“Vice-Captain!”
Bu Eunseol reached the hanging Tae Muryong in a single bound.
Skin had been flayed from every part of his body and the tendons in both arms and legs had been severed.
Clang!
With his bare hands Bu Eunseol tore apart the black-iron chains that even a treasured sword would struggle to cut.
Tae Muryong’s emaciated head drooped powerlessly into the filthy water.
“Vice-Captain.”
Bu Eunseol quickly supported him and poured Ban-Geuk Energy through his back.
It was useless.
Tae Muryong had completely lost consciousness; almost all the blood seemed drained from his body.
Whiiiing.
At that moment, the Divine Energies activated on its own and began merging with the Ban-Geuk Energy.
Moisture returned to Tae Muryong’s body, and his stopped heart began to beat again.
But that was all.
The flame of life, tortured beyond cruelty, was slowly flickering out once more.
“The Captain has come.”
Tae Muryong faintly opened his eyes and looked at Bu Eunseol.
Only the thinnest thread of breath remained and he was already little more than a corpse.
“Why on earth did you do this?”
At Bu Eunseol’s question, Tae Muryong gave a faint smile.
“Because only if I die will the plan be complete.”
“The plan?”
“Yeon Jagang and Dragon Coiling Hall Leader Yong Myeong already believe without doubt that you are a demonic spy. Even without evidence… they would have hounded you to the end.”
Tae Muryong moved his cracked lips with difficulty.
“For you to remain in the Alliance with the men… those two had to be brought down no matter what.”
From the very beginning, Tae Muryong had never intended to betray Bu Eunseol.
On the contrary, when Yeon Jagang approached him, he had deliberately set a trap, sacrificing himself to eliminate everyone who suspected Bu Eunseol in one stroke.
“We treat your wounds first.”
When Bu Eunseol reached out, Tae Muryong shook his head and pushed the arm away.
“No.”
He smiled faintly and gazed at Bu Eunseol.
“If I return alive, I would have to testify that you are a demonic spy, wouldn’t I?”
“Vice-Captain.”
“I must die like this. Only if I die can Yong Myeong be dragged down with me.”
Bu Eunseol bit his lip until it bled.
Tae Muryong had known everything, yet staked his life to protect him.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Bu Eunseol removed his outer robe and draped it over Tae Muryong.
“Go to the punishment hall and testify. Say that I am a spy of Majeon.”
“Captain.”
“We’ll talk later.”
As Bu Eunseol reached out again, Tae Muryong shook his head.
“There is one question I must ask right now.”
His voice trembled.
“Why did you enter the Martial Alliance?”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes shook violently.
Tae Muryong was on the verge of death.
If he did not answer, the man would refuse treatment to the end.
“The murderer who killed my grandfather is inside the Alliance.”
Bu Eunseol answered quickly, unable to help himself.
“I have only a few clues so I still don’t know exactly who he is or what position he holds. That is why I came—to uncover his identity.”
“As I thought.”
A faint smile appeared on Tae Muryong’s lips.
His guess had been correct.
‘The Captain would never become a spy for personal gain or safety. There must have been… some desperate reason that forced him to enter the Alliance.’
That was the faith Tae Muryong held.
That was why, even knowing Bu Eunseol was from Majeon, he had hidden the truth.
“But now it’s enough. I do not want others to die because of me.”
Bu Eunseol’s voice was firm.
“I will leave the Alliance.”
“No.” Tae Muryong shook his head. “If the Captain disappears, what becomes of the men?”
Gasping, he forced the words out.
“I know. I know the heart with which you entered the Alliance. Otherwise… there would have been no need to teach the men with such care.”
Blood trickled from his mouth, yet a bright smile spread across his face.
“You have been preparing them so that, when the day comes for you to leave… they will be able to survive anywhere.”
Tae Muryong already understood Bu Eunseol deeply.
Because he understood, because he knew him so well—he had been willing to give his life.
“Vice-Captain.”
“To me, the Captain is simply the Captain. Demonic or orthodox—it makes no difference.”
Tae Muryong grinned, revealing blood-soaked teeth.
“Yong Myeong drank from an empty cup. The ledger Yeon Jagang gave me contains no proof of Yong Myeong’s involvement.”
He smiled with satisfaction.
“I spread those rumors on purpose.”
