Chapter 129
“What in the world...”
The bodies of the pursuit team sent by the Tang Clan were scattered everywhere.
A scene so horrific it was impossible to look at unfolded before them, with severed necks and torn limbs everywhere.
Moreover, the bodies were shriveled and twisted as if their life force had been drained, a truly grotesque sight.
It was beyond gruesome.
Tang Jinwoo’s eyes grew even colder as he surveyed the scene.
“His location?”
“We’ve only confirmed that he hasn’t gone far from here.”
Tang Jinwoo nodded and quickly issued his orders.
“From now on, we split into two groups to search. One half will follow me; the other will follow Mujun. The first to find him will fire a signal flare into the sky.”
“Yes, sir!”
Soon, the pursuit team divided into two.
As he led his team in a different direction from Tang Jinwoo, Tang Mujun ground his teeth.
Fury boiled within him at the horrific sight.
He had always known his brother was cruel by nature. But how could someone wearing a human face do something like this?
There was no room left for disappointment, but this was truly...
Then numerous questions flooded Tang Mujun’s mind.
“Since when did he learn Demonic Martial Arts? And how did he learn them? Was it long ago? No, that doesn”t make sense. If that were the case...’
None of the questions had an easy answer.
But his thoughts could not continue for long.
There was no time for that.
Right now, more than anything, he has to stop his rampaging brother. By any means necessary!
Soon, Tang Mujun and the Tang Clan’s pursuit team picked up their pace and began to search the area.
“Huh? Someone’s coming over there.”
A man entered a village where ordinary mountain folk lived clustered together.
But his appearance was utterly bizarre.
Covered in blood from head to toe, he had a physique that seemed twice the size of an ordinary man.
Moreover, the aura he exuded, even from a distance, was chilling enough to cause goosebumps.
For some reason, he gave off an air of being human, yet not human.
As the gazes of the people, their faces puzzled by the unsettling atmosphere, turned toward him, the man—Tang Guhwi—lifted the corners of his mouth into a grin that seemed to tear his face.
They did not know.
This was the beginning of the terrible hell that would befall them.
And not long after,
“Aaaaaah! Someone help me!”
“H-help meeee!”
“A monster, it’s a monster! Run! Run! *Keok!*”
The peaceful village was soon overrun with screams and blood.
An entire village was being slaughtered at the hands of Tang Guhwi.
A scene of hell unfolded, one that was impossible to look at with open eyes.
Just a short while ago, the small village had been filled with the laughter of simple people. Now, it met a gruesome end.
The last survivor was a small child, hiding in a corner and holding his breath.
*Thud.*
A small toy fell from the child’s hand to the floor.
The child’s body was frozen like stone, unable to move in the slightest.
Soon, the blood-soaked man’s crazed smile entered the child’s vision.
Deep terror settled upon the child’s tear-streaked face.
“*Hic, uk, uwaaah...*”
“Well, well. Are you scared, little one? Hm? Am I scary? *Kikikik!*”
For some reason, Tang Guhwi found the child’s terrified expression immensely enjoyable.
He thought.
How could he kill this child in an amusing way?
“All right. I’ve decided. I’ll gouge out both your eyes so you can’t see. *Kilkil.*”
Tang Guhwi, wearing an utterly wicked smile, reached his hideous hand toward the child’s face.
“*Uh, uuh... M-mommy...*”
The child could not resist at all, his body frozen as tears streamed down his face.
It seemed no one in the world could save him.
But just then,
*Swoooosh!*
A volley of hidden weapons rained down on Tang Guhwi.
Just before his hand reached the child, Tang Guhwi was ambushed and leaped back.
*Th-th-th-thunk!*
The hidden weapons embedded themselves in a circle around the child, as if to protect him.
*At the same time, a signal flare was quickly shot into the sky.*
*Fwoom. BOOOOM!*
A thick green smoke spread across the sky.
Tang Guhwi, who had been staring blankly at the sky, turned his gaze forward.
The one who had just thrown the hidden weapons at him was at the end of his line of sight.
“Oho. You’ve come? Why so late? I’ve been waiting for a long time.”
Tang Guhwi smiled with an expression of utmost delight.
“Brother...”
It was Tang Guhwi’s younger brother, the hateful existence that had made him feel inferior his entire life.
The Poison Dragon, Tang Mujun.
“Everyone, fall back.”
Having rescued the child from Tang Guhwi, Tang Mujun had already picked up the child and handed him to one of the pursuit team members.
Then he slowly stepped forward.
Soon, Tang Mujun’s eyes, now facing Tang Guhwi, filled with despair.
Tang Guhwi’s current appearance was too bizarre, too horrific.
“Hmph.”
Reading the look in Tang Mujun’s eyes, Tang Guhwi snorted.
“Don’t look at me like that. It is only now that I am finally enjoying true freedom and joy.”
“You can say that after committing such acts?”
“Why? What’s wrong with it? They are merely my prey. It is simply the fate of lowly beings born weak. *Kilkil.*”
“You’ve gone completely mad, brother. Do you even know what you’re saying right now?”
At Tang Mujun’s words, his brow furrowed in utter disgust, and Tang Guhwi’s face contorted.
“Shut up! Weren’t you the one who wished for me to end up like this!”
“What did you say?”
“Did you think I wouldn’t know you were pulling all the strings from behind? Wasn’t it your plan to turn me into a cripple in the end!”
“What are you...”
Tang Guhwi’s eyes glinted fiercely as he ground his teeth.
