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Episode 146: I Heard Something I Shouldn’t Have Heard
The story he had heard was so astonishing that Yeon Jeokha couldn’t respond immediately.
Baek San continued speaking as if he were talking to himself.
“It’s not something difficult. When I killed Han Baek-in, Han Moo-jin, the master of the Jade Saber Sect, treated me like a criminal. But I felt satisfied after killing Han Baek-in, and I didn’t care what he said. However, now that I’m close to death, I regret not doing more.”
“Clicking his tongue! Why didn’t you? They say revenge must be complete to avoid regrets…”
“Hehe, that seems to be the case. Perhaps even then, I cared about what others thought… I didn’t want them to say that I had violated the principles of chivalry.”
Yeon Jeokha looked at Baek San with a complicated expression. How could the story of someone who had killed more than ten monks and become a Demon Warrior be so sorrowful?
“Han Moo-jin hid his son’s crimes and made me look like a ruthless murderer. Even though I deserve to die as a demon, I want the truth of that day to come to light. Do it for me.”
“You want me to reveal that Han Baek-in deserved to die?”
“That’s right.”
“Alright. That’s not difficult. I’ll do as you ask, so don’t cling to this world.”
“Thank you.”
Baek San closed his eyes with a relieved expression. He knew that as a Demon Warrior, nothing would remain of his body after death, but at least he could die in peace.
Yeon Jeokha hesitated to deliver the final blow, but Shim Tong, the Old Shim of the Nine Heavens, stepped forward.
“Young Master, I’ll do it.”
Even if the opponent was a demon, taking a life always left emotional scars. Shim Tong didn’t want Yeon Jeokha to have nightmares again.
Yeon Jeokha stepped back, allowing Shim Tong to take his place. After hearing Baek San’s sorrowful story, he couldn’t force himself to do it.
Without hesitation, Shim Tong drew his willow-leaf-shaped knife and decapitated Baek San.
Swish!
Baek San’s head fell to the ground, and the people watching from afar screamed in shock. But what was truly terrifying happened afterward.
The head exploded with a dry sound, and the body began to swell and twist.
Crack! Crack!
The sound of bones breaking echoed across the ship’s deck, drowning out even the sound of the river’s water.
From Baek San’s body emerged a creature with the head of a man and the body of a snake, as if shedding its skin.
Though it had a human form, it was entirely different from Baek San. Its head, the size of a pot lid, had eyes like a snake’s, as large as fists, and a forked tongue extended from its lips, ripped to the ears.
Its short, dragon-like forelimbs had claws as sharp as spear tips. Its black, cracked skin, resembling that of a turtle, emitted thick, dark smoke.
Remembering Baek San’s final appearance, Yeon Jeokha clicked his tongue in disgust.
Clicking his tongue.
Baek San’s appearance and that of the creature were entirely incompatible.
The creature, having finished transforming, looked at Shim Tong coldly and began to move slowly. Its head rose almost three meters high.
Startled, Shim Tong quickly moved behind Yeon Jeokha.
The creature’s cold eyes met Yeon Jeokha’s. Yeon Jeokha didn’t avert his gaze.
Suddenly, the creature let out a strange sound from its slightly open mouth.
“Hehehe…”
“Are you laughing?” Yeon Jeokha looked at the creature in disbelief.
At that moment, there was a commotion among the people on the ship’s deck. Some elders knelt down and began to shout.
“Oh, God of Thunder!”
“The God of Thunder is angry!”
“Please, forgive us!”
The creature shifted its gaze toward the people before returning it to Yeon Jeokha.
Yeon Jeokha wanted to end everything quickly, but he held back. He wanted his companions to see the creature’s abilities.
Despite the creature’s gaze making him feel like prey, Yeon Jeokha provoked it.
“Come on. Attack.”
As if it understood his words, the creature moved.
The creature exhaled a green cloud that expanded and slowly descended.
Namgung Yeon suddenly shouted.
“It’s poison! Jeokha, disperse the cloud!”
Awakened by Namgung Yeon’s shout, Yeon Jeokha immediately unleashed the third technique of the Nine Heavens Supreme Swordsmanship, Wind from Heaven.
Whooosh!
The poisonous cloud was dispersed by the wind. The creature lashed its tail in fury.
Swish!
Yeon Jeokha counterattacked with the seventh technique of the Nine Heavens Swordsmanship, Ground Splitting Dragon Claw.
Pow! Pow!
The creature screamed in pain as its tail was severed.
With just one encounter, the creature’s expression changed. It no longer saw Yeon Jeokha as easy prey and moved more cautiously.
The creature exhaled another poisonous cloud, but this time, the cloud was even denser.
Yeon Jeokha once again used the Wind from Heaven to disperse the cloud.
Just then, the creature’s tail silently slid and wrapped around Yeon Jeokha’s torso.
