keeping watch, an unexpected sight ca into view.
The Bright Cult mbers who had stord out of the Pleasure Quarters in an uproar were seen moving in a single direction.
Moreover, once they realized the identity of the person leading them, the matter grew even larger.
“Human-Faced Spider!”
“If it is the Human-Faced Spider, isn’t he the forr Young Castle Lord of the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold?”
Though he no longer drew much attention now, ten years ago the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold had stood at the center of the Unorthodox Factions.
For generations, the Four Calamity Emperors—who were also the Lords of the Stronghold—had been more than sufficient as the supre authority of the Unorthodox Factions.
In fact, after the Kongtong Bloodshed carried out fifteen years ago by Emperor Salyejin, the Bright Cult’s movents had grown restrained, and clashes between the Hundred Paths and the Unorthodox Factions had intensified sharply.
At that ti, the one who commanded the Unorthodox side was the forr lord of the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold—the Four Calamity Emperor himself.
Naturally, within the Unorthodox Factions of the Central Plains, the weight of the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold was heavier than any other faction.
That balance shifted when the forr Castle Lord and Four Calamity Emperor, Dark Battle Spider King, died.
Wounded during a clash with the Taiji Sword Emperor in battle against the Hundred Paths, and burdened further by his advanced age, he ultimately never rose again.
Afterward, the Stronghold suffered significant aftereffects from conflict over succession. The legitimacy of the current Castle Lord, Freakish Hamr, beca an issue.
He had not been a disciple of the forr Four Calamity Emperor.
As a result, the forces who had followed the previous Emperor opposed the use of the title “Four Calamity Emperor.”
Naturally, clashes erupted between them and those who supported the current Castle Lord, Freakish Hamr.
The war between these two factions dragged on for nearly ten years.
The current Castle Lord’s faction lacked the strength to crush the opposition.
In fact, by force distribution alone, the current Castle Lord’s side accounted for no more than one-third of the Stronghold’s total strength.
That ant the opposing faction held overwhelmingly superior power, yet they still failed to overpower Freakish Hamr’s side because they lacked a central figure.
They were scattered and unable to concentrate their strength.
Perhaps because of that, people often said that if the Human-Faced Spider—who had been a disciple of the forr Four Calamity Emperor—had been present, the course of the war would have been very different.
Indeed, not only within the Stronghold but throughout the Unorthodox Factions, many still rembered the glory of the forr Four Calamity Emperor.
Thus, it was the general consensus that if the Human-Faced Spider had raised the banner of normalizing the Stronghold, he would have wielded a far stronger centripetal force.
Had that happened, they said, he would have long since pushed out Freakish Hamr and ascended as the next Four Calamity Emperor.
There was no way the opposition did not know what most of the world was saying.
Naturally, they had been making efforts to find the Human-Faced Spider.
And so, the very Human-Faced Spider whom the opposition of the current Four Calamity Emperor had been desperately searching for had suddenly appeared in Suzhou—the Hundred Paths’ own front yard. It was no wonder the people of Room 32 were stunned.
Room 32 imdiately began its pursuit.
Room 32 of the Martial Alliance was not the only group keeping an eye on the Flower Pavilion in Suzhou.
Moreover, these were people who had been watching it long before Room 32 took an interest.
Naturally, they too spotted the Human-Faced Spider leaving the Flower Pavilion.
“Hurry and inform the Castle Lord. Tell him we have finally found the bastard!”
“Yes, Unit Commander.”
After confirming that his subordinate had rushed off to report, Gu Ru-Salyeong stood there—the Unit Commander of the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold’s Slaughter Deity Unit.
The Slaughter Deity Unit, whose na ant those who kill gods, had been raised specifically to hunt down the Number One of the Hundred Paths.
In short, they were trained to kill a single absolute master.
At a gesture from Gu Ru-Salyeong, roughly a hundred of them began to move slowly.
The Castle Lord had entered Jiangsu so ti ago and had yet to arrive, but they had no intention of losing the target they had finally found.
