Chapter 136: The Value of Life
It was not difficult for Yul Han, with his Ghost Eyes activated, to locate Yeonhwa Pavilion.
All he had to do was find the place where Ghostly Aura was most densely gathered.
The problem was that among the flas swallowing the entire pleasure quarters district, the fiercest blaze burned at Yeonhwa Pavilion.
It was absolutely not the fire of an ordinary building.
“Looks like there was so substance that greatly intensified the flas.”
At the Cult Leader’s words, Yul Han nodded as he surveyed Yeonhwa Pavilion. Then his gaze shifted to the ground—more precisely, beneath it.
“It seems there’s sothing underground.”
“Underground, huh. So they must’ve dug a cellar. But with flas like that, even for us, going in would be impossible.”
At the Cult Leader’s remark, Yul Han had no choice but to nod as well.
Just as he was about to turn away, his eyes flashed. He had felt soone watching them.
“Senior Brother. Let’s go back for a mont. Let’s just pretend to go inside.”
“Why? I said we can’t.”
“Just pretend.”
“We’re not even going in, so why pretend—”
The Cult Leader stopped mid-sentence, as if sensing sothing, and smiled faintly.
“Soone’s got their eyes glued to us, huh?”
“Yes. I’m not certain yet. But I want to see how they react if we step into the flas.”
“Then let’s go in.”
The Cult Leader stepped boldly into the raging inferno that devoured everything in its path, and Yul Han followed right behind him.
At once, the gaze he had suspected of watching them grew flustered and hurriedly closed the distance.
“That’s enough!”
Leaving those words behind, Yul Han vanished. In an instant, he leapt over a distance of more than two hundred jang and reappeared.
Watching this, the Cult Leader clicked his tongue.
“One-Flash Form has already reached the Realm of Perfection. Hah. I told you, that brat’s sothing else.”
Before the Cult Leader’s admiration even finished, Yul Han launched his attack.
But then—
“Huh? What’s he doing over there?”
Even to the Cult Leader’s eyes, it looked like nothing more than a wild swing. Sure enough, the mont Yul Han’s strike missed, the man he had targeted darted away like lightning.
The Cult Leader was about to unleash One-Flash Form himself to capture the fleeing figure when—
—Wait!
Yul Han’s ntal Voice Transmission reached him, and he halted mid-step.
—I let him go on purpose.
A thought crossed the Cult Leader’s mind.
—You’re planning to follow him.
—Yes. He doesn’t seem bold enough to orchestrate sothing like this at the pleasure quarters.
By the ti Yul Han’s transmission ended, the Cult Leader had already descended beside him.
“Shouldn’t we start chasing now?”
“Let’s go.”
With those words, Yul Han vanished once more, and the Cult Leader’s figure disappeared after him.
Goman was a loyal servant of Zhuge Wuliang.
Originally born a slave, Goman had been raised and trained by Zhuge Wuliang from childhood, becoming a perfect extension of his hands and feet.
Of course, he had not been taught the secret arts of the Zhuge Clan. Instead, he had learned various martial arts gathered from different sources, so he was not an outstanding master.
Still, he possessed the skills of a First Rate Martial Artist, and whenever Zhuge Wuliang had matters he preferred not to reveal openly, he entrusted them to Goman.
The reason Goman had been watching the burning Yeonhwa Pavilion was because Zhuge Wuliang wished to know whether events were concluding as planned.
He rely wanted to confirm that it burned completely and collapsed without leaving evidence. He had given Goman no specific orders beyond observing.
He had simply told him to watch and then sent him off.
Thus, when Goman ca running in a panic, Zhuge Wuliang—who had been busy erasing traces of himself and Zhuge Hoon from Suzhou—instinctively sensed that sothing had gone wrong.
“What happened?”
“Soone attacked .”
“Attacked?”
“Yes. So unknown bastard—”
Goman abruptly stopped speaking. His eyes bulged as he stared past Zhuge Wuliang’s shoulder.
