Chapter 76
There was something I had always wondered about while reading the Original Novel.
If the Heavenly Demon Cult was so strong, why hadn’t it invaded the Central Plains earlier?
And as the novel progresses to the latter half, the reason is vaguely revealed.
They… had been waiting for their time for hundreds of years, preparing for some unknown ritual.
And the most crucial sacrifice for that ritual was…
‘An Imugi right before its ascension.’
…An Imugi.
I looked ahead with a somewhat heavy heart.
At first glance, it just looked like a beautiful young girl quietly closing her eyes, but her insides were riddled with unknown chaos and thick Poisonous Qi.
I wasn’t sure at first, but I quickly realized it. That was definitely an Imugi.
‘I shouldn’t have opened it…’
Regret washed over me. If that really had been an Imugi, it definitely would have been better not to open it.
‘Is it sleeping? Or is it intoxicated by some kind of drug?’
For now, it lay on the floor with its eyes closed, as if it couldn’t hear a thing despite how noisy it was outside.
Looking at it, I pondered for a long time about how to handle this.
And Dongryong asked me hesitantly.
“Um, Leader…”
“What.”
“Whether that’s an Imugi or whatever…, shouldn’t we first undo the chains wrapped around it? It’s very…, um…, yes… It weighs on my mind to just watch…”
As he spoke, Dongryong pointed at the iron chains tightly wrapped around it.
Certainly, the sight of a young girl tightly bound by iron chains who looked barely over ten years old was not pleasant to look at.
For Dongryong, who was surprisingly soft-hearted, that sight must have been hard to watch.
I appreciated Dongryong’s warm heart, and I nodded.
“Dongryong.”
“Yes, Leader.”
“If you want to depart from this life, just do it alone. Why are you trying to get everyone here killed together?”
“…”
It was unknown how much power a spiritual creature that wasn’t human possessed, but it could at least swallow someone of Dongryong’s level in one gulp.
Undo the bindings of such an Imugi? Then we’d just have a Human Sacrifice right here.
Due to the rampaging Imugi, most of the people here would die, and at the same time, our Green Forest would be laid to waste.
“Dongryong, don’t be fooled by appearances. If that really is an Imugi, it has lived longer than your grandma’s grandma’s grandma at the very least.”
“…Yes, Leader.”
When I spoke seriously, Dongryong also nodded heavily.
“But then…, what should we do about that…”
“…That’s what I’m saying.”
Dongryong and I put our heads together and pondered for a moment, but as expected, no answer emerged.
Therefore, I had no choice but to order this.
“For now…, let’s move it whole to our Mountain Stronghold.”
“Yes, let’s do that…”
We couldn’t continue blocking the Mountain Path like this, so it was an unavoidable choice.
* * *
“If I let you go now, will you return to Guangxi Province on your own?”
“No, I will never give up until you return the escort goods…!”
Because the escort goods were much more dangerous than I thought, I didn’t bother revealing their identity to Gong Huiran.
Perhaps because of that, Gong Huiran stubbornly maintained her Stance and urged me to return the escort goods.
‘Man…, it’s not like I can tell her the escort goods are an Imugi…’
“Right, then… Cool your head for now.”
After saying that to her, I called for Jeokyeom.
“Jeokyeom!”
“Yes, Leader.”
“Lock these guys up somewhere suitable. Don’t treat them too harshly, and give them some proper hospitality.”
“Yes!”
I couldn’t let them go just because they resisted, nor could I strike them all dead.
Therefore, I decided to lock up the captured Moran Caravan Agency guys for now.
“Let go of me! General Stronghold Master! I will never forget this grudge!”
…Of course, their resistance was a bit severe, but the tied-up guys had no choice but to be dragged away as Jeokyeom and the other Subordinates led them.
Now, the baggage was cleared away. The problem, however, was here.
“How is it? Do you think it’s an Imugi?”
“Hmm…”
The Haomun Leader was checking if the one we brought in was indeed an Imugi.