From the start, Tae Muryong had never possessed any token from Yong Myeong.
He had deliberately spread the rumors so Yong Myeong would strike at him.
Only then could Yong Myeong truly be cast into the abyss.
“If Yong Myeong laid a hand on me… you would surely present the evidence in the punishment hall.”
The light in Tae Muryong’s eyes was fading.
He was dying.
Yet a proud smile remained on his lips, as though he were happy to die for Bu Eunseol.
“Why…” Bu Eunseol’s voice finally cracked.
And for the first time, he spoke in his true voice and manner.
“Why did you do all this? What am I to you?”
“So that you… could remain in the Alliance for a long time without ever being suspected again.”
To ensure Bu Eunseol would no longer be doubted, to let him stay in the Alliance—he had risked his life and devised this entire scheme to topple both Yeon Jagang and Yong Myeong.
“Jeong Jongdo is fiercely loyal. He will serve you well.”
Tae Muryong struggled to move.
He was trying to rise and bow.
But with his meridians severed, he could only bend awkwardly so no proper bow was possible.
“I have become a body that cannot even offer a final salute.”
Tears, hot as fire, poured from Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
He pulled Tae Muryong into a tight embrace.
“Don’t worry. I will heal you. I will definitely heal you.”
Like a child, Bu Eunseol wept burning tears as he pleaded.
“Do not give up. I will save you, I swear it.”
Tae Muryong smiled faintly and gently patted Bu Eunseol’s back with his severed-tendon arm.
“Captain… do not grieve.”
He looked at Bu Eunseol, smiled brightly, and shook his head.
“Though our time together was short… I was happy.”
Thud.
The arm that had been softly stroking Bu Eunseol’s back went still.
Bu Eunseol said nothing, only held him close and wept silently.
“Vice-Captain…”
Hot tears streamed down his face.
Why do all the people I love leave me?
Why do all who love me leave me?
When at last Bu Eunseol gently released the body, he saw Tae Muryong’s face—peaceful, wearing a happy smile in death.
There was no regret on those features.
As if dying for Bu Eunseol had been his joy.
Why are they loyal to me? I am only passing wind.
I am merely a traveler who stays a short while.
Gently.
Bu Eunseol wiped the filth from Tae Muryong’s face.
After all the torment he had endured, a single careful wiping restored something of his former handsome features.
Bu Eunseol carefully lifted Tae Muryong and walked out of the passage.
Outside, the sunlight was still brilliant, and a cool breeze blew from every direction.
Despite being the lair of a murderous sect, the place was surprisingly sunny and scenic.
“I will not use your death as an excuse to remain in the Alliance.”
He had no intention of using Tae Muryong’s death to destroy Yong Myeong and continue as the Supreme Corps Captain.
He would bury Tae Muryong on a nearby sunny hill, then hunt down and slaughter every person who had touched him.
KABOOM! KABOOOOOM!
At that moment, with deafening roars, a gray shadow streaked across the distant sky toward them.
KWAAAAA—THUD!
The gray shadow landed before Bu Eunseol like a storm wind.
It was Protector Tak Ilhon of the Death Shadow Corps, now instructor of the Death Spirit Corps.
“Protector Tak.”
“Soyo said it was urgent, so this old man brought them himself.”
In the wooden box Tak Ilhon extended lay a golden pill and a small vial of blue liquid.
The Soul-Returning Divine Pellet and the Blue Spirit Stone Elixir.
After So Jamyeong’s death, Bu Eunseol and Yoo Unryong had ceaselessly researched ways to save gravely wounded men.
With Medicine Hall Master Gyo Junghak’s help, they created the Soul-Returning Divine Pellet—which granted no boost to cultivation but could instantly reignite life force—and secured a large supply of the miraculous Blue Spirit Stone Elixir that could heal any external injury.
‘With these two, even if only a single thread of breath remains, life can definitely be saved.’
Gyo Junghak had shaken his head bitterly upon completing the pellet.
‘However, the combined value of these is roughly three hundred thousand taels of silver, so use them with utmost care.’
“Well done! Truly well done!”
Bu Eunseol cried out in joy and immediately placed the Soul-Returning Divine Pellet into Tae Muryong’s mouth. He poured in the Blue Spirit Stone Elixir; the golden pellet dissolved into waves of light and flowed down his throat.
Sizzle.