Sensing disaster from that gaze, Zhuge Wuliang slowly turned.
He was standing there. The Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, murderous aura dripping from him.
“Gah!”
“Judging by how that bastard’s reacting, he seems to recognize you. Then he’ll understand quickly.”
At the figure who revealed himself so casually, Zhuge Wuliang nearly fainted.
Why wouldn’t he? Both the Cult Leader and the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult stood before him.
Forcing himself out of shock, he frantically searched for a way to survive.
“I—I am from the Zhuge Clan—”
“Ah! So you’re one of the Zhuge Clan. Did you set the fire? The timing’s awfully suspicious. Did the Zhuge Clan order it?”
The words he had spoken to prevent himself from being killed recklessly by invoking his origins instead returned as shackles.
The mind of Zhuge Wuliang, once praised as a Hundred-Year Prodigy, turned blank.
He had received Yul Han’s murderous aura at point-blank range—an aura that defied common sense.
Yul Han stared at him intently, then stepped forward.
As Goman tried to rush forward to protect his master, the Cult Leader glared at him.
“You trying to die, bastard!”
It was just that single sentence, yet Goman could not move. It was not rely fear—the dense Demonic Energy released by the Cult Leader had paralyzed his muscles.
In short, he was crushed by sheer presence.
Unable to budge, Goman could only watch as the Vice Cult Leader slipped a hand into Zhuge Hoon’s robes.
Zhuge Wuliang, too, was frozen by the Cult Leader’s aura just as Goman was.
Of course, not at first. When Yul Han had approached, he had even taken half a step back.
But only half a step.
Because Yul Han’s icy, chilling ntal Voice Transmission reached him.
—If you so much as twitch a finger, I will slaughter not only you but the entire Zhuge Clan. I swear it upon my na.
It was not just anyone’s warning—it was that of Emperor Salyejin. Considering what had happened to the annihilated Kongtong Sect, he could not dare ignore it.
Thus, Zhuge Hoon could not move at all—even as he felt Yul Han’s hand slip into his robes.
After rummaging through him, Yul Han pulled out a small silk pouch.
When he opened it, a single round pill lay inside.
It was one of the Enemy Pellets that had been sent to Zhuge Hoon—one Zhuge Wuliang had secretly set aside.
He had intended to test it on Goman after returning to the clan once the task was complete.
Seeing Yul Han examine it, Zhuge Wuliang felt his mind grow distant.
Realizing he had to explain himself, he stamred,
“It—it’s dicine.”
“dicine, you say? This?”
“Y-Yes. It’s dicine.”
At Zhuge Wuliang’s repeated insistence, Yul Han spoke in a cold voice.
“One pill claims the innocent life of a single blaless person. The resentful spirits cling to it, wailing in anguish—and you dare call this dicine?”
At Yul Han’s voice, colder than ice and echoing with a chilling edge, Zhuge Wuliang swallowed dryly without realizing it.
“Gulp!”
The Vice Cult Leader spoke as though he had witnessed everything.
After all, the Enemy Pellet was a large fruit ford by devouring the vitality and True Energy of a Master Level expert who had beco a Ghost-Human Tree.
Yul Han stepped close to Zhuge Wuliang and asked,
“The Ghostly Aura clinging to this single pill exceeds fifty. That ans more than one was created. Where are the rest?”
“Th-There are none. They all burned in the fire.”
At Zhuge Wuliang’s answer, Yul Han’s red eyes glead, his teeth showing.
“Lies only invite death.”
“I-It’s the truth—”
Zhuge Wuliang’s words stopped there. Yul Han had already extended his hand. Goman, who had been standing so distance away, was suddenly dragged through the air and seized by the throat.
“Ghk!”
Dangling from the Vice Cult Leader’s grip, Goman let out hoarse gasps. The sight filled Zhuge Wuliang’s vision.
“One word from you will decide your subordinate’s life. Where are they?”
Watching Goman choke and struggle, Zhuge Wuliang answered,
“I-It’s true. They all burned—”
“Ghk!”