She sniffed it, poked it with needles, and examined it this way and that before quickly opening her mouth.
“Back when I was a Poison Master, I was once injected with a poison made from the blood of an Imugi. Of course, the poison flowing through my body has now disappeared thanks to you, Great Hero…, but I still remember the energy of the Imugi Poison.”
“So…, is that an Imugi?”
‘Please let it not be.’
Of course, I was half-certain myself, but I prayed that it wasn’t.
However…
“This…, is indeed an Imugi.”
“…”
“A Poisonous Qi even thicker and more condensed than that of a Poison Master can be felt inside its body. It seems to be a much stronger Imugi than expected.”
“Damn it all!”
Not even a young Imugi, but a strong Imugi… this was…, practically a calamity for the Martial Arts World.
And the problem didn’t just lie with this Imugi.
This Imugi was something the Heavenly Demon Cult had transported from the southernmost tip of the continent for a ritual they had waited hundreds of years for.
Since the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains and Hunan Province were thousands of miles apart, those bastards wouldn’t be able to take drastic actions, but now that I have something important to them…
‘There’s no telling how their fiendish clutches will extend toward us.’
“…This is truly a wretched predicament.”
I pondered for a moment on the spot before eventually drawing my Saber. Seeing that, the Haomun Leader asked in surprise.
“Great Hero…, what are you trying to do…”
“It can’t be helped. I have to kill it.”
If we left it alone like this and the Imugi regained its senses, it would rampage all over the place. If we kept it in our Mountain Stronghold for a long time, it would leave traces, and we could be caught by those Demonic Cult bastards.
Even so, throwing it away somewhere far off carried a huge risk and wasn’t efficient.
Even though its appearance was that of a young girl, making me a bit reluctant to cut it down…
‘In reality, it’s incredibly old and isn’t even human.’
…I just decided to cut it down cleanly.
As I dragged my Saber and approached, the Haomun Leader tried to say something but gasped.
“The Imugi’s body is riddled with strong, deadly poison. If you cut it like this, the surroundings will be filled with Poisonous Qi…, ah…”
“I’m going to kill it with the same thing I used to kill the Sichuan Tang Family’s Grand Elder back then.”
Miji Pageom (Unknown Sword-Breaking).
With this, I could also kill the Imugi cleanly, just as I had killed the Sichuan Tang Family’s Grand Elder, who was a Poison Master, without any issues.
“Since it’s come to this, let’s at least harvest the Imugi’s inner core.”
Swish-.
It was then, as I raised my hand to take the Initial Stance of Miji Pageom (Unknown Sword-Breaking).
Grab.
“?”
Someone grabbed my arm, so I turned to the side and saw the Haomun Leader shaking her head and stopping me.
“I do not recommend killing that Imugi.”
“Why? Did you happen to feel some petty sympathy for it?”
“Of course not. It’s just that I am worried about you, Great Hero.”
“With my Martial Arts, I can remove the Poisonous Qi without any issues…”
“It’s not simply a matter of Poisonous Qi.”
Was there something else, then, that would be a problem?
When I gestured with my chin for her to continue, the Haomun Leader continued in a serious voice.
“If you kill the Imugi, Great Hero, its vengeful spirit will attach itself to you.”
“…Huh?”
…At the unexpected words, I ended up showing an incredibly foolish reaction.
And rightfully so, what kind of unscientific nonsense was this all of a sudden?
It was a vengeful spirit. Was this a world where ghosts existed too…?
“Haomun Leader, what kind of seven-year-old kid nonsense is this all of a sudden? Did you eat something wrong today? Are you scared to sleep alone at night? Do you want me to sleep with you?”
“Then I’d love tha…, no, I am truly advising you in all seriousness… Even when a lowly human dies, a ghost appears, let alone if you kill a monster that has lived for hundreds of years… No matter how great you are, Great Hero, it will be hard for you to handle.”
“…”
Judging by her expression…, the Haomun Leader was being serious right now.
