Chapter 240: Wandering
The path out of the Ten-Thousand Great Mountains had been truly arduous and fraught with danger.
Enemy surveillance and encirclent nets had been spread throughout the area, making every single step heavy and perilous beyond asure.
A zone far removed from the village at the entrance of the Ten-Thousand Great Mountains—
a place where it was no longer quite fitting to continue pretending to be a family.
A group that had killed a patrol unit along the way and stripped them of their clothes now walked through the mountains with tense expressions.
At that mont, a group of Demonic Cult Followers erged from the bushes.
“What are you lot? This is supposed to be our Fifteenth Dark Command Unit’s patrol area.”
Like a Celestial Net tightening from all sides, Demonic Cult Followers had been scattered everywhere, suffocating any escape. No matter how hard one tried, leaving without being discovered was impossible.
“Which Dark Command Unit are you? State your affiliation and password.”
“……We are the Sixteenth Dark Command Unit.”
Jeok Unyeop spoke the na of the unit they had killed earlier.
“And the password?”
“Well, on the way here, in our haste… we forgot it…….”
At that unbelievable excuse, the Fifteenth Dark Command Unit scoffed and began looking at them with suspicion.
“Does that make any sense?”
“These bastards are suspicious.”
Shing—
The Dark Command Unit mbers drew their swords and blades, approaching cautiously. From the rear, one of them held a signal whistle to his mouth, ready to blow it at any mont.
Then, from within the bushes, a rustling sound was heard.
A small child peeked his face out from between the foliage.
“What the—”
“Why is there a kid in a place like this……?”
At that fleeting mont when their attention shifted to the child—
The heads of the Demonic Cult Followers flew into the air.
Slash—!
Like streaks of light, the mbers of the Demon-Slaying Unit shot forward and slit their throats.
Startled, the last remaining Demonic Cult Follower tried to blow the whistle—
Thud!
But a barrage of Flying Needles pierced through his lungs, leaving him to collapse with nothing but a wheezing sound escaping his throat.
In an instant, the ground was soaked with hot blood from the slaughter. Another life was fading away in this place.
Looking at the severed heads that still bore expressions of pain and shock, Murong Cheonghye wore a deeply bitter expression.
“Vice Captain, why that expression? These are elite warriors of the Demonic Cult. They would have gladly slit our throats with smiles on their faces.”
Noticing sothing slightly off about her, Jeok Unyeop spoke while quietly moving the corpses into the bushes to avoid suspicion.
“And what happened to them is simply the result of failing to heed the saying—beware of children and the elderly.”
The Jianghu was truly rciless.
If you didn’t know, you simply suffered—that was the rule, according to his explanation.
“Captain, I’m not a child, you know.”
“It’s just a saying. Don’t get worked up over a single word, Miss Tang Yeo-hye.”
As a combat force that stood at the very front lines against the Demonic Path, the Demon-Slaying Unit naturally gathered only exhausting and peculiar individuals—Jeok Unyeop grumbled as much.
“May you beco a handful of wind and escape the afflictions of the mortal world.”
anwhile, Murong Cheonghye offered a brief prayer with clasped hands toward the corpses.
Watching her silently, Namgung Jin stepped closer and spoke.
“Miss Murong Cheonghye, are you perhaps troubled by the Demonic Cult Followers?”
He had been observing her carefully since their departure.
While others were busy staying alert against the Demonic Cult, his attention had been entirely fixed on her, allowing him to notice the change imdiately.
“It’s not that… I just made a sowhat selfish rationalization…….”
“You’ve seed different ever since hearing Miss Tang Yeo-hye’s story at the inn.”
The bright red blood flowing toward her feet soaked into the dirt. Murong Cheonghye quietly gazed at the severed head she herself had cut down, its face still carrying a look of grievance.
“Vice Captain, why concern yourself with such Demonic Cult Followers? These are the ones who once protected the Heaven-Slaying Star and brought chaos to the world—utterly vile individuals.”
At the ntion of the Heaven-Slaying Star from Jeok Unyeop’s mouth, Murong Cheonghye flinched.
It was only for a brief mont, but Namgung Jin did not miss it.
‘Judging by her reaction… it really is the Heaven-Slaying Star. But if so, how is she still sane……?’