Thus, the hundred or so masters of the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold also followed behind the Human-Faced Spider in the distance.
Among the Bright Cult martial artists following the Human-Faced Spider at the front, Ghost Demon asked,
“A ridiculous number of tails are following us. Shall I clean them up so they don’t beco a nuisance?”
At Ghost Demon’s question, the Cult Leader shook his head.
“Leave them. It is easier to perform an exorcism once all the bastards who need to gather have gathered.”
In other words, he intended to crush them all in one blow when they were assembled.
At the Cult Leader’s words, Ghost Demon let out a small chuckle. After all, there were no fewer than six at the Manifestation Realm.
Honestly, with this level of strength, it was the ones coming after them who should be worried.
In the end, Ghost Demon dismissed the matter from his mind.
After running for so ti, the Human-Faced Spider at the front suddenly halted.
Where he stopped and stared with a flustered expression, people were in an uproar trying to put out flas.
The street of Pleasure Quarters—one that had to be passed to reach the Humble Administrator’s Garden where the Flower Pavilion stood—was completely filled with blazing firelight.
Between people running this way and that carrying buckets of water, nearly half of the Pleasure Quarters visible were burning.
The fire that had started at Fragrant Have had spread to the neighboring Pleasure Quarters, and the blaze had engulfed the entire street.
The saying went that the best spectacle was watching a fight, and the next best was watching a fire—but this was no spectacle. The blaze was too fierce and too widespread.
“Shall we help?”
Even Ghost Demon had asked that, which showed just how serious the situation was.
The Cult Leader, too, was about to lend a hand as Ghost Demon suggested when people suddenly charged in.
Those who rushed forward were the Slaughter Deity Unit, joined by Freakish Hamr, who had received urgent news and raced over like the wind.
Nearly two hundred martial artists of the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold—including Freakish Hamr’s personal guard—had drawn their spears and blades and were charging in, only to halt abruptly.
Freakish Hamr, who had been running at the very front, stopped sharply and brought the charge to a halt.
The distance between those barely halted n and the Bright Cult martial artists was scarcely one jang (about three ters).
For masters of the Martial World, it was a distance that might as well not exist.
The Cult Leader looked at Freakish Hamr—whose face had gone pale—as though he were looking at sothing ridiculous, and asked,
“What is it? Are you here for group suicide too?”
“Th-that is….”
The one who opened a path of survival for those unable to answer was Yul Han.
“They must have co to put out the fire.”
In that instant, Freakish Hamr caught sight of the burning street of Pleasure Quarters behind the Bright Cult mbers and hurriedly said,
“That’s right. We heard there was a fire and ca to extinguish it.”
“With spears and blades drawn?”
“Th-that….”
Flustered, Freakish Hamr once again failed to respond, his complexion turning sallow.
Once more, it was Yul Han who rescued him.
“It must be a habit. I’m sure once they get over there, they’ll sheath their weapons and pick up buckets.”
At Yul Han’s words, the Cult Leader turned to him.
“What’s this? Since when did you start trying to spare the likes of them?”
“No one here has been hard yet.”
“How many people do you think they’ve hard?”
“I neither have the ability nor the inclination to govern the past. If I must make an excuse, my own past isn’t exactly righteous either.”
If the conversation shifted to the past, there was nothing advantageous for the Cult Leader. If it drifted back to fifteen years ago, he would only be placed in an awkward position.
In the end, the Cult Leader had no choice but to agree.
“That’s true. The past is the past. You bastards are lucky.”
Under the Cult Leader’s lingering gaze at the end of that sentence, Freakish Hamr broke into a stiff smile, cold sweat running down his face.
The Cult Leader grumbled at him,
“What are you doing? Not putting out the fire?”
“Huh? Ah! Yes. We will! We must! P-put out the fire! Hurry and extinguish it! Put it out completely!”
At Freakish Hamr’s command, the masters of the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold began to move, looking utterly dumbfounded.
They had no idea why their Castle Lord was acting this way. Naturally, their steps were slow and their movents sluggish.