With a brutal tear, Goman’s throat was ripped out. His body collapsed limply to the ground.
He had aided one who had senselessly stolen the lives of innocents. He had no value in living.
Shaking the blood from his hand and discarding the torn windpipe, Yul Han stared at Zhuge Wuliang with indifferent eyes and asked again,
“Where are they?”
Those cold, detached eyes—utterly unlike soone who had just ended a life—made Zhuge Wuliang certain.
This answer would determine whether he lived or died.
Even knowing that, he gave the sa reply.
“It’s the truth. The fire took them all—ugh!”
His eyes widened mid-sentence as he looked down at Yul Han’s hand gripping his throat.
“I’ll ask one last ti. Where did you put them?”
He was afraid.
He wanted to tell the truth. Yet Zhuge Wuliang suppressed that urge with superhuman will.
If he confessed here, disaster would fall not only upon Zhuge Hoon but also upon Jegal Giyeon—and even upon the Martial Alliance.
The Zhuge Clan would not be able to bear the consequences.
But if it ended with his death alone?
In the end, Zhuge Wuliang made his choice.
“In the… fire… glrk.”
His widened eyes lost focus, and his head snapped to the side.
When Yul Han released him, Zhuge Wuliang’s corpse—his neck broken and breath extinguished—
Thud.
It fell to the ground.
As darkness clouded his fading vision, he saw Goman’s corpse—the man who had followed him to death.
Yet even then, Goman did not enter Zhuge Wuliang’s thoughts.
Just as he had always believed that “if only I keep my mouth shut,” he had never once regarded Goman as a person.
He had seen him only as a tool, an extension of his limbs—never as a fellow human being.
Perhaps that was why, in Zhuge Wuliang’s darkening eyes, there was not the slightest trace of regret or remorse.
After glancing at the corpse, the Cult Leader approached.
“Shouldn’t we have kept him alive and dug a little deeper?”
“He was soone with no value in living.”
“How can you be so certain?”
“This pill says so. It says they are n who extinguished dozens of innocent lives to satisfy their greed.”
At Yul Han’s words, the Cult Leader glanced at Zhuge Wuliang’s body lying on the ground and sighed inwardly.
If it ca to killing, he had probably taken more lives than that man ever had.
But he could not bring himself to say that aloud.
Yul Han then said,
“We should place eyes on the Zhuge Clan.”
“They’re sharp-minded fellows. If we’re to watch them without being noticed, it won’t be easy.”
“There is a way.”
The Cult Leader looked at Yul Han, who grinned faintly, with an expression that said he could not tell what sche he was plotting.
The fire in the pleasure quarters district was extinguished.
Many people had helped, and hundreds of martial artists who had suddenly appeared lent their strength as well.
Otherwise, the entire district would likely have been reduced to ashes. The flas had been that fierce.
The people praised the martial artists who had aided them.
In the midst of it, they were shocked to discover that not only mbers of the Hundred Paths but also Unorthodox Factions—and even mbers of the Bright Cult—had been among them.
In short, figures from the Orthodox, Unorthodox, and Demonic Paths had all mobilized to extinguish the fire.
It was certainly an incident large enough to stir public uproar.
Uncomfortable with such excessive attention, the mbers of Room 32 quietly withdrew.
The problem lay with the masters of the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold.
The Cult Leader of the Bright Cult had not given them permission to depart, so they were stuck, unable to move either way.
This beca an issue because they were forced to remain in the sa place as the Human-Faced Spider—whom Gwisachu and the other masters of the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold had been targeting.
Yet they could not lay a hand on the Human-Faced Spider.
Although the Cult Leader and Vice Cult Leader were absent, four terrifying masters of the Bright Cult—including the Iron Demon—were watching with sharp, vigilant eyes.
After waiting for so ti, the Cult Leader and Vice Cult Leader returned.
“Let’s have a word.”
At Yul Han’s gaze, the Human-Faced Spider and Gwisachu approached awkwardly.
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