She was the person the Blood Cult had tried to abduct at all costs, claiming she was the Heaven-Slaying Star. Yet, there were still unresolved mysteries, preventing him from being certain.
“Captain, that’s because at the ti, the Heaven-Slaying Star was the Divine Maiden of the Demonic Cult. From their perspective, they had no choice but to protect her…….”
Murong Cheonghye, who had been quietly listening, unexpectedly defended them by considering their position.
The sacred white fla—the symbol of the Ming Cult—was governed and protected by the Divine Maiden.
So wasn’t it inevitable?
At her words, Jeok Unyeop looked utterly incredulous.
“Those words… coming from you, who never hesitated to cut down evil?”
He stared at her as if wondering whether she had forgotten her deeds as the Evil-Slaying Demoness, or if she had eaten sothing strange.
“…….”
But back then, there had been her own circumstances.
She had believed that the Evil Star taking root in her precious younger sibling was the result of the evil that had spread throughout the world.
Resentful, she had endlessly cut down evil. But recently, after discovering that her younger sibling was alive and well, that knot in her heart had loosened sowhat.
Now, those once-turbulent emotions had lost their direction, leaving her wandering like this.
“To think that you, of all people, would defend the Demonic Cult and the Heaven-Slaying Star.”
“Perhaps… there were misunderstandings surrounding the Demonic Cult? If we cast aside our prejudices, we might find a different path that leads to peace…….”
Such words were more than enough to throw Namgung Jin—who already suspected her—into confusion.
What Heaven-Slaying Star sought peace instead of bloodshed?
“What I an is… unless old misunderstandings are resolved, events like the Great War Between Orthodox and Demonic Factions will only repeat.”
The Demon-Slaying Unit mbers, who were well aware of her reputation and had often witnessed her ruthless thods, were montarily left speechless.
Among them, Jeok Unyeop—who had been dragged around countless tis to hunt and kill evil—spoke with a slightly dumbfounded tone.
“Is the one before truly that Evil-Slaying Demoness? Or are you perhaps a fake wearing a Human-skin Mask?”
At that question regarding her authenticity, Murong Cheonghye furrowed her brows.
Shing—
A sharp Sword Flux surged forth, as if she might cut down everyone present at any mont. Startled, Jeok Unyeop hastily raised both hands.
“My apologies, it was a joke. Please, put the sword away.”
The overwhelming aura unique to the Evil-Slaying Demoness, enough to make one feel as though their entire body would be torn apart.
Whenever she drew her sword, bloodshed and slaughter inevitably followed—no wonder Jeok Unyeop was terrified.
“Let’s end this conversation here and start moving. We should focus on escaping.”
A woman of the Murong Clan whose martial prowess, background, and reputation all surpassed his own.
Though it should have been the captain giving orders, Jeok Unyeop nodded vigorously, agreeing that it was a good suggestion.
“We’ll likely be traveling together for a while, so let’s introduce ourselves.”
On the way toward the Ten-Thousand Great Mountains—the stronghold of the Demonic Cult—Jang Jin, captain of the Chivalrous Unit, spoke with a slightly bored expression.
Under the psychological pressure of heading into a place everyone feared and avoided, the group had been silent. But as he broke the ice, people began to speak one by one.
“Master Dan Mujin, Miss Jo Harang—co to think of it, haven’t we t before? During the Dragon-Phoenix Bloodbath, I believe we fought back-to-back against the Blood Cult.”
The Murim Alliance captain recalled a mory from quite so ti ago.
“Yes, you even tried to recruit into the Chivalrous Unit back then. I rember.”
Back then, I had been so young—almost too young. I had no idea how I’d grown this much since.
The three of us exchanged opinions while sharing details about our martial arts, weapons, and cultivation levels.
As expected of a captain of the Chivalrous Unit, that man seed to be at roughly the Transcendence level.
Then, Namgung Soye—the young lady of the Namgung Clan—quietly listened before suddenly interjecting.
“It might be unnecessary to explain since it’s well known, but the martial art I use is the Boundless Sky Sword Technique, and my main weapon is also a sword. As for my level… I’ve reached Peak Mastery.”
So, to rescue the executives of the Demon-Slaying Unit, there were three Transcendence-level martial artists and one Peak Master-level martial artist gathered.
Each had clear identities and strong personal resolve.