Did that displease him? The Cult Leader spoke in an irritated tone.
“Iron Demon.”
“Yes, Cult Leader!”
“Beat the bastards who are dawdling! Whether in training or at work, the ones who don’t put in effort need to be beaten to do it properly! Show no rcy!”
“Yes, Cult Leader!”
Among those before whom their Castle Lord dared not even raise his voice, there was only one person in the entire world who would be addressed as Cult Leader.
“Mu, Martial Heaven Demon Emperor!”
One of the Four Heavenly Forces who ruled the world—a peerless master known as the Butcher of the Battlefield or the Mad Slaughterer.
While they were stunned and panicking at having encountered such a figure—
Thud!
With the sound of a leather drum being struck, one of the Stronghold’s masters was sent flying far away.
“You bastards are still dawdling! Fine! Today I’ll beat every last one of you to death!”
Grinding his teeth and rolling up his sleeves, blue Force Energy surged from Iron Demon’s hands.
“F-Fist Energy!”
Seeing Force Energy that could only be used by soone at the Transcendent Realm or higher, urgency set in. But perhaps they were too shocked— the Stronghold’s masters found their legs would not move.
Sothing suddenly flew toward one of them.
Swoooosh—Boom!
Within their frozen vision, they saw a massive crater open up right beside one of their comrades.
It was the result of a lump of Force Energy that had just flown in with a terrifying roar.
If Force Energy was launched… that was a Force Bullet.
And if it was a Force Bullet—
“M-Manifestation Realm!”
Beyond shock, terror swept through the masters of the Stronghold.
Into their ears ca Iron Demon’s grumbling.
“Damn, maybe it’s been too long? My aim’s off. Should I just throw it where there are a lot of them? I’ll hit a few that way.”
With that, Iron Demon grinned wickedly as he looked toward the mass of Stronghold masters gathered together.
The mont they saw that smile, the Stronghold masters began leaping about like grasshoppers.
Watching them, Yul Han smiled faintly.
“Let’s help too.”
At that, Profound Demon, Ghost Demon, and even Pageuk joined the line putting out the fire.
To the Human-Faced Spider, who was simply staring blankly at them, the Cult Leader whispered quietly,
“If the Vice Cult Leader catches you loafing around like this, it won’t be pleasant.”
At those words, the Human-Faced Spider glanced at the Vice Cult Leader—only for their eyes to et directly.
“Hic!”
He nearly hiccupped from receiving Yul Han’s dense Killing Intent head-on. Naturally, he hurriedly began to run as well.
His desperation was no less than that of the Stronghold masters who had fled in terror of Iron Demon’s Force Bullet.
Watching the Human-Faced Spider run to put out the fire, Yul Han let out a small laugh.
“Aren’t you scaring him too much?”
“He can stand to be scared. Anyway, aren’t you going? This is your territory, isn’t it?”
At the Cult Leader’s indifferent tone, his gaze shifted—and the people of Room 32 slowly revealed themselves.
“W-we were just about to go.”
“When? After the fire’s out? If that happens, word will spread. That while the Bright Cult and the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold put out the fire, the Martial Alliance just watched.”
If such rumors truly spread, they would be impossible to handle. Naturally, the people of Room 32 had no choice but to move in a hurry.
Yul Han smirked again at the sight and was about to head off to extinguish the fire himself when the Cult Leader stopped him.
“What is it…?”
“You said you ca looking for ghostly energy. Find that first. If the fire burns everything down, no evidence will remain. The Human-Faced Spider may be a coward, but his sense for ghostly energy is so sharp that even his master clicked his tongue in admiration. He’s good at catching the scent of danger too.”
“You think Senior Brother might be in danger as well?”
“Just… let’s be certain. The matter of that Man-Sa Calamity Emperor bastard is still unsolved.”
At the Cult Leader’s words, Yul Han nodded, cast a brief glance at the chaos of those scrambling to put out the flas, and stepped into the street of Pleasure Quarters.
Of course, it was not to extinguish the fire.
The Cult Leader followed at his side, as if guarding him.
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