Bu Eunseol summoned Thunder Spirit Energy and stimulated Tae Muryong’s stopped heart.
“Vice-Captain!”
Sizzle.
“Wake up!”
Zzzzt!
Still no response.
“Please!”
Bu Eunseol bit his lip until it bled.
As he gathered Thunder Spirit Energy again, he suddenly recalled how Palace Master Neung Gyeong of the Divine Water Palace had formed a hand of pure Crystal Spirit Energy.
‘Directly!’
Was it because his desperation had reached its peak?
The moment the thought formed—
The Crystal Spirit Energy and Thunder Spirit Energy within him spontaneously fused and created a transparent hand.
Flash!
The transparent hand reached straight in and gently shook Tae Muryong’s heart.
“Cough!”
Tae Muryong took a deep gasping breath and opened his eyes once more.
“Vice-Captain!”
“What… how is this possible?”
As though waking from deep sleep, he looked around weakly.
His consciousness had already sunk into complete darkness—true death.
He had closed his eyes peacefully, content to die for Bu Eunseol.
How was he now perfectly awake again?
“Don’t talk yet.”
Suppressing the overwhelming emotion, Bu Eunseol immediately poured Ban-Geuk True Energy into Tae Muryong’s Gate of Life acupoint.
Hummm.
Warm, majestic energy flowed in.
Tae Muryong felt as though he floated on clouds and slipped gently into a healing sleep.
“Protector Tak.”
Bu Eunseol gazed at Tae Muryong’s now-peaceful sleeping face and spoke.
“Take him to the hall’s safe house and see that he is completely healed.”
“Understood.”
Tak Ilhon carefully lifted Tae Muryong.
“I’ll summon Hall Master Gyo himself if needed. Do not worry too much.”
“Thank you.”
Bu Eunseol broke into a childlike smile of pure joy.
“And… thank you.”
Seeing that smile, Tak Ilhon’s heart ached sweetly.
He had been told beforehand that Bu Eunseol would not seek to rule the martial world under Majeon.
When he first came to the peaceful Death Shadow Corps, he had sometimes wondered if following him had been a mistake. But after meeting the subordinates, after training the men of the Death Spirit Corps, he understood.
Bu Eunseol was attempting something far harder than conquering the martial world under the Demonic banner.
Deciding to follow him had been the best choice of Tak Ilhon’s life.
“By the way, on my way here I saw a pack of black-clothed rats fleeing south as if their tails were on fire.”
Grind.
At the memory of the fleeing Do Geumung, Bu Eunseol’s eyes turned blood-red.
KABOOM!
His body shot into the sky.
He would seize the torturer who had tormented Tae Muryong—the Human Butcher Do Geumung—and kill him at once.
KABOOOOOM!
Transformed into purple lightning that cleaved the heavens, Bu Eunseol spotted a group racing hundreds of zhang ahead.
Do Geumung and his remaining assassins.
“Th-that bastard!”
Do Geumung paled as he saw the purple lightning-wreathed shadow closing in.
He had frantically used qinggong to open a gap of over a hundred li.
How was the man catching up so fast?
“Could he be… the Thunder God himself?”
Do Geumung bit his lip.
No qinggong could shake this pursuer.
He had to deploy the formation quickly and kill him.
“Form the Nine Demons Hundred Ghosts Formation!” Do Geumung roared at his assassins.
By sharing inner energy according to the formation and hardening their bodies, they could trap the enemy and fight.
Even if that man was the Thunder God, the Nine Demons Hundred Ghosts Formation could buy time.
Shhhhhh.
The formation was completed and a vast space formed.
KABOOM!
Purple lightning crashed from the sky, and a shadow stepped inside.
“Caught you.”
Do Geumung was about to cheer—
KABOOM!
Massive purple thunder began raining down upon the formation.
“Dodge!”
The assassins inside screamed.
It was not a single strike.
Hundreds of purple thunderbolts—comparable to the Thunder Spirit Annihilation—poured like rain, incinerating over a hundred assassins.
“Arghhh!”
A scene straight from hell unfolded.
With continuous explosions, the circular Nine Demons Hundred Ghosts Formation shattered and pieces of assassin corpses flew in every direction.
Sizzle.
From the settling dust walked a figure.
Purple radiance flowed from his body and his eyes had turned pure white.