However, Shim Tong was prepared. With a battle cry, he swung his knife and cut off the creature’s tail.
“Bastard! Where do you think you’re going?”
The creature screamed in pain again, and Yeon Jeokha leaped into the air.
Using the eighth technique of the Nine Heavens Swordsmanship, Nine Divine Dragons Turning, Yeon Jeokha moved like a butterfly, avoiding the creature’s attacks.
Finally, Yeon Jeokha unleashed the final technique, Beam of Fragmented Swords.
Crack! Boom!
The beam struck the creature’s head, bringing it down. Yeon Jeokha followed the creature’s fall and used the Nine Heavens Supreme Swordsmanship technique, Heavenly Woman Descends.
Slash!
Yeon Jeokha’s sword pierced the creature’s head and pinned it to the ship’s deck. The creature’s body, about fifteen meters long, violently trembled before collapsing.
Some elders who were prostrated on the ground were hit by the creature’s tail and rolled across the deck.
Yeon Jeokha felt a pang in his forehead and tensed up. Lately, he had the feeling that the underworld was a real place.
As if being dragged, Yeon Jeokha was taken to a dark world. He looked around urgently.
“Kraaaah!”
‘Ah!’
Yeon Jeokha turned and saw a creature with a human head and a snake body clutching its head and convulsing.
‘Can I hear it?’
Before, he could only see, but now he could hear. It gave him goosebumps.
‘Am I really here?’
The thought that he might be in the underworld terrified him.
“Hehehe.”
“Hehe.”
The creatures’ laughter echoed everywhere.
Feeling dizzy, Yeon Jeokha was pulled back to reality.
“Haa!”
Back in the real world, Yeon Jeokha let out a sigh of relief.
The creature disintegrated into dust, and the river’s wind carried its remains away. Ten blue lights ascended to the sky.
Yeon Jeokha clasped his hands together and prayed for the souls of the sacrificed monks.
Shim Tong approached stealthily.
“Young Master, today, you don’t seem well.”
“Yes. I heard something I shouldn’t have heard.”
“Oh! Are you referring to the nonsense of those elders? Don’t pay attention to it.”
Yeon Jeokha looked around with an uncomfortable expression. Shim Tong seemed to be misunderstanding, but he didn’t bother to explain.
At that moment, people on the deck began to murmur, pointing at something in the water. Yeon Jeokha looked at the river.
Hundreds of fish floated dead on the surface, carried by the current.
Namgung Cheon approached and spoke in a grave tone.
“They seem to have died from that creature’s poison. Even the Five Poisons of the Tang Family aren’t this potent. If you hadn’t dispersed the poisonous cloud, it would have been a disaster.”
Yeon Jeokha nodded in agreement.
“Young Master, people were calling that creature ‘God of Thunder.’ What does that mean?”
“Ah, that’s just ignorance. They say the God of Thunder has the body of a dragon and the head of a man. They also call it Fuxi.”
“The Fuxi who created the trigrams?”
“Exactly. But that creature had the body of a snake, not a dragon. They’re mistaken.”
Jin Seolha joined the conversation.
“That’s right! How could they think he was the God of Thunder? He was clearly a ‘creature with a human head and snake body.’”
Yeon Jeokha smiled at her comment.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because you named the creature well.”
“Hehe. I’m good at naming things, aren’t I? So, what do you think of the creature with a human head and snake body? And the demon dragon?”
Jin Seolha looked at Yeon Jeokha expectantly.
“Hmm, an evaluation? Well, the poison of the creature with a human head and snake body was terrifying. Oh, and it was very cunning. It used the poison to distract me and attacked with its tail.”
“Oh! I didn’t think of that. I must write it down. Anything else?”
Jin Seolha, who had already taken notes, pretended not to know and encouraged him to continue.
Unaware, Yeon Jeokha, proud, kept talking.
“The claw attacks were also very sharp. At long range, it used poison; at close range, the tail and claws. That’s what you need to keep in mind.”
“Yes. And the demon dragon?”
“Once it’s in the air, it’s hard to face. And the flames it breathes… you must avoid them at all costs. If they touch you, they won’t go out until you turn to ashes.”
“Wow! How terrifying.”
Jin Seolha sighed. How would the Justice Alliance react to such enemies?
Shim Tong intervened in the conversation.
“Hehe. No matter how detailed you write it, no one will believe it. Who’s going to believe that Demon Warriors are demons from the underworld? Even I doubt what I saw. Young Master, what do you think?”
“Huh? About what?”
“Do you think Demon Warriors are really demons from the underworld?”
“Hmm. I don’t know, but they’re definitely not from this world.”
Yeon Jeokha headed to the ship’s bow. The murky river water flowed violently.
He felt like he had been dragged into an unstoppable current.