No, what’s with the sudden genre shift to the occult…?
I originally didn’t believe in ghosts. However…, having such a smart person advise me so seriously made me feel incredibly uneasy.
At this, I lowered my Saber, sighed, and asked.
“So what…, what am I supposed to do? Do I have to slit its throat and hold a memorial service? Or should I call a Taoist Priest?”
“For the vengeful spirit of an Imugi of this level…, an ordinary Taoist Priest won’t be enough. Someone on the level of the Wudang Sect Leader would have to come…”
Nonsense!
As if the Wudang Sect Leader would just come running if I called, saying, ‘Of course I must help you.’
“No, Haomun Leader! Why do you keep joking around with a serious face? What’s with this sudden ghost talk? Huh? How old are you?”
“G-Ghosts really do exist…! And if you kill the Imugi, its vengeful spirit will definitely have a negative impact on your path, Great Hero…! I’m truly worried, so…”
Even after that, she continued to express the dangers of the Imugi’s vengeful spirit to me.
At this point, her efforts were commendable enough that I just decided to believe her.
Fine, then. Let’s assume ghosts exist in this world.
“Then…, is there another option besides killing it?”
“Hmm…”
I had to deal with the Imugi in front of me somehow. When I asked for a method, the Haomun Leader rested her chin on her hand and pondered for a moment before answering.
“If it’s an Imugi at a level where it can maintain a human form…, it will definitely possess the intellect to speak human language as well.”
Saying so, the Haomun Leader checked the material of the iron chains wrapped around the Imugi.
“The iron chains binding the Imugi don’t seem to be ordinary items either…, so at least we have control. How about you try talking to it directly once the Imugi regains its senses…”
“…You want me to talk to the Imugi directly? …Will that be okay? No, more than that, who knows when it will wake u…”
It was then.
Flash.
“…”
“…”
They say speak of the devil and he shall appear, but the Imugi appeared with startling speed.
Before I could even finish my sentence, we met the Imugi’s wide-open eyes.
“…It opened its eyes.”
“…So it did.”
In the sudden situation, not only I but also the Haomun Leader couldn’t help but be flustered.
Blink, blink.
The Imugi blinked a few times with innocent eyes, as if it didn’t know what the current situation was, and we just watched it.
“You said it could speak, but why isn’t it saying anything?”
“…Wouldn’t it be because of the muzzle strapped on it?”
“Ah.”
Looking at it now, I noticed a silver muzzle was strapped over the Imugi’s mouth.
It seemed that was the reason the Imugi couldn’t speak right now.
If so, to talk to the Imugi directly, we would have to take that off…
For some reason, I couldn’t help but feel reluctant about having to lay my hands on the Imugi directly.
Why was that? Right now, the Imugi just had its eyes innocently open and looked like nothing more than a girl her age…, but my instincts were screaming at me not to touch it.
So I immediately opened the door and shouted outside.
“Hey, Dongryong, are you there?”
“Elder brother! The Deputy Leader went on patrol!”
The one I called was Dongryong, but the one who actually came running was the Youngest.
“I’m the only Executive left. Is there anything I can help you with?”
“Ah, it’s just you? Right…, Are you by any chance busy right now?”
“No, I’m fine. Oh? It opened its eyes?”
The Youngest widened his eyes as he looked at the Imugi. It seemed he had heard from Dongryong that it was an Imugi.
“Yeah, I called you because of it.”
I pointed at the Imugi and patted the Youngest’s shoulder.
“Take off its muzzle for me.”
Thinking there was nothing particularly difficult about it, the Youngest readily nodded.
“The muzzle? Ah, yep.”
Step.
The Imugi looked at the approaching Youngest with bright eyes full of innocence, and the Youngest placed his hands on the Imugi’s muzzle.
And the Haomun Leader and I…
“…Great Hero, you should prepare to draw your Saber immediately, just in case…”
“…I’m already doing that.”
…Prepared for any unforeseen circumstances, such as hunters who had thrown bait to a wild Beast.