Tremble.
Do Geumung shook uncontrollably.
In his infamous career as the martial world’s foremost torturer, he had faced countless powerful enemies.
He had even briefly exchanged blows with the mad Thunder God, Nae Bihon.
Yet even Nae Bihon had only scattered thunder with Thunder Spirit Annihilation.
To rain down true heavenly lightning that turned a hundred elite assassins to charcoal in an instant…
He had never imagined such a human existed.
“W-who are you?”
Bu Eunseol’s form was completely shrouded in purple lightning so only a pair of blazing white eyes were visible.
This man could not be beaten.
But he desperately wanted to live.
Tap!
Terror at its peak, Do Geumung spun to flee once more.
Yet purple light had already spread around him, forming towering walls of energy.
“Th-this is…”
The instant Do Geumung’s mouth opened in fear—
Zzzzt!
Purple lightning coiled around his entire body and began slowly melting him.
“Arghhh! AAAAAH!”
Do Geumung let out a wretched scream.
As a torture expert, he knew burning agony was the most excruciating pain.
And this lightning was not burning his whole body—it concentrated only on his arms and legs.
Thud.
His arms and legs melted away and fell limply to the ground.
Now the remaining skin began to dissolve slowly.
He was being made to feel exactly what Tae Muryong had suffered.
How much time passed?
Shhhhh.
Do Geumung’s body became a puddle of liquid and collapsed.
Sizzle.
Purple lightning still surged skyward from Bu Eunseol’s body.
Killing Do Geumung had not quenched his rage.
The true masterminds were elsewhere.
Yeon Jagang and Yong Myeong.
Until he tore those two apart and devoured them, Tae Muryong’s vengeance would not be complete.
***
Yong Myeong had been utterly humiliated in the Martial Alliance, unable to hold his head high.
His repeated meetings with Yeon Jagang had been exposed, forcing him in and out of the punishment hall endlessly.
If only there had been clear evidence, it might have ended sooner.
Thanks to Tae Muryong’s testimony, suspicion remained but no proof surfaced—so the investigation dragged on without conclusion. When Tae Muryong, released as innocent, vanished after leaving the Alliance, the punishment hall intensified the inquiry.
‘Hall Leader Yong, you have suffered much. Why not leave the Alliance for a while and rest?’
Vice-Alliance Leader Buk Ri-seung, tired of the disturbance Yong Myeong caused, suggested he leave until the scandal died down.
‘Understood.’
Yong Myeong accepted without protest.
He had indeed plotted with Yeon Jagang.
Fortunately no evidence had surfaced, but for now he had to endure the public’s contempt.
In the end, Yong Myeong left the Alliance and secluded himself at the Seo family villa by West Lake—his wife’s home.
On a night when the full moon hung bright, Yong Myeong walked the plum grove and bit his lip.
“There is still a chance.”
Though his reputation had taken a blow, without solid proof he faced no punishment.
Scandals eventually fade and given time, people would forget.
Then he could challenge for the position of Martial Heaven Corps Commander once more.
Finishing his walk, he entered the study and sipped tea.
“At least that insolent Tae Muryong disappeared. That’s something.”
Yong Myeong sighed deeply after draining his cup.
“They say missing… but he has surely been taken care of cleanly.”
If this affair had gone wrong, forget Martial Heaven Corps Commander—he might lose his position as Dragon Coiling Hall Leader.
“That wretch. Daring to deceive this Hall Leader.”
Grinding his teeth at the memory of Tae Muryong’s face, Yong Myeong felt relief that the man had not returned to the Alliance after the assassination team’s mission.
The Supreme Corps was searching frantically, but with no trace, he must have been disposed of perfectly.
Had they failed to eliminate him, Yong Myeong would not have slept soundly.
“Still strange, though. Why no contact?”
The Three Realms had never once failed before.
Yet this time they neither retrieved the ledger nor sent word of success.
“Once the rumors quiet down, I’ll have to clean things up again.”
Yong Myeong smiled as he gazed out the window.
“It’s a shame I couldn’t remove that Seon Woojin bastard.”
Whooo.
A cool breeze suddenly blew in from somewhere.
At the same moment, a ghostly shadow appeared at his side.
A man with delicate features, clad in somewhat worn white robes.
It was Bu Eunseol, disguised as Seon Woojin.
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