Still, while it made sense for us—who were used to rushing into missions—to be here, it was surprising that a noble lady who should have been treated preciously within the Namgung Clan had co here of her own accord.
As I stared at her, she slightly blushed, apparently misunderstanding my gaze.
“At my age, this is quite an achievent, you know? Namgung Jin, Dan Mujin, Jo Harang—you’re the strange ones.”
She must have thought I was judging her for being below average.
Having never gone anywhere without being called a genius, she grumbled that sothing felt off here.
“I didn’t say anything, though?”
I shrugged, as if asking why she was reacting on her own.
“Hmph, whatever.”
She scoffed and moved ahead.
How did such a free-spirited younger sister co from soone like Namgung Jin?
Pondering the mystery of the Namgung Clan’s bloodline, I continued marching endlessly with the group.
After repeating short rests and bursts of movent arts for two weeks, the surrounding terrain began to change, and strange vegetation started to appear.
Seeing this, Captain Jang Jin spoke as if to warn us.
“From here onward, this is the territory of the Demonic Cult. Very few from the Orthodox Faction who enter return alive.”
Anyone who wasn’t part of the Demonic Cult would be killed on sight.
In simple terms, everyone except us was an enemy.
A literal killing field.
I swallowed hard, my face tense.
This wasn’t just my life at stake—it was also the lives of my real older sister and my sworn older sister, Tang Yeo-hye.
“Don’t worry, Mujin. I’m here.”
At that mont, Jo Harang tapped my shoulder, seemingly mistaking my burden for fear.
But her expression was slightly stiff as well.
“You look a bit scared too.”
“W-What are you talking about?”
With our resolve united, we began advancing deeper into the territory of the Demonic Cult.
People called this place a natural demonic realm, a horrifying land filled with dread—
Yet unexpectedly, it simply looked like a region where grass and trees grew normally.
Just as I found that strange—
‘I… rember… this place…….’
The Salseong began reacting strongly to the scenery as we entered the Demonic Cult’s domain.
As the sun tilted westward, Jeok Unyeop’s group halted to rest.
After days of forced marches and battles, they sought to recover while taking out what little food remained.
But their supplies, which had been dwindling, had finally run out completely.
Realizing that even the dried jerky was gone, Jeok Unyeop wore a despondent expression.
At that mont, he noticed Tang Yeo-hye chewing mushrooms between the trees, stuffing her mouth full.
Her expression was full of satisfaction, even letting out small exclamations, which made Jeok Unyeop approach her almost unconsciously, saliva forming in his mouth.
“Is it that tasty? Let try a bite.”
With mild curiosity, he snatched a piece of the mushroom she was eating and put it into his mouth.
“Huh?”
Tang Yeo-hye looked startled.
As Jeok Unyeop chewed, instead of any pleasant taste, a strange tingling sensation spread through his mouth, making him tilt his head in confusion.
“Captain. That’s a poisonous mushroom.”
“What?!”
Jeok Unyeop’s eyes widened as he coughed violently. He shoved his fingers into his mouth and spat everything out in a panic.
“Have you lost your mind? Why are you stuffing yourself with poisonous mushrooms?!”
His voice was filled with disbelief.
“Well, because they taste good……?”
And they also helped with poison arts training.
Tang Yeo-hye explained with a grin.
No wonder martial artists shuddered and avoided the Tang Clan of Sichuan at all costs.
“You insane subordinate…! When your captain eats poison, you should say sothing!”
“Hmph, I didn’t even have ti to speak. You just shoved it into your mouth without asking.”
He had simply assud it was safe since she—who could identify poisons flawlessly—was eating it.
“Why would anyone eat poisonous mushrooms willingly, let alone with that expression? I truly don’t understand. Are all people from the Tang Clan of Sichuan like this?”
The captain muttered, further reinforcing his prejudice that they were both bizarre and terrifying.
“Not really. There are quite a few people like this besides . There was even a young martial artist who loved poisonous mushrooms and ate them like I do—without even cultivating poison arts.”
Tang Yeo-hye replied casually, insisting they weren’t strange.
Jeok Unyeop tilted his head.
“…Who in the world is that lunatic? Soone who does the sa thing as you?”
Recalling a mory, Tang Yeo-hye smirked slightly and spoke.
“There is soone. Dan Mujin.”
At that familiar and nostalgic na, Murong Cheonghye’s ears perked up in response.
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