As if he were going mad with hatred for Tang Mujun.
“I find your hypocrisy disgusting. So very disgusting.”
Watching Tang Guhwi snarl at him with all his might, Tang Mujun let out a short sigh.
He didn’t know what kind of misunderstanding he was under, but,
“It seems talking is useless. Yes, let’s go, brother. I will capture you alive. I have many things to ask you.”
“Hmph! If you think you can, then try it!”
A sneer flowed from Tang Guhwi’s lips.
*At the same time,*
*Ruuuumble.*
Tang Mujun’s eyes flashed as he charged at Tang Guhwi with incredible speed.
*Tch!*
Momentarily losing track of Tang Mujun’s movements, Tang Guhwi swung a heavy fist forward.
But, that wasn’t where he was.
*Slit!*
As Tang Mujun appeared right beside Tang Guhwi, Tang Mujun’s dagger left a thin red line on his brother’s arm.
Starting with that,
*Slit, slish!*
*Pak, papak!*
Wounds began to appear one by one on Tang Guhwi’s body.
As expected of the man called the greatest genius in the history of the Tang Clan and one of the Six Dragons, the Poison Dragon.
He wasn’t called one of the greatest Rising Stars of the current Murim for nothing.
However,
“Hmph! Pathetic tricks!”
Tang Guhwi paid no mind to such wounds and charged toward Tang Mujun.
He then threw his massive fists several times.
*KWAANG! KWAAAANG!*
Every place his fists, imbued with immense energy, landed was completely shattered.
But Tang Mujun sensed something strange in Tang Guhwi’s appearance.
There was no trace of Demonic Martial Arts in Tang Guhwi’s attacks.
It seemed like simple punches, but Tang Guhwi was skillfully mixing the Tang Clan’s basic Fist Art and Palm Technique.
It was just that their power was magnified by his astonishingly enhanced physical abilities and sinister energy.
None of it could be called Demonic Martial Arts; it was clearly the martial arts of the Tang Clan.
Tang Mujun found that fact incredibly strange.
But he had no time to dwell on such thoughts.
Tang Guhwi, who at first couldn’t react to Tang Mujun’s speed, was gradually beginning to catch up.
Moreover, it was extremely difficult to predict Tang Guhwi’s fast and erratic movements.
They were less like a human’s and more like a wild beast’s.
*KWAANG! KWAAAANG!*
A series of explosions erupted, unbelievable for attacks made with bare hands.
Though he was doing everything in his power to block the attacks, Tang Mujun was helplessly pushed back by Tang Guhwi’s erratic attacks coming from all directions.
*BOOOOOM!*
Though he blocked Tang Guhwi’s fist, Tang Mujun was thrown back and let out a groan.
“*Keuk!*”
Tang Mujun’s eyes wavered with shock and bewilderment.
This is my brother’s power? No, is this even human strength?
It was unbelievable.
Just then, Tang Guhwi suddenly stopped.
“Ha! You were so arrogant, talking about capturing me alive, and this is all you’ve got? Hm?”
He then crossed his arms and looked down at Tang Mujun, as if daring him to do something.
*Grind.*
Tang Mujun bit his lip hard.
This wasn’t simply a matter of wounded pride.
At this rate, forget capturing him alive; even subduing him seems difficult.
Soon, Tang Mujun began to slowly control his breathing and took a stance.
He then brought out the strongest technique he could muster.
[Chain Twelve Slashes]
His body split apart at an incredible speed, and twelve hidden weapons simultaneously flew fiercely at Tang Guhwi from all directions.
Though they were just twelve daggers, the way they flew in a linked chain was like a swarm of bees descending from all sides.
The attack that maximized Tang Mujun’s greatest advantage, his speed, was thus directed at Tang Guhwi.
And yet,
*Swoosh.*
Tang Guhwi, who had been completely still, vanished in a blur and reappeared right in front of Tang Mujun.
Soon, Tang Mujun’s daggers, having lost their target, embedded themselves uselessly in the ground and walls.
As Tang Guhwi, who had so easily dodged his all-out Chain Twelve Slashes, appeared right before his eyes, Tang Mujun was greatly startled and tried to retreat.
But it was already too late. Tang Guhwi did not miss the opportunity and struck down with the edge of his hand.
*SPLAAAAASH!*
Blood spurted from Tang Mujun’s chest.
“*Keuuuk!*”
He had never imagined it.
That his brother could have become this strong.
No matter how much of a genius Tang Mujun was called, Tang Guhwi’s current level far surpassed his.
Having lost a great deal of blood, Tang Mujun quickly turned pale as he collapsed to the ground.
At the sight, Tang Guhwi burst into a crazed laugh that seemed to tear his mouth open.
“Our little brother, said to be one of the greatest geniuses in the history of the Tang Clan, was only this strong? *Khahahaha!*”
Today, his younger brother, who had once seemed so great, looked like an ant that he could easily crush with a press of his finger.
“Now then, I’ll deliciously devour your power as well. Little brother.”
This time, Tang Guhwi planned to wring him out very slowly, and with the utmost pain.
Slowly, Tang Guhwi’s hand reached for his brother.
It was then.
*Kuuuuung.*
A sharp, heavy energy filled the space.
It was an energy Tang Guhwi knew very well.
The master of the Tang Clan and one of the Ten Great Masters, Tang Jinwoo, the Poison Rain, had finally arrived.
His cold gaze was fixed on his son, who had become a monster.